#he was so intimidating to draw especially over and over in comic form. such a far cry from my usual human style

[captainhysunstuff]

22 more images (with some saucy shenanigans and immature "seduction" tactics towards the end) below the cut:

Ryuk makes his grand return and is brought up to speed with Light and L's immoral union. The date seems pretty successful~.

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[wingedlife]

Could you do last life Grian for the headcanon ask game?

so all of these are drawing on a general headcanon i have that as the winner of 3rd life, grian is the only one who retains memory of the previous world. this doesn’t manifest in the form of actual memories so much as strange gut feelings, moments of deja vu, feeling particularly drawn or averse to certain things for reasons he can’t explain.

headcanon a (realistic) - he’s a parrot hybrid. this means he’s super feather light and yeetable, smaller than everyone else on the server, and is incredibly good at imitating sounds (hence why he “aha!”s so much, replicating noises is kind of like a vocal stim for him). he has wings which were broken beyond repair upon his arrival at last life. he doesn’t know whether they were clipped or damaged in an accident but he hides them under his jumper.

headcanon b (hilarious) - he is almost comically smaller and lighter than everyone else. armour, shields, and weapons (especially the way he tends to double-wield) totally weigh him down, and without the use of his wings for balance this means he’s comically clumsy, always tripping over or dropping things or struggling to hold a sword up. he also loves to sit on one of his dogs and ride it around when he’s bored just because he can. it is nowhere near as intimidating as he thinks it looks.

headcanon c (heart-crushing) - the only clear memory from 3rd life that he has is punching someone he can’t quite place, someone he had a fondness for, killing them, feeling guilt and betrayal, then killing himself. he figures he must’ve retained this knowledge for a reason, so he has been purposeful in everything he’s done this season. he taught joel how to make traps knowing they wouldn’t work. he reminded everyone not to get too close, betrayed and killed the southerners when they hit him so they didn’t have to feel that guilt. he tried to turn bdubs against etho because what he sees between them feels oddly familiar. and he wants to win so badly. not because he wants to live, but because he won’t let anyone else live like this.

headcanon d (unrealistic but i want it) - the day he planned to release the wither, he left a note at scar’s base warning him to hide away somewhere safe for the day. he couldn’t explain why, figures it’s probably because of the lives he stole from him, but he felt strangely indebted to him, and the thought of scar potentially being blown up because of a mob grian drew to him makes him feel physically ill.

[ee-laugh]

𝑬𝑪𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑹𝑰𝑪 | 𝑷𝑱𝑴 (m)

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ: ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇs

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Your jimin was finally back in your arms. From the moment he walked out of the airport, you hadn’t been able to keep your damn arms to yourself.

Your head was placed on his chest as he gently ran his fingers through your soft hair. He smelled divine, and you couldn’t help sniffing the cozy sweater he was wearing. He let out a chuckle; the vibrations of which seemed to cleanse your mind and soul.

Jimin looked down at you, who had fallen asleep in his arms. He shifted to put your head on the pillow on your side. He looked at your face for a while, as if memorising what you looked like. He traced his finger along your lids, your nose, and stopped right on your slightly ajar lips.

It seemed as if he were trying to distract himself from something that was all over his mind. He didn’t wanna think about it; wanted to forget the memory, but it was all his brain could replay. Over and over.

✫————✫

Jimin and haejin finally arrived at his hotel. The walk was a long one, but neither of them seemed to have gotten tired from it. Jimin took off his blazer, revealing his white button up shirt underneath. Meanwhile haejin poured herself some wine, ready to reminisce into another one their infinite memories together.

It was the one where jimin had asked her to be his girlfriend. Haejin visibly cringed at the thought of it, while pouring jimin some wine too.

“Who tf suggested you to get on your knees, dude? Like that’s soo cringe.” She made a weird face that made jimin laugh.

“Ughh stop.. I saw it in a Kdrama and thought it looked cool.” He was blushing from the thought, or from the wine that had started taking effect.

Meanwhile, haejin almost choked on hers.“Whoa.. never took you for a Kdrama-type guy.”

This caused him to smirk.

“What can I say... I’m full of surprises.”

Haejin blushed; taken aback by his acting. “Stopp.” She lightly slapped his arm, while he looked at her flustered face in amusement.

“You can BLUSH??” He exaggerated, widening his eyes comically. She wasn’t having any of it, so she slapped his arm again. But it landed on his chest instead.

Jimin dropped his gaze at her hand on his chest.

✫—————✫

Jungkook hated trigonometry with a passion. He sighed and braced himself for the hell that was awaiting him in the classroom. He entered the room and plopped down on a seat; already bored by the look on his face.

His eyes lit up at the sight of a tall, lean man, who had walked in the classroom and stood behind the podium. Jungkook had never seen this mysterious looking man around the campus before. He was intrigued.

“Hello, students.” His voice was deep but loud, making all the students look up at him.

“I’m your new trigonometry professor, Kim Namjoon.”

Silent gasps filled the room. Students whispered and girls exchanged excited remarks at the revelation.

Jungkook’s friend Somin, sitting beside him, elbowed him.

“So you’re telling me he ain’t a Kpop idol?” She whispered in bewilderment.

Jungkook’s mouth itself was widened in awe. He swore that man could qualify as an idol. He had this weirdly intimidating aura about him that only celebrities have. His one gaze was enough for students to stop chatting and turn to their books.

Jungkook looked down at his own book. This should be fun, he thought.

—

Car sex

The intense smell of wetness pooling between your legs

Jimin was hitting you right at the spot that made your nails dig into his back unconsciously. You were concerned you might draw blood from his smooth skin til he fastened his pace once again.

“Mhm.. right there.”

The night was chill; a light breeze made everyone shrink into their warm coats and sweaters, or enjoy a nice coffee.

You and jimin had decided to have a little date at this restaurant you liked a lot. It was a nice place, especially for couples, as it had a uniquely romantic vibe with live music playing in the background.

Throughout the dinner, jimin couldn’t stop staring at you. You wore a strappy, flirty little dress on purpose. It hugged your body in the right places and left little to the imagination.

You were busy slurping your drink through the straw, and that little act of yours had him tensed up in place. You looked up at his face, and that shit right there was the last straw he needed.

Jimin parked the car in a safe spot. There aren’t many people around here this time, he had convinced you. But right now, with his face buried in your neck and his dick plunging into your little pool, you couldn’t care less.

You couldn’t suppress your moans that were pushing against your lips, threatening to spill into thin air.

“Moan for me.” It was a command, clearly. His voice was the deepest you’d ever heard; causing a fresh pool of warm wetness to form between your widened legs.

You did as he said; spilling all your desperate moans right in his ear. You sounded helpless, in the most pleasurable way possible.

“Fuck. You moan so good.”

His compliment egged you on to moan and gasp even more. His back was probably all bruised up from your scratches as you wrapped your legs around the small of his waist. His dick felt deeper than ever inside you, making you feel high as fuck. It twitched and throbbed and further hardened inside you.

“Oh god. It’s... it’s sucking me in so good y/n. It feels so good.” Jimin couldn’t help gasping out in your neck. You could tell he was having a hard time trying not to cum. You ran your fingers through his hair, grabbing a portion of it in your fists.

“Cum. Please cum inside me baby.” His tensed body eased up a bit at your words and he didn’t take long before soiling your pussy with his cum. He moaned out in helplessness;

“Fuck.. H-haejin..”

Your body froze in place.

———————————————————————

𝖧𝖾𝗒 𝖼𝗎𝗍𝗂𝖾𝗌𝗌!! 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗌𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗇𝗀𝗀𝗀𝗀𝗀𝗀𝗀 𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗂 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗀𝗈𝗍 𝖺𝖽𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗂𝗇 𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝗌𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗈𝗅 𝗌𝗈 𝗂𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍 ! 𝖥𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝖽𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗎𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍s !

Taglist: @jwlmnbt @d3a6 @yeontanie21 @safi4x @fadingprunebagelfestival @scarletterose-was-inlove @nooooooooona @jedi-nightingale @thatrebelfangirl

[rametarin]

I didn’t want to reblog another long post, so I’ll just say my own thing here.

Gatekeeping fandom is good, ackshully.

Especially since we have a certain pattern of person, call them, “SJWs” if you want, that deliberately creep into a fandom with their values and shamelessly, deliberately, use it as a platform. They CONSCIOUSLY do this. They DELIBERATELY do this.

And then they have the audacity to see false positives and imagine dog whistles everywhere of things outside THEIR orthodoxy in the fandom being -isms, or -gnies. Accusing the people already there of being “out of date” and “toxic”, when it’s neither toxic nor uninclusive- it just isn’t rearranging itself to accommodate Intersectional Feminism or giving Intersectional Feminists voluntary control over everything from how something works to how it’s defined.

That to them is tantamount to being Nazis. And that’s kind of how you can tell they’re the same sort of daft, disingenuous fucks that wrap up socialist or ancom shit in supposed social progress. And if they could they’re reshape EVERYTHING to match their sensibilities, because their sensibilities are, “our way or you die.”

If you spend enough time peeking through academic papers and colleges you even learn there’s a thing many of them do. Which is, “Queering,” characters on purpose, to make them unpalatable or untouchable to cis/het people. That’s culturally like raising a flag on something to annex it and landgrab it.

And if you say, “hands off, this character isn’t gay?” They pivot and declare you’re just a homophobe whom is afraid of change, tell other people that and then talk in the broad bruckstroke about, “society is really so homophobic/afraid of new ideas. :c”

These people don’t even want to be part of that fandom for the sake of being in the fandom. They just want it because they want the fandom to perpetuate their values and parrot their beliefs and spread it to everybody else that wants to participate in that fandom. Do you like this popular thing? Okay, you can have popular thing, but only if you hug this Courtney Love doll and buy it and pet it and love it as part of the package deal!

And as part and parcel of the demanding to not just define the fundamentals and parameters of a fandom, they also demand to reinterpret the history of said fandom based on how out of orthodoxy to their values they find it to their own beliefs. So, was the hobby primarily done by white men in the past? Then naturally they’ll automatically paint it with a broad brush and say, “this hobby was very unwelcoming to non-whites and women in the past because of icky homophobic and misogynistic men!” Regardless of how many authors were beloved by the fandom that were female, regardless of how many women were equal fandom members before- they weren’t the Intersectional Feminist types of fans, so clearly they were “closer to the Daughters of the Confederacy than real people,” right? That’s how that works, apparently.

So yes. We had a taste of this in the 90s, but the feminists/radfems at the time weren’t trying to infiltrate the fandom and take it over to be about feminism. They were shaming boys and other girls for liking the big booby comic book girls as sexist and objectification and trying to get comic fans to abandon comics in order to pressure the companies economically into changing.

“These comics are written and drawn by MEN! MAAAAALE GAAAAAAAAAZE!!! Sexualized girls are only okay when WOMEN are drawing them and writing them for the authenticity!” And there were not many women that either liked comic books or wanted to BE in them, so they’d maintain that impossible standard to try and coerce the boys to FIND women for the sake of having a woman on staff, just to assauge their, “icky boys aren’t allowed to do this without me declaring it wrong” qualm.

And true to form for Progressives, give an inch and within a short period of time they just want more, and declare what was offered before was just to mollify or patronize them. “Oh so women can tidy up and do the low work. Why no female CEOs in the company yet? Why not Editor in Chief?”

But the way the Intersectionals do it is new. Rather than just stay outside the fandom because “yuck it offends my sensibilities, it shouldn’t exist,” they try and appropriate the fandom and then contribute rules and policies for it.

We saw this in the years leading up to Gamergate. The Subverters infiltrated video game journos, got incestuous and buddy-buddy with both Triple A industry people and independent game creators and traded favors, financial, sexual and other, for good reviews. Folks like Anita Sarkesian trying to make a name for themselves by already being insiders and getting plugged by the conspirators to LOOK like she was anything more than a plant for that cause, using other peoples video game playing footage in her critique videos, styling herself a holistic “girl gamer” and waxing poetic about “those awful neckbearded dudebros questioning my gamer cred! Tch!”

And so that romantic boogyman became a thing that they perpetuated. “The gatekeeping, woman hating, manbaby Gamer.” Where they then added in racism and male chauvinism and traditionalism and transphobia because you know you can’t just leave it at “misogynist.” Not, “in this society.”

Gamers protesting and demanding that game journalist magazines state their relationships to the creators for full disclosure got them retaliating asymmetrically, though. The FBI investigated all those, “threatening and trolling social media messages” that supposedly got Zoe Quinn and Sarkesian to leave their houses, “for fear of an attack,” and they got nothing. A few of them were caught doxxing themselves on purpose on 4chan. Quinn herself being part of the SomethingAwful’s Crash Override forums, where they’d do shit like this to troll and harass people for fun. They KNOW how to false flag and make it look like a bunch of angry dudebros did it.

Statistically the number of harassing egg names was far lower than the messages either girl received that was NOT harassment or threats, merely replies they didn’t agree with or didn’t appreciate. And yet they still ran around screaming about “all those misogynistic dudebro gamers” that were “harassing and doxing them.” And that boogyman became the party line. That Gaming and Gamers were full of toxic, misogynistic, racist manbabies SOooOoOooOO intimidated by, “women finally in what they feel are THEIR spaces,” that they’d try to run them out.

That’s how they interpreted it and that’s how the history books they write will repeat it.

They try and make a great big public show about “entering this toxic space” to flip it and civilize it, but what they’re really trying to do is officially own it. As a fandom, as a space and as a culture. And that entails being able to say what goes, what’s acceptable and what’s not, and set the tone and culture for that space. Meaning, to be able to gatekeep the product.

Rather than just decry the product, they decide they’re just going to mutate the product by slow assimilation, until the product doesn’t even resemble the original product anymore. They do this shit with comic books, videogames, and now they’re working on doing it to beloeved novels and their fandoms. It’s like forcibly marrying them to terrible people, so you can never have a fandom WITHOUT those people in your space trying to insist their interpretations of things are original canon, ever again.

And the sickest part is, these people DO NOT stop at fiction. That’s why this shit is called Cultural Marxism. Because it’s not much different from the way communists and socialist guerillas act and operate when it comes to land, resources and industry. They take over public spaces and forums and use a combination of instittional corruption, terrorism and violence and vandalism in order to destroy or silence competition.

They’ve even infiltrated the Linux community and taken over most of that, via Linus Torvalds’ daughter. You can’t have ANYTHING around these people, because they just sit and wait and conspire to come in and make even a simple community mural to revolve around whatever social issue and specifically their philosophy’s take on it being THE only valid take on it that everybody else must now interact with, good or bad, but they can’t ignore it anymore.

This is, also, partially why they hate it when fandoms are gatekept by singularly powerful individuals. Like say, authors of their own works. They don’t like singular owners of enterprise and property, because it prevents the mob from taking them and then dictating TO the creator, “this is the PEOPLES property now. WE decide, as the most powerful clique, what is true and real with it and what isn’t.”

Because like what happened with Frank Oz of Jim Henson Studios. An activist gay writer declared that Bert and Ernie’s relationship was “canon gay,” because he wrote them as canon gay lovers. There was a great big information cascade as all these affiliated journo companies published articles about how “happy they were to see Sesame Street and the Children’s Television Workshop as representing LGBT people in public!”

Frank Oz spoke up, set the record straight, “These characters were made by me and a friend and were meant to depict a platonic male-male relationship. They aren’t gay but I’m glad you could identify with them.”

That poor old man caught so much shit. They called him a homophobe, said he was, “stealing Bert and Ernie from them,” that he should just shut up and “let people have this.”

No. Fucking no. These people are fucking conspirators, believe wholly in dominating and taking shit over by moving their people into a thing until they have the warm bodies and the institutional authority to crowd out oppositional voices, then have the audacity to SCREEEAAAAAAM bloody murder about the dangers of anybody else organizing to contest them because, “The Nazis are gathering to attack us poor innocent minorities!!” Counting on the ignorance and unsuspecting nature of people to not know such a thing is fake or the totality of the situation.

That’s why they’ll keep this shit on the downlow and call anybody that accuses them of doing shit like this a liar or a tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. Demanding evidence, in bad faith, knowing there’s little to no way to PROVE any of this UNTIL they’ve done it, and then declaring you to be invalid since you can’t prove the conspiracy.

Because if you can’t prove it with evidence, they’ll simply say you’re a Nazi trying to smear “good people.”

[akimmito]

Heroes are made by the path they choose

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Chapter 10

Richard Grayson never expected to meet someone who had an aura similar to Alfred's, but when he approached them after leaving the hotel and almost killed them with fright, he found that the existence of other like that was possible.

Hugo, as he presented himself, did them the favor of leading them to a house on the outskirts of Paris. Unlike Wayne Manor which is amazing to see, Lenoir Country House is like stepping into a magical garden worthy of being part of a movie set. Vines tangle in the wooden frames and arches forming a natural roof from which grapes hang, plus the rose bushes that cluster around. As they walk through what would be the totally green front garden, they begin to hear barking and, according to what they were seeing on social networks, Marie Lenoir's son has six dogs, two puppies and four adults, in addition to two cats (yes, they did their little research on the family and were able to see the only photograph of the boy, who has green eyes and a haunting resemblance to Bruce).

At the entrance of the house they are greeted by a gray-haired woman with a motherly gaze. She guides them through the small mansion to her employer's study, telling them some stories of the place's reform and how kind her boss is, letting the employees live in the house, in addition to informing them to be careful with the Animals that roam the house, can be very wild and are capable of knocking down adult men (he told the anecdote of Agatha rolling through the mud to Felix Graham de Vanily and Adrien Agreste at the same time).

Tim looks with interest at the scenery, everything is so… soft, warm and homey. The place is decently large, but it doesn't feel empty, not the way the mansion, even with everyone gathered, feels cold and lonely. In that house only three people are part of the Lenoir (if their observations are correct regarding Hugo).

As they walk down a hallway, they hear two different types of barking, but soon more join… until a black-haired boy pushes them aside as he runs, behind him come the four adult dogs and they manage to knock down Dick who had the unfortunate luck of not being moving in time, the two cubs pass over him.

A little subtly they hear the boyish childish laugh before crossing another hallway (although for Tim, it was more of an evil laugh).

"That boy, always doing his thing." The lady denies with a loving expression. "When I met him, he was very grumpy, he only gave us suspicious looks and observed us in everything we did, especially when we cooked. The first time he refused to eat something that had not been prepared by Miss Lenoir or Hugo, it was hard for him to trust us..."

"Looks like they had a rough start." Dick mentions curiously, wanting me to explain a little more about the boy. Marie has done a better job than Bruce keeping her son away from the media.

"I was, but I think it was worth it, he's a very special boy." She smiles and starts walking again, straight to the shrill noise of the dogs. They barely manage to hear the murmurs.

They enter the studio, a rather large and very elegant room in cream white and black. As they walk through the door, Marie looks up and drops the conversation she was having with her son, Damian turns and gives them a look of contempt, as if he really has something against them. Dick is openly confused by the boy's gaze.

"Welcome, Mr. Grayson and Mr. Drake." She smiles kindly and invites them to settle into the room, the dogs have already taken over a large part of the space. "Honey, why don't you take your friends out to play in the backyard?"

"They are very comfortable here, mother, besides, we have played all morning. We deserve a break. ”He responds politely and giving them another poisonous look, he sits on the black leather sofa (synthetic leather, of course) rising above them as the owner of the place.

Now Richard is much more confused, did they do something to offend the boy?

Tim is restless, the boy deliberately ran past his pack of dogs capable of taking down a Dick-sized man (maybe they could even knock someone like Jason or Bruce to the ground) and now he's subtly threatening them, maybe his older brother isn't I feel it as such, but Damian is drawing a line that if they cross, it will have consequences, and he doesn't want to imagine what that murderous-looking boy is capable of doing to them.

"Weren't you going to take measurements and ask what they want, mother?" Damian questions from her place, seeing that the three adults stood uneasily. Tim tries not to look in his direction, he has the feeling that he would smile darkly at him like a whole evil being.

"Sure..." She says and takes the tape measure from the desk and putting it on her shoulders, then picks up a pencil and her sketchbook. "So is it for an event or for everyday use?"

"Daily use, in my case". Dick responds as casually as he can, feeling the boy's gaze awkward. "Tim wants his suit for work."

"Comfort and elegance, I feel most of the time, but I need to be more than decent when executives decide to improvise a meeting." Tim looks around awkwardly. "It happens very frequently... and most are organized by Bruce"

Marie is aware of what Damian is doing, but doesn't understand the reasons, she has never had that behavior with a client and doubts that it's only because they are two men who border her age, there is something else and she's going to find out, these two men they mean something, her child only reacts to extremes when it comes to... his birth family. Well, mystery solved. Now, she will discover how to approach the issue.

She couldn't see the boy's reaction to his biological father's name, but ho gaze only intensified by throwing mental daggers at the younger of the two men, causing chills. Dick gives Damian a small look, yes, it's unsettling, but he's worried about the amount of contempt he has for them, he cannot even think about how sweet and pretty the designer is, because he's not blind and she's beautiful.

Damian takes out his phone and takes a subtle photograph that he sends to the chat he has with Felix, asking him to come help him intimidate those two men. She only receives a vague reply, but it's enough for him. Although his attention is slightly taken by the group chat, where he has the misfortune of being for being of all the members of the MT (official and unofficial) .. with a very subtle name and nobody don't want to tell him who was the genius who put it on, Although if he must guess, it must have been Kim. Between that and the ridiculous names, he's completely sure that it is his doing.

Marie spends the entire morning chatting with her two clients, Damian and her pack of dogs hang around the entire time. The two German Shepherds are very intimidating, especially Agatha whenever Richard leaned too closed to his mother.

Damian is not allowing his supposed brother to have even the slightest chance of becoming his alleged father. No, he prefers his mother's lover (whoever he is) a thousand times to anyone who is in any way related to his biological family.

----------

It's not the MT

The Antibiotic: Why wasn't told me the butterfly it was active?

Perfect Crime: Because, dear cousin, enough suffering is being married to the shrew.

Plasticine: Don’t invoke her, she’s worse than Satan.

Almost pretty: At least Satan is a good guy, he invited me for a few drinks when I went to Los Angeles with my mother.

Three balls: I signed him a comic, it's great.

Needle: I remember that day, he invited us to a trio

Dragon Tamer: I remind you that there is a child here.

Olive: Agreste, none warned you because they have the concentration capacity of a stick, that is, none.

Plasticine: And you?

Olive: I don't care enough to remember his existence.

The Antibiotic: At least you are sincere...

----------

At lunchtime, Felix arrives at the country house. The two clients are still there, after Damian left the room to go to the bathroom (he's still mad at his physiology for betraying him), Tim was more open about the details. Dick was also more relaxed and they even got into a little conversation around the stunts... until the boy returned.

Two things became clear to Dick: first, the boy has something against them, and second, he has a very heavy and intimidating presence. Very creepy if asked.

So, with everyone gathered in the dining room, it's almost a surprise to see Felix arrive carrying another puppy, Dick looks bitterly as the boy gets another dog, at least hde will not be there for when the puppy turns into a giant dog.

"Felix, what does this mean?"Marinette questions in dismay, none of her friends had given an animal to her son, most against her beacause allowing him to have so many pets (even though only Daphne lives in the apartment).

“A few nights ago I had an epiphany when I saw how a ridiculous suit was the solution to all our problems, so I decided to give Damian a Great Dane because… things can only be strange to a certain extent. "

"You're delusional." She wants to laugh at his logic, especially since he always seemed incredulous every time he saw a Lucky Charm, he always ended up talking to Tikki about it and ended the discussions regretting the loss of all logic (he gave up long ago time, but it seems that the last Akuma made him remember the strange things that it delivers).

"Anybody raves after that." Damian, take. ”The boy stands up to receive his new pet, showing a small and subtle smile when he takes the puppy in his arms. "I had a hard time getting it, I had to blackmail this friend of my mother who tried to sell it at exaggerated prices. "

Marinette gives him a warning look, refraining from saying what he did in front of her guests, can still save her family's reputation a bit after Damian nearly threatened them with kitchen knives (because the real weapons don't come out of the headquarters of the MT).

"Of course not, I made a deal, I can't reveal the circumstances of the deal." He smirks and  his gaze on Marinette's clients. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, I'm Felix Graham de Vanily."

"No problem, Richard Grayson." He gets up to shake hands and shake them, giving him a nice smile, Tim stays in his place and just introduces himself, looking at the blond man without being able to avoid that many expressions of the boy are reflected in him. Does Damian see him as his father figure? He's pleasant around him, although he has not seen how he acts in front of other people.

"Do you have lunch with us?" Marinette already knows the answer, but still asks for the employees to prepare another dish.

"Of course. "

"Does he have a name?" Damian asks after he has been stroking the puppy whose fur is completely black, who is happy to be cared for.

"No, you can put whatever you want and, for the love of all that is good, never ask my cousin about it again." Mariette smiles with amusement and settles again, although she knows that Damian will take a little longer to return to sit down.

"Pictso seems happy with his name." Damian says amused to see Felix's face contract, he enjoys teasing the adults around him (except his mother).

"It just shows that any creature that comes from my cousin has the same lousy taste as him."

"I thought that was established since he didn't accept that Chloe will start the divorce process." Marinette says simply as Margaret, Hugo's equivalent in the country house, comes in with the extra plate and places it right in front of Tim, at Damian's side of the seat.

Felix only teases and adjusts himself in his seat, Damian imitates him without releasing the puppy, ignoring Marinette's gaze.

"Damian."

"Only this time, mother, then he will be with his brothers." He responds, facing his mother, feeling Richard's gaze on him, making him uncomfortable because it's too soft for his taste.

What does he need to does to get those people out of his life forever?

--------

Damian @DamianLenoir

Titus is added to the family, his brothers adore him.

[Attached photo]

Chloe B. @BourgeoisQueen

@DamianLenoir Another one? Where do you get dogs so fast?

Marie L. @MarieLenoir

@DamianLenoir @BourgeoisQueen It was a gift from Felix.

Chloe B. @BourgeoisQueen

@DamianLenoir @MarieLenoir Tell me it's not related to the bottle of Château Cheval Blanc that he gave us all

Marc @MarcAC_twt

@DamianLenoir @BourgeoisQueen @MarieLenoir I think it is.

Nath @NathanielKC_twt

@DamianLenoir @BourgeoisQueen @MarieLenoir @MarcAC_twt I don't even dare to touch the bottle, why did he give us a damn 5,000 euros wine? I shouldn't have investigated...

Felix @GrahamV_Felix

@BourgeoisQueen @MarieLenoir @MarcAC_twt @NathanielKC_twt Say thanks, or didn't they teach you manners?

Nath @NathanielKC_twt

@BourgeoisQueen @MarieLenoir @MarcAC_twt @GrahamV_Felix I would be more grateful if I didn't feel that wine is worth more than all my art supplies

[cuinawen]

Being Obvious

A Clint Barton/Bella Swan one shot

3175 words

Bella has a crush, Natasha thinks it’s a little obvious but Clint needs a nudge in the right direction before he’ll make a move

Warnings: language, suggestive themes

~*~0~*~

The chime of the elevator sounded, echoing just slightly across the open space and Clint froze for a split second before something akin to panic hit. Not that he would ever admit that he panicked about anything… ever.

He’d been in the middle of setting up for his latest prank, which would be ruined if he was caught in the act, so without a thought he hopped up onto the counter and pulled himself up into a large air vent, carefully closing the grate behind him.

It took only a few seconds, so by the time he could hear a familiar laugh he was out of sight, no trace left that he’d been there.

It wasn’t the first time he’d used these vents as a means of traversing the tower (which was how he’d known this particular grate was unscrewed already), so shifting as quietly as he could, he settled in to wait and watch until the room was empty again, a small grin forming as he saw his two favourite women enter the room.

“I mean really,” Natasha bemoaned, a wry grin on her face as she referenced a recent incident with a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent, “Is it really so hard to find a guy that won’t damn near wet himself just because he accidentally saw me nude, all I was doing was having a quick shower. Honestly, he reacted worse than Steve did that one time.”

“Steve? You mean Cap? Nooo,” Bella gaped, her eyes shining with amusement.

“Yep, he got all red and did that ‘looking anywhere but you’ thing that he does. I wasn’t even completely bare,” Natasha smirked, “I told him that was the only time he’d ever get away with calling me ma’am.”

Clint watched silently from the vent as Bella descended into laughter, suddenly feeling like he maybe shouldn’t be listening in to this conversation. As much as he loved that Natasha had unusually taken a liking to the shy woman since she’d started with the team as their medic, and unofficial lab manager under Bruce, her attempts to draw Bella out of her shell sometimes made him a little unsettled.

He had a hard enough time keeping Bella from straying into his thoughts at the best of times.

She was tiny and cute, adorably awkward, made him laugh, and had the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen. She made his inner Neanderthal want to just drag her off to his room so he could keep her all to himself while he did things with her that you didn’t discuss in polite company.

Of course, he wasn’t about to actually tell her that. Rejection would be one thing, but there was no way he wanted to make things awkward for the team if she didn’t feel anything for him; and as good as he usually was at reading people, he just didn’t know when it came to her.

Bella snickered as she snapped a fresh pod into the coffee machine and hit the button waiting for it to start up.

“So, what about you?” Natasha asked suddenly, making her blink in surprise.

“Me? No, no one’s been seeing me naked.” Bella grinned, making Natasha snort inelegantly.

“I think that’s the problem,” She cackled, bumping Bella lightly with her elbow, “What about finding you a guy?”

The sudden rosy blush that spread from Bella’s cheeks right down her chest took Clint by surprise, and he was surprised neither of the women appeared to have heard him fidgeting uncomfortably in the metal vent as he wondered just how far down that blush actually went.

If he’d been paying closer attention he might have seen the tiny spark of awareness that flickered across Natasha’s face.

“So… there is a guy you want then,” She pressed, giving Bella her best faux intimidating stare.

Bella’s face felt like it was absolutely flaming as she looked at the older woman, trying to think of any way to get out of this line of questioning.

“It’s Clint isn’t it?” Natasha asked bluntly, already knowing the answer and grinning when Bella twitched, “Don’t even try to deny it, you know you want him as your own personal Cupid.”

The dry amused tone plus the bizarre imagery had Bella laughing in spite of herself.

“Okay, okay,” She finally admitted sheepishly, “Yeah… I mean, it’s just his smile, and the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs…and oh god, those arms.”

“Not to mention he’s got a really fine ass.” Natasha leaned forward with a grin her voice low and conspiratorial, and then chuckled when Bella’s eyes widened comically, “What? Just because I don’t see him that way, doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes.”

Clint honestly wasn’t sure whether to blush or preen like a peacock at their words as he vaguely heard Bella humming in agreement while Nat laughed delightedly.

Well, now I know. A slow grin spread across his face, though it quickly creased into a frown as the conversation below him continued.

“Doesn’t matter,” Bella was smiling, though to a trained ear the sadness was clear in her voice, “I’m not sure he even notices I exist half the time.”

“Oh pfft, he notices,” Natasha disputed with a smirk, “And if he doesn’t make a move then he’s an idiot.”

Their travel mugs now filled with steaming coffee, both women turned to leave the kitchen, but not before Natasha turned slightly and looked right at the cover disguising the vent where Clint was perched, raising her eyebrows.

Of course, she knew I was here the whole time, Clint thought with a flash of wry amusement, damn woman knows everything.

His prank completely forgotten for the time being, he slid from his hiding place and scratched his head thoughtfully, frowning slightly at the stray cobweb that clung to the strands of hair under his fingers.

He needed a shower, and then he needed to think about seducing a tiny medic.

~*~0~*~

Bella had been completely serious when she’d admitted to Nat that she had a bit of a thing for the dirty-blond archer. In fact, she’d had a crush on him since she’d first met him, and it had made patching him up post-mission just a little awkward for her the few times he’d needed her to.

He’d put her at ease just by being himself though, cracking jokes and making her smile as she tended to him and whoever else might need it.

Natasha had been the first member of the team to invite Bella for coffee, taking a liking to the shy medic who had nerves of steel when it came to her job. Not many people could stand their ground against Tony, or be around Bruce without giving him fearful looks.

Then gradually she’d spent more and more time with the rest of the team, eventually being able to call them all friends. Even Thor, who’d intimidated the hell out of her the first time she’d been there for one of his visits until she realised he was a big softy when it came to the people he cared about.

The only person who was able to make her nervous now was Clint, though she wasn’t planning on admitting that. It didn’t help that something had changed recently, he was acting differently around her.

She had even asked Natasha if she’d mentioned anything to Clint about their conversation in the kitchen a couple of weeks before, but the former spy had just smirked and sworn up and down that she hadn’t said a word.

He just kept going sending panty dropping smiles her way, leaving her with a tingly warm feeling that made her heart stutter and her thighs clench each time it happened. It was getting harder to act normally around him.

Glancing across the room, Bella’s eyes automatically found him, and she inhaled sharply watching him tilt a beer bottle to his lips, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. Oh god, he’s hot.

The team had come back that day from successfully clearing a Hydra base with no injuries, and while Jarvis was sifting through the mountains of files they had acquired Tony had decided they should have a small celebration.

Unusually for Tony, he’d kept it small and not too extravagant. It was mostly just the team and any of their partners, plus a few people from the tower that they were close to, so it was pretty casual, especially now it was getting quite late. Everyone was there just letting their hair down and relaxing for a while.

“Watch it; you’ve got a little drool.”

Bella jumped and turned to half-heartedly swat at the laughing redhead who easily dodged her.

“You’re getting a bit obvious girl,” Natasha grinned, “And for that matter, so is he.”

“Huh? No way, he just likes to flirt a little,” Bella protested, trying not to get her hopes up despite the warm feeling Natasha’s words were giving her.

“I swear, you’re an idiot, a loveable idiot,” She rolled her eyes fondly, deciding to give her friends a helping hand, “Do you see him looking at anyone else like he’s wishing he could strip them naked with his eyes? He wants you. Trust me, I know Clint.”

“But…” Bella faltered, her wide eyes showing her vulnerability. There’s no way.

Somehow understanding what she was thinking, Natasha sighed and patted Bella’s arm lightly before turning to walk away, tossing one last comment over her shoulder.

“Trust me… and just so you know, he’s not a one night kind of guy.”

Bella swallowed heavily then took a sip of the beer she was holding to combat her suddenly dry mouth.

Somehow Clint had picked that exact moment to catch her eye, giving her the exact ‘naked wishes’ look Nat had described, and though she knew there was no way he could have heard what Nat had been saying Bella couldn’t help the blush that spread across her cheeks.

Clint’s lips quirked into a half smile, his eyebrows rising slightly as he looked across the room at the short brunette who was blushing prettily. Not for the first time, he wondered where that blush would spread to and he couldn’t resist a wink and a slow smirk around the top of the bottle as he drank.

Bella was glad Nat had gone to flirt with Bruce, who was endearingly oblivious as usual. At least she wasn’t there to witness Bella faltering as she tried not to give any outward signs of the effect he was having on her.

~*~0~*~

She was dying. She really was going to spontaneously combust and die.

All because of the man currently sat with his arm around her, his thumb lightly tracing back and forth over a small strip of exposed skin near her hip where her shirt had ridden up slightly.

The party had wound down and the core team were grouped together on the sofas off to the side of the room, drinking and laughing. Bella had switched to soda after a couple of beers, knowing she was a lightweight but was still enjoying herself.

Somehow she’d ended up squashed next to Clint on the sofa, and she wasn’t sure which was worse; the heated looks across the room or the tingling warmth down her side where she was pressed against him.

Then he had shifted suddenly, moving his arm so that it rested behind her instead of in between them, making Bella’s eyes shoot to his face. To her surprise, she’d found him looking down at her with an easy grin, his arm curling around her.

Somehow he was reducing her to a gooey mess, doing something that could still be considered innocent, while being able to appear completely focused on the conversation around them. Damn secret super assassin training.

She was terrible at hiding her emotions. In fact, right now she was sure it was written all over her face that she wanted nothing more than to be utterly ruined in all the best ways by the man next to her.

Judging by the slightly smug grin on Natasha’s face it appeared that assumption was correct, and Bella wondered if the only reason Tony hadn’t said anything was because he currently appeared to be very distracted by a tipsy Pepper.

Finally reaching her breaking point and feeling in desperate need of either a cold shower or some serious alone time, Bella carefully got up and excused herself, quickly saying goodnight to the group and completely missing the significant look Nat gave Clint.

Clint smirked at the look Nat gave him as she mouthed the words go get your girl. Her meddling was as amusing as it was beneficial. Few people would ever guess just how soft-hearted she was deep down when it came to the people she cared about.

Giving her a subtle mock-salute, he got up and followed behind Bella ignoring the curious glances he got from a few of the others.

She was leaning against the wall waiting for the elevator when he caught up to her, and the look somewhere between startled and shy and hopeful that crossed her face absolutely melted him.

Before he could second guess himself, he was standing right in front of her. Their bodies close enough that each inhale of breath made her chest push up against his almost teasingly.

Bracing one hand against the wall next to her head, Clint lightly cupped her neck with the other, his thumb resting on her cheek. He could feel her heart thumping, racing under his fingertips and it made him grin slightly.

“Am I making you nervous, little swan?”

His voice was low and sultry, stirring up a wave of desire that crashed through her as he stroked his thumb across her cheek, his body pressing deliciously against hers.

The small needy sound that bubbled up from her throat would have embarrassed her, if Clint wasn’t now pressing her tighter to the wall, his hands running almost possessively down her sides and over her hips.

“Feels like we’ve been dancing around each other, but if you don’t want this, say the word now,” He murmured, his lips brushing her ear as he leaned down to speak.

A literal shiver ran from her head to her feet at the look he was giving her and Bella had to shake her head slightly to clear enough to give him the reply he was clearly waiting for.

“What word would that be?” She breathed meeting his gaze steadily, a slightly cheeky smile lighting up her face, “I don’t want to say it by accident.”

“Fuck woman,” Clint groaned, “What you do to me.”

The sudden kiss was gentle but no less intense for it, and Bella’s eyes nearly rolled in her head at the feel and taste of him.

A small squeak escaped her as one of his hands tangled in her hair and cupped the back of her head while the other landed far less innocuously on her ass.

“Too much?” Clint murmured against her lips.

“No… definitely no,” Bella replied, a faint blush lighting her cheeks even as she fisted her small hand in the front of his shirt in an effort to prevent him from moving away.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” Clint grinned teasingly, backing away and sliding a hand down her arm to entangle his fingers with hers.

“Where we’re going, though, is away from this corridor. Unless you particularly want Tony to find us here, nosy bastard that he is.”

Bella giggled, squeezing his fingers lightly and reverting to his last name like they usually did when they were joking with each other.

“You trying to get me alone, Barton?”

“I’ve already managed to get you alone sweetheart, what I’m trying to do now is stop myself from just throwing you over my shoulder and taking you to my bed caveman style.”

Another one of those head to foot shivers. She was certain that Clint had noticed it this time too, judging by the amused glint in his eyes.

The slight strained tremor of his hand belied his teasing humour though, and Bella realised he hadn’t exactly been joking.

The small soft sound that left her throat was the last straw for Clint and the tension finally snapped when he turned and headed for the lift without another word, gently tugging Bella along with him.

Bella was quiet while he requested Jarvis to take them to his floor, his husky voice doing things to her insides.

Neither of them said anything else as the doors opened and he led her a little way down the corridor. Feeling sure her heart was pounding loudly enough for Clint to hear it, Bella watched him open his door, her heart actually stuttering then at the smile he gave her.

The room was neat unsurprisingly, with a large TV and a comfy looking couch with a thick blanket folded over the back of it. One wall held several bows, quivers full of arrows and a wide array of other weapons and just to the side of it there was a short workbench nearby, a bow and several tools resting on top of it.

On the other side of the room there was a small kitchenette area and in the wall between that and his work area them there were two doors leading to a bathroom and bedroom. The door to the latter was slightly open and a warm glow came from a lamp, illuminating the room softly.

Her gaze fell on his large neatly made bed and that light dusting of red spread across her cheeks again, prompting Clint to gently brush his knuckles down the flushed skin, enjoying the way her breathing hitched at his touch.

“Blushing again?” He grinned, “What exactly were you thinking to blush like that just from looking at my bed?”

“As if you don’t know Barton,” Bella snorted softly.

“You really need to go back to calling me Clint,” He murmured in reply, “Because it’s just gonna just sound really odd if you scream Barton once I’m between your thighs.”

“Oh,” Bella didn’t have time to gape at him for long.

It took little more than a second for him to pull her against his chest, his head ducking to kiss her thoroughly while she was dimly aware of moving backwards until her legs hit the edge of his bed.

“Don’t forget, just say the word little swan.” Clint broke the kiss and looked at her seriously.

“If you’re planning on being between my thighs shouldn’t you be calling me by my name?” She was aiming for teasing, but the words came out more breathless sounding than anything.

“Okay, Bella.”

The way he said her name should be illegal Bella thought, and she pushed up on her toes to kiss him again, moaning softly when his hand twisted in her hair, holding her against his lips.

Her last coherent thought was that she really was going to spontaneously combust.

~*~Fin~*~

Notes:

My first attempt at Marvel, so be gentle please lol

Big thanks to Harley (Harleen Frances Quinzel) this probably wouldn’t have been finished without you

I don’t have a beta so any mistakes are my own

I may add a second part to this, depending on interest and whether I can get my nerve up to actually write a lemon again lol

Have previously published this fic & others under the name Cuinawen on FFnet & AO3, as well as on Wordpress

[eclecticanalyst]

We’re Expecting You...To Boldly Go [part 2]

In my last post, I expounded on the similarities in the general premise and structure of The Love Boat and Star Trek: The Next Generation, two shows that on the surface seem not to have much in common but on closer examination have some unexpected similarities. In my follow-up post on this theme, I will be drawing parallels between the main/regular characters of both shows. The crew lineup on each ship can be broken down into six character functions/profiles: The Captain, The Captain’s Confidant, The Big Brother, The Two Buds, The Chick, and The Kid.

The Captain

Star Trek TNG: Captain Jean-Luc Picard

The Love Boat: Captain Merrill Stubing

“The Captain” is...the captain! Beyond his role as the primary authority figure, he can be characterized in the following ways. Being the one to whom the rest of the crew reports, he is a bit socially removed from the rest of the main characters. While they can pal around with each other, they still treat him with a bit more deference even as he comes to be just as integral a part of their found family as the rest of them. The Captain can be rather intimidating at times—especially in the early days, when he had a tendency to be overly gruff with his crew. Part of that gruffness is the fact that he has very high standards for the people who serve under him. At the same time, however, he cares deeply for those people and is willing to put himself on the line for them, even bending the rules a bit in order to help them out of a difficult spot. He’s full of thoughtful advice should one of his crew ask for it, and is the most likely of the crew to give speeches about moral responsibility. He also has a playful streak, which he keeps under wraps but uses to mess with his crew from time to time. In terms of appearance, he’s older than the rest of the cast and he is bald(ing). He’s played by the best actor of the cast—Patrick Stewart is, of course, Patrick Stewart, I don’t think I really need to say more there, and Gavin MacLeod was a veteran actor (probably best known at that point for his role as Murray on The Mary Tyler Moore Show), able to handle both the comic and the dramatic whenever needed.

The Captain’s Confidant

Star Trek TNG: Dr. Beverly Crusher

The Love Boat: Dr. Adam “Doc” Bricker

I could have called this character profile “The Doctor,” following the same pattern as “The Captain,” but there was another aspect to Beverly and Doc that I wanted to draw attention to, beyond their being the respective healers of their crews. Both Beverly and Doc have a slightly different relationship with the Captain than the other members of the crew. They are a bit closer to the Captain, able to address him easily as a friend instead of as a superior officer if the situation calls for it. Notice that when working, Beverly will address Picard as “Captain” and “sir,” but when it’s just the two of them chatting in a more intimate setting she calls him “Jean-Luc.” Beverly is also one of the few people on board that Picard is comfortable with opening up to regarding his own insecurities or worries, while he takes more care to maintain his “self-assured captain” persona with everyone else. The same dynamic plays out between Stubing and Doc: there are several instances of Doc addressing his friend as “Merrill”—which none of the other members of the crew would even consider doing—and the power difference between the two is not as pronounced as it is between the captain and the other crew members. Whenever Captain Stubing has a personal problem, he goes to Doc for advice, and vice versa. Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard have a history, having been friends long before he took command of the Enterprise. In the same vein, Doc seems to know Captain Stubing’s past more intimately than the rest of the crew, as there are a few episodes in which the two of them discuss Captain Stubing’s alcohol addiction and current status as a teetotaler as if this is something Doc has always known about Merrill.

The Big Brother

Star Trek TNG: William Riker

The Love Boat: Adam “Doc” Bricker

So this is cheating a bit because I already have Doc listed under a character profile above, but TNG’s main cast has more people than that of TLB, so a one-to-one mapping wasn’t going to happen anyway. Doc’s “Captain’s Confidant” role deals with his relationship with the captain, and his “Big Brother” role deals with his relationship with the rest of the regulars. The fact that Doc is a bit older than Julie, Isaac, and Gopher means that even though he, like the rest of them, is under the supervision of the captain, he has a slight position of seniority over the other three. He balances the by-turns mischievous and responsible aspects of an older brother figure—he’ll tease Julie about her latest infatuation, and set up elaborate pranks to mess with Gopher, yet whenever Gopher and Isaac get swept up in some not-well-thought-out scheme, he’s the level-headed one who tries to point out that they’ve gotten carried away—or sometimes refuses to get involved altogether. William Riker is, of course, first officer of the Enterprise, and therefore has the same seniority-among-underlings position (in a more official chain of command capacity than Doc does). His big-brother-ness manifests as the poker-playing, jazz-loving guy who will do things like give Worf’s son music recordings that he knows Worf will hate one day but get actively upset and almost personally offended at the idea of Data getting hurt the next.

Not necessarily related to the “Big Brother” role, but another little parallel between Doc and Riker that I would like to point out—they are each the designated ladies’ man of their ships, yet both are able to completely switch to focusing solely on their job responsibilities the moment it is called for. (Honestly, Doc always struck me as going beyond “ladies’ man” and skirting dangerously close to “creep” territory at times, but I did appreciate how he would always drop everything the instant there was any sort of medical issue on the Princess.)

The Two Buds

Star Trek TNG: Geordi La Forge and Data

The Love Boat: Isaac Washington and Burl “Gopher” Smith

Although both the TNG and TLB crews form a group of close friends, The Two Buds are best friends. They are the two most likely people to hang out together in their down time, the two who understand each other the best, the two most sympathetic to each other’s problems and most likely to indulge the other long after everyone else would have put their foot down. When Gopher gets some conspiracy theory into his head about a passenger, Isaac will hear him out and sometimes even help him investigate. When Data wants to do some questionable experimentation on his positronic net, Geordi is there with a tricorder making sure the whole thing doesn’t go completely haywire. Data once said that he didn’t know what a friend was until he met Geordi, and Isaac once told Gopher that he (Gopher) is the only one Isaac would resign in solidarity for. All four men/androids have a tendency to get a little too wrapped up in their obsession of the week—see Isaac’s novel-writing attempts, Geordi’s holographic Leah Brahms, Gopher’s conspiracy theories, and about half of anything Data does.

Each pair also consists of one white guy and one Black guy. (Obviously, Data is an android and therefore is not technically any human race or ethnicity, but he’s played by a white guy and his artificial skin is paler than anyone else’s skin on the senior staff.) The white guy representatives, Gopher and Data, are almost polar opposites—Data is calm and logical, and Captain Picard trusts him implicitly, while Gopher is a goof who freaks out easily and who is often upset with the way Captain Stubing dismisses him (those dismissals are especially prominent in the first few seasons—Gopher does mellow out later on). But they do have some similarities, one of the most striking being that they both struggle with appropriate social behavior as well as their own emotions. This is more readily apparent with Data, of course, who is literally not human and is trying his best to understand the nuances of things like humor and love, constantly asking his friends to explain behaviors they take for granted. Gopher’s struggles are more understated—he has a tendency to make comments and observations that the rest of the crew find slightly tasteless, he goes into several anxious tailspins over the course of the show, and he at one point believes his emotional attachments to his friends compromise his ability to fulfill his job duties. Both Data and Gopher use their respective best friends—each of whom are the more level-headed of the pair—as a steadying force.

Now for the characteristics shared by those respective best friends. The Black guy’s job responsibilities root him in a specific place and often set him slightly apart from the main action. While Geordi can and does go up to the bridge on several occasions, as Chief of Engineering he spends most of his time hanging around the warp core, communicating with the bridge over the com system. Meanwhile, Isaac can be seen wandering hallways and so forth, but he spends most of his time behind the bar, whether that’s in the Acapulco Lounge, on the Lido Deck, or in Pirate’s Cove. The rest of the crew, despite having nominal work stations like the Enterprise bridge or the Pacific Princess purser’s lobby, are seen to roam more extensively. (I’m pretty sure we never see Julie’s office.) Isaac is busy serving drinks in pretty much every episode while Doc and Gopher are chatting and dancing with passengers on the dance floor of the Acapulco Lounge. The Black guy also gets the short end of the stick in the romance department. When you see a Black guest actor on the opening credits of The Love Boat, it’s a good bet that Isaac will be involved in their storyline. If it’s just one Black woman, there’s a 99% chance that Isaac will be involved in her story, and his involvement will be as her love interest. I remember one particularly glaring example of the show going to extreme lengths to avoid even hinting that Isaac could potentially do something vaguely romantic or sexual with a white woman—Julie’s hosting her high school reunion on the ship, and there are a few scenes where everyone is discoing in the Acapulco Lounge. Isaac gets out on the dance floor, and conveniently some random Black woman appears out of nowhere as his dance partner. This woman is not named or acknowledged at any other point in the episode. Over on the Enterprise, Geordi isn’t restricted along race lines like Isaac, but I find it highly suspicious that the one Black guy is the least successful in romance out of everyone on the senior staff. Geordi struggles to even start up a conversation with women he’s attracted to, let alone flirt with them. Data has a better romance track record than Geordi does, and Data usually ends up in a romantic entanglement by accident! It’s as if the show was afraid to let Geordi enjoy those kinds of relationships to the same degree as the rest of the crew, which is a different kind of restriction than Isaac’s, but still a restriction nonetheless.

The Chick

Star Trek TNG: Deanna Troi

The Love Boat: Julie McCoy

The standard lineup for both TNG and The Love Boat consisted two female main characters, thus allowing the ladies to gossip about “girly” things in keeping with gender stereotypes, but Vicki was a preteen/teenager and Beverly had a sort of matron vibe going on, which left Julie and Troi to be the respective sex appeal characters out of the main cast. The Chick has non-standard dress that sets her apart from the others and their status as officers. While Doc, Gopher, and Captain Stubing wore nautical stripes and white uniforms (and Isaac usually had a variation on this outfit, wearing a red or blue jacket), with very little in the way of costume changes whether they were greeting boarding passengers, chatting on the Lido deck, or dancing in the Acapulco Lounge, Julie had no stripes to speak of. She would wear a (feminine) uniform at boarding, switch to a casual outfit during the rest of the day, and was always wearing a gown of some sort in the evenings. Deanna Troi for her part cycled through purple jumpsuits and asymmetrical dresses, her Starfleet badge precariously pinned to her neckline. We didn’t even get to see the pips indicating her rank until she was finally given (in story, ordered into) a normal uniform in season six.

The Chick gets saddled with way too many romance plots, some creepier than others. Giving Troi something substantial to do in an episode usually consisted of making her the love interest of whoever happened to be boarding the Enterprise that week, like the ambassador with the telepathic interpreters or the quarter-Betazoid interplanetary negotiator. Deanna also got her mind invaded by a man who was interested in her, prematurely aged by a man who took advantage of her, and kidnapped by Ferengi (who have a disturbing species-wide infatuation with non-Ferengi women). I’m not as upset about Julie having several romance-related plots, as romance was the name of the game on The Love Boat and the men on the crew had their own share of romantic entanglements—but I do find issue with the fact that when Julie was in love she always seemed on the verge of getting married and leaving the ship, which was a vibe we didn’t really get from, say, Doc or Gopher when their love lives turned particularly intense. In terms of creepiness, Julie had to deal with fending off the extremely aggressive advances of Captain Stubing’s uncle, a computer programmer who rigged his dating algorithm to ensure he matched with her, and a college acquaintance of Gopher who actually came to her door to badger her as she was getting dressed.

The Kid

Star Trek TNG: Wesley Crusher

The Love Boat: Vicki Stubing

For some reason, both of these shows thought it necessary to have a preteen/teenager in the cast whose character has way more responsibility than is realistic for either a cruise ship or a pseudomilitary starship. Instead of Vicki wearing a uniform and checking in guests on the Pacific Princess, we really should have seen Julie’s or Gopher’s staff fulfilling check-in duty (Doc and Isaac were also too often seen checking in passengers, which I will say again is a duty that on a real cruise ship would definitely not fall to either the ship’s doctor or chief bartender, but we’re talking about Vicki at the moment). Wesley, meanwhile, was made Acting Ensign on the Enterprise, saving the ship way more than he should have and probably earning the ire of all the official ensigns who actually went to Starfleet Academy and were losing precious time at the conn due to Picard’s favoritism.

Speaking of Picard, The Captain has a paternal relationship with The Kid—literally in Vicki Stubing’s case, emotionally in Wesley Crusher’s. He is very concerned with imbuing The Kid with strong morals, and has a vested interest in The Kid’s upbringing and making sure The Kid has a bright future. Meanwhile, the rest of the main crew are like an assortment of aunts and uncles, being the cool, approachable sources of advice when The Captain’s not around. In fact, The Kid hardly seems to have any friends their own age. Instead, they hang out with the adult crew members and get involved in their social drama, which may or may not have always been appropriate.

Isn’t there someone you forgot?

The TNG fans among you may now be thinking to yourselves, “What about Worf?” Alas, there seems to be no satisfactory Worf counterpart on The Love Boat. After all, there isn’t really any need for a tactical officer on a cruise ship, so a warrior-type personality is not represented on the Pacific Princess crew. Other Worf characteristics would be that of an outsider, or one who is occasionally not sure if they truly belong on the ship, but everyone on the Princess seems pretty happy to be there. I guess in a pinch I could say Ace, the late-addition ship’s photographer, might serve as Worf’s counterpart, but other than the fact that Ace’s family is rich and it is established that he doesn’t really need a job on the ship to get by, I’m not sure there’s much of an “outsider” status brought to the table here. I also haven’t watched enough Ace episodes to have a really good read on his character.

 Thus ends my Love Boat/TNG comparison! It was nice to finally get this analysis out of my head and onto the page.

[scrawler-jay]

of mice and artblock

So, midterms happened and I abandoned this blog for a while. But now I’m back, and I come bearing mice.

*

I’ve been really struggling with finding subjects I like to draw. I’m happy to work on skeleton studies until Judgment Day to better understand anatomy, but I know I need to balance “homework” art with “for fun” art, or else risk losing motivation for learning to draw -- and I’m so used to writing fiction at this point that no subject really appeals to me artistically unless it’s got 5,000+ words of story attached (or at least some narrative/character ideas, yanno -- something for my brain to pick at). The obvious solution is to draw concept art and characters from my written stories, but I feel really intimidated by that because I’m such a beginner artist that nothing I create now will do justice to the vision I have in my head.

I need art OCs and concepts – things that I will only draw art of, and have never written a story about. Stuff that doesn’t have to match a previously established, written story, and that I can change as I learn more and my skills improve.

I ended up drawing a bunch of mice.

This was initially just a whim. Human anatomy requires a lot of skill to pull off, especially faces and hands, but mice felt more beginner-friendly to me. Admittedly, I was going for a more cartoony style as opposed to photorealism, so if you’re looking at this from a realism perspective then these are pretty poor mice. However, I don’t feel ashamed of them, which I am taking as a good sign.

I kept drawing one mouse over and over. I ended up calling him Leo just because it was funny – “leo” refers to lions, but here Leo is just a little mouse. But of course, giving him a name (and a gender, incidentally) is the start of a story. Via a flight of fancy, I got it into my head that I wanted to do a painting of Leo trying to catch a big snowflake. I made some thumbnails of what I wanted the scene to look like, and then cut out a roughly 7 inch x 7 inch piece of watercolor paper from a big sheet that I had under my bed, sketched the scene in pencil, and then finished with watercolor pencils (and a white gel pen for the snowflakes). The process probably took 2.5 to 3 hours.

So, now the lore is that Leo is a mouse living in a little house in an old tree at the edge of the woods, and he wears a red scarf. I did not like this painting. It seemed over-saturated and the colors didn’t quite work the way I wanted them to. I ended up watching a tutorial on color theory, and decided to redo the painting using my newfound knowledge of color schemes. I used this color palette tool to get an idea of what kinds of colors would look good together, and settled on a complementary scheme with bluish green and brownish red.

And then, everything went wrong.

I tried to redo the painting, still working traditionally. I rushed the sketch because I was so eager to get right into working with color. This time, to avoid over-saturation, I used watercolors out of a pan rather than in pencil form. Mixing the colors in the lid of the pan took a really long time because I was so picky about shades, and because I continued rushing I didn’t allow the layers enough time to dry. Leo’s scarf (now green instead of red) bled into his russet fur, and the mailbox was the wrong shape, and I tried to erase a pencil line and created a dark blotch over an area that was supposed to be white with snow – and then I gave up.

I had downloaded Krita, a piece of digital drawing/painting software, a while ago, but hadn’t had any success using it because my desk isn’t big enough to accommodate both a laptop and my small tablet. Using my lap to hold the tablet was an exercise in frustration, and I knew so little about how digital art works that I just felt really overwhelmed and lost whenever I opened the program.

However, Krita (like most digital art software) has an undo button that I find very alluring, so I decided to try it again, now on a shiny new desk from Ikea that is actually big enough to support tablet and laptop together. I think just the space on the desk really made all the difference, but also I was determined to get this artwork of a mouse to a place where I felt satisfied with it.

I spent a solid 5 hours working on what ended up being a very simple colored drawing of a mouse catching a snowflake outside his little house. I barely blended anything at all, and there’s no light source that required me to shade anything – it’s just flat color. However, I really like these colors, and I think I did well (for an absolute beginner). I want to go back and add textures/shading to give an impression of depth, but I'm not sure how.

Leo – like all of my figures – feels really stiff, so I also want to work on gestures/studies of mice doing things. And, thanks to the popularity of mice as lab animals and pets, there are way more reference photos of mice than I expected! Most refs depict the house mouse, Mus musculus, but I did find the work of a wildlife photographer named Dean Mason who spent 15 years photographing harvest mice (micromys minutus).

Unfortunately, all of the prior artwork in this post I had drawn almost purely from imagination, and I think it shows. I studied two mice from photos in pencil, then erased the lines until they were barely visible and tried to do the fur texture in ink (with a dip pen, so there is some unevenness when the pen was extra inky).

Left is my first attempt doing the fur texture. I was more cautious with layering pen strokes, so you can see the lines of strokes fairly evenly. Right is my 2nd attempt, where I was bolder with the pen. I like these mice more than the one I created in the digital painting; these ones (especially the right) feel more Beatrix Potter-ish, which is a vibe I like.

Do I want to go back and fix the anatomy in my digital art of Leo? Yes. I also want to take another stab at doing this piece traditionally, but this time, I'd go monochrome and try to do everything in brown. However, part of me is exhausted from drawing ten million snowflakes and does not want to relive that experience with a gel pen -- I've already done it once with a tablet pen, and that was enough.

I have a hazy, far-off goal of creating a comic of Leo having adventures with another mousy friend, but that’s so far in the future that it’s not worth spending time considering right now. In the nearer future, however, Leo’s friend might become a reality – I know he’s an albino mouse (name TBD) who either escaped from a drug-testing facility (I loved The Secret of NIMH movie as a kid) or else is a pet who was dumped into the wild by a human owner who no longer wanted him. Leo is outgoing and adventurous, and this friend is shy and cautious.

[ardenttheories]

And onto that odd little meta piece I was talking about. It’s really more of a fandom observation.

Despite not knowing what Bro looks like, the entire fandom seemed to gravitate towards two ideas: Twunk, or Hunk. Every piece of fanart I’ve seen usually has him thickly built, trim down the waist but broad shouldered and coiled with muscle, or at the very least with some sort of defined musculature that usually isn’t present on other characters. E.g. x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

You’ll also typically find a theme with the artist’s choice of expression or facial features; strong jaw, sharp nose, often frowning. 

And this all comes from...

This sprite. A sprite, mind you, that’s exactly the same as this:

And yet the expression of this character is wholly different. 

He’s often drawn slimmer, with slanted shoulders and either a thin dorito-waistline or a relatively similar shoulder to hip ratio. He often has more curved features - his jawline, his nose - and his expression almost always determined or soft. E.g. x, x, x, x, x, x

And for emphasis: this is how two artists chose to draw them side by side. E.g. x, x

It’s also very rare to see people draw Alpha Dave the same height as Bro. From memory - and I got into Homestuck roughly during the height of the Alpha kids’ popularity - most of the fanart I saw with any instance of Bro and A!Dave in the same image had a pretty fair height difference. 

Again: this comes from the exact same sprite. When you layer Bro’s sprite over A!Dave’s, you’ll be able to fit them together pixel to pixel (except, of course, the arm - A!Dave’s got his arm up holding the sword, unlike Bro - and the jawline - which is much more curved than Bro’s, but when we actually see Alpha Dave’s sprite in canon, it isn’t really long enough to focus on this tiny feature [especially when you consider that Grandpa Harley has the same face shape, but people still draw him with a defined jawline]). 

So, why so different? Why would people draw these two characters so wildly different when, for instance... 

Both Moms are drawn almost exactly the same. 

It’s pretty obvious when you think about it, but it’s also an incredibly important thing to note if you ever plan on creating your own characters. 

Character interactions define how we view characters that have yet to be introduced or do not have a wholly set image. 

When we think of Bro, we have to be realistic: we know absolutely nothing about who he is as a person, or what he looks like, besides the information that we get from Dave. So, when we get the information that he’s physically abusive, that he has cameras around the entire apartment, partakes in puppet snuff for the sake of a pornographic website, leaves such pornographic paraphenalia around the apartment for a young Dave to see, and that he’s emotionally closed off and distant, we immediately start to form an image of him in our minds that’s based on what we can define as an amalgamation of toxic masculinity and male abusers. 

It’s not exactly hard to imagine why the most common fanart of him circulates as a tall, imposing, broad figure who barely smiles and would be incredibly hard to get around in a small, dark alley. 

We also need to remember, of course, that Dave is a child while he describes Bro. An adult is almost always going to be tall and imposing to a child - is always going to be stronger and physically more capable than a child. 

Bro could be the most average joe you’ve ever met, but because we learn about him from the viewpoint of a child who quite literally cannot fight back, the image of him becomes tilted to the buff end of the spectrum. 

He becomes someone we would fear seeing. Someone who could overpower us, and not just a child under his care. He is big and strong because that is how Dave sees him, and that is how we come to understand him as a character.

Big, strong, violent, with sexual overtness and a lack of emotion. It’s pretty much the only way you can imagine him, even when his sprite is incredibly lacking in detail. 

So, why the softness for Alpha Dave? 

Pretty simply, because we already know who Dave is by the time Alpha Dave is introduced. People already had an idea of what Dave looked like, who he’d be when he grew up. People had already decided that Dave, being so different from Bro, being such a hero, would never be able to achieve the same sort of toxic masculinity that Bro did - would never have the same shape, the same musculature, that comes with that toxic imagery. 

 We also got told about him by a young teen who absolutely idolised him. Who emphasised his good traits and spoke about how absolutely badass he was. 

The connotations with Alpha Dave are so much more positive than with Bro. That in and of itself would have changed how people drew him. But when you combine him with the concept that he’s Dave, the Dave that went through all that abuse and came out the other side hating everything that Bro stood for, it’s hard not to draw him as Bro’s nigh complete opposite. 

So, he’s smaller. He’s got less of that musculature that people associate with toxic masculinity (the ability to overpower someone smaller), and he has a much closer shoulder-to-hip ratio (something that makes him take up less space, and come across as less imposing). He smiles more, he emotes more, he’s much more emotionally open - and even when he’s meant to be “cool”, it’s often with some sort of smug or determined look, not the ever-present blankness or snarl that we see from Bro. 

He loses all of the traits that we’d associate with an abuser. Instead, he becomes a pretty ordinary hero - someone who can stand up and fight back, but isn’t overly heroic or powerful. Someone who might still struggle, but can handle things. 

This is despite the fact, of course, that we know nothing about Alpha Dave’s upbringing or life besides what Dirk tells us - and Brain Ghost Dirk, at that. Unreliable narrators are not a good place to find valuable information, and, once again, the in-comic sprite is literally the exact same as Bro’s.

Fandom perception is an incredibly powerful thing. 

So, what about Dirk? How does he fare in all of this?

Dirk’s actually a weird figure in everything, and this comes down to a very simple yet paradoxical concept:

We already had ideas on who Bro was, yet we actively get to see who Dirk is. 

It’s very hard to go into something expecting one person and getting another. We can see all those notes in Dirk that we saw in Bro - the toxic tendencies, the hyper masculinity, the divorced note from people and emotions - but we see them within the specific framework of a teenager with mental illness. 

This isn’t just an asshole, abusive adult. This is that adult’s younger self in a better mindset to try and do good by the people he loves. We see this time and time again - when he says how much he cares about Roxy, when he expresses his guilt that he couldn’t be romantically invested in her, when he shares the fears he holds of his splinters, when he admits that Bro is exactly what he could be and is genuinely scared of being - that he is the foundation of Bro, but not Bro in a very important way. 

It’s also needless to say that people connected with Dirk in the exact same way that people connected with Dave. When you look at a lot of vent art involving him, it’s almost always about mental illness - anxiety, impulsive or intrusive thoughts, a desperate need for control in life, self harm or a dislike for oneself - and a fair bit of generic art revolving around Dirk includes some sort of deeper mental struggle. 

He’s a victim, in a similar way that Dave is, but he’s also just far enough that he could be a villain. 

You find that a lot of fanart therefore shows this paradoxical nature. 

In some, he’s softer. The ratio between his hips and his shoulders is narrower, his jawline is more curved. E.g. x, x, x, x

In others, he’s sharper. He’s drawn with more defined muscle, with a stronger jawline and broader shoulders, and though he’s definitely slim you can definitely see just how close he is to becoming the same figure as Bro. E.g. x, x, x, x, x 

And in others, he’s an odd mix of both. A brooding figure with a softer jawline, but still imposing and sharp in his own right - or even the complete opposite, with sharp features and defined shapes, but slimmer and smaller, much less imposing. E.g. x, x, x, x, x, 

So, I think we can make a pretty firm observation that the way Dirk is drawn reflects how the artist views his journey and his struggles. Whether he’s his own person, closer to Bro, or somewhere stuck in between. 

As you can see from most of this art, there’s a few ways that people draw Dirk; raring to fight and smug/confident, fairly sombre and down, almost tired, or standoffish and closed off. Even this is somewhere in between the way people view Bro and Alpha Dave. 

So, it’s then interesting to take a look at the Epilogues. 

New art of Dirk was produced in line with the Meat Epilogue. And while I really only know of one piece that catches my eye every time I see it, I think it’s important to point out that, in almost all of these images, one of two body types appear for Dirk:

1) Broad, muscular, tall. He takes up space and commands attention. Sharp features, wider shoulders.

2) Smaller, less imposing, yet somehow intimidating in just the expressions he makes and the way he holds himself. If you can imagine any fuckboy you’d be scared of being cornered by at a party, you’ve got a good idea of this style of fanart. 

In other words, either tipped way more to looking like Bro, or so close to looking like something you’d be scared of IRL - which perfectly reflects how uncomfortable he feels within the narration of the Epilogue, and some of the more questionable things he has happen in it. 

I also want to just add in as a side note: almost all of the links I added about Dirk go to Pinterest for sake of ease for people to find other images for reference, since I’m really just collecting the art I like most. On most of the Dirk ones, scrolling down will reveal the aforementioned vent art; on most of the Dave ones, scrolling down will reveal much softer, sweeter pieces of art involving him and people he’s loved throughout the comic. Just something interesting to add into this discussion - think about what that means for how people view either Strider.

So, what was all of this about?

Honestly, it’s me just pointing out how important character opinions and preconceived ideas are to the way people view other characters. So much of the way we see Bro is influenced by how Dave sees him and our cultural understanding of what toxic, hypermasculine male abusers look like. So much of the way we see Alpha Dave is based around our understanding of Dave, and what little we can fill in from Brain Ghost Dirk, rather than on who he actually is as a person (and we could be wrong; we could be very, very wrong). So much of the way of the way we see Dirk is influenced by Bro, and yet by what we see in canon. 

If we had different ideas and different opinions from different characters, we might draw each of them wildly different. But it is this specific combination of lack of physical description and cultural association/character perception that ensures we draw them the way they are. 

[sketzocase]

Pheromones. Pheromones.  

PHEROMONES

Let’s talk about fucking pheromones.  (LONG POST) 

DISCLAIMER 

(please understand that while upset and angry, this post is not to personally call names or incite fighting. I’m just stating my opinion and the research of which lead me to it. The information I am providing is in no way shape or form intended to make fun, call out, or demean any users and at absolutely NO point will individual user names or topics/posts be linked to or mentioned . Neither will any screen shots or other such means be shown. The point I am making is not to cause fighting or demean or bully any individual users and please understand that any issue brought forth is with the overall arching topic and in no way aimed at any singular individual. As such, this is my opinion and while the post is quite frustrated , it is not meant to cause any mental or social harm to any user. Which involves inciting harassment, suicide baiting anons, hateful messages, blatant slander, or any form of online bullying. While understanding that every fandom has a wide range of ages in it, I am an adult and my intent is for the following post to be as respectful as I can make it while being angry. Please be kind to all users regardless of their beliefs or ideas. )

NOW

PHEROMONES 

Def-  -: a chemical substance that is usually produced by an animal and serves especially as a stimulus to other individuals of the same species for one or more behavioral responses

Things pheromones do ( in nature) 

raising an alarm (not sex) 

signaling a food trail (Not sex)

triggering sexual arousal (SEX) 

tell other female insects to lay their eggs elsewhere (not sex) 

delineating a territory ( not sex) 

bond between mother and offspring  ( not sex)

warning another animal to back off (Not sex) 

They work on humans! ( sorta) 

List of how they are mainly used in comics (from comic websites!) 

The user has complete control over the pheromones, a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species, of oneself and others, including releasing pheromones that induce attraction between subjects (or within a subject for oneself), to exuding pheromones strong enough to induce sleep, change/influence emotions, draw crowds, etc.

Pheromones may induce a pleasure, or may put subjects into a state of high suggestibility (either of which is useful for limited mind control). Other uses of these pheromones can be used to mark territory (causing people to feel the compulsion to not go into a certain area), or to leave a pheromone path which others can follow. The user's pheromones may even increase stamina (NOT SEX) slightly stimulate the healing process (NOT SEX) or (used offensively) cause foes to become disoriented, (NOT SEX) violent oR (NOT SEX) extremely sick. (NOT SEX) 

(THE FOLLOWING INFO COMES FROM  : https://www.fandom.com/

- I LOOKED UP PHEROMONES AND PHEROMONES APPLICATIONS- 

THIS IS ONE OF THE ONLY SITES THAT FOCUSED ON COMICS SO.. TAKE IT AS YOU WILL. 

THEY CALL IT

Feromonikinesis

Pherokinesis

Pheromone Control

APPLICATIONS  (WITH LINKS) 

Addictive Contentment - The user can cause other beings to develop immense, even addictive emotional attachments to either themselves or others. This can result in the victims having strange, withdrawal-like symptoms by breaking this emotional tie and can even cause death because the person will "need them" so much that they cannot bear to live without them

Desire Amplification-The user can amplify the desires in others, increasing the targets needs/obsessions/desires up to point where victim won't stop at anything to try to get whatever they desire for, even being willing to hurt themselves to get it.

Emotion Detection-User can sense the presence of emotions, including feelings, moods and their affects, of themselves, people, animals and other creatures.They can sense the presence of others by sensing their emotions.

Inodorosity-The user's body possesses no discernible scent, allowing them to evade users of Enhanced Smell among other things.

Mental Inducement

Desire Inducement- User can induce desires into others, to the point where they cannot get enough of it. This power can bring out the deepest desire of someone (whether it is company, love or just food) or even induce new desires they never had before.

QUICK THINGS -

Hunger Inducement - Causes the victim to feel great hunger or even keep on eating without regard to their health.

Love Inducement- Cause a people to desire what they love and vice-versa.

Nostalgia Inducement - Make the victim desire for the past.

Sexual Inducement - Induce sexual desires in others, making them get it at all costs.

Emotion Inducement- The user can induce emotions, including happiness, sadness, rage, fear, etc., causing short-term change in emotions, exact length of the effect depends on both the users skill and power and the targets mental state.

QUICK THINGS

Anger Inducement

Annoyance Inducement

Avarice Inducement

Anxiety Inducement

Bliss & Horror Inducement

Confidence Inducement

Confusion Inducement

Courage Inducement

Desire Inducement

Despair Inducement

Doubt Inducement

Self-Doubt Inducement

Emotion Inversion

Envy Inducement

Excitement Inducement

Fear Inducement

Intimidation Intuition

Guilt Inducement

Happiness Inducement

Hatred Inducement

Self-Hatred Inducement

Hope Inducement

Love Inducement

Self-Love Inducement

Nostalgia Inducement

Optimism Inducement

Paranoia Inducement

Pessimism Inducement

Pleasure Inducement

Sadness Inducement

Serenity Inducement

Sexual Inducement

Fear Inducement

Love Inducement

Orgasm Inducement (SEX)

Pleasure Inducement 

Sexual Inducement

(MORE THINGS (FOLLOW LINKS!!!!) 

LIMITATIOINS

- May be limited to manipulating the pheromones of others or only themselves.Some users may only be able to control a particular gender (usually opposite of user's own).Strong will-powered victim may be a problem.

MARVEL USERS  (INCOMP) 

-WALLFLOWER  (f)

-STACY X  (f)

-DAKEN (m)

-SPIDER WOMAN (JESSICA DREW) (f)

- PURPLE MAN (m)

-PURPLE WOMan (F)

-PURPLE CHILDREN  (?) 

DC (INCOMP)

-POISION IVY (F)

RESURRECTION MAN (M)

QUEEN BEE (F)

HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY 

- FORD  (M)

THIS is a very short list. 

Conclusion

As you can see, yes, pheromone manipulation does involve sexual things, but there is also a whole ass list of other uses. 

In regards the the latest X-Factor comic and some remarks I’ve seen about Daken’s misuse of pheromones, I humbly, and respectfully disagree. 

On the two instances he was shown- clearly- using pheromones, He used it to calm a child- completely innocentand to soothe and entice a man into giving him information 

HOWEVER- if you see the man’s face in the beginning- there was already attraction there. 

There for, in no way shape or form were Daken’s powers used for nefarious purposes. 

On a side note, if you were to ask anyone who works with small children if they would use a ‘cool down’ pheromone to make children stop screaming- I’m betting they’d say ‘yes’ (as long as it was safe. Which it was) 

-much less serious not, Patrick Star  (Spongebob) is one of the characters known to use ‘annoyance inducement’ and that makes me laugh my ass off-

[hellzyeahwebwieldingreviews]

Untold Tales of Spider-Man 04: Better Looting Through Modern Chemistry – by John Garcia and Pierce Askegren

Surprisingly pretty good!

Peter Parker is in line at the ChemCo chemical supply house on a Friday afternoon. A man who looks vaguely familiar is in front of him. The man orders two helium cartridges but the price has gone up and he only has enough money for one. The ChemCo clerk is unsympathetic, not accepting a check or any other form of payment but cash. The man is forced to only buy one cartridge. Peter is sympathetic but can do nothing to help. He is buying plastic polymer to make web fluid, since his supply is dangerously low. But the price of the polymer has also gone up and Peter doesn't have the money to pay for it.

Back at Empire State University, Peter literally runs into Gwen Stacy. Since this story takes place "a few weeks after Amazing Spider-Man #36, May 1966", Gwen is still in her ice-queen phase concerning Pete; disdainful but trying to draw him out. She invites him to join the gang at a demonstration by sports star Johnny "The Ray" Ramos. Pete wants to go but he has to get money for his web fluid. He goes to the Daily Bugle to ask J. Jonah Jameson for an advance. It seems that JJJ is stuck without a photographer for a reception he is holding to premiere a new Bugle section on emerging technologies. He tells Peter he can get an advance at 4:30 PM if he agrees to join Jonah to photograph the reception.

At 4:30, Norton G. Fester, the man Peter saw at ChemCo, enters the Neville K. Trelayne Memorial Mineral Museum, knocks out the guard and cracks open a meteor just like the one from which he got his super-strength. He inhales the gas within and gains extra strength which he shows off by tossing a motorcycle into a fuel tanker causing a massive explosion.

Pete shows up at 4:45 to pick up his check, having spent too long in a camera shop. He gets the cash and prepares to hurry to ChemCo, which closes at 5:30. But Aunt May calls the Bugle and he wastes time talking to her as she asks him to buy eggs so she can make cookies.

At 5:00 Fester, now in his Looter costume, destroys an electrical substation with his bare hands. At 5:35 Peter shows up at ChemCo only to be told by the clerk that he's too late and must wait until Monday. Peter briefly considers using his spider-powers to break in and steal the polymer but he knows he won't do that. Just then Sally Green shows up and asks if he'd walk with her to Chesney's "a local soda fountain". Peter agrees.

Meanwhile, the Looter continues his vandalism, smashing any fire hydrants he encounters and going into subway stations and tearing up the tracks. Peter ends up at the soda fountain with Sally having a grand time. But just as he is about to invite her to join him at the Bugle reception, Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn, and Gwen show up and ruin his timing. (Aren't they supposed to be at Johnny "Ray" Ramos' demonstration?) When he hears a news report over the soda jerk's radio announcing blackouts, disastrous traffic jams, and a major fire on the Upper East Side, Peter knows Spider-Man needs to investigate. He begs off, saying he must run an errand for his Aunt but Sally thinks he is running from Flash Thompson and she loses interest in him.

On his way Uptown, Spidey runs out of web fluid so he hitches a ride from a Newscopter. The Looter, soaring through the air on his built-in helium balloon watches him. Fester muses over the fact that he was released on bail after his loss to Spidey. Knowing that he will be convicted in his upcoming trial, he has devised a plan to steal enough money so that he can skip town. As Spidey deals with the burning fuel truck and the cops are busy with the other disasters, the Looter robs Cassidy's Fine Jewels. Coming upon the ruined power station, Spidey rescues the security guard who then tells him that the "costumed lunatic" who did this wore a "purple and white costume, had a backpack and a tool belt." Spidey recognizes that description. It also makes him realize who was in line in front of him at ChemCo. Then he remembers "a leaflet...casually tossed at him by J. Jonah Jameson" and he realizes where the Looter is going. (The leaflet was a list of exhibits apparently trucked in for the reception and one of them is... well, guess what?)

Sure enough, Fester crashes the Bugle reception. Having finished his crime spree, the Looter now prepares to breathe in the gas from yet another meteor, this one "nearly the size of a telephone booth." (How many of these dang meteors are there?!) Spider-Man shows up before Norton can puncture the meteor and he is forced to flee. Spidey gives chase and hangs on as Norton sails away on his balloon. Fester manages to knock Spidey off but the struggle puts a hole in the balloon. He lands and patches the balloon but in the meantime, Spidey has rescued himself as well. But Norton gets to his car (somehow) where all his loot is. Trouble is the word has gone out and the authorities are watching all of the routes off of Manhattan Island. Fester knows his only chance is to get the balloon up and running again so he goes back to ChemCo to steal a helium canister. But Spidey has deduced this and, hitching a ride with the news chopper again, gets there a head of Fester. He grabs a polymer compound and a "reagent jug with attached hose" which he combines and sprays on the Looter's feet, anchoring him to the floor. "It's not webbing, but it'll have to do" says Spidey.

Of course, Spidey takes pictures of the Looter's defeat and he hopes this will be enough to mollify JJJ for his no-show at the reception. He also grabs the bottle of liquid polymer he needs for webbing and puts the money on the counter. Tonight he's going to make some more webbing but first he has a long walk home. He wonders where he can stop to buy some eggs for Aunt May. Then it starts raining on him. "Some days, it just didn't pay to get out of bed."

I was pleasantly surprised by this tale.

The Looter is at best a C-list Spidey villain at that. Most people forget he exists and the people who do probably forget Ditko himself created him.

The fact is aside from a kind of cool mask he’s just not all that great of a bad guy which is why the people who do actually like him tend to gravitate towards the more comedic style stories with him, perhaps the classic examples being those found in the Dezago/Wieringo Sensational Spidey run.

Indeed it is one of the weaknesses of this issue that it takes the Looter rather too seriously, especially when we consider that the latter mentioned run was actually fairly recent at the time of this book’s publication.

It’s not that the Looter is bad exactly, but you do raise an eyebrow over a Spider-Man villain who literally travels via balloon. I feel like the author actually took Looter more seriously than maybe any writer before or since (including perhaps Ditko himself) because he actually puts effort into emphasizing the Looter’s smarts in regards to his equipment along with how dangerous fighting a super strong opponent can be. He’s a loser villain to Spidey, but to a civilian he’s actually quite intimidating.

I actually can’t recall off the top of my head if his motivation in this story really lines up with established canon. A lot of what he does here is basically get super strength from chemicals in meteors, his ultimate target being one from Wakanda (although weirdly vibranium is never mentioned). Again, I might be forgetting this but I could’ve sworn that’s not how his powers work. IIRC he did indeed gain super strength from the gasses of a meteor but it was a one time deal and permanent. He doesn’t need to constantly top up his power from other meteors and nor could he as they wouldn’t necessarily have the same chemicals anyway.

As for the story over all this was perhaps the best story thus far to capture the approach that the comic book UToSM took back in the day. This is rather ironic considering this is also the first story that takes place after high school which the comic series never got around to.

The comic book series rooted itself in the Ditko run and then delicately modernized the dialogue and over all writing style. I say delicately because it still felt a lot like the 1960s stuff there was just a bit more polish to the pacing, dialogue and plotting.

Whilst the second story by DeFalco sort of did that too, it was ultimately a lot heavier and a lot more emotionally engaging than Ditko/Lee’s stuff used to be. That isn’t to say it was bad or that Ditko/Lee’s stuff was bad, it’s just a matter of style. Busiek and Garcia/Askegren Garcia/Askegren’s stories’ though feel like they could be read inbetween the Ditko era material and feel fairly cohesive (obviously if this story was drawn).

Moreover this story not only feels tonally like a Busiek comic story but the plot itself could absolutely have been an issue of UToSM had the series ever hit college.

That’s it’s strength and it’s weakness though.

It is it’s weakness because just like a comic book story there is a fair chunk of action, more as the story unfolds in fact. And as I’ve said before prose is not ideally suited for comic book super hero action. This one was better  than the last story by leagues and the action wasn’t hard to follow, but I did drift off a bit during it I must admit.

Furthermore nothing really significant happens in Peter’s life in this story. Obviously I’m not expecting a tale where he gets married or something, but DeFalco’s story for example was impactful. This one isn’t, but in a way that is appropriate.

The nature of untold tales is such that you tread a fine line between doing something dramatic, but not too dramatic because readers would wonder why Spidey never brought this event up in earlier stories?

This story is perhaps the most effective one yet in this regard. It’s a fairly standard day in the life story for Peter Parker at a certain point in his life. Its nothing special but it’s good fun. A dash of normal life soap operatics mixed in with super hero action makes for a perfectly serviceable Spidey yarn.

And were this a comic I feel it would’ve been appreciated amidst the turmoil of the Clone Saga and post-Clone Saga era. Something short, simple and sweet.

However there is a little bit more to the story than that.

I feel that this story pretty much confirms a theory that’s been brewing in me about this book. Each story is in some way a representation of an aspect of Spidey lore. The first was about Spidey’s place amidst the wider Marvel universe and the uneasy relationship he has with fellow heroes. The second was about Peter’s sense of responsibility. The third was about his sibling rivalry dynamic with the Torch. And this one seems to be about the Parker Luck as almost everything that can go wrong does go wrong for Pete in this tale.*

However it isn’t overwrought or Satanically cruel like far too many attempts at depicting the Parker Luck are. The bad luck is indeed bad, but it’s reserved. It’s stuff like being in the wrong place at the wrong time or the clouds opening up when you really don’t need it.

The underlying element of bad luck is Spider-Man’s lack of web-fluid.

Obviously there are plenty of stories where Spidey runs out of webbing, but there actually aren’t a whole load where he is totally devoid of them. And this yarn is perhaps the first (and only) that practically makes that the central conceit of the story.

It’s interesting because it blends together Peter’s scientific intellect with his everyman status. He’s smart enough to make the webbing (and we learn a little bit of what goes into that process) but he still needs to pick up the raw materials from the store like everyone else would and if he’s cash strapped he ain’t swinging anywhere. Brilliantly Garcia/Askegren reflects this situation with the Looter as he too is a scientist and requires chemicals to fuel his super powered activities. Garcia/Askegren bookeneds this by having Peter and Fester literally in the same line to purchase their respective chemicals and then those same chemicals proving vital plot points in the climax.

For Fester, the loss of his helium grounds him and for Spidey he essentially improvises unrefined web fluid to subdue the Looter when all is said and done.**

Between the opening and ending of the story though, Spidey’s lack of webbing puts him on the backfoot as he can’t even travel easily from place to place. In fact Garcia/Askegren uses this fact for another plot point as Spidey hitches a ride with a news copter and this winds up scooping Jameson. The whole situation is an eloquent way of evening the odds between the Spidey and a villain who typically wouldn’t be in Spidey’s league.

The central plot just all clicks together, it all works neatly. Sometimes you don’t need a story to kick ass like DeFalco’s did, you can just enjoy it ticking along properly.

That being said the subplot is where the tale really shines. It’s tiny, practically cuttable, but it’s beautiful in it’s own way.

I am of course referring to the stuff involving Gwen and Sally Green.

The fanboy in me simply loves the fact that Garcia/Askegren like a mad man pulled one of the single most obscure characters in Spider-Man history out of the woodwork at all. This is a character who last I checked had her first and final appearance in ASM #36 and was never even mentioned again; in fact this whole issue is something of a sequel to ASM #36. The choice of using her at all then is rather clever as she’s mostly a blank slate and Garcia/Askegren doesn’t have to worry too much about what he does with her because it won’t fuck up canon.

What amazes me is that Garcia/Askegren doesn’t contradict Sally’s established personality, even though she was in just ONE issue! Her involvement in the story amounts to her bumping into Peter by chance and taking a second stab at flirting with him, which goes sort of more successfully. In ASM #36 she was sincerely interested in him and invited him to hang out because of that. But when she complimented him on his intellect in comparison to the ‘brawny athletic types’ Peter lost interest, he didn’t want to be viewed as just an egghead. Chalk it up to years of bullying or dodgy silver age writing, the point is Peter rebuffed her and Sally walked away with a negative view of Peter. Kudos to her I suppose because she tried again. Garcia/Askegren seem to have noticed the weirdness in Peter’s rejection of Sally and opted to lightly explain it away as a result of Peter’s bullying and rejection in his younger days.

Their depiction of Sally’s interest in Peter (she genuinely seems to find his brains attractive) and their brief romantic encounter is short and subtely sweet. It believably captures the innocence of youthful romance. Of course the Parker luck intervenes and the moment is ruined. Even if you were to argue that this is a cliché within Spider-Man, I still found the moment wonderfully realistic. How many in times in life have any of us been with someone, liked them, the chemistry is working and then the moment is gone and not to be recovered.

Don’t get it twisted. I’m not here to suggest to you Peter and Sally had a Miracle Romance brewing or that she was the greatest Spider-Man love interest we never had. I’m just saying this story, however briefly, captured a realistic slice of life in regards to romance. And Spider-Man is after all intended to be a reflection of real life.

Gwen is also handled interestingly here. She isn’t as over the top and basically a bully the way she was often in Ditko’s run. But she is still a harder edged Gwen Stacy who’s neither Spidey’s Virgin princess martyr nor the weeping Silver Age girlfriend she’d be later. She isn’t even the fairly bland MJ-rip-off of Romita’s early run. She’s a young woman who’s attracted to Peter and frustrated that he doesn’t reciprocate that attraction in spite of the opportunities presented to him. And yet she can tell there is something there so his lack of reciprocation is something she can’t figure out but wants to, which just compounds her frustrations. Immaturely she deals with that frustration by kind of punching down on Peter.

The scene where she and Sally are in the room together are gloriously soap opera laden but doesn’t over stay it’s welcome or become trashy. There is just a lot of passive aggressive energy in the air.

Even DeSantos’ ill suited narration and performance doesn’t do much to damper this moment or the story in general.

Over all I really, really liked this one and would both check it out again and recommend others to read/listen to it too!

*I think this idea of touching upon broad tentpoles of Spidey lore in a chronological way (the first story being set in the early High school era, the second more towards the middle, the third towards the back end and this one in the early college days) is more the remit for the book over all. It’s not really supposed to perfectly fit in with actual canon more a sort of generalized IDEA of Spider-Man canon.

**That scene also has a great Spidey line wherein he says he needed to think like the Looter and struggled when it came to thinking like an idiot.

[suicidalcatz]

DOG DAYS ARE OVER : CHAP 5

AN: Hello frens! Are you having a nice sunday? In this chapter we exchange some texts. But also we make fun of Josh just because. In the next chapter, things get complicated between the three of you... I hope you’ll like it. Please feel free to comment or send me prompts!

Pairing : Jake Kiszka x Reader

Genre : College AU

Previous parts : Prologue ; Chap 1 ; Chap 2 ; Chap 3 ; Chap 4

Masterlist : here

Chapter five : New number, who dis ?

Packing never made me feel weird before. It was friday afternoon so a majority of students were going home or, like me, to their parents' place for the week end. Most of the time I'd stay in my dorm with Mandy because we had so much homework there was no point coming home at all. I already knew for a fact that I'll be locked up in my room all week end painting, drawing, and cutting paper, but I promised I'd see them since it has been a while. My parents' cooking and comfy house usually made me impatient but not this time. I knew the boys were staying on campus because they lived far away, and it gave me mixed feelings. Part of me longed for Jake, and the feeling of his touch on my wrist was still so vivid I sometimes got the impression his hand was still here. On the other hand, he and Josh were big family guys, and seeing them missing their home so much while I was reluctant to see mine made me feel like a spoiled brat. That's why instead of calling to tell my parents I wasn't coming home this week end either, I went home to enjoy every bit of it.

My mom had already made my favorite dish, and dad was excitedly chatting about this new movie  he saw on tv the other day. It felt good, I could allow myself to relax a little, take a bath, hang out with some friends for an hour or two after finishing an assignment.

Sitting at my desk, I dropped the pen and stretched my back, falling back onto the chair and looking at my work. I did good this week, so the teacher didn't make me redo any of my assignments, which was very fortunate because I still had a flyer design to create. I unfolded that one Jake gave to me and took a look at all the infos, preparing a draft of my first idea. Why they didn't let the Illustration department do the visual com design was a mystery. By the look of it I bet it was the Music and Architecture dudes who made it. There was a bunch of band names thrown in the middle, what looked like a pixelled stock image of a Santa hat in a corner, « with beer ! » in a really ugly comic bubble in another, and the worst was that they though Comic Sans was an acceptable font choice. Unbelievable. That's why we can't let Architecture dudes do anything.

Creating a decent design took me a solid two hours, which was way faster than I planned. Getting up, I studied it from a distance, looking for flaws. It wasn't the best I could've done but it was pretty cool and not printed with neon yellow paper. For now, I'll rest my head for a bit and see if I can sketch the few more ideas I came up with later on. Feeling proud of my work, I took a picture to send it to Jake. It was dark and quiet outside, and one glance at the clock confirmed my thoughts on how late it was already. Biting my lower lip, I struggled. Maybe he was sleeping.

I never texted him since he gave me his number. I mean he gave it to me so we could talk about the flyers, right ? I would've been uneasy using it for another reason. Pondering whether of not I should maybe wake him up, I started pacing in my room, tidying and touching things, stuff I did when I was nervous. My arm still had some black marker on it, faded shapes and symbols vaguely resembling numbers, like an old letter with smudged ink and discolored paper. At first I didn't wanted to wash it off. Mandy and I got so excited by it we cheered together right after school, and classmates seemed intrigued by it. The cold weather didn't allow me to show too much skin so it could look like a tattoo, or a hot guy gave me his number (which was technically true). It could look like I just wrote it myself, but it was totally lame so I didn't want to think about it. Although I really enjoyed that empowering feeling of being someone's interest, at least a little, I scrubbed it hard the same evening. I didn't know if Josh was aware of it and couldn't raise suspicion in case he wasn't. It looked like we were doing something bad, and maybe we were, I had no clue. Guys had that weird rule regarding friends dating brothers and according to Netflix romcoms I was walking on thin fucking ice so I wasn't taking any risks. To be honest I don't think Josh would mind us talking but Jake seemed like a secretive guys so if he told Josh then I'll talk about it and otherwise, I won't. I'll just go with the flow and follow his lead on this, it was safer.

It was almost 2AM when I sent the pic and left my room to get a nice cup of tea/coffee after all these efforts. By the time I got back I had one new message.

« Hi to you too »

I felt my heart jump a little when I saw his name at the top of the screen, and his first text made me smile. I got so pumped by all these design ideas that I forgot to tell him it was me. The picture made it clear enough, though, but maybe it was a bit rude of me. Taking a sip of hot tea/coffee before putting the mug on the night table, I sat on the bed, eyes still on my phone, thinking of an answer. It took me maybe too long because I kept on rereading it to be sure I wouldn't embarrass myself with a typo.

« Hi, sorry. So what do you think ? »

The phone was threwn on the blankets and I turned on the tv to make me think of something else than his future reply. Saying that I was confident would be half-true. The design was good or so I thought so, but then again tastes were all too subjectives and art was tricky. He had all the right to hate it, I wouldn't take it personally (well at least not a hundred percent...). Idly watching a re-run of some old sitcom, I continued to quietly empty my cup and switch channels without really paying attention when I heard my phone buzz and let everything down to grab it.

« I got to admit you were right, our flyers sucked, this one looks fantastic »

And maybe my cheeks started turning pink. Compliments on my art meant a lot, more than those on my personnality or physic. It was really rewarding to have someone enjoy something you created from your own hands. It felt better than any other flattery, so the reply came naturally.

« I'm so glad you like it. I had a few more ideas in stock just in case »

His next message came so fast this time that I didn't even put down my phone yet when I felt it vibrate in my palm.

« Thank you for this, I really appreciate it. I'll owe you one. »

His sweet personality made a smile spread across my face. I took the flyer in my hand again, studying it. The number of bands playing this day was surprisingly high. Some of them I knew because I either heard people talk about it, or knew the guys playing. One especially because they kept rehearsing their rap lyrics in the dorms for everybody to enjoy, which I didn't since they started loudly singing at three in the morning and ignored all my complaints about the noise of their boombox. But most of the bands, no, I didn't know. I continued watching intently the names of the bands playing as if I'll have an epiphany and guess which was Jake's. Giving up, I took my phone again to tap.

« Don't sweat it, I'm glad to help. So... which one are you... ? »

Again, the reply was faster than the first texts we exchanged, despite the late hour.

« You mean the band ? Guess you'll have to come and find out »

I raised an amused eyebrow at this. Getting cocky, aren't we ?

« Alright then, Mister Mysterious, I'll wait and see. »

« You won't regret it. », replied Jake, and for some reason my face started heating up again.

We didn't speak for several minutes, I didn't know what to say now that the topic was closed, and I had nothing to add to it. Switching channels and drinking tea/coffee didn't gave me much help either, at this hour it was either old re-runs, or tv shopping. My eyes looked at the digital alarm clock, and it was almost three in the morning. That's how I knew what to write next.

« I just thought about it, but didn't I wake you up ? »

He was fast as ever again this time, probably wide awake and without anything to do.

« No, don't worry. Rehearsing with my brothers. I'm taking a break until Sam and Josh stop arguing and find a compromise for the new song. Our friend Danny's being the peace keeper once again, I left him alone on the battlefield and went out for a smoke. »

The war metaphor made me chuckle lightly, causing my imagination to run wild. The thought went through my mind that I couldn't believe they would argue, but since they were brothers it was normal I guess, even if they seemed pretty close. Close enough to form a band together at least. I never saw Josh angry, but he had a very vivid temperament, so it wasn't really much of a surprise either. My mind wandered a bit, and I briefly wondered how Jake looked in a heated argument. Probably hot, but also intimidating. He had that kind of quiet aura that seemed like it could become suddenly agitated, like a spotless watercourse that got troubled by the rain or rocks that ricocheted on it. I couldn't explain it, but it was how my limited knowledge of him perceived it.

My phone buzzed again, and this time it was a picture that made me snort in the ugliest way possible. It was a very unflattering close up of a moody and clearly unamused Josh who looked like he was in the middle of scolding Jake for doing whatever he did that got him upset. More of it  came, one after the other, for my greatest amusement, and by looking at them in order I could see his actions and movements, like a flipbook of ugly pictures of an angry Josh wearing a colorful dyed t shirt and ample pants that I assumed were his pajamas. The last one got me shaking with laughter, poor Josh looked awful, in a middle of what I assumed was a menacing speech for Jake to stop his bullshit, with an eye half closed and his mouth stuck the weirdest twist of the lips humanly possible. I saved this one as blackmail material, might be helpful in the future.

I didn't even know what to respond to that, they all radiated such chaotic energy it was splendid. Jake was quicker, and sent me a text this time, saying Josh threw his slipper at his face and that he was lucky he hadn't had the tambourine in his hands at that moment.

« I guess rehearsal is over for today, hopefully they'll make up their minds about the song tomorrow. Thanks again for the flyers, see you on monday, we'll print them. »

I never knew I'd be that impatient to go back to school before meeting him.

[cobrienba1b]

Animation Principles Analysis 3- Spiderman, into the Spiderverse

Into the spiderverse is a hybrid of 2d and 3d animation, it was made to look like a comic book (being a comic book movie) it did a good job of portraying that in visuals. With onomatopoeia and smear lines in movement, it replicates the feel of what you would find in a comic book whilst making a motion picture with extremely decent animation quality. If you go in frame by frame, you will notice that a lot of the character movements are sometimes animated on twos whilst the scene is rendered on ones. Where the movie had the 2D hybrid in it, the animators could effectively make whatever they wanted whilst still keeping the consistency and fluidity of 3D animation. 

Squash and Stretch

As this is a spiderman animation, full of jumping, swinging and many acrobatic stunts accompanied by his powers, there is a lot of squashing and stretching, especially in this scene. For example, when he jumps off the building, although it isn’t overly cartoony with the stretch, his body is completely straight and his arms and legs are tucked in, making a thin rectangle-like shape, as you would see in a stretch. And the same goes for when he lands etc. he tends to squash. As he is propelling himself through the city, it makes a lot of sense that he would be squashing and stretching quite extremely.

Straight ahead action and Pose to pose

There is a combination of both straight-ahead action and pose to pose in this scene. Spider-Man has a lot of iconic poses that the animators are sure to use in this film. The movements are quite quick, but there are slow motion parts where Spider-Man would strike a pose and then there will be some in between before there is another pose. However, straight ahead action is utilized quite a lot during the parkour scenes, I also noticed that it was these ones that were animated on twos

Anticipation

As he is throwing himself through the city, there is a lot of anticipation before each of his actions, some that are quite built up as a lot of the moves requires a lot of force. It helps to create realistic movements, even in an animated movie, it makes it a lot more fluid and understandable.

Follow through and Overlapping action

With the realistic animation feel, overlapping action helps give this piece exactly that, the way he runs whilst still holding onto the web, everything else going by at a much quicker pace, legs running fast whilst the body slowly rises, it gives a lot of dynamic to the piece and makes it interesting.

Secondary action

There is a lot of secondary action in this piece, mainly the hood and jacket flowing behind miles as he parkours through the city. This gives a really realistic effect which juxtaposes the cartoony/comic book style which gives a nice dynamic. Also, it is theorized that Miles specialty is running rather than swinging so when he uses his web to parkour through the city, you can see his arms swinging as well as his big strides as he runs on windows and through the streets, slowly rising back up due to the web he’s holding onto. 

Appeal

Throughout this piece, Miles gains his confidence as he finally becomes the Spider-Man he has been training to be. With the context of the rest of the movie, Miles can’t stop sticking to things unless he is calm, so when he jumps off and the glass breaks, it is a good indicator that Miles is still terrified as he jumps off of a building. Building a relation to the audience as he is still only human. Then with the word appears as he scales back up the building showing that he’s having fun as if he was on a rollercoaster. This small time gave a lot of development for the character, appealing to the audience a lot. 

Arc

The arcs in this piece are very frequent, mainly due to the many running sequences and swinging through the city. In this gif below you can see Miles take massive strides when he runs, his legs form arcs and there are even animation smears that follow those arcs. It gives the piece a massive feeling of acceleration and momentum, which is crucial for a scene like this. 

Slow in and Slow out

Throughout this sequence, there are a lot of sudden movements that slowing is used. As well as this there are a lot of poses that are eased, this is to show the pose and make way for the next movement, to make it look a lot more fluid and organic. Most of the easing is done when the animation is done on ones, in the running sequence, there is about 2/3 frames per pose and a couple in the transition to those poses, aided by animation smears. 

Timing

The timing in this piece really grounds the reality aspect in this sequence. Even though it is a cartoon and there is not a lot of frames for each movement, it appears to obey the laws of physics which makes it a lot more appealing to the audience if the timing was all over the place and unrealistic. There is also added onomatopoeia and impact marks when he lands, jumps and shoots a web, giving the action an impactful start or end. 

As well as this,  a lot of the animation is done on twos, the parts where he needs to be quick such as when he lands or when he jumps, it is done on ones to make it a faster and smoother movement. 

Exaggeration

There is a lot of exaggeration in this sequence, just like in this piece below, you can see the multiple arms to show the swiftness of the movements as well as the animation smear. Not only this, but the colour scheme is also quite exaggerated, it is a stretch from reality to make the environment to look a lot less dull with a neon blue and black combination. As well as this, it has a comic book art style, there is linework on the faces as well as a stretch from reality in terms of facial structure. The exaggeration was to make it look a lot more like a comic book.

As well as this, the environment is exaggerated in terms of scale, as you can see here, New York is a lot bigger than it is in real life, the grand scale would be intimidating but the lights and colours make it something more of beauty. 

Solid Drawing

Again, this was meant to look like a comic book, so it is expected to have a cel-shaded look, and at some points, that’s exactly what the film does. 

However, there is still the smooth shaded 3D aspect of it, but with comic book lines on the faces to still give it that feel. The lighting is done very well, having good use of half-tones and hatching, to both serve as lighting and give it a comic-like feel. 

Overall, that seems to be the aim for a lot of the principles of animation in this movie, it is meant to look like something from a comic book because the movie is based on a comic book. However, those unorthodox additions to animation have become a phenomenon, many fans praised the art style and use of half-tones, to the point where it is used in artwork, even though half town artwork was introduced as early as the silver ages of comics.

[jenroseyokel]

Awesome of the Year 2018: The Books

Happy New Year! ‘Tis the season for year end lists left and right as we attempt to figure out the best of everything from 2018. And of course, as a fan of books, music, and movies, it’s only right to get in on the list-making. Over the next week or so, I’ll be sharing my 2018 favorite lists. First up: books! This year, I set my Goodreads reading challenge at 40 books, and actually passed it. I’ve been setting arbitrary book goals for years, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve succeeded since 2007. Probably because of all the graphic novels and comic trades I read this year WHICH TOTALLY COUNT BTW. Ahem. Anyway. This isn’t really a best of 2018 list so much as a Here’s a Bunch of Books I Really Liked in 2018 list, split up into categories. I hope you’ll find something interesting here, especially if you’re looking for ways to spend bookstore or Amazon gift cards you got for Christmas… ;)

Newish Books by Rad Christian Women:

Every Arbitrary Book Goal should have a small correlated goal attached. This year mine was to make sure I read at least 50% women authors… and there have been a lot of GREAT new books from women writers in the past few years. If the “Christian women” section of your local bookstore makes you cringe a little inside too, check out these three wonderful books, all released in the past couple years:

Courage, Dear Heart by Rebecca K. Reynolds (NavPress, 2018)

Anyone who has read Rebecca’s writing knows she needed to write a book. She has a sharp mind, a poet's soul, a scientist's eye, and the most beautiful, tender heart. Also, she's an incredible writer who loves her readers with a love that radiates off every page. Buy a copy for everyone you know.

Wearing God by Lauren F. Winner (HarperOne, 2017) Girl Meets God was a formative book in my early 20s, and I’ve always meant to read more from this author, but somehow haven't. I finally picked up this one and oh man, for a solid month afterward I couldn’t stop thinking about it. With the eye of a scholar and the heart of a poet, Winner draws on personal stories, deep Biblical study, and a love of language to explore lesser known metaphors for God. Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren (InterVarsity Press, 2016)

Several years ago, James K.A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom helped me see liturgy in a new way, as not just religious practice, but the embedded routines that shape us. In this book, Tish Warren brings that idea to life as she walks through an ordinary day explores the holiness in our most mundane moments of living. You may not look at brushing your teeth or losing your keys the same way again.

Good Stories

This year, fiction reading was… all over the place? I don’t know if I read much that was OMG amazing, but here are a few that were fun…

The Fairyland Series 2-5 by Catherynne M. Valente (Feiwel & Friends, 2012-2015)

I am notoriously awful at finishing book series. I read the first Fairyland book maybe… two years ago? Yikes. Just finished the last one and wow, so fun. Colorful characters, a whimsical narrator, crazy locations, and a whole lot of heart make this Victorian fairytale meets contemporary fantasy a delight to read. 

Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (Harcourt, 1956)

Lewis’ contemporary retelling of the Cupid and Pschye myth through the eyes of Psyche’s jealous sister Orual. Second read for me, and even better this time around. Pretty sure this is Lewis’ storytelling at his best.

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw (Orbit, 2017)

This was a year to embrace fun, nerdy reads. So there was the Star Trek spoof Redshirts (with a plot twist I totally saw coming... and I am not good at guessing plot twists) and my first trip into the Star Wars extended book universe (or whatever the heck they call it these days) and… this. A story about a doctor for the undead in London, trying to solve the mysteries surrounding a murderous cult and keep her monster friends safe. Not the greatest, but a fun Halloween read. I’ll get to the sequel eventually. (See also: bad at finishing book series.)

Poetry for Everyone 

Another new reading practice this year: always keeping a poetry book on the bedside table. Poetry books are best for leisurely dipping in and out rather than reading cover to cover. If you think poetry is only for the ivory towers, give these writers a try and think again.

A Child's Year by Christopher Yokel (Independent, 2018)

Okay, I’m biased here, but hey! Chris quietly released a new poetry book into the world this fall, and I’m a big fan of Chris AND his poems. A Child’s Year is a season cycle, sort of like his last book A Year in Weetamoo Woods, but this time it’s anchored by a four part poem recalling the journey of seasons through childhood eyes. And according to our friend Kirsten’s 7-year-old son, he gets the experience right. ;) 

The Jubilee by John Blase (Bright Coppers Press, 2017) For his 50th birthday, John Blase released his first poetry book, with a poem for every year of life. It’s rare for me to make it through an entire collection start to finish but these were just so good. There are poems about aging — the author’s and his parents’ — and poems that evoke wide spaces and natural wonder. There are psalms and parables, and meditations on dying and, yes, living. All of them finely tuned with wisdom, gentle grace, and a touch of humor in all the right places. How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson (Dial Books, 2014)

When I heard Marilyn Nelson read her poem “Thirteen-Year-Old American Negro Girl” on the On Being podcast, I was captivated. And when I found this lovely hardcover in a used bookstore back home in Florida, I knew I needed to read more. This is a memoir in poetry about growing up in a black military family during the American Civil Rights era, told with gentle lyricism, warmth, and humor. Plus, the book itself is lovely with whimsical illustrations and family photos.

Comics!

I’m always on a quest to get more comics in my life. Plus knocking out a whole series in a couple weeks is a solid way to pad out your Arbitrary Book Goal.

Amulet 1-7 by Kazu Kibuishi (Graphix, 2008-2016)

After their father’s tragic death, Emily and Navin move with their mom to a strange old house that belonged to their great-grandfather… and so the adventure begins. In this fantasy series, the two kids find themselves in an underground world of demons, robots, talking animals, and a dangerous and powerful Amulet. A captivating and beautifully illustrated fantasy tale. Ms. Marvel 1-5 by G. Willow Wilson (Marvel, 2014-2016)

Y’all, I super want to be a Marvel nerd. But alas, I can't keep up, so I get my sister to loan books to me. Ms. Marvel is my new fave. A Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City has the power to grow, shrink, and stretch her body at will. So she’s trying to fight crime, keep up at school, and well, stay out of trouble with her parents. So fun. (Dear Disney: I really want this kid to show up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. before it gets canceled kthxbye.)

The Legend of Wonder Woman by Ranae De Liz and Ray Dillon (DC Comics, 2016)

Weren’t we all mildly obsessed with Wonder Woman after the 2017 film? Another one I borrowed from my sister. A solid take on Diana’s origin story that’s accessible for comic n00bs (ahem, like me) who can’t figure out where to begin with beautiful art and a lot of heart.

The Classic I Finally Read 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen I always try to tackle either a thick intimidating novel or an unread classic in the wintertime. This year, I worked on my Austen deficiency and discovered I relate a little too much to Elinor Dashwood.

What’s Next?

In the new year, I think my goal is less about numbers and more about reading widely. I liked the 50% women authors goal because it helped me actively choose to support women writers. This year, hoping to read more books by authors of color, explore some new ideas and genres, and hopefully do a better job reading deeply and taking notes. I’ve got my eye on Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge too, perhaps as a way to dig into new things I wouldn’t normally notice. And yeah... perhaps a monthly reading life update is a thing I can do here on the blog. :)

If you’re curious to see the full list of What I Read This Year and follow along with me in 2019, feel free to follow me on Goodreads!

What were some of your favorite reads in 2018? And what are your goals for the new year? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!

[notwhelmedyet]

More than Meets the Eye, beginner’s guide / resources

This guide is long. Use the headings to find the information you need & if you’ve got resources this post lacks send them along!

Has anyone pitched the comic More than Meets the Eye to you yet? It’s a very gay action-adventure comedic drama with robots and you would probably love it (especially if you’re lgbt and/or have good taste). Here’s a few posts/articles that will tell you why you’d love it:

This article review/retrospective was what got me to read MTMTE. (warning - it has a bunch of spoilers, that didn’t bother me but might bother you)

My semi-jokey MTMTE sales pitch

@zzxid’s salespitch with dancing rats

This full entire page of radical space socialist philosophy

15 Reasons Why MTMTE/the sequel is The Best Transformers Comic (warning - has spoilers, though some will prob go over your head as a new reader)

Kiss me, Chromedome - retrospective article by The Guardian, contains some spoilers

How/Where to Read

Okay, maybe you’re convinced. Now you want to know how/where to read MTMTE. Got you covered:

Detailed guide by @gaymilesedgeworth: How to start reading Transformers Comics

My very short answer: just read MTMTE in trade paperback form. That way all the issues are in order and you get all the extra stuff (there are prose stories after a couple issues that are very important so don’t skip them!) They’re available that way as both physical and digital books.

Here’s some ways to get access, legally (US centric, sorry):

If your local library has Hoopla (digital library subscription service), you may have access to some of the MTMTE trades that way. They’d be here; but check if you library has Hoopla first.

Your local library very well might have physical copies, so check their website!

If not and you’re very patient you can often request inter-library loans (your library borrows the books from another library) or request your library purchase materials.

You can buy digital trades via either IDW or Comixology. Comixology also includes the first 5 volumes in their comics subscription service. I’ve seen the series go on sale on both of these sites at least 4 times in the past 6 months, so keep an eye out! (Sometimes IDW participates in humble bundles, which are great, but those sales are far more infrequent)

You can also buy them in trade form from wherever you can buy books/comics. US links: Amazon, B&N, Comic Store Locators

Character Guides

So you’ve picked up this comic and oh boy there are a lot of robots. You’re a little intimidated. Maybe you’re having a hard time telling them apart.

If you have the paperback, there’s a guide to the characters on the back cover/the last page of the digital volume. See a copy here.

It’s okay if you keep reading not knowing who these robots are. For real. You’ll get the hang of it. Don’t worry if it takes you awhile and you’re confused. Everyone’s a little lost the first time through.

Some helpful posts in case you’re struggling:

Here’s a guide that matches appearance -> name, and one that matches name -> background info (both spoiler free for issues 1-22)

A visual guide by @squireofgeekdom​ and @kscinewt​: here

Another helpful visual character guide by @bluering8: here

If you’re confused and need help, please ask! I’m willing to answer questions, I know @gaymilesedgeworth has volunteered to answer new reader questions. (Willing to help out new readers? Lemme know and I’ll make this a list)

Lore & Background Info

Okay, so maybe now you’ve gotten into it. You want more information, you want to know all the background lore, you want to dig deep. Awesome! Got you covered!

The holy grail of Transformers information, TFwiki. A slightly snarky, overly-minutely-detailed wiki for the digital age.

They’ve also got a tumblr if you’ve got questions.

And Chris McFeely, one of the main editors, runs a Youtube series called The Basics where he explains characters/concepts across continuities

The podcast Sound.wav has episodes talking about every issue of MTMTE in great detail.

The writer of More than Meets the Eye, James Roberts, answers fan questions on his twitter. I’ve archived a lot of those questions at @jrtweetsindex​.

More than Meets the Eye has a soundtrack, because of course it does. People have made playlists collecting it on spotify and youtube.

Further Reading

I finished MTMTE, what’s next?

If you want the direct sequel to MTMTE, go straight to Lost Light, the sequel series. It’s still ongoing and (as of right now) 12 issues have been released. There are spoilers for it EVERYWHERE on Tumblr, fair warning.

There are also a bunch of other series within the IDW comics universe, depending on what you’re interested in.

@zandergb has a chronological listing of all the IDW comics

TFwiki summarizes the IDW comics line

alt chronological guide

another guide/reading order.

You don’t have to read all the books! If you want to just read Lost Light/MTMTE, you can do just that.

There’s also a bunch of animated series, which don’t exist in the same continuity as the IDW comics. Some of them are well liked.

@ponett has a guide that’ll help you decide which you’d enjoy

And here’s a brief guide by TFWiki

There’s also the Michael Bay movies which are awful and so is he. Not gonna recommend watching them, but if you wanted to learn about film theory by listening to Lindsay Ellis dissect them, there’s a youtube series for that.

Fan Stuff

Okay...but what about fan content and fanfic and art and community events?

First thing to know: Transformers content is posted on tumblr under the tag Maccadam. (more detailed explanation why) A lot of mtmte content is also under ‘mtmte’, so look there too. I only use Maccadam if I think a post deserves to be seen by a lot of people but opinions vary.

Second thing to know - the sequel to MTMTE, Lost Light is still being published and you will see ALL SORTS OF SPOILERS for it on Tumblr. To mitigate the damage, try blocking “LL Spoilers” “Lost Light Spoilers” and “Wednesday Spoilers”. You cannot avoid it all, so if you don’t want anything spoiled, get caught up on both MTMTE and Lost Light before browsing around Tumblr.

Fanfiction:

Warning! A lot of Transformers fanfiction is smut. Please take a moment to integrate this fact into your understanding of the universe. If you can handle that, go ahead to AO3.

If you’re curious about all the terminology used in those fics, here’s a guide to it (not every writer uses every word, but this will get you started)

If you’re not into the idea of robots having sex, here’s a link to AO3 with my personal best-effort safe-search (no guarantees, relies upon people tagging properly)

And here’s a blog dedicated to recommending good sfw transformers fanfiction

If you want to know more about Transformers fanfic, I did a whole statistical survey of it, cause I’m a dork.

Here’s an old-school Transformers-only fanfic archive (I don’t see a category for IDW comics but maybe you can find somehing)

Fanart&Fanfic Events/Zines/Gift Exchanges/Collaborative Projects:

As many active projects as I could find - I’ll try to keep this one updated

Fan Artists:

(same warning as the fanfic - there’s a goodly amount of transformers pornographic art, be aware of that and block ‘nsfw’ if necessary)

There are a ton of active fanartists who draw IDW Transformers art. If you search a bit under ‘Maccadam’ you’ll find them.

@iaconlibrary reblogs a great deal of fanart & is a great place to start browsing

Roleplay:

If you’re into roleplaying on tumblr @teletrans-comm-unit runs a master list of active rp blogs

Transformers: Lost and Found is a long-running independent game set on the Lost Light

TF:Galaxy appears to be a forum-based tf roleplay game

My Favorite Jokes:

The best amazon review

Emotional labor (nsfw-ish warning)

Bros with Vows

Hands

Conventions:

There are Transformers-specific conventions, which is pretty cool! I know nothing about them but tfwiki has some info: Official and Unofficial conventions.

Regrettable Opinions:

hey this is just a quick guide of things not to do so you don’t hurt other people in the community

Do not compare Megatron to Hitler. The comparison is both vapid and offensive, as Jewish members of this community have pointed out time and again.

Don’t say transphobic/homophobic/racist/antisemitic/sexist things. You’re better than that!

Don’t attack the creators of the books/harass them on social media/make bizarre unfounded accusations of them acting in bad faith

we’re really lucky that JRo and the other creators interact with us & answer questions and don’t you dare screw that up, I’m trusting you.

on a less serious but useful etiquette note: don’t tag creators into negative reviews of their work/people complaining about their work. It’s rude to the creator & the reviewer.

That was a short list but remember to also treat other people with respect & that it’s okay to disengage with content/people that upset you.

Fandom:

There’s a guide on Fanlore, but it’s freakishly outdated and doesn’t even mention the comics. If you’re a informed tf fan maybe you should update it. 😉

Tumblr!

MTMTE is a pretty small community on Tumblr, but there are a few cool folks. Remember, ‘maccadam’ and ‘mtmte’ are your tags of choice

Various websites!

Since the transformers fandom is super old, there are a bunch of dedicated websites with traditional forums to chat on. (most of these are news sites that also contain forums) idk anything about them but maybe forums are your thing:

TFW2005 - big site with a large community but be warned there appear to be more than a few alarmingly bigoted people on that site

TFormers

Cybertron.CA

Allspark.com

Seibertron

I’m gonna throw the IDW TF reddit on this list rather than make a new section

Discord!

there’s at least two active discords at the moment. I know nothing about them or discord, but maybe one of them would be to your liking:

#1 - run by @zzxid

#2 - run by ??

The community is, like all fan communities, is a mix of good and bad, awkward and friendly, opinionated and goofy, self-serious and offensive. You won’t like or agree with everyone and there are some folks you should probably block.

Just find some people who share your general outlook & are interacting with the books in the same way you want to 💕

-Lynn. I have no qualifications to write this guide, I am not an authority of anything. I just really want you to love these books. Last updated on Dec 24, 2017, click through to check for any updates.

image descriptions below cut:

[image 1: Panel from MTMTE of Rewdind and Chromedome kneeling and holding hands while Chromedome says “Rewind, my love, it’s not for me to say.”]

[image 2: Fortress Maximus covered in small brightly colored robots shaped like various animals saying “Don’t worry, my friend, all taken care of.]

[image 3: Swerve holding a cartoonish drawing of Prowl and pointing at it, saying “No! Prowl with the head spikes and the cruel mouth and the - cross all the time! Epically, preemptively, existentially cross! And cold! Supercilious and cold! Imagine Ultra Magnus without the warmth and people skills. How can you not know who Prowl is?”]

[image 4: Trailgate in holomatter form, holding the first issue of More than Meets the Eye and saying: “Besides, I didn’t say I didn’t like it - I just don’t understand all the words. And it presumes a degree of familiarity with the Autobot/Decepticon war that I still don’t have...I suppose there’s always the wiki. Or tumblr...”

Cyclonus from off panel: “I told you to stay off Tumblr.”

Tailgate: “You’re right: spoilers. I want to enjoy it issue by issue - it only goes up to 43.”]

[image 5: Drift smiling a big fake smile and saying: “Anyway - let’s move on.”]

[image 6: A panel of Cyclonus gazing out the window in his dark and empty bedroom with a panel of narration: “Of course we’re not the only ones. This ship is a refuge for the emotionally inarticulate.”]

[richietoaster]

Steady Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now

AO3 Link

Pairing: Reddie

warnings: NSFW- THESE CHARACTERS ARE 18 AND THEY DO SHIT TOGETHER OKAY? IF YOU ARE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE THAT DO NOT READ THIS also some fluff and swearing but what else is new

word count: 9,870

Summary:  “You know how to dance?” Eddie demands, still skeptical, and Richie is almost offended. “Yes, actually,” he scoffs with a good natured laugh. “Is that so hard to believe?” Eddie opens his mouth, but Richie cuts him off before he can tell his friend that yes, that’s incredibly hard to believe. “Don’t answer that, dickhead,” Richie says as he gets up, wiping his sweaty palms onto his jeans. “C’mon, get up.” He instructs and holds out a hand to pull Eddie to his feet. “I’m teaching you.”

also known as the fake dating fic 

LET ME JUST SAY THAT THIS FIC WAS BEING IN THE PROCESS OF BEING WRITTEN FOR WEEKS NOW AND I WOULDNT HAVE POSTED IT IF IT WEREN'T FOR SOME OF MY BETAS (ROSE AND TORI) LIKE I COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THEM AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH SO THEY ARE THE REASON FOR IT BEING POSTED SO YALL CAN THANK THEM @killerxqueer @delicateloser

“I have this stupid wedding to go to next month,” Eddie says casually, eyes still fixed on the living room TV, instead of looking at Richie who was lounging on the couch beside him.

“Yeah?” Richie acknowledges.

“Yeah,” Eddie repeats. “One of the bridesmaids is a family friend, and our age, and my mom is trying to set me up with her,” he explained, rolling his eyes.

Richie lets out a low laugh, “Sounds like something ol’ Mrs. K would do.”

“That’s not even the worst part,” Eddie sighs, playing with a loose strand of string on one of the pillows.

Richie looks up at Eddie from his slouched form, “What’s the worst part?”

“I have to dance with her,” Eddie groaned.

“What’s the problem?”

“A slow dance, Richard ,” he says with an exasperated sigh.“Not only do I have to pretend to like girls, but I have to dance with one, too. And I don’t know how to dance.”

Richie barks out a laugh, but when he see’s Eddie’s face fall, immediately apologizes.

“Stop laughing at me,” Eddie complains, and hits his chest lightly.

“Why is that such a bad thing? That I can’t dance?”

“It’s not,” Richie giggles, “I- um. I could teach you if you want me to,” he offers, and hopes that Eddie won’t notice how nervous he feels.

“You?” Eddie asks incredulously, raising an eyebrow at his best friend.

“Yeah, I could.”

“You know how to dance?” Eddie demands, still skeptical, and Richie is almost offended.

“Yes, actually,” he scoffs with a good natured laugh. “Is that so hard to believe?”

Eddie opens his mouth, but Richie cuts him off before he can tell his friend that yes , that’s incredibly hard to believe.

“Don’t answer that, dickhead,” Richie says as he gets up, wiping his sweaty palms onto his jeans. “C’mon, get up.” He instructs and holds out a hand to pull Eddie to his feet. “I’m teaching you.”

Eddie gives him a look.

“Okay, don’t look at me like that, first of all,” Richie says, rolling his eyes. “You’ll be fine. Great, even. Second of all, take my hand,” he says, holding out his hand once more.

Eddie slowly reaches out for it and inhales deeply when Richie is drawing him closer, his eyes widening a fraction that he hopes isn’t noticeable to Richie.

“Take one step.” Richie whispers.

Eddie does… Right onto Richie’s foot.

“You suck at this,” Richie laughs causing Eddie to glare back at him, and Richie’s laughter softens into a smile that almost looks sweet. “Just take your time,” he says as a kind of apology. “Let’s try this again,” and with that Richie gently corrects Eddie’s position.

Eddie takes a deep breath, and after clearing his mind and listening to Richie’s instructions, Eddie gets his footing correct within minutes.

“You’re doing well. Now do me a favor, yeah?” Richie lifts the other boy’s chin up, “Stop looking at the ground. Keep your eyes locked on mine.”

Eddie can’t move after that. Richie’s hands feel like they’re burning on his hips and the second their eyes meet and bore into one another, he feels like he’s being held in some kind of trance.

Neither of them hear the front door open.

“Eddie are you and- oh.”

The two leap away from each other as if they’ve been burned, when they see Bev standing in the archway, looking startled but with a mischievous glint in her eye. She looks like the cat who’s caught the canary.

“Was I interrupting something? Shit, I was, wasn’t I?” She asks, the smirk on her face growing dangerously.

“No, we were just-” Eddie tries to explain, but Bev cuts him off.

“It’s okay, Eddie!” Bev insists, grinning wildly. “No need to hide your relationship.”

“There’s nothing to hide!” he insists, “because we’re not dating.”

But it’s no use.

“You don’t have to lie,” Beverly laughs, “We kinda figured... Anyway, I was just coming over to tell you that we were waiting for you both at the quarry, but I can see you’re busy, so…” she winks and Eddie can feel his face burning. “Yeah. Bye,” and with that she rushes out, very likely about to tell the others what she saw.

Eddie finally brings himself to look up at Richie once more, cursing the fact that he can still feel the warmth spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Richie is smirking down at him and he does not like that look.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Eddie demands, and pushes Richie further away from him.

“Like what, boyfriend ?” Richie teases, eyebrow raised and god, that should not be making his stomach do flips like that.

“You know we’re not together, stop that,” he snaps, trying to fix Richie with a glare but he knows he’s never been very good at being intimidating. Especially not to Richie.

“We could go along with it.”

Now that causes Eddie to do a double take and he stares at Richie. “Why the fuck would we do that?”

“Why the fuck not?” Richie asks, holding his hands up in an exaggerated shrug. “Plus, you know nobody’s going to believe us if Bev tells them what she thought she saw.”

This should not make sense. He should turn around right now, and say no to Richie. He’s going to say no to Richie because this is a terrible fucking idea.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he finds himself saying instead.

“It also gives me the chance to hold my best friend’s hand in public without being questioned,” Richie says with a wink and grabs Eddie’s hand.

Eddie cracks a smile, and tugs his hand out of Richie’s grip. “That’s gay.”

“That’s the point,” Richie says with a grin.

Eddie doesn’t know why he agreed to this.

The next morning, Richie is standing at Eddie’s locker, loudly complaining about how his mom cancelled his subscription for some comic book.

“I’m so upset, Eddie. You don’t understand ,” Richie whines. He’s practically ready to start stamping his feet.

“I don’t,” Eddie agrees, opening his locker and rummaging around inside instead of looking at Richie. “Besides, you’re eighteen, do you really need to be reading comics?”

Richie clutches his heart dramatically. “How dare you say that. You wound me.”

Eddie laughs, crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes as he looks up at his friend, “I’m serious, Rich! I-” he stops talking when he sees Bev coming their way over Richie’s shoulder.

Richie goes to turn around but Eddie pulls at his shoulder, “Don’t look. Beverly is coming.”

“Right, okay. What do we do?”

“I don’t know, touch me or something- wipe that grin off of your face, asshole.” Eddie hisses, trying to move his lips as little as possible so that Bev won’t see.

Richie ends up leaning against the lockers, placing a hand on Eddie’s hip, and dragging him closer.

Eddie tries to ignore the way it feels to have Richie touching him like this in public and begins a staged topic, “You can come over tonight, if you want,” he says, trying to sound flirtatious as Bev walks into earshot and feels ridiculous. “My mom has some board meeting and won’t be home until late.”

“Yeah?” Richie asks, smirking down at him suggestively. “I’ll be there… Oh, hey, Bev,” he says, faux casually as she joins them and he turns to look at her.

She grins, “Morning, lovebirds.”

“Where are the others?” Eddie asks, with a roll of his eyes.

“Bill, Ben, and Mike are in the library studying for a test they have next period. Stan should be here third period.”

“Oh, yeah. He has a doctor’s appointment.” Richie remembers.

“Good luck to him. He hates needles.” Eddie says, hyper aware of Richie’s hand that is still resting firmly on his hip.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, they’re saved by the bell. Literally.

“See you guys later,” Richie says and turns to leave, his hand finally moving from it’s resting spot and Eddie tries not to think about the fact that he’s disappointed by that.

“You’re not gonna kiss your boyfriend goodbye?” Bev challenges with a teasing smirk. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean you can’t show affection,” she teases and Eddie can tell that she’s having way too much fun with this.

He and Richie give each other a nervous look as if asking the other if it’s alright, before both of them are cautiously leaning in, with a quick peck to the lips. To say at the least, it’s bad. Richie’s bottom lip goes over Eddie’s top one and he’s half kissing his nose. Eddie can hear Beverly giggling behind them and Eddie himself is burning with embarrassment.

Richie bolts after that.

That night, Eddie is sitting at his desk and finishing up his homework as it’s nearing midnight. Just after he puts his books away and is about to get ready for bed, he hears a familiar, faint tapping sound at his window. He lifts it up in one swift motion. “Richie? What are you doing here?” he he hisses, careful not to speak to loudly for fear of waking his mother.

“I came to see your mom,” he taunts as usual and pauses. “But she’s not here so I guess I’ll have to settle for my boyfriend instead,” he finishes with a wink.

“You don’t have to call me that when we’re alone, you know,” Eddie groans.

“Yeah,” Richie agrees with a nod. “I just figured that I should get used to saying it, though.”

“I guess so,” Eddie mumbles and it does make sense.

“Anyway,” Richie continues, and Eddie looks up at him. “Speaking of the situation, you are a terrible kisser,” Richie laughs and pokes his side.

“Excuse me, but that wasn’t even a kiss,” Eddie snaps, thinking back to how Richie had almost completely missed his mouth that morning. “It was a disaster.”

“I agree,” Richie nods. “Which is why we should practice.”

Eddie freezes at that, his mouth gaping slightly and his eyes wide.

“What?”

“Yeah, Eds. Did I stutter? We should practice,” Richie repeats himself as if it’s the most obvious choice in the world. “Make it look believable - Because that mess we pulled earlier, that was the furthest thing in the world from believable.”

He’s right and Eddie hates that he’s right.

“Okay, okay,” he agrees. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Always am,” Richie says with a grin and there Eddie’s stomach goes again. “Now come here,” Richie says in a low voice, and pulls Eddie against him. Eddie’s face is flushed and he can feel his heartbeat quickening. He watches Richie lean in and then he’s pressing his hands against Richie’s chest to stop him.

“Wait!” he gasps. “ Wait .”

“What’s wrong?” Richie asks, his confusion evident, but he doesn’t let go of Eddie.

“I’ve- I’ve never kissed anybody before.” Eddie says quietly, clearly embarrassed.

Richie smiles again, but this time Eddie can tell Richie isn’t making fun of him. The smile is soft and sweet and it makes Eddie’s heart skip a beat. “I’ll be gentle, Eds,” Richie says, his voice slipping back into it’s usual joking cadence. “No need to worry your pretty little head.”

Eddie bites his lip, but nods. “Yeah,” he says, looking down at where their chests are still almost but not quite meeting and taking a deep breath before looking back up at Richie. “Okay.”

The two both lean in slowly, Richie’s hand finding Eddie’s cheek. Their lips brush over one another’s carefully. It’s chaste at first. Then, Richie is guiding Eddie’s arms to rest around his his neck and nudging his face with his nose. Eddie opens his mouth slightly, getting the hint.

To anybody else, this would be weird. Kissing their best friend in the middle of their bedroom. It should be weird for Eddie too. It’s not, and that’s what scares him. Having Richie’s lips brushing against his feels so natural and right and-

Richie has stopped kissing him. Eddie’s eyes fly open and Richie’s lips are swollen and red. Eddie wants to tug him back in.

“Can I stay the night?” Richie asks abruptly, and Eddie is surprised - Richie never asks permission.

“Y-Yeah, of course,” he says.

Eddie eyes Richie as he moves to lays in his bed, acting as if what just happened didn’t. He already knows he’s fucked. He stares for a moment longer and then climbs into bed with his friend.

See, get a hold of yourself, you’re fine, Eddie tells himself. But then Richie throws an arm over his waist, and it shouldn’t be different, but it is. They do this all the time, but now Eddie sees Richie as more than a friend and now nothing is the same.

“Night, Eds,” Richie mumbles into his neck.

“Don’t call me that,” Eddie whispers, and tentatively places a hand on Richie’s as it lays across his chest. “Goodnight, Richie.”

It doesn’t take long for the two to get the hang of this whole “fake dating” thing, and Eddie tries not to think about that fact. Whether it be holding hands in front of their friends, using pet names for each other, or a quick kiss to the lips - you name it and they do it without hesitation or a moment’s thought.

That’s the thing - they know they only have to put the act on for their group of friends. And they stick with that. That is, until Eddie oversleeps one day and walks into school late, only to see Richie talking up some girl. His blood boils. He tries to calm himself down - he knows he doesn’t have the right to be angry. They’re not even a real couple. Yet, that doesn’t stop him from storming over.

The girl looks over in his direction, “Oh, you must be Ed-”

“Excuse us for a second,” Eddie interjects. He takes hold of Richie’s arm, pulling him into his space, and kisses him without a second thought.

Richie’s eyes widen for a moment, and then he’s relaxing, closing his eyes and putting a hand onto Eddie’s cheek.

When they pull away, the girl is gone.

“What was that?” Richie asks. “Are you.. Are you jealous ?” he says, and he looks far too happy with this realization.

Eddie pales and tries to backtrack. “You can’t just flirt with some girl. We’re supposed to be dating. What if one of our friends were to see you?” He’s surprised at how quickly the excuse comes to mind, and is satisfied when Richie seems to take it at face value.

“I didn’t think of that.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. Of course he didn’t.

“We’re a team now,” Eddie says seriously, and looks into Richie’s eyes. Richie smiles and Eddie’s heart starts beating wildly once again.

“We always have been,” Richie agrees.

The second time they kiss without their friends around is that same night. Richie’s laying on Eddie’s couch while Eddie sleeps on the armchair across the room. They were having a movie marathon, but the smaller boy had fallen asleep not even two movies in.

Richie checks the time. It’s half past one AM. He sits up, stretches, and picks Eddie up from his curled position in the chair and cradles him to his chest, carrying him bridal style up to his room.

He places Eddie carefully onto the mattress, but when he turns to leave through the window, Eddie grabs his hand, making him stumble back.

“Why are you leaving?” Eddie mumbles, his voice thick with sleep.

Richie touches his cheek and tries desperately to ignore the thundering of his heart. “You need to sleep,” he replies softly, and brushes back the hair on Eddie’s forehead.

“Come lie down with me,” Eddie asks, and that’s that.

Richie can’t say no to him - he never could. He slides under the blankets next to his friend. “You’ve been asleep since ten o’clock,” he says with a soft smile.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Eddie asks, slowly starting to sound more awake. “You know our movie marathons are my favorite.”

“You looked so precious,” Richie says, hoping that it sounds as teasing as he normally does instead of how genuine he feels saying it.

“Fair,” Eddie hums and gives Richie a small smile.

“Aren’t you a little cocky?”

“The cockiest.” Eddie laughs.

They fall into a comfortable silence. Richie shifts closer and slings an arm around Eddie’s waist. “You know, you’re the best cuddler out of all of our friends,” he says quietly as he pulls Eddie in closer to him. His chest is pressed against Eddie’s back and he’s afraid Eddie might be able to feel how hard his heart is beating.

“Yeah?” Eddie asks. “Why’s that?”

“Well,” Richie starts, “Bill thrashes everywhere- can never get comfortable. Stan refuses to cuddle at all so that counts him out. Mike says it’s weird. I’m convinced Bev is gay, and Ben would always rather be reading a book.”

Eddie snorts.

“So, it comes down to you,” Richie finishes, and squeezes the arm that’s wrapped around Eddie’s waist just a little bit tighter.

“I feel honored to be able to claim that title,” Eddie says with a grin, and if he burrows a little closer into Richie’s warm chest, neither of them say anything.

“You should,” Richie smiles, resting his forehead on the top of Eddie’s head, completely unbothered by the feeling of Eddie’s hair tickling his nose. “Although, your mom comes close to it. You’re gonna have to step up your game, Kaspbrak.”

Eddie turns in Richie’s embrace so that he’s facing the taller boy, and weaves a hand through Richie’s hair. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” he replies. He blinks a few times then impulsively presses a quick kiss to Richie’s lips.

“You’re getting better at that,” Richie comments, and Eddie can feel his cheeks heat up.

“Yeah?” he asks, looking up at Richie’s face and biting his lip.

“Yeah, I think you’ll have to do it again though,” Richie says seriously. “Just so I can confirm that it wasn’t just a fluke.”

Eddie shoves Richie’s shoulder, “Richie!”

“What?”

“You can’t say that,” Eddie grumbles. “We’re best friends,” he says, and tries to pretend that the thought doesn’t make his stomach sink like a stone.

“Who are pretending to be in a relationship,” Richie says, as if that explains everything. “We might as well play the part.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie asks, and drops his hand from Richie’s hair.

“If it wasn’t for Bev and her loudmouth, we wouldn’t be in this mess, right?”

“Right,” he confirms.

“Well, who knows how long we’ll have to keep this up for.”

A voice in the back of Eddie’s mind tells him that they could easily just tell their friends the truth but Eddie pushes the thought away. That would be much too simple and besides... he was enjoying this. He might as well take advantage of it while he could.

“So.. you’re saying that we should.. Kiss more?” Eddie makes a face.

“Yeah, why not? I mean, it’s great for practice. Plus, you’re not half bad.” Richie nudges Eddie’s face with his nose, and his lips are just a breath away from Eddie’s.

“God, this should be so weird.” Eddie whispers against Richie’s lips, reveling in the feeling of Richie’s hands on his lower back..

“If it’s weird, we don’t have to,” Richie says quietly. “Just figured it could help our situation. Make the best of it and all,” he offers.

“No, yeah, it’s fine.”

Richie searches Eddie’s eyes for a moment, trying to find any hint of hesitation. When he finds none, he closes the gap between them completely, kissing Eddie soundlessly. Eddie wants to melt into the touch and let Richie kiss him all night, but stops himself.

Eddie pokes his friend’s face. “You should sleep,” he says quietly, silently reminding himself that while he might be enjoying this, he shouldn’t get too carried away.

“Why? There’s no school tomorrow,” Richie whines and rests his forehead against Eddie’s.

“Yeah, but if you don’t go to bed at a reasonable hour, you know you’re going to complain about being tired in the morning.”

Richie sighs, “Okay, mom, no need to be a smartass.”

“I hope you don’t kiss your mother with that trashmouth of yours,” Eddie says with a laugh.

“No,” Richie agrees, “but you don’t seem to have a problem with this trashmouth kissing you .”

Eddie chooses ignore Richie’s comment and instead focuses on trying to slow his rapidly beating heart. “Go to sleep, Richie,” he says softly.

If they sleep closer together than before, they don’t say anything.

Richie wakes up the next morning to the delectable smell of bacon wafting up the stairs to Eddie’s bedroom. He stretches out his long limbs in the bed and yawns before pushing himself out from under the blankets and prodding down the steps.

“Good morning,” he greets Eddie from the doorway of the kitchen. “What’cha makin’, boyfriend ?” he teases.

“Stop calling me that,” Eddie laughs, looking up to see Richie leaning against the doorframe. “Bacon and Sausage. I can make Eggs, too, if you want.”

Richie strides across the kitchen and wraps his arms around Eddie’s waist and presses a kiss behind his ear. “Sure, if it’s not a problem,” he murmurs, taking in the scent of Eddie’s shampoo.

“Of course not,” Eddie says quietly, blushing bright red at the affection but not pulling away.

The two sit at the kitchen table when Eddie finishes cooking and eat their breakfast off of Mrs. Kaspbrak’s perfectly matching dishware in an amiable silence until Richie looks down at his phone and speaks up.

“What do you want to do today?” he asks Eddie, causing the smaller boy to look up from his breakfast. “Bill texted and said we should go to the mall later.”

“Don’t wanna.” Eddie says through a mouthful of food.

“Why not?” Richie asks with a smile, thinking about how Eddie is just too fucking precious.

“Because we just went to the mall, like, two days ago,” Eddie grumbles. “Just tell him you’re gonna chill at my house today.”

Richie raises his eyebrow and gives Eddie a lascivious grin as he whips out his phone, “Oh so that’s what we’re calling it?”

“Type, Tozier,” Eddie commands as he rolls his eyes at his best friend.

Richie chuckles and does as he’s told.

“What did you say?” Eddie asks.

“I said, ‘not today, Bill. I got better things planned,’” Richie says with a waggle of his eyebrows. “And I even added a winky face for good measure.”

“Richie.”

“Lighten up, Eds, I’m supposed to be your boyfriend, aren’t I?” Richie teases. “I have to say things like that,” he says with a roll of his eyes.

Eddie huffs, “Yeah but it’s just another lie that we’ll have to keep up with.”

Richie is silent for a moment after this, and Eddie eyes him warily. Richie and silence rarely mix well, and given the strange circumstances they’ve found themselves in lately, Eddie is immediately suspicious.

“Then let’s be truthful about this one, yeah?” Richie says quietly, breaking the silence after staring at Eddie for a long moment.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asks, looking at Richie quizzically.

Richie stands up from his chair and walks around to Eddie, taking his hand and leading him to the couch. He sits himself down criss-cross in front of Eddie and Eddie doesn’t like this at all. He hates not knowing what’s going on, especially when it comes to Richie and this whole fake dating thing they’ve gotten themselves wrapped up in.

“I don’t-”

Richie cuts him off, placing his hands on either side of Eddie’s face and says what he had texted Bill out loud. “I’ve got better things planned.”

He swoops in and places his lips onto Eddie’s. He couldn’t hold it in anymore, and he’s so grateful that Eddie isn’t pushing him away. They move slowly together, and much to Richie’s surprise, Eddie is the one the one to run his fingers down Richie’s back, pulling him closer. Richie groans into his lips in appreciation and squeezes Eddie’s hips firmly.

The rhythm of their kiss changes, suddenly becoming wet and open-mouthed. It’s the first time it’s been more than just a peck, without the excuse of it being for ‘practice’ behind it.

“This okay?” Richie asks against Eddie’s mouth, as he breaks away for air.

“Yeah,” Eddie gasps breathlessly and leans back, gripping Richie’s collar and attempting to pull Richie down on top of him.

“Having fun there, Eds?” Richie teases, placing a hand on the couch next to Eddie, bracing himself so he doesn’t fall onto him.

“Shut up, Richie.”

Richie doesn’t need to be told twice. He slides a leg between Eddie’s thighs and kisses him harder, almost sure he’s bruising their lips, and not caring one bit. They spend the rest of the morning that way, sometimes pausing to watch something on the TV, but always gravitating right back to one another.

It’s around lunchtime and they’re so caught up in each other, they don’t hear the front door opening as all their friends come spilling into Eddie’s house.

“Hey you guys- okay, holy shit, holy shit!” Mike’s voice breaks the silence, making the two jump apart.

“You weren’t kidding,” Bill blinks, eyes wide.

“Do you ever fucking lock your door?” Bev asks with a grin.

“My mom likes to leave it unlocked when she goes to work, if I’m home. I should really start though, shouldn’t I? Since you never knock ,” Eddie snapped, glaring up at his friends from his place on the couch, still trying to catch his breath from the kissing and the shock of being interrupted.

“In our defense, we didn’t think we would need to,” Ben explains weakly.

“If you guys were going this hard at just kissing, I don’t wanna know what your sex is like.” Stan makes a face.

Eddie’s face goes as red as a tomato and shakes his head, “We- We- We haven’t had sex !” he spits out as soon as he can get his tongue untied. The ‘yet’ lingers awkwardly in the air.

“ Anyway ,” Bill says sharply in an attempt to change the subject. “W-we have to come t-to retrieve you in g-going to the mall,” he announces. “Your p-plans can w-wait.”

Richie groans. He hates his friends.

After an hour or so of wandering as a group, the other five ditch Eddie and Richie to go to the food court, and Eddie decides to find a suit.

“Yeah, that wedding is in like three weeks,” Richie says, swaying their hands between them.

“Two, actually,” Eddie corrects him.

“Even worse. It’s not like you to wait until the last minute for this sort of thing,” Richie says, but he’s smiling as he says it and he squeezes Eddie’s hand softly. The gesture feels incredibly intimate and Eddie fights back a blush.

“Well excuse me, but I’ve been spending all of my time with you as of late,” he snaps in an attempt to not let on exactly how much the small gesture was affecting him.

Richie pulls him in by his hand until Eddie is pressed up against him. “Yeah, you’re right,” he murmurs. “I like that choice better,” he licks his lips, staring at Eddie’s.

Eddie’s face reddens. “Yeah, me too... ” he says, and presses a chaste kiss to the corner of Richie’s mouth before taking a step back and pulling Richie in the direction of the tuxedo shop.

“C’mon, Romeo, help me pick out a suit.”

Richie picks out two, and Eddie has three as they head to the dressing room. Eddie walks into the corner stall and changes into the first one, admiring the way it looks in the mirror before walking out to show it off to Richie.

“I like this one.” Eddie comments.

Richie is sitting on the chair in the waiting area and his eyes widen when Eddie emerges.

“Me too,” he says lowly, eyes dragging up and down Eddie’s body. “But you still got four more to try on.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Eddie says, before turning over his shoulder to go back into the stall and undress, hanging the suit back up on the hanger.

He puts the second one on, having trouble getting the vest on. “Hey, Rich?” he calls. “Can you come in for a second?”

Eddie unlocks the door, allowing the other boy to step in.

“What’s wrong?” Richie asks as he shuts the door behind him and steps up behind Eddie, putting his hands on Eddie’s hips and kissing his neck softly.

“Trouble getting the vest on,” he explains. “I don’t think I like this suit though, anyway,” he adds as an afterthought, looking at himself in the mirror.

“I don’t either,” Richie says from behind him, and as his grip on Eddie’s hips tightens, Eddie looks up to make eye contact with him through the mirror. “You should take it off.”

It’s quiet for a moment until Eddie speaks quickly, “We need to go home. Right now.”

Richie’s eyes darken, spinning Eddie around to help him take off the dress shirt and vest, and when Eddie reaches down to undo the button on the trousers he had been trying on, Richie can’t help himself anymore. He dives down to capture Eddie’s lips in a kiss that the smaller boy gasps into, and Eddie clutches at Richie’s own shirt, the trousers forgotten for a moment.

Eddie tears away a moment later, his chest heaving and shoos Richie out of the stall so that he can change back into his original clothes. When he emerges, he takes the first suit up to the nearest register, leaving the other four abandoned in the stall.

“Are we just leaving them?” Eddie asks, breathing heavily. They’re practically speed walking to Richie’s truck.

“They can call an uber or something, I don’t know,” Richie said. He honestly couldn’t care less how their friends got home, and he grabs Eddie’s hand. “But we’re leaving.”

Eddie shoots a quick text in the group chat: ‘Something came up! We gotta go. Hopefully you can call an uber. Sorry guys!’

As soon as they see that Mrs. Kaspbrak’s car is still not in the driveway, they race into Eddie’s kitchen, and Richie slams the door shut behind them, making Eddie jump. Richie pushes him against a wall, kissing him hard and pressing his groin into Eddie’s as he grips the smaller boy’s sides.

“God, Eddie,” Richie mouths at his neck, dragging his lips down his throat. “You’re so hot ,” he groans, and uses the grip he has on Eddie’s hip to pull him closer until there is absolutely no space between them.

“Have you seen yourself?” Eddie says breathlessly, and yanks at Richie’s hair, eliciting a loud moan from him.

“Upstairs,” Richie growls in Eddie’s ear and Eddie can’t move fast enough.

Eddie kicks his bedroom door shut and actually leaps onto Richie. Richie catches him and holds him up on his waist, kissing him feverishly as he stumbles back toward Eddie’s bed, falling onto it when he feels it against the backs of his knees.

Eddie is straddling his hips, their lips moving together in a perfect rhythm.

It doesn’t take long before Richie is sliding his hands up Eddie’s torso underneath the fabric of his shirt, moaning underneath him as Eddie grinds his hips into Richie’s. A moment later he’s pulling Eddie’s shirt over his head.

“Richie,” Eddie hisses as he breaks away from the kiss to allow for the removal of his shirt..

“What do you want, baby?”

Eddie doesn’t answer him, but promptly goes back to kissing him, shoving his tongue inside of his mouth.

Everything seems to be going fine...perfect even, until Richie squeezes Eddie’s hips and flips them over so that Eddie is laying on his back. Richie is still between Eddie’s legs and is moving his hands up Eddie’s slender, bare chest, and begins leaving a trail of hickeys from his behind his ear to his collarbone.

“Richie...” Eddie’s voice sounds like a warning but Richie pays no mind, to engrossed in Eddie’s neck as he licks and bites marks into his skin..

“Richie,” he tries again, but Richie is kissing down his chest now.

“Richie!” he all but shrieks, and that is enough to startle Richie from his ministrations.

The curly-headed boy finally sits up, staring at Eddie with wide eyes. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Get off of me,” Eddie scrambles up and hastily slides his shirt back on.

“What happened?” Richie asks, genuinely confused. “What did I do?’

“We are best friends, Richie!” Eddie is saying, spitting the words out between deep gasping breaths. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

The words hit Richie like a slap in the face and he gapes at Eddie, half shocked and half furious.

“Who’s telling you that?” he demands. “ Yourself? Because clearly, you didn’t have a problem with it when I was seconds away from sucking your dick.” Richie snaps.

“See! Right there!” Eddie says desperately, hands gesturing furiously. “We’re best friends in a pretend relationship .” and with that, Eddie turns his head away from Richie to look at his lap, afraid to look at Richie when he continues. “Pretend, Richie. Not real.”

“It started out that way, didn’t it?” Richie says coldly after a moment of deeply uncomfortable silence.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asks, looking up at Richie’s pained face.

“What if I don’t want it to be pretend, huh, Eddie?”

Richie looks angry and Eddie doesn’t understand. This was Richie’s idea in the first place, so why should he be upset with Eddie if he doesn’t want to do it anymore?

“Then we can just tell the others the truth if you don’t-”

“No. That’s not what I meant,” Richie insists, exasperated. “I want it to be real. I want to be your boyfriend,” he explains and realization begins to dawn on Eddie as he sees the pain in Richie’s eyes increase tenfold. “The kind that kisses you all the time, not just in practice for this stupid charade or as an act in front of our friends. Do you understand me, Eddie?”

Richie is staring at him now, waiting for a response. He looks raw and torn open, and Eddie nods after a few seconds, finally getting it.

“You’re...in love with me?” he asks tentatively.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me?” Eddie says, inching closer to him.

“Because I knew you’d freak out like this!” Richie says and he looks like he might cry.

“I’m not freaking out because you’re in love with me,” Eddie says quickly. “I’m freaking out because we’re best friends-”

“If you say we’re best friends one more fucking time -” Richie snaps, but Eddie plows on.

“-pulling shit like this, while I’m falling for you, too,” Eddie finishes, dragging Richie in by his shirt. “And it’s so fucking hard to stop when you’ve got these-these big brown eyes and I just… You are doing things to me, Richie Tozier.”

He looks up at Richie’s eyes and the shock on his face is evident, but Eddie watches as it fades away and a hopeful smile takes it’s place.

“Do you want me to stop?” Richie asks as he touches Eddie’s cheek.

“God, no,” Eddie says with a laugh, and pulls him down, kissing him. His arms immediately find their way around Richie’s neck.

“You are the worst,” Richie says, moving his hips in hopes of receiving some sort of friction. Eddie can feel him against his thigh.

“Richie, holy shit.”

“You gonna do something about it, loverboy?” Richie teases with a wink. “Or will I have to take care of it myself?”

Eddie narrows his eyes and pushes him back down on the bed, climbing into his lap with his knees on either side of Richie’s hips once again. He presses his hips down, slowly but firmly, eliciting a long broken groan from Richie’s throat. Eddie revels in the noise for a moment, and then he’s rolling his hips down into Richie’s repeatedly, and Richie is losing it.

“Oh my god, Eddie-” Richie gasps, digging his nails into Eddie’s hips.

Eddie picks up his pace, letting one of his legs move between the other boy’s thighs. His face is in his neck, panting, mouthing at his skin, but not biting and sucking like Richie had been.

“Mark me,” Richie says breathlessly. “I’m all yours, sweetheart.”

Eddie does as he’s asked and though he starts small, it quickly devolves into sharp bites that he sucks into his mouth. This isn’t a cute trail like Richie had left on his neck; he’s leaving giant purple bruises all over Richie’s throat.

Richie can feel himself shaking beneath Eddie and he’s struggling to get the words out, but he needs more. “Faster,” he begs. “ Please , Eds.”

Instead, Eddie stops his movements abruptly, leaving Richie a whining mess.

“Shut up, Richie,” he groans, and slides his hand between them and underneath the elastic of Richie’s sweats and the waistband of his boxers. He takes Richie into his hand, gripping firmly but not squeezing. He jerks Richie’s length slowly, pointedly not giving Richie what he’s asking for and delights in the sight of Richie falling apart underneath him.

Richie begs him again, and Eddie takes one last long, slow, pull and Richie is already chanting that he’s going come. Eddie squeezes Richie at the base of his cock to stop him from coming just yet, and as Richie lets out a wrecked gasp, Eddie leans forward, slotting his lips with Richie’s and biting at his lower lip. He shoves his tongue into Richie’s mouth, and brings his unoccupied hand up to Richie’s hair.

He weaves his fingers into Richie’s curls and gives an experimental, teasing tug and Richie whimpers into his mouth. Eddie smirks against his lips and begins slowly sliding his hand up and down once more. He yanks on Richie’s hair again, much harder this time, pulling Richie’s head falls back and Eddie could listen to the noises Richie makes at this all day. But he doesn’t waste time thinking about it, and bites down on Richie’s neck as he swipes a finger over his slit, and that’s all it takes for Richie to release all over his hand.

As the tension releases, Richie collapses back against the bed, shaking and gasping for breath, his fingers still clenched in the fabric of Eddie’s pants, and Eddie draws his hand out from Richie’s pants, fingers dripping with Richie’s release.

“You gonna go wash your hands?” Richie asks with a hazy grin when he finally catches his breath.

But Eddie doesn’t answer, locking eyes with him, and Richie watches as Eddie’s tongue emerges from between Eddie’s swollen lips and just licks the liquid from his hand.

Richie nearly comes again at the sight.

Eddie crawls down to lay beside him, tracing shapes with his fingertips on Richie’s stomach.

“Can we just stay here forever?” he asks as he rests his head on Richie’s chest.

“I’d be okay with that,” Richie says with a smile, and leans his head down to kiss Eddie’s forehead. They spend the rest of the day in Eddie’s room.

Later on, Richie is muttering something in Eddie’s ear about how pretty Eddie is, making him giggle, but he stops short when they hear a knock on his door.

“Eddie? Those aren’t your shoes, downstairs. Is someone with you?” Mrs. Kaspbrak’s voice is muffled from behind the door.

He looks at Richie, panicking. “U-uh,” Eddie knows he can’t lie to his mom, “Yeah, just Richie, mom!” he calls to her. “We’re just reading comics!”

Mrs. Kaspbrak is quiet for a second, “Okay, Eddie… Just tell me next time you want someone over.”

Eddie breathes a sigh of relief when he hears his mother’s footsteps travel back downstairs. He looks up at Richie, who’s already staring at him, a smile playing on his lips. He smiles back, reaching up to cup his cheek, and presses his lips to Richie’s.

In the days following, Richie and Eddie are even more inseparable than usual, and they’re just always touching.

They get caught, more than once and by multiple teachers, making out against the lockers - being threatened to stop with the PDA, or they’d have to stay in detention.

Richie thinks that detention would be worth it.

Eddie tells him that it’s not, and that they have more than enough time to make out when they get home.

-

“Richie,” Eddie gasps out suddenly between kisses.

They had found themselves back in Eddie’s living room after school that day and were taking full advantage of the time they had before Mrs. Kaspbrak would come home.

“What is it baby?” Richie asks, sitting up on Eddie’s waist. He has Eddie trapped between him and the couch, pinned between his legs, and god, is that a beautiful fucking sight.

“I want you to be my date to the wedding next week,” Eddie says nervously. He knows that they’d already discussed their feelings for each other but they had never actually talked about how things would change going forward.

Richie claps their hands together and pinches his cheek, “Aw Eddie bear! You want me to be your date ?”

“Yeah I want you to be my date,” Eddie says firmly. “But I don’t want you to go as my date.”

“What do you mean?” Richie asks, suddenly feeling nervous himself.

“I want you to go as my boyfriend.”

“Oh…” Richie blinks, realization dawning on him. “Oh. Eddie, you sap,” he grins, and leans forward to kiss him. “Of course I’ll go as your boyfriend. God, I love you.”

“I love you too,” Eddie replies, grinning against Richie’s lips.

Eddie feels Richie’s hands slid under his hips and then flip them over so Eddie is seated on Richie’s lap. “I didn’t realize that you liked me on top,” he says with a raised eyebrow, the shadow of a smirk playing across his face.

“Hmm... only sometimes,” Richie teases and pulls Eddie’s hips down, lifting his own up to rut against him and watching as Eddie’s head rolls back at the contact. “Love watching you fall apart above me,” he groans, biting his lip at the sight.

Eddie looks down at him, just as he opens his mouth to let out a moan. If that isn’t the most sinful thing that Richie has ever seen, he doesn’t know what else to compare it to.

“You know I can’t believe you’re real sometimes,” Richie says, meeting Eddie’s crotch with his own.

“Why is that?”

“Fuck, just look at you-“ Richie groans, and trails his hands up Eddie’s thighs. “I’m drowning in you.”

Eddie smirks down at him and fuck, Richie thinks he might actually explode at the look in Eddie’s eyes.

“Oh yeah?” Eddie taunts, and grinds down into his lap even harder.

Richie throws his head back and groans at the feeling of Eddie pressing against him, his eyes closing tightly as his fingers fist in the fabric of Eddie’s shirt just above his hips.

“Nuh uh,” Eddie scolds and pulls at Richie’s hair, yanking his head up and forcing Richie to look at him as he let out a long, guttural groan at the feeling. “ Look at me,” Eddie demands. “I want you to watch me. Keep your eyes on me, alright, gorgeous?”

At this point, Richie doesn’t think he can look away even if he wanted to. “O-Okay..”

“Stop holding your breath,” Eddie tells him, and until then, he didn’t even even realize he was doing so.

Richie grabs Eddie’s thighs, helping him align their hips better. He was already done for, though. They both know this. One touch and it was over, but it’s always that way for Richie. Electricity runs throughout his veins, hormones shutting down the logical side of his brain. From there on in it’s all intoxicating, the way Eddie intensely moves on top of him, and he needs more.

“Richie...” A sinful sound escapes Eddie’s lips, leaving him taking in an extra breath, “I want... I want...”

Richie looks up at him with glazed over eyes, knowing the answer, but needing to hear it.

“Use your words, princess,” he says softly, instructing Eddie.

“I...want you to...Fuck me...” Eddie says between gasps, grinding his hips down into Richie’s with each gasp.

“Fuck…” Richie shudders. “Okay, yeah...yeah,” he says, sounding incoherent.

Eddie lets out another high pitched, keening moan as Richie ruts up against him involuntarily and Richie thinks he might melt.

“Do you...Have any-” Eddie gasps.

“No, fuck...baby,” Richie groans. He had no idea this was going to happen today and he was totally unprepared. If they had just gone to his own house…Richie grabbed Eddie’s hips to still them, wracking his brain for an alternative. “But I can-”

Eddie surges forward and kisses the words out of his mouth.

“Hold on,” he gasps, breaking away from Eddie’s mouth. “Hold on, hold on.”

Eddie whines, and Richie reaches up, grabbing Eddie’s throat and pulling him down, “Eddie, shut up.”

Eddie has his eyes closed, his mouth is parted, and he is shaking, “O-Okay,” he can feel Richie’s eyes dawning on him, full of wonder and realization.

“Is that... Is that a thing for you?”

It’s almost enough to distract him, but Richie flips Eddie over onto his back, and leans in to kiss him softly, before pulling back. Eddie tries to pull him back in, but Richie grabs his hands and pins them back down on the couch.

“Stay here,” he says firmly, “Don’t move...I’ll be right back.”

Eddie whines but obeys and stays on the couch, Richie looks down at him as he stands and his knees almost buckle as Eddie’s hand slides down to grip himself in Richie’s absence. He shakes himself out of it and runs to the kitchen and starts frantically slamming open the cabinets, rifling through Mrs. Kaspbrak’s neatly organized shelves until he finds a jar of coconut oil, and races back to the living room with it.

When he gets back, Eddie has already taken his pants off and is laying there, hand slid under the waistband of his boxer briefs and pumping himself slowly, head thrown back with his eyes closed. Richie gapes at the sight for a moment, before kneeling onto the couch, one foot on the floor and one knee between Eddie’s legs.

“Getting started without me, huh?” he asks, leaning down over Eddie once more and pulling Eddie’s hand out from his waistband. Eddie lifts his head to look at him and Richie nudges his nose against Eddie’s, before kissing him again, setting the jar of coconut oil down on the floor as he does.

Eddie’s hands find their way to the hem of Richie’s t-shirt and start pulling it up. Richie breaks away from Eddie’s mouth to allow him to pull the shirt over his head and as soon as the shirt hits the floor his lips are back on Eddie’s. His thumb begins rubbing circles into Eddie’s hip as the smaller boys hands slide up his torso to grip at Richie’s shoulders, and Richie hooks his fingers into the waistband of Eddie’s boxer briefs.

“Is this okay?” he asks softly, pressing his forehead to Eddie’s as he grips the elastic.

Eddie nods frantically and lifts his hips slightly as Richie slowly pulls them down his bony hips. They get tangled around his ankles and Richie laughs softly, leaning back off of him to free Eddie’s legs and pull them off. Eddie grab’s Richie by the belt buckle as soon as his underwear has been tossed aside and pulls him back down on top of him.

He fumbles awkwardly with the buckle for a moment and Richie must be able to tell how frustrated he is because he hears his boyfriend laughing, and looks up to fix Richie with a glare. Richie smiles at him and reaches down between them with the hand that isn’t holding himself up, and unbuckles the belt with a flick of his wrist, before sitting up to pop open the button of his jeans. Eddie reaches forward to pull down the zipper and starts pushing them down Richie’s hips.

“Get these off,” Eddie grumbles, eagerly yanking them down and Richie huffs a laugh and kicks them off behind him.

“Geez, you’re so impatient,” Richie teases, rolling his eyes but sighing affectionately, and leaning over Eddie again, ducking his head down to nip at Eddie’s throat.

“Yeah well,” Eddie gasps at the feeling of Richie’s lips traveling up his jawline. “I’ve been thinking about this all day, so jot that down.”

“Is there any time of the day where you’re not being a sassy little shit ?” Richie mumbles against his ear, and bites at the soft skin below his earlobe.

“Are you really gonna complain about that right now?” Eddie snaps with a raised eyebrow, his hand sliding between them to hover at the elastic of Richie’s boxers.

“I guess I shouldn’t be when your hand is that close to my dick, huh?” Richie asks, and presses his hips so that his groin is up against Eddie’s hand, shuddering as Eddie slips his hand beneath the waistband to take Richie in his hand again.

Eddie squeezes him, “Yeah, you really shouldn’t.”

Richie’s eyes are rolling to the back of his head, “Stop teasing,” he groans, and then pauses as a thought occurs to him. “On second thought, let me take care of you,” he says, and bats Eddie’s hands away, despite his protests.

Richie sits up to grab the coconut oil off the floor and dips two of his fingers into it, feeling it melt into the warmth of his fingers. He places a hand on the inside of Eddie’s thigh and holds his fingers up, looking at Eddie as if to ask if he was ready.

“That’s not going to burn, is it?” Eddie asks nervously.

Richie lets out a surprised laugh. “No, baby, of course not,” he says. “I promise.”

Eddie nods and spreads his legs slightly, though there isn’t much room for them to go on the couch. Richie hooks his dry hand under Eddie’s leg, lifting it up to rest his calf on Richie’s shoulder. He presses a kiss to his thigh, smiling against the sensitive skin as Eddie shivers beneath him, and presses his fingers up against Eddie, rubbing the oil against his skin.

Eddie jumps slightly at the touch and digs his fingers into Richie’s shoulder. Richie looks up at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” he whispers shyly. “It’s okay,” and smiles at Richie in a way that he means to be encouraging, but Richie can tell how nervous he is.

“We can stop if you want to, baby, just say the word,” Richie says, moving his hand away to rub soft circles into Eddie’s thigh.

“No!” Eddie says quickly. “No, I...I want you to keep going,” he says, taking a deep breath and reaching between his legs to grab Richie’s hand and guide it back to its previous position.

“Okay,” Richie smiles at him, kissing each of Eddie’s knees as he presses one of his fingers inside of Eddie, pausing as Eddie breathes in a sharp gasp of air. “You’re doing so good, baby,” he says encouragingly, crooking his finger slightly and making small circles with it, feeling Eddie constrict around him. “Just breathe. Don’t forget to breathe.”

Eddie lets his head fall back against the couch and tries to do what Richie is telling him to. He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, trying to relax around the foreign feeling of Richie’s finger inside him. Eddie winces, the pain not fully subsided yet.

“It won’t hurt the entire time,” Richie promises, “I’m gonna add another finger, okay?” he says, but waits for permission before he goes through with it.

Eddie nods, his eyes screwed shut, “O-Okay...I trust you.”

Richie pauses for a moment, a smile forming on his lips. He grabs Eddie’s hand with his free one, entwining their fingers together, his heart skipping a beat as Eddie squeezes his fingers. He pushes another finger in, nearly stopping when he hears a squeal forming in Eddie’s throat.

“Keep- Keep going, I’m fine,” Eddie insists, sensing Richie’s hesitation. “It won’t hurt the entire time,” he says, repeating Richie’s words back to him. And, fuck, Richie fucking loves this boy.

He continues pressing the second finger into Eddie and starts pumping them in and out slowly. As Eddie begins to relax slightly, he pushes in further and bends his fingers, brushing against a spot that draws a long, low moan from Eddie’s throat, and Richie watches, mesmerized, as he starts to fall apart before his eyes.

He begins to scissor his fingers back and forth, stretching Eddie open and thinks he might explode when Eddie pushes his hips back, further onto his fingers.

“I.. I’m ready,” Eddie mumbles through a moan, and Richie looks up at him as he audibly swallows.

“Are you sure?” Richie asks, kissing his thigh again.

“Yeah,” Eddie says, nodding at him and smiling, and Richie is reminded of the sun because Eddie’s smile is so beautiful it might actually blind him. “I’ve never been more sure of anything, other than you.”

Richie’s heart is in his throat and he feels like he might cry, but fuck, that would be so embarrassing. So instead, he pulls his fingers out and leans forward to kiss Eddie one more time, before sitting up and reaching behind himself for his jeans. He fumbles with the pockets for a moment until he pulls out his wallet and slides a condom out of one of the folds.

He tears the packet open with his teeth and squeezes the tip of the condom between two fingers before sliding it on, and tossing the empty packet aside.

He positions himself back between Eddie’s legs and slides a hand between them to press himself against Eddie. He kisses his thighs one last time before pressing in, grasping Eddie’s fingers in his as he does so.

“You look gorgeous,” Richie whispers, watching Eddie fidget with his tie, and rolls his eyes. “Come here.”

Eddie sighs in defeat and shuffles over to his boyfriend, letting Richie fix his tie. He’s shaking with nerves and he’s sure Richie can tell.  “Essentially, I’m coming out today, when I don’t dance with that girl.”

“How is that coming out?” Richie asks, scrunching his face up in confusion.

“I’m going to dance with you instead,” Eddie explains, taking Richie’s hands in his, and smiling at the way Richie’s eyes soften and the small smile that alights on his face.

“You don’t have to do that, babe,” Richie says quietly, squeezing Eddie’s hands affectionately.

“I know,” Eddie says, looking down at their intertwined fingers before looking back up at Richie’s smile. “But I want to,” he says, disentangling their hands so that he can reach up to grasp Richie’s neck, pulling him in for a soft kiss. “How can I not? You were the one who taught me how.”

“How to what? You’re going to have to clarify because I’ve taught you a lot of new things recently.” Richie smirks, his tone suggestive.

“I’m going to choke you if you don’t shut up,” Eddie snaps and glares at his boyfriend.

“Sorry, baby,” Richie says with a grin. “You’re the one who’s into that, not me.”

“Get away from me,” Eddie blushes, and narrows his eyes, jokingly pushing him away. “You’re the worst.”

Richie smiles and wraps his arms around Eddie’s waist, “Nope, you have to stay here forever.” He drags them playfully back onto Eddie’s bed, tugging him down, blowing raspberries into the crook of his neck.

“Richie,” Eddie laughs, “Stop it!”

“Make me.”

Eddie closes his eyes, trying not to let Richie’s words go straight to his dick. Yet, he looks down at him, leaning in to kiss him softly. He opens his mouth, letting Richie’s tongue invade his mouth. Just as he goes to entwine his fingers in Richie’s hair, his mom is knocking at the door. Eddie tears his lips off of Richie’s.

“Eddie, Richie, come on, we’re going to be late,” his mother calls from the other side of the door.

They both stand up, fixing their suits.

“This almost feels like..” Eddie trails off.

“...Like we’re getting married?”

“Y-Yeah…” Eddie swallows.

“All in good time, sweetheart.” Richie presses a kiss to his temple, opening the bedroom door, letting Eddie walk out first. He follows behind, a smile fixed on his face.

The bride and groom are finishing their first dance, when he hears his mom speak.

“Eddie, go on,” she says, the excitement in her voice making him cringe. “There she is, There’s Anna, go dance with her.”

Eddie blinks at his mother before turning away, his hand shaking, and reaches for Richie’s. He pulls him up, taking him to the floor.

“You remember how to do this or are you gonna step on my foot again?” Richie jokes, placing a hand on his waist and pulling Eddie in close to his chest.

“Listen, asshole, it was an accident.” Eddie snaps, but there’s no malice in his tone, and the smile he’s wearing definitely overpowers the attitude. He places one hand on the back of his neck and lets Richie take the other in his own.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Richie smiles and leans down, resting his forehead onto Eddie’s. He spins them a bit, Eddie giggling.

“You are the love of my life,” Eddie whispers.

“How did I get so lucky?” Richie asks, smiling at Eddie, unable to tear his eyes away from the beautiful boy in his arms.

“In which way?” Eddie asks, grinning at Richie mischievously.

“That was good, Kaspbrak,” Richie grins and a laugh bubbles up in the back of his throat.

“I know,” Eddie smiles and bumps his nose against Richie’s. “How mad does my mom look?” he asks.

Richie peeks at Mrs. Kaspbrak over Eddie’s shoulder and he tries not to laugh. “Very.”

Eddie knows he’s going to get an earful from her as soon as she can get him alone, but he can’t find it in himself to care right now. Not when Richie’s hand is on his waist and they’re swaying to the music.

“Kiss me for good measure?” he asks, tilting his head back to look Richie in the eye as he smiles at him.

“Eddie ‘Savage’ Kaspbrak? More likely than you think.” Richie muses but leans in, capturing his lips with his own. They linger for a second, pulling back slowly, savoring the moment between them.

Eddie hums when Richie pulls him closer, “You think this is gonna be us, for real one day?”

“I know it will be,” Richie says, and he finds that he really means it.

“Promise?” Eddie asks, resting his head on Richie’s shoulder as they continue to sway.

“I promise.”

Eddie leans up once more, pressing his lips to Richie’s. “That’s all I could ever ask for.”

“You’re all I could ever ask for.”

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