#that or waving it off as a stylistic thing lol

[autistic-sidestep]

also i realized i keep drawing sura with dark reddishbrown hair instead of black like ive set ingame so. guess it uses henna hairdye now

[fairyysoup]

his hands

pairing(s): hairdresser!eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: How do you make getting a haircut an erotic experience? You have Eddie Munson as your hairdresser, of course.

cw: explicit, smut, unprotected piv sex, mirror sex, workplace sex, hand kink, choking, dumbification, dom!eddie, touch-starved!reader, semi-sort-of subspace happenings, referring to genitals with gendered pronouns, slight body worship, getting weirdly horny over a head massage, sexual tension, negative self talk, hair cut/style mentioned but no description of hair color/type, the aftercare is the haircut lol, implied 90s au, eddie's like 30, reader's age unspecified, eddie is employee of the month in my heart, not proofread, no beta we die like men

a/n: this is weird. and came from an interesting experience i had at the hair salon. and yes that is corpse's hand in that pic i didn't want to spend all day looking for a header pic shut up shut up shut up

ALL MY WORKS ARE 18+ MINORS DNI

Your hands twitch on the copy of Elle magazine in your lap. The familiar waiting area of your local salon has new furniture, which still smells a bit like the cellophane it came wrapped in, and hasn’t been worn out by patrons just yet. You’d asked for your usual stylist, Melissa. Except, you haven’t been here in so long, and apparently Melissa doesn’t work here anymore. 

“We have a new stylist in her place,” the greeter at the front desk told you kindly. “I could fit you in if you’d like that same station?” 

The station doesn’t matter to you; they all look the same and have the same tools. Obviously, when it comes to getting your hair cut, the stylist makes the difference. But, since you’re a couple months too late to catch up with Melissa, a new stylist is who you’ll be working with. 

The PA still plays some sort of weird pop-rock fusion that mixes Nat King Cole with Billy Idol, but you just try to focus on it to keep your leg from bouncing. You always get anxious like this when you come in for an appointment, even though you always tell yourself the same thing. It’s just hair. If you don’t like it, it’ll grow back. Or, if worst comes to worst, you could always shave it.

You hear your name being called, and you look up to the person who’d just approached the waiting area around the partition that blocks off the styling area. You blink, your mind going fuzzy as you try to make sense of what you see.

“Looks like I’ll be cutting your hair today,” the man standing at the end of the row of chairs says, with a grin that puts boyish dimples on his cheeks. “I’m Eddie.”

Eddie the Hairdresser is a bit more than you can handle right now. Between his long, curly hair, and the shirt he wears that gives you a view of the tattoos crawling up his arms, you think your knees might already be made out of jelly as you try to stand. But then he sticks out his hand for you to shake, and he’s wearing big, chunky rings that glint in the light, and you think you might swoon like a Victorian damsel.

“I’m, uh–” you begin intelligently, as you fit your hand into his big one. He squeezes just the tiniest bit and smirks at you. “I– I’m trying to, uh–”

“First time?” Eddie asks you with a tilt of his head. His brown eyes crease at the edges with mirth.

“Oh, um, no,” you mutter, looking everywhere but at his dimples. He has a tattoo on his neck of a dragon. You stare at it for a moment too long. “I used to come and see Melissa, forever ago.” 

“Oh! Yeah, Melissa was great. She trained me,” Eddie starts jabbering as he tilts his head and leads you around the partition. You’re met with the smell of hairspray and the sound of blow dryers getting louder. “She’s a hard act to follow, but I hope I can do well enough. Let’s get you started with a wash, hm?” 

You smile as he winks at you conspiratorially. You always feel a little bit awkward as you sit in the chair for the wash sinks, but Eddie ushers you into it with a little wave of his hand and gently– more gently than you can remember even Melissa being– lifts the ends of your hair and places a soft towel around your shoulders.

“What kept you away all this time?” Eddie asks pleasantly as he tests the water temperature. “Melissa’s been gone for a while.”

“Yeah, I, uh, I was working a lot,” you stumble into an explanation, your cheeks heating up a bit. It’s hard not to feel like you need to repent for not coming in to get a trim every month. “Last time I came in, I got my hair cut really short, so it wasn’t like I needed to come in for a trim for a long time, and by the time I really needed one it was long enough that I could do it myself… so, I just kept doing that.”

“So, what are we doing today?” Eddie inquires as his fingertips brush along your temples to tuck your hair back behind your ears and into the wash basin. With gentle prompting, he tilts your head back into the bin and begins to wet the ends of your hair.

“I figured it’s time I go short again,” you tell him, more confident than you really feel about it. It was a split second decision, one that you made because the reflection in the mirror was looking back at you with such a dead expression that you decided you needed a change in a bad way. For a lighter note, you supplement, “I’m tired of brushing tangles out of my hair every morning, and the other day I had a whole bird’s nest at the back of my neck, y’know.”

“Pssh, I know all about tangles. You saw my hair,” Eddie chuckles as the lukewarm water touches your scalp. Goosebumps rise on your arms while he rambles on, “I have to comb my hair wet or else I look like I got electrocuted. I never used to care about that sort of thing before I went to school for this, but once you start learning about proper treatment it’s kind of hard to ignore. I used to wash my hair with bar soap. Dry as hell, no conditioner. I’m surprised I got it long to begin with.” 

You find yourself smiling just thinking about it. “Bar soap? With those curls?”

“Don’t tell anyone, my reputation will be ruined,” Eddie leans down and whispers to you while he reaches for a bottle of shampoo. You hear a crack of a bottle cap, and then his hands are in your hair again, working the sweet smelling soap into your roots. “I’m trying to get employee of the month, but they’re never gonna give it to me if they know I used to sabotage my own hair with Irish Spring.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” you tell him sweetly, but you’re barely paying attention to his words anymore. His fingers are pressing into areas on your head that haven’t had a proper massage in forever, and months of tension headaches are being brought to the forefront of your mind. 

You never consider how oddly intimate having someone wash your hair is until you’re in the thick of it. Eddie’s thumbs massage circles into your occipitals with just a perfect amount of pressure, and the muscles down the back of your neck slowly melt and relax, moving with the swell of his fingertips. You suddenly feel very relaxed and very sleepy, and your eyelids drift closed as Eddie’s thumbs trace the line of your skull up to your hairline.

It even takes a moment for you to tune into the fact that he’s humming. Under his breath, he’s singing along to the notes of the song on the PA. He’s doing it in such a way that you’re sure he’s not even aware of it, himself, and you’d comment on it if you weren’t afraid that you’d embarrass him. His fingers are massaging circles around your temples now, and while you’re trying to focus on the sound of him harmonizing with the music, your mind is again trying to distract you with the feeling developing at the base of your spine. A ticklish, warm feeling spreads between your hips, disrupting the lull you find yourself in and forcing you to blink your eyes open. 

Oh, no. We’re not doing that right now.

You can’t say you’re surprised that this is your response. His hands are all over your head and you haven’t been touched by anyone in… well, a very long time, to say the least. You’re probably a little starved for it, all things considered. But this is really the wrong time and place to be getting turned on by a guy’s touch.

You shift in your seat, trying not to be too obvious about it when Eddie pulls his hands away and begins rinsing your hair again. Crossing your legs would be a dead giveaway, but the warm feeling is turning into a subtle throb between your legs, and Eddie’s hands are back on your head, now gently combing the conditioner through the length of your hair as though he’s petting you.

After a few torturous minutes of trying to ignore the blooming arousal deep in your gut, Eddie cuts the water and wraps your hair in the towel to secure it. 

“Now comes the hard part,” Eddie says, probably not meaning to make it sound so suggestive, but your mind seems to be taking its sweet time loitering in the gutter. 

You stare dazedly up at the ceiling. Now is the hard part?

Eddie leads you to what used to be Melissa’s station, and swings the swivel chair around for you with a flourish. “Step into my office, sweetheart. I’ll get you all dressed up in a sexy robe and everything.” 

You stifle a giggle as you slide into the seat. His “office” is one table in a row of other tables, and two feet away an older woman is getting her hair bleached by a girl with an undercut. As Eddie spins you around, the stylist shoots him a look. 

“He’s a shameless flirt,” she tells you, making eye contact with you in the mirror. Eddie lays a smock across your front and buttons it at the back of your neck.

“I’ll have you know, I’ve been minding my manners very well,” Eddie huffs with feigned indignation as he unwraps your hair and tosses the towel onto the table in front of you. He still winks at you in the mirror when he leans around you to pick up a comb. “So far.”

You can’t help the way that your jaw clenches. He’s really not going to make this easy on you. You wonder if he knows where your mind has been for the last ten minutes.

Eddie moves around to the back of your chair and presses on a lever to raise it up, but nothing happens. 

“Dammit,” Eddie curses under his breath, and turns to his coworker, who’s still loading tinfoil into the woman’s hair until she looks like something from Close Encounters. “I can’t believe you gave me the crap chair.”

“Early birds get the good chairs,” the stylist replies. 

Eddie sighs and turns back to you, and finds you looking at him curiously in the mirror. “This is the only broken chair in the whole salon, and everyone hates it, so it tends to move around. You never know if you’ll get the crap chair.”

“That’s sabotage,” you giggle.

“I know! So I have to bend down to style you, I’m sorry.”

“I think I can handle it.” You watch him give you a look in the mirror that makes you shift in your seat again. 

“So,” he begins, looking down at your head as he begins detangling your hair. “We’re going short?”

“That’s the plan,” you say with a puff of your chest. Please, god, don’t let it be horrible. 

“How short?” he prompts, eyeing you in the mirror. “Shoulder length? Close cropped?”

You reach up a slightly shaky hand and pinch the length that you want between two fingers. “Here’s good.”

Eddie nods, looking somewhat pleased. “Are we doing layers?”

“Yeah, I think layers would be good for the long term.” 

“Gives you more flexibility,” he agrees. He picks up a pair of scissors and begins measuring out the length that you want. “I’ll start with the length and then we’ll move to bangs, all right?” 

“That… sounds good.” You’re temporarily discombobulated by Eddie taking the sides of your head and tilting your head down just the slightest bit. 

“Stay just like that for me, okay?” he says quietly.

You blink down at the table in front of you, feeling your mouth go dry. “No problem.” Your hands nervously twitch beneath the cover of the smock across your body.

He goes back to humming along with the music on the PA, and you don’t have the heart to interrupt him. You’re trying to focus on anything but the nerves in your system and the way his touch keeps making you want to jump out of your seat.

After a moment, he stops humming and dusts a bit of hair off of your shoulder. “There we go. Good girl.” 

You blink up at Eddie in the mirror, and then see the transformation from long hair to short on your head. 

“How does it feel?” Eddie asks, leaning down to pinch the ends of the front and measure the evenness of the length. You stare at his fingers, and the tattoo of a bat just above his thumb on his left hand.

“Ten pounds lighter,” you joke. It feels like you’ve swallowed a lump of hot coal, but he doesn’t need to know that. Eddie grins, and his dimples make a glorious reappearance. 

“I’m not done with you yet,” he murmurs, and again positions your head where he wants it, staring directly forward. “Honestly, even if you wanted to stop here, it would suit you. I don’t think there’s a way to make you look bad, sweetheart.”

“You’ve never seen me with a hangover,” you scoff, trying to ignore how your heart skips a beat. 

Eddie smirks at you in the mirror while he starts working on giving your hair layers. “My guess is that you still look just as cute, but with a bit more of a grumpy look around here.” He gestures to your brow with one finger, and reaches over to set aside the texturizing scissors. 

“So, what I’m hearing is, you think I’m cute?” you say, still trying to play up the confidence that you don’t really have. Your hand squeezes your thigh under the smock you wear, your nails digging in for purchase.

“No, I think you’re gorgeous,” Eddie says swiftly, like it’s just a matter of fact. “But, I think you’d also be cute when you’re hungover. Plus, with this hair, you’d probably look all unkempt and I love the mental image that’s creating.”

His hands fluff the layers that he’s put into your hair, ruffling them gently and carding his fingers through them to measure their length. You’re sure that he’s not aware of the moon-eyed look you’re giving him in the mirror. 

Except, then he moves around you to start working on your bangs, and the smirk that comes across his face when he looks down at yours is enough to make you lose your composure. He knows everything that’s going on in your head, you’re sure of it. 

Cocky bastard.  

“I like your tattoos,” you murmur, just loud enough for him to hear over the music and the sounds of blow dryers all around you. He’s face to face with you, so close that you can count the freckles on his pale face.

Eddie’s eyes light up. “Yeah? What about ‘em?” 

“Well,” you lick your lips, your eyes flicking down to the one on his neck, and the one peeking out of his collar. “They’re colorful, and they look like you put a lot of thought into picking out each one. They’re pretty.”

“Hmm. You flatter me,” he remarks, trying to hide his grin and failing. If you look closely, there’s just the slightest pink tint to his cheeks that wasn’t there before. He finishes trimming your bangs, and just before he stands up, he chucks you lightly under the chin. “Keep it up and you might get a freebie.”

A free what? You’re imagining he means some sort of a free hair wash or something, but you can’t keep your mind from going to unprecedented places. 

“All right. Bear with me, I’m gonna blow dry you now.” He turns your chair away from the mirror to get you a bit closer to the blow dryer, and for a few minutes, there’s a lull in the conversation. 

Then, all at once, the blow dryer shuts off, and Eddie leans down towards you. “Ready, sweetheart?”

“Eddie, you’re gonna make me nervous.”

“Well, we don’t want that.” You just barely turn your head to look at him; just enough that your noses barely brush. You steal a breath that comes from his mouth, and then, Eddie turns you to the mirror. “Like I said,” he murmurs, “There’s not a way to make you look bad.”

“Holy shit,” you breathe. And holy shit is right– he’s done a complete number on you. Your hair is voluminous, framing your face in a way that you haven’t seen it before.  

“What do you think?” he asks, and for a moment, you think it’s a rhetorical question.

“I think you’re way better than Melissa,” you tell him, once you realize that it’s not rhetorical and he’s really asking you what you think. You’re sure that he’d make adjustments if you needed, but you don’t need him to. He’s read you like a book. He’s made you look better than you could ever have hoped for. 

“I’m gonna need that in writing,” he tells you, with the most serious expression you’ve ever seen. “For employee of the month, and all.”

“Tell me where to sign.”

He jerks his head, and all at once the fog lifts. You follow him to the front desk like a lost puppy, feeling like you don’t actually want to leave. You want to sit in his chair while he cuts your hair until you have none left. You want to keep his attention on you and stare at his smile, his hair, his eyes, his tattoos, for the rest of time. 

“I look forward to next time, princess,” he tells you, but you’re hyperfocused on the touch of his hand to your lower back. 

You watch him telling something to the girl at the front desk, his hand wrapped around the edge of the table and distracting you for the umpteenth time. You watch his silver rings glint in the light, and you think about them weaving through your hair; you think about his fingers and how they’d feel on places besides your head.

“So, when did you want to schedule an appointment?” 

You blink a few times, and in a dazed glow you come back to where you are. At the front desk. Paying for your haircut. “Sorry, what?” 

“The… next appointment? For your trim?” The secretary tilts her head, smiling at you kindly. “When did you want to come in?”

“Oh,” you murmur, looking down at the keyboard that she’s typing on. Eddie has disappeared back around the partition with a sweet smile and a wave cast in your direction. You just want him to come back again. “What would you suggest? Y’know, for this kind of a cut?”

“Hmm,” the girl hums, and sizes you up. Not in a way that makes you doubt yourself, but in a way that tells you she’s taking your question seriously. “Probably about four weeks. See if the length is something you’re happy with?” 

“Great. Four weeks from now. With Eddie.” You peer down at the rack of business cards on the deck, and pick up the one farthest to the right. 

Eddie Munson, Stylist. Set an appointment today!

By four weeks, your hair has already reached your shoulders, and the ease of maintenance is starting to wear off. When you get a call reminding you about your appointment with Eddie, your head reels with the knowledge that you’ll see him again.

You calmly assert to yourself that this time, there will be no mooning over him. He’s just your hairdresser. You figure he just has a job to do, tips to earn, and so on. You don’t know if he’s available, you don’t know if he’s single or if he even likes you the way that you like him. You don’t know anything about him, really.

False. You know that he used to wash his hair with bar soap.

You snicker to yourself as you sit in the waiting area yet again. The only available slot for him today was 6:30; pretty close to closing time, but for a Wednesday you figured it was best for you to come late, since you’d have time to get yourself together after work.

You’ve never been in the salon so late. It’s getting dark outside, and the overhead lights cast a semi-yellow glow around the waiting area. Business is dying down now. Not as many people love the idea of getting their hair cut so late, you suppose, but it was either this or wait another week to get an appointment with Eddie, and with the rate that your hair is growing, you’d probably be going insane by then.

“Hey, you,” Eddie says, popping his head around the partition with a grin that makes you nearly melt in your seat. His curly hair hangs in a curtain out in midair, and his long neck stretches out for you to take a gander at. “Just couldn’t stay away, huh?”

You smile at him. “Well, you’re the only person I trust with my head.”

What the fuck did you just say?

Eddie smirks, glowing pink around the ears. “I’ll keep that in mind, princess. Let me clean up my station real quick and I’ll getcha goin’, all right?”

You swallow back the lump in your throat. “Yeah, sure, no worries.”

When Eddie disappears again, you slide down in your seat and clap your hand across your eyes. You’re sort of glad that nobody was in the waiting room to see that ridiculous exchange, but you still have to sit with your embarrassment while Eddie cuts your hair. Again.

There will be no pining. There will be no getting weirdly turned on by him washing your hair. Nope, not happening this time.

This time, when Eddie ushers you back behind the partition, there’s only one two other stylists who are there cleaning their stations. The PA has been turned way down, so you can barely register what it’s playing at all.

“You actually came at a good time,” Eddie tells you as you trail after him toward the wash station. “You’re the last person for the night, so I can really take my time with you.”

“O-oh.. really?” You beat back your perverted thoughts with a stick. “To do what?”

“Oh, y’know,” Eddie shrugs as he lays a towel around your shoulders again, just as gentle as he was the last time. “We could do something totally crazy. Who knows what’ll happen?”

His voice is animated, pleasantly filling the empty space where your thoughts might become too much if you let them wander. 

Over the past month, after you’d recovered from your last meeting with Eddie, and as you were preparing for this one, you came up with a few things that you could ask him about– just to keep your mind from going to places you didn’t want them to. To save yourself the embarrassment and the ordeal of having to play whack-a-mole with your libido, and all. 

“Did you get employee of the month?” you begin with.

Eddie laughs, and then sighs. “No, our manicurist got it. I’ll get it this time, I just gotta stay on my A-game.” His blunt nails rake your hair away from your forehead and temples, and a lukewarm stream of water hits the crown of your skull.

You nearly want to jump out of your skin at the feeling. “Was it because they gave you the crap chair too many times?”

“Probably. But I got here early today, so the good news is you don’t have to sit in the crap chair this time.” 

“Aww, I kind of liked the crap chair. Kept me grounded.” You hear him huff a laugh as he starts lathering shampoo through your hair. Trying to keep your mind running so you don’t focus too hard on how good his rings feel scraping against your scalp, you ask, “How’d you get into this line of work?”

“Honestly, it’s kind of a weird story,” Eddie starts, beginning to massage his fingertips into your skull in a way that makes your toes curl in your shoes. You tighten your hands on the arms of your chair and take a deep breath. “So, it took me three tries to graduate high school, right? I was terrible at it. And, y’know, I figured I’d only end up working in a garage or something for the rest of my life. But I was cutting my mane all on my own, and eventually I started cutting my friends’ hair too, because they were all in college and it’s cheaper than going to a salon. I mean–” he chuckles, and begins rinsing your hair– “believe me. I know all about it. And it just came to me really easily, ‘cause I used to be great at drawing and crafting and stuff. And it’s kind of the same thing– once you learn the medium, it’s smooth sailing from there.”

The salon has gone eerily quiet, and by the time Eddie wraps your head and sits you up, you realize that the other stylists have gone, and you and Eddie are the last people in the building. You’d be a little nervous about it, but you got Eddie on a roll, and honestly, he makes it so easy to listen to him.

“Anyways, one day my friend Robin says to me, ‘You should totally get your credential for this,’ and I said, ‘You have to go to school for this shit?’” You blow a raspberry of a laugh, no longer feeling anxious as he sits you down on his not-crap styling chair. He drapes a smock over you, and cracks a grin at you in the mirror. “I know! So, I’ve never been great at school, and I can’t afford to pay for beauty school tuition on the pay I was making at the time, so my friends… they pooled together some money to at least pay for my first semester. And then– get this– I got on the fucking Dean’s list.”

“No way.”

“I did! Yours truly!” He does a little bow, and while you’re still giggling, he begins detangling your hair. “So, I got grants. And I finished top of my class, because as it turns out, when you don’t hate what you’re studying it’s really easy to do well. I got my certification framed and everything. Show that to my damn high school principal.” He shakes his head, but the smile is still on his face when he says, “But now I just have to get that fucking employee of the month.” 

“Anything I can do to help?” you offer, admiring his face in the mirror again without even realizing you’re doing it. You love seeing him grin, showing off his dimples and the smile lines around his eyes.

“Oh, you know,” he shrugs with a cute scrunch of his nose. “Just make sure you write my boss a letter saying how fantastic and amazing I am and how there’s no other hair stylist like me and how you’ll never find anyone as cool and sexy anywhere else. Something subtle like that oughta do it.” 

“Shouldn’t be difficult,” you tell him smoothly. “I already had that one drafted.”

He chuckles, his eyes sparkling when he reaches for his scissors, but you still notice the faint blush on his cheeks that he tries to hide behind his curtain of hair. “Flattery. You know what that gets you with me.”

A freebie. You hear his voice echoing in your head, and you swallow past the dryness in your throat. “Like… what? A mohawk?”

“Would you want a mohawk?” he asks you, pausing his movements to peer at you. “Because that’d be metal as hell, I’d be so down.” 

You laugh. “I appreciate it, but I think… probably not today.”

Eddie hums, and returns to smoothing your hair back away from your face. “So we’re just doing the same as last time?” 

“Yeah, not too flashy.” 

“Gotcha. It’s a shame, though. I’m always up for a challenge.” 

“Well, I think that short hair is just easier to maintain,” you tell him, at a loss for what else to say. He glances up at you in the mirror, and locks eyes with you. “And it doesn’t make my neck look as stumpy as it is.”

Eddie tilts his head with a confused pout, and then he reaches down and wraps his hands loosely around your throat. Your breath stalls in your chest, your eyes focused on the sight of his hands on you, his thumbs gently stroking the nape of your neck and his ring clad fingers pressed just below your chin. His fingers link and hold you, creating a necklace that you’ll never be able to find anywhere else.

Oh, shit. Oh, fucking hell. Everything below your waist draws up tight and hard, your thighs clamping together like that’s going to somehow will away the hold that Eddie has on you.

You lift your eyes and find his in the mirror, dark and focused in on you. You hold each others’ gaze for a prolonged moment, not saying anything, you barely even daring to breathe. You can’t imagine what the expression on your face looks like. You’re too busy staring at the one on his– like there are a million thoughts running through his head, and you’re desperate to know every single one of them.

“Nah, I think you’re perfect.” And just like that, Eddie moves on like nothing happened, picking up his scissors again. Like he didn’t just fry your brain. Like you’re not halfway to cardiac arrest.

You’re dumbstruck as he starts trimming the ends of your hair. You told yourself there would be no mooning over him. No pining. But here, you are, turned on beyond belief, and having to deal with the heartbeat pulsing between your legs, and not shift around, because you don’t want to fuck him up. 

When he pinches the ends of the front to see if they’re level, you’re staring directly at him in the mirror. Not even trying to hide it, either. If you did try, you’d most certainly fail. Eddie frowns in concentration, a bit of a crease to his brow as he peers at his hands.

Eddie tuts. “I’m trying to figure out– is it–?” He grabs the back of your chair, and suddenly you’re being swiveled around to face him. “Sometimes these mirrors don’t even help a guy out at the worst goddamn times…”

Your breathing is way heavier than it needs to be. Is it hot in here? Did they crank up the heat in this place specifically to spite you? Eddie’s face is so close to yours, and you’re not sure if the fact that you aren’t in the crap chair is helping. You’re higher up now, and he doesn’t have to bend down as far to get level with you, and his eyes are the color of dark chocolate, and you–

Eddie’s hand comes up and snips the tip off the right side. “There we go. One side was all fucked.”

“Well, we don’t want anything getting fucked, do we?” you mutter under your breath. What’s left of it.

Eddie pauses and his eyes flick up to yours. His eyelashes are long and flutter as he holds your gaze again, while you try hard not to look away. There’s that unreadable expression on his face from earlier, morphing slowly into something like amusement, but that could also just be your mind playing tricks on you. Don’t look at his lips. Don’t look at his lips. Don’t look at his li–

“Screw it.” Eddie tosses his scissors to the ground and his hands come up to grip your face, smoothing your hair back tenderly before he kisses you. 

You open your mouth and Eddie is in it, searching, feeling. His hands hold your head firm and you feel the metal of his rings digging into your cheeks, and you’re splitting apart at the seams from the way he’s completely invading your senses. He smells like warm, spicy cologne and hairspray. He tastes like cigarettes and cherry coke. He moans into you, and the sound is like heaven. 

You lift your legs and wrap them around his waist, and he grunts before he pulls away just the tiniest bit to give you breathing room. 

“This is highly unprofessional, Mr. Munson,” you whisper to him, as if you don’t have him caged in with your thighs.

“I don’t… actually fucking care,” Eddie admits, his nose just nudging against yours. “Got so fuckin’ hard the minute I saw you. What am I gonna do with you, huh?”

“Dunno,” you murmur against his mouth, “I’m waiting for you to tell me.” 

“C’mere.” He pulls you out of your seat, and you practically trip over the smock he clipped around your neck. 

“Get me out of this thing,” you giggle, letting your forehead fall onto his shoulder. You inhale a deep breath of his cologne, feeling his chest shake with his laugh. 

“Aww, but you look so cute,” Eddie coos, but his hands come up to undo the button at the back of your neck. The fabric slides to the ground, and Eddie kicks it aside as he crowds you back against the table. Your ass hits the edge of it and your hand falls onto a comb when you try to steady yourself. He pulls you flush to his body, his hands caging you in. Eddie’s tongue dances over your bottom lip and you moan, lifting your hands to tangle in the fabric of his shirt.

He ducks his head to help you pull his shirt off before he tosses it somewhere to the side. You’re distracted by his tattoos, each one of them beautiful and detailed, standing out against his pale skin.

Then, you remember something that he told you earlier, and you connect some dots that you hadn’t even realized were there. “Did you draw these?” 

Eddie’s grin could blind the sun. He blushes pink down his neck and shoulders. “Yeah, I did.” 

“They’re gorgeous. I meant what I said before– I really like them.” 

He sucks in a deep breath, and then his lips are on you, everywhere they can manage. On your face, your neck, trying to get at your collarbone but your shirt is in the way. He fists it in his hands, making a petulant noise in the back of his throat. “Help me out here, sweetheart.”

Your shirt lands somewhere near his. You don’t see exactly where, because he’s pulling the straps of your bra down your shoulders so that he can mouth kisses across your breasts, pulling down on the cups until he can graze his teeth over your nipple. It takes you so off guard that you bite back a squeal, tugging at his hair and rubbing your thighs together to stave off the incessant throbbing between them.

When you look down at him, his eyes are so dark that they’re almost black. Your heart thuds erratically in your chest, your breath not coming even though you gasp and pull at the air with everything you have. You can’t really fathom why he has you so worked up– just that it’s been so long since anyone touched you like this, and now that you have it it’s like every little point of contact is on fire.

Eddie grazes his teeth across your breast, and your knees nearly buckle out from under you. You grab his face, guiding him back up to you. 

“What were you thinking when you grabbed my throat?” you ask him, your voice hoarse in the back of your throat. 

His hands are on you now, grabbing at your waist and hips, squeezing like he’ll never let go. “I can show you, if you want,” Eddie answers, and he sounds just as wrecked as you. Maybe more. 

There’s absolutely no way you’re going to refuse that. Not with the way you’ve been lusting after him since meeting him. You nod. “Eddie, please–”

He kisses you hard again before mumbling against your lips, “Turn around and take off your pants.”

You do what he asks without a second’s hesitation. You watch him in the mirror as he follows your movements, undoing his own belt, and you kick your jeans and underwear off without thinking about why you’re here, without wondering about the repercussions. You figure you can probably do that later.

Right now, Eddie’s smoothing his hand up your spine, and the feeling of his fingers dancing along your skin sends shivers through your body. His fingers weave through the hair at the nape of your neck, and he pulls just slightly, until you bare your neck. 

Your breath hitches in your throat. Your heart hammers as you watch him, dark eyes and hair and rosy cheeks in the mirror, his carnation colored lips twisting into a wicked grin at you. He kisses your shoulder so gently it’s like the fluttering of a feather. 

“‘Stumpy neck,’” Eddie scoffs under his breath, and you tremble. “You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.”

He bends you forward until you’re face to face with yourself in the mirror– but you’re looking at him, gazing into your eyes while he teases himself at your entrance.

“Oh my god,” you groan, dropping your head almost immediately at the feeling. Your head is spinning, your body rigid with anticipation and breaking out in a cool sweat already. 

“Mm-mm,” Eddie hums condescendingly, and a hand clamps around your throat, hoisting your head up again. A gasp tears from your lips. In the mirror, his eyes are blazing. “You look at me while I fuck you. That’s the only way this is gonna happen. Got it?”

You nod. You want to shrink away from the heat in his gaze, but you want him to fuck you way more than that. You shudder as he leans forward, pressing in until his chin nearly rests on your shoulder.

“I need to hear you say it, baby.” His thumb strokes lightly along your pulse point, and you make a soft noise in the back of your throat without thinking. “Tell me you understand.” 

“I understand,” you tell him, barely a whisper, but he hears it all the same. 

“Good girl.” 

Eddie grins, kisses the nape of your neck, and pulls back. When he does, you’re barely able to take a breath before he pushes his hard cock into you, and the noise you make is almost embarrassing in its volume. 

“Ohhh, you’re absolutely soaked, baby. She’s practically dripping– is this just for me?” Eddie murmurs in your ear, grinding his hips up against your ass for emphasis. The lewd noise that it makes has your toes curling and the tips of your ears burning.

“Fuck,” you moan, ginding back against him to push him deeper. He’s so thick and you’re so sensitive that your mind is completely blanking at the feeling. 

Eddie notices, and he chuckles as grabs your waist with one hand as he thrusts his hips forward. “I’ve barely gotten my cock in you, princess. Don’t go getting all dumb on me already.” His voice goes straight between your legs and your cunt pulses around him, making him hiss through his teeth. The hand on your throat tightens just slightly. “I asked you a question.”

You keen, your mind reeling as you search for words. You manage to nod, babbling out, “Yes, it’s– it’s all for you, Eddie, been wanting you so bad, s’all I can think about–”

Eddie coos, grabbing your chin to shut you up while a particularly hard thrust of his hips knocks the wind out of you. He turns his head and grazes his lips against your cheek, eyeing you in the mirror as he says, “I knew it.” 

Your eyes are on him, on his hand around your neck, on his rings pressed into your skin. All that your fucked-out mind can think is that it’s hot, and you like him and his strong hands and his pretty eyes and the way his cock is reaching places inside you that make thoughts really difficult to come by.

Eddie whispers something against your skin, and you miss it because you’re hooked on the way his eyelashes flutter for just a moment while his lips are pressed against your cheek. You lift your hand, until it rests over his against your throat, his fingers just barely laced with yours. 

“Again,” you say– it comes out like a command, but you mean it like a question. You don’t know what the fuck he just said. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he repeats, and his voice nearly cracks with the desperation in it. His sweat slick chest is pressed against your back, his thrusts rocking your hips into the table and jostling it into the wall, but his voice is so tender. “So perfect for me.” 

Your mouth falls open, your hand tightening on his. You pull, until he loosens his grip and his hand comes away with yours. You kiss his palm, then his fingertips, holding his gaze in the mirror as you slowly, gently swirl your tongue around his middle and forefinger. 

Eddie’s eyes narrow coyly at you, while his thrusts make you mewl and clutch at the table with your free hand. You suck his two fingers deep into your mouth, earning a pleased groan from him in your ear– a sound which you want to hear again and again, no matter what it takes. 

“Look at you, sweet little thing, gettin’ my fingers all wet like that,” he whispers to you, biting his lip as you grind back against him. “Wanna do something with ‘em?”

You moan, letting his fingers slide from your mouth with a wet pop. You guide his hand down your chest, down your stomach, until his fingers slide between your legs. 

“There you go,” Eddie coos, taking over from your guidance as his fingers start rubbing small circles against your clit. “Atta girl, showin’ me what you want. Just needed me to fuck you stupid first, hm?”

Your cunt pulses, and you cum with a loud moan that echoes off of the mirror in front of you and around the empty space. Eddie cries out, and you feel his warmth fill you as he cums. He slows until he stills inside you, and then he holds you, panting against your cheek, his arm wrapped around your middle and his hand on your throat.

You haven’t moved your hand away from his, you realize, after a few moments of bliss in the aftershocks. You drop your hand to the table with a thud, earning a soft, breathless chuckle from him. 

“Can I take you out to dinner?” Eddie asks you, nuzzling into the crook of your neck.

“I think you can do whatever you want with me,” you murmur dazedly, just barely shifting and making him hiss. He’s still inside you, trying to hold you steady while he calms himself down. 

“Good.” There’s a kiss to your cheek, and Eddie grunts as he slowly eases out of you. “I still need to finish your goddamn haircut.”

“Eddie, we’re naked.” 

“And?” His hands are moving quicker than your mind is, yanking a kleenex from the table so that he can bend down and wipe the insides of your thighs. You jump at the sudden touch, but he clamps a hand around your hip to hold you still. “The sooner I finish your hair, the sooner I close up, and the sooner we go get dinner. You like Italian?”

“I didn’t think your pillow talk would involve finishing my haircut,” you grumble, but there’s a smile worming it’s way onto your face even as you say it. 

“That’s the name of the game, sweetheart,” Eddie says, tossing the tissue into the trash. He picks up your underwear, and the smock from the floor. “Now, sit your cute ass down. I’m not gonna get employee of the month by dishing out orgasms and not bangs, y’know.”

[euthymiya]

we’ll have a ball ft. wriothesley

in which you and your boyfriend are due to arrive at fontaine’s most prestigious event, but not before you give him a hand with a slight wardrobe malfunction

contains: female reader ; reader wears a gown ; established relationship ; quite a bit of suggestiveness but overall just fluff ; wriothesley hates fancy events he told me himself, and reader just wants to live her ballgown dreams—he indulges her because he’s a real man ; flirting with wriothelsey using his tie lol ; wriothesley has a brief jealousy induced existential crisis

despite wearing one every day, wriothelsey doesn’t know how to tie a tie.

it’s why it’s so loose around his neck—a stylistic choice, of course, but also a decision based around convenience. he doesn’t need to learn how to tie one if it’s already tied and loose enough to slip over his head. it’s easier that way, letting a complicated set of steps reduce down to just a quick garment to throw on around his neck, allowing him the ability to forgo the trouble of tying it altogether.

you think it’s a rather endearing shortcoming of his, especially when he stands in the mirror confused as he grumbles, fiddling with the material as he tries to properly tie it for once.

“you’re doing that wrong, you know,” you sing, walking up behind him in your gown as he pauses and meets your eyes through the mirror. “you’re hopeless.”

he ignores your quip, gulping slightly as he mumbles, “you look gorgeous.”

“and you look like a fool,” you snort, glancing at the messy knot at his chest.

“maybe they don’t need us,” he licks his lips, spinning around to properly look you up and down without the mirror. a reflection doesn’t do you justice, he thinks, he needs the real thing. “we should just stay here. and do other things.”

“and have lady furina behead us for canceling last minute? i don’t think so,” you wave him off, but your arms slip around his neck as soon his hands grab your hips, letting him pull you flush against his chest as his nose runs along your collarbone, inhaling sharply at the scent of your perfume.

the duke of meropide is, in its own right, a prestigious title. prestigious enough to extend wriothesley an invitation to the annual ball the hydro archon holds for the sake of extravagance. wriothesley manages to weasel his way out of it on most years—but this time, you’ve been newly added to the guest list as well, courtesy of your blossomed relationship with the warden.

you seem far too excited to attend for him to decline in good conscience. love is sacrifice, as they say—and wriothesley can happily suffer through an evening of small talk and formality while sporting an uncomfortably tight fitting suit.

the only problem he can’t manage to overlook so far is this cursed, wretched tie.

“you’re no fun,” he pouts slightly, trailing the tip of his nose to brush along your collarbone until it finds your neck, lips pressing a soft, lingering peck as you hum and play with the hairs at the nape of his neck. “i’ll show you a good time. better than a silly ball.”

“that’s a big promise.”

“well, i can think of a way or two to make it worth your while,” he grins against your neck, and you’re certain you’ve memorized that curve of his lips by heart. you can recognize it instantly when it sears against your skin.

“nice try,” you laugh, pulling away as he begrudgingly does the same. he sighs at your dismissal while you reach over to the tie around his neck. “but we’re going. and you need this tie looking…not how it’s looking right now.”

“m’trying my best,” he grumbles, looking away to the side, cheeks dusted a precious shade of crimson that you lean over to kiss gently.

your fingers undo the messy knot at his neck, expertly weaving the tie into a new and neat, flawless knot as you tighten it to fit around his neck perfectly. it’s unlike the loose, rugged knot he usually wears—much more proper, much more professional, much more formal.

wriothesley doesn’t look particularly thrilled at the adjustment, sighing as he watches you inspect his appearance and straighten his collar. your hand smooths over his chest as you give your nod of approval, and he wonders if you can hear his thundering heartbeat under your palm.

if you do, you’re gracious enough to cut him some slack from being teased.

“there,” you hum, “you look quite handsome.”

“does it have to be so tight?” he complains—and then his brows twitch, furrowing deeper as he pauses to look at you briefly with a puzzled look. “hang on. where’d you learn how to tie a tie?”

you raise a playful eyebrow, letting out an amused huffed out breath as you say, “well, you’re not the only man i’ve gotten to know.”

“so you’ve done this before? for another man?” he asks incredulously, miserably looking down at the thin piece of fabric wrapped around his collar as if it’s choked him before he adds, “i think i’ll be taking that dip in the primordial sea like i mentioned.”

“oh, quit being a drama queen,” you swat at his arm, chuckling as he gives you a theatrically pained look before burying his head back into your neck again, hand fitting in the small of your back as he rubs slowly circles into your gown.

“is this punishment for my crimes? because i’ve already served a sentence and according to fontaine laws, you can’t try a man twice for the same crime.”

“if it makes you feel better, i think you of all men pull ties off the best.”

“i suppose it minimally raises my spirits that you think i look good,” he concedes.

he does look good—whether it’s his usual loose, improperly fit tie or the fancy, silk material of tonight, you think wriothesley is most handsome when there’s a thin piece of fabric decorating his neck and chest, perfectly hanging and waiting for you to tug and pull him in.

you decide to demonstrate the wonderful opportunity his attire grants you, too, when you murmur, “in fact, i quite appreciate your habit of wearing ties.”

“oh? is that so?”

“yes,” you say slyly, pushing him back gently as you question, “want to see why?”

“do enlighten me,” he grins, eyes mischievously narrowing, a knowing glint sparkling in them as he waits for you to finish what you started.

so you do—reaching over and grabbing the silk, giving it a firm yank so he leans down, forehead pressing against yours and lips just a few millimeters away as you breathe, “i can do this whenever i want when you wear one. it’s very convenient for when i need a kiss or two.”

“i see,” he nods, his breath fanning over your lips. it’s hot and searing—you shiver at the feeling of him even when his lips haven’t even touched you yet. “well, if it keeps you satisfied, then i’ll have to make sure i’m always dressed appropriately for your needs.”

“well,” you bat your lashes, biting your lip as you give him a cheeky giggle and say, “there’s a good chance i might need something that requires very little attire, too, your grace.”

he closes his eyes, and you stifle a victorious laugh.

“you’ll be the death of me,” he says through a strained groan, leaning in to finally close the gap and kiss you deeply. his lips are hungry, pressing into you for another taste every time you manage to pull away for even a brief moment. you hum against his mouth, cupping his cheeks and holding his face as his fingers grip at your waist and feel the curve of you against him.

you always wonder if you and wriothesley were once the same person in a previous life. perhaps split in two, destined to find each other in the next. it feels like he completes you when you meet like this, pressing against you like one half meeting the other to make a whole.

it’s dizzying, maybe even downright risky the way you kiss so passionately just moments before you need to leave—you’re not sure either of you have the self control to break away if it comes down to it.

luckily, wriothesley travels his mouth to find your jaw after a few more moments, kissing through breathless pants as your eyes flutter open.

“we have to go soon,” you whisper.

“are you certain we can’t just stay here? i promise what i offer will be far more fun than listening to random wealthy folk running their mouths for a night.”

“but we get to dance,” you point out.

he pretends to think about it for a moment before offering, “i’ll dance with you here.”

“no,” you scold, swatting at his shoulder as you roll your eyes, “this dress is expensive. it needs to be appreciated.”

“oh i’ll appreciate it alright,” he drawls, grinning against your jaw as he whispers into your skin, “i’ll appreciate it all night.”

“no. we’re going, and that’s final, you sleaze.”

“hey,” he pouts, pulling away as you reach over one last time to straighten his hair and fix up his appearance, “i’m nothing if not a doting boyfriend.”

“wonderful. then i expect to have a drink in my hands all night,” you wink teasingly, patting his cheek, “you’ll be in charge of grabbing me them.”

he deflates in defeat, grumbling a quiet, “alright, fine.”

“you can appreciate my gown after,” you lean close, whispering against the shell of his ear and making him pause with a hitched breath as you press a kiss to the skin under his earlobe and murmur, “maybe you can appreciate some other clothing i’ve purchased too.”

“well,” he inhales sharply, grabbing your wrist and tugging you along as he nods seriously, “in that case, i look forward to it.”

ok so basically i went to the mall today and i walked past this store with mens suits and one of the posters on the window with the models was a woman pulling a man in by the tie and then i was like oh that’s so me and wrio and that’s how this drabble came to be 👍

[cleolinda]

A tale retold

I first told this story some twenty years ago, and it happened even earlier than that, so here's the Modern Retelling with Historical Context:

For many years, I had—well, you've heard of naturally curly hair? I had unnaturally curly hair. I had a stylist so brilliant that she was able to give me occasional perms that no one could tell were chemical. NO, FOR REAL, I constantly got compliments on my long, rippling hair. In reality, my hair is deplorably fine and flat, although I'm told I have a ton of it; putting in some wave made me feel better, you know? I just wanted to co-wash, air-dry, and go live my tousled life. But after my spinal surgery, I just couldn't spend 2-3 hours in a stylist's chair anymore. And so, after 20 years of my best Galadriel impression, I've had to make peace with my natural texture, the only thing about me (I realize now) that is actually straight.

But this story takes place back in 1996; I was a junior in high school, and I had the freshest of perms. Just absolutely exuberant. Downright Pre-Raphaelite. It had only been done the weekend before, and it usually took about two weeks for the curls to settle down and look less poodly natural, but I wasn't going to miss Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. When I was in grad school years later, my Shakespeare professor went to the mat for this movie, declaring it the best adaptation of any of his plays. And she wasn't a Leo fangirl, either. I tend to agree. And I got to see it on a big screen, opening night, with my best friend and my fresh luscious elbow-length '90s 'do. Banger soundtrack, the big bold visuals that tip over into Maybe Too Much in Moulin Rouge—I'm enthralled, I'm absorbed. Claire Danes is weeping over Dead Romeo, and we all know what’s about to happen in this, a 400-year-old play, but you still hope against hope that somehow it won’t this time. And then I feel something that's not emotion.

Something behind me. In my hair.

It's clammy. This tiny moist hand... creeping... up my neck.

Bear in mind, these are classic movie theater seats, not the big recliners you get now. My head is vulnerable to rear attack. And these tiny fingers, like a gummy little doll's hand, are crawling up my neck, under, through my hair. I am now sitting bolt upright, frozen. What the fuck is going on. It’s still creeping like a little spider up my scalp to the back of my head—put your hand up to yours, get your fingertips to the roots of your hair and really get a sense of what this feels like—

These fingers close, slowly, around the greediest handful of hair they can get hold of, and YANK.

I whip around while Juliet is sobbing—darkness.

To this day, I have no idea who (or what?) that tiny hand belonged to. I mean, you gotta think it was a small child enticed by the siren song of my curls, right? Some parents just didn’t spring for a babysitter on a big opening night, and there’s a Millennial out there with some real interesting core memories, I guess? I couldn't make out anything in the darkness behind me, and we were at kind of a key cinematic moment, so I didn't have time for more than a stern warning glare To Whom It Might Concern. And then I held onto my hair for the remainder of the movie. I chopped it all off within a few months, and went to college with short, straight hair, unable to forget the Cursèd Touch of the Hand. lol jk I just wanted a change and regretted it instantly.

So, happy 20th anniversary to the story I told on the Fametracker forums all those years ago. I can still remember exactly what that hand felt like: tiny. And moist.

[scmg11]

HAILEE STEINFELD x READER

COAST

A/N: HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!

Have you seen Coast MV? No? What are you going then?! Go on YouTube and watch it!

Since the music video is out, I couldn't not write something about it, could I? The visuals, the outfits, everything was just perfect!

I don't know anything about music videos and how cameos are casted in, so let's pretend it works just like I wrote it lol

Without further ado, enjoy this smutty oneshot!

Sending so so much love to everyone out there ❤️

-

Summary: Hailee is in the middle of shooting the first scene of Coast music video, when an interruption stops her. This interruption leads her to meet someone that will quick become important in her life.

Warnings: smut. Fluffy smut.

Word count: 16117 words.

-

The sound of the water hitting the shore calmed Hailee’s nerves as she let it wrap around herself comfortably with her eyes closed and taking big, calming breaths. "Hailee, you ready?"

The blonde smiled brightly at Anderson’s voice calling her and turned around slowly, "yeah."

"Great! Let’s roll!"

Hailee took another deep breath before starting her routine they settled for the start of Coast music video. "Is this thing on?" Hailee laughed when Anderson snickered from his director chair and shook his head gently.

"Can we take another shot?" The man now sporting a blonde wig asked hopefully at the singer, who nodded eagerly at his question, "great! I want to capture your side profile before focusing on a close up of your face as you listen to the music, Coast of course."

"Perfect!" Hailee felt excitement took over every single cell of her body as she retook a few shots of the beginning of their video, still not believing their are bringing into life Coast music video. Her thoughts as she stared into space while the camera panned in on her got interrupted when a small Beagle hit the side of her calf bent over in front of her body and started licking her skin enthusiastically as his small tail wagged at the singer, "oh hello there! Who are you?"

Hailee smiled brightly at the unexpected but totally welcomed intrusion and started caressing the dog’s ears gently, "Milo no! Come here. Oh fuck. Sorry! I’m so sorry!" Hailee looked up from the cute dog and watched as a Y/H/C girl came rushing from the direction the dog came, looking winded out with her hair a bit messy from the wind, "Milo if I get arrested I’m blaming you, c’mere!" The Y/H/C girl murmured loud enough for Hailee to hear her through gritted teeth as she looked apologetically around.

"Oh Milo, it seems you are in so much trouble!" Hailee whispered at the dog, but loudly enough to let the girl also hear her as she was now standing in front of her. "Hi."

"Hey, I’m so so sorry! I saw the signs and I was going to walk away from this part of the beach but someone escaped from his collar and run away."

"Don’t worry, he is so cute! Aren’t you?" The dog barked enthusiastically as he climbed onto Hailee’s lap and sat down to make her keep her caresses going, making her giggle cutely down at him. "Hey Paak, is it okay if we take five?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry." Anderson waved her off with a smile and turned around towards their stylist, talking about something she couldn’t make out.

"It won’t be necessary. We’re leaving you to your music video. Congratulations by the way." The still unknown girl smiled warmly down at Hailee before crouching down to retrieve her dog from Hailee’s lap. "Okay buddy, time to say bye."

Milo barked in protest as he snuggled more into Hailee’s arms and away from the girl’s hands, causing the singer to laugh aloud at the cute gesture, "oh baby, I love you too. But I’m working!" Milo barked again, looking directly at Hailee while the Y/H/C girl stayed quiet watching their exchange, "I know, I know- boring. How about I shoot a few scenes and then we play together again?" Milo sat up and started wagging his tail excitedly while barking repeatedly, making it seem like he actually understood what Hailee just told him.

"It won’t be necessary really. Baby we need to go." Milo yelped a few times as he looked with big pleading eyes at the girl, "nope, no. We’re not doing this."

"Hey, it’s fine, really. I like him. You can stay."

"Really?" The girl asked incredulously as she eyed the singer still a bit unsure.

"Yeah! Actually-" Hailee stressed over her bottom lip a few seconds as she pondered over the idea that just popped into her mind, "one of our background actors called in sick today, would you like to- y’know- partecipate?"

"Me?"

"Yeah."

"But I’m not a dancer nor an actress, I’m literally no one."

"Don’t be silly! You just need to sign a few things and you’ll be done. Of course then our team will need to dress you up and work on your makeup, but if you’re down for it, it’s totally okay!" The girl eyed Hailee’s encouraging smile and skid her Y/E/C irises over her features to find something out of place, finding only genuine kindness and sighed out loud as her dog barked excitedly at her. "I think he likes this idea."

"Okay fine! But you need to say put, okay?" Milo barked again and licked her finger she directed at him in warning, making both girls laugh down at him.

"Okay, let’s go sign those papers before getting you ready for the music video. Oh, I’m Hailee."

"Y/N." The Y/H/C girl stretched her hand over for Hailee to shake but the blonde eyed it a few seconds before pushing it away gently with a soft chuckle and hugged the girl instead.

"Sorry, I’m a hugger. Shall we go?"

"Yeah!"

And they moved around the set then, covering all the paper stuff quickly before ushering the Y/H/C girl to get ready while Hailee resumed her previous position on the towel and prepared to shoot again, "okay, ready?"

"Yeah!" Hailee smiled enthusiastically over her shoulder at Anderson before lifting her thumb up and nodding at her friend, "let’s get this masterpiece come to life Paak!"

"That’s the plan!" Anderson clapped his hands excitedly and got in position, "action!"

After a few takes the two of them were satisfied with the result and Hailee walked over her changing room to wear her second outfit for their first day of shooting, "hey, everyone’s ready?" Hailee checked with her friend Anderson after she came back on set and watched as he got himself ready behind the drums, her eyes instinctively searching for the Y/H/C girl she was eager to see to know what outfit their stylist chose for her. "Damn Andy, look at you- holy shit." Those two words left Hailee’s mouth as soon as her eyes landed on the Y/E/C girl walking out of the changing room sporting a pair of very short shorts and a biking top that accentuated her breasts in the most heavenly way, Hailee noted, her Y/H/C hair were cascading down her shoulders in soft curls while her makeup stayed simple but bold enough to highlight her Y/E/C irises.

"I know! I look hot." Anderson, who was distracted adjusting a few things around him, didn’t notice Hailee wasn’t talking about him, or not even looking at him in the first place, but she was too focused ogling shamelessly the girl she met half an hour ago while involuntarily nibbling on her bottom lip to even acknowledge him, so she let his reply go unnoticed as she stared shamelessly some more the Y/H/C girl. She got pulled out of her haze with a startle when Anderson tried if the drums worked just fine by hitting the Charleston and the kick drum simultaneously and reprimanded herself mentally at her not professional behavior.

"Hey! Nice outfit!" Y/N commented as she approached them, adjusting her hair when a breeze of wind ruffled them a bit.

"Thank you! You look amazing too! This top looks good on you. And the color? It suits you perfectly!" Hailee had to physically restrain herself from slapping her forehead in shame in front of Y/N at her gushing over her outfit and not acting cool in front of her.

"Thank you." The soft red hue adorning Y/N’s cheeks eased Hailee’s troubled mind still stressing over her embarrassing ramble and smiled at the girl brightly.

"Hailee, we’re ready to go."

"Okay perfect!"

"Get ready!" Anderson announced as he walked back to the drums from his director chair, where he left his phone there, rolling his drum sticks around his fingers, before adjusting his wig on his head that the wind ruffled a bit and got into position before yelling for everyone to hear, "action!"

Hailee heard the music start playing and got herself focused on the task at hand as she started mouthing the words of her song while looking into the camera and dancing, following the rhythm. "How was it?" Hailee asked enthusiastically after the music stopped and walked over the little screen they had on set to go see the first results, "wow, the visuals are amazing so far!"

"Yeah, how about we take another shot from another angle, I want to bring the dancers in the background closer."

They shoot the scene a few more times before they got the result they were aiming for and Hailee got back into her changing room to put on her last outfit she will have to wear on the part of the video that involved the beach. "Wow, this is my favorite outfit so far."

Hailee side eyed the person that complimented her on her left and smiled sheepishly when she noticed it was Y/N still dressed with her previous outfit but now holding a surfboard. "Thank you!" Hailee grinned in appreciation at her makeup artist as she walked away after finishing touching her makeup. "How is shooting a music video?"

"Not even closer to what I thought."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, I always thought it was shot in one take with the artist mouthing the song lyrics into the camera. But wow, you guys put a lot of thought into it and a lot of work too." Y/N answered earnestly as she looked around the set as people prepared everything to shoot again.

"Well, we’ve been trying to make it for a while now."

"I now, I got blocked by Republic Records on Twitter for lashing out at them." Y/N answered shyly as she moved her gaze from Hailee’s eyes to her feet in embarrassment.

"What? Really?"

"Yup. But we got the video in the end, so it was worth it." Y/N joked with a bright smile and shrugged nonchalantly, causing a small giggle to leave the blonde’s mouth.

"Oh my god, I now need to see those tweets now!" Y/N opened her mouth to counter back when Anderson’s voice interrupted her before she could even let a word out.

"Get into position everyone, we’re almost done for the day!"

"Well, I guess it has to wait." Hailee smiled apologetically at Y/N and saw the girl shake her head in understanding before getting into her designated position and waited for the signal to start doing what they told her to do.

-

"Look who do we have here!" Hailee’s face erupted in a big grin when Milo came rushing into her changing room in the middle of her taking off the makeup she had on, now changed into a pair of jeans and a tank top.

"Sorry, he- we just wanted to say bye."

"Are you already leaving?" Hailee asked sadly, not allowing her brain to dwell on her grim tone at the thought of not spending more time with the Y/E/C girl and instead focused on picking Milo up when he started nudging her calf with his nose and scratched his tiny head happily.

"Well, we’re done for the day and I didn’t want to bother you more than I already did, so." Y/N shrugged nonchalantly as she watched Milo licking Hailee’s left cheek eagerly when she lifted him up to her eye level.

"Oh stop it! I love you too, but to remove makeup I need a makeup remover not a dog!" Milo barked at Hailee, causing both Y/N and Hailee to laugh at their banter before the singer put him down on the floor. "Anyway, do you have somewhere to be?"

"No, I’m free. I just need to drop Milo off at my house before going grocery shopping."

"Great! Do you mind if I join you?"

Y/N looked a bit taken aback at the question if the baffled look that unfolded over her features was a clear enough clue, "yes- I- I mean, no! Ugh, of course you can join me!" Hailee bit on her lower lip to prevent her grin to broaden at the adorable rambling route Y/N seemed to be stuck in and tilted her head a bit at the girl, "I would be honored to spend time with you, but aren’t you like super busy?"

"Not right now, no. Besides I like your company. We can get to know each other a bit since we’re going to spend a few more days shooting the video! And I get to spend more time with this one!" Hailee lifted Milo again up to her face after she was done removing her make-up and let him lick her cheek for a few moments before putting him down and sitting up from her chair, "are you all ready to go?"

"Yeah." Y/N smiled brightly at the singer and beckoned Milo to walk towards her, "I just need to put his leash on. I don’t want him to crash any other music videos today."

Hailee laughed heartily at the joke and shook her head, her chest filling up with some sense of familiarity at their conversation and jokes flowing easily between them, something she was shocked to find there since she just met the girl, but she felt she could trust her, so the didn’t dwell too much on it as she grabbed her purse and her phone before walking them towards the parking lot right outside their set, "did you walk here, right?"

"Yeah, I walked a few miles with Milo this morning like we usually do."

"Great! So we’re taking my car so we’ll drop this champ to your house." The drive lasted about 25 minutes, both assessing how LA traffic was a real hassle, but time flew surprisingly fast as Y/N read to the singer her tweets regarding Republic Records’ shitty behavior for treating her poorly and recalled the day she noticed they blocked her. "Oh shit! Thank you!" Hailee laughed loudly at the funny story as she wiped away a few tears that escaped from too much laughing.

"Always at your service!" Y/N saluted her with her hand on her forehead before cracking her serious expression with a broad grin and loud giggles leaving her lips, "my house is right around the corner." Hailee parked right outside Y/N’s building and stopped the car, "wanna come in? We can go grocery shopping another day. I’m sure Milo would be disappointed to finish his day with you now."

"Well, just for your information, I’m agreeing only because I want to spend time with him too." Hailee teased with a cheeky grin that became even more smug when Milo barked right after and wagged his tail excitedly in his spot on Y/N’s lap. "I know, I promise we’ll get rid of her in a minute." Hailee lowered her voice like she was trying to not let Y/N hear what she was saying, but she purposefully spoke loud enough for her to hear and the gasp of indignation and Y/N’s outraged face she got in return was priceless and amused her beyond herself.

"Okay, y’know what? Enjoy your afternoon lovebirds, I’m just gonna fucking go."

"See? I told you. In a minute." Hailee kept on with her joke for a few seconds with her face serious before a smile crept up her features and immediately hugged the girl that was trying to open the car door to make her dramatic exit, "I was kidding! I like spending time with you."

"I don’t know if I can say the same with you miss Steinfeld, you just bullied me."

"It was all Milo’s idea, I swear." Hailee lifted her hands up in defense and pouted at the girl, who fixated her with an hard stare and an inquisitive arched eyebrow before she sighed and rolled her eyes in fond exasperation, causing the singer to squeal lightly in victory, "yay!"

The two got out of the car and walked into the building, took the elevator and reached Y/N’s apartment a few seconds later, "do you want something to drink?"

"Just water, please." Hailee replied noncommittally as she studied the impressively big apartment that had an amazing view of the city and the ocean. "Wow, your apartment is amazing. The view is beautiful."

"Yeah." Hailee was too busy looking out of the big windows of the living room to notice Y/N staring at her from the kitchen counter as she replied to Hailee’s comment, before making her way towards her and offering a glass of water to her, "I worked my ass off to pay for it."

"What do you do for work?"

"I’m the head of security and cybersecurity department in a bioengineering company."

"Okay, now can you try in English please?" Hailee asked with her eyebrows crinkled together in confusion, causing a small chuckle to leaves Y/N’s lips.

"I make sure no one can hack into our data systems and steal any important project."

"Oh cool! It must be stressful."

"Sometimes, but I get to work from home when I please and I pretty much am the boss of myself so." Y/N shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her water, "not to mention everyone is afraid to piss me off because I can totally hack into their phones and expose them with just a few taps from my phone." Y/N added with a mischievous smile as her eyes shimmered with mirth and chuckled inwardly when Hailee look a bit unsure at that last piece of information.

"Should I be worried?"

"No, you are safe with me. I’m a softy at heart, so I’m not capable of doing that. I promise." Y/N assured and for some reason Hailee believed her. She felt like she could truly trust Y/N, even if she knew about 4 things about her at most, but she was eager to find out more.

"Well duh, you are the head of security of a company, so of course I’m safe with you. Should I hire you as my bodyguard?" Hailee joked and bumped their shoulders together, wanting at all costs to hear that amazing sound to leave Y/N’s lips again, her body filling up with warmth when she was rewarded with that craved laugh not too long after.

"I’m not a bodyguard, Haiz. But I can make an exception? I don’t know, we can discuss it further when I’m drunk enough." Y/N continued their ongoing joke as she walked them over the couch to sit, Milo dozing off in his little bed right beside the couch.

"Oh yes, please!" Hailee giggled and clapped her hands excitedly, "we can totally do that later, if you’re up for it?"

"Are you really asking me if I want to hang out with you? Last week I got blocked by Republic Records for lashing out at them because my idol wasn’t having the recognition she deserved. I’m pretty sure I’m just hallucinating this after too many drinks, so I’m gonna make the most of it if I’m waking up soon."

"You’re a dork." Hailee pointed out with a small shake of her head and smile, pushing gently on the Y/E/C girl’s shoulder, who grinned at her in return.

"Yeah, yeah. You’ll get used to it." Y/N waved her off as she leaned over to place her now empty glass of water on the coffee table, watching as Hailee mimicked her, before turning a bit to the side when she laid back on the backrest of the couch to stare at Hailee without straining her neck.

"So, future bodyguard, tell me about your combat skills."

-

"I’m telling you, being a genius at hacking can be useful but can also put you in some kind of situations." Y/N shivered in disgust at the images and purposefully took a big gulp of her drink to get rid of the memories that swam to the forefront of her mind.

"Like what?"

"Like when you’re trying to hack into your roommate’s professor’s laptop to steal the questions for her exam and finding a video of her having quality time with her wife."

"Oh my god!" Hailee clapped her hands together and leaned her head back as loud chuckles left her mouth at the look of pure horror on Y/N’s features at her retelling.

"When the next day I bumped into her on the way to my class, I almost fainted in front of her."

"I would’ve paid to see your face." Hailee giggled under her breath before taking a sip of her drink, furrowing her eyebrows sadly when she noticed the glass was now empty.

"Oh no, not that pouty face. Another drink coming up!" Y/N tapped the table with her hand and gulped down the rest of her drink, before sitting up and making her way towards the counter, "do you want the same one?" Y/N asked as she walked backward to the bar.

"Surprise me!" Hailee simply stated as she smiled at the girl, playing around with the ice in her glass before lifting her gaze up back on Y/N and clenched her jaw hard when jealousy crashed over her like a tidal wave at the sight of the bartender openly flirting with Y/N before handing her their drinks and a small piece of paper. Back off dude.

"You won’t believe what the hell just happened." Y/N told Hailee as soon as she sat back on her chair beside her, turning her back a bit to the counter to shield herself from the bartender as she handed Hailee her drink, "he gave me his number! He started asking a few questions about me and I was like ‘he is just being polite’, but then when he finished preparing our drinks he said and I quote ‘here is my number, so we can continue this conversation later’." Y/N made a gagging sound and a disgusted face and Hailee felt relieved that Y/N wasn’t happy about his move, "I am too kind to tell him I’m gay and it’s a big no for me." Y/N chuckled as she crumpled the piece of paper and scrambled it on the table.

Hailee felt her head spin out of control at that information. She wasn’t expecting that, sure she subconsciously hoped Y/N was gay, but she wasn’t ready to have that conversation yet, so she focused on the relief invading every single cell of her body as butterflies flew around her stomach like crazy all the while trying to subdue her excitement and her big ass grin she was sure she had on her face at that poor bartender getting stood up.

"Well I think you have to because he is still looking at you like a lovesick puppy." Hailee giggled under her breath when she subtly looked at the bartender over Y/N’s shoulder and found him looking their way.

"Ugh I hate this, what am I supposed to say, turn around and scream ‘dude I’m gay!’?!" Y/N asked in an exasperated but amused tone and shook her head softly.

"I might have a wicked idea."

"I’m in." Y/N nodded eagerly as her eyes sparkled enthusiastically.

"You don’t want to hear it first?"

"Not if it will take him off my back." Hailee hesitated just a couple of seconds as she eyed Y/N in search of any kind of discomfort before looking around at the now almost empty bar, then side-eyeing the bartender still looking at them and that made her resolutely lean forward and lay her lips over Y/N’s ones in a soft, gentle peck.

Thankfully Y/N had her back to the guy so he couldn’t see her eyes widening in shock for two seconds at most at the singer’s gesture, before closing them and reciprocating the soft kiss, now understanding what Hailee’s idea was, to make it more believable.

The kiss lasted about 5 seconds at last but for both of them it felt like it was an eternity spent in the softest and most delicious of sensations of their lips clasped together ever so gently, so when they both pulled away from the kiss they felt like the room was spinning and both had to lay their hands on the table to ground each other to earth. "Wow." Y/N exhaled in a whispered breath and smiled dumbly at the singer, who now sported a small blush on her cheeks, "thank you." Y/N didn’t know if it was the right thing to say but her brain was now in a puddle of gay feelings, so she was thankful she at least said something in the first place.

"It worked." Hailee winked at Y/N as she forced her heart rate to fucking stop pounding into her ears and smiled triumphantly when she watched the bartender sigh dejectedly and busy himself with mixing up another drink. Take that dude, she is mine! Not exactly mine, but y’know- whatever.

"Now, we can enjoy our fresh drinks peacefully."

"While we talk about you finding a sextape of your roommate’s professor."

"Ugh, I need to be way more drunk to talk about it more."

Hailee giggled loudly and was about to say something more but was stopped when someone approached their table and when she turned to see who it was, she restrained herself from rolling her eyes at the sight of the bartender standing in front of them with two drinks in his hands and looking sheepishly at Y/N. Can’t this dude fucking take an hint?! "Sorry to interrupt you ladies, I just came here to apologize to you and to give this to you guys. It’s on me. Enjoy your night."

Hailee was taken aback at the totally unexpected apology and chanced a look at Y/N and found the same amount of confusion on her features, before a small smile appeared on her mouth and watched as she nodded gently at him, "thank you."

Hailee merely smiled at him and watched as he nodded at them and walked away, "I- I’m too stunned to speak."

"Well it seems like your plan worked very very well. We got free alcohol! If you want to do it again, I’m in!" Y/N joked and she must have been already a bit intoxicated because she doesn’t seem affected by what she said, exactly the opposite of what Hailee was feeling in that moment. Because it took all her willpower to not lean over and kiss Y/N again, knowing the girl meant that as a joke, so she just laughed it off and sipped on her drink. Little did she know Y/N wasn’t intoxicated at all and meant it with all herself, she was just too much of a coward to just kiss Hailee herself.

-

"Guys! I know we said tomorrow was going to be our last day of shooting, but I need to fly to New York to take care of a few things with my label, so we need to reschedule it in three weeks!" Anderson announced sadly after they shoot the last scene of the day. A few days passed and they now moved into a building set out with green screens that were needed to put everything together during editing in the editing room, Hailee was dressed with a tight-fitting green dress and was staring at Anderson talking to everyone into the room, Y/N not too far behind wearing the same outfit she wore a few days prior.

"Don’t worry Andy, we already waited long enough, three weeks more won’t hurt." Hailee cracked a joke with a sarcastic tone that immediately lighted up the rapper’s grim face with a big grin as he nodded at her with a small laugh. Hailee walked back to her changing room and put on a pair of high-waisted jeans and a crop top, showing a bit of her abs, leaving her perfectly styled hair down, and quickly removed her makeup before making her way towards Y/N’s changing room to ask the girl to hang out at her house. "Hey stranger! How about- oh shit! Sorry!" As soon as Hailee closed the door behind her and turned around towards the Y/H/C girl with a bright smile on her face, it immediately dropped as her mouth opened in an O shape and her hands flew to her widened eyes to cover them when she was met with the sight of Y/N only in a pair of green boy shorts and her chest completely exposed to the singer.

"Oh shit, Hailee!"

"Sorry! I thought you were already done!" Hailee was having an hard time standing on her feet as she felt her legs wobble a bit as the images of the girl’s supple breasts plagued her mind, but tried to act cool like nothing happened.

"Anderson stopped me to talk about a few things for the video. You can look now." Y/N announced and Hailee sighed out of relief only for it to get stuck in her throat when she came face to face with Y/N still in her boy shorts that hugged her ass in an heavenly way and her bra, "I don’t know where the fuck my clothes are!"

Hailee felt a familiar pressure coiling dangerously in her lower stomach and took a deep breath to stop herself from spiraling out of control, "where did you leave them when you changed?"

"Here on the couch! Let me see if they fell under the cushions." Hailee whimpered under her breath when Y/N bent over the couch and started searching under the cushions for her clothes, her eyes hungrily fixated on the girl’s butt as her teeth sank on her bottom lip hungrily. "Nothing here. Where the hell are they?"

Hailee had to physically stop another whine leaving her lips when Y/N lifted her arm up to comb it into her hair in frustration before slamming it on the side of her body and the motion caused her bra-clad boobs to wiggle deliciously. "D-do you want me- to go check if we have something here for you to wear?"

"Yeah, I can’t exactly walk around like this."

I wish. "I’ll be right back." Hailee exited Y/N’s changing room and leaned on the door as she took deep calming breaths to beg her own body to stop buzzing and to start functioning properly in front of Y/N, "hey Jen, do we maybe have something to give to Y/N? She can’t find her clothes."

"Oh shoot, I think I have them! I though those were production clothes that we didn’t use!" Hailee chuckled gently at their stylist and thanked her when she handed her Y/N’s clothes and she walked back to Y/N’s changing room.

When she closed the door gently behind her she almost dropped the clothes on the floor and took Y/N right then and there when she was met with the sight of Y/N on the couch, on al four looking over the side side of the couch still probably searching her clothes. "Hm, it seemed like Jen had them."

Hailee surprised herself at the low, raspy tone she used and cleared her throat, watching as Y/N sprinted towards her with a wide smile before hugging her tightly. Hailee stood frozen for like a millisecond before reciprocating the hug and feeling her body literally hum in delight when her palms laid gently on Y/N’s exposed, surprisingly strong back. "Thank you my savior! Tonight, pizza is on me!"

-

"Do you want something to drink? I have a vodka and some other things to make a few drinks." Y/N announced as she sat up from her couch and retrieved the empty glasses of water to go refill them.

"Uhm, yeah. I can use a drink. What are the options?" Hailee asked as she sat up and walked over the kitchen counter to join Y/N in the open-space kitchen.

"Hm-" Y/N, crouched down on the floor to look at the bottom cabinet where the alcohol was and stopped to look at everything she had before thinking the first drink that came to mind, "sex on the beach?"

Hailee perched up at that, her mouth curling in a mischievous smile as the words left her lips effortlessly, "are you offering?"

Y/N straightened her back and regarded Hailee with a confused expression, "well I’m making the drinks so of cou-" Y/N stopped herself mid-sentence with a gasp when the meaning behind Hailee’s question caught up with her and now noticed her smug-looking face, a blush already creeping up her neck and cheeks, "HAILEE!"

"What?! It was a legit question!"

"You know what?! No sex on the beach for you." Y/N chided in an authoritative tone as she walked over the side of the kitchen counter, right beside Hailee, and slapped the girl’s right shoulder gently.

"Spoilsport. On the couch then?" Hailee kept teasing the girl a bit more, wanting to see how much she can push before reaching the breaking point and in the mean time enjoying the view of a flushed Y/N trying at all costs to not look flustered in front of her.

"Hailee, no."

"On this kitchen counter? I bet is stable enough to support us-"

"Hailee, I swear if you don’t shut up now, I’m making you." Y/N now sported a red hue on her cheeks and neck and was having an hard time in not just shutting the girl up with a kiss she had been dreaming to do since their soft peck a few night prior - it was a total lie, she had dreamed to kiss her for years now but let’s not dwell on that now - , so instead she stayed put on her spot with her body literally buzzing in a few specific places.

"Is that a promise?" Hailee asked in a seductive tone and a wolfish grin as she stretched her hand over and rolled a strand of Y/N’s Y/H/C hair around her fingers, watching as the girl visibly struggled at that gesture.

"Haiz, please. Stop."

"Sorry, I didn’t want to make you uncomforta-"

"You didn’t. It’s just hard." Y/N interrupted Hailee with a strong voice, her eyes moving from the counter in front of her to meet Hailee’s fierce brown irises determinedly.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it wasn’t amusing you-"

"It did." Y/N was quick to reassure before shaking her head to get rid of images that weren’t exactly appropriate with the singer so close to her and continued without properly control herself. "It just- not only, amused me." Y/N widened her eyes comically when she heard her own voice reach her ears, "shit, did I say it out loud?"

"You did. And tell me, what other things made you feel? You said you weren’t uncomfortable, nor annoyed. So what?"

Hailee knew she was pushing maybe too far, but now that she saw a bit of spark that this may go further than their flourishing friendship, she would be stupid to not push through Y/N’s walls if it helped her to unveil her feelings. "Shit- I-"

Hailee smirked a bit more when she watched Y/N take a deep, shuddered breath as she struggled to keep gazing into Hailee’s eyes, so the singer pushed forwards, sitting up from her laying positions on her forearms on the counter and walked closer to Y/N, "would you feel better if I told you I too didn’t feel only amusement?" Y/N couldn’t find in her the force to speak, worried it would result in her whimpering pathetically at the distracting closeness Hailee put them through, so she just nodded dumbly at her, "and, so to speaking, would you like me to say to you what it made me feel or would it be better if I show you?"

This time Y/N couldn’t contain the small whimper leaving her lips when Hailee got impossibly closer to her and stared at her with this fierce, determined look on her face that she couldn’t control what was leaving her mouth in that moment, "show me." Y/N simply stated as she stared a few seconds at Hailee’s lips before meeting her eyes resolutely with fire burning behind her Y/E/C pools.

And that was the validation Hailee needed before surging forward, bracketing Y/N’s face softly with her hands before capturing Y/N’s lips in a slow, tender kiss. It was definitely more vigorous and audacious from the short kiss they shared in the bar, but still delicate enough to spark their bodies up and spreading a sense of happiness all throughout them like a wildfire. Hailee’s hands gripped Y/N’s cheeks when the girl pushed more onto her lips needily as a smile stretched over her features, before planting a few pecks there and pulling away. "Wow." Hailee repeated the same words Y/N spoke after kissing at the bar and that brightened Y/N’s features some more before the girl moved her hands, that stayed frozen on the counter, around Hailee’s neck and pushed her back onto her mouth for another, albeit more sensual, kiss. They both felt the other hum appreciatively as their lips slid over each other in an explorative dance, as their hands tried to push the other more into their bodies, but the edge of the counter between them proved to be a difficult task to complete, so Hailee moved around without disconnecting their lips and laid her hands on Y/N’s waist to turn her completely and trap her body on the counter with her own.

Y/N’s head reeled out of control at the singer taking the lead and went fully pliant under her to let her do whatever she pleased with her. Jeez, calm down a bit, won’t you? Y/N’s hands combed into Hailee’s blonde tresses when, after sweeping her tongue over the seam of her lips to ask for permission and Y/N granting the singer access right away, their tongues met in a messy dance inside their mouths, sliding over each other greedily as their unique taste inebriated their senses. When air, sadly, became a necessity, they pulled away slowly, a soft pop echoing around the silent room, before leaning their foreheads together and staring into each other’s eyes affectionately, "just to clarify, I’m not once again passed out drunk and dreaming this, right?"

Hailee laughed heartily at the question and at the dazed look on the girl’s face and shook her head fondly before laying a peck on her cheek, "not that I’m aware of."

"Good, good." Y/N stared a few more seconds into Hailee’s eyes before asking softly, "do you still want that drink or-?"

"Are you offering sex on the beach once again?" Hailee’s smug grin made its way back on the singer’s now kiss-swollen lips that only broadened as a laugh left her throat when Y/N blushed furiously and rolled her eyes at the singer.

"Hailee, I’m leaving."

"Oh so we’re going to the beach?" Hailee hugged Y/N tightly when she tried to push the singer off her body to walk away from her and pinned her back on the counter as she kept laughing heartily at their banter. "Okay, I’ll stop. For now."

"Do you want that drink or not?"

-

"Oh shit, wait! Let me record it." Hailee scrambled to take her phone and started recording a video of Y/N’s laptop’s screen as the girl pushed a few buttons around. They were in Hailee’s family home, seated on the couch in the living room while Griffin was holed up in the garage working on his car, so the two had the wicked idea of Y/N hacking into Griffin’s wireless speaker and pulling a prank on him while they watched through the security cameras video.

"Ready? One, two, three!" Y/N tapped something on the laptop and suddenly music bursted out loudly from the speaker, making Griffin jump out in fright and bump harshly his head on the open hood of the car he was crouching over to work on the engine.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Y/N and Hailee bursted out in loud cackles at what they just witnessed, leaning over the couch as they gripped their stomaches while tears rolled down their cheeks. Hailee stopped the video while hiding her face into Y/N’s neck as her body got wrecked by loud giggles.

"Oh my god. This was hilarious." Hailee let out in breathy voice as she tried to regain her composure and wipe a few tears away from her face, "did you hear the loud sound his head made with the hood? It was-"

"Y/N!!! I KNOW IT WAS YOU." Griffin came into vision as he walked out of the garage and had a murderous glare on his features as he trudged towards them.

"Oh shit, gotta go." Y/N disentangled herself from Hailee and sat up, walking around the couch to shield herself from a pissed Griffin. "I’m sorry! It was an harmless prank!"

"I FUCKING BANGED MY HEAD AND IT FUCKING HURT."

At that Hailee laughed again, causing Griffin to detach his eyes off Y/N for a brief second to send Hailee a withering glare, before meeting Y/N’s Y/E/C pools again when he heard her giggle softly under her breath, "sorry? Oh shit!"

Y/N run on the opposite side of the living room when Griffin charged towards her, watching as Hailee walked quickly up to her and tried to shield her from her brother’s attack, "move Hailee."

"It was my idea, she just obliged to my wishes."

"Whipped." Griffin teased with a smug grin and Y/N scoffed with a roll of her eyes, "but she still did it and she is gonna pay-HEY COME HERE!" Griffin was now sporting an amused smile as he ceased after her, while Hailee stared at the two with fondness swimming through her brown eyes at how familiar it all felt and felt happiness swell into her chest at how well the two got along in the past weeks, "hey babe, go!" Hailee opened the door that lead to their backyard and smiled brightly when Y/N left a peck on her lips on her way out.

"HEY! Don’t help her!"

"Sorry buddy-" Y/N turned around a bit to smile cheekily at Griffin, still jogging a bit to put a safe distance from him, "she’s on my si-FUCK!"

"Y/N watch out!" But it was too late, a loud splashing sound followed after Hailee’s warning and Y/N found herself in the pool with a Griffin bent over his knees, laughing his ass off.

"Payback is a bitch. My job here is done."

"Asshole."

"Love you too buddy!" Griffin waved at her as he walked back into the house and probably into the garage, while Y/N moved her wet hair out of her face and swam towards the small steps to exit the pool, a pouting Hailee waiting for her with a towel opened for her.

"Thank you babe." Y/N embraced herself with the towel and blushed furiously when Hailee kissed her cheek softly, "somehow I knew karma would’ve caught up with me."

"C’mon, let’s go get you some dry clothes." Y/N carefully left her wet shoes out as she made sure she wasn’t dripping down the floor all the way up the stairs to Hailee‘s room and waited patiently as Hailee fished a pair of black sweatpants and a teal t-shirt from her closet, before grabbing a pair of boy shorts and walking over to Y/N offering her her clothes. "Here you go."

Y/N discarded carefully the towel on the floor and went to grab the clothes from Hailee’s hands, but stopped when she noticed her girlfriend’s eyes fixated on her wet, white t-shirt and smirked mischievously when she notice her ogling at her chest, "my eyes are up here Steinfeld."

"W-what?" Hailee had an hard time ripping her eyes away from Y/N’s nipples standing out under the t-shirt now glued to her body and involuntarily licked her lips before meeting Y/N’s gaze full of mirth and mischief.

"See something you like?"

Hailee felt a shiver run down her back at the seductive and teasing tone the girl used and gulped imperceptibly. Two can play this game. "A couple of things yeah."

"Has anyone ever told you staring is rude?"

"Not when my girlfriend is so hot." Hailee admitted as she threw the clothes on the bed and walked closer to Y/N, laying her hands on her hips and flushing their bodies together.

"Babe, I’m gonna get you all wet."

"Hm, I wouldn’t mind it." Y/N felt her legs wobble at the raspy counter back as well-know pressure settled on the apex of her thighs when the brunette leaned over to lay a few open-mouthed kisses on the girl’s neck, feeling her skin still a bit dump under her lips.

"Babe." Y/N sighed contentedly as her eyes closed shut instinctively and her hands traded into Hailee’s hair to push her more into her and silently asking to keep going.

"Shit, you’re so hot." Hailee breathed out between them with a mesmerized look as her eyes fell once again on Y/N’s nipples still hard, but now she didn’t know if it was due to her dip in the water or for her ministrations on her neck and that thought alone sent shivers down her spine and right between her legs.

"C’mere." Y/N gripped the back of Hailee’s neck and pulled her into a bruising kiss, forcing her tongue into the singer’s mouth almost immediately and reveling in the wail tumbling out of Hailee’s throat and traveling right though her mouth and down between her legs when one of her hands, secured on the girl’s waist, skidded down and grasped her ass to flush their hips even more closer.

"Fuck." Hailee gasped out loud as her chest heaved from lack of air when Y/N’s teeth nibbled on her pulse point while her other hand moved from her neck and joined her ass to grope her thoroughly. "Shit, I can’t slip my hands under your shirt, it’s glued to your skin."

"Then take it off." Y/N answered absentmindedly as she focused on leaving a small hickey under the collar of Hailee’s shirt, making sure it would be covered with her clothes and would be hid from the public’s eyes.

"But I can clearly see you don’t have a bra under it."

"So what? It’s not the first time you see my boobs." Hailee blushed furiously when she recalled a few weeks ago when she barged into Y/N’s changing room and found her almost completely naked.

"Ugh, I almost exploded that day."

"Does it mean you will totally explode if you see me completely naked?" Y/N teased Hailee with a grin full of mirth and Hailee rolled her eyes in fond exasperation at her girlfriend.

"It depends on what kind of explosions we���re talking about." Hailee teased back as she started playing with the hem of the girl’s wet shirt, her fingertips caressing teasingly the waistband of Y/N’s sweatpants.

"Hm." Y/N hummed on Hailee’s lips before slipping teasingly her tongue into Hailee’s parted mouth and gripped her ass hard to make Hailee circle her legs around her waist to walk them towards the bed, "you sure?"

Hailee’s heart rate skyrocketed at the thoughtful, loving question, causing warmth to invade her body and arousal pool even more between her legs, increasing copiously the wetness already collected there. "More than ever." Hailee kissed Y/N hungrily to let all her feelings into their kiss as she imperceptibly grounded her center on Y/N’s contracted abs to gain more friction, "hm, wait." Hailee pulled away when she felt the girl starting her walk towards the bed and made her stop in her tracks.

"What?" The adorable worried gaze Y/N regarded her with made Hailee let out a small ‘aw’ before pecking repeatedly her lips, basking in the smile that her gesture replaced with instead of her anxious pout.

"My brother is downstairs and the door is unlocked."

"Do you think we can trick him into leaving the house for a while so we can-?" Y/N stopped herself because she didn’t know how her body would react if she said the ‘s’ word with Hailee still in her arms and merely stared at the bed with her eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

Hailee blushed furiously at the implications and nodded, but before she could ask Y/N to put her down so could open the door and call her brother Y/N walked them both towards the door and waited for Hailee to open the door. The show of strength Y/N was pulling right now was so hot Hailee felt her arousal increase so much it almost became unbearable, but she had to resist a few more minutes before finally giving into their desires. She opened the door a tad and leaned her back a bit, completely ignoring her center rubbing deliciously over Y/N’s abs and winking at Y/N when she noticed the hungry look she was sending her way at her sexy gesture, to call out her brother from upstairs, knowing he could hear her from there, "GRIFF?!" When she received no answer she furrowed her brows and looked at Y/N in confusion who just lifted her shoulders up in puzzlement. Y/N reluctantly had to put Hailee down as they had to make their way down the stairs to go searching the boy, who was probably busy and couldn’t hear them, but they found the house completely empty. Just when Hailee went to the couch to grab her phone and call her brother, she found a post-it stuck on its screen and smiled sweetly at the message.

Wade called for my help for his car. I’ll see you guys tonight. Tell Y/N she still need to pay for her prank with food.

Hailee showed the message to Y/N, who rolled her eyes good-naturedly and shook her head, before a big, ravenous smirk rolled over her lips, "do you know what this means?" Hailee gulped visibly as her body’s temperature rose up in an instant at the hungry tilt present in Y/N’s voice and waited for Y/N to continue, "it means I have you all to myself for the entire day." Y/N walked slowly, predatorily towards Hailee, nuzzling their noses together before bending slightly on her knees and grasping Hailee’s ass again to pull her up and link her legs around her waist to start her walk up the stairs.

"Shit, that was fucking hot." Hailee murmured hungrily as she leaned over and attacked Y/N’s neck with open-mouthed kisses, mixed with a few licks and small nips. She smirked widely when Y/N faltered in her steps on the stairs when she bit particularly harsh on her pulse point and soothed the stinging with her tongue, moaning pitifully on the now raw skin when Y/N gripped her ass hard, causing her hips to rub deliciously over her stomach.

"Babe, I’m trying to walk."

"Then hurry up, because I’m trying to fuck you."

Y/N stopped her walk on the stairs to stare Hailee down predatorily, "Hailee. Fuck!"

Hailee giggled just a few seconds before she squealed loudly when Y/N pretty much sprinted up the stairs and into her room, kicking the door shut and blindly locking the door, Hailee finding the motion extremely hot and endearing as she pulled their mouths together in a bruising kiss. "That was so hot too."

"Me running up the stairs?"

"Yeah and closing the door without looking at it."

"Yeah well you can never be too sure so I had to lock it and I only have eyes for you my beautiful Hailee, so how could I look away?" Y/N replied charmingly as she brushed their noses together before wrapping her lips around the blonde’s ones in an open-mouthed kiss, all teeth and tongues.

"Shit." Hailee shuddered as she recovered from their powerful kiss and licked her lips to ground herself before leaning their foreheads together and looking into Y/N’s eyes intensely, then laying a soft peck on the Y/H/C girl’s nose before speaking up once again, "that was so cheesy but so fucking beautiful and heart warming. I’m speechless. I like you so so much, Y/N/N. I know we met only about a month ago but I already feel something so strong for you, my beautiful baby."

"So are you Haiz. And we may officially know each other for only a short amount of time, but I feel like I’ve known you for so much longer. And I mean, I technically do since I am your fan and I’ve known you since around 2014, but trust me when I say that these past month with you only deepened my already growing feelings for you."

The two stared each other down a few more moments before meeting into a languid, soft kiss, full of passion that burned within their bodies that got obscured by lust when Y/N finally reached the bed and laid Hailee gently on it, crawling on top of her right after as they never detached their lips and kept exploring the other’s mouth eagerly with their tongues. "Can I take this off?"

Hailee almost combusted on the spot at the question asked in a whispered, breathy voice on her lips as Y/N’s hands played with the hem of the girl’s black tank top, "yes, baby."

And with a swift motion, Y/N lifted Hailee’s top off and took her time to admire her girlfriend’s half naked torso, her eyes sweeping over the prominent collarbones, down her chest clad in a black lacy bra before focusing hungrily on Hailee’s abs, that she promptly contracted under the girl’s intense and attentive stare, causing Y/N to lick her lips longingly, "you are gorgeous Haiz."

"So are you babe. Let me get you out of this drenched shirt." Hailee laid a soft peck on Y/N’s lips before looking into Y/N’s eyes to ask for her permission, finding affection and lust mixing together in her Y/E/C irises, and so, with a bit of effort, she succeeded in pulling the wet garment off Y/N and throwing it on the floor to join her own top. She watched mesmerized as goosebumps appeared on the girl’s skin, licking her dry lips before biting down on her bottom lip when her girlfriend’s nipples hardened even more when shivers reached her chest too.

"See something you like miss Steinfeld?" Y/N repeated her previous question and smirked cheekily down at a still starstruck Hailee, ogling her girlfriend’s boobs with hooded eyes, and chuckled amusedly when Hailee merely nodded at the girl’s question without moving her eyes away from Y/N’s chest, so the girl laid her finger under Hailee’s chin and lifted her head up to make her meet her amused but lustful gaze, "take a picture, it’ll last longer."

"Maybe I will, do you mind?" Hailee moved her hand to retrieve her phone from her pocket after stashing it in there after reading her brother’s message he left for her and opened her camera app to snap a few pictures of Y/N half naked and straddling her torso. "Beautiful."

"I thought we were about to have sex, not an impromptu photoshoot."

"Sorry, but I couldn’t resist." Hailee blocked her phone and discarded it somewhere on the mattress before giving her undivided attention to Y/N. "Where were we?"

"I was about to state the fact that it’s unfair you already saw my boobs twice while I’ve never seen yours." Y/N spoke up in a pensive tone as she tapped her forefinger on her chin and looked down at Hailee, who was still having an hard time focusing on anything but Y/N’s boobs calling for her mouth’s attention.

"Well, I guess we need to do something to change that."

"How about this?" Y/N leaned down to capture Hailee’s lips in an hard kiss while her hands sneaked behind Hailee’s back to arch it and allow her fingers to unfasten her bra and throwing it behind her before staring at Hailee’s supple breasts a few seconds, then laying her torso down on Hailee’s one and both moaned in delight when their nipples brushed over each other for the first time. Tingles traveled all over their bodies when Y/N readjusted her position on top of Hailee and slotted one of her legs between Hailee’s ones, causing her thigh still covered by her wet sweatpants to rub deliciously over Hailee’s jeans clad center, while Hailee’s leg slipped between Y/N’s thighs and pushed hard on Y/N’s core.

"Oh." Hailee moaned in appreciation at the wonderful stimulation she was experiencing and canted her hips up on Y/N’s leg to gain as much friction as she could, feeling Y/N’s hands grasping her hips clench on the skin there.

"You’re so hot, fuck." Y/N stared transfixed with her eyes full of lust skidding all over Hailee’s naked chest as she licked her swollen lips in a predatory way while her body lighted up with arousal at the singer grinding on her thigh greedily.

"Are you- fuck- just gonna stare babe?"

"Oh trust me, I’m going to do so much more than just stare." Y/N stated in an hungry, low tone, causing tingles to run down Hailee’s spine and merging all between her legs, causing another moan to slip out as a particular hard thrust up stimulated her clit wonderfully, "enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah." Hailee shuddered as the coiling sensation in her lower stomach grew exponentially each passing second of her grinding and at the smug smirk Y/N sent her way, "a lot."

"Hm." Y/N hummed pensively as her hands moved up and down Hailee’s torso, the soft caresses eliciting goosebumps on her hands’ wake, purposefully grazing the underside of Hailee’s boobs but never grasping them fully to tease the singer a bit more while her smirk only grew wider at the small whimpers leaving her girlfriend’s mouth each time she missed her breasts, "y’know I’m enjoying myself too, watching this amazing show, having the privilege of front row seats and all of that, being the one giving you so much pleasure without even touching you properly, your beautiful face contorted in pleasure, those amazing sounds leaving your mouth and let’s not even start talking about your wonderful tits moving each time you thrust your hips up for some friction and literally calling me and my mouth to just pay attention to them. Fuck, you are stunning like this babe, my beautiful baby."

"Oh fuck-shit. Y/N, please touch me. Make me come over and over again."

"Well, since you asked so nicely." In one swift motion, Y/N got rid of both Hailee’s and her pants and panties and resumed their previous position, now both moaning blissfully at the sensation of their skin coming in contact for the first time without any garment in between and both established a slow but steady rhythm, with their cores rubbing on their thighs while they kissed hungrily in a messy kiss, full of teeth and tongues.

"Y/N/N." Hailee wailed loudly when Y/N’s lips attached on her pulse point while both of her hands finally landed on her chest and kneaded her boobs needily.

"Hm." Y/N hummed in appreciation and hunger as Hailee’s nipples stood up under her palms at her hands’ attention and rolled them both with her thumb and basked in the broken, strangled whine leaving Hailee’s throat at her motions, "so so hot like this."

"Oh babe! You feel so good." Hailee’s body twisted under Y/N’s one as her hips increased the pace just a tad, chasing down her increasing arousal and orgasm.

"Can I taste your wonderful boobs?" Hailee felt a gush of arousal leave her core at the question and, not finding enough clarity to answer verbally, Hailee nodded furiously and combed her hands into Y/N’s hair to push her head down on her chest. Y/N smirked at the eager gesture and let Hailee move her down her body, leaving a trail kisses on her way down before promptly wrapping her lips around a pebbled nipple and moaning on the singer’s chest at the sensations triggered by her gesture.

Y/N took her time in worshipping the girl’s breasts to the fullest, alternating between kisses, nibbles, small love bites and licks, switching from one boob to the other to make sure they both had the proper attention they both deserved, all the while never stopping her grinding with Hailee’s hips, only increasing the speed and the force when they both felt their orgasm getting close. "Babe, I’m- fuck."

"Yeah, me too." Y/N murmured with a nipple into her mouth and swirled her tongue over it a few times before releasing it with a loud pop and moving up to be face to face with Hailee, nuzzling their noses together before laying a soft peck on her lips.

"Oh, Y/N/N!" Hailee moaned blissfully when Y/N laid her torso back on Hailee’s one, causing their nipples to clash together and stimulate them both to the fullest with each thrust they did, and wrapped her arms around the Y/H/C girl’s strong back as she hugged her closer. Their hips never stopped their unrelenting pace, only moved fast as they chased down their peak, creating a lewd melody of thudding sounds coming from the headboard hitting the wall and their moans mixing together between them.

"Shit, I’m close." Y/N whispered into Hailee’s ear as the singer laid her forehead on Y/N’s temple and nodded furiously beside her.

"Me too babe." Hailee was the first to tumble over the edge with a strangled moan and her hands clamping down on Y/N’s shoulder blades, her body stiffening for a few seconds as her release spread all over Y/N’s thigh, followed right after by Y/N, who moaned softly into Hailee’s shoulder, her body twitching copiously as her juices dripped from her core and onto Hailee’s leg and bed, before slumping down on Hailee’s body as both let their haziness wear off.

"Hi." Y/N turned her head around slowly to meet Hailee’s soft, brown irises and pecked her lips gently, feeling a big grin flit over Hailee’s lips before sharing another tender kiss.

"Hi cutie." Hailee brushed their noses together a few seconds before, without warning, switching their position. She was now the one on top, looking down at Y/N and admiring with greedy eyes her breathtaking naked body. "Hello again."

"Hm, this view is also not bad at all." Y/N felt her body literally buzz in anticipation and trepidation as she noticed the predator look Hailee was regarding her with.

"Would you look at that?" Y/N furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and silently asked Hailee to elaborate further, "look at the mess I made! I better clean it up."

"Oh shit!" Y/N had very little time to process what the singer was referring to before she felt her tongue hit her right thigh and lick her own juices off. "Fuck Haiz, that was so hot."

"Wanna taste?" Hailee smirked seductively at Y/N after straightening her stance and leaned over to kiss Y/N when she whimpered under her breath and nodded her head briskly. Hailee shuddered visibly when Y/N was waiting with her mouth already parted open to accommodate her tongue and wailed into the Y/E/C girl’s mouth when she sucked eagerly on her tongue while her hands flew to her ass and gripped it harshly.

"Hm, so fucking delicious. I wanna taste more."

"Ah-ah, later. Now, I want to see how loud you can be while I fuck you into the mattress." Hailee almost surprised herself at her own words. She never liked that much dirty talk, never the one using it and always almost cringing when her past lovers used it. But with Y/N? It just seemed natural and it felt so fucking hot hearing Y/N voice her thoughts while being intimate with her and watching closely Y/N’s reaction at her own crass words. So she guessed she liked dirty talk now.

"Oh shit, how do you want me?" Y/N asked eagerly, instinctively spreading her legs open for Hailee to slip between them and lay on Y/N’s body and moaned pitifully into Hailee’s mouth when she pulled her into a slow, sensual kiss with their tongues sliding over each other hungrily.

"Hm, like this is perfect." Hailee stated in an hoarse voice, humming in appreciation when Y/N’s hands kept kneading her ass eagerly as her lips laced on her jaw and left open mouthed kisses there. "No hickeys. I have to shoot the music video tomorrow."

"Noted." Y/N’s teeth nibbled Hailee’s defined jaw a few more seconds, before laying her tongue flat on her skin and licking up to her ear before engulfing her earlobe into her mouth and sucked on it teasingly.

"Hm." Hailee hummed blissfully as her arousal pooled once again between her legs and almost got herself lost into Y/N’s amazing ministrations before she shook her head hastily to get rid of the haziness and moved her head away from Y/N’s lips, "how are you feeling? Ready for round two?" When the Y/E/C girl just nodded furiously as she bit on her bottom lip seductively, Hailee leaned over to replace her teeth with Y/N’s ones and nibbled on her bottom lip a few seconds, while one of her hands slipped between their bodies and reached its yearned destination a moment later, triggering a loud moan from Y/N, that Hailee promptly swallowed when she joined their lips again in a much more frenzy and needier kiss. "So wet for me already."

"Oh Haiz." Y/N felt wild goosebumps wreck her body when Hailee rolled her pulsating clit between her fingers before releasing it and teasing her entrance instead, going back and forth repeatedly to increase the already copious amount of wetness between her legs. "Please baby."

"Patience, Y/N/N." Hailee smirked when Y/N grunted in protest and bucked her hips up to try to gain some friction, but Hailee used her other hand to push the girl’s hips down on the mattress and tutted at her with a wolfish grin adorning her features, "so needy for me." Hailee, for good measure, slipped only the tip of her middle finger in and her smirk broadened when Y/N tried to push her hips up to slip her finger more into her but her other hand pressed them more into the mattress, causing Y/N to grouse out her disappointment. "I promised you I would fuck you into the mattress and that’s what I’m about to do. But I want to make sure you are wet enough for me."

"Babe I can feel myself dripping on the sheets. So please fuck me, or I’m doing it myself."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Hailee countered back in challenge, her sweet smile still present on her lips a stark contrast from the mischief swimming into her brown, almost black, hues and chuckled amusedly when Y/N grunted out in frustration.

"Such a tease." Y/N had only the time to finish her sentence as a loud, satisfied moan got ripped out of her throat when Hailee sank her digit completely into Y/N and started an agonizingly slow rhythm.

"Fuck Y/N/N, you feel amazing around my finger."

"Babe faster, harder. Just more."

"Look at you, so needy for me." Hailee rasped out as she added a second finger and increased her speed just tad bit, still wanting to see how much more teasing Y/N could take.

"Yes babe, just for you." Y/N stated out of breath as her hips, now a bit more free to move under Hailee’s hand, met Hailee’s thrusts to increase her pleasure as the coiling feeling in her lower stomach became stronger each passing second, after each push of Hailee’s fingers in her core and each swipe of her palm of her hand on her pulsating clit, begging for some more attention too.

"Is this enough for you?" Hailee asked in a seductive tone right into Y/N’s ear, smirking proudly when the girl wailed out loud at her nibbling on her earlobe and bit down on it a bit more harshly to pull a full, louder moan from her girlfriend, "or do you want more?"

"I need more babe, please."

"What do you need? Use your words." Hailee traced Y/N’s ear with her tongue before moving her lips on her jaw, her chin, her cheeks then reaching their destination on the girl’s full lips and kissing her fervently, their tongues clashing needily into their mouths all the while Hailee never ceased her steady but still too slow thrusts.

"Please baby, faster."

Hailee sped up her movements right after, her stomach flipping over itself at the loud, appreciative moan coming out of Y/N’s mouth as her hips matched her fingers’ rhythm while her head slumped back on the pillow and her eyes clamped shut. "You’re so beautiful."

"Fuck Haiz, right there!"

"Do you like it babe?" Y/N nodded furiously and Hailee tutted at her with a pouty face. "Words baby." Hailee thrusted her fingers harshly back into Y/N’s core and watched as her body trembled with her gesture and a strangled moan came out of Y/N’s throat as her hands moved from Hailee’s ass and clasped her strong back to ground herself to the singer as the coiling feeling in her stomach was almost ready to snap.

"Yes baby." Y/N whimpered when a particular hard thrust made her almost see stars and trashed her head side to side on the pillow as the pleasure almost overwhelmed her, "so fucking good! YES!"

Hailee smiled proudly at the scream of satisfaction when she added her thumb in the equation and rolled Y/N’s clit in fast circles, moving in rhythm with her thrusts. "Do you think you could take another finger?"

"Yes, oh yes please." With the last ounce of strength she summoned within her body, she opened her eyes and clamped her hands around Hailee’s neck to hold her as she stared intently into her eyes, "fucking rail me."

Hailee shuddered visibly at the statement, causing her fingers to stutter a bit in their motions, but she quickly recovered her functions and obliged immediately, pushing a third finger in as started plunging them in and out fast and hard, almost coming on the spot at the squelching sounds they were creating in Y/N’s drenched core. She repositioned her hands, laying the left one on the girl’s hips to help her movements while the right one grabbed Y/N’s left hand clamped around the back of her neck and entwined them lovingly before laying them on the mattress beside Y/N’s head and laid on it for leverage. "Fuck, this feels amazing."

"Oh! I’m- so close babe." Those words only spurred Hailee on, a primal need to watch her come undone under her overcoming her, so she used her hips to help her thrust in deeper and harder, feeling the girl’s walls clenching on her digits in an heavenly way, as her other hand clenched around the girl’s hips.

"Let go babe, let me see how fucking beautiful you are while you come on my fingers." And after a few thrusts and a few taps on her clit, Y/N came with a loud, long moan of Hailee’s name, emitted right on Hailee’s lips. Her body stilled for a few seconds before slumping back on the mattress still trembling from the powerful orgasm while Hailee slowed her movements to a stop and removed her fingers and halted her motions only when she felt the girl’s body stopping twitching. "Look at the beautiful mess you just made." Hailee lifted her glossy fingers up between them to let Y/N see, before moving it towards her mouth to have a taste but she was stopped with a gentle, still a bit shaky hand around her wrist, so she lifted her right eyebrow up in a silent question at Y/N, now sporting a determined, sultry gaze on. "Holy shit." Hailee moaned pitifully a second later when Y/N smirked at her and winked before she slipped Hailee’s three fingers still wet with her release into her mouth and started sucking them clean, staring transfixed into Y/E/C irises looking back at her intently with her mouth hang open as a gush of arousal left her already extremely drenched core.

Hailee tentatively moved her hand just a tiny bit into Y/N’s mouth and she almost came on the spot when Y/N hummed in appreciation at her gesture and prompted her to repeat it by challenging her with her wiggling eyebrows and her eyes full of mischief and mirth. Hailee then replicated her movement, now firmer and more determined as her other hand clasped Y/N’s scalp to guide her mouth up and down her fingers. "Fuck. So so hot." Hailee whispered in a haze, "keep going, suck my fingers clean." Y/N moaned pitifully around Hailee’s fingers at the encouraging words, both feeling thrilling shivers running down their spines at the eroticism of Hailee mouth-fucking Y/N. When Y/N felt like Hailee’s fingers were satisfyingly cleaned, she clenched gently on Hailee’s nape and slowly pushed the singer’s digits out, licking her lips and humming in delight for good-measure to tease Hailee more.

"Wanna taste?" Hailee growled under her breath before clashing their lips together and pushing her tongue forcefully into Y/N’s smiling lips to lick every angle of Y/N’s mouth, whining at her taste still lingering on her girlfriend’s tongue and sucking on it eagerly. When they separated, their pupils were blown and their chests heaved wildly to try to bring some needed air into their lungs as their hearts beat in unison, like they were connected.

"Hm, now I am curious."

"About what?" Hailee asked with a million dollar smile at the cute pensive look Y/N was sporting, not clearly getting what the girl meant with her question murmured in a low tone after a few minutes of comfortable silence with them cuddling on the bed, Hailee slumped on top of Y/N and with her face hid into her neck as their hands absentmindedly caressed their still a bit hot and sweaty skin.

"About how you taste."

"Excuse me what?"

"I’m wondering if you taste as wonderful as I think you taste." Y/N repeated, elaborating her train of thoughts as the singer stared down at her with fire burning behind her brown, almost black, irises and bit on her bottom lip seductively and hungrily, "you tasted yourself when you licked your release off my thigh, so I’m a bit both jealous and disappointed."

"Well, what are you gonna do then?" Hailee surprised herself at how much hoarse her voice sounded but smirked in satisfaction when she saw visible goosebumps run all over her girlfriend’s exposed skin, "Y/N?"

Hailee’s question and calling her name made her get out of her brain still wrapping completely around what just happened, the sounds of Hailee’s moans embedded in her brain forever, and leaned over to bit on Hailee’s bottom lip and then pulled away, "Hm, so many options."

"What?"

"I could have you spread out beautifully under me as I drink you up, or I can have you ride my face as I devour you under those masterpieces you call thighs, I could fuck you till you can’t walk with my fingers and have a taste. See? So so many options."

Hailee felt her body flare up in pure, raw arousal at Y/N’s sentence spoken so easily and with a light tone like she was talking about the weather, her core immediately clenching over nothing as a fresh gush of arousal spurted out of her core and dripped down her inner thighs, "what are you gonna choose?" Hailee shivered at her own low, raspy voice spoken on Y/N’s mouth before sinking her teeth on the girl’s bottom lip teasingly and smirking triumphantly when she heard her growl before clashing their lips together in an hungry, frenzy kiss with their tongues sliding over each other fervently.

"Hm." Y/N hummed absentmindedly after they pulled away from their intense kiss and licked her swollen lips then laid another, sweet, peck on Hailee’s mouth before speaking up with a burning determination and a lustful eagerness swimming through her Y/E/C irises, now almost black as the desire the two girls were sharing was becoming almost unbearable, "even though I would love to try all of these options, I think I will have you spread out for me on this bed as I devour you until you can’t walk for days."

Hailee shivered visibly at the promise behind Y/N’s statement and let out a whimper she couldn’t exactly control before joining their lips into another heavy kiss, "who said you can’t try them all after?"

Y/N had to literally stop her brain from spinning at the dirty, mischievous smirk Hailee sent her way as she grabbed her hand and pushed it between her legs, moaning lewdly when Y/N moved her pointer and middle finger between her wet folds to tease her. "You are perfect baby."

"So are you Y/N/N." The Y/H/C girl saw tenderness whirling around Hailee’s eyes, before a second later it got replaced by lust as a low wail tumbled out of her mouth at Y/N rolling her clit between her fingers, "but please, now fuck me."

And with a renewed resolution and purpose, Y/N flipped them over in a swift motion with her hand still buried between Hailee’s legs then kissed the singer fervently, letting the unique taste of the blonde inebriate her senses for a few seconds before slipping just the tip of her middle finger in and smirked triumphantly when Hailee moaned out loud right into her mouth and made them stop kissing. So Y/N focused on the singer’s pulse point, peppering just a few light kisses there, knowing with just the last ounce of clarity she had in her brain to not leave a visible mark since Hailee had to shoot her music video the next day, before descending on her collarbones all the while she slipped her finger all the way in and started a maddeningly slow pace. Her lips left a trail of open mouthed kisses down the blonde’s sternum before finally slipping a pebbled nipple into her mouth and lapped at it with her tongue, triggering a strangled gasp from Hailee above her. "Do you like it?"

"Oh yes!" Hailee moaned in affirmation as her hands buried into Y/N’s Y/H/C tresses and pushed her more into her chest as she bucked her hips up to silently ask for more.

"Do you want another finger?" Y/N lifted her eyes up and watched as Hailee nodded eagerly with her bottom lip trapped between her teeth and her eyes closed shut as her face contorted in pleasure and smiled softly at the girl, before pulling her mouth away from Hailee’s breast and tutted at her in fond mockery.

The sudden lack of warmth surrounding her nipple, the cool air hitting her wet skin and the soft tutting hitting her ears made Hailee open her eyes and look down at Y/N to ask her why she halted her ministrations on her chest only for her head to spin out of control when she was met with lustful eyes already staring at her, "why did you stop?"

"Because I want you to use words and to not hold back from any sound. We are alone for the rest of the day, so don’t hold back. Let me hear you use that beautiful voice of yours not only for singing or acting." Y/N stated hungrily as she added another finger into Hailee’s core without warning and got rewarded with a lascivious moan.

"Oh fuck." Hailee whined when Y/N sped up her movements while her other hand palmed her breast and kneaded it harshly.

"There it is." Y/N leaned over to peck Hailee’s lips again before resuming her previous position and taking her hand’s place on Hailee’s boob as her fingers pushed in and out of Hailee in an unrelenting pace. When she was satisfied it got the perfect amount of attention, Y/N moved from Hailee’s right boob to the other, kissing all around Hailee’s areola, nibbling at the soft mound moving from the top to the bottom and from left to right before lapping her perk up nipple, matching her digits’ rhythm, as a slew of profanities left the singer’s mouth from above her. She slipped the nipple into her mouth to suck on it for a few seconds, enough to overstimulate Hailee a bit more, before reluctantly pulling away and continuing her journey down Hailee’s marvelous body.

Her hand slipping in and out of Hailee created a dizzying squelching sound that mixed together with the blonde’s moans of pure pleasure were making Y/N intoxicated with everything Hailee. Y/N increased her speed just notch when she felt the singer’s hips meet her thrusts needily while slipping her tongue out to lick Hailee’s mouthwatering abs, letting out a moan herself when she felt the muscles stand up at the attention and at girl’s hips’ movements, before finally reaching her desired destination. "Oh SHIT!"

Y/N felt pride swell hard into her chest when a spur of wetness left Hailee’s core while the singer clamped down on her hair and moaned out loud after Y/N enveloped the blonde’s clit with her lips and started sucking on it tentatively, a stark contrast from the now ruthless pounding of her fingers into the girl’s core. "You feel so good in my mouth." Y/N pulled away just enough to murmur her sentence on Hailee’s clit before diving right back in and suckling on the bundle of nerves harshly while her fingers curled into Hailee’s center, feeling the girl’s walls clench and spasm around them, a clear sign the girl was close to tipping over the edge.

"Oh fuck fuck fuck Y/N/N!" With a broken, loud scream, Hailee reached her powerful orgasm. Her body stilled just a few seconds to spur out her release before it started spasming and trembling as Y/N slowed her fingers’ movements to help her ride out her post-coital wave. She was ready to voice out her disappointment when Y/N slipped her fingers out of her still twitching core, only for it to die in her throat as a loud moan came out of it when Y/N’s tongue took a long, hungry lick from the bottom of her slits all the way to her clit and shuddered wildly as Y/N’s appreciative hum’s vibrations travelled from her core and spread all over her body, lightning it up in an instant as a fresh wave of arousal already settled between her legs, making the singer wonder how it was possible to get turned on just a few seconds later a powerful orgasm, but discarded the question quickly when she felt Y/N’s surprisingly skilled tongue lap up her release’s juices. "Oh fuck babe, don’t stop."

"Look at you, so wet for me again, already." Y/N snickered mischievously as her eyes full of mirth and affection met Hailee’s hooded ones from her position between her legs and winked up at her, watching as a scorching blush formed on her cheeks as she licked another swipe on Hailee’s cunt, slipping just the tip of her tongue between her slits before laying her tongue flat on her pulsating clit and lapping up at it a few times, all the while never breaking their intense eye contact. "Can I slip my tongue in?"

Hailee couldn’t find in herself the strength to answer with coherent words at that question, so she moaned pitifully what she deemed a ‘yes’ and gripped Y/N’s scalp hard to push her more into her cunt, but Y/N stayed put as she stared her down with a raised eyebrow up in challenge. Of course, use your words. "Yes baby! Please, I need you and amazing skilled tongue."

"As you wish." And with that last spoken sentence, Y/N kissed tenderly Hailee’s clit before easing her tongue in slowly, moaning delightfully at the amazing sensation of Hailee’s walls clenching down on her wet muscle while her thighs instinctively tightened around her head. The Y/H/C girl started slowly, slipping her tongue all the way out before slamming it back in, settling a steady rhythm to let Hailee truly enjoy her pleasure, but that lasted all about two minutes before Y/N eagerly sped up her movements as her hands clamped down on Hailee’s powerful thighs, wanting the girl to come into her mouth at all costs and as soon as she could.

"Oh fuckfuckfuck! Right there babe!" Hailee was a moaning mess as she thrashed around in ecstasy, Y/N’s tongue making her feel a plethora of emotions she almost felt overwhelmed by them and everything, but at the same time the tight squeezing Y/N did on the top of her thighs grounded her, enhancing her pleasure tenfold. "Oh yes, yes, yes!"

Y/N’s fingers clenched hard on Hailee’s skin as the girl’s scent and taste inebriated her senses and when she opened her eyes to look up at the girl to try and meet her gaze as she fucked her with her tongue, she faltered in her motions for a second when she watched the girl knead her own boob and tease her nipple with the hand not clenching on the Y/H/C girl’s scalp. Y/N felt like she could just come without even a proper stimulation from that sight only. It was so incredibly erotic watching Hailee increase her own pleasure by massaging her breast as she bucked her hips to meet Y/N’s tongue slamming in and out of her cunt, her eyes closed as her beautiful features contorted in pleasure. After speeding up as much as she could her tongue’s speed into Hailee’s center, Y/N could feel Hailee was nearing her tipping point if her walls spasming and clenching impossibly hard around her curling tongue was anything to go by, so she pushed through the stinging pain in her jaw from the fatigue and thrusted her tongue in and out of Hailee rapidly, using her nose to stimulate the girl’s clit in the process to enhance her pleasure and after thrusting particularly hard into Hailee and curling her tongue, Hailee came undone with a lecherous scream of Y/N’s name. Y/N wailed in pure bliss when Hailee’s release met her tongue and taste buds, inebriating her senses even more and making her dizzy but she pushed through her lustful haze to drink Hailee’s juices up all the while helping her girlfriend ride out her orgasm. When she felt the girl twitch from overstimulation she stopped her small licks and laid a soft peck on Hailee’s clit, feeling it still pulsating under her lips from her powerful orgasm, before dotting Hailee’s a bit sweaty body with soft kisses, then nuzzled her nose with Hailee’s one and smiled warmly down at her. "Hi there."

Hailee just shook her head fondly at Y/N and kissed her gently, before whining into the kiss when she could taste herself on Y/N’s lips as she could feel small remnants of her release on them and on her chin, so she promptly licked them all clean before slipping her tongue into Y/N’s mouth and kissing her languidly, both moaning into the kiss, Hailee for tasting herself again on Y/N’s tongue while Y/N moaned at the lewd action the singer just did. "Hi." Hailee spoke up out of breath after pulling away from the kiss and smiled lovingly up at Y/N before sighing blissfully when Y/N settled on the bed beside her and she immediately slipped between her arms and cuddled her, enjoying their comfortable and peaceful bubble wrapped up around each other, resting a bit before going for a few more rounds.

-

"Steinfeld, Steinfeld, Steinfeld." Hailee snickered under her breath after she entered her changing room and found Y/N, sat on the small couch in the room, staring hungrily at her, before shaking her head and speaking up with a clearly fake disappointed tone, "you are gonna make me explode."

"Do you like it?" Hailee asked in fake innocence as she looked down at her ‘mermaid dress’ as Anderson called it.

"I fucking love it." Y/N declared as she sat up from the couch and sauntered towards Hailee, causing butterflies to fly around her stomach at the ravenous look Y/N had on as she came closer to her like a predator walked closer to its prey. When she was within arms reach, she laid her hands on the girl’s hips and squeezed them gently, "shit, it hugs your amazing body perfectly."

"Hm, I have a feeling you will love the other two more outfits I have to put on."

"Show me." Hailee smirked seductively at Y/N before laying her finger on Y/N’s sternum and pushed her gently backwards until she sat her back down on the couch, before disappearing in the small bathroom to change. "You could’ve changed in front of me y’know? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Many, many times." Y/N’s proud smirk fell off her face as soon as her eyes landed on Hailee’s form clad in a fancy jumpsuit, that showed Hailee’s chest delightfully, making her almost drool on the floor. "Holy fucking shit."

"Isn’t it beautiful? And look at this belt!" Hailee smiled brightly in excitement at the aforementioned belt before gulping loudly when she met Y/N’s predatory look. She let out a gasp when Y/N slammed her back on the nearest wall and flushed their bodies together while her eyes never left her boobs, "my eyes are up here Y/N/N."

"But your boobs aren’t." Hailee’s giggle soon became a strangled wail when Y/N attached her lips on her neck before peppering kisses on the top of her showing left boob, "shit, I want to pull this off of you." Y/N growled when she got frustrated at the dress going in between her mouth and Hailee’s chest and gripped the girl’s hips hard.

"I need to finish shooting, but I can always ask Jen to let me keep it, so you can pull it off of me at home." Hailee replied out of breath in a lustful haze, Y/N’s lips kissing and nibbling her chest was proving to be a well enough distraction for her brain to properly function. "But, I have a surprise for you." Hailee wiggled her eyebrows as Y/N stared at her eagerly but soon furrowed her eyebrows together when she watched Hailee remove her belt and laying it gingerly on the table near them. "Unzip the front." When Y/N’s lascivious smirk rolled over her lips, Hailee felt her core clench around nothing as butterflies went crazy in her stomach, but got a grip on herself quickly and rolled her eyes fondly at her girlfriend, "no funny business, I still have to shoot in 2 minutes."

"Plenty of time to make you come." Y/N interjected seductively as she played with the small zip as purposefully gazing into Hailee’s eyes lustfully with her eyebrows arched up seductively.

Desire flashed over Hailee’s eyes as her arousal kept growing between her legs, but she forced herself to clear her mind from her dirty thoughts and primal needs with an hash shake of her head and looked at Y/N in reprimand, "babe, behave."

"Sorry, sorry. You were saying?"

"Pull the zipper down. It’s the first part of a two-part gift for you." Hailee explained vaguely but the mischievous glint present in her brown pools told Y/N it was trouble, the good kind of trouble of course. So with curiosity swirling around her stomach, she pushed the zipper down slowly, watching as the suit started to get loose around Hailee’s body, shivering when she noticed it run all the way down Hailee’s core but it was well hidden by the fabric of the suit. When she was down she lifted a intrigued eyebrow up as she took in her girlfriend’s extremely hot body, "open it a bit and look down."

"Oh shit." Y/N almost fainted as lust and desire hazed her mind when she saw what her girlfriend was talking about and why it was a gift for her, "are you going fucking commando for the shooting?"

"No one need to know about that, except you and me. Besides, it has a protection under there so the zipper doesn’t irritate my vagina."

"Hm." Y/N hummed absentmindedly as her hungry eyes stayed fixated on Hailee’s core, half hidden by her dress but enough to shoot arousal all over Y/N’s body as her hands itched to just slip into Hailee. Y/N was ready to do just that, when a loud knock interrupted their bubble and Y/N groaned in frustration as she laid her forehead on Hailee’s left clavicle and closed her eyes, feeling and hearing the blonde chuckle in amusement.

"Hailee, we’re ready!"

"I’ll be out in a second!" Hailee patted Y/N’s shoulder gently to make her meet her gaze before pulling her into a soft kiss, "want to be there too?"

"Yeah." Y/N pulled the zip up slowly before sighing out longingly at Hailee’s not panties-clothed core, pulling another chuckle from the singer.

"Let’s go drama queen, I still have another gift for you later."

"Can’t wait." After a few more takes Hailee got rushed out into her changing room again as Y/N stayed on set to talk with Anderson and hearing his ideas for the last scenes to shoot for the video, only for her to shut him out when Hailee came back on set wearing the skimpiest bikini top she’d ever seen and tried to behave as she ogled hungrily at her girlfriend’s chest, not noticing the blonde smirking at her proudly, before starting to shoot once again.

Y/N felt like the whole world stopped existing as she stared lustfully at her girlfriend while she moved her lips along the words of the song, forcing herself not to nibble on her bottom lip and just standing there with her hands clasped in front of her. "Earth to Y/N." Y/N snapped back to reality and discarded every dirty thought swimming around her hazed mind by shaking her head, blinking rapidly at Hailee smirking wickedly at her. "We finished shooting. We’re celebrating in a bit, let’s go! I need to change."

Y/N whined in protest at those words and Hailee laughed heartily as she pulled Y/N with her in her changing room, emitting a loud gasp when as soon as the door closed behind them Y/N slammed her on it and locked it, her eyes never leaving her chest. "Really Steinfeld? Showing me your boobs in front of so many people and forcing me to behave when all I wanted to do was to just taste these wonderful tits?"

Hailee whined as arousal immediately pooled between her thighs and shivered copiously, "surprise? I told you it was a two-part gift."

"An highly appreciated gift. Now let me unwrap it."

"No babe, we need to go celebrate. In a few hours we’ll go back to your place and I’m all yours."

"You said you needed to change. I’m helping you getting out of your bikini." Y/N countered back casually as she shrugged with a maddeningly nonchalant expression on her face while playing with the strings around Hailee’s neck.

"How helpful of you." Hailee smirked in amusement and bit back a moan when Y/N’s lips attached to her neck and started sucking on her pulse point.

"I know right? Now, can I?" Y/N asked with the best puppy dog eyes she ever mustered and smiled triumphantly when Hailee rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat, dramatically, for good measure and good-naturedly and in an instant her breasts got freed from the bikini as it fell on her stomach since the other strings where still tied around her torso. Hailee moaned in pleasure when Y/N’s mouth immediately attached itself on her left breast, leaving open mouthed kisses all over it before suckling eagerly on her perk nipple while her hands laid flat behind her back to arch the singer’s chest more into her mouth.

"Oh babe." Hailee’s hands sneaked into Y/N’s hair and gripped her scalp in pleasure, pushing her more into her when Y/N switched to her other boob and bit on her nipple hard before focusing on the underside of it to leave a big hickey there. "Baby, as much as I want you to continue this, someone will come looking for us soon." Hailee moaned when Y/N bit harshly on her left breast to leave another hickey, smiling when she realized Y/N was taking her time to mark her since she finished shooting and shivered when that thought traveled right between her legs and increased the already copious amount of arousal pooled there. They both jumped in fright when someone passing by Hailee’s door screamed in excitement as someone opened a bottle of champagne and both sighed out in frustration because they had to necessarily stop their fun activities. Hailee bracketed Y/N’s face and laid a soft peck on her lips before murmuring softly on them, "just a few hours, then I’m all yours."

"I’m counting on it Steinfeld."

[gncrezan]

i'm obsessed with aki, like it's not even funny. I JUST NEED MORE OF HIM IN MY LIFE LAWD HAVE MERCY. would you happen to have a bit more information on the loml...? if not it's aight big love <33

YOU CAN ALWAYS ASK ME ABOUT HIM i'm so sorry it took so long to reply i have been so everywhere but i have been meaning to find like sketches and stuff i have around of him :)

collated a bunch of old sketches of his family!! aki was originally going to be a part of a big like. chinese-zodiac inspired thing and his family in particular were the snakes (he's got the character in his last name lol) and him and his siblings all got snake characteristics . there is however nothing new under the sun and even though i thought this was cool my friend was like "oh like fruits basket" and i shelved the idea LOL

in the end he just existed in a vaccum, i had nothing to do with him, before i dragged him out of there with the intention to drop him into a simpler slice-of-life story with a bunch of terrible postgrad students. that story mainly revolves around like.. biomed researchers basically?? aki would have been an ex-STEM student who dropped out because he didn't want to do medicine anymore, but kept in touch with his friends from the course (the other cast might eventually also be forced into IFs LOL)

more under the cut!

i eventually completely veered off the zodiac-course and kept his base design and turned those scales into tattoos! he's got more in infamous, but in this universe it's just those snakes winding around his arms!!!! infamous tattoos are kind of not set in stone cause i plan to add more (inspired by the bandmates) and the tattoos are supposed to be based off them!! there was no way he'd stop at just seven's initials, he has a little thing for all of them!!!! bc we're only really two chapters into infamous tho i just want more time to "know" the bandmates and then give more him more tats (i have been reading asks about them and trying to assign stuff LMFMFMFAOOO)

what he has and i consistently draw him w are seven's initials, the snakes (leftover design from the kind of concept he was based off of), lotuses/flowers (could change!! i'm thinking rn that he gets everyone's favorite flower/plant tattooed), wave designs (i'm praying someone's a water sign), and he's also got the opening notes of their first song that they played as a band :)

the original version of him is also based vaguely off a friend i made in uni who did hair/makeup and which i still think is so cool and gave him that !!!! more specifically he sort of dropped out of a good-asian-kid stem course to do this, which freaked his parents out when they realised he was just Leaving to go cut people's hair. aki's pretty great at it, and is lucky enough to work at a good stylist agency <3

kills it at karaoke with his friends in this universe too :) his genuine passion for working as a stylist and love for his job translates into music for infamous, which despite how "i'm-so-cool-and-chill-about-everything" he tries to seem, is his biggest worry. he really really wants to succeed and stick it to his parents, and can't imagine what else he'd ever do. music is all he has and really gets lost in songwriting/singing :)

his stage name akiya is also a reference to the word for abandoned/empty houses in rural areas in japan. they're cheap to buy, but cost a lot to repair and flip. this is a stealth dig at his parents lol but aki passes it off as a portmanteau of his first/last name: he is secretly emo like this </3

also their band name, snakebites, in general is like 1) "what's cool when we are 16 and making this band when we are in high school" and 2) the band's shared birth year being the year of the snake (2001/i'm projecting) (they're still like 25/26 which makes infamous oddly take place in the future for me, 2027ish???) and luckily i don't believe the year it takes place matters to anyone so i'm just going with it <3 don't think about it too hard this is deep lore that only makes sense to me

their fandom name also call themselves snakes, and they lean into this for their promo materials (each member gets a government assigned snake breed) LMFAO !! aki lightly thinks its cringe but it's not hurting anyone, so he just told maya that he thought the name was great LOLLLLL !!! they have a vaguely edgy image because of this (and because ya know. lots of drama surrounding seven leaving) even though they're much more an indie rock band (sounding more like hippo campus, yona yona weekenders, young the giant) with a reputation for being wholesome

there's also a fun game their fans like to play called "using aki's hair, what era of snakebites is this" LOL <3

i hope this was kind of understandable <3 thank you for letting me cry about my boy <3

[zwy01]

Susanna doodles!!!

I drew my noblesse oc from my Millennium AU, Susanna Mergas! She is the second child of Ludis Mergas and Rozaria Elenor, and the younger sister of Alois Elenor. She goes by the nickname Susa, and a few others.

1. Susanna painting!!! She is very cute and has big eyes and a round face just like her father Ludis. Her eyebrows are short and oval-shaped. She parts her bangs sideways and her super long, wavy locks that extend beyond her knees flow like waves when she moves. Interestingly, her hair never gets in her way even when she’s running and jumping around like hyper gymnast. It’s a real mystery to everyone. She’s very extroverted and cheerful, and always full of energy. Life is never boring around her, as she always has fun things to do! Millennium AU Lukedonia is only functioning thanks to her lol. She’s probably looking at you right now and thinking about dragging you to her next tea party. There’s no other escape, new best friend! Lol. Despite her tiny stature, she’s surprisingly strong. All that junk food probably worked their way into her muscle fibers, as Ludis jokes. All you need to do is sit down and enjoy the dozens of assorted sweets she brings out from the Mergas manor. There’s also ramyeon flavored macarons, if you like that kind of stuff, hehe! She’s got you covered.

2. Susa tries on a beautiful outfit! Very much Izarok themed. It probably belonged to one of Ludis’ female predecessors/ancestors and is a Mergas heirloom of some sort. It’s been a looong while since this outfit was last worn by someone. Ludis found it in his manor, and he gives it to his daughter. As expected, she looks absolutely stunning in it. Susa loves it! Her parents love it too. Alois is very moved by his sister’s cuteness. Awwwwww.

3. Lil’ Susa and her mother Rozaria! They are super close and very affectionate with each other. One of Susa’s favorite things to do as a child was playing with mami’s long, red hair. She still loves to do so even in adulthood, and Rozaria is more than happy to bond with her personal stylist! Susa also has a sweet tooth. It’s probably in her dna or something, because she inhales them like a blackhole. If she were human she would��ve gotten cavities a billion times already. Luckily, she’s a noble, so that doesn’t happen lol. Still, Ludis and Rozaria prefer to monitor their bab’s junk food intake, so other than retrieving the occasional treat, Ludis has barrier spell put up around their pantry. In the very, very rare cases where he forgets… well, you can guess what happens lol. Mommy Roza is worried about her daughter’s tummy, but Susa is actually more than fine lol. Ludis is surprised but amused. Better not forget next time, oops

4. Susa and Ludis part 1! By conventional noble standards, Susa was a bit of a slow learner, a late bloomer. As the Millennium AU progresses she does get very powerful and becomes the promising Mergas heiress, but not many people know that she has struggled for a while, especially in her childhood. Luckily, Ludis is a great parent and he is a pretty chill person in general so he never pressures Susa. He even modifies the traditional “standard” Mergas training curriculum just for his daughter, even when Lord Raskreia questions him for it. Hey, are no real enemies in the outside world anymore, right? Surely we can take it one step at a time. Lil’ Susa is aware of how she is doing compared to her peers, and it sometimes overwhelms her. Poor girl. Ludis being the supportive parent he is will do anything for his daughter and he lets her know that he’s always there for her. This father-daughter bond would later be forged in iron. Best dad.

5. Susa and Ludis part 2! After a wee timeskip to 80 years later, Susa is now a young teen at 100! Susa’s persistence and hard work, as well as Ludis’ unconditional love and support, pays off. Susa manages to successfully conjure a simple barrier spell. This moment is a huge milestone for Susa and she’ll remember it forever. Ludis is super proud of his bab. Roza and Alois are probably crying tears of joy too. Susa’s just so amazing, isn’t she?

6. Sibling bonding time!! Ludis and Rozaria are busy with stuff and are outside, so the siblings get housesitting duty, and some time to spend with each other. They got the entire manor aaallll to themselves lol. Ludis summons Izarok and leaves it with his kids to entertain them and of course Susa gets a hot pot started. Nothing beats comfy pajamas and great food. Fun fact, Alois isn’t really a fan of vegetables, though Mommy Roza knows that Susa will take good care of him. Eventually he won’t be able to say “no” if it’s his sister, lol. C’mon just one bite, you gotta eat your green foods too Al!

7. Susanna x Arya! They are the only “official” couple in my nextgen cast. Everyone else either hasn’t confessed yet, the crush is single-sided, or … something more complicated. Arya K. Landegre is the daughter of Regis and Rael. Susa and Ari are very loving and affectionate girlfriends and have a great relationship. They are each other’s soulmates. Much later in the AU they eventually marry each other.

8. Susanna x Arya what if babies! Susa/Ari is official and they eventually marry, but the next-next-gen doesn’t “exist” to me in my Millennium AU so these two babs are just a concept and don’t happen in the “main” Millennium AU timeline. Even so, they’re very cute lol. If Susa and Ari ever have kids of course they’ll name them something very unconventional and nonconforming to noble traditions, lol. Cute sons. Precious babs spoiled rotten by their mamas.

[destinyc1020]

Thank you! I think you worded it perfectly. Like there is kind of this lack of empathy for Zendaya because she is rich and she will be fine, as if law is not also very rich. But the fact he didn't tell her beforehand is really not right. I get it was impulsive but I can't imagine being Zendaya and sitting in London and going on IG at the end of the day and seeint that. She probably was panicking and thinking something really bad happened and was worried about him and also probably shocked and upset. And then after all that to see the viral hate train go against her on Twitter, ig TikTok etc, to have hate comments on her IG and law to do nothing until like two days later??? I get law is a dramatic dude but none of that was fair to her, when she has been so loyal to him and like he said protected her. But I really feel law was just in it for himself.

Like I said, we all love Law and have done so for so many years, so that's why this is so tough to say.... But sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I didn't feel like it was right at all for him to just totally blindside her (his biggest client and little sister) like that. 🥴 It wasn't right to do that to his other clients either, but at least with Z I thought they talked about everything. I guess not 🥴

Yea, like you said, I'm sure in the end she will be fine (she's Zendaya after all), and I'm sure PLENTY of stylists would be chomping at the bit just to get to be her next stylist (Personally, my first choice would be Jason Bolden since he's black and styles many high-profile celebrities), but that still doesn't negate the fact that the way Law handled this was just really kinda cruel. 🥴

What Law SHOULD have done (imo) was inform Zendaya and the rest of his clients beforehand that he was retiring, and THEN post it to his IG.

And in all honesty, what he really could have done was told Zendaya privately that he was THINKING of retiring. She could have given him some time off. Maybe he's still grieving his nephew's death.... that's all understandable. Grief comes in WAVES. Some days you're perfectly fine, and other days you're a hot mess and a bundle of emotions. 😔 Little things can trigger you (ie. a memory, a photograph, etc). Like, I totally get all of that.

But he could have taken a much-needed BREAK, maybe even taken MONTHS off (if he needed to), then he could have come back with a more clear head, and then made whatever life-changing decisions he needed to make (if still applicable). 🤷🏾‍♀️

I'm also still kind of miffed that he didn't just WAIT to post that retirement post. 🥴 He had FULL control over what he posted, and WHEN. This isn't like some paps photographed you one day against your knowledge and consent, and you had absolutely no idea some scandalous pictures of you were gonna come out to the public, so you didn't have time to warn anybody close to you lol. 🤣 😂

Like NO.... he had FULL CONTROL over WHAT he posted, and WHEN. 🤨

Personally, if it had been me, I would have deliberately waited weeks, maybe even MONTHS after the whole LV "no seat" fiasco in Paris before posting my "retirement", because now it just looks like you're retiring cuz you were mad and salty that you couldn't sit next to your client Zendaya at the fashion show. 👀

It would have garnered way less hate for his client Zendaya as well if he had just waited to release that announcement a little later until AFTER ppl forgot about the whole Paris thing, or at least after you and your client are seen working together on another event.

Everything is all about image in this industry, because everyday fans take little crumbs and run with it, creating a full on narrative, no matter how false it may be. 🙄 You have to ask yourself: "How is this going to look to other people?" 🤔

I just can't believe he let Zendaya go to London totally blindsided. 😔

He just didn't think of her feelings and mental health at all as far as I'm concerned. And I'm sorry, but I'm really just SHOCKED because that just doesn't seem like his character at all, but now I guess I know better lol 😅👀

If I were Z I would tread REAL carefully with him. 👀 I know I don't have all the facts, and of course I have no clue what they've discussed since then, so my knowledge of the situation is clearly very miniscule, and I freely admit that. But for him to basically say out of his own mouth that he didn't tell her (like, we're not just ASSUMING things here.... like, he basically said it himself) is just.... wow. 😳

He just showed me that when stuff hits the fan, he's gonna think about himself and himself only 👀

Idk.... like I said, I were Z I'd keep both eyes open, that's all I'm saying. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[suckthatskittlebiiitch]

Get it RIGHT

Pairing: Steven Grant × black Reader (marc and jake make an appearance too!)

Warnings: just lots of cussing

A/N: this is an idea I had about how reader would react to Donna being an asshole to Steven and calling him "Stevie" also i was a little buzzed while typing this up just now so there might be a few run on sentences but honestly who gives a shit lol

"ok girl ill call you tomorrow i just pulled up to steven's job! bye love you!" you hung up with your best friend excited to show your man the new braids you got from your trusted stylist. every 3 months you switch it up and when you do hes always so amazed, sometimes he just stares in awe at how your hair could do so many things, styles, colors it was so cool to him.

After parking you pulled down the mirror to make sure ya makeup was still looking bomb as fuck, baby hairs still swooped to the gods and...ya titties looking damn good in the new shirt that was bought yesterday. thankfully steven didnt see the numerous bags in the back of the closet.

Every other day when your jobs had the same lunch break you and steven would have a lunch break date. Honestly it was the best part of each other's day.

Walking inside you walked straight to the gift shop, waving slightly at the security guard who did a double take at your appearance. "Nope still with steven grant buddy! sorry not sorry!" The man waved back but grumbled something behind the newspaper he was reading and covered his face with it.

Rounding the corner your smile faded slightly as she was standing in front of steven. His boss donna was pointing at him. Being a little ways away you couldnt hear the conversation but moving closer her words started becoming clear.

"i'm telling you all this shit is still unorganized and uncounted for! looks like you'll be on inventory again tonight i dont care if it takes you all night!" "Donna im doing my best but shipment has been coming-" she put a hand up.

"oh no the fuck she didnt shush my baby" you mumbled to yourself

Doing so made steven stop talking immediately and frown deeply.

"i dont care when shipment comes..you get it done! you're so bloody useless Stevie!" Hearing her degrading and calling him by the wrong name set you OFF. Before realizing it you stomped over to where they were, eyes seeing red, curses spewing under your breath. Out the corner of his eye he sees you coming, a first he was relieved then he saw the look on your face which let him know all hell was about to break loose.

"oooh shit ive never seen her that pissed before..." Marc from the reflection of the glass.

"That's the sexiest fucking thing ive ever seen LET HER HAVE IT MI AMOR RIP HER APART!" jake smiled

"oh dear" steven sighed heavily. Donna looked confused but that expression worn off when she noticed you coming over to where they were; it soon turned into fear. "i-uh ill be in my meeting-" you stopped in front of them with a big smile on your face "donna let me tell you this one time and one time only" Steven looked nervous as fuck " love its okay donna was just leaving for a meeting and my break is in 5 so lets just-" you cut him off by grabbing his shirt and planting the deepest, tongue fighting kiss then pushed him back slightly.

steven gained control of his balance, licked his lips and just nodded his head. "Donna let me tell you something..in the nicest way i can. his name is steven, steven grant. says it right there on his name tag and fucking birth certificate. Stop calling him Stevie, stephen, stanely anything with S.T in it that aint fuckin steVEN. That is MY man im tired of him coming home looking damn near doorknob dead because your overworking him .Sometimes he's to tired to even fuck me and that's a goddamn problem." Steven started to turn red but he wasn't embarrassed in the slight.

Donna stood there like a fish out of water; mouth just opening and closing dumbfounded. She looked around making sure customers couldn't hear what's going on but you honestly couldn't give a shit. "well..i mean sometimes he just needs to catch up-"

"Catch up bitch all my man does is catch up! but your lazy ass think just because your the manager ya can do whatever you want but let me get you straight on this donna. Let me find out you've insulted him, degraded or humiliate him in any possible way and bitch i will stuff you in pharaoh's tomb myself. do we have an understanding??" You glared at her with eyes that said dont fucking try me.

She nodded her head, fixed her shirt and cleared her throat "mhm i-i understand..i uh..i apologize steven please take an extra hour lunch on me" She nodded again, turned and quickly turned on her heels to her office.

"Oh my god LOVE!" he laughed "that was amazing i never knew you could get that vulgar or angry!" You just giggled sweetly. "i told you baby nobody can disrespect you in front of me..ever." He leaned over kissing you deeply. "ok ill go clock out then we can go to lunch!"

"Okay baby after we eat seeing as you have an extra hour how about you show me the back room?" steven looked at you confused, you've seen the backroom maybe twice now before. "oh okay but what for?" you smiled walking over to him, grabbed the back of his head and licked the side of his face slowly then bit his earlobe.

"So you can tell me a story while deep in this pussy love.." you whispered in his ear

"Oh my god please give me the body steven" marc whined

"AYE No give ME the body!!" jake countered

Steven shuddered at your naughty moves and ignored his alters, he suddenly didn't want to eat the lunch he brought in today but something else vegan friendly.

[radellama]

Resi Reviews pt3

Well, it’s been a little bit, huh? The first thing I wanna say is… I kinda fucked this up. Just a little bit.

See, I played both the Revelations games in 2022, but I put off writing about them because only writing two entries- both of which I felt luke-warm towards at best -seemed underwhelming. I was playing one of the Wii shooters with my sibling, but we never ended up finishing it, and new year’s came around. Then, suddenly, RE4R released, and I caved and bought it to play, taking notes all the while. And well, I figured I’d just write about all three and bundle them into this year’s Resi post- and here’s where I fucked up.

I only started using my new notes system this year (2023). So I’m running on memory for games I played 2 years ago now… And then one game I have ridiculously in depth notes for.

Don’t get me wrong, my memory is pretty decent, so I had no doubt I’d get the gist across for a review when I started writing – BUT……….. Since I leveled up my note-taking and go even more in depth with my new system, the Rev reviews may feel a bit more glossed over compared to RE4R. I have quickly studied the games and their plot again to jog my memory, and booted up the games to replay the first few chapters- everything short of a full replay. But yeah. I fucked up by putting it off for a whole year longer than I intended. Lol. Normal warning for surface level to mid range spoilers, and I’ll make a note of when I go deeper than that.

Anyway, here they are. Enjoy.

~~

Resident Evil Revelations, PS4

Well. This uh. This certainly is a Resi Game.

I played this on PS4, but found out pretty quick into playing that it was originally made for the 3DS. This is noticeable not only by the strange gimmicks along with simple and somewhat sparse level design, but also by the fact that the story is presented episodically. Viewing it in the context of it being a game designed for handhelds, ok, fine, I guess a more pick up and play style would have some benefits from a chapter recap as you play. However, the levels aren’t very long, and it was almost immediately tiresome to see a reel of what I’d just played at the start of new chapters. And boy, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to like this game so bad, and it almost had me, but ultimately, I can’t really say I favour it.

One thing I will give some credit to right away, is the setting of this game. Most of it takes place on a cruise ship, the Queen Zenobia, and it has a stronger focus on the slower paced survival horror style of gameplay- especially compared to games in the main numbered series at the time that were becoming increasingly action focused. The idea of being trapped on a ship with a bunch of bioweapons for enemies is a confronting and scary setting, and this game certainly had its moments. While you’re on the ship, the waves are simulated by a slow and constant dutch angle rocking back and forth. While this is a cool choice stylistically, I found myself motion sick fairly quickly when playing on the tv (which got me wondering if I’d feel as sick playing on handheld as intended, but I’m sensitive to these sorts of things regardless). Generally, the gameplay itself was fine, but the plot… oh, the plot…

It is So. Fucking. Messy.

It has the dumbest ‘twists,’ and a frankly awful and confusing presentation of cast and plot. The chapters aren’t chronologically presented, which isn’t necessarily a detriment- if done well. But, with how convoluted things get, I think this was a shit choice. Not only were there certain characters I couldn’t recognise were the same person across different time periods, I just plain ol’ couldn’t keep up with certain character motivations and was left with a confused expression for a majority of my playthrough.

See, in the greater Resi timeline, this game is a little after Chris and Jill have founded the BSAA – their solution to counter bioterrorism, post RE3. There’s some fucked up bioterrorism going on at an… artificially floating island, named Terragrigia- that is self sustained by it’s advanced solar energy network. Then, when it’s infested with bioweapons, some guy makes the decision to vaporise the island and destroy it. Some characters speculate on whether this was an inside job or something- but honestly, these flashbacks/history settings are so terrible that I honestly cannot follow. I have played the game myself, watched other playthroughs/lore recaps as refreshers (both while playing originally and now for this write up lol) and just generally read up on the wikis, IT STILL MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE TO ME. Pair this with the fact that Jill is paired with a bland, knock off Barry Burton, and Chris is paired with a one-note, oversexed, homebrand version of Jill… UGH!!! It feels like they can’t focus on or commit to anything! The plot bounces all over the fucking place, setting up things that are seemingly there just to waste your time and fuck with you. I don’t find this kind of thing fun or enjoyable, and it’s a great example of what I mean when I say something feels like it’s punishing you for paying attention.

So, the Terragrigia thing is just the backdrop (that’s honestly not enough to justify how much they harp on about it imo) to set up the fact that Chris has gone missing. His signature was lost in the middle of the ocean, and some middle-aged man tasks Jill and Parker (homebrand Barry) with going out to find him. The first chapter is the two of you arriving on the boat, and investigating to try and find Chris. There’s signs of bioterrorism, and there are even a few recent victims that were killed moments before Jill or Parker could do anything to help. This was a pretty good introduction, and I liked it! It set the scene, showed off the unique and claustrophobic setting of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean, and it genuinely felt like a return to survival horror despite keeping the ots action shooter setup when fighting. It was a much slower pace, creeping around the derelict halls of a once grand cruise ship, with the occasional jump from this game’s ‘zombie.’ I remember the first time playing through this section, I was thinking that it was an interesting choice, and generally looking forward to what was going to happen… But that engagement didn’t last long, as it’s immediately destroyed by it’s shit pacing and storytelling.

The next section of the same chapter is a flashback to just before Jill and Parker get sent out to find Chris, and you’re just on some gross beach with a bunch of beached bioweapon corpses. This section exists SOLELY as a tutorial on how to use the scanning thingy, which could’ve been integrated into the hand-holdy intro sections on the boat more seamlessly. If you’ve already got little cues that tell you to hold L2 to aim and R2 to shoot, what’s so bad about having a prompt during a close encounter with a bioweapon saying hold L1 to aim and R1 to scan? You can even have Parker just say some shit like, “Scan this thing, I’ll keep it distracted!” Cue button prompts, scan completed, kill the thing, maybe make a comment on how their boss will be glad for the info and to keep an eye out for more shit to scan. WHY does there need to be an entire sequence that grinds all momentum to a halt because you’re jumping back and forth in time within the SINGLE CHAPTER. It just gets worse, and I’m going to TRY and keep it brief, cause I seriously get pissed off thinking about this game for too long lmao.

Turns out, Chris wasn’t on this ship, and now Jill and Parker haven’t been able to be contacted since they went looking for him. Chris is suddenly able to be contacted, and he along with Jessica (homebrand sex appeal) were actually in some snowy mountains, and are now going to try track down Jill and Parker. You bounce between these two plot lines, AND a third where some ragtag duo go out to the same places other characters have been to, (but not at the same time as them, it’s before or after) and just do general recon or something. That’s three character povs to keep track of, not to mention the secondary characters that are supposedly important AND all the bouncing around between times. STOP IT! JUST PICK A FUCKING THING AND COMMIT TO IT. SO MUCH OF THIS GAME COULD’VE BEEN GENUINELY GREAT TO PLAY AS A RETURN TO FORM, BUT YOU FUCKED IT UP WITH THIS INCONSISTENT SHIT! IT IS PURE SLOP!! IT IS NOT FUN TO PLAY OR FOLLOW ALONG WITH AND WHOEVER WAS DIRECTING OR FORCIBLY ADDING THIS SHIT IN NEEDED A SLAP ON THE WRIST AND A FEW HOURS IN A TIME OUT CORNER TO ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT WHAT THE HELL THEY WERE DOING. If I can’t really communicate the gist of this game in ONE paragraph, let alone multiple, something has gone terribly wrong. I admit I get more heated over this kind of thing, as I am someone who cares very much about the narrative and presentation of stories- and spend a lot of time crafting my own stories to make sure that they are interesting and understandable. I KNOW how hard it can be to create a game, or a film, or a written text- ANYTHING. I have been working in teams and on my own to create stuff for YEARS at an indie level, and have an understanding of the industry level too. I’m not just saying this to bitch and moan, I’m saying it because I care and would expect the same criticism if the things I made were getting this out of hand!

Anyway!

There are more plot points that set up some shit about the cult (?) that started the bioterrorist attack on Terragrigia, as they’re the ones that have lured the BSAA to the boat in the middle of the ocean- and how there’s double crossers amongst them. Whatever. I don’t care. Nothing makes a lick of sense, and it’s hard to find any justification to play like this. Jill is the best and I like Chris fine enough, so it should’ve been reeeeaaal easy to set up at least one of them to have the best plot thread or gameplay in the game. But no. I actually found myself getting the most enjoyment out of two side characters named Quint and Keith.

Quint. And Keith.

Two guys who the designers apparently put so much effort into, making visual choices like ‘epic tattoos to show that he’s cool’ and ‘has a slightly larger head than usual to show that he is smart.’ They have a cool soundtrack during their sections, and they’re dorky as hell, but idk man. Amongst all this slop and just... Bland or irritating personalities for Chris and Jill to bounce off of- these two had so much more of a tangible personality and chemistry to them, so their parts are some of the more memorable that I played. And I still didn’t care that much, cause it felt like I was playing a different game during their sections. I think, looking back on it, their sections are fine; but it seemed better because it was sandwiched between two other things that were a lot more tedious. Chris and Jill had their moments too, but I’m honestly struggling to recount anything that isn’t fighting the same pale looking gloop bioweapons on a boat. Even the incessant ‘last time on resident evil’ recaps didn’t help, as there was just too much going on and nothing was actually clear!! Even in a recap!!! And, the whole cult thing is just… eugh. They quote Dante’s Inferno a lot, but none of the quotes used felt particularly fitting to what was going on- rather, that it was being referenced for the auto fellatio that it truly was. This game thinks it’s a lot clever-er than it is, and I often found the reveals or ways the story was explaining things was presented in a smarmy and almost condescending way. IF the story was presented well enough, these things wouldn’t have come across in such a negative way; especially because there is nothing smart going on here. If there was more care and effort put into making the story interesting, yet still mysterious- scaling back all the unnecessary wank and just focusing on one or two core plot points, that branch out into a few subplots or side info, and really hone in on what is motivating these characters instead of leaning into cliches… There could’ve been a REALLY great game here. Instead, all this convoluted crap has blended together into a forgettable mess, which is a massive shame.

Anyway, to finish retelling the plot... It’s just shit. Turns out Jill and whoever weren’t even on the right boat to begin with because there was a twin ship and whatever. It takes ages for Chris and Jill to reunite, and it is genuinely nice when they get to team up near the end- but the whole mess with the cult who kidnapped them is annoying and frankly boring, and the grand reveals at the end didn’t actually reveal much. It was an inside job to try get more funding for the BSAA or some shit, and it went a bit sideways. Some bland middle aged man is the true evil behind it all, and that’s just so interesting and thought provoking because who would’ve guessed that the random late 40s white guy with no personality would be the big bad pulling the strings, especially when it’s easy to forget who he is.

HOW BORING.

It’s all just an honest let down, especially when they forced us to play through so many sequences IN THE TERRAGRIGIA PANIC… WHO FUCKING CARES!!! ITS JUST SHOOTY SHOOT BANG BANG AND I DON’T CARE!!! I’VE COME HERE TO PLAY RESI, NOT COD!!! Also, if it wasn’t annoying enough to have been duped into playing the same fucking maps twice, but with Chris and Jill, and scratching your head wondering why these seemingly parallel events aren’t interacting with each other, only to have it slammed on you that nothing in this story matters or makes any sense- I found two characters particularly miserable.

Our two.. uh.. protagonsists? Antagonists? Double crosser- no, wait. TRIPLE CROSSERS. Jessica and Raymond. Tbh, Raymond is simply a victim of shitty writing and characterisation, as he was trapped in some stupid fucking contrivances and misleading moments. I found him frustrating due to how many times he’s set up to be a blatant double crosser, but with just enough leeway to maaaaybe not be. He’s a bit standoffish and hostile, which doesn’t help his case, but it’s disappointing because just as he was finally getting interesting towards the end, its fucked up with a double-cross-turned-triple-cross for one final moment of ‘huh???’ that kind of undoes anything for him. His character motivations are so sloppy and didn’t make sense to me. Is he for or against the cult? What does he gain from this? Why is he part of this whole mess? Nothing is clear, not even the way he acts as you interact with him on the ship. It’s a shame too, as during one of the flashback sequences to the Terragrigia incident, he was wounded pretty badly and Parker had to help him to safety. He seemed pretty disillusioned by it all, and was already questioning if it was an inside job or not- which is a pretty good setup for if he WAS going to be a double agent for either side, depending on which one appealed to him the most. Instead, he just feels like a let down, and is constantly hanging around in the peripheral of everything as a permanent red-haired herring.

Jessica is one that grated me more, however, and I feel like its a triple whammy of the shit writing, oversexed and wildly different outfits she has, and the fact that she’s with you through half the game when you play as Chris, so you can’t escape her. She’s supposed to be a coy, flirtatious and danger seeking babe- but it came across to me as a desperate, attention seeking wreck who prioritised trying to get a reaction out of Chris over their mission. Like, hello? She complains near the end about Chris not getting the hint, as she’s been annoyingly suggestive with him- and the first thought I had was, ‘girl, why didn’t YOU get the hint?’ Chris has never really had any romantic inclinations explored or depicted in the games, and while he’s on missions, he’s very much focused on the mission. Why he’d make an exception for you, Jessica, I don’t know. I also didn’t like how she changed looks so drastically between time periods, in the past she has a bob cut, and in the present mission she has very long wavy hair. I know people in real life can have very different haircuts over the years, (I know I certainly have), but for a game… Being able to know who someone is, is actually really important. Instead of worrying about how to make her oh so cute (in a way I can’t help but feel seems distinctly from the gaze of a group of horny middle-aged men…) I think they should’ve focused on a specific character motif, and kept it similar to how we see her in the present so that it reduces confusion. There are three main costumes she wears across the story, and each time I thought it was a new woman. And don’t get me started on the goddamn fucking wetsuit. A WHOLE leg, AND ass cheek, out for the world to see… You literally work against bioterrorism. Yknow, the thing where if you make contact with the wrong stuff, you’ll become a monster???? Let’s just… leave a whole leg and half my ass out for the bioweapons to have a cheeky nibble on. That’s going to be really cool for this mission. I have the same thoughts about Jill practically having her tits bulging out of her wetsuit, and think her wetsuit is wayyy more sexed up compared to her male co-workers, but at least she doesnt have an ass cheek hanging out. I wanna say the same for Chris, who’s always got his sleeves rolled up, even in the winter tundra, or wherever the fuck they were, especially because he uses his big, strong arms to block and defend… But you get the picture- plus he’s got the illogical costume choices for cool dude points, not cause the designers were horny. I’m not even saying this cause I hate sexy things, I usually enjoy seeing the alt costumes you unlock and playing with them for fun, and most of them are cute or sexy and almost always impractical- it’s just incredibly annoying to me when the sexy comes from this objectifying and frankly stupid thought process, instead of the inherent sex appeal coming from something that makes sense for the character. Jessica is completely a sex object here, and the fact that everything down to her personality revolves around that annoys me. She’s not a good femme fatal type, but she could've been. If she was even a TINY BIT more subtle about things- her flirting, her sketchy behaviour, all of it -THIS COULD’VE BEEN INTERESTING. Again, like Raymond, WHY is she double crossing, what’s in it for her? If she wasn’t so overtly flirtatious to the point where Chris seems to be playing up how oblivious he is, and instead went for something more friendly and seemingly genuine to get info on Chris and his character, it’d make sense that she’s trying to play into her sexuality and sex appeal to break down his walls and get sensitive info that’d benefit her. If she wasn’t always acting like a reckless fool with a death wish, there might have been a way to make it look to her partners that she’s always just at the wrong place at the wrong time and use that to cover for the real reason why she’s there. Like, cmonnnnnn I don’t want to hate her if I don’t need to, but there’s nothing there that I like!

Sighhhhh. Bit of a tangent there, but seriously. It annoys me. I hate lazy designs and writing like this, do better.

Anyway, the controls were fine. Standard ots shooter style that you’d expect from a game like this, and it generally handles pretty well. While some of the locations and set design can feel bland and sparse at times- as I mentioned at the beginning, it was made for 3DS originally -but given that, the HD overhaul here is pretty nice and the character models don’t look too bad. It’s nothing stand out, but nothing looked or felt particularly wrong to me either. The only real gripe I have with this game, other than the ridiculousness I’ve just spent a few rather long-winded paragraphs getting into, is this scanning reticle. I did mention this briefly, but I need you to understand just how odd of a gameplay choice this is. When you scan enemies, you get to increase the percentage amount at the top, which will give your a healing item when you reach 100%. That’s nice, but there are plenty of healing items scattered about, AND if you just scan around the rooms, you’ll unlock more items to pick up. There’s barely any enemy variation either, so it’s not like you’re compelled to scan various new kinds of bioweapon you haven’t see before, because all of them look the same. It’s hard to ever feel pressed for resources due to the abundance of them you get from using the scanner. There are also little handprint things you can find that are only visible through the scanner, and whatever. They’re an optional collectable, that’s nothing bad. It was just a shame to me that there was only ONE instance where it genuinely felt cool and worth it to be using the scanner.

Right near the end, there was a lazer puzzle you had to navigate through, and you could only see the lazer beams through the scanning reticle. THAT’S AWESOME. If this was more integrated into the gameplay, beyond getting a few extra items here and there, that would’ve been so much more fun! Particularly for puzzles, as there were quite a few puzzle sections here that were nice to see as a return to classic resi vibes. The soundtrack was pretty decent, too. There are some tracks I genuinely enjoyed, but a few got annoying real fast. I don’t really have much to say on it beyond that.

So, in closing. This game sucked, and I wish it didn’t. It had a lot of promise as a return to classic resi for fans that felt alienated by the action focus modern resi was taking. It’s a strange game with some genuinely good ideas buried beneath the shit, and I think it needed a bit more time to be refined, or a director with a sterner and clearer vision for this as a project. And less sex for objectifcation’s sake, please. The main resi cast are already beyond hot and dripping with sex appeal, you don’t need to try so hard. Put that energy into a strong and enjoyable gaming experience next time.

Quint and Keith

Rest & Intensify

A Drop of Rain

~~

Resident Evil: Revelations 2, PS4

This game is so much better than it’s predecessor. Not perfect, but a massive improvement. I actually had fun with this, too, and got sucked in pretty quickly while replaying chapter 1 as a refresher for this write up.

Like it’s previous counterpart, this spin off game is an attempt to bring back the horror aspects to the franchise while the main numbered games veered off into action shooters- and for the most part, I’d say it achieved that goal. It is certainly scarier than I found RE5 or RE6 to be, and often reminded me of RE0 and Code Veronica at certain points. If I were to describe Revelations 1’s scariness as: an unsettling but building fear that’s always in the background, paired with high strung tension from encounters with friends and foes - Revelations 2 felt more to me like a mix of two types of horror scares: immediate danger, and the unease of never feeling safe enough to recover from that danger. Sure, Rev 2 is as cheesy as a B grade horror movie at times- but with a plot that’s easier to follow and gameplay that was generally fun and memorable, I had a great time. I can’t deny that some of my feelings towards both these Revelations games comes from originally playing them back to back- but as a sort of call and response to each other as spin offs, I think it’s fair enough to draw comparisons in this way.

This game starts with Claire at a work function, meeting Moira Burton, Barry’s eldest daughter, as she’s a new recruit for the same organisation she works at. We have a little exposition to find out that Moira and Barry have a strained relationship, and are currently in some form of estrangement from each other. The two ladies are working for Terrasave, a humanitarian company that aims to help those affected by bioterrorism- with one of the worst slogans I’ve ever heard: because ‘terr’ doesn’t have to end with ‘orrist.’ I thought it was a fairly well known thing within advertising that you DON’T want to put anything in your marketing that will remind customers of competitors or negative connotations - but this bad slogan is a form of self fulfilling prophecy, as some terrorists crash the party, shooting up the place and kidnapping Claire and Moira. When Claire wakes up, alone in a grotty jail cell, she notices a strange bracelet that’s been welded around her wrist. Before she can really take in anything, her cell door opens, and she’s able to wander around the derelict halls where she hears Moira calling for help. She’s also got a strange bracelet, and the two of them are directed further into the facility they’re being held in. There are telltale signs of bioweapon experiments, and before long they come across one of Claire’s coworkers, covered in blood and desperately trying to get help before she passes away at their feet. The further into the facility they travel, the more they find strange experiments and have to fight off zombies, (yes, zombies are in a resident evil game again!) and they come to realise that there is a woman closely watching them, who eventually makes herself known via the bracelets. Both girls clearly want out, and head for a radio tower to put out a distress call, and it’s here that they realise they are on a small and isolated island by themselves. That’s already an enticing plot: they’re stranded, there’s a dangerous variety of traps and bioweapons to contend with, and they have some crazed woman watching over them as she curates danger around them. To really add the cherry on top, at the end of every Claire and Moira section, each chapter is closed with a Barry section, set 6 months after the events we’ve just played through with the girls. Barry’s side of the story starts with him traveling by boat to the island, listening to the recorded radio transmission of Moira in the hopes of recovering his little girl. It’s unclear to him whether she is alive or not, but he is determined to find out what happened and bring her home, no matter what it takes. As soon as he docks, a little girl named Natalia finds him, and insists on coming along with him to find Moira. As they journey, they start to grow a bond like father and daughter, and together they set out to get to the bottom of things.

That’s a lot of gameplay per chapter, and it’s a welcome amount compared to the previous game’s chapter length. Instead of playing what feels like 10-30 min worth of the game before you’re hit with a chapter break and ‘last time on resident evil revelations;’ here it feels closer to 30-60 min PER SECTION, making it at least a good hour or more that you’d play both parts of the chapter before you’re hit with a recap. This is a much better pace to experience the story, as it not only gives time to get familiar with the game and it’s controls, but also lets the environment and story have time to breathe and sink in. While there are still recaps, they don’t feel as eye-rollingly painful, and are actually decent recaps of what was just played. The chapters feel like a decent play session; and in it’s original release, each chapter came out episodically week by week. The game wasn’t developing the chapters each week, as the entire game was completed and they just spaced the releases as a way of spreading out the content and potentially making more money- copying the hype of other games around that same time that were seeing success with this episodic model of play. I won’t speak much about that particular aspect, as when I played, it was years after release and I had the entire story ready to play at my leisure. But I will say I get an odd- and cautiously critical -feeling when larger AAA studios mimic the methods that smaller/indie studios use (often out of necessity) to squeeze a few extra bucks out of their customers, just because it was successful for a few select titles. I’d like to give a more thoughtful and nuanced opinion on this, but due to it being out of scope for this written retrospective, I’m not going to research further and I’ll just leave you with that comment, and you can draw your own conclusions based on it.

Other improvements to the formula of this spin-off series is that, instead of a clunky reticle to scan shit in the environment, the two supporting characters can make use of passive moves that act in similar ways to the scanning reticle, but in ways that are better integrated. See, in each scenario you play, there will be one character who is more geared to offence and active attacks, and the other to passive and supporting attacks. Claire has gone through this shit before, and Barry is an ex-STARS member who currently works in the BSAA - both of them have had extensive weapons and combat training, along with the experience needed to make their way through bioweapon littered landscapes. They are both the active halves of their duos, with most of their moves tied to their guns. The other halves, Moira and Natalia, do not wield guns, and make use of their own melee weapons for attack and defence. Natalia doesn’t use any firearms because, well, she’s like nine years old; and Moira has a very strong aversion to using guns after an accident in her childhood. When she was little, she was playing around with one of her fathers guns and accidentally shot her little sister, and Barry was upset and blamed her, even though the sister survived. This guilt on both sides, and lack of communication or understanding towards each other is what’s led to the strain on their relationship, and is why Moira and Barry haven’t been able to see eye to eye for a long time. So, instead, Moira makes use of a torch and a crowbar to blind and stun enemies accordingly; while Natalia can pick up and throw bricks, and make use of an uncanny sixth sense that allows her to see the auras of enemies nearby and point them out to Barry. During gameplay, it only takes a second to switch between characters as you’re playing, so you can easily look around for clues or blind enemies with Moira using the torch, or scope out the area for enemies with Natalia before switching over to Claire or Barry to start attacking. I quite enjoyed this for the most part, as both characters in each section feel distinct in their own ways without feeling that one is too much of a burden over the other. The ai for the characters isn’t too bad either, and feels like a nice refinement on the gameplay ideas from RE0. Having the characters be a duo also meant that expositional dialogue didn’t feel as awkward as it would be if they were on their own, and I really enjoyed seeing how the characters got to know each other and evolve in their own ways during the story. Sometimes the responses during conversations did feel a bit stilted, with unnatural delays between responses as you’re walking around, but in general, this dynamic was fun!

There’s all the standard guns, melee attacks and sub weapon usage here you’d expect of a modern resi game, along with a dedicated button to use healing items, evading enemy attacks and to sprint. The healing button is great, and so much better that you have to press and hold to confirm it’s usage, instead of accidentally wasting a valuable heal when you accidentally press the button. The inclusion of the run and evade buttons elevated the combat, and allowed a bit more freedom for how you want to approach them- but it did make the game feel a lot more action heavy, which is at odds with some of the horror elements by reducing the tension somewhat. Nitpicky, yes, but as this spin-off series has been presented as an alternative to the fans that miss the earlier survival horror aspects, having such an action-biased combat scheme feels a bit strange in that regard. However, I do think that it works while you’re playing, in the sense that it didn’t feel like I was struggling against the controls during encounters with enemies. At least, not much…

There were a lot of moments that felt very stop-starty, where there were overly directed sequences that took the camera controls away from me so that it can force me to look where it wants. This happens a lot during slower gameplay moments where I found that I’d already seen and put together what it wanted me to look at, or I just plain don’t want to look at it, yet the controls are yanked away from me in this manner. I get it, you want to make sure the player knows where to look during certain moment, but I really don’t like this style of camera direction. The whole point of having the camera in my control with the dual stick is that, well, I CONTROL IT. I don’t want to have to struggle against it during a section that is still technically in gameplay, aka, my domain of control. If you REALLY want to direct my attention to something specific, either make it visually interesting enough that I naturally want to direct my eye towards it, orrrrr just have a fucking cutscene. I found this struggle against the camera particularly egregious when using the sprint button- the camera zooms in a bit and just snakes very narrowly behind you, making it difficult to see where you’re going or even move! I don’t know if they did this to discourage sprinting across levels, but at that point, why include it at all if you want to discourage it? I ended up having to do a shitty claw grip of my controller where I had my thumb pressing the button to sprint, and my pointer wrapped around to control the camera because I would just be running into walls and corners if I couldn’t fight against the camera myself. There is also something… strange… about the way Claire moves. It’s hard to really say, but there were lots of little things, that, added up made me feel very strange about her. She walked in a strange kind of hunch, one that looks like she’s unpracticed in wearing heels, and at certain times she dawdles strangely instead of the normal walking pace. When she walked faster or started sprinting, I noticed a very strange weight that made her a bit hard to direct at the start and stop of things, which I didn’t notice to the same degree with her partner Moira. And this was strange, because during the Barry sections, he felt weighted and moved in ways that felt more natural; which leads me to thinking that Barry and Claire might share the same move sets, or at least the same base, which is odd. That’s purely speculation, but on a quick replay of the first chapter, and some rounds in raid mode, Claire just felt off to me to play as, and that’s my only hypothesis as to why.

Getting more into the mechanics of the game, there were some choices made here. Firstly, the weapons upgrade system from Rev1 is back. During the game, you may come across certain weapons parts, and when you can access a gun table that’s placed somewhere within the levels, you can combine those parts with your guns to upgrade and custom mod them depending on your play-style. This is fine, I used it to upgrade my stuff but I don’t particularly care for it- I’m just not that much of a gun guy. I appreciate what it brings, but I think I prefer to just have weapons be what they are like in RE1make or RE2make, or like RE4 where there's just a certain amount of upgrades in certain categories that you purchase. It just gives me a similar frustration as starting up Mario Kart 8, where you have to build a kart combo with stats that aren’t the most clearly spelled out (and some stats that are important are just.. not mentioned at all?) before you can race. I don’t want to spend ages figuring out a kart build, I want to race. I don’t really care to collect certain weapons parts and create a custom gun, I want to find the evil residents. You get me? I feel like that particular frustration is just exacerbated by the fact that there’s a skill tree. Now, this isn’t a completely fresh concept to resi, but, I didn’t like how they did it in RE5 or RE6 either lol. Here, when you complete chapters or do certain cool things for cool points, you’ll get a currency that you can use to purchase skills within the skill tree. These are things like: giving Moira a melee attack or finishing move with her crowbar, increasing the power of subweapons and certain attacks, increase the range between partners to use healing items on each other- that sort of thing. I don’t love it, but it’s perfectly fine as far as skill trees go. They add some much needed moves to the characters, especially for Moira and Natalia, that makes it easier for them to not only survive, but contribute to any fights you get into. While I find myself frustrated at times by the fact that there is a skill tree, it works fine, and once you have unlocked most of the good things, it makes itself worth it. Overall, it feels more refined compared to the way systems like these were implemented in Rev1, so I can’t complain too much. I didn’t even use the weapons upgrade shit in Rev1 much to be honest, so I think overall, I just don’t care for these things that tie into the game being more action focused than I would have liked.

In general, the locations you play through look and feel nice to explore, as much a grotty horror settings can. They’re definitely campy, but that is kind of expected of a resi game, if I’m honest. What sucks though, and I know I just praised it, is the fact that when you play a Claire section followed by a Barry section, you go through the same areas. Yes, there are changes, and there are some areas that are unique to each duo, but it does get pretty tiring when the differences are so slight that it dampens the more unique aspects of each. And although I really loved that there were more puzzles here, and some that genuinely had me thinking, I did find that a good majority of puzzles felt more like fetch quests to gather items in a certain order to unlock places and things, and not disguised enough to stay interesting for me. Within each level as well, it felt like there were separate sequences to go through as separate layers while you play. I don’t know exactly how I feel about it, as I enjoyed some of the spookier sequences, and did enjoy some of the more action focused areas; but there is a slight feeling of oil against water for me. I’m more than willing to chalk it up to the necessities of game design, and again I think it’s the fact that these spin-offs are talked about as being the scarier alternative of it’s time that makes it stand out so much to me. This in itself is frustrating, as on the whole, I think I really enjoyed playing this game despite my gripes with it…

A gripe I don’t really have is with the visuals and sound design. I enjoyed the look of the various buildings and landscapes, and although sometimes it was silly, it worked for me. And the music and sound design was just great, there’s a moody feel that the soundtrack brings to the visuals that just makes it all a really nice experience. The sounds of the weapons especially felt nice and had a good weight to them, which is always nice when they can pull it off. The UI is a slightly different manner, as it’s all a uniform orange type of thing. I appreciate the consistency, however, at times I found it difficult to actually tell what I had in my pockets or figure out what upgrades I was giving my gun because things are too similar. I think it’s still better than Rev1’s, and you get used to it, but readability in UI is something I’m becoming increasingly nitpicky and passionate about, I think. It does it’s job, though, so I can get over it. It’s not the tic-tac-tetris style UI of RE6, so I can live with it.

I’m going to take this chance to talk about the story more in depth so next few paragraphs will be the spoilery ones. To start, I really liked the way Barry was written. He had an interesting dynamic with Natalia, and it was nice to see that despite their differences, he is clearly willing to go to any length for Moira, and having that paternal affection and protectiveness extend to Natalia. Moira herself is ok, she swears like a sailor in ways that felt silly at times, and felt more like out-of-touch adults writing a teen instead of authentic teenagery mannerisms to me. Natalia is fine, she’s a young girl who’s gone through a lot, and tbh I think she’s more memorable when she’s with Barry compared to any sections where she’s with Claire and Moira. And Claire… UGH! Claire is probably my favourite protag in the franchise, and I feel like she was done dirty while it was also a really nice game for her. On one hand, it is soooo nice to see how she’s matured into such a capable and level headed woman who is clever and quick-witted. WE LOVE TO SEE IT. On the other… She’s seemingly forgotten certain things that were character staples for her in RE2 and CV. There’s a scene where Claire and Moira bump into Natalia, and she’s frightened cause she’s a little girl and these are two strange women she’s never met before, and Claire comes off too cold and demanding in a way that frightens Natalia even more, causing Moira to step in and be the comforting presence. Like?? HELLO?? Did the writers forget about Sherry? How Claire was not only a comforting presence to her while she was UNTRAINED AND INEXPERIENCED, but continued to be a nurturing figure in Sherry’s life as she grew up? Does that mean nothing? It especially annoys me because Claire is literally being the guiding and nurturing figure TO MOIRA. RIGHT HERE IN THIS GAME. Moira is a total rookie, I think she’s literally just joined Terra-Save the evening she was kidnapped and probably wasn’t meant to go on missions any time soon; and Claire is the one that is not only keeping them together and taking charge in trying to get them out of there, but she’s able to quickly adapt to the fact that Moira is gun averse and takes on that role for the both of them.

Due to the fact that Moira’s ptsd regarding guns and the incident where she accidentally shot her sister is such a prevalent talking point for her character, I would think it makes more sense for Moira to be more out of touch with what a little girl needs as a comforting presence- as she was traumatised when she was young, and we can easily add that she became avoidant of not only her dad, but her sister and family in general too - and that seeing Natalia is bringing up a lot of buried feelings that’s she’s unsure how to deal with, because she’s a frightened teen in a traumatic situation! If Moira had self imposed an exile on herself and didn’t get along with any of her immediate family, that can mean that seeing Natalia periodically and then losing her a few times give her a chance to talk with Claire about how she feels guilty and sad about that fact that the issue with the gun robbed her of her childhood innocence AND a childhood with her sister. This would just strengthen the themes presented with Barry, where he is going to drastic lengths for Moira because she is STILL HIS DAUGHTER, and that protecting Natalia is allowing him to kind of process how poorly he had handled the incident with Moira, and do better for Natalia right now at the very least. This super small change would also give Claire the chance to reflect on her own sibling relationship, and give her a chance to talk about what Chris and Barry mean to her, as they were both family figures for her. There’s a really fucking fantastic framework here that suits the dramatic heights the game is going for, but it squanders it with stupid things like Claire suddenly not being calm and kind enough to comfort a scared girl. She isn’t too badass to do things like that, she’s badass because she can do things like that. Things like this made me feel like Barry was more prioritised as a protag, despite Claire being clearly presented as the main character. It just sucks and I feel sad about it, because there’s not much I feel needs changing about Barry’s side of the story. He feels like Barry, acts and talks like Barry, and it’s so nice to get a game that takes a closer look at him as a character. It’s a great entry for him, but I feel conflicted about Claire’s depiction here.

I think the other major thing that felt strange about Claire is actually the way the main antagonist is presented as well. See, she’s apparently a Wesker, and she’s continuing her brother’s research of the Ouroubourous Virus to help her create the T-Phobos virus- a virus that only triggers mutation when the subject is afraid. She wants to become immortal and live a life free of fear, convinced that if she can find a subject that is immune to fear, she can transfer her consciousness to them and live on. There’s a lot to unpack here, because they were setting up a lot and it didn’t quite live up to what they’d hoped. In general, yes, Alex Wesker here is a more tangible antagonist- and she has a fantastic presence in scenes due to the work of her voice actor. The narrative-theme-based-on-a-classic is back, where they took to the writings of Franz Kafka as some rather on-the-nose themes for the game- Metamorphosis, And All That. I’m glad they actually feel thematically relevant, but I just think it’s a shame that Wesker felt… weak. With all the themes of family and siblings here, I think it would’ve been nice to see that Alex is becoming desperate because of Albert’s death- as it is, we don’t really see any mention of how their relationship or his death affected her, just a mention that she’s used his research to assist in her pursuits of perfection. It also sucks because I can’t help but feel that they were trying to set up a rivalry, or at least make a call back to it, because the antagonist is a Wesker and the protagonist is a Redfield. Chis and Albert had such an insane rivalry because Chris trusted Wesker, working underneath him for presumably years, and then it went wild when they cross paths in CV and RE5. Claire only just met Alex once she’s been kidnapped, and figures out that Alex is directing the horrible events on the island- there’s no history, or push and pull tension here; other than the fact that Claire wants to get out of here and stop this mess. I don’t think they could’ve drawn a comparable dynamic between Alex and Claire as there was with Albert and Chris – but there is room for some narrative tension and parallel!

Firstly, I don’t really understand WHY Alex is pursuing perfection, as it’s not really discussed in depth. Albert isn’t a biological brother to Alex, but he is the only other subject from the Wesker project who survived this long- and clearly it affected her when she learnt of his death. The first time she heard of his death, he had faked it as well, so who’s to say there won’t be some strange reaction to her hearing about his death after RE5? When playing the first time, I honestly thought that she was trying to perfect this consciousness transferring thing in order to ‘resurrect’ Albert in some capacity. That might not be the best path narratively, but I think some more story reasons that touch on their relationship would’ve benefited her. Claire also shares a kind of pseudo-familial tie with the Burton's, as though it isn’t shown much, in previous games there were notes that implied that Barry welcomed the Redfield siblings to be a part of his family and looked out for them where he could. This game is a very personally interconnected one, and to have the protagonists see the antagonist struggling with something that is so viscerally relatable to them would’ve been cool. It would’ve been especially nice if some of the thematic aspects of Natalia being chosen as the vessel for Wesker to transfer her consciousness were given more weight, and that affects everyone in some manner. Secondly, the final evolution of Alex is just… bland. She’s infected herself with the T-Phobos virus in order to transfer her consciousness into Natalia, and to complete that transfer, she kills herself in front of Claire and Moira near the climax. But, despite trying her best to be fearless, she experienced a microsecond of fear right as she shot herself, triggering the virus and turning her kinda-corpse into a mutated mess. She’s ashamed of it, and covers herself with cloth to hide her face and such- but during the six months between campaigns, as she waits for her consciousness to wake up inside of Natalia, she starts to develop a complex out of a fear or concern over potentially having two Weskers. She starts to hunt Natalia and try to kill her, deeming herself the only one who can be allowed, but… well. Do you see what I mean about this feeling weak? I honestly think the fact that it’s six months contributes to this, as how the hell did a little girl manage to survive on a small, isolated island that was devastated even before Wesker started her bioweapon research on the locals?

It also feels strange that, in the climax, when Wesker’s tower is self destructing, Moira pushes Claire away and sacrifices herself, and Claire is somehow found and rescued, but Barry takes six months to get to the island, and Moira was surviving on the island for six months, and also didn’t seem to bump into Natalia during those six months. It’s just unfocused and stretched out, I could believe one month, but why not have Barry just drop everything and rush over to try get Moira if they know where they recovered Claire from? I think it might’ve been interesting to have Natalia be more of a threat, as parts of Wesker come to the surface. And I think that it might’ve been more narratively interesting for Wesker if her struggle with the transferal was due to Natalia rejecting her. This rejection could be a literal one on a biological sense- despite being the perfect candidate, her body won’t take Wesker, or she is mentally strong enough to push her down and cause complications. OR, just emotionally reject Wesker, as she is afraid of her. How ironically haunting would it be for Wesker if she rushed into this project when she got news of Albert dying, and the perfect candidate that is supposedly free of fear turns out to be afraid of you? I’m really just spit-balling and getting rambly and philosophical here, but there are ways that this could be better constructed into something that is more tragic and thought provoking. The point Wesker wanted was to not be afraid, and I wish that was explored more, as there’s so many different types of fear. Her being a pretty weak antagonist just compounded the feeling of Claire getting fucked over for me, as it could’ve been so much more, and Claire could’ve been written to be a much better suited narrative foil, or even just someone who pokes holes at the very ideology Wesker is working under- fighting her by planting doubt into her work. I dunno. This could’ve been a real interesting battle of wit between two women, with interesting narratives tied into the other girls of the protagonist cast- yet I can’t help but feel they weren’t written as strongly and had wasted potential, because Barry ended up the main focus in the writing room, as men are just easier to write, probably.

In closing, I really liked this game, but I’m cautious to say I loved it. I very much enjoyed my time with it, despite it being more action heavy than I would’ve liked, and some sloppy writing and game design here and there. I loved the mood and atmosphere for this game, I love how campy it gets at times, and I loved the moments where this game really shined. This retrospective has been so complicated to write (and not just because I accidentally left it so long before writing), but I can say that I got sucked in almost immediately when I went to replay the first chapter as a refresher, and that’s always a good sign. It’s a game I’ll definitely replay in future, just maybe not as often as other resi titles I like more.

Theme of Barry

Lost (Enchained Version)

Heat On Beat 2015

~~

Resident Evil 4 Remake, PS4

Wow. I was not expecting this, and overall, I think I’m pleasantly surprised by it.

I was a big fan of the og RE4- it was campy, a bit of a hot mess, and a really good time. This remake seems to generally respect and enhance that original feeling, while taking the game in it’s own direction. There’s plenty I don’t like about this remake, but plenty I do, so lets get into it.

The general trend for the remake series is definitely one that tones down the exaggerated and kinda goofy nature of the originals, and replaces it with a more Hollywood-esque style of gritty and ‘grounded’ realism. Speaking broadly, I can get behind that- however, with each remake added to the series, I get more and more concerned that ‘updating to modern standards’ is slowly morphing into a streamlined homogenisation that strips away most of the charm the original games had. Before I start the nitty-gritty of my dissection, I just want to get the inevitable out of the way: REMAKE FATIGUE. OH MY GOD. Sure, this remake has some brilliant parts that I’ll get into, and it looks great and whatever, but Jesus. It makes me feel extra cynical that every other thing that comes out is a remake these days! Are bigger studios incapable of taking risks and trying something new? Is it really so bad that higher ups are afraid of taking a chance on a new IP, that the creatives trying to work on these things are forced to rehash old things that did well that one time?? Do the fat cats up top even trust the creatives they’re using and abusing??? The original RE4 has a cult-like following, any attempt at remaking it is a HUGE responsibility, as the fans (myself included) are vocal and incredibly whiny. It doesn’t really need a remake, other than continuing the newly reworked canon CapCom is going for in the remake line, so… Huh???? Even outside of gaming, remake and franchise fatigue is hitting hard, and I’m tired. It’s not exactly inspiring or exciting to see remakes get announced anymore, especially when the trend of REmakes in particular are getting to games that are only like, a generation or two behind.

I needed to get that out of the way, as I was not really interested in RE4R the way everyone else was when it was announced, instead feeling more disdainful; reading press releases and fan talk with a cynical and apprehensive view. As should be obvious, I ended up caving and getting the game, and had a good time with it despite it all. But man... You feel me?

Anyway.

The plot of this game has been heavily renovated. Things are darker and more ‘realistic,’ favouring story beats that have an overall more cohesive narrative. The basics of the story are still largely the same, but with expansion and refinement in certain areas. The follow through of plot and motivation between chapters makes a lot more sense compared to the original, and certain beats were changed (and even omitted) to give greater and different impacts for each scene. For the most part, I really liked what they did- it gave a chance to better understand the characters we’re playing with, and it’s pretty hard to feel lost with how refined everything is... but it is at the expense of losing some of the more ‘iconic’ moments from the original, as they are ‘too goofy’ to be translated into this tonal shift. Leon S. Kennedy has gone through a lot of training to become the government agent we see him as today, and is tasked with rescuing the President’s daughter, Ashley Graham, after she was kidnapped from her college campus. After tracking her down to a remote village in rural Spain, Leon is tasked with bringing her back home, safe and sound. It’s a really simple plot, same as the original, but where it gets more depth is through finding out about the bioweapons and locations you battle against as you try to escape with Ashley. There are three main areas that the story takes place across; the village, the castle, and the island. And, just like with the narrative beats, the locations themselves have been renovated to be more streamlined and expanded in certain areas to make this game an enjoyable, modern rendition of it’s original counterpart. There are a lot of call-backs to the original too, the main example being the shooting gallery- which is not only a fun mini game to play, but has an expanded remix of the iconic drive song. I’m not great at shooting mini games- especially not on PS4 -but damn, the shooting gallery was so much fun. Having the remix of drive and ramping it up made it an absolute blast! (Pun intended). There’s a lot to love about the way so much has been enhanced by getting more attention, and I can say that I did genuinely enjoy a majority of the narrative changes.

Into the gameplay, which again, was generally pretty good! The item management is still here; you will find treasures and collectables alongside weapons, ammo, healing and currency as you explore and fight enemies, and can arrange them physically in your inventory screen. The modern Resi convention of quick-equipping weapons and sub-weapons to the d-pad is back, but expanded to have two options per direction, allowing you 8 possible slots to customise with weapons in whatever order you’d like. I appreciate this, and enjoy the seamless nature of the quick equip- though I do miss seeing Leon to the side modelling the item or equipment I have selected… When collecting treasures, sometimes you get pieces with empty recesses in them, and sometimes you’ll get gems of a certain shape that you can place in those recesses- of which combining items to be fully decked out with whatever colour combinations you choose will result in a much higher price when selling those bedazzled items to the merchant. The merchant himself has been fleshed out a little more too, his shop feels nice to browse through as you decide what you want to sell and upgrade, and he has more missions to give you around certain areas! In the original, the extent of these missions were pretty much just ‘shoot the medallions in this area,’ and you get a reward for doing so. Now, he has more that add a bit of variety- things like killing pests, bringing certain items to him, and circling back to specific areas when you’re nearly done with an area in order to fight a mini boss. It’s a nice optional thing to flesh out the time spent with each area, and expanding upon them in ways that are more involved than a simple scavenger hunt- though don’t worry, the medallions are still around and the merchant still wants you to shoot them! There was actually enough things to do that I didn’t quite get all of them in my first play though, which in turn meant that there were still things to do and places to poke around in upon replay. (Though, the merchant talks A LOT during the various screens while shopping… Idk if I’m just misremembering, but the og merchant never felt this annoying with the incessant chatter… hm...)

Moving around as Leon was… pretty good. It took me a while to get the hang of it, as he felt very weighty and had a much stronger follow-through in his momentum than what I was expecting. His sprint also felt faster than I remembered the og feeling, and perhaps that’s simply the difference between the tank controls of the original and the dual stick controls of this remake. This quick pace suits the action side of this action-survival-horror, and honestly, once you play for a few minutes, the speed felt normal anyway. I just think it surprised me a lot to feel how weighty AND fast Leon felt in my first impressions, which is why I wanted to mention it. Leon also feels skilled; he felt fluid moving between various guns, using the knife, and fighting with throwable items and melee attacks. More attention has been placed on the fact that he's spent 6 years in special military training, and it’s certainly paid off. However, I can’t help but feel the various melee attacks feels a lot more limited here… Now, I’m more than willing to admit a rose-tinted bias here, but I remember getting almost giddy when I had the option to kick and supplex enemies with ease. There was an almost explosive feeling to it in the original, you could literally kick people’s heads off – and yeah, yeah, I get it. This remake is trying to be more grounded and less arcadey in this aspect, but despite the melee attacks having a good weight and follow through to them, it just didn’t feel as impressive to me. That’s totally a personal feeling and not really anything the game has done objectively wrong, but that is unfortunately one of the many little nitpicks of things the game has to contend with when trying to remake a game that has been placed on such a high pedestal by many.

While I’m nitpicking differences in the gameplay and mechanics, I want to talk about the QTEs. Quick Time Events were prompts in the original game that played during certain scenes (mainly cutscenes, but in some boss fights as well), and would prompt the player to do things such as hit a button combination in a short time limit, or mash buttons and wiggle the stick in rapid succession. They are divisive, to say the least, but if you read my retrospective on the og RE4, you’ll remember that I said I kinda liked them! I’ve heard that some people don’t like them due to the panic of being quickly prompted and only having a second or two to respond, and hitting the wrong thing results in an insta-death half the time- and yeah, that’s definitely annoying. But, I don’t know… In the same way that the tank controls of RE1 made me feel more connected with my characters by getting flustered and struggling to move in a way that I could link to the feelings of fight or flight responses for the characters I’m playing as, I quite enjoyed the ways QTEs were used in RE4. Leon’s feeling just as flustered when there’s suddenly a boulder, or giant mechanised statue of the antagonist, chasing him down some narrow corridor as I am suddenly having to mash a button to get him out of there. I particularly enjoyed the cutscene QTEs for the Krauser knife fight in the og, requiring you to get the right combo of buttons within a split second to successfully parry and continue the fight. They’re fun! It’s not like I love all QTE by default, as I did not enjoy their usage in RE5 & RE6 half as much- but when implemented smartly like the og… I just appreciated it. The QTEs for this remake have been dramatically reduced, and for a lot of people, that’s a plus. I really loved the accessibility options for the QTEs here, giving the option between mashing buttons or a press and hold. Some of our hands/reflexes aren’t what they used to be, and sometimes the option for something less physically demanding is nice. However… It does feel a bit lesser without the QTEs, if I’m honest. It’s not even that every single QTE in the original was good, but there was a frantic-ness about it that I miss. I felt this the most with the Krauser knife fight I mentioned earlier, which has been turned into a more traditional mini boss instead of a QTE cutscene.

Which brings me to the biggest issue I have with the renovation of mechanics here.

The Knife.

In the original, the knife was a permanent sub-weapon you could rely on in the game. Run our of ammo? Get up close and personal to slash with your knife. Need to open boxes? Knife attack! And fighting Krauser? Well. Let’s just say, you’ll wanna use your knife. It felt special, and to me was a defining characteristic of how I played and thought about gun and weapon usage. In this remake? There is a knife degradation system. I understand from a game mechanic view that having degradation might encourage players to get creative with other weapons instead of relying on the knife, or treat the knife as something more special because it comes with a limit- but I felt the opposite. I HATE WEAPON DEGRADATION SYSTEMS. SOOOOOO MUCH. I didn’t feel like the knife was special, because you’d find knives everywhere to make up for the fact that they can only be used so much. Once you use them all up, they break and you can’t use them again, except for Leon’s special knife, which can be repaired for a cost at the merchant’s. This is supposed to be the trusty knife! It doesn’t feel trusty or even special anymore! Resi on the whole is KNOWN for it’s knife only runs, as knives are ALWAYS present in some capacity. I didn’t like the way knives broke in RE2R either, but it didn’t feel as offensive to me, as they were only sub-weapons, and mostly used for defence. IN THAT CONTEXT, I can begrudgingly agree with the philosophy of knife degradation, because that game was much more focused on surviving the horror with limited inventory. Here… it’s an action game. Depriving Leon of his knife just feels cruel. I want to be free to attack boxes and barrels while I’m looking for items, to kill snakes and rats indiscriminately alongside hoards of ganados when I’ve run out of ammo, or when I simply want to use my knife. In this remake, I can still do all of that, but there’s a greater cost to contend with due to the degradation. I can’t even enjoy some simple knife fishing, as I’ve gotta keep it in the back of my mind that every slash could be my last. I pretty much never wanna see weapon degradation in games, and will only begrudgingly take it under very specific circumstances. It feels like it detracts from the game far more than any ‘innovative thinking’ or game balancing it may provide, and it’s simply a frustration I hate having to put up with. Have the guns run out of ammo! Have limited inventory space that makes me hum and haw over which items are important to me and which I’ll need to use up and get rid of! But do NOT make my knife so brittle that it’s useless after a few hits!!

‘But the realism-’ I hear you say. Yeah, sure. A kitchen knife, heck even some survival knives, are probably not going to stand more than a few hits when used in combat - but when there’s an option to parry a chainsaw with the knife… I think some liberties can be taken. Although the game postures itself as something more mature and realistic compared to its original goofy and contrived nature- it’s still filled with silly shit! It’s a video game! It’s ok to lean into it; the original did with the arcadey feeling that ran through it all. Why is this new direction so hesitant to allow certain things, while being equally goofy in other areas? I know that the knife thing gets better when you get a grasp of the parry system and learn the most effective ways to make use of it, AND that there’s much better options for it when playing in NG+ and you have all the upgrades- but why do I have to wait for a replay to have it feel tolerable? That’s still a full first run through where it feels miserable! And just due to the fact that it is the way it is, I actually felt discouraged from engaging with the knife at all during battle, and felt more comfortable using it only for things outside of battle. L. Skill issue. Whatever. But I fucking HATE weapon degradation in general, so I’m sure you understand that even though I’m aware of the nuances and probable intentions the dev’s had when implementing this: I don’t care, I don’t like it, and I don’t think it achieved what they set out to do with it.

Onto graphics, the game looks fine. Maybe a little flat in the colour grading at times, but that’s something I’d expected due to the original having a muted sepia look. I don’t really know how to articulate this the exact way that I want to, but I’m just not the kind of guy who’s overly impressed with 'realistic graphics' in games. I’m fine if things look a little janky- and in all honesty, I think that jank or intentional style choices add charm and a unique look to certain games. RE4R is using the same engine that a lot of previous games in the series have been using- it seems to be a great one for what they want to do with the look of it all, but I can’t help but feel that it looks a little too familiar at times. I think this is partially due to assets being reused, having played a lot of games in this engine and starting to see how it works and where the seams are, and remake fatigue. I could complain about it looking like RE2R and RE8, but I feel so half-hearted about that complaint. It’s the same engine, and a remake of a game I remember decently- of course it’ll look familiar. I’m fine to chalk that up to primarily my own tastes and fatigue that I’ve outlined, but overall, the game looks fine. Great if you’re into this mostly realistic style, I just don’t think I care enough to care. What I do care about, however, are the presentation for certain things that really pissed me off.

Firstly- STOP WITH 'CUTSCENE' MOMENTS THAT TAKE A HOLD OF THE CAMERA AND SWING ME IN RANDOM PLACES!!! FUCK OFF!! IF YOU WANT CONTROL OF IT HAVE A CUTSCENE, GAMEPLAY IS FOR ME!!?!!? And repeat all the shit you read previously for the Rev2 stuff I had the same complaint for.

Secondly- YELLOW MARKERS. This has been memed to death by now, and Resi isn’t the only game/series to go overboard with the yellow markers. But, whoever is walking around with open cans of bright yellow paint, reigning terror across this remote Spanish village - stop it! Who knows where they’ll go next! Joking aside, I want to go on a tangent and dissect this and give thoughts real quick. SOMETIMES, yes, the paint markers are helpful in showing me where I need to go, or what I need to do when I’m feeling lost. Yellow is such a naturally bright colour that it’s easy to draw the eye to, making it a psychologically/colour theory-ily understandable choice to make sure players see the hints you leave for them. A lot of the time, I believe the devs make these markers so obvious because they were common tricky points for their focus groups- which are often comprised of people with varying gamer skills, and I’d say that devs will try to pay attention to the less experienced gamer’s feedback to iron out any wrinkles and make the game more approachable. It all makes sense and I understand it, especially after having the opportunity to study this kind of thing a little bit and venturing into indie game dev myself. There’s so much to think about and consider that often will go unnoticed by the players, which can feel frustrating when you’re berated for choices you made intentionally with their favour in mind. HOWEVER, this yellow paint shit is getting out of hand. It often feels jarring and non-diagetic, bringing more attention to it than intended and breaking the immersion for the player. It can also feel very patronising to have the methods and solutions to puzzles pointed out so obviously to you, for both experienced and less experienced gamers. Things don’t need to be THAT obvious, and I’m not sure that slapping yellow paint over everything is the fix-all solution it’s being treated as. It might take more work, but maybe if so many players are struggling with certain sections, you need to discuss with your team whether this is an intentionally hard area that you want players to struggle through, or if there are better ways to create the problem you want players to solve. There’s not going to be ONE solution that pleases all players, but I feel as though many gamers with mid to high level experience in games are going to become too frustrated when they see the yellow paint and no longer want to be a part of the core audience anymore. It’s a tricky balance to make games inviting enough to appeal to new-comers or ‘the broader audience,’ without alienating ‘the target audience,’ - but too often with modern games, I can’t help but feel they’re spreading themselves too thin to catch every audience instead of focusing on their target. Look at ways that are less obvious than yellow paint, see what kind of diagetic methods to give hints would work, and really spend the time setting up ways to teach the players how you want them to play and approach the problems you throw at them.

What’s uniquely frustrating about the yellow paint in Resi is that, in RE8, they ALMOST had something really interesting in context with the yellow paint, but didn’t do anything with it. They knew the yellow paint in that game was garishly out of place, and called attention to it, but just didn’t deliver in the way I was expecting based on the way they set it up. To then go to a game where there’s no reason for the yellow paint to be everywhere, YET IT STILL IS, is frustrating. The one counter to this, which I alluded to earlier, is that these yellow paint signals ARE helpful to those that need them. Great, but that is only good as a stepping stone, and if people ever move up to a higher skill level in gaming where they don’t need it anymore, what then? I understand that from an accessibility standpoint, making sure that players who aren’t very good or don’t feel confident in playing but still want to play have an option. I support that, but to mix that into the DNA of the visual presentation of the game just sucks for every other player who wants an option to not have it. It’d take more work, but why can’t yellow paint-ifiying the landscape be exclusive to easy mode? That’s the area to have it, and by not not having it in normal and hard difficulties, it’s effectively training wheels for those that want it in easy. With this, there’s also some comment I want to make on the way older games did this. I’m more inclined to say that older games did a better job of communicating things visually, and in many ways the hardware limitations present helped devs to think carefully about the way they wanted to present things. Heck, even in RE2R, there wasn’t yellow paint slapped haphazardly around the place- I distinctly remember the use of lighting and contrast in certain areas to point out which way to go. This tangent is not just a critique exclusive to RE4R, but to all yellow paint games out there. I don’t like the overly researched and pathologised method of communicating things to players, it just says very clearly to me that you don’t trust me to play and enjoy the game the way you wanted me to, and would rather drag me by the hand through everything instead of giving me time to enjoy the spaces within the game you’ve created. Maybe there’s also an aspect of insecurity to this, which I don’t doubt could be from having unrealistic pressures and crunches forced upon dev teams in the increasingly dystopian work environments- but please. At least add a bit of diversity to the way you want to overly direct my play experience, it’s become so cliché even the meme of yellow paint is worn out.

And lastly, something I feel is the most relevant to bitch about regarding graphics, is the lack of boss transformation animations. To set the scene, in the original RE4, pretty much all the multi-phase bosses had grotesque animations showing the pure body horror of being a bioweapon. It’s memorable, and helps keep you immersed in the moment as you see the familiar human looking parts morph further into the inhuman. It’s kind of a staple thing to expect in the Resi franchise- bioweapons are a form of body horror, and bioweapons are behind every game - it’s what we’re here for. Now, in RE4R, there was a noticeable lack of transformation animations. I’m sure you can imagine the disappointment when I’m fighting the village leader in some sort of barn or shed that’s on fire, and instead of having some transformation to gawk at, he disappears behind a wall of flames, and re-emerges a few seconds later in his next form. Every boss felt like this, and even if some bosses felt like clever call-backs to their originals, or added something to make the experience unique to this game, I felt incredibly disconnected from the fight as a whole. For a AAA remake title that has the legacy it does, whadda hell!? I can’t imagine the time and resources it must take to model and animate such things, as I’m a 2D artist myself, but it is incredibly disappointing to see this remake take shortcuts like so. To pair with this, what I mentioned earlier about QTEs being stripped away hold for battle the most, in my opinion. I don’t think I was ever able to enjoy or get good at using the parry/evade mechanics introduced for this game, as their prompts weren’t as clear or understandable to me compared to something like a well placed QTE. And yet another thing to tack on at the end of this, is that I felt a surprising lack of unique death animations for Leon too… Again, maybe this is nostalgic misremembering, but I would have so much fun getting Leon killed and seeing a new unique animation depending on how he died. It was almost a little consolation; yeah you suck and you died, but look, isn’t it funny seeing Leon get his face dissolved to the bone, or decapitated, or dramatically falling-to-his-knees-at-the-realisation-that-Ashely-died to death?

I guess I could summarise this with something along the lines of: all the little details in the original, that might not seem like much on their own, all worked together to give the original the polish and charm that it had, and that there feels like a distinct lack of that here. Which is a shame, because there is genuinely a lot of details that ARE here that DO ADD to the experience- it just doesn’t feel like enough for me, unfortunately. Like, I really do appreciate that it kept some of the puzzle aspects across various parts of the game and even added more, and that there’s a semi-stealth thing going on that allows different options if you can approach enemies without alerting them. Considering the og was such a cultural influence on how modern OTS shooters were made from that point on, I found it really interesting to have stealth come back to remind us of it’s survival style origins. It just… also feels like it’s missing a lot, or only has call-backs to the original as a form of obligation.

In regards to music, I honestly didn’t feel like much stood out to me. I have a note written to myself to pay attention to the music, and after 3 playthroughs, the only song I knew I wanted to include at the end is drive. I didn’t really feel connected to or excited by any of the tracks, which is a shame because I really love a majority of the various OSTs this series has. Even the more ambient and atmospheric tracks can be quite memorable to me, but here… I just didn’t feel it. I really don’t know what it is, but to guess, maybe the soundtrack just felt a bit too generic for me? I wasn’t as keen on other remixes of tracks from the original, drive really was the stand out. Idk. It’s a shame, nothing felt really out of place as far as I can recall, but I can’t recall really enjoying much about it either. It just kinda lived in the background for me, which isn’t the worst, I suppose. The sound design was pretty good though, the weapons and various soundscapes sounded generally pretty good, and I like that they’ve used a different stock sound effect for breaking vases that sounds a lot less cartoonish.

And, well… That’s about all I can say in a vaguely non-spoiler-ish way without going into detail. I have a lot to say about particular details so. Here’s your fair warning.

I feel so complicated talking about the game from this point forward, though, I’m sure if you’re reading this far, you can kinda see why I feel a bit like a pendulum. The original never felt all that scary to me, but it had an atmosphere I liked and I was perfectly happy with that. Here, it’s also not really that scary, but in both it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you get a bunch of enemies to fight all at once. However, I noticed certain scripted set pieces with forced and cheap scares that just induced an eye roll for this remake. In particular, there’s a section with a giant at the castle and it just draaaaggggggeeeedddddd on and I didn’t care. Which is sad, because I really like the castle in both games, and otherwise I really loved the revamp of the castle here. In general, there was a strong sense of dread lingering in the atmosphere, which I think is enhanced by the devs trying to balance the action-biased nature of the game with a re-introduction of survival horror elements. And while I may not agree with every individual choice made when remaking and renovating the plot and layout, I think it’s generally a net positive - even making some areas that weren’t all that fun in the og feel tolerable, if not fun now!

The main thing I want to gush/rant about, is the plot and the way the characters were handled overall. I want to start with Ashley, as I liked her fine enough but thought she got dreadful amounts of unwarranted hate in the first game. There was literally only one section in the first game where I was legitimately frustrated with her, and that was partially a user error on my part making it worse. However, the devs absolutely know that this is a sore spot in the pop-culture knowledge of the game, and have taken steps to avoid the same kinds of criticism. Firstly, I wanna point out that the actress who played Ashley, Genevieve Buechner, was very nice to hear. I think she did a great job of keeping the balance between Ashley being a naive and scared young woman out of her depth, and a capable young woman who is trying to use her skills and smarts where applicable. One thing that I know a lot of people bitched about was the og Ashley having a grating voice. I personally only found the repetitive screaming grating when it went on for too long, but I definitely understand where it’s coming from, so it was a nice surprise to see deliberate direction for Ashley to combat this. While she’s a young, college-aged woman, her voice was a little deeper than I’d expected (most likely to combat the shrill allegations), and throughout the story she develops into being a little more confident and proactive. I think I can give the perfect example of what I want to praise with a certain change in a cutscene. In the original, when they’re in the castle, Ashley suddenly runs away from Leon, seemingly scared or disgusted at the fact that she coughed up blood, and is then promptly caught in some cartoonish trap, waiting for Leon to break her free. Now? Not only is there a greater emphasis on the plaga parasite that is infecting them both, but this emphasis gives Ashley a chance to actually feel something about it. In a cutscene that serves the same purpose as the one I just outlined, Ashley is suddenly taken over by the antagonist through the plaga (mind control style), and attacks Leon. When her mind is released, she’s on the other side of a locked gate, and she runs away, afraid and embarrassed that she lost control and hurt Leon, and doesn’t want that to happen again. Hooray! Character agency displayed!! We get a much clearer situation to display this, first of all, but also a much better way of letting the events breathe and show how the characters feel through their actions. This also means that when Leon and Ashley reunite, the conversation that they share feels more special. I’m so glad that there wasn’t as much of a stop and start with Ashley being with us one moment, and whisked away the next. Everything felt logical and understandable for why she was or wasn’t with us in each particular moment, and the reduced goofiness made it that much clearer what our goals were in any given chapter.

I also like how Ashley was able to help out with a certain mini boss in the castle, and that her playable sequence was expanded upon. It hasn’t been long since she was kidnapped and infected, and she must be scared out of her mind, but I could really see the development from being stuck in a fight or flight panic, to now being someone who was trying her best to work through any problems she was stuck in. Leon has clearly rubbed off on her, and I think it’s nice to see that although jaded, he was able to impart some of his collectedness under pressure onto her - seeing how quickly she’s able to step up and take an active part in getting out of there was really fun for me.

Leon was interesting here as well, we’re given a much clearer info-dump at the beginning that tells us what he’s been up to, and shows us a little bit about Krauser before meeting him in game. It’s clear that Leon has been through a lot, and doesn’t have that bright-eyed rookie style anymore- though, it hasn’t completely disappeared. However, he’s focused on his mission, and it’s nice to see the developments he goes through when interacting with other characters. I don’t really feel I have as much to say for him, in part because it’s Leon, and everyone loves Leon- but also because there were a lot of things that I felt were cut from him and not replaced or repurposed in other areas. Most of his character is good and consistent here, it’s interesting seeing him with Ashely, meeting Ada and Luis, and going up against the antagonists. And although the Antagonists generally feel more fleshed out, there’s almost no banter anymore! SADGE!!! I get that it doesn’t really translate into the new tone they’re going for, but everything with Salazar in the castle felt weak sauce. There wasn’t really any back and forth going on, and it is sorely missed! Without that banter, and instead playing things a bit more straight with flecks of sass peppered in, I don’t feel that there was that much for Leon narratively. And although I miss it, I think overall, I’m ok with Leon not having the most narrative growth for this game. To be clear, I hate that the banter is gone, but I’m ok that otherwise he’s got a much smaller, almost static feeling character to me (at least comparatively).

Luis was definitely expanded upon, and I feel as though he had the most attention amongst the main cast. He’s a fan favourite, and with that charisma, how could you disagree? Despite the fact that I think my preference will always be for the swagger the original Luis had, I really grew to love Luis here in this remake. We get to know more about how he generally presents himself, and more about what’s going on. It’s clear that he feels plagued with guilt over his contributions to everything that’s unraveled into a shit show here, and he makes a point of helping Ashley and Leon rid themselves of the plaga and escape, despite it clearly being out of the way for him. Due to the increased amount of time Leon shares with Luis, there’s infinitely more homo-erotic tensions between the two as well – I even got to take him on a date to the shooting gallery to show off my epic skills! Adding more scenes with Luis here means that he didn’t die in the place he originally did, meaning that even for players who know the original inside and out, we still had new things to look forward to and were kept on the edge of our seats as we waited for the inevitable. I really enjoyed it, and think that the effort put into expanding Luis was great to see, as it kept me engaged the entire time and eager to read more in the lore files scattered around the place.

With all the emphasis on the plaga, I’m glad that the narrative was cleaned up and tightened in the way it was, and actually made the fact that Ashley and Leon being infected was a more tangible threat with a time limit. In the original, they barely scratched the surface of being infected, and it was so easy to forget until you are reminded in a cutscene and go ‘oh yeah…’ - the stakes here felt bigger and more cinematic, which nails the new direction right on the head. However, the actual details of the lore actually felt a bit… messy. I appreciate more focus on the plaga and Lord Saddler as the primary antagonist, but there were some lore files that were particularly dense and hard to make sense of. Perhaps that’s just a me thing, but there were some choices that baffled me and some choices that just felt a bit like pandering. I felt this the most during the castle, and I was eventually able to wrap my head around the history of the place; but there were some details and lore drops that felt more confusing than they needed to be, and not in a fun solve-the-puzzle kind of way. There were also some choices that simply frustrated me about the new direction overall, wanting it to be grounded and realistic, but still required to lean into some gamey things by fault of it still being RE4. To give an example, early on in the castle there’s a note about a particular enemy, the Garrador, detailing what a weird and fucked up kinda guy he was to increase the lore and world building. Leon and Ashley bring direct attention to it via dialogue during that section too, they REALLY want to make sure you know how cool and creepy this mini boss will be. But then, later on, there’s a room where there’s two of them. No lore notes for why there’s two more of these fucked up guys here, they just are- and this room toes the line between miniboss and just a room full of tricky guys to kill cause you’ve leveled up by now and know how to kill a Garrador. It feels stupid to emphasise a single instance of an enemy that you’re going to come across multiple times, and then do nothing with every other instance. I think I’d prefer to just be left a trail of crumbs so vague that we just have to assume the enemy is some weird fucked up experiment that the audience has to figure out. It’s so ehhh when there’s one guy with a backstory, and his twins are NPCs with nothing. That was a pattern that I noticed, where some areas were expanded upon greatly, but not in a consistent manner, which made it feel really odd to me at times. It’s a real tricky thing, and to be honest, I’m not sure if there would be a way I can suggest that’d make me happy, let alone a broader audience… It’s just that, in trying to expand and humanise certain characters and places, but not being consistent and thorough, I think it just prompts eagle-eyed players to notice holes quicker. I don’t know, it’s just weird! Some stuff has been changed in order to modernise things that didn’t age well, but still gloss over crucial things that needed more clarity anyway!

I feel this weird hyper detail with no substance was particularly prominent with Krauser. We got a name drop in the intro, good. We have some confrontations with him in the game, nice. There’s a tent, with lots of info, clearly Krauser has been brushing up on his Leon lore and even has a little Leon polaroid from when he was taken in after Raccoon City… huh? Obsessed much? In the original, Krauser was pretty much just dumped there, with dialogue and cutscenes that implied he and Leon had a history, but none of the players playing on GameCube and the multiple other ports at the time had any clue who he was… until they played the Darkside Chronicles on the Wii, years later. It was weird, but he is important to some plot developments in the story. The impression I got was that Krauser wasn���t expecting Leon to be there at all, and that seeing him has put Krauser on edge a little bit, which causes some of the more intense confrontations he has with Leon. Part of why he’s important is that he’d been hired by Wesker, but Wesker no longer trusts him, so he’s sent Ada to make sure all loose ends are tied up. Krauser and Ada never really cross paths here like they did in the original, there’s no indication that they’re in cahoots at all. We get an overly dramatic final cutscene with Leon and Krauser where he wants Leon to kill him, cause he’s the only guy who can, but not much in the way of contextualising HOW he mattered to the plot, other than a few stray lore files right before you fight him. I wasn’t really happy, and I don’t even like Krauser! At least give him something, but he felt so glossed over and flanderised into some typical trigger happy gun boy boot licker American with a dumb gravelly voice to show that he’s hardened from battle, and overused the term ‘rookie’ as a form of endearment towards Leon. Krauser, and the antagonists in general, didn’t have much in the way of tangible plot and lore in the original, but it had the charisma. In this remake, yeah they’ve expanded upon things, but forgot about the charm and whatever other immaterial vibe that was supposed to be infused with it, there’s too much dumping and not enough raw charisma. There’s no bantering back and forth with Leon, and they all feel flanderised to me. They picked a point for each of the antagonists and just zoomed in on that; the head honcho in the village is big and stomps around, the little brat running the castle is just a little brat (and not even funny cause there’s not banter), Krauser is just a typical American soldier type, and Saddler is just an evil cult leader. Adding extra lore details doesn’t really do much for me when the concept of these characters aren’t all that engaging to begin with. It’s a shame that there wasn’t a better balance here, at least for my tastes, as the original head honcho and castle brat were fun and memorable for me, and I’d forget about Saddler until the end, and they didn’t have that much lore to them. They do here, but it feels like a big fat nothing burger at times, cause I’m not sure what they really wanted to do with these antagonists at all! It may be a case of having too many, and not being able to put the same care and attention into all of them, but they’ve even cut a boss fight with a bioweapon from the main campaign! And of all the things I feel they cut and butchered, Ada irks me the most. Get ready, and grab the whole salt shaker, as I have a LOT to say here...

Ada’s physical involvement in the plot felt severely lacking, as there were a lot of things that were cut and not repurposed in other areas. She is supposed to have an interesting dynamic between Krauser as another hire from Wesker, between Luis as her contact to get a sample of the plaga, and Leon when she finds out he’s on the mission and could use him to make her job easier. The stuff between her and Krauser was cut, and the stuff between her and Luis in the originals were mainly detailed in her optional campaigns, Seperate Ways and Assignment Ada. Here, there are some moments where we see her interact with Luis, as there was more emphasis placed on making his story and arc feel more complete, but there’s still not a lot. And with Leon… they cut SO MUCH! I had this sinking feeling of ‘they’re gonna come out with her campaign as DLC and charge for it, aren’t they,’ and I was right. There’s even a name drop in the dialogue near the end that she and Leon are gonna go their ‘seperate ways.’ By cutting some things, it takes away a lot of opportunities for her and Leon to convene and discuss things, regarding their situation and regarding them. There was one scene in the original where Leon is overcome with the plaga, and when Ada tries to help him, he starts to choke her out, causing her to stab him in order to break free. This scene was such a memorable and important one for me, as it’s one of the only instances we got to see of Leon being affected by the plaga in the original. It’s also just a really good scene that just shows the way they act around each other; it was almost casual, they both clearly trust each other enough to let their guards down, and Ada lets hers down enough to show genuine concern when Leon starts to convulse, not expecting him to start choking her. She plays it off all suave when Leon apologises, but reiterates that he needs to get rid of that parasite cause she wants him to escape, but Leon is still laser focused on saving Ashley that he’ll lower himself in his priorities- there’s depth to that scene, goddamnit! And there is NO EQUIVALENT present in the remake. I have a feeling that they didn’t write this scene in out of fear around how politically correct it’d be to have a man choke out a woman, or something to that nature. Which is a shame, as I’m obviously not condoning that kind of assault- but it’s not a sexist hate crime here, it’s the antagonistic threat being demonstrated narratively. I understand the ballistics comment from Luis in the og getting cut, and that his flirtatious nature was toned down a tad to make it more palatable and less sleazy- that’s a fine adjustment to make since times have changed. But Leon choking out Ada… even with the quick context I’ve just given, you can see that it’s not a bad scene to have in the game, right? SO MANY of Ada’s scenes have been trimmed and cut entirely, and while some of these changes are due to the streamlining of the plot, but it’s such a shame that there’s not as much of her here! Especially when there was very clear attention put into Luis and Ashley, Ada feels severely lacking.

And speaking of lacking, I want to talk about Ada’s actress, Lily Gao. This is clearly a very sensitive topic, and I’ll explain the various aspects in a sec, but firstly the main thing lacking is a general respect from ‘fans’ towards Gao. I haven’t kept up with it, but the last I heard, she deactivated most of her social media due to the onslaught of hate she was receiving towards this role. I find that disgusting, frankly, and although I have criticisms towards her performance in this role, NO ONE should be harassed off the internet for simply doing their job. There are ways to voice your upset, but c'mon. Are we all becoming so juvenile and brain rotted that we think it’s ok to air grievances at someone who hasn’t asked for it, and continue to direct it at them even when they’ve expressed their disappointment and asked you to stop?

To give some personal context, I don’t normally keep up with reading announcements and leaks preceding a game about to come out, but I got a little sucked into reading about RE4R. I couldn’t help nervously looking through news about the game as it came out, as I was worried it’d be like RE3R and ruin the experience- but when I found out it was being developed by the team who made RE2R and RE8, I was happy to leave it at that, and decide whether I’ll buy it or not once it came out. However, one of the last bits of news I saw before I stopped being a hypocrite, was the news that Jolene Anderson would not be reprising her role as Ada Wong. Anderson played Ada in RE2R, also providing the motion capture for Ada in the second animated movie, Damnation, but did not voice her. She’s a talented actress; bringing a certain chemistry with Leon, and a sexy confidence that just brought Ada to life in the best possible way. She worked really well with the grounded style the remakes are going for, and it was sad to see her go. Now, a voice actor being let go is nothing new, and the amount of voice actors each character in the Resi series go through is nothing to sneeze at- that alone is not what felt off about this. Anderson found out at the same time as fans that she wouldn’t be reprising her role, mentioning online that she wasn’t given a chance to reprise her role, or a dismissal noting that they weren’t going forward with her. I understand that the industry doesn’t really have the time or established etiquette to keep up with relations like that, but damn. That feels a little harsh, especially considering that I think most people, myself included, assumed that with Nick Apostolides reprising his role as Leon, that Anderson would be back as Ada too. But, she was replaced by Gao, who had recently played Ada in the after credits scene of the most recent live action movie, Welcome to Raccoon City. I had no preconceptions to really bring, as one cameo in an after credits isn’t much to base off of, and I was ready to see what she brought to the table. I don’t want to just bash her and dismiss her talents, but she had big shoes to fill coming off Anderson’s performance (along with every other actor that’s contributed to voicing Ada), and the whole remake of RE4 thing. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to fill those shoes, to my tastes. Scenes with her felt stiff, and the chemistry and depth to her performance just wasn’t all there. I don’t think it’s purely her performance, as I think the script and direction she was given didn’t really help her much either. Gao doesn’t seem to be as experienced an actor compared to Anderson, and didn’t bring that sense of Ada having control of the situation that feels important to her character. The lack of scenes like the one I described earlier certainly don’t help, as there’s not really enough chances for her to shine and show off what she can bring to the character.

I hope you have the salt shaker ready, cause here’s where I want to be very careful and nuanced about this… Ada, the character, is American Chinese. Anderson is a full American gal, and I’m pretty sure every voice actor that’s portrayed Ada previously was too- or at least, none of them are Chinese. Gao is Chinese Canadian, and I am absolutely in favour of casting POC in POC roles, especially here where Ada hasn’t even had the chance to be portrayed by a Chinese voice actress. (Theres even the famous trivia of the actress who played Ada in the Jovovitch movies being dubbed over because her voice wasn’t ‘enough’ for the filmmakers…) I really want to support this, but I feel conflicted, and bad about that conflicted feeling. I just think that if this was something that genuinely concerned CapCom, they would’ve cast a Chinese actress for RE2R, and not swap her out while they’re presumably going over scenario changes in the game and only just realising there are some aspects of the original that don’t fly in today’s landscape. It feels tokenistic in a sense, something for them to point at and say, ‘Hey, Look! We replaced the white lady with a Chinese Lady who looks like the Ada!’ Despite Ada being Chinese, there’s nothing overtly Chinese about the way she talks or behaves, she’s very American. The Red Dress she’s wearing in the original RE4 was clearly a romanticised, or perhaps fetishised, take on a style evocative of Chinese culture- and was very clearly impractical and foolish for the mission she was on. That’s about the only explicitly ‘Chinese’ thing that comes to mind for Ada, and that is more a product of designing her for sex appeal than any cultural representation. Her new outfit of a red sweater and otherwise black tactical, but stylish, gear is still a really nice outfit- and I prefer that change as it makes sense for her to be wearing it… Clearly there are changes made to be less insensitive, but the act of recasting and the resulting hate that Gao has received because of it also feels insensitive to me. Both actresses clearly have an idea of who Ada is to them, but for me- where Anderson brought a subtlety and nuance to the more subdued character direction, Gao came across as flat and uninterested. Again, I want to reiterate that despite not enjoying her performance, I think this is the result of a bunch of decisions up the chain, and not exclusively a failing on Gao herself. The scenarios she’s given, the direction she had to act under, even the casting directors are also responsible for this performance, but I haven’t seen them chased offline. I feel for Gao, as she’s been put in a role for a game on such a high expectation, that for some rose higher when they found out she’s replaced Anderson. But I want to ask, is dismissing an actress who was well received worth the risk of bringing in a newer, ethnically appropriate actor - one who isn’t quite up to the level of performance expected of her? I don’t have an answer for this, and as a white Aussie guy, I don’t think I should. Especially because, since playing the game, the Separate Ways DLC has been released, and I haven’t bought it yet- so I haven’t had a chance to view the full performance and see the other scenarios given to her. Overall, I just think she lacked the depth that made Ada Ada, and I am upset at the response others have had towards feeling the same thing.

And for a last bit of bitching (that needed that Ada context), I wanna talk about Wesker. I love him as a villain because I think he’s goofy. He’s a fun antagonist with an interesting backstory, but he’s also supposed to be quite serious and smart. Part of the appeal of having the Wesker cameo and seeing that he’s the one who hired Ada is that they are both clever and cunning - but in the same way that I don’t think Ada was written well, Wesker appearing at the end was ATROCIOUS. In general, I didn’t feel that Ada was her usual cunning, mysterious and suave self - and the after credits scene was the final nail in the coffin for me. In the after credits, Ada is has retrieved a specimen of the plaga used in the game, and is supposed to hand it over to Wesker. While she’s in her helicopter, she’s talking to Wesker on the headset, and she asks what he plans on using the plaga for. Wesker start spilling his guts, giving away exactly what he plans on doing with the specimen, and Ada just… Takes off her headset (which wasn’t given an explicit hanging-up, so I’m pretty sure Wesker is just on the other side and still able to hear everything lol) and she orders the helicopter pilot to change course. Like… DUDE!?? THAT’S SO DUMBBB WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGG!!!?? BOTH OF YOU!??!?!?!??! For contrast, in the original, Ada had seen first hand how dangerous the plaga could be, and pinched both a dominant and passive plaga specimen. When she contacted Wesker, neither of them gave anything away, but Ada decided to switch and give Wesker the passive specimen last minute. This still allows her plausible deniability, as she fulfilled her side of the contract, but made a choice of her own while still being able to keep working as a mercenary undercover. Heck, you even see in her campaign that she was explicitly told to kill Leon, and would take every opportunity not to.That’s a deliberate part of her character growth over the series - she is very conscious of what’s going on around her, and although she does what she’s hired to do, she also grows increasingly more comfortable with acting upon her own code of ethics. To just… dumb her and Wesker down to whatever the fuck that after credits scene was is so fucking stupid and I can’t stand it! Way to assassinate both characters in one fell swoop! It would've been better to just not include the after credits scene if it was going to be this shit- it’s the exact kind of pandering that I hate. OoooOOhh look it’s Wesker, he’s sitting there and on his monitor you can see Excella and TriCell as a reFERence to a possible RE5R!!!!11!!!1! SHUT UP!!!!!! I don’t want this shitty fan service and pandering forced in, it feels the exact same as when RE8 tried to retroactively make Miranda a HUGE deal to umbrella, despite her not being interesting or solid enough to warrant having her be that impactful to the company. The whole thing with the original RE4 was that they killed off umbrella off-screen. They died cause their stocks plummeted. The devs wanted to move away from Umbrella as the antagonist, that’s why the game is like that (even though I think killing off Umbrella and being unable to stick with that and dragging it’s corpse around in some form or other, is what made the games go off the rails towards the end…)

And actually, I lied, there’s one more thing I wanna bitch about since we’re at the credits scene. HUNNIGAN WAS DONE DIRTY TOO. She doesn’t get much time to shine in general, it’s just the way the story is- but as Leon and Ashley are riding their jetski off into the sunset, you get to hear Hunnigan whining annoyingly at the end. It’s presented as like, her side of the one sided call as she’s trying to get back in contact with Leon, but, hello!? She’s a trained government handler, I doubt she’d be carrying on like a pork chop and risking anyone hearing that!? What if Leon picked up and heard that? The hell?? Was that really necessary??? Ending the game like that left a REALLY sour taste in my mouth...

ANYWAY…

I clearly feel complicated about this game, as there’s a lot I genuinely liked, and a lot that irked me. I love the way the overall story was tightened up and expanded, but I don’t like the way some of the details were handled. The gameplay was good, not perfectly for me, but I learnt more about the mechanics and had a good time playing overall. There’s nuance to be had, and I already waffled on about it… so, yeah. Hope your salt shaker is empty. The one no-nuance take I can close on, is why the hell are Leon’s alternate outfits so sexless? They’re not really cool, there’s not enough cunt in them, they just look kinda ugly and boring. Do better, this is the pretty boy of the series we’re dressing up here!

Drive

Baile de la muerte

A Familiar Place

~~

To close - Wow. That's it, that's all the mainline games so far. The only remaining games I have left on my shelf are the two wii shooters, which I will attempt one day... I'd like to dig around and try some of the more weird and niche spin-offs in the coming years, and properly try out the original PS1 trilogy. I'm also interested in talking more about peripheral media for resident evil, like the live action and animated movies, and the novel series as well. Who knows what I'll get up to, but you'll certainly hear from me again. I love this series, despite any frustrations I have with it, and always look forward to writing about them like this.

[fff777]

New Chenji's this and that!!!!!!!! Travel ver >3

We're still technically in season 2 of Chenji's this and that?

So after over a year they're finally wrapping up season 2 lol. I guess they didn't just make this video season 3 episode 1 because they need at least one trip for every season.

I love that some of the members have emoji faces that really look like them. There's Chenle's laughing face here, Jeno's smiling face with crescent eyes, and Jisung's various baby chick expressions.

Chenle: Let's try making short form content Jisung: No Chenle: Alright then...

They're taking the train there! There's something so fun about train travel.

Chenle is so chatty even after just waking up

Jisung feels nervous in crowds ;_; Chenle talks about how he tries to overcome the anxiety that comes with crowds. Part of it is that as celebrities, crowds probably make them nervous because often all of that attention is on them. But also Jisung is also just a more timid person too.

Chenle, every time Jisung feels nervous in public: Power through! We've been doing this for 8 years.

Chenle pointing out Busan Chinatown :3

Chenji squabbling over what to eat because Jisung wants Busan Chinese hotpot and Chenle wants to try local specialties

Chenle talking about soup on rice forever and Jisung just listening

And then Chenle rambling on and on about street markets lmfao. I keep being reminded of the Dream in Paris vlogs where Chenle kept talking on and on and filling every silence with more talking and Mark was just listening

Chenle looking at toys for his nephew

I have also heard about the tanghulu craze in South Korea right now.

Finally the soup in rice that Chenle kept bringing up

"Had a huge party last night and are curing a hangover the next morning" roleplay

Jisung kept eating the hot peppers

Chenle legitimately hopped into a sunglasses store to get sunglasses. And Jisung did the dad thing where he was like "I'll wait for you outside."

Jisung lived in Busan for a few years :o

They photoshopped sunglasses onto the dolphin emoji lmao

Jisung: Among the cities I've been to, Paris is the most beautiful Chenle: So what about all the other cities? Chenle giving Jisung shit and not letting him live, what else is new

Kangaroo car karaoke~

So they filmed this after NCT Nation, before going to Paris

They made it to the beach~

Stylist and photographer Jisung, model Chenle

Dogie

They just stood and admired the waves for a while :3

More photographer Jisung and model Chenle

Jisung and Chenle had their photo taken as the train came, and then Jisung rushed to snap another photo of Chenle as the train was coming :3

I'd seen a gif of Jisung on a tram and at the time I'd thought that maybe he'd taken the same tram that Jinyoung had on his episode of Off the Grid. I think it's the same.

So Jisung...how does it make you feel that you're taking it with Chenle?

XD when you wanted to go on a romantic date but you're just with your bro?

Chenle always singing. Jisung knows what's up.

Jisung just went "look!" and had Chenle model for him again XD

On the other hand, when Chenle takes photos, it's a two-person job lol. Chenle was looking at the phone over his sunglasses, probably because the sunglasses would distort the colour on the phone. But he also looks like when people look up at you over their reading glasses lmfao.

Chenle: I wish I was here with someone else Jisung: You were, you took this trip with Czennie Good save

Jisung kept telling Chenle to look in different directions while they got their photos taken :P It seems like Jisung takes photos seriously!!!! hehe

Casually going on a yacht ride

Jisung extremely rattled by the netting on the yacht lol

Jisung: Make sure your phone is safe! Naggy Jisung returns

New information unlocked for Chenle

Chenle @ Jisung: Then you should wear the life jacket?!?!?!?!

More photography time

LMAO squatting while taking his photo

Just holding on for his life

Before, Chenle was saying that if someone fell in the water, Jisung would save them (which was how Chenle found out Jisung couldn't swim). Now Jisung was saying if the netting snapped, he'd fall through, and Chenle was like "don't worry, I'll save you >3"

Fireworks???

Jisung wanted to do their closing lying down but Chenle was like "it makes my forehead look big."

Chenle: Why haven't we filmed Chenji's this and that for a year? Jisung: Uh- Chenle: Actually, we fought for a year and only made up now

Also Chenle: Even if we fight, we still have to work Very professional. But also, something something Chenji divorce.

Oh wow I hadn't even realized Chenji's this and that had started 5-6 years ago. They were REALLY young when they first started though, with the slime episode lol.

This happened earlier too, but Chenle let Jisung start the show's slogan :P

Ahhh it was fun seeing them back after a long while. Chenle said that season 3 is coming soon though! :3

[aizenat]

@giftinguava What’s funny is I’ve been thinking a lot about kpop and why I don’t think it will ever be a staple of western/international music. Despite how big it’s blowing up rn, kpop companies are going to try to market more aggressively in the west and it’s not going to work for a host of reasons. I mean, just the other day, one of the stylists for Twice dressed one of the girls in a QAnon shirt. Their complete inability to understand westerners is going to be their biggest downfall.

But even more than that, the FANS are the biggest thing in the way of kpop being able to blow up genuinely and organically. It’s great to love this music and have fun with it; I was a huge jrocker in the 2000s and it also helped me connect to my hs crush when I was young. And being able to play songs from anime and belt it out with my friends is some of my favorite memories.

But this attacking behavior where you literally can’t say anything other than staunch praise is psychotic. It’s literal mental illness. It’s funny because when I was young, being an anime fan was cringe culture but now anime is mainstream and most anime fans do NOT act like…that. Like don’t get me wrong, there are still issues and they’re not perfect. But I feel like kpoppies have replaced weebs as the cringe youth culture, and yet they have none of the self awareness of everyone seeing them as cringe.

Like, when I was an anime fan as a kid, because there was so much dunking on weebs, I always kept myself in check so as not to be “like that.” It’s why I’m not into shipping and fanfiction and don’t make anime my entire identity; it was self policing so that I never crossed the line. It’s why when I learned about cultural appropriation, I didn’t have to make major adjustments because I wasn’t doing that shit from jump. I was always respectful towards Japanese culture. I sometimes say Japanese words, but I speak more French when I’m saying random shit in another language lol.

But kpoppies don’t do any of that. They do whatever they want, say what they want, harass whoever they want, and think they’re valid. There is no “am I being cringe” question through their minds. Like it reminds me of big mouth and the season the shame wizard comes to town. Obviously you shouldn’t live your entire life in shame, but a little bit if it IS good. It’s what stops you from harassing people all in the name of stanning. It stops you from walking your partner outside in public in a leash. If stops you from making these things so un-fun for casual fans that they just turn away from it instead of indulging more.

And that last point is the biggest thing. This rapid behavior turns people AWAY from kpop. Some people might listen to a blackpink song and like it. Some people might see Twice perform on the Kelly Clarkson show or where ever and want to check them out. Some people may see someone share a dance cover if a llesserafim song and want to check out the original music video. But you make people disinterested when they can’t even add comments without fear of getting harassed and attack. Fans like this don’t make kpop fans look good; they make them look cringe and most people won’t engage with something that feels and looks cringe. They just wont. They’ll write it off as kid shit the 12 year olds will get over and then they’ll ignore it and move on. This current hallyu wave won’t matter in the long run for kpop (and other Asian) artists being able to make it in the west if we cant even criticize them without insane amounts of harassment afterwards.

[jaydee1818]

Hello Jd, I would like to know all these as well!!

✨🛠💌🤗🥰💥🛒

thank you!

Haha bet

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment.

I actually quite like my style! It usually does get a heavy edit, I tend to indulge the first time around, but the foundation I feel is very strong. Someone who read some of my original work actually called it kind of modern neo-noir, which put me over the moon, haha. It’s very that- over dub of dramatic internal monologue, one line of dialogue follows.

🛠 What tools/programs do you use to write?

Microsoft Word, BABEY! Ride or die. The only other thing I regularly use is the OneLook Thesaurus, which is god’s gift to man imo. I’m so fucking wordy that halfway through writing a chapter I’ve used up all my adjectives lol. I also have a ‘zero’ chapter to keep track of things like names, locations, or research I’ve done.

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

I’ve always enjoyed comments! Before now I hadn’t really answered, I think I was too embarrassed haha. My current fic is also the longest thing I’ve written, so comments come in regularly. I think that’s why I started answering. Plus, I actually thing ND is pretty okay, despite my personal annoyances with it, so I’m less worried about being an actual presence.

🤗 What advice would you give new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

DO NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.

I AM NOT JOKING.

At least not in the beginning. Your first fic is going to be the hardest, probably, and there will be quite a lot of fretting, I imagine. I know that was true for me. But try to remember that it’s just fanfiction, you know? It’s something done in spare time for fun. If you aren’t having fun, don’t do it. And don’t worry so much. If you end up taking it seriously, and plenty of folks do, try to remember that you should still enjoy what you’re doing.

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

Oh I’m always down for questions! I didn’t interact much before this, but it’s super nice and cool that people are invested enough to have questions in the first place lol. I also think the fact that the stuff I write tends to be really heavy motivated me to be more of a person, too. Like waving a banner around promising I’m a normal person lol

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

Im not overly fond of the term ‘criticism.’ I don’t think it has positive connotations. What I’m more than happy to receive is feedback, as long as it’s given with good intent. I do not abide assholes at all, but if someone has genuine thoughts on any shortcomings they see, I’d happily talk about it with them. My girlfriend reads all my original stuff and gives me feedback all the time. There’s a big difference between “I don’t like this for XYZ reason,” and “XYZ left me confused.” Criticism should be something an author can work on, or address, or even ignore in favor of their own preference. I have a ready example from Non Disclosure, actually. I’ve gotten a couple of comments saying that I had run-on sentences- something super easy to address. But I feel that the length of my sentences adds something as a stylistic decision, so I didn’t make the adjustment.

🛒 What are some common themes you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Angst. I mean…come on lol. My bread and butter. My favorite treat. Tasty tasty emotional upheaval. I’m a conflict fiend. Misunderstanding, misreading, misinterpretation, spoiled relationships, blame, regrets, lies, secrets, aggression, anger. All so yummy. Obviously internal monologue is big to me too. I also pretty exclusively do perspective writing, which shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone lol.

And a little thing I do is use the word ‘aspartame’ to describe something. Every narrative piece of writing I’ve ever done has it, I think. I love it. There’s no better way to say something feels or is slightly off. “His smile was broad and full, but reminded her of aspartame. Sweet, but not sweet enough.” “The lies lilted off her tongue as sweet and fake as aspartame.” “His presence lingered like the disappointment of aspartame.” “She hated him. In a world full of sugar, he was the aspartame. The Pepsi to the Coke. The fat-free to the cream. The movie to the novel.”

Actually that last example is fucking good I’m going to save that lol. The first one is actually a good, too. Maybe for a horror snippet. I can taste aspartame, so that probably helps lol.

Fanfic author ask game. Still plenty left 👀👀

[maple-writes]

WHG 19: Interview

whg tag list: @concealeddarkness13 @pen-of-roses @ratracechronicler @knmartinshouldbewriting @clocksandchaos @forthesanityofsome

This one is also slightly self indulgent lol

---

I’d forgotten that there would be an interview. Maybe that was a good thing because I did not want to do an interview but Asher, my stylist team, and one of the peacekeepers on the way to the facility all informed me that it was not optional. Asher came with me, but as soon as we entered the building he was ushered off somewhere else and I was escorted in alone.

The styling team waved, the lead smiling when he saw me. “There you are! We’d started to worry you’d forgotten!”

“I did forget.” I sat in their chair as directed. “I don’t think they’d let me miss this though.”

“No, no they wouldn’t.” The head stylist stepped back as the others started their work gathering materials and make up and who knows what else. “Too busy training were you?”

I shrugged. Honestly I could hardly remember what I’d spent the last week working on. It already felt like so long ago. Did they have any idea how the training even worked? I hadn’t seen a single stylist in the hall but then again why would they be there?

“So,” he continued, gesturing for me to stand up. “We have something nice and shiny for you today so you’re sure to stand out.” He turned to a wardrobe on wheels and I leaned forward curious. I did like shiny things...

“Ta-da!”

He turned and presented the shiniest dress I had ever seen. It gleamed like polished silver inlaid with fine embroidery. I reached out and touched it and it was cool like clear water. Granted I didn’t know much about fabrics but even if I did it would be hard to tell what it was. It looked expensive.

I was as sure about it when I put it on though. The neckline was dangerously low, the back was open all the way down to my lower back, and one of the legs had a slit cut out that cut past my hip. If I moved too much it felt like everything would slip out of where it was so delicately held in place.

But the stylist team seemed thrilled all the same. “How do you like it?”

“I don’t.”

“Oh...” Their faces fell, disappointed. “Well, it’s only for a few minutes.”

It wasn’t much of a condolence. I sat simmering on their chair as they fixed my hair and makeup, something overdramatic that I didn’t care to look at myself to see what they’d done to my face. Probably something far over the top that I didn’t want to know about anyway.

Soon enough though I was standing in line waiting my turn. Through the short hall that I’d been told led to the stage there came the muffled sound of music, and cheers, and voices projected by microphones but too muffled to make out what anyone was saying. There was a screen for us to use, but I didn’t remember much of what I saw, not that I was able to pay much attention. I stood trying not to tremble slightly with the nerves that kept building and building. This wasn’t something I was good at. I wouldn’t know what to say. I’d never been interviewed, not like this. Especially not dressed like this, with everything showing and in the slight breeze it was cold too. On top of everything I was cold.

Too busy lamenting about the cold I almost missed my name being called until the peacekeeper directing the tributes came over and led me by the arm towards the stairs. He gave me a gentle shove and the only way to go was up.

My legs shook as I climbed and stepped out into the lights of the stage. I flinched. It was too bright, too loud. Everyone was screaming and there was music and it echoed inside my head. I stood apparently too long, dazed, at the edge of the stage because the host, Cesar I think his name was, was waving me forward and the peacekeeper at my back had stepped up halfway.

I wasn’t supposed to cause a scene, so I crossed the stage.

I didn’t like the man standing in front of me. I didn’t like the way he smiled. I didn’t like the way he dressed. The way he tried to welcome me. The way his eyes wandered. I stopped in front of him, past the chair where I was supposed to sit, and I stared. The lights shone hot on my skin and the noise died down but not enough. There was still too much going on. Still too much and I did not like this man.

This man was guilty. At least, he should be.

“Welcome Argent!” He held out his hand to shake, smiling with fake teeth. “Nice to have you here!”

I swallowed, glancing down at his hand, and slowly took it in my own. His skin was warm, soft, weak. I gripped his hand tight, tighter than I should have, and stared into his eyes as I shook. This man was the reason so many found this fun. It was his fault that people looked forward to this every year, that I was nothing more than a prop, that others were nothing more than toys.

He sat down and gestured for me to do the same. “Take a seat, get comfortable”

I did as he said, my gaze never leaving his face. He was guilty. He took pride in this. He saw nothing wrong with this. He was old and he was weak. He wouldn’t expect anything to happen to him here. He wouldn’t be able to move fast enough. He’d never see it coming.

“So,” he crossed one leg over the other and he would have an even harder time running away now. “How are you feeling about the games tomorrow?”

I ran my tongue over the points of my teeth and stared. My hands itched and I leaned forward without realizing. He was so comfortable. He wouldn’t suspect a thing. He was guilty. Guilty. Guilty. GUILTY. I could feel it coming off of him even if he didn’t realize it himself. The weight, the weight of what he had done. The weight of what he had done and doing and how he had not even realized.

He smiled again. “Oh come on, don’t be shy. I’m sure everyone is on the edge of their seats to hear what you’ve got planned.”

He smiled. He was calm. He felt safe. He would never, never, never think he would have to answer for what he’d done. Not here. Not now. Not ever.

My heart started to pound and I leaned further forward on the edge of the armchair. “Do you remember the faces that come before you as they are on your stage or do you remember them as they are in death?”

“Do I, what?” He titled his head, confused.

“Do you remember your victors by their torments? By their pain and by their suffering and by their fear?” I leaned further, bracing myself against the coffee table with an outstretched hand on the glass surface and my voice dropped to a growl. “Or do you remember them by their misplaced glory, or by the bets placed in parties, or by the passing comments about how someone who looks like that can really be that young? Do you remember them at all, Ceasar?”

He swallowed, sitting back in his chair. “I, well, of course I remember everyone, who wouldn’t?”

“Are you afraid?”

“Afraid?” He swallowed again with an attempt at a laugh. “No, no should I be?”

He should. He was a liar too. My heart raced faster and faster and my blood heated and everything around us faded. Me, and him, and that was it. There was nothing else. And he could do nothing.

I lunged partway across the table, bracing my foot on the ground and slamming my hands onto the surface. Cesear jumped and I laughed.

“So now you feel fear? You feel fear when confronted with what you’ve done?” My eyes widened and my skin prickled. “You can pretend you’ve done nothing wrong, Cesear Flickerman, but you cannot hide from truth, from shame, from fate. What have you done when no one is there to see it? What have you done that cannot be undone and yet, and yet you walk away unscathed and unbothered and have the gall to sit here scared when it’s staring you in your face!”

I crept forward, closer, closer, eyes locked on him and dozens upon dozens of prismatic eyespots appearing and swirling on my skin, astonishing, baffling, hypnotic, dazzling. Claws like sharpened glass scratched the coffee table as I leaned out over the edge, closer to him, closer to where his blood flowed and only the slightest cut through his soft skin would set it free for what he’s done.

He took joy in the games. He took joy in their fear, their suffering, his role in making fun, making fun and light of the loss of life year after year after year.

“Does it kill you inside?” I snarled. “Does it eat you day and night and day and night or should I do it for you? Should I be the one who shows you shame, who shows you what its like to feel pain who shows you how it is to suffer like those you’ve mocked?” I stretched across the gap between the table and gripped the edge of his armchair, leaning in as he tried in vain to escape my reach but I could see the pulse in his neck beating beating beating. “It is time you—”

Hands closed on my arms and pulled me back and away and I kicked and twisted and tried to claw at the nearest peacekeeper’s throat but then Asher was there and he caught my wrist and his skin felt like ice. He swiped his hand at the base of my throat.

My body went limp and he held me tight between his two hands. My soul trapped between his fingers the world shifted and I couldn’t see I could hardly hear everything came thick and syrupy from everywhere around me. He was taking me somewhere. Somewhere. He was speaking to me but I couldn’t hear him, couldn’t understand what he said and I pressed against his hands and struggled but he held me firm and unyielding. But my strength faded second by second and soon I stilled.

He held me a moment longer and murmured to me before I was slipped through the wall of his chest and found myself settled underneath his collarbone beside his unsteady heart. He stood slumped against a wall with measured breaths across from where my body sat in an old worn chair.

How dare he do this! I was right! I had every right to-

Argent please. No! You had to have known what he’d done, and Stop, now do you know how much trouble you just caused?

I didn’t care! I growled, clenching Asher’s jaw and his fist before he stole control back from me, shoving his hands into his pockets and forcing a deep breath. His heart beat and beat and skipped irregular and sweat built on his face.

It wasn’t like he was much better. He was guilty too. He knew what he’d done.

Easy, Argent. It’s alright, calm down.

Did he not feel guilt? Shame? For what he had done to Cirrus, to Striker, to Ember to Ginger, to everyone who had ever shown him love and kindness. And what did he do to them? He drew blood and snarled and threatened and crushed souls and took the very life out of the forest one night as the rain came down and mud lay slick and Cirrus how dare he come! How dare he! How dare he run from teeth and claws and a void that sucked all life that—

Enough Argent.

And what about Mal? Sabre? How he lied to Iggy’s face and told him that I wouldn’t hurt anyone and turned and told me to do it if I had to? Did it not kill him day by day to know this?

Asher hunched over, walling me off from the rest of him from his thoughts his body his guilt. I know what I did. I don’t need you to remind me. I can find what you’ve done. I can I know what I’m doing. I’ve held worse within me than you. Give it up.

I pressed against him but reluctantly shrank back when it turned out he was right. He held me within him trapped in the cage of his ribs, my strength seeping away moment by moment.

In a moment I’m going to put you back. He straightened up with a long breath. Is that okay? He didn’t ask that when he took me. Yeah well you were going to kill people. Are you ready to go back now?

Fine. He had a point.

Gently, he caught the edge of my soul in his fingers and drew me out through the muscle and skin of his body and pressed me back into mine.

My eyes flew open and I gasped, shivering and lightheaded as he crouched in front of me. Sweat ran down his face and his breath came fast winded.

“Feeling better?”

I nodded. Everything seemed still. Calm.

He offered a hand to help me up. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you.” He swallowed, glancing to the side and lowering his voice. “They would have shot you otherwise. Come on, we should go.”

He tugged me by my elbow and I didn’t fight him. I trembled a little as a I walked, exhaustion pulling at my every step. This… This was too much.

“They’ll probably want to try and spin this some kind of way.” Asher mumbled as he half dragged me back towards the towers. “I hope this doesn’t ruin everything…”

Right. He had told me to lie low, to stay calm and not stand out. I guess that hadn’t worked out. I kept my head down and didn’t resist being taken straight back to our floor on the tower. Maybe… Maybe I should have done this. But it was too late now. Too late to change what had been done, and he had deserved it.

I never did get to see how everyone else’s interviews went. I hoped Mal’s went better than mine. They seemed like they would have been better at it than I would anyway.

[hyuckilstan]

can i request a mark smut, where their both idols?

and he had a monster cock, and he cream pies his s/o‼️ and makes orgasm multiple times

Ofccc I had fun with this so thanks for requesting! Also sorry for taking so long lol

»—————————·•☾•·—————————«

»—————————·•☾•·—————————«

Pairing: Mark x fem!reader

Genre: smut, idolverse

Warnings: oral (f receiving), fingering, public sex, big dick Mark🌚, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, creampie, praise, petnames (baby, cub, princess, kitten).

Wc: 2.1k words (oops I went a bit overboard)

a/n: I hope you liked thiss and I didn’t really proof read so uh yeah, enjoyyy<333

The night was still young, different idols and groups gathered around for the award shows, including your group who have debuted not long ago but so far have gotten enough recognition. Enough to earn you a win for the ‘Rookie of the Year Award’. It was an honour to win such an award really.

You felt proud of yourself, your members, so were some friends you made on the way. But there was someone who was really really proud of you, and that was your boyfriend, Mark.

You guys had met while you were a trainee, being friends since you joined the company and finally dating when you debuted, it was the day you would remember forever. You were on cloud 9, extremely happy.

Keeping it a secret was hard, not to mention Mark being in a thousand groups and having to manage hectic schedules, but you managed knowing you can’t be too selfish and thankfully no one had caught up to your secret rendezvous.

You saw how Mark’s eyes beamed, his smile getting wider once he saw you up on the stage, holding the trophy you earned out of your own hard works. You smiled at him, making eye contact, he smiled back giving you a thumbs up.

You guys leave the stage after your ments, going back to your seats, Enjoying the night as it went on, finally the programme came to an end and you all got to the dressing rooms, your friends had left saying they were going to go get some things to eat and drink for a celebration and you nod, waving them off.

You put away your makeups, accessories and what not, cleaning up the table, you jolt when you hear the familiar voice behind you, looking up on the mirror to see non other than Mark, he looked really good, his hair, makeup, outfit, everything was on point, the stylist did a really good job.

“Am I that scary?” he chuckles and you face towards him, shaking your head and heading towards him. “I’m so proud of you princess,” he says pulling you close to his chest, wrapping his arms around you. “Mark, we can’t be doing this here,” you say and try to nudge him away but he didn’t budge.

“No one will come in,” he says starting to kiss down your neck, “How do you know?” you asked again, actually scared but thrilled, “I checked, now....” he pulls away lifting you up by your thighs and setting you up on the table, “Let me give you another award, to show you how proud I am.”

You watch him intently, his hands that caressed your sides as he moved lower gave you goosebumps, you felt wetness gush out of you when he looked up and smiled, pulling your shorts down, he looks at your soaked panty, enjoying how hitched your breaths were as he slid them down as well, agonizingly slow.

“Ju-just hurry up Mark,” you grew antsy, looking at the door which anyone could open anytime but at the same time, something in you enjoyed this, Mark blows on your core, and you exhaled heavily as the cold air hits your core. Before you could say anything else, Mark’s mouth was already in contact with your entrance, devouring you like it was his last meal.

Your grip on his hair, as his tongue lapped in and out of your wet hole, and you tried your best to contain your moans, biting your lips. He hums as he eats you out, only increasing the pleasure you felt even more. Mark sure knew how to work with his tongue, the wet, filthy sounds could be heard, too clearly that it was almost embarrassing.

You put your hands over your mouth as his tongue moved faster, his hands spread your thighs apart so you wouldn’t close them. You unconsciously roll your hips forward searching for even more pleasure. “Greedy aren’t we?” Mark mumbles with his mouth still attached to your cunt, sucking it and dipping his mouth in your hole. You let out a moan, unable to control it from coming out this time.

As if it couldn’t get any better, Mark’s hand slowly slides up from your inner thighs to your clit, rubbing it with enough pressure to make your mind go hazy, making you whimper.

“That’s right baby, feels good hmm?” he says against your cunt, still too absorbed into hearing your whimpers and moans as he ate you out. You knew it wouldn’t take long for you to reach your high, you had never seen nor felt Mark be this eager to devour you, to be buried between your thighs.

Soon it was hard to hold in your whimpers, especially with Mark who kept playing with your clit as he ate you out like a professional. When he sucked on your folds again, that’s when you finally climaxed all over his tongue. But it would be stupid this think this was over just yet.

Mark licks up your release, “You taste so sweet, just how I like it,” he wipes his lips, going up to your face to kiss you, you kissed back, unable to keep up with his tongue basically shoved down your throat.

You gasped in the kiss as he suddenly inserts two fingers into your hole, squeezing his shoulders as you clench around hus fingers tightly, still sensitive from your very recent release.

“Mark,” you moaned his name in the kiss as he continued kissing you, “It’s okay baby, I just want to stretch you out,” he replies and you hum in the kiss. He starts kissing you on the neck, careful not to make too much marks as he scissored you, stretching you out, prepping you because you know so well about how huge he was, it was unbelievable the first time you guys had sex, after then you both knew that to take Mark, it needed a lot of foreplay.

Mark was good at everything he did, especially with pleasuring you, it was as if he knew what parts made you go crazy and which were most sensitive that would make you moan out his name in ecstasy.

It had been a while since he kept plunging his fingers in and out of you, obvious that he wanted you to climax not only around his mouth but also all over his fingers, and it didn’t take long for the familiar knot in your stomach to tighten again given that you were still sensitive.

He honestly wanted to rip your shirt off, wanting to see every part of you as you fall apart on his fingers alone, he loved your outfit but suddenly he hates it as it got in the way, but he stopped himself from ripping it off to save you the trouble of having to explain why your shirt was ripped and destroyed.

Mark notices how you kept squirming under him, and he smirks, “You’re close baby?” you nod throwing your head back as he curls his fingers, his fingers moving even faster, “Then come for me.” That’s all it took for you to release your juices on his fingers.

You watch him as he licks his fingers clean and damn it was a sight to see, he leans closer to kiss you, pushing his tongue past your lips so that you could taste your own release.

Then you realised, that was just to prep you for the actual thing, your eyes land on the tent that formed under his pants, “You don’t have to you know,” he says, looking where you were looking with a smile. You shook your head, “No I do,” you reply in a low tone.

So what if you might not be able to walk the next day, atleast you would have gotten a great fuck and not blue ball your boyfriend who had treated you so well.

He chuckles, unzipping his pants, pulling them down showing the evident bulge in his briefs, honestly you’re still surprised by his size, just imagining how stretched his cock would and could make you made you feel things, especially in your throbbing core.

He finally takes his length out of its confinement, wasting no time and aligning it to your entrance, rubbing his tip along your folds to collect your juices first. “Tell me if it hurts kitten,” he says and you nod, just waiting for him to hurry the fuck up and fuck you.

He slowly pushes his length in inch by inch, as every inch stretched you out so deliciously your eyes rolled back, he kept kissing you so that your whimpers would get muffled and you would get distracted from the pain, he knew he could hurt you easily so he was careful not to. He patiently waits for you to adjust to his size no matter how hard it was with you clenching around him.

The pain you felt took a while to fade away but thankfully Mark was being his patient self, cupping your face and kissing you to distract you. Once the pain had finally faded away and you realised that your boyfriend was balls deep into you, you knew you wanted more.

“Mark, move,” you say and Mark nods, you did tell him to start moving and he did, but you didn’t expect him to fuck you in an inhumane pace, he rammed into you without mercy, you couldn’t contain your moans anymore, it was too hard to.

His name comes out of your mouth as a mantra, he takes a good look on your face, lipstick smudged, mascara too and the rest of your makeup was basically ruined, the way he was ruining you with his cock right now, it turned him on even more.

“You’re doing so good for me cub, you feel so fucking good,” he says in a raspy voice, unable to control himself from sucking and nibbling on the skin of your neck, which would eventually turn into a hickey. You moan out as he grips on your hips, fucking into you with even more force and power than before.

You weren’t even sure if this was an “Award” as he puts it anymore because right now, you were overstimulated and sensitive with your boyfriend mercilessly pounding into you like a dog in heat, actually that makes both of you because you couldn’t complain, not when he was fucking you so good, hitting all the right places.

He hits your g-spot and you clench around him so tight his hips halted for a while as he lets out a low grunt, and he keeps hitting the same spot making you a moaning mess. Now both of you breathing heavily as he continued fucking into you in a fast pace.

Your hands grabbed the corners of the table gripping it tightly keeping yourself in place, making it easier for Mark to slam his dick into you. You totally forgot that you were in a place where anyone could just walk in and catch you two in the act, but did you give a fuck? No, more like you didn’t even remember you were in that situation.

Your ability to think properly was long gone because you had almost reached your high, you knew Mark was too as the rhythm of his thrusts were messy now, “Oh shit princess, can I please come in you?” he begs you, his hips faltering now and his thrusts becoming sloppy.

You nodded your head frantically once again and he shoots his warm seeds into you, letting out a long sigh of relief, so did you, you had never felt so relieved.

He pulls out of you, watching as his and your own release flowed out of you, pooling on the table,“Holy shit,” Mark curses resting his forehead onto yours, caressing your cheeks, combing through your hair.

Mark’s eyes land on the tissue box beside, pulling the tissues out to clean the mess on the table and between your thighs. “Y/N?” you both jerk your heads to the door, which Mark locked but you didn’t know when, “Yes?” you respond after clearing your sore throat so that your voice wouldn’t come out hoarse.

“You ready? We are trying to head to the cafeteria, Haechan and Chenle are also here, Mark too but we couldn’t find him,” one of your members says behind the door, you look at Mark who just looked at you with a smile as he pulled his pants up, and taking your shorts helping to put them on.

“I uh- not yet,” you respond, it went silent for a while. “You sure do take your time, but okay we’ll be there and bring Mark if you see him.” You responded with an okay and you heard the footsteps fade away and you sighed in relief.

You look at Mark who was wearing a shit eating grin, you slapped his chest making him laugh, “I told you it was risky!” he kept laughing while you pouted. “You didn’t seem to mind when I was fucking you so good,” he teases you making your cheeks and ears heat up. He turns your back to you offering a piggyback ride, and you got onto his back. “I wanna tell you one more thing,” you hum in question to his words.

“I’m proud of you.”

©hyuckilstan 2022. All Rights Reserved.

[neonponders]

This isn’t what @memes-saved-me had in mind for this post but lol (read their tags, they’re delightful) 

Thinking about a younger Billy and an older Steve today ✨

✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨

Billy scratched at the hair on his nape. He wanted to grow it out; really had always wanted long hair. And now, as he peered at the other sophomores trying to fluff themselves bigger to match the juniors and seniors, he just might.

Long hair was in. Mullets, rock star manes, extensions - even the opposite. Women with buzz cuts and pixie faux hawks. Pleasant little surprises in Hawkins, Indiana, and Billy might finally indulge in that.

Plenty in this town was backwards as all hell. Girls wearing white stockings like it was the fifties. Boys and girls alike clearly letting having learned hair styling from their out-of-date parents. Two girls with beehives sat in his English class.

But it was fine, because there was plenty of present-day styling, and Billy wouldn’t get any shit at home for matching his peers.

Cherry Lane. The most backwards spot in Indiana.

But that’s okay, too, because small town people need occupations. Parties.

A cool senior with teased, black hair walked right up to him and handed him a neon orange sheet of paper. He saw others holding similar invitations all day. 

Party on Friday night. Address, dress code, and everything.

Caught him by surprise, that a dress code would be needed for one of these things, but the invitation just said ~casual attire~ and someone in his Advanced Biology class told him that Tina hosts the best shin digs, often with costume themes.

So he went. The late summer evening was still humid as all hell, making the party split between the massive house and the matching yard a convenient way to start a weekend.

He’d had alcohol before. Enough to know he preferred tequila drinks over vodka and gin, but the safest way to wake up the next day was to just stick to beer. No matter how bitter or sharply carbonated some of it was made.

Maybe that’s why he heard people hollering about King Steve.

Keg stands weren’t original to Hawkins, but Billy preferred them next to a bonfire on a beach. But people were really yelling for this king to do the damn thing - 

“Steve, why are you even here? You graduated in May,” Tina’s voice cut through the din.

“I live down the street! You really think you’re making this much noise without me noticing? And all of you shut the hell up! I’ll do a keg stand the day one of you dip shits can actually beat my record.”

Another surprise:

Steve Harrington.

Billy’s dumb luck had him three years behind, so he couldn’t look at that face in the hallways. Sit behind that head of glossy, bouncy hair in European History. He still lived in town, apparently. Right down the street. Billy asked around and discovered he worked at the mall and attended the community college -

“Heard you been asking about me.”

Billy stared wide-eyed over his beer. He recovered quickly, but not before Steve bounced on the balls of his feet, smug. That hair was really distracting.

These people really gossip about everything.

“I didn’t think anybody actually went by a title like that.”

“I didn’t put it on my resume, that’s for sure.” Steve’s smirk grew into a smile. Christ, the guy really had that Indiana, home town handsome thing to his face.

That was dangerous. Billy’s gut told him so, the way it bruised like someone had poked it. And wanted to be poked again.

“Let’s do this properly. Steve.” He held his hand out.

It wasn’t queer to accept a handshake. “Billy,” he replied.

“Hargrove?”

“Jesus,” he scoffed involuntarily, releasing Steve’s large hand. His weight shifted over his feet. “Everybody knows everything here.”

“Not everything,” Steve said. His voice sounded...reassuring? But the way his eyes blinked...and a darkness slipped behind his eyes like a curtain. Adults liked to call it maturity. Wisdom beyond years. Billy called it ghosts. Everyone had ghosts behind their eyes. But...he had a hard time imagining what ghosts this pretty senior in suburban America would already have.

Then again, Billy knew better.

Except, as the party progressed and the weekend flowed into a new week, Billy really couldn’t imagine what made Steve slouch a little, and what made his eyes fade out of a conversation. Billy probably should have put more attention into how much he’d begun seeking the guy out.

He worked in the ice cream parlor at the mall. The uniform was equal measures ridiculous and hilarious, but his coworker was cool as hell. Robin. Not Steve’s girlfriend, even though they carpooled to work and community college.

Steve’s house proved just as luxurious as Tina’s, with a pool to boot. A house which supposedly stayed empty more often than it hosted its own family. Steve notoriously didn’t host parties, which....seemed uniquely odd.

Apart from Billy visiting the ice cream shop, it seemed Steve’s only other visitors were high school freshman. Which was weird. That’s weird, right? Then again, Billy was ball and chained to eight hours a day, five days a week to high school. There was plenty of time for Steve to be with friends his own age.

Except he showed up at the next party on Halloween.

Tina’s house boasted a surprising number of Hawkins graduated seniors, forcing the party all the way out onto the street.

Just like before, Steve manifested beside Billy, announcing himself with fingertips brushing his slowly growing, weak little mullet. “Growing that out?”

Steve’s already heavy eyelids were heavier with alcohol. Billy had his customary cup of beer, but his cheeks flushed for a different reason. He had to rub the back of his neck to make the tickle stop.

“Yeah. Maybe it’ll touch my shoulders next year.”

“Have you trimmed it?”

Billy frowned at him. He’d heard some things come out of Steve’s mouth that were endearing in a ‘bless his heart’ kind of way, and this was among them. “No, that defeats the point of making it longer.”

Steve shook his head and waved for him to follow. “Come here. I’ll trim it.”

“You’re not cutting my hair,” Billy scoffed. And followed.

Upstairs.

Billy did his best not to look around the living room; to see any eyes apart from the ones he imagined on his backside. He followed at a leisurely pace. Not eager to be with King Harrington anywhere...

The guy walked right into the closed master bedroom. Billy stood outside of it, stunned at his audacity and the fact that no one was inside it already - 

“You coming?”

Billy’s not a coward -

Actually he is. But he’s an overeager sophomore with a dangerous crush even more.

Steve dug through the master bathroom’s drawers until he found a pair of scissors in their own case. “Sit on the tub.”

By tub, he meant jacuzzi edge. Billy perched. Steve gripped his shoulder to step into the tub with a comb that smelled of foreign hair product and aftershave. Billy’s nose wrinkled. “Wash that first.”

Then he jumped at the tub faucet turning on right beside his ass. Steve laughed. “Chill out. I’m washing it.”

Billy settled with a disgruntled shake of his head. “My hair is curly. You’re not supposed to brush it at all.”

“You’re in the hands of The Hair Harrington, sweetheart. Just relax.”

His shoulders sagged right underneath the weight of sweetheart.

I’m so screwed - 

Of all people to show up in the doorway, Robin from Scoops showed up with an energy that insinuated more sobriety than the guy wielding scissors.

Her mouth hung open like she had come with something to say, but then she sputtered through laughter. “Oh shit. Are you consenting to this?”

Billy rolled his eyes. “If he cuts my ear, I’m beating his ass.”

“I’d appreciate more faith from you, Buckley. I cut your bangs for you.”

Billy chirped, “Really?” admittedly feeling a bit better.

Steve intercepted with the order, “Are you gonna play music or what? I’m so tired of Tina’s music.”

That’s how Billy wound up in a bathroom with college freshmen trimming his ends and styling his hair while Steve and Robin shout-sang to Whitney Houston.

It was great.

Steve curled the top of his hair so he had ringlets falling over his bold brows. Steve, who had his hands all over Billy’s head until he washed the hair down the drain and filled the tub for a bubble bath. Billy scrutinized himself with a handheld mirror until Steve wrapped his arms around him and they tumbled backward into the wet landing.

Tina was hardly pleased to find the three of them making a mess of the jacuzzi, but she sassed a quick thank you for warding off people trying to fuck in her parents’ bed. Billy didn’t have words; only laughter at Robin putting her hair into a wet mohawk and Steve piling bubbles onto his head.

Steve insisted they go back to his house afterward. “It’s November and we’re soaked. Your car will be fine. I can come back and park it in my driveway if you’re that worried.”

That wasn’t the problem.

“It’s fine that your parents are never home, but mine will only recently lifted my curfew for good behavior.”

Somehow, he convinced Steve and Robin to drive him back to his house, at the expense of letting them change at Steve’s first. Billy had his eyes on a beautiful Camaro and was just a few more months of allowance and part time jobs away from having her.

It was his first time in Steve’s house. He had to admit, he preferred Tina’s layout and decor, but he got to wander around. He saw Robin use one of the guest rooms. He saw Steve’s....incredibly boring room. And said as much.

“A prison cell has more personality.”

Steve laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. Are you ready to go?”

It wasn’t until Billy lay in his own bed that those words tumbled through his brain. His fingertips moved through his still-styled hair. It felt better with those dead ends gone. Steve did a good job. Steve liked Whitney Houston and Blondie and a little of everything, really. Steve cared about his appearance enough to be a self-taught stylist.

Steve didn’t have a lot of furniture in his room. Clutter on the dresser and desk, sure, but all of it monochrome or neutral colors. Steve who had an old BMW, house, and surely a bank account to match, but didn’t buy anything in excess. Like he wasn’t allowed to, or something. Billy indulged every scent he got on things he wanted, but Steve didn’t.

Steve had a nailed bat in his trunk. Billy heard it rolling around on their way back to his house, and finally bent over to look under the seats and saw it.

Steve was a walking contradiction. A contradiction who smelled good but didn’t say much when Billy and Robin talked about history. Who started giving Billy free ice cream but never asked about Billy’s stepsister. Who gave Billy rides and gave him the hookup to the high-paying neighbors of Loch Nora for mowed lawns and dogs walked.

Steve helped him get his car sooner than he would’ve otherwise but didn’t ask for anything in return.

Steve, who was always available for a good time, but looked sad when left with his thoughts.

Billy didn’t take well to not being the center of attention. He’d grown up with an interrogation lamp over his head, and sought positive interaction everywhere else. He got so much of it from Steve, that the occasions where Steve bumped against him...refused him, or ignored him, or reminded Billy that he was a rinky dink sophomore lit a match in his belly. And he’d swallowed gasoline for too much of his life.

“That’s something a virgin says.”

Billy couldn’t even remember what he’d just said. He was already, instantly, seeing the glow of embers on the fringe of his vision. “Excuse me?”

Steve shrugged as he got up from his couch. “It’s whatever. It’s fine. Just showing your hand, is all.”

Billy couldn’t believe it. Steve was either the biggest idiot in Hawkins - which he knew wasn’t true considering there was a real cesspool that smoked underneath the bleachers - or he was so far in denial that Billy had a whole new reason to be pissed.

An involuntary sound left Steve when Billy came up behind him and pushed him against the wall underneath the stairs.

“You don’t know anything about me.”

Billy wasn’t some cute sophomore. He stood toe to toe with Steve, barely an inch shorter. If this is what it took for Steve to realize that, fine.

To realize that Billy wasn’t some teenager scared shitless of a girls’ bra -

Steve regained his footing, and closed the distance between their mouths. It was small, soft, and brief. Rationality should have made Billy step away. Punch him, maybe. But Billy wasn’t rational. His shock held him statuesque, barely breathing while Steve moved a hand to cradle the side of his head and neck -

A sound left Billy this time, as Steve angled his mouth over Billy’s. Where he learned Billy was scared, so scared of Steve. His body dashed rationality against the wall and kissed him back tentatively, and then earnestly, just trying to keep up until Steve’s other hand framed him in. As Steve pushed against him until Billy walked backwards to have himself pressed against the wall.

He felt drunk as his hands let go of Steve’s shirt to hold onto the curvature of his ribs. He panted while Steve kissed his throat and washed Billy’s senses with his warm, sweet fragrance; his hair brushing Billy’s face and inspiring him to turn his face into Steve’s scalp. Inhale him into his lungs.

Billy didn’t know what game they were playing. But Steve outplayed him.