#Being in the centre of it all

[completeoveranalysis]

[2]

NEW FAVOURITE COVER?

NEW FAVOURITE COVER!

Chapitre 201 - The Truth from within the Ruins

Oh this is just beyond gorgeous. Who can stand against the pure concentrated adorable that is Tsubasa Babies Family Photo? Now with all four of them!

I’m in love with all the tiny details that they clearly spent so long on - all the lovely folds of Sakura’s dress, the intricate detailing on Fai’s robe and staff. Lava Lamp is in his ceremonial garb, and tiny Kurogane IN HIS FANCY LITTLE OUTFIT. (AND HIS POSTURE? GET OUT. Incredible)

 Kurogane doesn’t have Ginryuu yet (since this is Happy Childhood AU, so his father will still have it. Still has the moon though!) but Lava Lamp has the Syaoran Family Sword all ready to go. His outfit would be incomplete without it - they’re all wearing clothing from their home worlds, or maybe their families? I’m technically not sure which world Lava Lamp comes from, but his outfit is Family Legacy all the way down. I’m dying to know if Fai’s outfit is in the style of Seresu or Valeria - I don’t think they’re all that different, but I think I would put my money on Valeria based on the position of the fur and the curl motif. In which case it’s fun for me that his Happy Family AU is in Valeria instead of with Ashura. (sorry not sorry Ashura get fucked)

I suppose in this version he never had reason to leave Valeria in the first place, so it’s a very nice touch that the outfit doesn’t immediately resemble the clothing he wore in his backstory, since that’s all so closely linked to the death of his twin, who would be alive here. Very nice visual choices all around, especially with each of them in their own unique colour pallette. Oh, and even with the colour differences they all have bits of yellow somewhere on them, showing their connection.

The left/right split between them is really fun too - sword wielders on one side, phenomenally powerful magic users on the other, cats vs dogs, unique child/parent pairings, etc. It’s very funny to me that they found a super fancy chair for Sakura and a cushion for Kurogane, but nothing for the other two. But Fai draping himself over the chair is such an incredible piece of character flair, which I am in love with, but also, the TOUCH? The little touch of tiny hands? Sakura reaching back to put her hand on the back of Fai’s? Tiny Lava Lamp’s little grip on Kurogane’s arm? OH it’s so touching. 

And behind them all? THAT WINDOW. Such a clear symbol positioned directly in the centre frame. At first I thought it might be an eye, but this is Happy Family AU so there should be no Evil Wolverine to spy on them. What I’m voting on instead is CLAMP playing with Tarot symbols again and this being the Wheel of Fortune, or a similar idea of a wheel of destiny. They use the latter idea a lot in their earlier works (RG Veda and X/1999 say hi), but I think the tarot symbol in particular really shines through with the ideas they’re playing with in Tsubasa/xxxHolic, and has a very strong parallel to the idea of hitsuzen. 

After some much safer googling it looks like the “Wheel of Fortune” in Tarot can mean change or cycles or inevitable fate, but on the flipside could also be lacking control. I think the reversed meaning of the card really speaks to me the most about their situation in general, as it describes bad luck and misfortunes thrust upon you from external forces, that you are fighting to take control back from an unwinnable situation. That fighting it is impossible, that continuing to fight it can only bring more suffering, and that the only option is to let it go. To stop blaming yourself for the thing you did wrong, or the thing that you think was your fault. To forgive yourself, to accept it all, to let yourself move on, to accept that change is inevitable, and to finally be able to move forward and just let everything happen. 

Because if that’s not exactly the whole situation we are in I don’t know what is. It’s a mirror for the things that Fai and Kurogane have already been through, and for what Lava Lamp Guy is still currently fighting, and CLAMP love to do drop these symbols all the time. 

And this is a bit of a tangent but who’s gonna stop me? Clamp LOVE their tragic destiny pairs, especially in their early works - the couples deeply love but also cursed by fate, like Kendappa and Souma, Ashura and Yasha (flavoured differently in RG Veda, but still fitting this cycle again in Tsubasa), Subaru and Seishirou, Sorata and Arashi (unfinished), Kamui and Fuuma, etc. The characters who are so different from each other, so diametrically opposed, but in love still, and it burns so strong that they either have to kill each other or let the world burn around them - or both! They’re always fighting destiny, just like the reversed wheel of fortune, and they fight it to the point of obliteration. 

AND THEN we have Tsubasa, and I think it’s so endlessly interesting that they took the same pattern and turned it around. Syaoran and Sakura definitely fit the theme (and wild that they took the Cardcaptor Sakura happy couple deliberately to make the most universe shattering tragedy out of it, but I still haven’t seen how their story ends, whether one will have to tragically die to save everything or whether they’ll get out somehow). But what I mostly want to talk about (surprise surprise) Kurogane and Fai, who fit the pattern exactly. Complete opposites, diametrically opposed, set up as antagonists and destined to kill each other but fall in love instead. That they both fight against the tragic pasts that defined them and eventually change their mind. Eventually, slowly, they accept love again and realise that they can actually live with themselves and each other if they let it all go. 

And I think what really gets me is that if this was an earlier Clamp work they absolutely would have tragically died - they would have killed each other in the climax of Seresu and it would have been beautiful and terrible and no-one ever would have ever emotionally recovered from the complete and utter devastation. 

BUT THEY DIDN’T. 

CLAMP spend all of Tsubasa revisiting all their old works, taking us through a parade of the various tragedies they’ve sung across the years, all leading up to them ultimately breaking their own pattern and letting Fai and Kurogane save each other from the same Clamp fate that claimed every tragic pair before them. They choose each other and get out alive. They stop blaming themselves for the unchangeable parts of destiny and finally forgive themselves. And it’s just very emotional to me that it’s these two that make it, these two that get to recover and choose each other and live their lives inseparable from this point on. The two that had arguably the most tragic backstories also get to face their trauma, survive, and live. 

And it’s just so beautiful to see how the CLAMP storytelling method has changed over the years, and to find out that after all these years, the big destiny story they really wanted to tell in their longest and most detailed work was about the two men who fell in love, against all odds and saved each other. Despite absolutely everything saying that it should be impossible, it’s Kurogane and Fai that finally flip the tarot card back around and live. 

And I’m extremely interested in what this means for Lava Lamp and Not!Sakura.

#Woops this is a novel #I saw a silly little wheel and had to talk for uh… like 1000 words #I blame clamp #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 201 #Fai #Kurogane #Lava lamp guy #Sakura #Which Sakura? #A sakura #Not Sakura #and the red string from lava lamp's sword #Being in the centre of it all #Since he IS the centre of it all #And its his past that was at ground zero for all these other things kicking off #Oh oh and the checkered pattern on the floor #Kind of revisiting all those group photos we had in Infinity #But giving them the Nice Version instead #To cap off all the suffering with an alternate destiny

[fluffyartbl0g]

Someone get this man a younger sibling that ISNT like. Twice his height.

#one piece #op fanart #monkey d. luffy #shirahoshi #kozuki momonosuke #IVE FINISHED REREADING THROUGH WANO IM OBSESSED WITH MOMONOSUKE NOW #I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND I MISS HIM SO MUCH T - T!!!! #literally tears streaming down my face ‘But I think of you like a little brother! #You’ve heard of laser beam that make you read one piece #get ready for laser beam that makes you REREAD one piece #srsly. do it. I didn’t care about characters like bellamy or shirahoshi or even momonosuke all that much on my first read through #IM OBSESSED NOW. I LOVE HARUDJIN THE GIANT TOO AND I CANT WAIT TO SEE MORE OF HIM T - T!!! I ALSO DIDNT CARE ABOUT KATAKURI LIKE AT ALL #NOW I CANT GET ENOUGH #also what the actual heck guys. I know its only been a couple of months since wano ended. #but why aren’t there any fics centred on luffy and momo being brothers… There’s like one on ao3 and it’s in italian… #PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY SLEEPING SO HARD ON LUFFY BEING THE OLDER BROTHER/MENTOR TO BOTH MOMO AND SHIRAHOSHI #IM SO MAD #SHIRAHOSHI AND MOMO ARE BOTH THE CHOSEN ONES ; - ;!!! AND LUFFY HAS BEEN PROHPESIZED TO HELP GUIDE THEM TO USE THEIR POWERS!!! #eg shirahoshi hearing the voices of the sea kings and momo hearing zunesha #both times luffy hasn’t been able to talk to them… but he’s been able to guide his younger siblings to use their powers properly #No im fr obsessed with luffy and shirahoshi and momo WHERE THE GOD DAMN FANFICTION AAAGFRGEHSHHSHSHS #LUFFY TREATING SHIRAHOSHI AND MOMO THE SAME WAY ACE TREATED HIM WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER T - T #KILL ME AAAAA1!!1!1!1!!1!1!1 #99 percent of all tags on my posts are just me freaking out LMAOOOO

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Dean gets gender euphoria when he's dressed up as a cowboy and when he's dressed up with elliot ness and when he's flipping burgers and when he's working on his car and gets a smudge of oil on his cheek and when he's singing mouthing along to classic rock. What I'm saying here is drag king dean.

#if he's cis or if he's trans it doesn't matter he would still enjoy kinging #he likes being the centre of attention IF he's Performing #he likes to flirt and make inuenndos #he likes being sillay #he does routines to classic rock and he winks all the time and the first time he sees a drag king performance it's a transcendent experienc #(projecting for that last one sjfhahfhdj) #genderqueer dean #<not that doing drag makes one genderqueer that's just my dean is performing gender tag yk

[llamagoddessofficial]

Remember these asks? Well I got inspiration and….

It’s a work in progress :)

DUUUUDE THIS IS SO GOOOOOOD

#LOOK AT HIM CREEPIN IN THE DARKNESS #ideal man #also the idea of her being a 'ghost hunter' makes it so much better - she likes to think she wants the paranormal in her life #until its actually in her life #its all fun and games until she's the centre of attention #but also means... she'd have some degree of fascination and excitement toward cryptid husband #HELL YEAH

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

obligatory rock murder mention

#i think someone said earlier that they had kind of a lot of mind control stories 'back in those days' #dont remember where #but now im trying to think if we have a lot of them in new who #and if theres something to that in terms of like societal preoccupations #but i guess im just gonna have to...........continue my classic who watch for that and make notes #what do we have in new who? satan comes to mind #midnight but i feel like thats..........a very particular kind it's not like the hypnosis thing you see here #or with the master #or i think sarah jane in the hand of fear? #maybe its JUST because they had the master around who kept hypnotising people tbh like that seems possible #the unquiet dead but thats ghosts more than mind control #i feel like we've got more bodies being taken over than minds in new who? #like the gas mask thing. midnight like i said. 42 with martha and 10? #love and monsters. idiots lantern. the vashta nerada. that guy who got turned into an ood. the masters thing in end of time #11 and the flesh. the god complex perhaps could be mind control? but feels different to me too #but i also havent watched really a lot of classic who so i dont know the vibe of their supposedly frequent mind control #town called mercy. asylum of the daleks. crimson horror. journey to the centre of the tardis? cybermen #it all feels more about the hijacking of the body than the mind or will or whatever #would be intersting to actually look into #if i continue my classic who watch #biggest mind control in new who might have been those mummy monks in pyramid/lie of the land?

[steinwayandhissons]

lately ive been obsessed with the fact that when alex sings on stage, he can never keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds at a time, and even then they’re half-lidded

#alex turner #arctic monkeys #it’s like even after all these years and all the performances they’ve done and done again he still can’t bear to look at the crowd #how he always said he hated being the centre of attention and here he is at the pinnacle of his career at the height of scrutiny #it’s like there’s still a part of him that’s questioning his own fame and overwhelming superstardom #pretending like they’re still playing in intimate sheffield pubs and not to sold out stadium tours and festivals with tens of thousands #of fans #it feels like there’s a sort of celestial veil between him and his audience that also comes across in his stage antics #why seeing him perform live whether in person or on the screen feels sort of surreal and mystical #like the music comes first and he just follows wherever it goes #anyways im rambling ill stop now

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Everything Under the Moon

Anthology of queer reimaginings of fairytales by mostly Australian authors

various genres, from contemporary to fantasy and sci-fi, mostly about older teens

mlm, sapphic, trans, nonbinary, demi, bi ace, and aromantic characters, some stories focusing on romance but many on familial relationships and siblings

#Everything Under the Moon #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #aromantic books #queer books #A really nice anthology of queer fairytales! definitely a mix of all sorts of stories. #Some were a bit forgettable (I mean I’m just not a short story person) but I really enjoyed others! I #I picked this up specifically because I heard there was an aromantic story (which I didn’t know much else about) and yeah it hit hard actua #it’s about being okay with loneliness and also centred around artists….so. it did make me cry a bit…. #I liked that a lot of them focused on platonic r/ships - most on sibling actually? I appreciate that there were a couple sapphic aces too #I will say while the illustrations are really high quality (I especially liked the naturey ones) I found a lot of them depicted the chars #as very.....disnefied? idk. thin and generic. lacking 'imperfect' features like freckles even #(when they’re described as having them) With a couple exceptions for sure - but a lot of them were a bit samey #I would have loved some authors notes or a list of the stories because I didn’t recognise which all were inspired by #(though they’re on the endpapers; just not specified which) - I did find this in a GR review tho

[aroacesigma]

so many bsd characters seem to have a lot of their characterisation and experiences centering around their ability, but sigma seems mostly apathetic to his own ability - he doesnt list it as his strength in that one character profile that came out recently , he just says hes a hard worker and mostly useless at everything else . and hes always describing himself as pretty ordinary. which really is the exact opposite of how pretty much everyone else sees him as just the thing that comes along with his ability

#ramblings #thoughts #its just strange yknow ? #even characters who dont particularly centre around their ability #like nikolai seems pretty proud of his and has fun using it #there are a billion essays about dazai and his ability #chuuya is . obvious if youve read storm bringer #etc etc etc #but sigma just barely seems to care even tho everyone around him constantly reinforces #that thats all hes really good for #i hope its like a conscious decision for him . to view himself as more than just that #hes a hard worker . he likes cookies . he wants a nice home with a nice garden #it seems very much like he doesnt like being defined by his ability which is fair enough honestly #sigma bsd

[rainbow-flavoured-skittles]

I have a new ninjago au. it's Lloyd centred this time

okay so. Lloyd is a medium/psychic/person who can see ghosts. and the ninja are ghosts who have haunted and taken care of him since he was little. there are two versions for how it goes once Lloyd grows up: one, he forgets about them and assumes they were imaginary. he finds out they were not imaginary when he wakes up to Kai staring at him like some sort of demon. the second option is that he remembers them and sorta ends up the weird cryptid kid who talks to himself. I haven't decided which version to go with yet so you get both. this au is mostly fluff

#a not Cole centred au can you believe it #this au exists because I rediscovered the city of ghosts series and now I'm back to being obsessed with it #we're all dead here (except Lloyd) #yes that is the name #I'm very funny #lloyd garmadon #ghosts #ninjago au #ninjago #lego ninjago #the ninja all died in fairly tragic ways #which is why they stuck around as ghosts #lloyd ninjago #ninjago lloyd

[proudfreakmetarusonniku]

like i see people say stuff like “rei is a deconstruction of the idea of like the perfect girl in a male gaze-y way” and and i'm ready to agree until they go “it’s because she’s creepy and weird and bad!” like no. rei's a deconstruction of misogynistic ideas of womanhood because they’re ideals forced upon her that damage her, not because she’s in any way “creepy”. like, the fact she’s a fourteen year old girl who was basically used as a substitute wife by her father bc she looked like his own dead wife is not something that is meant to make rei look bad like holy shit.

like both rei and asuka are very obviously like. showing fantasised and misogynistic ideas of an idealised woman don’t work irl yeah. shinji's misogynistic view of them is wrong. but that’s not because rei and asuka are bad people it’s because like. “fourteen year old who's flirty and seductive” and “fourteen year old who's a quiet obedient object” are major signs of abuse and trauma and anyone actually acting in those ways at that age clearly isn’t normal. asuka is desperate for attention in any way she can get it, even unhealthy and dangerous ways. rei is at the very least I has a weird pseudo-incestous enmeshment filled abusive relationship with her father, even if she's not actively being sexually abused. asuka is seeking support, rei is a grooming victim. these are not things that are flaws in their character the entire point of subverting the expectations is to show how those expectations are unhealthy to rei and asuka like. god.

#like. negative fucking media literacy. #like. rei and asuka show signs of abuse in ways very normal for teenagers #every one of the Children in Evangelion is a victim and they react in messy ways #the point of that isn’t to show that they themselves are bad. it’s to show how trauma fucks you up #like none of them are bad people! they do fucked up shit bc it’s normalised to them! #people will just centre rei and asuka’s trauma around shinji and then call the show misogynistic for that like. #woah pal. there’s issues in the show yeah but i think that’s more an issue on your end buckaroo. #like their trauma interacts with him. and his trauma interacts with them. bc the show is literally about human's influences on each other #like the human instrumentality project isn’t there to just be funny it’s a thematic conclusion??? #and also like. it’s comparing and contrasting all threes trauma to understand exactly how they got shaped the way they are. #just. think about the show you’re watching. please. #rei isn’t creepy she’s a schizophrenic abuse victim who's probably done the least screwed up shit out of the main cast #shinji isn’t a loser he's a heavily mentally ill young boy cracking under the pressure of toxic masculinity and having his boundaries erode #until he's unable to even respect the boundaries of others and recreates his trauma for a desperate attempt at control #asuka isn’t like. okay i mean she IS a bitch but literally so is every thirteen year old ok. #and it’s bc she fucking despises the vulnerability being kind shows. she despises herself and is overcompensating bc she’s scared and 13 #like. god.

[taffy-glitch]

ok ok look i understand that celia recognizing chester and emails from "john" and whatever the FUCK is going on with lena and gwen is all mind-boggling and such but

i feel like im not seeing NEARLY as many posts about the statement this episode???

I only listened once but what the fuck is the significance of those donations???? The laughter?? "it's all for a good cause"???????

WHO THE FUCK IS THE "SECURITY FIRM" THAT DEALT WITH IT?????

#the magnus protocol #tmagp spoilers #there's also the fact that it was the hilltop centre dont think that escaped my notice #you canNOT convince me this statement wont be important later #'security firm' that kinda reads to me like trevor the vampire hunter in terms of handling of supernatural stuff. but on a larger scale #....sister department to the oiar #WHO KNOWS???? #THER'ES SO MUCH TO FUCKING UNPACK !!!!!!! #trying to analyze what the fuck kind of entity was involved with that #something about hoarding and crowding and too much STUFF. unwanted gifts (esp considering it was the holiday season) #while also insisting it's all for charity. all for a good cause #perhaps (going off what people have said about the entities in tmp being desires rather than fears) #it has to do with the desire for the material. the desire for stuff #alternatively considering the charity angle it could be tied to a desire to help.... #but the ''help'' comes in unwanted and in fact SUFFOCATING ways #idk man im just throwin spaghetti at the wall at this point lmao #jort post

[hella1975]

complicated relationship with taob be damned i have never peaked higher than i did when i was studying tragedies for my english class and wrote the fever dream chapter

#I WAS WRITING AT LEVELS NEVER BEFORE SEEN. OFF THE CHARTS CUNTISM. TRAGIC LEXICON LEFT RIGHT AND CENTRE #'you scream with your lungs and you pray with your knees. but begging? #begging was in the hands. zuko's were empty. stained sunset red. /look. look at what you did/.' #'white bones charring until zuko remembered hearing of fortune-tellers - how they read the heat-cracks #of oracle bones. zuko wondered what the breaks in his skeleton lamented of. if he could read these scars #would they weep? /look. look at all that red/.' #'/look. cut-neck and red-stained. you wanted this/. the auditorium watched enraptured #whispering into ears. /this is the best part. the anagnorisis/.' #'this was a tale of honour and redemption. the playwright had woven zuko’s hamartia into his every action #doomed from the beginning. /you always thought it was anger that would damn you #that patronymic fury that snarls in your chest/. the director was grinning. /it is not. your fatal flaw has always been shame/.' #'redemption comes with the price of regret but you don't regret. you don't regret any of it' #'A GOOD TRAGEDY NEEDS A SCAPEGOAT; A TRAGIC HERO. ZUKO WOULD BE THEIRS. A MASK. A BOW. APPLAUSE. FURY. SHAME. #/LOOK/. THE THING WITH THEATRE IS THAT YOU PLACE A CHARACTER ONTO A STAGE WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE HIM #AND YOU SHINE LIGHTS ON HIM TO ILLUMINATE EVERY ANGLE AND YOU MAKE HIM SAY THINGS THAT RESONATE. A TRAGEDY IS JUST A DECLARATION #/LOOK. LOOK AT ALL IVE DONE AND GIVE ME REDEMPTION REGARDLESS. LOOK AT EVERY FLAW. TAKE ME AS YOUR ANTI-HERO. FORGIVE ME ANYWAY/ #IT WAS ABOUT BEING SEEN. IT WAS A CRY FOR HELP' #like???? GIRL OKAYYYYYY <33333 truly give me a theme i like and i will run fucking RINGS #taob

[littlecutiexox]

I have so much to improve on

#im really not happy with myself #i know ive made progress on a lot of things #but i have so much to work on #im super arrogant and stubborn and entitled at times #need to humble myself down #so anxious and sometimes i still react so instinctively rather than thinking things clearlh #i can be so self centred #im grr #im getting angry i need to stop #this only putting me in a horrible headspace and i know although i do believe all this im being extra negative right now and judging myself #therapy tomorrow #muchh needed #its been like 2.5 months since my last session

[kindaorangey]

everybody cross their fingers for me i just applied to work at the lego store<33

#thunder rambles #im being veeeery picky abt my job applications even tho i need a job bc all the listings in manchester central #are shitty supermarket positions or in the arndale/trafford centre/a station #i.e. liable to be extremely busy #and the lego store IS in the arndale however that is counteracted by how much id enjoy working there bc i love lego #and this is the first listing ive found since last week that hasnt been complete shit👍🏻

[simurghed]

a part of lisa deep down gets feverishly excited every time the waiter gets taylor’s order wrong because it means she gets to say that she asked for no pickles

#i think taylor would ask for pickles actually but the sentiment still stands #i say a part bc she does not want taylor to get the wrong order .. what she wants above all is for taylor to b happy #+ that means things running as smoothly as possible #but she has turned saving taylor into her number one priority like she has centred her entire being around it #she has predicated her sense of self on it after such little time #so she needs those little moments in those little social corners that taylor doesnt yet know how to quite navigate #like gaining xp #lisa wilbourn

[taikanyohou]

there's an alternate reality where this vegas:

and this pete:

most definitely fuck.

#i have a scenario in my head where the bodyguard disperse to find porsche and as vegas is heading out back to main foyer area #he bumps into pete and pete just looks at him with disgust and knows vegas is Upto Some Shit and porsche disappearing is bc of him #and vegas who's already Mad does not need pete to be looking at him like that so he spits out a 'what the fuck are you staring at?' #and pete just cuts to the chase and asks vegas 'where the fuck is he i know you're upto some shit.' and vegas just smirks and says 'who?' #whilst he steps closer to him until he's trapped pete up against a wall and leans into his ear and says 'who pete?' #and pete spits back in vegas' face how 'i know you've got your eyes on him. don't think i haven't been watching your every move.' #and at first it feels like a bucket of ice water has been thrown on vegas but then he composes himself and says #'why? are you jealous?' at which pete just scoffs. and then vegas tries again and says 'or do you like what you see? the thrill of it? #eyeing me just to see what i do next?' #and pete doesnt respond. just bites the inside of his cheek. bc there is a thrill to it #but he is not gonna give vegas the satisfaction. and yet all vegas has to do is look at pete as he clenches his jaw and he gets his answer #and then vegas just rakes his eyes all over pete's body and says 'you've never looked so good'. #and pete isnt gonna get distracted by the fact that vegas of all people is telling him this. so he asks again 'where is he?' #and vegas just tuts and steps even closer and presses their bodies together and says 'fuck him. i'm talking about us. #stop being so fucking good all the time pete. doesnt it get tiring?' #and pete's trying to stay focused on the task at hand here and he knows exactly what vegas is doing as vegas carries on saying #'don't you wanna be bad sometimes pete? what if i let you be that with me? no one has to know.' #and the invitation sounds so tempting. the prospect of it. that he should be with kinn doing his job but instead he's fucking his cousin #and just being the centre of attention for once. being vegas' centre of attention .... it makes pete's toes curl. #and vegas glances down at pete's mouth that's fallen slightly open. and its so pretty. so pretty that he has to touch it. and as he does #pete opens his mouth wider and vegas runs his thumb along pete's entire bottom lip. and he can feel pete breathing hard. #'you want this.' vegas says. 'look how you open up your mouth for me so pretty to have more.' #and now vegas is calling him pretty too and pete's resolve is breaking brick by brick until he moans when vegas wraps his hand around his #throat and vegas says 'i wanna taint you so bad that you'd have to wear this to cover the bruises on your neck. and the next time i see you #i'd do it all over again.' and pete asks in a barely there voice 'next time?' and vegas smirks and leans into pete's ear and says #'if its what you want. because i do. i wanna see you be bad for me. just for me. i want you to come to me only. for me only.' #and then vegas bites down on the skin there making pete clutch onto vegas' blazer and as divine as vegas looks pete wants to rip it off. #and just as he's about to do something about it vegas steps back leaving pete's arm mid air. and pete hates that. and vegas sees it all #over his face and says 'what do you say pete? you either leave with me right now or you can go back and be the good little boy they think #you are.' and vegas holds out his hand. and no one's ever treated pete like this before. so he takes it. and lets vegas take him.