Alex Marsters (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
allthesame2me) wrote2015-12-15 05:56 pm
allthesame2me) wrote2015-12-15 05:56 pm
Entry tags:
Sample - Best Writing
Alex sighed softly as he lay back in the tub, oil water rising up to his chin as his eyes drift closed. He could spend the entire day wrapped in this blanket of warm water and not think twice about it, but he knew that this would not be the case; the world of the working man didn't work that way and he had an afternoon due to the clothier's tower.
He opened his blue-green eyes, staring up at the vaulted ceiling overhead and a smile played across his lips. He had been rather pleased to find that there was a variety of 'jobs' that could be taken up upon arrival at Holloway's Keep, having feared that he would be bored for more than his fare share of time. Idle hands, and all that ..
"I might wish for an evening free these days," he muttered to himself, chuckling softly as he shook his head.
With that he rose from the water, thick blonde hair soaked through but tied back securely in a braid that fell past his waist. It was the only way Alex could keep his hair under control, and though he regretted not being able to let it fall freely around his shoulders, he knew full well that would regret doing so. One tangle could set him back nearly an hours' worth of brushing once it was dry, and though enjoyable to a point, he had just brushed it all out this morning and didn't want to have to do so again. There had been a time when he wouldn't have dreamed to undo that braid for fear of facing his stylist's wrath upon reaching the venue. Hell, he would have been far more inclined to let it hang loose if he knew there was someone readily available to help him brush it out again.
Alex recalled a time, not too long ago, when his busy schedule left fairly limited time to himself when it came to the company he might wish to keep and what he actually kept when not working. When he'd found any spare time filled with interviews and magazine photo shoots. These thoughts are sobering and his smile slips a touch as he is reminded of a particularly troubling conversation.
His agency had started hinting that he might want to think about dropping the classes he'd registered for at the local college, but Alex wouldn't hear of it. If there was one thing that helped the wereleopard feel human (pun not intended) after the business of Fashion Week, it was knowing that his off season would be spent in school.
Alex sighed softly as he stepped from the tub, securing a towel around his trim hips. "Might as well get it out of your head, kid," he said softly, his reflection staring back at him from the mirror. "No college .. no classes .. no Earth .. Enjoy what you have."
With a snort, the young man turned from the room, wet feet slapping against the stone as he made his way toward the barracks. It was going to be a much longer evening than he had anticipated if his thoughts continued on in this vein.
OR
"You idiot!!"
The sting of her cheek was still fresh as Harley stalked out the door, suitcase in hand. She'd been lucky this time, in that he'd only slapped her with an open palm and not a fist or something more creative. She'd made a promise to herself that the next time it happened she was packing her bags and taking off and this was the crowning moment.
Bits of cloth and a rubber chicken leg stuck out of the suitcase as she dropped it heavily to the ground and sat atop it, arms crossing her chest as she folded over upon herself glumly.
It had been a simple slip, really, but even small issues were big issues to the Joker; and big issues were supposed to be a non-issue. There'd been a lot of screaming at the boys and her and the babies hadn't made the matter any better by choosing that moment to growl and snap at one another. One thing lead to another and poor Harley got jostled and tripped into the work table, a small explosion following the toppling of several expensive vials.
"Always knockin' me around like I'm some kinda punchin' bag," she muttered to herself, casting a baleful glare behind her. "We'll just see how well he manages without me around." She sniffed and turned away, catching her lower lip between her teeth to keep it from trembling.
But would he manage without her? After all, she was one of the very few people that got Mister J and without her calming influence there was no saying the sort of trouble he'd get into. And who would be there to bail him out
"Not me! That's who! Ya hear that, ya big jerk!" she yelled back at the building with a half turn. "Not me! Not Harley Quinn. Ya can clean up yer own messes now."
It sounded so final and definitive, but the Harley got to worrying that maybe, just maybe, her puddin' couldn't do it on his own. After all, she'd been with him through thick and thin for years now and who would he have if she tromped off? The boys?
HAH. Now that was a laugh. There was no way those boys could hope to take over for her. There was no way they could hope to take care of Mister J the way she could.
Sure, he had a temper, but was that really his fault? She'd been the one to crack the Joker and she herself had spoken to him about the troubles of his youth; the very things that had shaped him into the man he'd become.
Could she really blame him for lashing out every now and then?
"Harley? Oh, muffin cake," came his muffled throaty sing-song from inside the building. "Stop playing around and bring daddy his blowtorch."
She rose with a sigh, walking back toward the dilapidated doorway of their current headquarters. After all, it had more than likely been her own fault anyway and there was no point being mad at Mister J when she'd been the one to botch things up.
Today wasn't really different from any other day with her puddin'; and just like those other days she'd always go back to him.
Everyday Post
This has got to be the oldest piece of tech I've seen in my life... [A brief pause while he clicks through a few of the device's basic options. He's also looking through some of the past entries, brows rising as each subsequent entry seems to confirm the outlandish story he was told.]
You have seriously got to be shitting me .. What the hell is going on...?!
[Look who's holding himself together fairly well, fellow residents! If you were to actually see Alex, you might not know if you were looking at a young man or woman, his androgyny being one of the things hat they liked about him the most on the modeling circuit. You would likely see his nostrils flaring widely as he scents the place, were this more than an audio post. As it is, you will now be rewarded by a rather impressive sneeze.]
So .. If this is broadcasting my words, I can only presume that there is someone out there that can hear this .. Anyone out there? Any, ahh .. humanoids? Hell .. Are there folks here from Earth at all, year twenty-fourteen? I'm Alex...
[A moments' silence and then an irritated growl.]
Damnit, I don't even know if this thing is actually going to anyo-
[The audio clicks off again as Alex shakes the communicator in irritation, effectively cutting off the recording and halting the flow of words.]
World Info
Japan has suffered a country altering earthquake and other natural disasters are becoming more and more the 'norm'. Countries have begun violent uprising against their tyrannical leadership. Things have, in all forms and manner, gone to hell in a hand-basket.
Oh, and the world is supposed to end in approximately a years' time.
You might think, that with all of this and so much more already occurring throughout the world, that people might have taken the news better.. or at least been less shocked by it all.
It was a regular day, or as regular as any other. There wasn't anything that made the unveiling day different than any other, but it was a different day. As different a day as any human might have ever considered possible. After all, it wasn't every day that mythical and mystical creatures suddenly made themselves very known to be both very real and very integrated into the world around us.
Teachers, doctors, students, political figures...Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters... Suddenly the world was inundated with the fantastical: vampires, werewolves (and other werebeasts), witches, ghosts, fairies, ghouls and so very much more. People were suddenly learning that creatures of legend and myth had been their neighbors, friends and co-workers for any number of years. Some 'normals' celebrated and some feared the knowledge that such creatures existed.
Of those that suddenly made their way into the spotlight, there was also a mixture of reactions and feelings. There were those that came out immediately, reveling in the opportunity to flaunt what they were to the world at large. There were those that chose to remain quiet about their given abilities or alternate forms, choosing to reveal it to only those they wished and at their own leisure. Others still had already made the choice to keep it to themselves and share their identities with no one.
In one moment, the world that people had known was forever changed and issues of bigotry and racism came to the fore more than they ever had been. Talks were quickly held about putting a 'Non-human Registration' into effect so there would be some way of keeping track of the non-humans.
Nothing had yet been finalized upon Alex's arrival at the Keep, but there was no small amount of unrest about the civil unfairness this registration would involve.
Alex History
He had been one of those middle-runners after the 'big announcement' was made, neither flaunting nor hiding from his true self. He had come to terms with his change after contracting lycanthropy nearly four years previous.
Born and raised in Southern California, Alex was a rather extroverted child and found no small amount of love for the arts and homemaking. He also was a good deal 'prettier' than many of his schoolmates, earning him no small amount of jabs and ridicule. As if this were not enough to make the boy a target, the young Marsters boy found that his interests leaned not just toward young women, but young men as well. However, his parents and friends were more supportive than perhaps any child could hope for, standing up for him and allowing him to be anything and anyone he cared to be.
At age fifteen, Alex was approached by a modeling agency and soon after he began his career at modeling. Modeling female fashions seemed the smallest of steps to the young man, who felt that there was nothing wrong with dressing in or wearing clothing that wasn't 'made for him'. His opinion was then, and remained, "If I feel good and look good in a dress, I'll wear the dress." He has toured the globe for shows and even now, at nineteen, remains in the modeling world; although there was a short time after turning seventeen that he was forced to take a leave of absence for .. personal reasons.
An unhinged fan, taking offense both at Alex's sexuality and his cross-dressing career choice, caught the young model off guard as he was leaving a show in Milan. His fellow models watched on, horrified, as the man proceeded to brutally beat Alex. Alex, though feminine and fey by nature, was not the most delicate of flowers. With his own well-being at risk, the young man fought back for all he was worth, drawing blood from his assailant.
It seemed like the fair-haired model might even win the exchange until the grubby local drew a knife and plunged it into Alex's trim form. In the ensuing chaos that followed, the man was caught by local law enforcement and Alex was brought to the hospital. No one thought anything of the man's cries of, "We'll see if you're so pretty next month!!!" It wasn't until the first full moon that the full levity of his words would be known to Alex, who had unknowingly been infected by the man's own lycanthropy during the fight.
The first signs were small ones: a heightening of his senses that he hadn't had before. He noticed that he seemed to heal pretty quickly when he'd gotten hurt a time or two, no visible scarring or marks remaining afterward, and he'd been known to move or break things that he shouldn't have been otherwise able to do. He couldn't quite explain the increase in his sexual appetites or the fact that certain things just felt different; how his skin simply felt alive and practically tingled. He'd have no way of knowing until after his first change that this was a sixth sense and that he was actually 'feeling' other creatures of myth and legend (just as readily as they felt him).
His first change, brought on forcefully at the next full moon, was painful and terrifying and it was only luck that sent him stumbling into the California desert, to be found by a local pack of werewolves. The pack nursed him through his first change and began the process of introducing the young leopard to his new way of life. For every question they answered, Alex had three more to take the place. It was a slow journey, but with time and patience, Alex found that he could live his life and make the best of it even with his 'monthly visitor'. He has continued to model and make a lucrative life for himself out of doing such, taking classes at the local community college during his off time.