#anyway these span years and years of reading and i will probably come back to add to this post

[vinelark]

do you have any whumpy fic recs (ideally romance, but gen would do in a pinch)? Open to any fandoms. I feel like I used to see them a lot more, but they are harder to find these days. Bbts really hits the spot tho btw haha.

ANY fandoms? oh boy do i.

Hotel Heart by Laughsalot3412 (and its sequel Safe as Houses): not quite romance but not NOT romance ot3 leverage psychics au where eliot is a hitman who used to be under the control of a horrible empath who left him with major mental scars and huge trust issues. he reluctantly ends up protecting another empath (hardison) and thief (parker) and sloooowly starts to work through the aforementioned trauma while they take down the aforementioned evil empath together. excellent series with excellent pangy plot. also i knew nothing about leverage when i first read it and it’s what got me to watch the show.

Hold my Eyes to the Sky by myrmidryad: an enjoltaire/les mis longfic set in a 1970s(?) wizarding au in which grantaire is a very sad and lonely werewolf and the idealistic activist he’s hopelessly in love with just got himself turned as well, and grantaire has to help him navigate the changes while dealing with his own self-worth issues and tragic backstory. you want whump? look no further.

Occultation by Geese_in_flight & pineapplesquid: a novel-length au of the book Winter’s Orbit, in which the main difference is that kiem, not jainan, is the one dealing with a previous, horrible arranged marriage. somehow this simple switch brings so much fresh potential to the characters (i loved seeing how this played into kiem’s self-worth issues, and also loved this exploration of what jainan’s character would be like if he had been able to flourish the last few years), with a whole new set of pangs. i recommend both the book and the fic!

爱不释手; never let me go by yiqie: a post-cql wangxian getting together fic with the classic amounts of yiqie pain & pining & h/c & devastatingly beautiful writing about the devastatingly beautiful experience of being in love. also blood. honestly most fics by yiqie probably fulfill this request (are you into vashwood, perhaps?)

Morning, keep the streets empty for me by feyburner: a wangxian modern au oneshot with self-sacrificing wei ying getting into trouble and landing himself in the hospital while pining very very hard for his cultivation partner. i’m reccing this one out of all feyburner fics because it has the obvious physical hurt but fey is so good at weaving pangs into fic that tbh there’s emotional whump to be found in most of them. also, god-tier writing in general.

the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser: a wangxian canon-divergence au that falls into the sickfic whump subgenre. the pangs! wangxian’s love for each other and for a-yuan and the way wwx’s desperation and powerlessness in the face of a sick child (and his own illness) clash with how the world perceives him at the time is so 🤌🤌. this is saved in my h/c favs folder for a reason.

The Long Way Home by itsnatalie: extremely whumpy batfam tim & jason fic, which i’ve definitely rec’d here before but if i’m reccing whumpy longfics it HAS to be on the list. good god this fic is a masterpiece, both for the angst and for the absolute beautiful worldbuilding/navigation of its horror tropes.

and since you like bbts, i’ll also self-rec a few of my older fics! i think you’d probably enjoy this river runs to you, a wangxian/mdzs modern cultivation longfic feat. (sort of) identity shenanigans, angsty backstories, self-worth issues, and the main character getting all manner of hurt. also: you’re the trouble that i always find, a wenzhou/shl dreamsharing/amnesia/sort-of-timeloop fic in which the main character is supposed to dream about killing his love interest but said love interest keeps dreamcrashing to change the plot.

this reclist could’ve been dozens of fics long tbh. i live for The Pangs which usually go hand in hand with good whump, and seek those fics out whenever possible, so as always this is a super incomplete reclist! also i welcome any and all recs in return.

[lailau7904]

So y'all have seen the Williams F1 Logo before, yeah?

well get ready, becaues I am about to ruin your day!

where does one even begin with this. i am sorry in advance. -just a poor learning graphic design student, who simply tried to enjoy their saturday evening

The Logo

For anyone that doesn't know, here's the Williams F1 Logo. Entirely unedited, copied straight from Wikipedia:

Now like many fans, I actually quite enjoy this logo. I like the modern, sharp edges of it and it's simple yet intriguiging design. It's memorable, while also easily recognizable as a W. I also really enjoy the colour choice (this, however, is entirely a personal preference.)

(entire rant under the cut. please keep reading this took years off my life span.)

How did we even get here?

Let's start at the beginning. How did we even get here? Well I, a poor poor learning graphic designer, was watching this lovely video from Mr. V's Garage about bad F1 Logo's over the past 35 or so seasons. Very interesting, I can only recommend it (but you don't need to watch the video to understand this post)!

Now, to cleanse the palette at the end of the video, Mr. V included a top 10 GOOD logos from this time span, it was very kind of him.

On P4 of this "Good List," Mr. V placed the current Williams F1 Logo, as pictured above. At first I vaguely agreed with this, believing that he probably simply hadn't noticed one of the things that's been bothering me about that Logo since the first time I saw it up close.

The first sign of Trouble

So, what is this mystery issue, you might ask?

It's simple really. You don't necessarily notice it at a first glance, but something about that logo seems off. Taking a second longer, you may notice it yourself.

No, I mean it, take a minute and go look at the logo. It looks wonky as hell, doesn't it?

Well I can tell you the first thing that I personally noticed. The arms of the W aren't in line with the bottom half, see:

(Graphic by @girlrussell who was so kind to let me use it, as it is way prettier than the one I made)

It's a crooked W. There is no good explanation for this. The rest of the font is perfectly fine, geometrical shapes.

Anyway, the good person that I am I went to point this out to my partner ( @leftneb ) who proceeded to inform me that he, infact, was not aware about this and was, quote, "never going to unsee that."

Now, the good FRIEND that I am, I, of course, proceeded to rush into our broader F1 friendgroup to make them suffer for eternity.

What's the logical next step to take? Of course, fix the logo in Adobe Photoshop, you know, as a joke.

(Disclaimer at this point, I am not necessarily the biggest fan of Williams Management Team. I enjoy ALL their drivers this season. I do NOT enjoy James Vowels. Be warned.)(Also I am aware that he probably did not have an influence on the logo)

Trying to fix it. Oh god, I was so innocent back then

Trying to fix the logo in Photoshop is the worst mistake I could've made. THE worst path to take. I could've just giggled about making my friends suffer (which I succeeded in, by the way) and moved on. Instead I ruined a perfectly good Saturday evening, and for what? I don't know anymore.

Anyway, how was I gonna go about fixing the logo in the simplest way possible? Simplest way I could come up with: slap the thing in Photoshop and put two, mirrored boxes at each side to make the sides line up. Small issue, how do I make the thing actually even? Fix: line them up at the intersecting point with the bottom tips of the W.

Here's the result:

Hey, anyone care to explain to me why in THE LORDS NAME the arms are different sized? I mean, surely they weren't before. Surely, certainly, I must've messed up.

I double, I tripple checked. I made sure everything was lined up and made sense. But no.

It just couldn't be. Something was uneven in this logo, something even deeper. Something I could not have predicted when first taking a closer look. It was at this point I realized I had messed up. What rabbit hole had I stumbled across? Certainly, it couldn't get much worse.

And that's when I noticed.

(pictured above; my genuine reaction)

There's MORE? (oh god, the top isn't lined up)

I couldn't believe my eyes. This is the PINNACLE of the sport, and THIS was the logo of one of the competing teams? I mean, yeah, we have a Visa Cash App RB or a Kick Sauber or even a MoneyGram Haas which are all terrible logos, but at least they're CLEAN. (this has not been checked. If anyone wishes to ruin a nice Saturday evening, feel free to check them and tell me how wrong I was in the previous statement!)

But you can see that there is no end in sight for this post. I'm sure you're as scared as I was at this point. By now we were sitting in VC, discussing the horribleness of this logo. I had long informed my irl's about this, who take said design classes with me. And it was one of them who pointed out the next thing that had been bothering me, but I had not been able to put a finger on up to this point.

thE DISTANCE, HOW DID THEY FUCK IT?

I'm afraid I have to confirm your fears.

Yes, those lines are the same length. According to Photoshop, they're on the same level as well, so no flunking with angles.

The gaps of the arms to the main W are not the same. They're differently sized gaps.

It was clear to us, this logo is inherintely flawed. They're subtle issues, but once you pay attention you start to notice things. It all looks slightly wonky and off centre. And eventually, you get paranoid, and start comparing other angles and sizes. And you will keep finding things. This has ruined my life.

HOOOOOW

Honestly, I don't even know what to say. Yes, yes sadly those lines, too, are the same length. Just copied over from one side to the other and layed over on the same height. I admit, they're not layed over perfectly. I was honestly holding back tears at this point. But the point still stands, you can clearly see a difference in width.

Honestly, the only way I can explain it is that at some point there was a mess up of distance or proportions and whoever was designing the logo couldn't pin it down and tried to restore the visual balance by making manual adjustments. And in all honesty? They kinda did a good job, if that's what's happened. I mean, you notice the crookedness of the arms, and then maybe the difference in height, but the rest you probably will not notice if you don't spend too much time staring at it. (like some of us) And even those issues clearly aren't noticeable to the vast majority, considering I had to go point it out to a group chat for my friends at least to notice.

what the fuck is THAT?

Now, the thing about doing this investigative work of prooving a team you dislike is worse in more aspects than you previously thought, is that you do a lot of zooming in. And zooming in means you might notice bits that yours eyes simply overlooked before, because they were too small.

Here you can witness the top of the middle point, that, for whatever reason, really wants to touch the top border of the Logo. I'm relatively certain that's the highest few pixel in the entire graphic, considering earlier chapter "There's MORE?" I have no idea why it looks like that or why they thought it was necessary for it to not end in a clean point.

I just actually have no idea how to even describe what is going on on the top of the left arm. That left hand side, again, touches the side and is therefore the most-left-pixel in the graphic. I, once again, have no idea the purpose of this. However the RIGHT hand side also makes no sense, as it is the most prominent corner in the whole logo. There's pointed corners, and rounded OF corners, but nothing that is trying to form it's own colony in a distant land that hopefully isn't this god awful logo. I hope that blob gets away. I really do. You go king.

i'm loosing my mind

Anyway, the only reason I could come UP with those weird "reachy-outy-bits" was to establish the dimensions of the logo? But if that was the case, I don't understand why they managed to keep all the other potentially border touching corners clean?

Like, look. Those are clean, sharp corners with some clearance off the borders. I have no clue why they managed it here but not with the others.

guys. please.

Backtrackig a little bit, going back to the positioning of the arms.

Do I need to mention that those lines are both the same length and the same (mirrored) angle? I really hope I don't, because I don't think I could be making this shit up. Like, once you roughly know what you need to look for it just kinda becomes easy to find.

As said before, I genuinely do think that most of these issues happened in a chain-reaction. For example, the distances between the main part and the W wouldn't be as noticeable (and they do get noticeable once you start looking at it) if the angle wasn't fucked. And guess what, there's more fucked angles here! Which ALSO influence this specific area of the logo!

this is just embarrasing for you.

something something same line copied over and mirrored etc etc

It's not as visible but the angles defintely don't line up here as well. As mentioned before, these issues for the most part all influence each other. It doesn't really excuse the issues, in my opinion as a designer, because a big company like this shouldn't have these sort of issues in their logo.

So let's review;

to sum it up,

i cannot even BEGIN to explain to you how big of a fucking JOKE this FUCKING logo is. because, i thought to myself, to round the post out, hey, why not show ALL the issues i pointed out in one picture? that would round it out quite nicely, wouldn't it?

Yeah well, this logo sent STRAIGHT FROM HELL just could NOT let me rest. I had only done the lines visualizing the crooked arms in PAINT up until this point, i.e. I had only pulled both up individually. To make a nice "rounding out" picture I still had to add them into PHOTOSHOP. so i did. i pulled up the line. i mirrored the line.

THE ANGLE IS FUCKING DIFFERENT

none. and i mean NONE of my friends had noticed this before. i need you to understand that we looked at this thing with FIVE pair of eyes, and NONE of us noticed that until i thought to myself "Oh I still need to add these specific lines to have ALL the issues I pointed out in my SILLY TUMBLR POST in ONE image" and i get THAT FUCKING SURPRISE

I was PLANNING to round the post out with a statement on how obviously this isn't a serious post. Here, I even had it all written out already because I accidentally started writing it in the last paragraph:

Of course, this is nitpicking, and it's not that serious. I'm aware of that. AS MENTIONED most of these would not be noticeable if we hadn't gone specifically looking for them.

yeah, well, fuck that. i just spent two hours seething about this logo. i'm ending the post on this instead.

[gothwineaunts]

I don't want to make you feel guilty about it but do you have any updates about Shiloh?

Don't worry, I've been wanting to tell y'all what's up with Shiloh for awhile now! I just want to start with the disclaimer that I don't really have what I'd call "news" on it. It's in limbo at the moment, but for good reason. When you sign on with Webtoon you agree to give them digital exclusivity for a period of time. This is so you can't go and post your series somewhere else, because ofc webtoon wants readers to only be able to read it on their app. This is all fine, like it's all above-board, normal stuff. But as a result there's a span of time where you cannot post the series anywhere else, even if the series is finished. I don't wanna get too specific, but a few years. You've probably heard about Let's Play, right? How Mongie left the platform? The reason she can't immediately start posting Let's Play somewhere else, is because of this same thing. She, like all the other webtoons that leave or are canceled, needs to wait until the term is up before she can continue elsewhere. The clock on this resets whenever you post a new episode. So it's not like episode 1 is okay to post somewhere else before episode 10 is, it's the whole series or nothing. So with all that said. Shiloh's almost to the end of this term, and past a certain point we felt it no longer made sense to try to post S3 as a webtoon original because the moment we post even one episode, we'd have to wait all these years over again if/when we left. There's also been some writing on the wall for a minute that webtoon isn't keen on renewing Shiloh after S3, so there was also a possibility we'd come back, just to be canceled. And honestly that's alright with us, we have thought for some time now that Shiloh is better suited to a longer monthly issue release rather than shorter weekly ones, just with the genre it is. And besides, we wouldn't be able to keep up with webtoon's mandated weekly schedule while we're working on Nevermore at the same time. So TLDR; when Shiloh comes back it won't be as a webtoon original. But I'm not sure what it'll look like yet. Could be on canvas. Could be on patreon as like a free/fastpass sort of route, potentially. We know we want people to be able to read it for free no matter what. But the details are all sort of a toss up at the moment, because we still have a little more time to wait before we can do anything anyway. I'm sorry if that's not a very satisfying answer! It's why I've been dragging my feet on a proper announcement, because I don't have any hard dates or plans for y'all yet. But we have not abandoned Shiloh! It's been in deep freeze, but intentionally. And with plans to return at some point. We won't be abandoning it, it's a huge passion project for us. <3

[peachesyeo]

8/9... 8/8 - ATEEZ OT8 part two

THIS IMAGINE IS MATURE! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

⊹ 1.6k words ⊹ friends!ateez x fem!reader (ft. straykids) ᭡ angst, mature. (+ fluff brought to you by straykids)

✧ a/n: i didn't expect so many people to like this work???? i wrote it in a span of two hours because i was feeling super depressed and wow, you guys gave me a huge surprise! thank you..? anyway, there won't be a part three. if you guys are inspired feel free to extend the lore and universe (:

p.s. the 1117 series will be rewritten!!!!!!!

thank you @sousydive for beta reading. thank you @ja3hwa for the banner (I LOVE YOU AS MUCH AS MY BLOOD VESSELS)

⊂ content: name calling, broken friendship. probably the start of a universe.

✦ network: @newworldnet

:̗̀➛ 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭? :̗̀➛ 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞? :̗̀➛ 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭? (for all works)

those who asked to be tagged: @vixensss @anxiousskylar @spenceatiny18 @kitkat1sstuff

The stormy clouds gathered, hiding the golden rays of the sun. You had run a distance away from the cafe, from Jongho, and you stopped, panting. 

A slut. You laughed, a shrill sound escaping your throat as thunder clapped overhead. 

You have been bearing that name anyway. From high school, to university. People assumed that you were the boy’s personal whore, being close to them and all. All kinds of nicknames were thrown in your direction. 

Whore. Slut. Used. Dirty. A common bus.

The boys didn’t know. They didn’t know that the girls would laugh at you while you were using the restroom. They didn’t know that men have come up to you, asking you how much you charge per night. They didn’t know the looks you received when the boys weren't looking.

You let out a sound between a sob and a laugh. 

Something wet hit you. Once. Twice. Droplets of rain fell, mixing in with the tears that were rolling down your face. Your tracksuit slowly turned wet, as you made your way home in a daze.

Eight years. 

You love the boys like your brothers. For eight years. To you, they are family. 

“Y/n!”

Someone pulled you by the arm. You turned around to see a worried Felix, who dragged you with him. He pulled you to the nearest shelter, where Bang Chan and Jisung stood waiting. 

“Y/n? Are you okay?” Jisung asked, as Felix fussed over you. Bang Chan was calling someone on his phone, sounding anxious. You nodded your head in a daze, your fingers gripping on Felix’s sleeve like you were holding on to your lifeline. 

“Wanna go home, Lixie.” Your voice was small. You stared ahead of you without any focus in your eyes. Jisung rubbed your shoulders, trying to warm you up. “Hey, Y/n, you here with me?”

You slowly looked over at Jisung. “Sungie..?” You whispered the nickname they had allowed you to call after just one week of hanging out with them. “Yeah, I’m here, Y/n.” Jisung answered carefully, his heart breaking at the sight of the tears in your eyes.

Felix sighed, pulling you into his arms. He doesn’t seem to care about his shirt getting wet, patting you gently as he speaks. “It’s okay to cry, Y/n.”

You leaned into his arms, your shoulders shaking as you sobbed quietly. Chan approached the three of you, his voice gentle. “Y/nnie, is it okay if we bring you home?” You got out of Felix’s embrace, nodding as you wiped your eyes. “Y-yeah. Thank you.”

Minho was fussing over you like a mother hen. 

“Absolutely not, Y/n. Yongbokkie and I will manage the kitchen, Bin will stay here and take care of you - and where is Hwang Hyunjin?” He barked. You giggled as Jisung pulled a face behind his back, while Changbin dried your hair with a towel. 

Felix appeared, holding a cup of tea. “Ginger tea, Y/nnie. Keeps you warm.” You accept the tea gratefully from him, taking a huge sip. “Thanks, Lixie.”

“No problem.” He smiled, heading back towards the kitchen. Hyunjun appeared with snacks, scowling at Minho as he placed them in front of you. “Don’t need to rush me, Mother.” Minho rolled his eyes, shahaying back into the kitchen. Changbin snorted, patting your almost dried hair. “Just stay here and eat snacks with Jinnie, Jisung and the two idiots there, Y/n. Don’t worry about anything, you need comfort and cuddles now.”

“Only one idiot here and it’s not me, hyung. But Jongho is such a bitch for saying that.” On the other couch, Seungmin commented, ignoring Jeongin’s glare and reached for the snacks in front of you. Your smile faltered as Jisung smacked Seungmin’s hands. “Minnie!”

“What?” Seungmin scowled at the older man, rubbing his arm. “I was just telling the truth, Y/n needs to know how fake they are anyways.” He grabbed the snack with his other hand as you shifted uncomfortably in your seat. Changbin rubbed your shoulders comfortingly. “Do you want to hear about this, Y/n?”

You bit your lip. “I.. don’t know, Binnie. They’ve been my friends - my only friends, for a long time. I just thought… If they had a problem with me, they should have told me sooner. I can change!” You gripped the cup tightly in your hands. “It just hurts. We are adults, but-”

“Hey, Y/nnie. Look at me.” Hyunjin put his palms on your cheeks, gently turning you to face him. “I know how you are feeling, Y/n. But it’s okay. You have us now.” He said slowly, as you blink the tears away. “We’ll be here for you, Y/n.”

Jisung sighed loudly. Suddenly, he felt something vibrating. Frowning, he felt around the couch, finally fishing out your phone from under a pillow. Checking to see if you were paying attention, Jisung discreetly slipped the phone into his back pocket. He signaled Changbin, who nodded and gave a meaningful look to Hyunjin. The younger cleared his throat, patting your hair. “You wanna see something fun? We have an album full of Innie’s ugly photos.”

While the youngest protested loudly, Jisung took the chance to sneak into the kitchen. Minho, who was busy over the stove, looked up at him lazily. “What is it?”

Jisung snorted at your phone screen. “Trouble.” He said, answering the call. 

“Hello? Y/nnie? Are you okay?” The caller rattled at lightning speed, not even giving Jisung a chance to speak. “Look, I heard about Jongho, he didn’t mean it. He’s feeling bad about it too, Y/nnie.” 

“She’s not here, you idiot.” Jisung leaned against the countertop, looking at his nails. The person on the other line paused, his voice lowering a few octaves. “Who are you?”

“Han Jisung. To think I’ll ever hear your voice again, Kang Yeosang.”

“Is Y/n with you?”

“Why do you care? Aren’t you guys tired of her?” Felix turned, looking at Jisung, who had a dark look on his face. “She was supposed to be our friend anyways, if Jung Wooyoung hadn’t been so thick-skinned and took credit for Jinnie’s work, Y/n would have been with us eight years ago.”

“...”

“Cat got your tongue?” Jisung raised a brow, as silence filled Yeosang’s line. “Y/n’s not a toy, Kang Yeosang. If you guys don't treasure her, we will."

“What did she say?” Mingi asked eagerly as Yeosang put down his phone. The older man looked towards Jongho, who was sitting in the middle of the couch with a distant expression. “She should be angry, Jongho said those words after all-”

“She didn’t answer. Han Jisung did.” Yeosang’s voice was small. Wooyoung, who had been really quiet after hearing Jongho’s story, stood up and left the room. San frowned in worry, following after the younger as Yeosang continued. “I think they are taking care of her.”

Silence. 

“I’ll go ask her at work.” Hongjoong decided eventually. “Let’s just give her some time and space… We were in the wrong after all.” 

Yeosang knew that that was the end of the conversation about Y/n. He looked towards Seonghwa, who was furiously typing away on his phone. He then lowered his eyes, a ridiculous feeling spreading over him. 

You’re one of them, Kang Yeosang. Too late for you to be regretting. 

Hwa Oppa: Y/nnie?

Hwa Oppa: Are you there?

Hwa Oppa: Look, I’m really sorry about this. Hwa Oppa: Can we talk? Hwa Oppa: Please reply to me if you saw this message, Y/nnie. ASAP.

The notifications had been coming in for hours. You ignored them, enjoying your time chatting with Jisung and Hyunjin. The boys made you stay for lunch and dinner, and when Bang Chan sent you home, you finally read the messages from Seonghwa. 

Your finger hovered over the screen hesitantly. Jongho must have told Seonghwa what happened, there were a couple of missed calls from Yeosang, Yunho and Hongjoong, a long message from Mingi and San sending you gifs to see if you would reply. There was nothing from Wooyoung, but for some reason, you didn’t feel angry. 

Nor were you sad. 

It was as if, it does not matter to you anymore. 

They do not matter to you anymore.

You: Hey Seonghwa oppa, sorry that I was busy. 

Hwa Oppa: It’s alright. Could we call? Talk? Or would you prefer texting?

You: Sure.

Seonghwa cleared his throat as he tapped the dial button. A few rings later, you picked up. He licked his lips dryly. “Y/nnie?” 

“Hey.” Your voice seemed lighter compared to his. Seonghwa gripped his phone tightly. “How are you?”

“Funny you asked about that, Seonghwa oppa.” Your voice was no longer the affectionate one Seonghwa was used to. In fact, it was one you used to speak with acquaintances. “It does not matter to you, does it?”

“I’m sorry-” “On behalf of Jongho? It’s clear to me that he had that thought in him long ago, Seonghwa. Throughout highschool, I’ve been called a whore for hanging out with you guys. Seems like I am really one to you, huh?”

Seonghwa couldn’t speak. Silence hung between the both of you, until he broke it in a small voice. 

“I never thought of you that way, I swear, Y/n.”

“And I don’t think I can face any of you after this, Seonghwa.” 

“But you have to listen to me, Lee Minho and his friends are-” “And why does it matter to you, Seonghwa? That is my problem now. Don’t you hate it when I complain to you about my worries? Didn’t you think it was annoying?” You shot back, your voice turning agitated. “So stop pretending you’re caring, Seonghwa.”

Seonghwa wants to cry. He didn’t mean to say what he did, he blames it on the alcohol he had. He did feel annoyed when you were complaining to him and all, but he never saw you as a whore nor a slut.

“And the others too. I won’t reply to them, tell Hongjoong not to bother me at work if he doesn’t want me to quit.” 

The line went silent. 

Outside the door, Wooyoung lowered his head. A smirk crawled to his lips as he tiptoed away back to his room. Once the door closed behind him, he fished out his phone, hands on his lips to muffle his laughter. 

On the screen, another Wooyoung was banging on the white walls, screaming for help. Wooyoung watched him for a while, before switching his phone off. His eyes flashed red, as he spoke to no one in particular. 

“Stage one, completed.”

➳ pernament taglist: @sousydive @yeodeulz @oddracha @jaerisdiction @yukichan67 @evidive @onysmamas

spoiler alert: start of a new strayteez universe?

[twopoppies]

Hi Gina , Do you have a category for reread fics?How can I find them

Meaning fics I’ve read more than once? I don’t think I’ve ever made one—let me see what I can do.

Danger I Can’t Hide by CelticSky (E, 227K) This one’s got all the tension and drama you’d expect of a World War II story—life and death high stakes, friends and lovers unexpectedly torn apart, battles and heroism, plus the added stakes of classism and homophobia—then add a slow burn, high risk, scorching love affair spanning years. If you want a story that’s complex and fantastically researched, plus lovers to root for, read it. It’s long. But I couldn’t put it down. When I did, I immediately picked it right back up and read it twice more.

Hats Off To My Distant Hope by orphan_account (E, 21K) This was such a pleasure to read. The writing feels so effortless as the fic explores the deep emotions of these two characters. They’re stubborn and inarticulate and gentle and passionate and finally, finally open up to each other. I really wish I knew who wrote it because I’d love to read more of their work.

Walk That Mile by purpledaisy (E, 150K) I’ve read this one multiple times and still love it. Their bickering is so realistic, their resistance to their attraction to each other is perfect, the way the author portrays all of their weird quirks and differences but still makes it believable that they’d fall fo reach other is such fun to read….I love this fic.

my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach (E, 160K) Probably my absolute favorite time travel fic. I’ve read it more times than I’d like to admit, and every time I love it more. One of the things I like most is how organically the author weaves in canon events…every little moment is an easter egg without it being so obvious that it pulls you out of the fic. Anyway, this one is so moving and so absorbing, I hope you like it if you give it a try! There’s an 18K companion piece to it as well, but you’ll see the link at the appropriate time when you’re reading the main fic (and when you read the scene that breaks your heart –– in the best possible way –– come and scream at me. You’ll know which one I mean).

Our Lives, Non Fiction by @indiaalphawhiskey (E, 114K) this is, quite literally, the best fic I’ve read in years. It’s so well written, clever, funny, emotional, and sexy. Its draw you in immediately and you’ll end up falling in love with these characters before you know it. Don’t miss this one.

Never Never Never Stop for Anyone (Sheylinsonverse) by aimmyarrowshigh, spibsy (E, 10-work series, 439K)Yes, here I am again, putting this series on a list. Probably 10 people in this fandom like it as much as I do, but I don’t care. I have read all 440K words more than once, and will likely do it a few more times. Yes, it needs editing, but even so…really well written, super sexy (if you like reading BDSM and can handle Larry + someone else), and such interesting character development. One of my favorite things about this fic is how the authors differentiate between the ways the different characters inhabit their Dom and Sub personalities.

Make Your Words A Weapon by HelloAmHere (E, 36K) I love everything this author writes. This one just really hit me hard for whatever reason. Maybe it’s the way they explore Louis’ anxiety and coping mechanisms and pain and the way he pushes people away and protects himself, but also wants someone to push back just a bit and love him despite all of that. And the way Harry is the perfect foil for all of it, while also feeling like a fully developed character himself. Yeah, it’s probably all of that. Plus soul marks!

Pull Me Under by zarah5 (E, 140K) One of the very first fics I read when I came into this fandom…and I’ve read it multiple times since. Zarah’s fics hold up every time. This one has it all, great pacing, ot5 friendship, banter, super sexy smut, etc etc. Plus, Louis being super jealous of Harry’s best friend.

Into The Blue by zarah5 (E, 117K) honestly, I love all of this author’s fics, but I think this is my favorite of theirs. Louis as a flirty scuba instructor? Newly single Harry who just wants a fling? Boys living on other sides of the world who only have a few weeks together? Heartbreak. Hot af smut. OT5 friendship. Please….give me all that shit.

Faking It by TheCellarDoor (M, 46K)This one is so sweet. I loved Harry's internal monologue... his insecurities and thoughts that he'd made Louis uncomfortable because he liked, him made me cry. Louis is so soft and supportive. It’s just a lovely fic.

Remind Me Again by momentofclarity / @gaycousinlarry (E, 29K) Every sentence in this fic is so effortlessly beautiful. I love that the miscommunication between them is done in a totally realistic way. The fight and make up like real people do and that makes the angst more painful and the making up more emotional. One of my favorite authors.

And Touch Me Like You Never by runaway_train (E, 36K) I really enjoyed how this author handled Harry’s confusion and growing attraction and eventual sexuality crisis. That, along with the angst and very sexy smut, made it a really good read.

may we all have a vision now and then by momentofclarity / @gaycousinlarry (M, 4K) This author is one of my favorite writers in this fandom and everything they do is infused with so much delicacy and tenderness. I literally cried through this fic because of how wounded Harry’s character feels. Read it and then treat yourself to their whole AO3 catalogue.

Seeing Blind by zedi (E, 47K) I really liked the way this author gave a twist to both Omega Harry and Alpha Louis’ characteristics. It’s a whole lot of smut and miscommunication and, of course, a happy ending.

Shake Me Down by AGreatPerhaps12 (NR, 209K) this fic will run you through the wringer, but it’s really a great read. I really like the way the author took the boys from enemies to friends to boyfriends, and how we got to see how protective and supportive Louis became towards Harry.

smell the sea, feel the sky by @lightwoodsmagic (E, 16K) This is the perfect summer pining fic. I love that they’re adults and still the same horny, pining fools for each other and it still works. It’s just very sexy, light, and fun.

we can take the long road home by @pinkcords (E, 46K) This was absolutely gorgeous. And it made me cry, damn it. Seriously though, the writing is so beautiful. I loved the characterizations and the way they both showed their vulnerability. I loved the slow pace and the hot smut. I loved this fic.

smile in slow motion by istajmaal (E, 24K) One of my favorite Daddy kink authors, this one is lighthearted and funny while also being super sexy. Plus it’s got great Zouis friendship.

all my love was down on a frozen ground by navigator (E, 16K) This is an old one that I didn’t have bookmarked for some reason. But it’s a favorite and I love everything this author wrote. This is one of those quiet, soft fics with a bit of angst and a lot of internal monologue and gentle conversations. I don’t know, there’s something so touching about it.

Thought The Song Was Sung by 100percentsassy (E, 13K) This is both a famous/not famous and a dating app AU. Plus, older Larry. Plus an author who writes great fic. And this one is just sweet and charming and I really like this one.

the way the storms blow by rbbsbb (E, 22K) What would happen if you walked in on your best friend in the midst of an orgy? Louis finds out and it’s pretty damn hot.

we can take the long way home by eleadore (E, 27K) this one is a canon divergent future fic where Louis is a “carrier” (basically, he would be able to get pregnant) and it’s just SO good. It’s beautifully written (like everything this author does), so well-paced, and I just find the way their developing relationship is written to be so touching and realistic.

The light to guide me home by Star_Henderson / @tommosgun (E, 65K) I don’t know what it is about this fic but I’ve read it so many times and I just really love the instant chemistry, the smut is stupid hot and fuels the character growth, and even with the angst, the whole thing is just lighthearted and sexy.

Speaking of Marvels by navigator, quitter (E, 101K) This was one of the first fics I read in this fandom, but I read it again recently and had forgotten how really wonderful it is. The writing is so lovely and the characters feel so well developed. I especially loved how the authors explored how differently the two of them would respond to their relationship given the different stages of life they were in. It made the romance and the attraction and the angst feel really real.

Constant Debauchery by Blake (E, 19K) Yes, yes, I know. I’ve probably recommended this 10 times. But have you read it yet? Anyway…Edwardian setting, uni ABO (Alpha/Alpha) fic. Gorgeous mood setting, I’ve said before that it reads like an Merchant Ivory film looks…just gorgeous. There’s a similar sense of repression and uncertainty about flouting societal expectations, and a character who appears one way on the surface, but underneath is quite different. I love this one, I’ve read it a number of times.

Lightening Strikes Twice by @dinosaursmate (E, 106K) It’s not often that I read a 100+K fic multiple times, but this one is worth it. It’s one of my favorites from this author, and a favorite all around. It’s an epic love story spanning decades and massive life changes. It’s sexy and well-written, and so touching, and so fulfilling in many ways.

precious little thing by mercutionnotromeo (E, 21K) I’ve read this one so many times…it’s got it all. This time the phone sex operator is Louis, and subby Harry is just beginning to realize his daddy kink.

Good Enough to Eat by objectlesson (E, 7K) This author always does such a good job with depicting young, queer love and the way their characters experience the overwhelm of realizing they’re not straight, realizing the’ve met their Person, pining, and giving in. I love a lot of their fics, but I think this is my favorite of them. Link is to a download.

One day to believe in you by mediaville (E, 8K) another author who always hits it out of the park as far as I’m concerned. This one is super funny and then super sexy. Louis gets cursed and has to tell the truth. No matter what Harry asks him. Read it!

like a bastard on a burning sea by vashtaneradas (NR, 21K) Heartbreaking, perfect writing. So well-written that the fandom hated real-life Harry for a while after this was posted. 😅

These Roads We Stumble Down by onewasturning (E, 18K) I adore this author’s writing and I’ve read this particular one multiple times. It’s just a little melancholy and very sexy and one of those fics that reminds me why I can read about the same two people falling in love 46372 times and never tire of it.

Empty Skies by green_feelings / @greenfeelings (E, 13K) I just started re-reading this the other day and it holds up so well. This author is always a pleasure to read. Their fics just are well plotted and the characters are nicely fleshed out. I loved Perrie as Harry’s bestie, the bitterness and angst is PAINFUL, and the ending feels well earned.

Wild and Unruly by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews (E, 124K) One of the OG classics in this fandom. If you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing out. It’s just a great, original story. Plus, cowboy Harry, city boy Louis, bad guys to hate, nail biting drama, hot af sexual chemistry and smut, and a super satisfying ending.

Love Is A Rebellious Bird by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews (E, 135K) Everything about this fic is glorious. I’m always struck by how well the characters are fleshed out, how their behavior lines up with their backstory, how ridiculously hot the chemistry is, and how agonizing the angst is. So yes, no shocker, I cried buckets. Thank god for a happy ending.

Unbelievers by isthatyoularry (E, 137K) High school Au, footie, enemies with benefits, so much sexual tension (and just tension), and really well-developed, complex characters. Most of the conflict in this (and in the companion fic from Harry’s POV) is straight up lack of communication. But, given the age of the characters, it’s forgivable (although sometimes frustrating).

In Dreams by dolce_piccante (M, 24K) This actually might be my favorite of this author’s fics, although I know it’s definitely not the most popular. It’s just soft and romantic and sweet and I’m a sucker for tattoo artist Louis winning over slightly uptight Harry.

Your Name Is Tattooed On My Heart my mcpofife (E, 87K) I reread this one recently and it's truly delightful. The characterizations are so well done. Harry is so endearing (I cried over his heartbreak). And the smut is both hot and really emotional. Love this one.

[heartfullofleeches]

Tsun Yan Camboy + G.N Loser Reader- [mdni]

A chronically online shut in and the roommate blessed misfortunate enough to bunk with them.

God - he can't stand you. How can you even consider yourself his roommate? All you ever do all day is hole yourself up in your room wasting the day away watching your favorite streamers and actors - and when you do leave, all you ever talk about is them. It's disgusting - you're disgusting. He should find another roommate and be done with you. There you go again babbling on about your fav streamer reading your message today .....why don't your eyes ever light up like that when he's talking to you?...

Your roommate eventually gets fed up and steals your phone while you're sleeping. What do they have that he doesn't? Granted, you had made a move on him when he first moved which he quickly shot down. Undressing him with your eyes, hurling disgusting flirts and taking any chance to grope at him in close counters. His heart leapt straight into his pants remembering the last time he accidentally left the door open a crack and caught you staring like a predator to prey - belittling him more to just a slab of meat. It made him sick... it made him feel desired.

All these creators on your feed. Your messages are nothing short of repulsive too. A little bit of skin exposed and you just couldn't help yourself. He could do it too. Better than all the little tramps that caught your eye. It would be easy too. Everyone always complimented him on his physical appearance anyways - always trying to offer him their couch while things with you were getting figured out when the only place he wanted to be was your bed.

He got to work as soon as he returned your phone - creating various accounts on sites you frequented and buying everything he needed to get started. He even obtained a gym membership to work on his flexibility and thighs which he later switched to home training as his popularity grew; giving you the middle finger whenever you inquired where he was going and made the indepth observation his ass had gotten bigger than you remembered this past few weeks.

It didn't take long for him to gain traction.

A lot of the things you enjoyed could apply to the masses and he put more effort into his research than anything he had prior - even just confessing his love. He wore the outfits you loved, spoke in the breathy tones you liked, and on those specially lonely nights - he spanned your messages with invites for his pages so frequently you probably wouldn't checked him out sooner if you hadn't thought they were bots. None of the fame, fans or money really mattered - until he saw that familiar name in his inbox.

"Hey gorgeous, loved your vids~ hope you would do me the pleasure of texting me back sometime."

And he did - everyday. You're such an utter mess when it comes to acting like a functional being it's no wonder you were blocked by a few streamers before he thinned the list out - but it was the cutest thing. He was jealous of his own self now for having your full attention, but the anonymity allowed him to do things for he normally wouldn't in a million years- like spreading his legs open on his desk and showing you what exactly your sweet, fucked up words do to him.

To combat the threat of you finding his identity he wears cute masks and wigs - eventually earning enough to rent a small apartment to keep you fully in the dark. You might point out a mole on his backside in the same place as your new favorite streamer, but a quick dick pic from said individual draws whatever conversation you started to a close. Always searches for your recommendations out of thousands when asking for input on his next fit/scene and calls all of his followers his subjects - while wearing a choker that says master on it. It's still a little irritating to hear you ramble about some bitch you found online - but being that bitch makes it all worth it.

"You should see dude's hips... I mean - the handles on this guy.... don't even get me started on the things he does with his tongue.

Your roommate scoffs and rolls his eyes - nursing a sucker between his lips as he hits order on the swim suit you suggested to him and sends you the confirmation email along with a good morning

[pseudowho]

Hi so I spent the better part of my Wednesday reading Infiltration. I really loved it and thank you for making it. I actually shared it with a friend to also read. I’m writing this ask because that’s probably the most I’ve read this year. I’ve been trying to get back into reading but my attention span just hasn’t been right, so I’ve been doing various things to get it back to a good place. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know your work has helped me reach a real milestone in my head and has made me feel like I’ll be able to pick up a book real soon. Thank you again for your work.

I'm honestly delighted that it's helped you to get into a good headspace. Sometimes a novel can seem really daunting, but a longer fic seems less intimidating. Thank you ever so much for enjoying Infiltration, it was great fun to write.

With how good some of the writing is on Tumblr, I really think you're spoilt for choice. Might I also recommend @delirious-donna 's "Your Best Friend's Brother" Nanami fic, another amazing 'forced proximity' series, which is reaching its exciting finale very soon!

@bunny584 is writing a Priest!Suguru series which is blowing my mind, and she also has a longer SatoSugu fic on AO3 which I'm going to read soon, but I think my vibrator will need to charge for about three weeks in advance.

@gojonanami has written the exquisite and very well loved (and for good reason) Professor Geto fic, which I think?? is finished. I've only had the time to read the first chapter but it was so wonderfully written, and I need need need the time to finish it, because I know I'm going to have my mind blown. I have absolute faith that I'm going to devour it while, and that you would too.

Also: don't beat yourself up. You haven't failed, by not reading a book in a while. Your time will come again. The fact is, you're reading and enjoying something and there's no shame in that.

Thank you again for reading Infiltration. It means a lot to me.

If anyone else wants to read Infiltration, my completed "pretend to be married" fic with Nanami and Reader infiltrating a Curse User cult, please enjoy here.

-- Haitch xxx

[watchingblsnowandforever]

Hello!!!

Welcome back! =D

Part 2

Warning: long, long post (also a part 2 but I think y'all are used to it by now-) 😊😅

MattMick!! Also, Beer looking between them like that and Q and Toey peeking from behind cracked me up hehe

Also, does that mean Beer is single? Wait, maybe he's aroace. That'd be really cool.

I did see some hints of a throuple of him and MattMick, but I'm happy with either option.

SO CUTE 🥺🫶🏼

Poor QToey 😭

Their romantic moment got rained on so hard-

Exhibit: Here you can see three males from the species Homo sexuals. Two of them are already mated, and the third is in the courting process. We think the other male is interested too.

Oh- But I thought- oh, this makes sense actually. So the others know. I mean not really surprising when you think about it, to be honest.

With his unprecedented levels of obliviousness? Yeah, no, I get where you're coming from, Chain.

That's your biggest concern about getting a penguin?? 😭😭

Why does Peem look like the exasperated mom friend of the group 😭

After all the tiny crumbs of the past *checks notes* 8262 eps, this is a lot of progress.

HANDS. (I will never stop screaming about hands.)

Cuteee

Peem, babe, he hardly ever goes to class anyways. He's too busy following you around like a puppy.

Me, who holds handholding above everything else (yes, even sex): *DEEP BREATHS THROUGH THE NOSE* I'm fine. *SMOKE COMING OUT OF EARS* Totally fine.

Nothing to say, just a really good shot. (Also, Phuwin's exasperated smile seemed too real and then I learned Pond improvised that scene and yeah, that explains it)

ChainPun: only two people with matching pillow cases

QToey: missing (me?) [Sorry I couldn't resist 😭]

TanFang: peacefully asleep

PhumPeem: chronic insomnia, aggravated by Tan's snores

Matt: cuddling Mick

Beer: dreaming of him and his friends and their boyfriends all graduating with good grades

ChainPun. <33

Let me wrap this moment in my memory forever. (I tried to adjust the lighting a bit but it didn't really work out 😭)

AJSSHUJKJ!!!!! THEY GIVE ME TWO MAKE OUT SESSIONS WITHIN THE SPAN OF LIKE 4 MINUTES AND EXPECT ME TO BE SANE ABOUT IT???

No.

Look, we all expected this. I even said on record I wouldn't survive. And all that mental Muay Thai still didn't prepare me for this.

Till now, I have watched 60 BLs, give or take, so I've seen a lot of NC scenes. Compared to some of them, this is very PG-13, but this one really got me, like very few sex scenes have managed to. The intimacy, the palpable love, want. It all came together so beautifully in this scene.

Them saying 'I love you' during sex is canon! Yay! I knew it in my guts (wrote a fic about it) but feels so good to be right in canon hehe.

"I love you too, now kiss me again."

HANDS!!!! (It's canon now, they hold hands during sex, and so I can freely write a fic about it. Not that something not being canon ever stopped me but yeah.)

Fang: my brother is in safe hands. 😌

Also, love how Peem didn't hesitate to at the chance to kick both brothers and make it a streak 😭👍🏼

Honestly though, this scene shows that Peem is going to go to very long lengths to make sure Phum is okay, even kicking his own brother (which assures me that Peem maybe wouldn't hesitate that much to sucker punch their dad either, which is important information to have for possible future fics.)

How can one man be so goddamn cute??

The whimpering puppy noises- 😭

Cakes are so hard to bake, for real. This one is so cute though 😭😭🫶🏼

Puppy Phum- honestly is anyone surprised? No? Thought so.

This smile-

It holds so much happiness and the brunt of so many years of trauma. It's so beautiful. I'm probably gonna rewatch the heck out of this scene.

I end Part 1 here, Part 2 will be out (hopefully) soon!

If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! 😊 (All mistakes are mine, but in my defense, I literally fell asleep while writing this.)

Here, have a pie (of your favourite flavour) 🥧

[whatswrongwithblue]

The Fire in the Sin

Chapter 13 - Dad Beat Dad

Word count: 7,839. Read on AO3. Series Masterlist. <- Previous Chapter.

Summary: Spans the events of the episode 5, season 1. Mina gets caught in the middle of Alastor and Lucifer's game of "pretend we don't know each other." Smut at the end of the chapter just for fun. No TW's apply that haven't been seen in previous chapters.

Series Summary:

In the 1950's, Alastor met the woman he would eventually marry but unfortunately his Radio Demon persona went for her soul rather than her hand. He has to learn what it means to love, and cherish, without possessing and he does. Their relationship is beautiful, strong, unbreakable . . . but he carries a dark secret through their marriage for decades until eventually he has to face the consequences of that secret and leave her, without warning, for seven years. He returns, finding her at the Hazbin Hotel, and has to convince her to forgive him, while being literally bound to secrecy, unable to tell her any of things he now is desperate to explain to her.

(This is a duel timeline fic, timestamps will be a the top of every chapter.)

Chapter 13 - Dad Beat Dad

Present Day

“Mmmm, I love you,” Mina said, taking an appreciative sip from her coffee mug. “Have I told you that lately? This is so much better than what Niffty makes.”

Alastor’s smile turned up a bit at one corner at her compliment.

“It would be even better if you drank it the way it’s meant to be,” he said.

They were up in his radio tower where he once again appeared to have spent most of the evening. He certainly hadn’t come to bed. Mina had come looking for him after the impromptu meeting downstairs had happened to fill him in on the upcoming events of the day. Though he seemed distracted and a bit tense, he was otherwise being pleasant and sweet with her.

Their relationship had been mostly mended since the night several weeks back when Mina realized the severity of his deal. It still hurt, knowing he had at some point – she still didn’t know if it was before or after they had met – made a deal involving his soul. And it was still incredibly frustrating how little he could tell her. But understanding that he was literally being forced to not tell her, and that he desperately wanted to, made that bitter pill much easier to swallow. To Alastor’s obvious relief, Mina could now see how much he was trying, and the reset in her determination to help him allowed them both to feel much more at ease with the situation.

They were solid again. No more fighting and name calling. The only insults being tossed around were just the result of their usual teasing banter.

“You are such a coffee snob,” she said over the rim of her mug. “It is not that sweet.”

“There is an entire tablespoon of creamer in there,” he scoffed.

“That’s not that much!” she protested, then sighed. “You know what? Whatever. I don’t care, I like it this way. And you make it perfectly, so thank you.”

He wasn’t looking at her, his control panel still taking up most of his attention, so she pulled on the lapel of his jacket to direct him towards her enough so she could place a kiss to his cheek. Alastor didn’t respond much to the physical attention, but Mina caught the little hum from his throat that let her know he returned her affection.

“Anyway,” she continued, “you should probably get to a stopping point soon. Big things happening today.”

“Like what?” he asked, only half paying attention.

“You missed out on Charlie having a come apart this morning. Vaggie talked her down and now her dad is on his way.”

“What?!” He spun his entire chair around to face her now.

____

Earlier that morning

Mina knocked on the door of Charlie and Vaggie’s bedroom.

A still half asleep Vaggie answered the door.

“Good morning sunshine!” Mina smiled.

“Uggghh, what do you want?” Vaggie mumbled, before realization dawned on her, and she looked back into her empty room. “Wait, where’s Charlie?”

“Downstairs,” Mina said, still smiling. “She’s gone and lost her marbles. Come see for yourself.”

Mina left her to get dressed and when Vaggie joined the others in the lobby, Charlie was still flittering about her investigation board, muttering mostly nonsense to herself.

“Think, think, think, think, think,” Mina could make out in the stream of consciousness coming from the princess.

Vaggie tried calming her down and that set Charlie’s panic off even more as she went on about the short amount of time they had left before the next extermination.

Just two months. The thought even filled Mina with dread.

She had tried, to no avail, to calm Charlie down herself earlier and failed. Mina hated extermination as much as anyone but at least they would all be safe at the hotel again. But it wasn’t enough for Charlie just to keep her closest friends from being harmed while the rest of Hell suffered. The princess needed to feel like she was doing more for all of her people. Mina admired that drive in her and had told her as much. But her words had fallen on deaf ears as Charlie continued to spiral. That was when she gave up and retrieved Vaggie.

It had been Vaggie’s idea to call Lucifer and Charlie’s idea to ask him for the meeting with Heaven. The whole thing sounded far-fetched to Mina, but she was also curious to see what came of it. Either it would work, and Charlie could stop the extermination, or it would blow up in her face. And if the latter happened, Mina could envision Charlie being pushed towards the righteous anger that her parents were known for.

Despite her desire to be free from exterminations, Mina kind of hoped for the latter. Charlie was incredibly powerful, even if the girl didn’t realize it yet. And having someone genuinely good and capable of wielding great strength on her side, sat very well with Mina.

____

Present time

“Everyone is downstairs getting ready,” Mina finished after going through the details of what had transpired that morning. She finally had his attention, but she was a little put off by just how much Alastor was suddenly very interested in what she had to say.

Alastor looked pissed.

“He shouldn’t be here,” he said, standing up from his chair as he grabbed his microphone and began to pace.

Mina frowned, confused.

“Well I’m surprised he hasn’t been here already. I don’t get it. The way Charlie talks, he sounds like such a dead-beat dad but from what I’ve seen, Lucifer really loves her.”

Alastor wasn’t listening to her anymore.

“You said she invited him? Specifically asked him to come to the hotel?” he asked, coming back to stand next to her and his workspace.

“I don’t think in those words exactly but yes,” Mina said. “She told him to come see for himself what she was doing.”

Alastor leaned over his control panel, setting his cane back to the side, before resting both open hands on the smooth surface, and glared angrily out the window at the city below.

“Of course she did,” he said, with a shake of his head. “Damn it!” and slammed a fist down hard enough to dent his work bench.

Mina jumped a little at the force of it and spilled a bit of her coffee on her sleeve. She sighed, not sure where this shift in mood was coming from and not appreciating the outburst from Alastor.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” she said. “He’s a nice enough guy.”

Alastor shot up and stood straighter as if he suddenly realized something.

“You’ve never met him,” he said.

“What are you talking about?” she said, sucking on the coffee soaked patch at the end of her sleeve before a stain could set in. “He and Lilith used to visit Abaddon all the time. You and I have met him at several parties. They were at our wedding. I still have the photos- ”

“Uh uh, Mina, my dear,” Alastor said, and took her coffee cup from her and set it down. Her eyes followed the steaming cup with longing before landing back on Alastor’s. “You and I have never met the King of Hell. Understood?”

Mina lowered her hand and stared back at her husband, finally catching on.

“This has something to do with your deal, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” he answered, and their eyebrows shot up in unison, both surprised he could confirm her suspicions. Visibly relieved, Alastor continued. “Charlie cannot know that we have met.”

“But that doesn’t even make sense!” she said. “You’re one of the most, if not the most powerful Overlord in the city. And he’s Abaddon’s brother. There’s no way Charlie will believe we haven’t crossed paths before.”

“She can know he’s at least heard of us, but as far as she believes, her father is a shut-in, a depressed failure who no longer cares about anyone or anything.”

“I . . . I don’t think that’s how she seems him exactly-“

“Close enough,” he said and grabbed his microphone, beginning to pace again.

“Alastor,” Mina said, thinking out loud, “was there some kind of significance to her inviting him?”

“Hhmmm?” He turned to her, having been lost in his own thoughts again.

“You asked specifically if Charlie had invited him. Which is interesting, because I could hear at least Charlie’s end of their conversation and he seemed to agree pretty quickly to helping her once she asked him to come over.”

Alastor stopped pacing, spun his microphone, and looked at her proudly. “You’re catching on quickly.” Then he paused, and Mina could tell he was working out what to say next. She had learned to be patient in these moments as it often took him a few seconds to find which words he would be allowed to say to her. “Charlie is the key to everything. She’s a . . . loophole, if you will.”

“So, you and Lucifer have been working together on this for some time now?” she asked.

Alastor froze again and after a few seconds, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Really, I can’t say that but I can say . . .” he paused, looking up at the ceiling, the words he was trying to say clearly stuck on the tip of his tongue, “. . . oh you have got to be kidding me!” he shouted and his antlers spiked upwards for a flash of a second.

“It’s okay!” she said, walking over to him and putting her hands on each of his arms. “It’s okay, Al’. I’ll figure the rest out. Maybe,” she continued, rubbing his arms, “Lucifer’s presence will help me put more of the pieces together. But until then, I’ll play along, alright?”

He continued to glare but seemed a bit calmer. “Alright,” he finally agreed, the radio filter gone from his voice for that one singular word.

Mina let out a breath and smiled softly up at him. “What is it about fallen angels that gets under your skin so much?” she teased.

His eyes shifted and his smile broadened into the expression that Mina had come to recognize as a tell-tale sign of him thinking up mischief.

“Oh darling, believe me . . . the feeling is mutual,” his voice lowered darkly. “Let Lucifer come here today. It’ll be fun.”

___

Mina was fairly certain, that Alastor, her greatest love and the center of her world, had gone and lost his bloody damn mind.

And Lucifer wasn’t far behind.

She had followed Alastor’s lead, standing with him right by the front door as Lucifer made his entrance. Mina had found that odd. If they weren’t supposed to all know each other, then they should be trying to not be front and center and yet Alastor seemed to want the exact opposite.

It only got weirder from there.

Lucifer blew right past them, greeting Charlie and her pets, and Mina felt purposefully ignored.

She watched the whole bizarre scene unfold before her with growing apprehension. Lucifer glanced around the lobby, and almost immediately insulted Alastor’s bar.

“Adds a bit of color, don’t you think?” Alastor asked, jumping via shadow from his place beside Mina, to be more in Lucifer’s line of sight.

“And you are?” Lucifer asked.

“Alastor,” he said, using shadow once again to shift dramatically to Lucifer’s side and grabbing the man’s cane to shake it rather than his hand. “Pleasure to be meeting you, quite a pleasure. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. You are much shorter in real life.”

Oh no . . .

Not even Alastor was unhinged enough to insult the King of Hell to his face.

But then Lucifer, rather than gutting her husband like a fish, just looked annoyed.

“Who is this? Who is this now?” he asked directly at Charlie, then turned back to Alastor. “Are you the bellhop?”

Alastor laughed.

This was not good . . .

“Ah ha! No, I am the host of the hotel!” he proclaimed. “You might have heard of me from my radio broadcast.”

“Nope!” Lucifer yelled rather obnoxiously, making Mina frown. Alastor had specifically said they could admit to at least hearing of each other. “I guess that’s why Charlie called it the Hazbin Hotel.”

Lucifer laughed and elbowed his daughter as if sharing the joke with her and Mina’s anxiety only grew, matching the uncomfortable look on Charlie’s face.

Alastor mocked his laugh and in return said, “It was actually my idea.”

Lucifer responded with an even more obvious fake laugh. “Well, it’s not very clever!”

“Ah ha!” Alastor insanely laughed and bent over the shorter man -

Oh shit

- “Fuck you,” he spat out and Mina’s jaw dropped.

What was going on between those two?

Even during the very worst of their arguments, Alastor had only used the occasional vulgar words with her, and only when he had been at the absolute end of his wits.

Thankfully Charlie stepped in between the two men before things escalated further and Mina tip toed to the other hotel residents, unconsciously seeking safety in numbers. She made eye contact with Husk as she did so, and the other cat demon looked at stunned as she felt.

Husk also knew that Alastor and Lucifer had met before. Husk had also met Lucifer before. Mina didn’t know if Alastor had a chance to talk to Husk about keeping that knowledge from Charlie or not – he had disappeared for a while that morning to help Niffty with her clogged toilet – but either way, Husk looked as uncomfortable and confused as Mina felt. The two felines got along with each other – at best – 50% of the time but that morning, she was very grateful for his company.

A less fuzzy picture began to formulate in her mind when she watched Alastor rubbing his relationship with Charlie in Lucifer’s face.

She had known it didn’t make sense that Lucifer hadn’t been around for his daughter and now she was seeing his jealous side as Alastor enthusiastically made it clear he enjoyed his position of assisting Charlie at the hotel.

It wasn’t necessarily untrue. Mina could tell most days that Alastor actually didn’t mind playing the part of a helpful hand, if only because he enjoyed how much it got him positive attention and admiration from someone as high ranking as Charlie. But he was rarely an affectionate man when in front of others, so his proud smile and fatherly hand on Charlie’s shoulder was certainly just for show, and it clearly had the desired effect on the envious Lucifer.

Had Lucifer been forced to keep away from his only daughter?

Their King shoved past them, forcing a break in the contact between Alastor and Charlie, and walked towards the hotel residents.

“Charlie, dear,” Lucifer said, “why don’t you introduce me to your other friends?”

Suddenly aware of her tactical error, Mina tried to slide away from the group undetected while Charlie was introducing Vaggie but Alastor swooped in, popping up beside her and grabbing her by the waist.

“And this is Mina,” Charlie said happily, following Alastor’s lead. “She helped me get that tv spot I was telling you about. And she’s also-“

“My darling wife!” Alastor interrupted, pulling Mina even tighter to his side. “And how fortunate I am to have been reunited with my one true love. I simply couldn’t imagine going another day without her company.”

Mina resisted the urge to dig her elbow into his side. While his words were sweet, it was clearly just another jab at Lucifer, highlighting his current single state, and Mina did not appreciate her seven years of isolation being brought up just to get a rise out of someone else.

Instead, she put on her best smile and offered her hand, trying to apologize to Lucifer with eye contact, who looked positively disgusted.

“Hello, it’s nice to finally meet you,” she said, attempting pleasantries.

Lucifer shook her hand but didn’t return her smile. His eyes roamed judgmentally between her and Alastor and Mina tried to brush it off. “I worked for Abaddon for quite some time. They always spoke very fondly of you.”

“Funny,” he deadpanned, “they never mentioned you.”

He turned away as Charlie introduced the others and Mina glared at Alastor, blaming him for the insult she just received.

“What the fuck did I ever do to him?” she whispered to him while the others were distracted.

Alastor just smiled and shrugged, his body language clearly giving “I told you so” vibes.

Then in the middle of Niffty introducing herself, the chandelier fell from the ceiling, landing right in front of Lucifer and Alastor.

Mina never figured out which one of them did it, but she was positive it was one of their doings.

All hell broke out after that, so to speak, and Mina was just about convinced the two men were going to actually come to blows right there in the lobby. While she was confident Alastor could take on just about anyone, she was genuinely worried Lucifer was about to leave her a widow when of all fucking people, Mimzy burst through the front doors.

Husk, Niffty, and Mina all rolled their eyes at the dramatic entrance but were also relieved the tension in the room had been abruptly cut in half.

Mimzy could be a lot of fun, under the right circumstances. But most of the time when she barged in like she had, it eventually came up that she needed something. Mina respected that she was an old and dear friend of Alastor’s but honestly, it annoyed her how much Mimzy used him to get herself out of trouble. Even Husk thought the same thing and he usually didn’t give a single shit what went on in Alastor’s personal life. But as much as Alastor enjoyed being the all-intimidating Radio Demon, he also rather enjoyed getting to be the hero at times, and Mimzy often allowed him to play both roles.

“Why don’t you let the others help you settle in, and I’ll be back before you know it,” Alastor said, steering Mimzy towards the bar and the other residents as Lucifer, Charlie, and Vaggie began the tour. “And Mina,” he added, holding his hand out, “join us please.”

She had settled in at the bar next to Angel Dust and glared at her husband’s offered hand. He wasn’t asking, he was demanding, and she didn’t like it.

“I’m good,” she replied cooly.

“Don’t be silly, darling!” he said, and grabbed her hand, yanking her from her bar stool. “You were helping run this hotel long before I showed up. Where I go, you go. Isn’t that right, my dear?”

She wished.

Mina did not want to spend the rest of the day being paraded around like a trophy wife. Especially just to piss of Lucifer. If anything, she had more sympathy for him than she did Alastor. Lucifer knew what it was like to be the one left behind and kept in the dark. Alastor did not. It seemed cruel to rub salt in those still fresh wounds of his.

The only reason she agreed was the voice in the back of her head telling her that Lucifer may have some of the answers she did not. So, she gritted her teeth through her smile, squeezed Alastor’s hand a little harder than she should have, and agreed to follow him.

“After you, my dear,” she said, mirroring his words with an icy stare.

He ignored her tone and with his cane held in one hand behind him, and his other hand pressed to the small of her back, he guided her towards the smaller group headed for the stairs.

Thankfully, it did seem as though Alastor was going to carry himself with a little more dignity for the rest of the day, as they followed Lucifer in silence, allowing Charlie to take charge of the tour. Though he kept a hand on Mina possessively the whole time, he and the angel had stopped slinging insults and instead, listened intently to Charlie’s ramblings.

When Husk joined them and asked to talk to Alastor, Mina stopped with him, watching Lucifer disappear down the hallway, feeling all potential opportunities slipping away. But with a knowing nod from Alastor, his hand left her back, and she left the two Sinners to their conversation and jogged back to the others to catch up.

___

“And we’ve almost been able to find all of Angel’s drug stashes,” Vaggie said, then gave a pointed glare at Mina. “Almost.”

Mina returned the glare, not about to apologize for helping Angel hide a few things around the hotel. Weed was no worse than booze and the little teetotaler could get over herself.

Charlie missed the silent disagreement happening between the two other women.

“Sooooo, once that’s out of the way, it should be much smoother sailing.”

“Well that certainly is uh, is-is something,” Lucifer floundered, looking around the view from the balcony.

“So,” Charlie gave a small nervous laugh, “what do you think?”

“About what?”

“The hotel!”

“Oh! Yes, it- it does . . . look much better now. Doesn’t it?” he chuckled. “You know, but I’m thinking this railing needs work, one good push and you’d go right over the edge! Whoopie! Bye-bye!”

Mina stood by the doorway and raised an eyebrow. The way Lucifer was avoiding talking about the hotel was reminding her far too much of how Alastor had gaslit her questions when he had first returned.

“What?! No, the plan, Dad,” Charlie growled. “What do you think about using the hotel to help Sinners?”

Lucifer’s entire body language changed when it was clear he couldn’t dodge her anymore and he looked much more resigned.

He gave a long, thoughtful sigh before beginning.

“Alright, look. I love that you want to see the best in people but these Sinners, you know, they’re just the worst. I don’t know how much you can realistically expect from them. And Heaven,” he laughed bitterly, “Heaven is not exactly as carefree as you might think. Yeah, they have rules. Lots of rules, and they aren’t very openminded, as you’d hope.”  

For the first time since joining the hotel, Mina felt real pity for Charlie. It was not easy having someone you cared for and looked up to, constantly dismissing your dreams that way. Though Mina could see layers to the conversation that Charlie couldn’t yet; suspected that for whatever reason, Lucifer was having to avoid being involved in her life and the hotel, Mina could understand now why Charlie thought so little of her father.

Charlie loved her father; she just couldn’t see that he loved her in return, and that reminded Mina far too much of her own youth.

“These are our people! Dad, I – I . . . I have to try.”

Mina and Vaggie shared another look. Something in Vaggie’s expression told Mina she was reading the conversation between father and daughter with the same understanding. Mina didn’t know Vaggie’s background, but there was a kind of knowing in her eyes that made Mina question for the first time, what had brought the little demon to Charlie’s doorstep.

“Our ‘people’, Charlie? Are AWFUL! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything’s terrible!”

Mina rolled her eyes. Besides the similarities in their physical appearance, she could suddenly see why Abaddon and Lucifer were such close siblings. Get Abaddon drunk enough, and they were certain to go on the same rant.

“I just don’t want you to put yourself on the line for people like that-“

Lucifer was interrupted as something hit the side of the hotel, rocking the building at its foundation, and throwing them all into the railing. Which held up just fine with the weight of all four of them, despite Lucifer’s previous statements.

“What now?!” Vaggie yelled.

“-well, like that,” Lucifer finished his sentence, pointing down to the crowd of loan sharks trying to break down the hotel doors with a battering ram and yelling for Mimzy.

“Of course,” Mina sighed. Mimzy had done an even more piss poor job of covering up her tracks this time than she usually did.

“You know these guys?!” Vaggie yelled at her.

“No, but I know why they’re here,” Mina said and jumped over the railing.

She landed hard on the ground several stories below, on all four massive paws, having morphed midair.

The loan sharks paused for a second, staring at the tiger sized black and spotted monstrosity before them. Mina’s black eyes narrowed on the leader, her hackles raised, and extended her claws until they dug into the concrete below her.

“Maggots,” she growled and then lunged.

Gun fire erupted all around her and though she wasn’t faster than a bullet, she was more agile and graceful than the buffoons wielding the weapons. She landed on the first shark, caving in his chest with her crushing weight, and swallowed his head whole, before leaping through the air to dodge the onslaught of bullets from the others.

She noticed the group of them that was using a catapult to launch flaming explosives at the hotel and flinched as one finally hit its mark, breaking through the hotel’s windows, and bringing destruction to the lobby. Mina tried to get to them but had to duck for cover as a torrent of bullets rained down on her from several tommy guns at once. She managed to take out two more sharks before she was well and truly pinned down, unable to move unless she wanted to experience getting shot again.

She needed backup.

As if she summoned him by thought, large black tentacles came shooting out from the hotel, impaling sharks as it went and slamming down on the catapult. Alastor came crawling out of the front doors, growing larger in size with every step, his antlers spreading out until they were nearly as wide as the hotel itself.

“I am going to devour each and every one of you!”

Mina’s demonic leopard jaws widened into an unnatural smile, exposing every one of her serrated teeth, already dripping with blood. She watched with glee as several sharks sprinted away, only to be ripped to shreds by the horror that was Alastor in his most powerful form.

God, she really did love that man.

Mina grabbed the nearest shark to her, her jaw clamping down and sending teeth into the fat body, puncturing intestines and spine as they went, before she flung her head and tossed the limp body through the air. Alastor caught the demon mid flip with his gigantic hand, smiled down at Mina, and the shark disappeared into his mouth with a large resounding crunch.

When was the last time they had fun like this? Must have been the early 2000’s. Had it really been almost twenty years? No wonder it felt like they had been missing a certain spark to their love life.

“Oh, I have missed getting to let off steam,” Alastor said, throwing Mina a wink as they both returned to their normal forms once the carnage was finished.

Rather than joining him, Mina passed Mimzy as the shorter woman sashayed up to her husband, and Mina leaned against a pillar at the front of the hotel. She folded her arms, her tail swishing expectantly behind her, and she made pointed eye contact with Alastor, letting him know it was his job to finish cleaning up this mess that Mimzy had brought with her.

“Oh, Alastor, what a fantastic show!” Mimzy said, applauding. “Bravo, as always. Thanks for helping little ol’ me out of a tough spot. You’re always such a pal.”

Mina heard a creak and stepped back just in time for a piece of the hotel to come crashing down right where she had been standing.

“Ooops,” Mimzy said, and at least had the decency to look ashamed as she looked at Mina’s glaring form. “Sorry about the mess, but I’m sure the lil’ bug can take care of it for ya.”

Oh, she was not talking about their Niffty that way.

Mina held back the growl in her chest but only because Alastor had caught her eye. He looked right at Mina as he addressed his old friend.

“I think you should go Mimzy. Now.”

“Oh pff, Alastor, you’re such a kidder you,” Mimzy said, turning her attention back on him. “You are so funny!”

“I mean it,” he snapped. “You deliberately brought danger to this place, just to have us clean up your mess. I can’t have that here.”

“But you love taking care of me!” she teased. “What?!” she glanced between him and Mina and Mina cocked an eyebrow at her, making the flapper suddenly become a little nervous, so she turned her attention fully back on Alastor. “You don’t actually give a shit about this tacky place, do ya? Come on. I know you. You heartless, son of a bitch.”

Mina almost laughed. Mimzy knew him so well? Yet she was risking life and limb by poking him in the chest when he was visibly irate.

Alastor grabbed her by the finger and pried her hand away, giving clear signals not to touch him.

“You are welcome if you actually want to give redemption a shot, but I think we both know that’s not really your style.” He bopped her on the nose as he strode past her, one final display of putting her in her place, before he joined Mina by the front doors. “So, you need to leave.”

 “Fine! Who needs ya?!” Mimzy shouted defensively. “Have fun with your little princess and your little hotel. See if I care.” She flipped them the bird as she walked away.

Mina sighed with relief as the other woman left and put her arm through Alastor’s as he stood with his hands folded over his microphone topped cane. Maybe it was just her territorial nature, but she got satisfaction in showing off that she could touch him in that moment after he had just made the point of not letting someone else.

Despite her annoyance at his earlier behavior, she was really proud of him for how he had handled Mimzy. His angered expression softened when he glanced over at her, and they shared a silent moment of appreciation for each other, before returning to the hotel lobby.

___

Later that evening

Mina stood on the other side of the door to Alastor’s radio tower, listening in on the raised voices coming from within.

She had just missed whatever had been said that got Lucifer shouting, as she had only approached the doorway a few seconds prior, but she had stopped short and pressed her ears to the wood when she recognized the King’s voice.

“-STICKING YOUR NOSE WHERE IT DOESN’T BELONG!”

“I AM RIGHT WHERE I’M SUPPOSE TO BE, NO THANKS TO YOU!”

“GROOMING MY DAUGHTER WAS NOT PART OF THE DEAL!”

“OH FUCK OFF!”

“YOU ARE, AREN’T YOU?!”

“Don’t be so petulant,” Alastor hissed, finally lowering his voice, but with no less venom in his tone. Mina had to strain her ears harder to make out the rest. “Besides, I hardly have to do a thing to turn her against you. Other than being present, that is.”

“I swear on my life, demon, if you are trying to influence her in anyway, if what you’re doing here is anything less than protecting her, I’ll end you.”

“You. Wouldn’t. Dare,” Alastor said and then laughed.

“Oh, ha ha,” she heard Lucifer’s now recognizable mock laughter. “You think you’re untouchable because of who’s at the other end of that chain of yours? I should decorate your little station here with your guts and make that cute little wife of yours help you untangle the mess.”

That’s when Mina decided she had heard enough and flung the door open. She had seen what Abaddon could do; she did not want to find out what kind of torture the actual King of Hell could dish out.

Both men where chest to chest, seething with rage, but when their eyes landed on her, they looked like they had been caught with their hands in a cookie jar.

Lucifer stepped away first, scowling at the two of them.

“How much did you hear?” he asked.

“Not enough,” she said, “but if you don’t want eavesdroppers, maybe you shouldn’t be shouting at one another.”

“This-“ Lucifer said, pointing his apple topped cane at her, but looking at Alastor. “This is exactly what you were supposed to be avoiding.”

“She’s my wife,” Alastor said as if that explained everything.

“God you are so. Fucking. SELFISH!” Lucifer shouted, momentarily clutching the sides of his head in exasperation. “My fucking QUEEN isn’t even here because of this whole shit storm parade and you think she’s special enough to get a pass?!”

“She is standing right here,” Mina said, folding her arms. She felt her tail swishing back and forth rapidly behind her, giving away just how insulted she was at this behavior. Lucifer had always been nice to her before, if only a little distant. “And she wants answers. Do you have stitches in place keeping you silent or are you actually able to communicate?”

Lucifer looked over at her, and for a moment she thought she could read a flash of sympathy in his eyes. Then he sighed and his shoulders dropped, and Mina knew she would get no further answers that night.

“Yeah, I’m not doing this,” he said and stepped backwards through a portal and was gone.

Mina stared at the spot where he had disappeared for a moment, then looked over at Alastor, who was studying her.

“So,” he began, “feeling enlightened yet?”

“Other than now I know you’re halfway to suicidal by making enemies with the King of Hell? No, not really.”

Alastor gave a dismissive wave of his hand.

“We’re not enemies, you just caught him on a bad day.”

“He threatened to gut you! And he can, by the way. I know you don’t like to hear this, but he is much more powerful than you, love.”

“And there are beings involved in this that are more powerful than he,” Alastor countered. “Trust me, darling, despite what you just heard, Lucifer and I are . . . working things out. By the way,” he began after another pause, “you haven’t said anything to anyone about my current state of affairs, have you?”

Mina frowned, unsure where that train of thought had come from. “No, not a word.”

“Not even to Husker?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Why would I talk to him about that? We can hardly stand each other.”

Alastor nodded. “Okay, then.”

“Why? Did he say something?”

“He might have but he won’t from now on.”

Mina could only imagine the fright Alastor must have given the former Overlord if he had dared to try and push that button. However, she wasn’t about to point it out then and there, but Alastor and Lucifer had not been very subtle that day, and anyone who knew even the slightest bit of their history would have been able to read between the lines.

That made her think again about the heated debate she had just walked in on.

“Am I . . .” Mina paused, unsure if she really wanted the answer to her next question. “Am I really making things worse by being here? Should I . . . go?”

Alastor strode over to her side.

“Do you want to?” he asked, looking seriously down at her.

“No,” she quickly answered, reaching for his hands. “No, not at all. I just got you back. But I will if it’ll be better for you. I can handle it, being apart I mean, if it’ll mean we can return to some sense of normalcy sooner.”

Alastor pulled her into him, and she returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight.

“I want you here, plain and simple,” he said, resting his chin on her head between her ears. “If anyone else doesn’t like it, that’s their problem, not ours.”

Mina relaxed then, knowing her place by his side was safe for the time being. There was still so much to uncover, and she had a feeling this meeting with Heaven that Charlie was going to would likely only make things messier, but there was nothing to be done for it all right then and there.

And Alastor, though he was often uncomfortable with touch after something as tense as the argument he had just had with Lucifer, had initiated their hug. He was still holding her firmly to him, keeping her as close to him as possible, so Mina knew he was not touch-adverse in that moment.

Images from earlier that day, of him utterly eviscerating that group of loan shark demons with her, played over again in her mind. She let her hands wander down his back until she found the bottom edge of his jacket, before slipping underneath and trailing back up, so she could feel his taught back muscles through his shirt.

“You sure we’re alone now?” she whispered.

She didn’t see how, but the door shut closed behind her, and she heard a lock slide into place.

“Positive,” he replied.

 “Hmmm,” she sighed, rubbing her face into his neck, letting his bow tie tickle her cheek. “You looked so good today. I miss seeing you like that. So . . . scary,” she let her hands slide around his side, still underneath his jacket, and caressed his chest. “So strong and powerful,” she sucked on the tiny sliver of skin above his collar, just below his jaw line, and let her nails lightly dig into his abdomen as she lowered her hands. “So . . . big,” one hand came lower, cupping him over the fabric of his pants, feeling him already half hard beneath her caress.

Alastor gave a low chuckle at her ridiculous word play before capturing her lips with his own.

“Maybe I should make more enemies then,” he teased, “if this is the treatment I get.”  

“As long as I get to watch,” she replied, still slow stroking him, “and you come home to me in one piece.”

“Deal,” he said, his voice low and sinister, and kissed her again.

She was feeling that old spark again, a coil deep down inside of her burning red hot at the thrill of being with him. Of getting to witness the sheer strength and power that Alastor commanded, of being able to work in tandem with the raw force of nature that was her husband. Her mind flashed with images of their victims being crushed, her mouth watering at the memory of their blood pouring down her throat, and of Alastor’s wicked laughter as they laid waste to the threat against the hotel.

Alastor was backing her up until the edge of his control station was digging into her lower back, his hands holding her head firmly in place as his tongue danced across hers. She had his belt buckle undone and zipper down as they crossed the room together and by the time he was pinning her between his body and the counter, Mina had him in hand. His cock was heavy and warm in her palm, the skin silky soft and practically pulsing at her touch.

He was just as ready and wanting of this as she was, his desire for her evident in the desperate way he had her caged to him. Alastor pushed her skirts up, hooking his fingers around the top of her panties and dragging them down her legs, only giving her enough space to step out of them before his fingers were on her. He moaned in appreciation against her mouth when he found her already wet and slick for him. His fingers slid easily through her folds and two long digits curled their way into the depths of her cunt, pumping her quickly with very little need for build-up.

Mina pulled away, forcing his fingers to slip out of her and she felt his body try and follow hers as she jumped up onto the desk and spread her legs for him.

There was a non-verbal question in his gaze, asking her if she was ready for more, and she reached her hands behind his neck and pulled him to her, capturing his mouth in another heated kiss. It was all the answer he needed before he pushed his trousers and underwear down until they were pooled at his ankles, and he took his cock in his hand, and in one thrust used it to fill her pussy to the brim.

They gasped for breath as they came together, breaking their kiss for just a moment to appreciate the perfect feeling of their bodies joined, before Alastor leaned in closer, guiding Mina until her back was flush with the panel beneath her, and reclaimed her mouth as he began to rock his hips against hers.

There were all kinds of buttons and knobs digging into her but Mina paid them no mind. With his lips between her teeth and his cock so full inside of her, pumping her in a sweet, delicious rhythm, there was nothing else in the world her mind could latch onto besides Alastor.

He held her beneath her thighs as he fucked her, his hands occasionally reaching up to grab handfuls of her ass before dragging his nails down the backs of her legs, making her whine out loud every time. It was a sensation just shy of pain, teasing the extra sensitive areas with the thrilling danger of his claws but never delivering the flood of pleasure that would come from him suddenly digging them into her flesh.

Her skin felt like it was on fire and her nipples ached for the touch of his hand or the bite of his teeth. There were so many layers of clothes between them, and every thrust of his cock inside her made his torso rub against her own, highlighting the boundaries that kept their skin from touching. It was wonderous torture, being so close to him and not having enough of him.

Alastor reached between them, his fingers finding her clit, and began working the swollen nub with clumsy, fast circles. He was close, his face now buried in her neck, the sides of one of his extended antlers rubbing against the tips of her ears.

She reached a hand up and grabbed hold of one of the many prongs coming off his antlers, letting her mind wander to all the times she had seen him in his many varieties of demonic forms. Alastor’s body shifted above hers, growing slightly longer, and she felt him move his head away from her throat. When she opened her eyes, black radio dials were boring down on her, his smile unnaturally wide. He was the very image of Hell itself, a terrifying demon capable of ripping apart her soul and making her suffer for eternity. And he was using that power to fuck her senseless, knowing just how much he was turning her on by showing her this side of himself. The memories of more debauched, violent, and carnal sex they had indulged each other with in the past coming to mind as he pounded into her smaller frame, rocking into her with an aggression he rarely showed her.

Mina threw her head back as she came, crying out Alastor’s name as her walls clenched around his cock, his fingers working her through her orgasm until her body stopped spasming beneath his.

Once she was spent, his hand returned to her thigh and he pressed his forehead against hers. She kept her hand wrapped around the spine of his antler and his claws finally dug into her flesh, leaving five shallow and red indents on either ass cheek, as he found his own completion. He continued to thrust as he came, pumping her full of his cum, her tight cunt unable to take much with how intensely his larger form filled her up and stretched her to her limits. It spilled out of her, overflowing onto the desk beneath her that was already wet and messy from her body’s arousal.

Alastor shrank down to his normal size, breathing hard through his nose as he peppered her face and mouth with tender kisses. She returned his affections as he softened inside her, wrapping her arms and legs around his body and holding him in a loving embrace.

When he pulled away and began fixing the state of his clothes, Mina noticed how heavy his eyelids were, how slowly each blink was, and the lazy way he was re-doing the zipper and buckle of his trousers. On top of the long day they had - between the stress of Lucifer’s presence, to the fight with the loan sharks, and having to do hours of repairs to the hotel afterwards - Alastor hadn’t slept that night or the night before, unless he had snuck in a quick nap or two in his tower when she wasn’t around.

She sighed, feeling decades worth of frustration with him and his damn near pathological desire to not take care of his own basic needs. It had taken a lot of work, but she had gotten him to improve over the years but then he had disappeared, and now that he was back, it was worse than ever.

Mina hopped off the counter, feeling the stickiness between her legs, and covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned. She was exhausted herself and used it as lure to entice Alastor back to their bedroom.  

He smirked at her, and she was sure there was a teasing quip on the edge of his lips, but she interrupted it before it began.

“I could really use a long hot bath and sleep after all that. Would you like to join me?”

He sighed, looking around the room.

“As wonderful as your company is, ma cher, I have an abundance of work to see to. Especially since the events of today really put a damper on what I had planned.”

She laced her arms under his and around his back, batting her eyelashes up at him.

“Please?”

She didn’t whine or beg, knowing that would just annoy him, so she simply whispered the singular word and let her body language say the rest.

He sighed again, more dramatic this time, his shoulders rising with the effort of it and rolled his eyes, his entire head following the movement.

“I suppose,” he agreed, and cupped her face in his hands before smiling sweetly at her and kissing her nose. “You are just too cute to deny you a thing, my dear.”

Next Chapter ->

@inuhalfdemon, @saccharine-nectarine, @whoknowswhoiamtoday

[its-your-mind]

so yes, orv did permanently and fundamentally shift my personal perspective of the world, specifically my role in it as a storyteller and an observer and a friend and a mentor and a child and an adult and a victim and someone in power and and and. it also made me feel the broadest spectrum of human emotion. I could probably spend years thinking about it and never fully understand everything it made me feel and all the personal and philosophical thoughts it made me think.

unfortunately if I think about it too hard for too long I find myself teetering on the cliff’s edge of a depressive episode and have to shut my media-analysis brain down so I don’t fall back into that particular black hole. after I finished it my brain fully shut down and did not come fully back online for 3-4 months I shit you not I finished it in October of last year and my emotional state has only just recovered.

it was one of the most devastating endings to a book I’ve ever read. It was perfect and beautiful. It was whatever the opposite of catharsis is. I’ve never been more filled with hope and awe. I’ve never been so desperately sad and hopeless. no I am not able to comprehend how that works either. see what I said above re: the cliff’s edge.

see the thing is it would have been FINE if shing-song had fucking WARNED ME that they were gonna make me FEEL EVERYTHING EVER about the human experience from EVERY ANGLE and then RIP OFF A SHEET AND REVEAL THAT THE STORY WAS A FUCKING MIRROR THIS WHOLE TIME. AND PROCEEDED TO BEAM ALL MY ATTENTION AND LOVE AND EMOTION I POURED INTO THIS STORY OVER A PERIOD OF LITERAL WEEKS OF SUSTAINED FOCUS STRAIGHT BACK AT ME IN THE SPAN OF 0.2 SECONDS LIKE A FUCKING ARCHIMEDES LASER.

ahem. anyways. that would be the uh. cliff’s edge. we will be walking away from it now.

anyway it’s the book with the two trench coat Korean dudes who beat Inventers-Of-Yaoi Spirk in the Yaoi Tournament Bracket it has badass ladies AND cringefail ones AND transgender allegories AND giant monsters and gods and demons and kids and magic and space and dimensions and time shenanigans it’s fucking insane and incredible and if you’re the kinda person who exists on fandom tumblr in the year of our lord 2024 this book is meant to come for you specifically and you will thank it afterwards go ye forth

[eddiemvnsonsbabymama]

Pussy Poppin

Pairing: Rick Grimes X Fem! Reader

Summary: Being in the apocalypse meant that you had no time for your husband, Rick Grimes, since he was too busy being a leader and you were too busy being his..”vice leader.” That meant that both of you were extremely busy during the day and didn’t have time for each other. However after you both have a free night, you both decide to spend that night in bliss. Or (in simpler terms) you and Rick fuck all night

THIS BLOG INCLUDES: praising, pure porn, doggy style, switching positions midway, dom!rick grimes, hickeys, p in v, eating out, ass gripping, pet names, absolutely filthy grimey disgusting smut, small angst, unprotected sex (wrap your dick so you won’t have a kid ☝️), cream pie

BEFORE READING: aaaaa so sorry for the 4 month long hiatus. went through some bad shit and to be fair, i forgot my account existed so it’s just meh y’know. also it’s been awhile since i’ve written smut but this is dedicated to my dear friend kiyah :)

You were totally and utterly exhausted. It had been a day after Alexandria was ran over by walkers, tearing apart every person they saw, but one brave soul had stepped in to clear them off: your husband, Rick Grimes. He was an incredible leader. You both hadn’t met before the apocalypse, but as the months went on, you became his right hand woman..then his wife. It happened in a span of a year after his first wife had died while giving birth to his newborn daughter and it sucked seeing your best friend in such a bad situation, even though everyone had counted on him. Hell, he killed his best friend so your group would sleep comfortably at night and wouldn’t have to worry about some psychopath going rampant after trying to kill Rick. That’s all that mattered in all honesty.

But nowadays, Rick didn’t have to worry about any psychopaths or cannibals ever since your group had arrived in Alexandria. Members of the group got their individual houses and you shared a house with Rick and his son, Carl. But work would only continue for you both within Alexandria and there was no time to relax or properly see each other. It was torturous, especially for you since you hadn’t loved anyone else as much as you loved Rick and when you didn’t see him as much in the day..well, it hurt. You would even wake up to an empty spot next to you on your shared bed, and you wondered if you can even call it a shared bed anyway since no one was inhabiting it.

You hummed softly as you tugged on an oversized shirt — Rick’s shirt since it was something that he’d probably wear — that stopped at your thighs and you sighed as you slipped on a pair of panties. You had recently showered so your damp hair was tied up to the nape of your neck and you walked from your room to down the hallway where Carl’s room was. You gently knocked, waiting for a response and you slowly opened the door to reveal the dark haired brunet laying on his bed with a comic on his lap. You peered only your head in with a soft smile and you waved. “Lights out in 15 minutes.” You playfully reminded, causing him to break out into a soft smile and he placed the comic book away.

“You think my dad is gonna come home tonight? I mean, he has to, right?” He asked you as you were about to walk back to your bedroom, but you stopped when you heard his question and your heart had dropped at his sentence. The same thing that you had told yourself countless times when you were alone those nights and you could merely shrug while offering a meek smile. “I hope so, sweetie. I really hope.” You reassured, watching as he was satisfied with your answer and you closed his bedroom door before you walked to your own bedroom. You were exhausted from how much work you had done in the day and you sighed as you turned off the lights within minutes within the shared bedroom before you crawled into the empty.

A few minutes later, you heard a click from Carl’s bedroom which put you at ease and you sighed as you closed your eyes before falling asleep. At this point, you had gotten used to the feeling of an empty bed, but it still didn’t stop the pang of hurt within your heart. Where even was your husband? Did he just..leave? Not like there’s anywhere to go, but it just sucked in general. As if your thoughts had been answered, a ghostly presence had over-loomed your arm and the sudden feeling of warm skin had made contact with yours. The familiar sensation had caused you to stir and you blinked as you tried to make out what had happened.

Instinctively, you called out,”Rick?” The bed had moved down, an inhabitant had taken up the empty space and you gasped softly as familiar, calloused hands had been placed over your cheeks. It was him. He was finally back. No words could express how happy you were to finally feel him since you had missed his touch so much and your lips had twisted into a smile as they pressed against his. He pulled away after awhile, laying his head into the crook of your neck and you felt the small stubble that took the entirety of his chin. “I’m sorry.” He rasped, his lips brushing against the hot flesh of your neck and you gently reached up to cup his cheeks, forcing him to look at you. There was a moment of silence, both of your breathing were mixed and you whispered,”You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”

A thankful smile came across his face, causing him to lean forward and kiss you again. The first kiss was short yet sweet, but he pulled back to catch some air before he leaned in and kiss you again, except that he was more lustful with his kissing. You didn’t mind though because he was in your arms now and his hand reached towards your shirt before he pulled away, tugging on the hem. He looked up at you in the dark. “This my shirt?” Rick asked you, waiting for an answer and you couldn’t help, but sheepishly smile at his question. “Maybe.” You replied, causing him to chuckle softly and you immediately discarded your shirt, your nipples hardening from the cool air. You felt his lips kiss in between your breasts before they began to make a line down your stomach. Instinctively, your back arched from the lustful contact and you felt his teeth against your warm skin.

Your panties were pulled down past your knees, cold air hitting against your warm skin and you giggled softly when he placed your legs on either side of his head. “Is this your way of an apology?” You whispered, desperately trying not to moan from his kissing on either side of your inner thighs and the man stopped for a moment or two. “I guess so.” He answered, a small smile coming onto his face and you smiled too before you felt pleasure take over your body when his lips had wrapped around your clit. You almost gasped, but you quickly cover your mouth with your hand and your free hand grabbed ahold of his gray locks, causing a groan from him as you felt his tongue move further down.

You squeezed your eyes shut as you moaned softly, one of his toned arms wrapped around your thigh and his other hand had pressed against your pelvis to prevent you from squirming. His nose was pressed against your clit as he firmly moved his tongue up and down your folds before finally paying attention to your throbbing pussy. You tried hard to be quiet, but with the kitten licks he was doing and the feeling of his stubble against your thighs almost made you burst. “Fuck.” You cried out softly, hoping the lewd noises wouldn’t wake up the people within the house and you jolted your hips when you felt the pad of his thumb play with your clit. You moaned at the new sensation, his hand continuing its firm placement down on your pelvis and felt your orgasm beginning to come. “Rick, Rick, fuck — I’m close.” You said, your eyes were squeezed shut and your orgasm began to approach faster when the flick of his tongue began to gain speed with more rhythm.

Wet sounds emitted from his mouth as he continued to eat you out, causing a hazy sensation to take over your body as your back arched and you tilted your head back into the pillows. His tongue continued to speed up and your orgasm was steadily approaching, but he suddenly pulled away which made the warm feeling disappear and he grabbed your hips forward. “Get on your hands and knees.” He said, sounding out of breath and the sound of a belt unbuckling made you even more excited as you positioned yourself on your knees, your hands grabbing onto the panel end of the bed.

The mattress sunk from behind you, causing your stomach to burst with butterflies and you yelped when he had a firm grip on your hips, your ass near his pelvis as you awaited for the familiar penetration. His calloused hands moved upward, his fingers gripping the flesh of your ass and you anxiously waited for him. You gasped when he slammed hard into you, catching you by surprise that you almost fell forward if his grip hadn’t tightened and you sighed as he began roughly thrusting into you, the flesh of your ass hit against his pelvis. Soft groans emitted from him as you moaned softly, trying your best to be quiet for a second time at that point.

“You’re doing so good, honey.” He praised with his gruff voice, digging his fingers deeper into your flesh and you moaned at his praise alone. Hearing those words from him made your heart throb and you continued to moan when his thrusting picked up pace, the headband starting to creak against the wall. “That’s it. Just relax.” He said, leaning over you to kiss your spine which made you shudder and all you could do was meekly nod. Your head was dizzy and hazy from earlier events, but you were suddenly free from that feeling when he began pounding harder into you.

The headboard banged against the wall, your moans and his gruff groans, and the sound of skin slapping filled the room as he relentlessly pounded into you with no remorse. You had gripped the bedsheets so hard that your knuckles were turning white and your body had bounced with every rough thrust he did, pleasure consuming your body. “Oh, fuck. Fuck.” You whined, squeezing your eyes shut and your moans began to grow louder as his nails dug harder into your skin. “Rick, I’m close. I’m close.” You reminded him, breathing heavily and you gasped when he turned you around, laying you on your back before placing your leg onto his shoulder.

He continued with his hard thrusts, his groans were louder than before and through the darkness, you could see the tip of his cock in your lower stomach. He was deep into you, leaning forward to groan into your ear and it felt like hours as he continued fucking you; having to stop twice to hold back his orgasm and he still continued as your chest began to rapidly rise and fall. “Rick, Rick, please.” You pleaded, your head dizzy from how good he felt in you and sweat began to form at both of your foreheads. He looked down at you, seeing at how fucked out you looked which drove him insane and his thrusts grew faster.

The speed made your orgasm wash over, your pussy clenching around his cock as you arched your back and your moans came spluttering as he continued to roughly fucking you through your orgasm. “That’s it, honey. You’re doing so well for me.” He breathily praised, his hips still thrusting into you before he came with a loud groan, cum spilt into your stomach and he felt his arms slightly grow weak as you both breathed heavily. He slowly pulled out, his cock still emitting strings of cum from your pussy and he groaned as he placed the pad of his thumb on the entrance of your pussy. “We’re not done yet.”

You were so fucked out of your mind that you didn’t even catch onto his sentence and you tilted your head to the side in confusion. You might’ve thought that you made up what he said. “Wha—What?” You asked, your mouth going dry and you watched as his silhouette towered over you. “I said. We aren’t done yet.” And then you sighed in exhaustion. This was going to be a long night.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

[k-dokja]

x. sigh / seong taehoon

You haven’t talked since you visited. Taehoon hates that. The silence is more oppressive when it comes from you because he can’t read your mind. He wishes he can but you elude him in mysterious ways and sometimes it drives him insane that he’s not better.

There are bags under your eyes and your complexion pales a little bit more every time you visit. You won’t tell him what’s going on with you but he knows you aren’t getting enough sleep. Physical alterations, that he can notice, whatever is going on in your head, however, it’s a whole other story.

You must’ve gotten a lot of stress since you heard about what happened. Keeping you out of this business has been a good idea, but in the long run of it, there will be times like these: him returning of the verge of death and you not hearing about it until the aftermath.

He wouldn’t blame you if you were angry at him. He would’ve been angry too if the position was switched. Then again, he’d never do anything to make that happen and that point is moot.

You don’t talk. You stay by his bed’s side. You stare out of the window. Every now and then, you sigh. He can’t help but wonder if it’s oppressive to be here. Seeing him this battered probably isn’t your idea of a good time, yet you come anyway.

He’s grateful for you but this isn’t making anything better. Not when you spend much of the time in hospital room mute and morose.

He has his own limits, you know, “What?”

“What?” You jump, shaken out of your contemplation.

“Stop sighing, you’re depressing me.”

You stare at him then turn away to sigh again. You smooth out the front of your uniform dress then get up on your feet. “…I should head to my cram school, I’ll have a physics exam soon.”

“Really?” He snorts. “You came here to sigh for half an hour then proceed to leave? Why did you even come?”

You frown at him and the immediate sinking in his stomach permeates him with regret. He shouldn’t have said that. You went out of your way to spend on him what few small windows of times you have after school. Not to mention this is the second time he has been hospitalized in a year span of time.

It’s his fault. He knows it the moment he says it, “Don’t make that face, you know what I mean,” he grumbles, “you shouldn’t overextend for me, I know you have enough on your plate.”

“I’m not—”

He clicks his tongue, “Don’t lie to me,” he says, “look, I know you have enough to deal with, don’t let your no-good boyfriend holding you back.”

“Taehoon, you aren’t holding me back.”

“I know, I know, I’m a blessing to you,” he waves you away, “you should listen to your blessing and use your time after school to rest, don’t drag your feet all the way here.”

You won’t leave. There is a frown on your face but it’s not like the one from before. It’s apprehension, not hurt. He doesn’t know which is worse. “I’ll be the one to pick you up again before you know it, okay?” He says. “It will only take a week or two.”

“It’s a bullet wound…”

“A week or two,” he repeats, firmer this time, “now, shoo, if you come visit tomorrow, I’ll be mad.”

“But—“

“Shoo.”

You press your lips together, feet rooted to the ground under. Now, it’s his turn to sigh. “We don’t have to see each other everyday, we can call, chat, whatever. I’ll be fine.”

You narrow your eyes, unconvinced. He laughs now. You’re ridiculously stubborn for matters that he wishes you’d listen more. “Promise.”

“…Fine,” you sigh again but it no longer weighs his heart down with lead, “call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he chases you away again, “now go before you’re late for those nerdy classes of yours.”

You turn to roll your eyes at him after picking up your bag, “They aren’t—whatever, I’ll see you later,” you lean in to kiss him, he smiles against your lips, “don’t cause troubles to your nurses.”

“Hey, I’m not—”

“Bye, Taehoon!”

His scoff breaks into an exasperated laugh. At least he gets some of that cheer back into you.

[lucky-bishova-42]

Hi(gh) Mama!

(oneshot that takes place anytime after Chapter 32 in Malen’kiy Yastreb)

If you asked Yelena how today was gonna go, she wouldn’t in a million years have guessed this.

It all started when Sonya had come over to visit the apartment the night before.

And let’s just say she brought some fun brownies over for her and Yelena to enjoy while they hung out.

What Yelena neglected to remember, before going to bed, was to label or move the leftover brownies.

Which led to this.

“Oh blyad!! Kate don’t eat those!!” Yelena cries as she watches Kate take a bite out of said brownies.

“What? Why?” Kate puts the rest of the brownie down.

“You didn’t eat any more of those, have you??” Yelena asks urgently.

“Just one other one right before this one, why? Are they for something specific?” Kate starts to get concerned.

“Der’mo! You had a whole one?”

“Yes!” Kate replies exasperatedly, “Now are you gonna tell me why its such an issue that I had one?”

“Those aren’t regular brownies, Kate. They are weed brownies,” Yelena sighs.

Kate’s eyes go wide as she looks down at the sweet treat she is still holding.

“Holy shit,” Kate says, realizing the situation.

“Yup.”

“Mama and Mom are gonna kill us.”

“Yes. Well, probably not you since it isn’t really your fault. But me, for sure.”

—————————————————————————

*about two hours later*

“Do you ever think about how if you never truly let your car’s tank get empty, that there might be a molecule of the original gas solution still in the car?” Kate ponders as she sits upside-down on the couch.

“No… but I think it is safe to say that the edible has finally kicked in,” Yelena replies, “What time are your parents going to be home?”

“Huh,” Kate pauses for a second, ignoring Yelena’s question in favor of staring at the dust on the light fixtures, “we should really start cleaning the ceiling… maybe Peter could help.”

“Kate,” Yelena snaps her fingers in front of Kate’s face, “focus!”

“Oh sorry,” Kate chuckles, turning herself upright, “I feel reeeeeeaaaaally spacey right now… how long does this normally last?”

“Well, you basically had one and a half… and you are smaller than me… and Sonya makes them kinda strong…”

“Lena…”

“Maybe a few hours,” Yelena reluctantly supplies, “possibly the rest of the night—“

“THE REST OF THE NIGHT?!?”

“Shh, calm down, malen’kaya ptichka,” Yelena puts her hands on Kate’s shoulders, “we will figure this out. Now, what time will your parents be home?”

“In within the hour,” Kate says, looking at the clock.

“Der’mo,” Yelena curses, takes a deep breath, “Okay, listen. This is what we are gonna do. We are just gonna pretend that you are extra tired and want to go to bed early; that way you can hide out in your room til you come back down.”

“I dunno Auntie Lena,” Kate frowns slightly, “lying to Mama is never a good idea; she always knows when I am lying. Plus, Mom can literally read minds.”

“It will just be for a few hours,” Yelena says, “plus, it’s not like it will be a full lie; I bet soon you will start to feel tired anyways.”

Kate looks at Yelena skeptically.

“Please, Kate,” Yelena pleads, “If your mothers find out they will kill me.”

Kate sighs, “Fine. But I make no promises.”

And Kate really tries to calm down and try to relax. She does.

But something about the specific strain that was laced in the brownies makes her slightly anxious and her already short attention span even shorter.

About twenty minutes later, she finds herself unable to stop bouncing her knee while her brain starts to run rampant with all of her irrational fears; specifically those fears that surround getting punished.

“I don’t think I can do this, Lena,” Kate trembles.

Yelena looks up from her phone to focus on a very anxious Kate.

“We should just come clean right away. They are gonna be so pissed. But maybe if we tell them it’s an accident they will go easy on us,” Kate’s trembling gets worse, and her eyes start to water.

“Hey—hey, Kate, look at me,” Yelena gently takes Kate’s chin and gets her to meet her eye line, “You are not in trouble. It was an accident. If your parents are gonna be mad at anyone, they will be mad at me,” Yelena wipes a single tear that escaped Kate’s eye, “okay?”

Kate nods and hugs Yelena, who tightens her arms around her as they cuddle on the couch.

“I still don’t like how I feel right now,” Kate announces after a moment, “my body feels heavy but my brain is moving too fast.”

“Ah, I get it, malen’kaya ptichka,” Yelena reaches over and grabs the remote, “I think I have an idea of what might help.”

—————————————————————————

Thirty minutes later, Wanda and Natasha walk into the apartment to find a very giggly Kate sitting on the couch with Yelena watching what seems to be one of those toddler sensory videos.

“Um…hello?” Natasha says cautiously as she walks towards the back of the couch.

Kate turns around with a goofy smile and a dazed look on her face, “Yay! Mama’s home!”

“Yeah…” Natasha replies slowly as she looks back and forth between her daughter and her sister, confused at what is going on, “I am home.”

“Come sit, Mama! Auntie Lena found the best tv show!” Kate cheers, patting the seat next to her.

At this point, Wanda had also joined them in the living room and was also very confused, and maybe slightly concerned, about what was going on.

Natasha goes and sits next to Kate on the couch. Once she sits down, Kate immediately snuggles into her side then looks up at her.

“Hi Mama!” Kate smiles.

“Hi baby—”

“Wow! Your hair looks extra red today!” Kate reaches out and begins to play with a strand.

Natasha is confused.

Don’t get her wrong, Kate is a very cuddly person, and is always a little bit more open and relaxed when snuggled with her Mama or Mom, but this seems a little over the top.

Natasha briefly looks over to Wanda, who shrugs her shoulders, before looking down at her daughter.

Natasha raises her eyebrow, but goes along with it, “it does?”

“Mm-hm!” Kate hums happily, and smiles again back up at her Mama, “like a fire truck!”

And that’s when Natasha sees Kate’s red-tinted eyes, and everything clicks.

Her eyes widen, and she whips her head up to look at her sister who looks very guilty all of a sudden.

“Is Kate… high?” she asks Yelena in a measured tone, as she starts to glare at her.

Yelena avoids Natasha’s glare and pauses before letting out a small, “maybe…”

“You got my daughter high?!?” Natasha basically growls, causing Kate to jump in her arms.

“How can you be so irresponsible?!” Wanda adds in.

“It was an accident!!” Yelena defends herself, “I forgot to put the brownies away after last night.”

“How many times have I told you to label them?!?” Natasha shouts back.

“It’s not my fault I forgot—”

“Stop fighting!” They hear a teary Kate interject.

Natasha looks down to see an upset Kate with tears running down her face.

“Oh malyshka,” Natasha pulls her in close, “it’s okay.”

“It was just an accident,” Kate sniffles, “it wasn’t Lena’s fault.”

Natasha looks at Wanda then at Yelena, and after a brief pause, decides to talk more to Yelena about this later to not further upset Kate. So she looks down at Kate with a soft smile, “I suppose you’re right. It could’ve happened to anyone… It was just an accident.”

Kate returns the smile and cuddles deep into Natasha’s arms before turning her attention back to the tv, where there are still smiling fruit bouncing around to happy music.

After a few minutes, she starts to giggle again, pointing out to her parents and aunt what things are the funniest.

Soon Natasha, Wanda, and Yelena can’t help but laugh along with Kate.

“Alright, I know this is a big accident,” Yelena whispers over to Natasha and Wanda, “but you have to admit, it’s kinda hilarious.”

Wanda and Natasha chuckle.

“You might be right,” Wanda smiles looking down at a half awake, half giggling Kate.

“Remind me tomorrow to explain to her that this won’t be happening again until she is at least 18," Natasha says.

“Oh believe me,” Yelena chuckles, “I don’t think you will have an issue there.”

[mx-lamour]

Costuming Strahd: Part 1 An "I thought too hard about this" adventure.

I recently picked up some fabric for Strahd (because you know I gotta dress up when my players eventually come to dinner).

A "fine black linen" for the shirt (from here if you want to grab some for yourself), and a black jacquard chenille (kind of a mid-weight upholstery fabric) for a classy vest.

I started doing some visual research on traditional clothing in Slavic and Southeastern European regions, hungrily compiling whatever I could find to build some pattern recognition.

Having a little bit of trouble reconciling traditional peasant garb with "but what would nobility wear" and "what year is it", plus the obvious influence of Dracula and his early cinematic adaptations on descriptions of Strahd von Zarovich (which are decidedly Western), and the need to remind myself that I am building a fantasy costume not some historical reenactment.

1937 print of a Wallachian peasant vs. a portrait of Vlad Țepeș noted 1466

The vague description from I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin gives me a neat little list of his layers: "cloak, outer coat, embroidered vest, and . . . a very fine black linen shirt."

The "outer coat" threw me. I suppose it shouldn't have. But it didn't quite mesh with the Ottoman influences in Vlad Țepeș portraits nor the stout vest and almost oversized coat ensembles I'd been looking at in peasant images from Romania and Hungary. Instead, that kind of layering really read Western Europe to me, so I was shunted directly back to Christopher Lee's portrayal of Dracula (in which his costume really is black-on-black-on-black, apart from the barest hint of a white shirt beneath the squarely Victorian suit, which easily consists of both a vest and jacket and, in this case, a cape).

Side note: Nowhere have I (yet) found mention of any sort of necktie. Just the Bela Lugosi style crest (but on a gold chain, not a ribbon).

There's just something about that 1930s white tie, folks. Mm.

Anyway, I figured it was safe enough to start with Strahd's shirt. Well... but, herein lies still the same conundrums: shirts aren't all the same spanning eras and regions. I did stumble on this, though:

I love me a pattern.

What I like about this in particular is that it's structured in a way that makes me believe Strahd was inspired by a man who lived in the 1400s. These sort of blocky, pieced shapes were how shirts were commonly built throughout much of history, with various amounts of gathering and whatnot, so it could be pretty versatile in terms of "what year is it".

I like the embroidery on the neck, cuffs, and over the shoulders. And I like that the split in the neckline is centered. I've seen examples with the split at the side of the embroidery panel that are really intriguing, but while a few have been noted as Ukrainian or Polish, most of the examples I've seen have been Russian, and I'm trying to avoid anything overtly Russian. (Russian garb is yummy, but it's not Barovian.)

The lighting on that third one is either ominous, suggestive, or both.

What I don't like is the open sleeve ends. There are certainly worse offenders (there are some HUGE open sleeves in some of the folk ensembles, like, unconscionably long and billowy), but even this kind of straight sleeve doesn't feel... I don't know... organized enough for Strahd.

I have a Viking style shirt with straight open sleeves like this, and it bothers me to no end. The material over the thin part of my forearms and wrists is floppy. It crumples and rides up (maybe they're just too big overall, but that's a risk to consider). I usually just roll them up to my elbows to have done with it, but that's a move for casual wear. I could see Alek Gwylim sporting open sleeves, but not Strahd. Strahd needs cuffs. Or if not cuffs, the kind of sleeve that narrows tight around the forearm and probably has at least a dozen buttons running up the length of it... but that's hardly practical, either, is it? Strahd treads that infuriating middle ground somewhere between comfortable and elaborate.

So anyway, I'm probably going to enlarge the sleeves. Not a lot; just enough to get a little bit of that "poet shirt" gathering on the shoulder and allow some extra movement in the elbow. And it's going to have cuffs that button around the wrist. Turning it into something a little more suggestive of the Renaissance (though I'm sure as hell not adding ruffles; I'm sure Strahd would think them frivolous).

Side note: Cuffed sleeves are not unheard of in folk garb from Romania and surrounding areas, but it still felt like a very deliberate choice to make. There's certainly a noticeable trend of open-sleeve styles, especially in Transylvania, if I understand correctly.

That first image is from I Do Declare. Great stuff.

Ultimately, the slightly tucked, cuffed sleeve should also bleed well enough into late-1800s suit territory, at least in spirit. The sleeves should have the approximate volume as (or perhaps a little more than) a modern button-down shirt.

Little concept sketches.

Building up from the body, the vest is the next most important thing (aside from pants, but I'm just looking at his torso for the moment; you can fake good pants, especially at the table).

Whatever happens, I knew the vest should be at least these two things: black, and embroidered. Why not blackwork on black fabric? And, since I've picked out a jacquard fabric that already has some texture to it, let's just keep piling on that subtle intrigue. That's right: get up close and personal, look at that mesmerizing detail... lol.

I do not have an actual plan for any of the embroidery yet. That's a problem for future me. (Good luck, sucker.) What I would like to do, vaguely, is take some of the traditional/folk embroidery from that southeastern region and combine it with more western Victorian elements. Haphazardly span worlds to mimick the elvolving lore.

Soutache, anyone?

The style of the vest I sketched out is based on the below examples of traditional Romanian outfits (from what region, I have no idea). The nubby little lapels reminded me of late Victorian waistcoats (which button up rather higher on the breast than modern suits), but with the added fun of a standing collar. That thick black embellishment also caught my eye, of course.

Look at that dapper little guy.

I would like the vest to be more fitted, though, rather than the boxy, open-front (and often sheepskin or fur-lined) style of traditional peasant dress.

Along a similar vein as "the man needs cuffed sleeves", having a more tailored vest seems practical and organized. Crisp might be the word I was looking for. And he's a lord, he can afford the extra effort. A fitted waistcoat would also play along with the little fantasy Renaissance lean and nods to Victorian fashion.

Strahd said trunk hose were a thing of the past, but made no mention of doublets one way or the other.

That's it for now. I was definitely just going to do a quick intro this morning, but here it is, evening again. Joy of joys. This is my work.

. . .

[Next - Costuming Strahd: Art Addendum]

[max-nico]

Sonic World Building Headcanons

For the soul

Any fic of mine that you read uses all or almost all of these Headcanons btw

Covering your hands and feet is the equivalent of covering yourself for decency. It's taboo to talk about what someone's hands look like if you've seen them before

Fingerless gloves give the same vibe as micro skirts and sheer tops with nothing underneath

All (or at least most) Mobians/anthropomorphic animals start off showing a lot more animalistic traits. For example, young children might sniff each other in greeting or get territorial over their bedroom or house

Children who go to school get taught to use their "grown up instincts" and essentially get trained to be "normal"

There are Mobians who are outliers of course, Knuckles for example grew up secluded on a floating island. Over the years he's learned how to fit in better with the general populace but he still comes off as very naive, or not mentally developed (I probably should just say what autistic look like to neurotypicals huh)

Shadow would be an even more extreme example since he's literally an alien

Because of this, kids aren't allowed to move up a grade if they're smart enough to test out, like Tails. If they did that, they would miss crucial developmental skills specifically targeted toward their instincts

Different types of Mobians need different types of diets. For example, spider Mobians can't have mint period. Whether artificial or real. Unless they had been fed little bits of mint at a young age to build up the immunity by the time they reach adulthood

In the comforts of their own home most Mobians fall back on their animalistic traits. Like cat types purring in the sunlight or bird types preening their feathers

It's rude to refer to people as their species. Not like, super offensive, just rude. (Ex. Shadow refers to Sonic as "hedgehog")

Most Mobians aren't one type of animal, most are mixed between two or more. For example, someone mixed with a jackal and a raccoon. Which one they get referred to depends first on appearance, so sometimes children don't get classified until three or four. If they truly look like a 50/50 split between the two species then they get DNA testing done and are referred to as whichever one is higher

The village Tails comes from is a small village completely comprised of Mobians from the canidae family, small villages being completely one animal family is regular, but cities being this way is unheard-of

Sonic is a famous hero and does have a heavily filled bank account. Not because he asked of course, but because of public outrage when he off handedly mentioned he doesn't get paid for saving the world

Off topic, but Tails manages the bank account because he uses the most of the money. Inventions aren't cheap. Any bills they have are on auto pay so they don't worry about them.

Most Mobians are left handed

Okay, I don't really like humans in the Sonic world. If I had my way the Robotniks would be robins, Maria would be a mixture of hedgehog and bird in a way that's off putting to Mobians but we would think looks cool, that being said she'd be classified as a hedgehog

Anyway, this is not the case and humans do exist. In my head there're three different planets, one with humans, one with Mobians, and one with humans + Mobians

That being said, I think space travel isn't a super regular thing for Mobians to do but it's not unheard of. It's probably just super expensive if anything

Aliens are still fucking crazy to them tho

Some companies/governments (like GUN) span across two or more planets

There's generally a lot of animosity between Mobians and humans but in like a modern day racism (specism??) way and it is not the Mobians fault

Money also works differently Mobians (don't ask me how it works tho I got no fucking clue man), and a lot of the time Mobians just exchange favors for favors

Character Headcanons pertaining to world building

Reiterating: Sonic is famous and gets money transferred to his(read Tails') bank account. Tails village is full of dingos, foxes, jackals, wolves, coyotes, even some dogs.

Most of Sonic's friends are pretty loaded tbh. Obviously team rose, team dark, and team Sonic make the most money, but you know.. details

Very few things tip people off to Shadow being an alien. Like yeah he has canines but he might just be mixed species? He's right handed but some people just are so that's normal. Yeah he might hiss in public but you don't know his life. Maybe he can't control it.

I headcanon Amy as a hedgehog/echidna mix, but she simply looks more like a hedgehog in the face and body, but her quills are what really give her mixed heritage away (I am projecting)

Depending on which continuity you're looking at, Sonic was taught to control his instincts either from an orphanage, his uncle, his mom, or some secret 4 thing I'm forgetting.

He doesn't teach Tails about the whole instincts thing, but Tails has always been in a rush to grow up. He's smart and observant, he's the king of repressing them instead of learning at a slow and more natural pace that won't hurt him in the long run

Cream and Amy are the most socially competent by a longshot. Rouge could be if she, first of all, didn't spend so much time with Shadow and Omega, and also didn't find it funny to act like she does.

Okay, that's it for now. If I think of more I'll reblog the post with another headcanon, otherwise please add your own. I love headcanons, please let me add them to my arsenal. You're welcome to message me or go to my asks box as well as long as your nicest to me <3

I'm eventually going to do a post detailing what I think social media is like in the Sonic world.

If you have any headcanons put them in the tags, reply, or my ask box ! Any character you want me to focus on ? Message me, or hit my ask box ! Suggestions are always welcome .

[skyward-floored]

Hey, just wanted to say I think you’re a cool person and I really like the little writing you do. They’re very cool and, even though I’ve only read like 2 (curse my small attention span ravaged by yt shorts and also adhd), they make me feel fuzzy (well, the ones that are fuzzy anyways) and emotions. Basically, you write amazingly. Hope this doesn’t come off as robotic, I’m not good at expressing appreciation through words but I’d totally make you a pizza as like a kudos.

If you don’t mind me asking also, do you have any tips or advice on how to start writing? I’ve been meaning to try but my brain and doubts (and lack of action and starting) keep me back, and you write cool stuff so I figured why not ask? Hope this isn’t annoying (if it is, feel free to ignore this latter thing) and may you have cookies in the future :)

Hey thank you! Don’t worry it didn’t come off as robotic at all, thanks for the kind words (and pizza kudos XD)!

I can try and give you some tips? I don’t know if they’ll be very useful, especially since it’s been a bit since I started writing, but I’ll try? Since you said one of your problems was doubts, I’ll start there since I definitely have experience with that XD

Basically... you’re always gonna have doubts as a writer. Maybe some writers don’t, but I think everyone I know who writes does. I nearly had a panic attack when I posted my first ever fic (a tiny little ninjago oneshot lol), and the only reason I didn’t totally freak out and delete it was because a friend told me it was really nice and she encouraged me. That was over four years ago, and while I’m past the panic attack stage, I still worry and fret about my writing and if anyone will like them... etcetera.

I guess what I’m trying to say is you can’t let doubt stop you. There are always going to be those voices telling your writing sucks, and that it isn’t worth it. And you gotta ignore them. Writing is a skill like any other, and at first, you probably are gonna suck, but you can’t let that stop you—you have to try and keep going, and build that skill.

But that wasn’t much about actual writing XD If you really want to start writing, start by thinking about what you want to write. I’m sure you’ve got an idea of some sort in mind— and even if it’s silly or weird or overdone or seems too hard to write, start there. See what happens.

If you’re having trouble starting, I’d suggest skipping straight to the cool parts of the scene you want to write. Don’t worry about having the perfect starting point, just jump right in to the middle of that emotional injury or dramatic escape. The rest can come later... or not! That’s the beauty of fanfic!

I myself try and write just a little every day. Even if it’s only one sentence, try and add just a little to it. I don’t have adhd so I can’t really help you much in that regard, but if distractions are the problem, try and get rid of them before you start writing.

Put your phone in a different room so you can’t get at it, go off where your family hopefully won’t bother you (this is a big one for me lol), just try to limit your distractions as best you can.

I think that’s all I got XD that was mostly a lot of talk, but hopefully some of it was helpful! Good luck!