#cw angel mention

[celpii]

Did it hurt? When you fell from the rooftop heaven??

Fanart for @ghostlightfic guardian angel au which has not left my brain once

[clowncarfullofrats]

Angels with golden top surgery scars.

Angels with struggles focusing, endlessly rambling and staring into the distance.

Angels with wild, righteous anger that sinks it's claws into them, and they embrace it with joy and glory.

Angels with intrusive thoughts of violence, sin, and cruelty, and are still loved and cared for.

Angels with mobility aids.

Angels with hearing aids.

Nonverbal angels.

Angels that are overstimulated easily.

Angels that get understimulated easily.

Black angels.

Asian angels.

White angels.

Angels of all races and skin tones and cultures.

Fat angels.

Skinny angels.

Angels who only speak in soft voices with delicate words.

Angels with rough voices who swear.

Angels who are religious/spiritual.

Angels who aren't.

Angels who look almost human, or even completely.

Angels who look like animals.

Angels who are completely incomprehensible.

Angels who are fallen.

Angels with body mods.

Angels who love, and lust.

Angels who don't, and only wish for friends or family.

Angels who simply wish for solitude.

Angels who don't love in a "human" way.

Angels with dirt under their fingernails.

Angels who struggle with caring for their human body.

Angels who despise having to care for their human body.

My fellow angels <2

[mipexch]

heed heaven’s call, one way or another

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Hey, can you explain to me like I’m 12 what Vivzie did irl? I’ve seen a lot of allegations and refutations to said allegations that make me confused as to what is actually happening or what ppl are angry at since I’m not really in either hh or helluva boss fandoms? Sorry if this is weird or annoying and feel free not to answer if you don’t want to

Hello! I put a lot of things vivzie has done in my critical posts so you can look at my long character post analysis things if you want more in depth things, but let me try to make this as digestible as possible. And of course I can’t list everything theres way too much but I’ll do what I can.

1. Defended her story board artist (Raph) with a rape fetish who uses Angel Dust to fuel said rape fetish. If you do not believe me (anyone reading this) Raph also made a fan animation to the song Valentino which was ORIGINALLY a somg about Vox being abused as well as Angel. Raph removed the aspect of Vox being abused and changed it to where Vox jerks off to Angel getting raped. This is still the same person Vivzie actively considers a friend a wonderful employee. And before anyone says it. No. “They’re coping” isn’t an excuse.

2. Vivzie retweets Angel x Valentino fanart

3. Vivzie was discovered to have a public YouTube playlist labeled “favorites” that included videos that involved women being sexually assaulted. Whether these were skits or real, I dont care and its disgusting either way.

4. Drew a Hitler “Sausage Party” OC. This was a while ago but worth mentioning

5. Does not pay her employees fairly.

6. Shit talks other indie artists and show runners constantly.

7. Demonising “voodoo” (vodou) by making it a “scary evil” magic Alastor used and then tried to excuse it by saying Alastor is black.

There’s much more competent people with screenshots and such on here if you want to look these up for more information! Id suggest staying out and away from hh/hb if possible so seems like you’re doing well. Hopefully this helps!

[desultory-novice]

“Changing Times...”

(I love all eras of Kirby, old and new. But the rush of tragic backstories must have been an adjustment for the animal friends.)

[lust-for-ultraviolence]

I decided to be evil and make it to where you can only pick one.

[supernova351]

C/W for SA and spoilers for Trigun Maximum

I finally can verbalize my thoughts on why the Angel arm situation is so fucked up even if you don’t look at it through a lens of it being sexual assault. Knives completely disregards the autonomy of anyone hes In contact with. Even the dependent plants, who he sees as his sisters. But Vash-his own fucking brother who he claims to love- is not afforded any autonomy. Because when it comes down to it knives doesn’t care. The Angel arm incident is to directly show how powerless Vash is. That Vash isn’t even allowed control over his own powers, but Knives is. Knives violates Vash’s bodily autonomy and makes him go against his principles (which at the time are the only things he’s living for!!) as a show of power. A “look at this, your ideals mean nothing because you’re too weak to uphold them.”

I think this along with the very obvious metaphors for SA is what makes this scene so gut wrenching. It’s Vash trying to hang on to his personhood, and this is one of the very few times we see him do it. Vash barely ever actively fights to protect himself, he mainly just dodges and runs. Except for his fights with Knives and a couple of the Gung-ho-Guns. Vash is actively fighting and being overpowered and that’s why it’s so disturbing

[peachi-blossom]

Non-Hazbin Hotel characters that are better than Angel Dust

Content Warning: SA implied, child abuse, and child death

Note: Angel Dust was a hard one for me because the characters I picked are not sex workers except for Primrose at the beginning of the first chapter of her story. So I did something different just for this post. I wrote each character's situation on their image description since they were played off as serious while Angel's was fetishized. So feel free to read them.

I'm just so confused by Angel's character. Like I know he's an abused sex worker, but he sexually harassed Husk multiple times and didn't even help Sir Pentious AT ALL. How are you supposed to sympathize with him and root for him? If other SA victims relate to him, that's fine. I just don't understand, okay? Not to mention Vivienne Medrano made him nothing more than her plaything.

Next, I'm gonna go find characters that are better than Husk, which should be easier.

[majorstumbles]

WHO TF DOES IT LIKE MISHA COLLINS

LOOK AT HIM

LOOK AT HIS FACE, THE EYES, THE E X P R E S S I O N

Man, just

The way he still manages to maintain an expression of religious devotion to a flawed and broken ’deity’ while suffering for and at the hand of that ‘deity’ will forever amaze me. Obsessive Devotion Castiel, save me. The way he still believes in this new god he’s found even after he’s been pushed away time and time again because he believes Dean Winchester is good and will do what he thinks is best after God his Father abandoned him.

And the way Dean needs him back.

[what-have-i-unleashed]

the angel: six

(first) (prev)

you...

... answer the phone.

on the fifth ring, you press the call button.

"yeah?"

"where in the pits are you?" horror's irritated voice is directed at you. "nightmare is not happy."

you glance at cross, who is watching you intensely without saying anything.

"i'm in the kitchen. just need something," you reply to horror.

"what ki- urgh, whatever," he groans. "just get your bony ass in the study. i'd rather not be alone in the same room with nightmare right now."

"aww, what's the matter?" you try to keep your tone teasing, while maintaining your eyesight on cross. "you scared, egghead?"

"i'm not as stupid as you or dust," horror grumbles, his voice quieter.

it's then that cross finally opens his mouth, "ask him about dust. ask him to confirm what you know already."

"shut up," you growl at him, but he doesn't react, his expression deadpan.

"what?" horror asks through the phone, confused.

"nothing," you quickly reply, but he's not easily deterred.

"... is there anyone with you right now?"

"no," you say resolutely, staring at cross with your soul beating calmly in your chest. cross doesn't rebut your statement - he's quiet, still, so unlike him. "there's no one here with me. at all."

"you sure about that?" horror questions, as cross tilts his head at you.

"i'm sure."

with that, you step away from the kitchen and back into the dreary hallway. the light and warmth disappear immediately. you don't turn back to confirm what you already suspect.

(you're going crazy...

... but aren't you already?

you don't remember having a good relationship with cross. that should have been the first sign.

the second sign should have been your body's lack of immediate response upon seeing the traitor. you would have killed him already. nightmare made sure of that.)

"wait for me. i'm going to find angel," you say to horror. you were distracted for a moment there, but you have to get back on task now.

that's what a good asset does.

you disconnect the call before horror can say anything. you arrive at the staircase leading to the second floor. your angel's room should be somewhere up there - you've been there multiple times before so you should know.

(next)

[zeeph-containment-zone]

//cw: sa discussion, hazbin discourse ooouuuughhhhhhhhhh i told myself I was gonna keep my mouth shut from now on on the hazbin discourse but it's getting worse and worse and some asshole keeps putting it on my twitter and my blood is boiling,,,

I. am. SO. TIRED. of the hazbin hatedom acting like all SA victims are a sex repulsed monolith. I'm so fucking tired of seeing people put victims who are sex repulsed up on a pedestal and acting like they're the only "Correct Victims who are coping in the Correct Way" because that's just flat out wrong and insensitive to every single SA victim who found a different way to deal with their pain. NOT. EVERYONE. COPES. THE. SAME. WAY. STOP USING PEOPLE WHO WERE UNCOMFORTABLE BY THE ANGEL DUST SCENE AS A "GOTCHA" MOMENT TOWARDS EVERYONE WHO RELATED TO IT BECAUSE IT REFLECTS THEIR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. It's infuriating to see and I absolutely despise the mentality thats coming mainly from non-victims that SA victims HAVE to be this traumatized poor uwu sex repulsed little cinnamon roll who needs to be protected from dirty dirty NSFW at all costs or else they're coping incorrectly. There's even people going as far to tell SA VICTIMS THEY DESERVED IT because they related to the stupid ass angel dust song.

I say this as someone who IS sex repulsed but wants to reclaim as much as they can for myself. My abuser took that luxury away from me and I WANT IT BACK. I lost so many parts of myself to that asshole and I'm slowly reclaiming and rebuilding, and it's taken years. According to these dense mfers though it means I'm "coping incorrectly" and "speaking over real victims" when I point this out. Not wanting to watch the scene/episode or disliking the show because of it is 100% perfectly fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with feeling upset by it. but don't start acting like everyone who sees part of themselves in it is a bad person.

I never thought I'd be defending that shitty ass mess of a show, but jesus christ people. Y'all preach about listen to victims until a victim doesn't fit your ideal cookie cutter idea of one and it shows so hard.

[axel-tiredstudent]

OC MASTERPOST WOOHOO ⭐

Although there's still a lot to plan and do before this story is anywhere near done and I don't even have a first draft yet, I really wanted to talk about it and share who my OCs are (since i keep talking about them in here).

This story (called Ewordis) is one of necromancy, otherness and isolation, but it's also about love, saving and connection!

The main character is Absalom García Medina (much to his own dismay). He is 22 years old and studies fine art in university. He's also a drummer in a band with his two closest friends. Absalom comes from a long line of necromancers! He doesn't really understand or control his powers, but he's set on his goal of finding his mother's spirit, which he has never been able to do!

Almudena is Absalom's grandmother, who raised him when Alma (her daughter), passed away. They are both also necromancers. Almudena taught Absalom how to use his powers until she died when Absalom was 12. She's still with him as a spirit.

Alma died in labor. Not only was she a necromancer, but she also had prophetic visions, something not common in their family. Neither Absalom nor Almudena have ever found her soul.

Angel is Absalom's best friend since they were in higschool. They take care and support each other through everything. Angel has a beautiful voice and she can play many instruments. She's the singer, songwriter and guitarist of their band.

Naomi met Angel and Absalom when they were looking for a bassist for their band. They became close soon and shortly after he started dating Angel!

Percy is Absalom's ex boyfriend. Their relationship was rocky and difficult, which really affected Absalom. They still see each other sometimes, but Percy doesn't seem to be willing to change for the better as a person, which is why Angel dislikes him and wants him to stay away from her best friend.

Ozzie is a non human creature that Absalom meets in the realm between life and death. Ozzie doesn't remember anything of his life before appearing there and he can't go to the living realm, so he and Absalom decide to find out what he is.

Victor also comes from a line of necromancers. He meets Absalom in a graveyard, after many spirits warn Absalom of a creature eating their corpses there. That would be Victor! Victor was brought back to life by his necromancer abusive father and now he's forced to feed on human flesh to not become a mindless "monster".

The Knight of Death is one of the Horrors. No one really knows of their existence, but necromancy powers are related to the Horror of Death. How is it related to the Medina Family? What will Absalom do when faced to this Knight?

LONGER EXPLANATION BELOW THE CUT

As I said before, Absalom comes from a long line of necromancers, this gift/curse always passes down to one person in the family. He got it from his mother, Alma, and she got it from hers, Almudena. Alma died in labor so Absalom was raised in a small close-minded village by his grandmother. Since it was little, Absalom has been able to see and communicate with the dead. Almudena taught him how to use his powers and insisted that this is a gift that makes them special. Nevertheless, she also taught him to hide it to avoid rejection from people outside their family. Even with their powers, there was something neither Absalom nor his grandmother were ever able to do: find Alma's soul.

When Absalom is 12, Almudena dies and Absalom, unable to find her either and suspecting her dead is related to the necromancy, blames their power for it. And so he starts seeing this power as a curse instead of a gift. Something that he doesn't truly control nor understand, something that scares him and isolates him. Absalom goes to live in a bigger city with his uncle. It spends a few rough years feeling alone and othered until, at 15, he meets Angel! They bond over their mutual love for music, being rejects in their school and their queerness. During their teenage years they both join a few bands and, finally, at 19-20, they decide to create their own music band, with Angel as the songer-guitarist and Absalom as the drummer. They are on the look out for a bassits when they meet Naomi. They quickly click and Naomi becomes the third member of TTT (Tres Tristes Trigres). A few months later, Naomi and Angel start dating! Playing with them is one of Absalom's favorite things in the world, and he trusts them more than anyone else. Nevertheless, he never tells them about his necromancy but they do notice weird, worrying things about him.

At 19-20, Absalom meets Percy after bumping into him a few times in campus and in local concerts. They hit it off immediately and start dating shortly after that. They're both interested in music and art. At first, their relationship seems perfect. Absalom (who's in the aro spectrum) falls in love for the first time and he feels really happy and loved, something he has truly struggled with for all his life. As time goes by, their relationship starts to get rocky, they fight and argue a lot, but they always go back to each other. Their relationship ends up beng really toxic on both sides. Percy is manipulative and cheats on him and Absalom is jealous and desperate for this idyllic love and comfort they had at first. But, thanks to Angel and Naomi's support, Absalom breaks up with him after dating for a year and half. During the time they were dating, Percy started noticing a few odd things that surround Absalom, like weird aggresive energies around them after they fought. No matter how many times Angel warns Absalom against it, sometimes, when it feels lonely, it goes back to Percy, looking for momentary comfort.

Regarding the necromancy gift/curse. Its origins are uncertain to the family but what does it exactlty allow them to do? The Medina family (or at least those that inherit it) can see spirits in their daily life and communicate with them (spirits may appear everywhere and they mostly can tell when someone is able to see them so they may follow necromancers around, there's more spirits in places like graveyards tho; they don't really have that much consciousness, except for the spirits of necromancers, like Almudena, who Absalom will be able to find at some point). Thanks to this power they can also search for (and most of the time) find the spirit of a specific person (but still, Absalom is never able to find Alma, which tortures him). Another thing that they can do is enter Ewordis.

Ewordis is the realm between life and death (but closer to death, as no living creatures can enter it, except for some necromancers). Ewordis is a inmense white space full of mostly nothingness and some spirits where time doesn't really exist. Absalom hides there when he gets too overwhelmed by real life, thinking that avoiding reality helps him. When he enters Ewordis, his real body is frozen in time, so he can stay there for days or weeks without truly noticing. But time itself doesn't stop. This has lead to his friends worrying after not hearing of him for days in more than one occasion. Isolating himself in Ewordis like this is something that Absalom does to cope when he is really really bad and he tells no one about it. He doesn't really understand what this realm truly is, nor where does it lead. What are the secrets that hide beyond this seemingly vast white empty unreal territory?

One day, after Absalom's mental health worsens and he goes back to hiding in Ewordis, he meets, for the first time, a demon-looking huge guy! Absalom is shocked, because he did not know of the existence of creatures like him. This "demon" tells him he remembers nothing of before being in Ewordis and that he himself doesn't know what he is. They keep bumping into each other when Absalom enter Ewordis, and it notices that this demon must be lonely. They talk a lot and become friends, and Absalom tells him about his life in the living realm. He ends up naming the demon Ozzie, after one of his favorite movies: "The Wizard of Oz". They decide to try and find out what Ozzie is.

After many spirits start following Absalom around and telling him about a monster eating their corpses in a graveyard, Absalom decides to investigate and get rid of all of them. Not really because he wants to help them, but because he wants to be left alone. He goes to the graveyard at night and he founds a thin young man crying next to an open grave. When he sees Absalom, he runs away. This young man is Victor. Victor also comes from one of the few necromancers families left. Their powers are different to those of the Medina family tho, since they are more related to the pyshical body and flesh than to the spirit. He was alive many years ago and he lived with his two siblings and his abusive father. Victor killed himself to escape his father but he brought him back, mixing his body and soul with those of other corpses. Now Victor is forced to feed on human corpses to keep their conscience. Victor loathes his father, who keeps him locked in their old mansion and forces him to keep himself alive. Thanks to his powers, his father has kept himself and his children alive for many many years.

Necromancy powers are directly related to the Horror of Death. There are many Horrors related to different aspects of existence. The Horrors are cosmic entities beyond human comprehension. More ancient that everything. They are neutral entities, not bad nor good. They just exist and keep balance. They have no human morality or feelings. Or at least, that's how it should be. So why can't Absalom die? Who protects him and why? Where is Alma's soul? Who are the other Horrors and how do their existence affect the characters lives?

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

I love dudes with boobs!

On a genuine note though I wish we could see Angel actually dealing with his addictions and struggles with relapsing. Im still pissed that he just got over it and the only “relapse” as 2 seconds long and didn’t even impact him at all

[gloriousmonsters]

tbh the more setting details i notice the more i realize how the other Vees are signaled as complicit/participant in Angel's abuse.

It's not just Velvette's 'love potion' being used in an attempt to roofie him out in the world - it's a huge poster of her advertising the 'love potion' put up in Val's studio, notably paired with a Voxtech 'Trust Us' poster on another wall. When Vox is walking past posters in his first appearance, Angel Dust posters are noticeable, along with a Love Potion advertisement that features both Val and Velvette and a poster that just seems to be for the Vees in general. When Angel backs away from Val in his dressing room, a scene where he's been taken out of sight of Charlie and is alone with Val - up pops a Love Potion on his dressing table to one side of him, and a Voxtech camera trained on him on his other side. The other Vees are present, in spirit. When Vox and Val fuck off at the end of Poison (and there's YET MORE to be said about that moment) and Angel finally has his moment of genuine breakdown, there's a Voxtech camera in the foreground pointed at him. Even when he's 'off-camera' he's not safe from observation, and even when he and Val are 'alone', the other Vees are there.

also Velvette is wearing the same outfit she's wearing in the Love Potion poster as she is in the finale, I don't think that necessarily means anything but well. i noticed it

[justplainwhump]

Over

Dany is captured by WRU.

A part of Angel's story.

Written for Whumpmas in July @whumpmasinjuly-archive , day 12, Caught.

Content / warnings: Abduction, betrayal, character death, whumper pov, thoughts about noncon, vibes of unhealthy relationship dynamics (m/f).

Had it been up to Frankie to choose the last day of this life, it defined wouldn't have been a Monday. The Hammonds' weekly security briefing was tedious and dull. Especially today. Especially when the sun was shining, especially when his flight to the Caribbean was -

"Frankie." Peter snapped his fingers. "Focus. Look at these photos. Anyone on these shows up near her, you get her away. The Chernovs are pissed because of the boss' latest move, and they won't hold back."

Especially when Frankie knew in detail what - no, who the biggest threat to Dany was today. He had to bite back a smirk.

"The Chernovs won't get to her," Frankie assured, peeking at the clock in the corner. "I'll keep her close."

Josie leaned back and chuckled. "Yeah. We all know just how close she keeps you."

Peter clicked his tongue. "We don't talk about the junior like that, Josie. She's an adult, she's a professional, and so is Francis. When he's listening."

"Yeah. I've got her," Frankie repeated and peeked at the clock on the wall. "And she's going to insufferable when I'm late to pick her up. So. Excuse me."

"Watch out for these guys."

"I will."

He'd been even more attentive than usual, lately, Frankie thought as he jogged towards her office. He knew WRU was scouting them, and he'd clocked some of their agents. Whom he he'd been truly on the lookout for, however, was the principal. The person behind it all. Who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, to make Danielle Hammond his.

It scratched his professional honor that he couldn't tell. Sure, Stuart Hammond pissed off many powerful players, many of whom would go great length to take it out on his only daughter and designated successor. But none of them would use WRU as a middle man.

And Dany's own surroundings? She certainly came after her Dad, in both business sense and annoying attitude, but Frankie usually managed to keep up with a list of her enemies.

Nobody matched.

Frankie sighed, before he knocked at her door and entered right away.

"You're late," she said, not bothering to turn around from where she stood in front of her cabinet, changing from her elegant business suit into a white summer dress. Frankie was a pragmatic man, but he suspected there was some sort of poetry in that choice on a day like today. "Just in time to zip me up, though."

He stepped in behind her and carefully brushed her blond hair aside, before he reached down for the zipper.

She was gorgeous. Sun tanned, soft skin. The freckles over her shoulders. The fit body, with just the perfect mixture of curves and muscle. His hand rested on her ass just some moments, mapping her shape to keep her in his memories.

All of this would belong to someone else, soon.

"Frankie." She raised a brow at him through the mirror. "We're past this, remember? Focus."

His other hand searched for her hip, too, and he pulled her back against him. She didn't fight it. Fuck. She felt too good, her body pressed to his, just like the many times before. "Come on," he whispered into her hair. "One last time?"

Dany turned her head, and it made him shiver how close she was, how her soft breath caressed his skin. "You don't call the shots, babe," she whispered back, her hand on his cheek. "I do." She twisted her hip out of his grip. "Not today."

He wondered, how it would feel to just take her, right here, in her office. What would happen, if he just grabbed her, hand in that blond locks, tossed her over her own desk and fucked her. She was feisty, but he was stronger than her. Paid to be. He could easily overwhelm her. He'd thought about this, more than once. Never done it. Always let her call the shots. Always let her be in power. What a meek little power that was, though. All deduced, from family, from wealth.

And someone out there was about to do what Frankie couldn't. Strip that off her. That power. That name. That arrogance. All of it. And make her into a submissive little fucktoy.

Oh, he fucking hated them for getting what he longed for.

"Focus," Dany said sharply.

He took a deep breath and nodded. And he did focus. On the smell of her shampoo, on the way her hair tingled over his skin, on the curve of her ass under the zipper.

Focus.

Frankie would become a rich man today. Rich, satisfied, free. He'd just have to make it through this.

"Sorry, babe," he mumbled.

He wasn't.

~

"Why did you say that?" Dany asked, when they were going down in the elevator, looking at him through the huge mirror. "A last time? You usually don't give up that easily."

Frankie had to hide a flinch. "I... Did I really say that?"

She stared at him from honey eyes, eyebrow raised. Expectant. "Yeah."

He hated her. For being gorgeous, for that white dress, for being in charge, for looking right through him. Fifteen minutes. He just needed this to not blow up in his face for fifteen more minutes. Just needed her to trust him for fifteen more minutes. "I... I think we should end this," he said. Improvised. It felt hollow. It sounded real. "It's... It's sort of getting nowhere, right? And I... I think I deserve better."

She paused for a moment, searched his face, before she shrugged. "Okay. Yeah. I guess." She smirked. "It's really been a bit of a cliche, anyway."

The doors slid open towards the lobby, but he couldn't move.

"That's it?" Frankie asked in disbelief. "That's how simple you think this is?"

"Wasn't it always? Come on, Frankie. We fucked. It was fun, it was good, and not gonna lie-" She winked at him. "I did like spanking you. But I mean. It's just sex, right? When it's over, it's over. No hard feelings." She held out an arm to keep the elevator door open for them. "Now. Are we leaving or do you want Peter to cover your shift?"

He really considered it. For a second or two, Frankie imagined going home, having a beer, calling his parents, telling them he'd come back to work in their repair shop. Imagined a life without Dany Hammond.

No.

He'd close this chapter of his life in a much more rewarding way.

"I'm good." He gave her a sharp nod. "Yeah. No hard feelings."

He pushed past her into the lobby, took the room in with a sweeping glance. For a short moment, someone locked eyes with him.

Alex Nadler. That short, awkward WRU client satisfaction manager, dressed just like a businessperson passing by. They weren't awkward now. Their gaze felt like steel.

Frankie shivered.

Move, their lips formed as they tilted their head towards the street.

Focus, Frankie thought.

Focus.

He guided her to the door, just some steps after Alex.

By his side Dany, utterly unfazed by their past conversation, had pulled a stack of index cards from her white purse and skimmed through them, mumbling to herself. She was invited to give a speech at some charity's summer event, just two blocks south.

She wasn't scheduled to arrive.

He walked half a step behind her shoulder, as always, shielded her from behind and towards the street. And as always, his gaze constantly flicked from the surroundings to her. Her long legs, short white dress, perfectly curved ass, blond strands dancing in the wind. People made space for her on instinct, looked at her, jealous, admiring, greedy. And herself - she didn't even notice, deep into her notes, trusting the man behind her to keep her safe.

The man she'd let into her bed, but nowhere else. The man who'd been good enough to guard her, but not to be more than an affair out of dozens. The man she'd led him on, made feel special, and then proved over and over that to her, he was anything but.

A van closed in from behind them. In front, Alex slowed their steps to down to fall back to Dany's side.

Everything was in place.

Dany had no idea.

Frankie smiled grimly.

For someone as savvy as she was, she was pathetically naive.

Then, Alex raised their hand.

~

It happened in seconds. The van slowed by the curb, its door sliding open. Masks. Machine guns.

Dany's index cards silently drifting to the sidewalk. Her white dress still dancing around her thighs, while she stood frozen in shock.

Her first move was for him. A hand, reaching back, to where she knew her protector would be.

Frankie grabbed her waist, a move so familiar he could almost laugh. "I've got you, babe" he mumbled. He could swear that he felt her relax the tiniest bit.

Then he hefted her into the van, right between the armed men.

He jumped in, Alex followed, and the van accelerated, sped off, before Dany had even said a word.

She didn't, still, even when one of the captors took her purse and passed it on to toss it out. Even when another pulled back her wrists and fixed them with zip ties. Even when they forced her to her knees and bound her ankles as well.

Even with a stranger's hand in her hair, a gun to her head, she stayed silent, attentive, aware. Her gaze was on Frankie alone.

And oh. He could drown in those eyes.

When someone touched his wrist, disturbed the image, he angrily flinched. "Sit," a masked man next to him said. "It's getting bumpy."

"I'm -" Frankie grabbed for a hold on the side, just before the van sped around a corner.

"An asshole," Dany said flatly. "I should've known."

Somebody chuckled. But apart from that, nobody spoke.

She didn't say anything more either. Smart girl, he thought. Just as him and the security guys had talked through with her dozens of times. Don't give them anything. Stay calm. Stay alert. Don't fight. Could even have helped, had this been what she probably assumed it to be.

A kidnapping for ransom, for information, for leverage. A kidnapping that matched her worldview. Matched her self image of being the centre of the world.

He idly wondered, what they'd do with that cute white dress. Trash it, probably. Too bad. He'd have liked to fuck her in it.

The van hit a speedbump, another one, and Dany let out a short gasp when the man behind her yanked at her hair trying to keep his footing. The outside noises changed, grew dull, and the van drove into a long, spiraled curve. Parking garage, Frankie thought.

The door slid open, and without spoken commands, their captors emerged into the dark, boots echoing on concrete.

They were alone.

Frankie and Dany, his charge, his lover, his boss. He'd have given his life for her, a long time. Now, he'd sold hers.

She tried to push herself off the ground, get onto her knees again. Under the dim inside light of the van, her dress seemed to emit light. He saw her eyes skim over the inside of the car, the door, back at him, assessing the situation. It was hopeless.

She knew.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why, Frankie?"

"Money," Frankie said with a shrug and crouched down in front of her. "A new life. Seeing you on your knees. Actually, mostly the latter." He reached out and gently traced her cheek. She did flinch now. Cute. "Because you're a bitch, Dany." He grabbed her chin harder. "Because I get paid to see you destroyed."

She stared at him. He wondered if her lip was trembling, or if it was just the light. "It... You know it doesn't make sense, right?" she said.

Frankie pulled back from the kiss he'd just wanted to press on her lips, irritated. "What?"

"That story. You're a loose end. No mobster in their right mind would just let you walk. You betrayed me, you sold me out to be destroyed, but they'll kill you first." She let out a low chuckle. "Oh Frankie. You've always been a fucking idiot."

Fucking bitch tried to belittle him, even at her lowest.

"Oh no, babe." He shook his head. "You have no idea. They're not the mob. They're something else. They just planned to make it look like-"

Dany raised an eyebrow.

Fuck.

Something cold pressed into the back of his neck.

Frankie froze.

"She's right," Alex said behind him, their voice even. "We're professionals. At WRU, we don't leave loose ends."

Dany's gorgeous, brown eyes widened with sudden understanding, her mask of smug confidence finally shattered. "No," she breathed. "No, no, not WRU, not that, not -"

Dany Hammond looked lovely, he thought, when she fell apart.

He held on to that image, as he took his last breath.

---

[Next]

- --

Angel tag list (ask to be added or removed): @whumplr-reader @there-will-always-be-blood @whimpers-and-whumpers @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @risk606

[prince-liest]

A snippet from chapter 3 of The Last Bus Stop in Hell, Now Boarding in conjunction with some thoughts on the subject, because I've gotten some comments to the tune of, "I can't believe Charlie, Vaggie, and Lucifer are just okay with this?!" most of which are p clearly just people being rightfully frustrated with the horrible situation but still prompted me to want to talk about how I see canon, since those thoughts are actually a direct echo of me rattling the bars of Angel's comments about getting fucking waterboarded at work like, "WHY IS NOBODY HELPING ANGEL DUST?!"

I was going to write this scene anyway, but I just wanted to be Very clear about where I stand on the subject of how much Angel Dust is telling people about his work life, vs the things he has been actively hiding from them, because this is the only way that canon makes sense to me.

I think there's a huge difference between Charlie seeing Val and Angel disappear into a room and Angel coming back with a bruise before yelling at her to get the fuck out like he's unholy levels of pissed off at her for setting the whole damn studio on fire and putting them all in danger, and Charlie understanding what Angel's work life is actually like, drugs and rape and abuse all included.

Given how she reacted to the bruise before Angel told her to piss off, I think there are several lines between What She Knows and the reality that would be skipped merrily the fuck over with regards to whether or not she'd continue listening to Angel telling her that he's got it under control, jesus fuck, please leave. In particular, I think it's worth noting that to get her out of the studio, he framed the situation as her making things worse, and I think she very much internalized it as "I fucked up, I literally set the building on fire, everything was fine before I got here, it was my fault, and Angel is angry at me," which is also why she was SO upset and sorry about everything that happened.

From her limited view of the situation, it looked like she caused a huge mess and Angel caught the fallout, not that Val's way of treating Angel is a regular occurence - and that's not even getting into the fact that she didn't even see what actually happens between the two of them behind closed doors.