#priest blitz au

[kazoimp]

I did some fanart for squizzarolli's beautiful martyr series because it has me in a chokehold

[androgynousblackbox]

The Ancient Necromancer's Groom AU

Lucifer (20 years old)

Since he was a young kid, he could see and hear things that no one else would, making him an outcast among the other kids. His own family end up abandoning him because he was "too creepy" and has lived on his own in the streets until someone picks him up for an auction. Lucifer is so tired of living alone that accept to participate as something to be sold if at least it will give him a purpose. His magic has affinity with all other kinds, making him extremely desirable for other mages and creatures that want to feed off him.

Alastor Abaddon (???)

A necromancer mage that lives on the swamps outside of New Orleans who bought Lucifer with a bunch of money that he stole. His magic affinity is shadows and the dead. He was born crawling out of the body of his dead mother, a teenager that was killed by his father, and found by Rosie when she was a young mage. His first killing waas his own father. Regularly eats human flesh when he can and in general doesn't have the best opinion of humans for the way they treated mages/other magical creatures. He plans to marry Lucifer to control his training on all forms of magic and have children with him to control the next generation of mages. Because of his upbringing, Alastor has no clue what normal couples do nor how families are supposed to be like, to great frustration of Lucifer.

Charlie (4 years old)

An orphan child with the gift of sight that Lucifer takes a especial liking to so Alastor, without asking Lucifer, decides to adopt her (using a bunch of money he also stole to make the church shut up) to ensure that Lucifer won't ever have a reason to leave. Charlie them both papa or dad, but she is closer to Lucifer and usually follows him around as he is learning on the field. Stolas (???) The familiar of Lucifer that normally takes the form of an owl, but can also disguise himself as a human to follow Lucifer around. He was believed to be a bad omen that only brought on misfortunes and tragedies wherever he went, but he was merely there as a warning that other people never got to experience. The only exception was an old astronomer that Stolas became friends with and taught him a lot about the sky. Stolas takes his familiar role very seriously. He has a crush on the unreliable priest that is "in charge" of keeping watch over Alastor. Father Blitz (35 years old) The priest of the church nearest the swamp that was tasked to keep watch over Alastor to make sure he didn't cause any disasters, but mostly just goes to deliver letters and eat whatever Alastor has edible that isn't raw meat. Alastor already knows he can get almost anything out of him as long he can pay for it, including the adoption of a little girl with very little preparation. Despite his lack of faith and more than loose morals, Blitz is generally not a bad man who prefers to spend his day being lazy and enjoying life however he sees fit. He enjoys learning things about the stars from Stolas. Niffty (???) A house fairy that already lived on the place Alastor came to claim as his own. She cooks, cleans and keeps the place decent, but can't get out the property. She was waiting on the dark covered in dust until Alastor appeared, like a doll without an use. Rosie (???) Another old necromancer whose affinity includes jinxes/curses, the dead and plants (especially poisonus). She practically raised Alastor until he was old enough to live on his own. She becomes the first official teacher of Lucifer and sometimes babysitter of Charlie.

Millie/Titania and Moxxie/Oberon The queen and king of all fairies. They both have known Alastor for many years and are interested to see what does he do with his "little groom."

Carmilla Carmine She makes magical items and instruments to sell. She has known Alastor for a very long time, so naturally she is protective of Lucifer and doesn't want to see him "corrupted" by the asshole that is the necromancer since she can see he has a gentle heart.

[crimehat]

bottom of the river a blasphemous Royalblitz AU

@hazbinmo-tel and I are back on our bullshit again, this time with a Southern Gothic inspired AU. 

the basic idea is that: Charlie is (assumed) human in this AU, but still very much the daughter of Lucifer, and she’s drawn to some little rural town in the middle of nowhere. the town itself and its people seem nice and normal enough, but that couldn’t be further frorm the truth. at the root of it all, the town is founded on extreme religious and cult-like behavior. they think they’re doing God’s work and will; it’s really too bad they’re all just a bunch of brainwashed, evil assholes. 

so that’s where IMP comes in. we already know Stolas isn’t above sabotaging certain on-goings in the living world if it means more people will die and get sent to hell. getting wind of this extremely screwed up town, he gets IMP to set up shop there for an indefinite amount of time, and even provides them with proper human disguises. 

not to mention, Stolas knows Charlie’s on her way there. it can’t hurt to have some extra eyes on her.

Millie poses as a realtor, while Moxxie poses as a cop, and Blitz poses as the local priest. ( because who doesn’t love a demon masquerading as a holy figure? 👀 which tbh was more or less the whole motivation and inspiration behind this au )

so, basically: Charlie gets to town not long after IMP’s made themselves comfortable. she goes to one of Blitz’s services and all seems well enough.

then she goes to one of his river baptisms and - oh. he’s holding the blessed under the water for an awfully long time, isn’t he? wait - why are they just floating there when he finally lets them go? 

did the priest just murder someone in front of the whole town? why isn’t anybody doing anything about it? 

and probably most important of all: when she tries, why can’t she seem to leave this terrible place?

[calamity-bean]

Aziraphale/Crowley Fic Recs

AKA “There is SO much Good Omens fic nowadays, with more being added at SUCH an incredible rate, that I keep forgetting to bookmark things and thus completely lose track of what I’ve read and what I liked and which ones to watch for updates and which ones I might want to read again and etc etc. So, for the sake of my own sanity, I have made A List.”

And I thought, hey, might as well share.

I’ve divided this list into WIPs and Complete Works, but otherwise, it’s a jumble: canon-verse and AUs, short and long, ranging in rating from G to E and incorporating various tropes and headcanons. I tend to gravitate toward happy endings, so there’s probably nothing too dark or soul-crushing, but as always, buyer beware, pay attention to tags and content warnings and your own personal tastes. Works are listed in chronological order of first publishing, simply as a neutral and objective way to list them, and more will be added intermittently as I read new ones or rediscover ones I forgot.

Hope this helps someone find some good reading and directs more attention to some well-deserving work!

-- WIPs --

On Espionage and Prophecy (or How to Accidentally, but Wholly, Fall in Love With a Soho Bookseller) by RockSaltAndRoll (June 15, 2019)

1941 is the London Blitz and the year that MI5 really comes into its own with the now infamous ‘double cross’ system. The service keep tabs on suspects, root out enemy agents and try to turn them into doubles.

Anthony J Crowley is fucking great at this job. He can be sneaky, underhanded and damn ruthless but also charming and kind. It’s what makes him good at turning.

Aziraphale is just a regular Soho bookseller who loves his shop and books and good food and wine when he’s approached by a woman claiming to be MI5, wanting to recruit him for espionage. The poor man is too trusting and gets the shock of his life when he’s approached by a charming but dangerous-looking man also claiming to be MI5.

Crowley recruits Aziraphale to double cross a double crosser and Aziraphale takes to espionage like a duck to water.

Danger, hijinks, and sex ensue.

Show Me a Great Plan by WriteDreamLie (June 17, 2019)

A.J. Crowley is an eccentric "business man." A.Z. Fell is a bookseller who refuses to sell any books.

After Fell (unwillingly) helps Crowley out of a sticky situation, the two become oddly fixed on each other. And their relationship could just be the thing that saves them both.

icing on the cake by Etheostoma (June 18, 2019)

Between the black attire, swaying hips, slouching pose, and affected “devil-may-care” attitude that actually belied an incredibly sensitive nature, A.J. Crowley was a walking puzzle—and one that Aziraphale, when he allowed his thoughts free rein, wanted desperately to solve.

That being said, at the end of the day Crowley was also technically his employer, and therefore even the thought of anything more was decidedly not a Good Idea.

Vita Nova by AMidnightDreary (June 18, 2019)

“Angel, bloody hell. Hi. You doing okay? Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

It was quiet for a few seconds.

“I’m sorry,” Aziraphale said then, still polite, but a bit perplexed. “Who is this?”

Crowley, upon finding that Aziraphale does not remember him, is very much Not Okay with the changes Adam made after the Apocalypse That Wasn't. He can't do anything but try and make the best out of it, though. (Which is a lot easier than it should be.)

Sparse Clutter by ItsClydeBitches (June 26, 2019)

A fic bingo collection featuring twenty-five, one word prompts. Whole thing is probably best described as "Ineffable husbands stupidity with a hefty dose of gen world building," but I'll chuck brief summaries below as I update!

Strange Pilgrims: Being the Account of a lost Angel, the Journeys of a Demon, the meaning of Free Will, of the Unravelling of a Prophecy, and of Being Unravelled by it in Turn by sousverre (June 26, 2019)

"Aziraphale going missing" would be quite enough drama for Crowley to be getting on with, thanks very much - even without a prophecy that seems to be implying the significance of Feelings, and especially with every gargoyle in London trying to reunite them.

But when he does find the angel, Aziraphale has lost his memory, his wings, and insists that he is happily married to some kind of investment banker.

Right. So the first step is to fix all that, somehow, and then - and then - and then everything can go back to normal, like it was before, which is all Crowley wants.

Right.

How do we fix this?

Put Out The Fire by Aleakim (June 27, 2019)

Aziraphale finds himself in a very awkward position as some sort of spell makes everyone merely glancing in his direction instantly fall deeply and desperately in love with him.

Absolutely everyone.

Well, apart from Crowley, that is.

And while both angel and demon search for a solution to this fairly unique problem, Crowley can’t help wondering whether Aziraphale might finally figure out some things he kept hidden for so very long.

Ink Blots and Forget-Me-Nots by gutsandglitter (July 3, 2019)

Ninth Circle Ink was hardly more than a stone’s throw from the flower shop; Aziraphale knew from past experience that it took less than thirty seconds to go from door to door (forty-five if you had to wait for a car to pass). It had been a perfect arrangement in the beginning, when they were just starting out.

aka the flower shop/tattoo parlor (human) exes AU that nobody asked for!

You Can Have Your Cake by eragon19 (July 4, 2019)

Aziraphale has been working as Anathema's assistant at her wedding planning service for near on a year now. He thinks he's seen it all, from meddling parents to nervous brides, and in one case an ex with a penchant for arson.

What he isn't prepared for is a reluctant groom with a liking for black leather and a smile that has Aziraphale's mind going to places it most certainly shouldn't. Especially since the man is getting married, no matter how awful his fiance is...

To the Stars by StarRose (July 9, 2019)

The happy ending Titanic!Au no one ever writes but everyone always imagines in every possible fandom. Aziraphale is being forcibly sent to America to be forcibly married to Gabriel. Crowley is going to forcibly screw that up.

A Matter of Convenience by ylc (July 15, 2019)

There comes a time when even the most fervent enemies must call a truce and what better way to cement such truce than a marriage? And if the involved parties happen to be the most troublesome members of the ruling families… well, that’s all for the best, isn’t it?

Barriers, and the Breaking Thereof by Cardinal_Daughter (July 16, 2019)

Ezra Fell has long been comfortable in his loneliness. He’s content to simply run the Soho Public Library and otherwise keep to himself. However, when a handsome stranger bursts in one evening with a baby, frantic and in need of help, Ezra finds those carefully constructed barriers he’s long maintained begin to crack.

Perhaps it’s time to let them fall.

Series of one-shots focusing on the lives and developing relationship between Ezra Fell and Anthony J. & Adam Crowley. Human AU.

Lavender, Chamomile, and a Rather Permanent Arrangement by southdownsraph (July 17, 2019)

Crowley owns the flower shop across the street from A. Z. Fell's tattoo shop, and can't help but be intrigued by the slightly eccentric, yet incredibly friendly tattoo artist. When Crowley does finally pluck up the courage to talk to him beyond the occasional pleasantries, he kicks off the beginning of a friendship that could so easily drift into something else entirely.

Pride and Prejudice and Angels by SanSanFanFan (July 20, 2019)

Hampshire, England, 1809

Miss Crowley's plans for a small temptation near the South Coast go awry as she realises that Aziraphale is not only a guest of a neighbouring landed gentlelady but also suffering under some kind of malady.

Match-making! Balls! Fainting! Happily Ever Afters???

Celestial Bodies by LieutenantLiv (August 3, 2019)

The year is 1923. Aziraphale's friends at the gentlemen's club invite him for a weekend away in Devon. He asks Crowley to join. It gets very silly and very messy very quickly.

That's just how things were in the roaring twenties.

Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm (August 9, 2019)

As soon as Aubrey Thyme, psychotherapist, had opened her office door and seen her new client, Anthony J. Crowley, sitting in her waiting area, she was observing and assessing him. At first glance, she paid attention to the following:

--His clothing was expensive and stylish; --He wore very strange but noticeable cologne; --His relationship to the seat he occupied could only, very loosely, be described as “sitting;” --He looked angry; --He was wearing sunglasses.

What Aubrey Thyme, a professional, thought, upon first seeing her new client was: you’re going to be a fun one, aren’t you?

-- Complete Works --

Anthophilia by FortinbrasFTW (July 7, 2014)

Anthony J. Crowley's life seems like it's finally falling into place: his floral shop has begun to gain an undercurrent of appreciation in the design elite of London, and he might have even finally found a boyfriend who looks just right lounging on his Tenreiro sofa. Things seem almost perfect, until one day the empty shop across the street is leased to frumpy fellow Oxford alumni, who doesn't seem to remember Crowley nearly as well as he remembers him, which really shouldn't bother him as much as it does - it was ten years ago after all, and it wasn't even that good of a kiss.

The Rose Thief and the Priest by ImprobableDreams900 (January 8, 2018)

When horticulturist A. J. Crowley sees a rare breed of rose in a churchyard, he decides he won't stop until he can get a cutting—even if he has to go through the church's stuffy priest to do so.

Running in the Shadows (Damn Your Love, Damn Your Lies) by soft_october (May 10, 2019)

"In plain terms, Mr. A. Fell was a man of impeccable conduct and unusual habits, and in a similar manner to many of whom bore the first two traits, he must also take up the third: dire loneliness. Yet it had not always been thus. Indeed, there once was a time when it seemed as if he should never know solitude or want of suitable company for the rest of his days, but the circumstances by which Aziraphale might have unwound the knot that now bound up his heart had long since dragged themselves, mortally wounded, to die in the shades of regret. Their ghosts hung in his past, growing in consequence with the singular passing of each year until they eclipsed even the death of those who had the foremost hand in their making, and had the effect of separating the sequence of his days of into a gentle, blooming Before, whose painful beauty made the egregious scars of the After that much more appalling."

What Aziraphale does not know is that, from across the ocean, Mr. Anthony J. Crowley is returning to England with his newly aquired wealth, wanting nothing more than to rebuild his life after a terrible shock and, perhaps, discover why he had been abandoned by his fiancé ten long years ago.

You Might Think I’m Crazy (All I Want is You) by soft_october (March 29, 2019)

'“Look I understand, you’ve got to check up on the new occupants, make sure I’m a proper ‘fit’ for the neighborhood or whatever euphemism you’re going to use this time, 'the greater good,' I saw the film, I get it. But I peeked in at the place next door the agent mentioned and if you aren’t bothering him I really don't think you should be-”

“I’m your neighbor,” Aziraphale interrupted. “I own that place next door?”

“Oh.”'

Since the next shop over closed down, Aziraphale's had a peaceful few months, barring those unpleasant interactions with the men in cheap suits who keep trying to persuade him to sell his shop. But now a (handsome) new owner has taken up residence beside him and, horror of horrors, he wants to open up a coffee shop.

A Home at the Beginning of the World by stereobone (June 6, 2019)

"Oh," Aziraphale says. "I think Crowley might have moved in with me."

creatures of circumstance by attheborder (June 10, 2019)

Anthony J. Crowley, Jr. is the prodigal son of CrowleyCorp, the UK’s most powerful, dangerous, and controversial technology company.  

A one-night stand with a mysterious man who calls himself Aziraphale tips his hopeless life upside-down into a dangerous obsession.

And somewhere else entirely, a girl-shaped creature is presiding over the back room of a bookshop in Soho, where an angel and a demon lay unconscious on the floor…

Bending Space and Time by Draco_sollicitus (June 11, 2019)

Crowley could never have envisioned a miracle quite like making an angel smile.

And when that angel is Aziraphale, well, he'll do whatever he can to experience that miracle again, and again, and again.

(Crowley spends the twentieth century bringing books to Aziraphale in an effort to make his angel smile a little more)

the words of the prophet are written on the subway walls by volantium (June 11, 2019)

Aziraphale and Crowley do the twenty-first century. (Or, Aziraphale and Crowley, dorks in love, post-Apocalypse).

a picnic plan for you and me by theapplepielifestyle (June 12, 2019)

“It’s angel food cake,” he said. He waited. When Aziraphale did nothing but nod politely: “It’s funny, see, ‘cause-”

“No, no, I get it.” Aziraphale nodded again. “Very funny.”

“Oh, shut up, it is-”

“May I ask what brought this on?”

Crowley paused. “Can’t a guy just want to try baking?”

(Or, Crowley makes Aziraphale food after the world doesn't end. It has absolutely nothing to do with how much he wants to make Aziraphale smile.)

with urgency but not with haste by Sanwall (June 13, 2019)

Aziraphale moves to the South Downs and gets bees, and Crowley gets into one of his moods.

The Play’s The Thing by volunteerfd (June 16, 2019)

“Who was at the very first rehearsal, hmm? Who read over Shakespeare’s shoulder as he put ink to parchment? If anything, I know Hamlet just as intimately as I know you.” Aziraphale picked up his teacup again and looked at Crowley over the rim of it. “Maybe even more.”

Crowley was tempted to ask if he’d fucked Hamlet.

****

Aziraphale is cast as the lead in a community theatre production of Hamlet, a lifelong dream of his and a lifelong night terror of Crowley's. But, as the hapless Crowley helps him run lines, it becomes a mystery why anyone would let Aziraphale on stage. Tears are shed, skulls are crushed, monologues are butchered, and through it all, Crowley remains supportive. After all, the show must go on--even if it is the fifty billionth production of stupid, overrated Hamlet.

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by 13thDoctor, JHarkness (June 17, 2019)

5 times Aziraphale and Crowley were mistaken for a couple, and the 1 time they weren’t.

A Regular Rip van Winkle by aurilly (June 20, 2019)

After almost an entire century spent asleep, Crowley wakes in 1888 to find the world more changed than he thought possible. His first order of business is to find his angel.

Also concerning the origin of the Baroque gavotte (spoilers: Aziraphale was feeling thirsty).

A bookshop is not a business by anactoriatalksback (June 22, 2019)

In which Aziraphale has no intention of selling books to anyone at all, let alone this infuriatingly persistent customer. No matter how nice his cheekbones are...

like a prayer for which no words exist by lipsstainedbloodred (June 23, 2019)

“What do you want, angel?” Crowley asks before Aziraphale is even properly in the room.

“Hullo my dear,” Aziraphale sounds cheery but also awfully worried, “I hadn’t seen you since - well, since-” Since they’d swapped bodies back; since Crowley had turned tail and ran from St. James’s Park like the Devil himself had been on his heels.

(in which Crowley and Aziraphale do not dine at the Ritz after that nasty business with Heaven and Hell, and Crowley has an existential crisis instead)

far too much in love to see by imperiousheiress (June 25, 2019)

“Hello, can I help you with anything in particular?” Aziraphale asks. And then, he freezes.

Inexplicably, impossibly, it’s the same man who had entered the shop the last time they’d been open. He’s sure of it. The man who he’d felt a rather insistent urge to garrote.

(Or, one of Aziraphale’s regular customers takes a little too much interest in Crowley, and Aziraphale feels somewhat unfamiliarly unpleasant about all of it.)

The Holiest by merle_p (June 26, 2019)

So when Aziraphale hears, through the grapevine, that an exorcism is supposed to happen on New Year’s Eve in Major Gruber’s flat, he knows that despite his general distaste for exorcisms, this is where he is going to be, on the slim chance that the demon Major Gruber and his spiritist friends have found is the same one Aziraphale appears to have lost.

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers by Gefionne (June 26, 2019)

Because they can’t see each other more than once every few decades, Aziraphale suggests that he and Crowley write to each other to pass the time apart. As quills for their letters, they exchange wing feathers: a gesture of great intimacy that Crowley is convinced only he perceives the depth of. But time will tell that it’s not just him who sees it that way.

Night and Day by Gigi_Sinclair (June 27, 2019)

Five times Aziraphale and Crowley encountered queer historical figures who know more about them than they do, and one time they actually have a clue.

Needed a break, gone to France x by sleepymccoy (June 28, 2019)

A week or so after the nopocalypse Aziraphale takes a holiday that, unfortunately, sends Crowley into a bit of a tailspin about where they're at

In Holy Matrimony by Myracuulous (June 29, 2019)

From the private journal of Alisha Jones, wedding planner, concerning the nuptials of Anthony J Crowley and Aziraphale and the planning process thereof, containing an account of chosen decor, guest list construction, and the holy war against the Antichrist that nearly ruined six months of professional organization and a very nice dinner.

Acts of Service by seekwill (July 2, 2019)

After receiving direct instruction from God, village reverend Aziraphale leaves his countryside congregation to serve the underserved and in-need at an urban church in London, a transition made all the more complicated by the mysterious and handsome Crowley, who always seems to appear when Aziraphale least expects him.

greatest hits by attheborder (July 2, 2019)

“But my dear, I just can’t believe you never told me that you had joined a musical group. I would have come out to support you— at your gigs!”

“First of all, never say ‘gigs’ again. Second of all, not my fault you never noticed when I showed up to dinner with a great big guitar case slung over my shoulder.”

(Aziraphale accidentally discovers Crowley’s secret: he was in a band in the 90s. And he wrote a whole album of love songs…)

Nanny Knows Best by DictionaryWrites (July 5, 2019)

Being a nanny, that should be simple. Simple. Easy as pie.

Crowley wished that were true.

human childcare for the occult (and ethereal) by suzukiblu (July 10, 2019)

The Dowlings miraculously need a nanny and a gardener at the same time, and Aziraphale suggests they flip for it. Crowley takes one moment to picture Aziraphale nannying anyone and calls dibs. It’s not that Aziraphale’s terrible with humans, he’s just, well. Terrible with humans. Truly, truly terrible.

He doesn’t want to deal with Aziraphale getting metaphorically guillotined or kicking up security’s paranoia, basically. A gardener can be a little odd, and no one will notice or care. Except Warlock, perhaps, as the only other person with any real reason to spend much time out on the lawn, but Warlock’s the one they want noticing so that’ll be fine, Crowley’s sure.

Even if it does make him cringe a little, leaving Aziraphale in charge of the plants.

keep me close by Iselmyr (July 17, 2019)

Aziraphale was expecting to see a talented but otherwise ordinary performance of Les Misérables with a genderswapped cast. Aziraphale was not expecting who came onstage.

Crowley was expecting an ordinary second night show, because Aziraphale always goes to opening nights, and Crowley never performs on them.

Except, this once, Aziraphale missed the opening, and came to the second night. Everything else snowballed from there.

lit in the darkness by ToEdenandBackAgain (July 17, 2019)

Aziraphale returns to Crowley's flat for the night after Armageddon. After all, it's hardly the first time they've shared sleeping arrangements. Or: Times throughout history Crowley and Aziraphale have shared a bed.

Reflect What You Are by Owenjones (July 17, 2019)

It's a year after the almost-apocalypse. Aziraphale makes Crowley go see a therapist.

“Have you been having any issues in particular?”

“Issues? Such as?”

“You tell me.” She could tell he had something on the tip of his tongue.

Crowley sat for a second, then blurted out, “He thinks I’ve been sleeping too much. He’s worried.”

An Answer to Prayer by Jupiter_Ash (July 20, 2019)

Prayers can be answered in a multitude of different ways. When it came to a certain cottage in the South Downs though, no one had expected it to be answered by the squealing wheels of a classic Bentley and Queen's Princes of the Universe.

All Karen wanted to do was sell a house.

The Ineffable Temptations of Oysters by gimpy_terry (July 20, 2019)

Wherein Aziraphale sometimes invites Crowley to dine on oysters with him and Crowley definitely takes him up on that offer.

did you open up your heart there? by weatheredlaw (July 21, 2019)

or were you quiet and afraid? — Aziraphale and Crowley meet over and over and over again. Aziraphale doesn't know what Crowley is, or why their souls can't seem to be parted, but he is a creature of love, and he's not going to argue with that.

A Machine for Living In by pineapplesquid (August 6, 2019)

All Crowley wants is to see the inside of the bookshop so that he can get this design for the building next door done so the clients will be happy and his bosses will stop yelling. What A.Z. Fell wants, apparently, is for Crowley and the project that’s he’s working on to disappear. Permanently.

One of these might be more attainable than the other.

[ganymedesclock]

I know you don’t really talk about ships, but I was curious as to what you think of Allura x Shay, since it seems to be pretty popular.

I wish I was more optimistic about it, by which I mean... I think taken on its own, Allura and Shay are really cute, they’re sweet people and I think they could get along charmingly.

The part that I worry about is it feels... kind of dismissive? Like... the most popular major Voltron ships that I’ve seen are all male paladins with each other. And being fair 4/6 of the paladins are guys. The dark horse contenders rising to prominence? are male paladins with Lotor.

Conversely, I’ve seen the generals shipped with each other, and I’ve seen Allura shipped with Shay, and I’ve seen Pidge shipped with the one infodesk punk unilu girl that we didn’t even have a name for.

It stands that there’s something of a discrepancy here re: who gets shipped with major characters. And that’s what I mean by it can feel dismissive- it feels like it’s “getting Allura out of the way of” the steamy m/m paladin romance by pairing her off with Shay, who, as much as I adore Shay and would love to be proven wrong by future developments, Shay is kind of a secondary or even tertiary supporting protagonist. She’s a great character, but not too much of a major character.

One of Shay’s major connections to the larger narrative is, at this point, she’s Hunk’s love interest in that the two of them seem to be harboring a small mutual crush. In the comics in particular Hunk actively protests marrying the other two aliens on the grounds that 1. they haven’t met his parents, and 2. “There’s this rock girl...”

And I don’t really... miss that this is a thing when Hunk is a modestly popular ship target that there’s a great deal of enthusiastic “Shay and Allura are lesbians and dating each other” when I don’t know if I’ve seen much... really in-depth art of them.

There’s a couple of ships that seem to read that way- most inter-team Sincline ships that don’t involve Lotor, for example, and I mentioned Pidge with the Unnamed Infodesk Girl- in the sense that they feel like, to coin a phrase out of thin air here, Purely Aesthetic Female Ship. In that you’ll find... artsy pictures or edits of them kissing and maybe once in a blue moon a comic but far more often, total radio silence besides “I can’t ship Allura with anybody else because her heart belongs to Shay.”

I’d love to be wrong. I guess I’m just suspicious that a lot of these ships are super widespread but relatively little is written about them and if anything they often feel nested into other stories/meta as a way to say “And Allura’s not going to be here, she’s going to be off with her girlfriend, so therefore I don’t have to write about her at all.”

Like again- I could be sold on Allura / Shay, but like... actually sell me on it. Don’t just go “oh remember that time on the s2 poster where Allura and Shay were together wearing flower crowns?” show me... how does this relationship develop? What do they mean to each other? Other characters engaging and interacting with this? More speculation and fleshing out of Shay in and of herself because frankly if you date a major character it should make you a major character. If this is happening alongside canon events what does it mean for Shay staying behind on the Balmera and hearing after the blitz, and the trap at Naxzela, how close Allura and the entire coalition came to being completely destroyed?

Explore the Balmerans culturally. Maybe set up parallels with Shay emerging as a leader of her people because frankly the Balmera’s revolution started with Shay, it was her selfless actions to stand up and take that stand and it was in reaction to what happened to her that Rax and the entire rest of the Balmera reacted. But that’s also stressful, the Balmerans don’t appear to have established leader figures here, so imagine Shay going to Allura- the lifelong career princess- who can relate a little about this “I have to learn how to be a diplomat” feeling.

Have Allura and Shay bond over Allura’s developing powers! Allura mentions in s4e6 she’s never been trained and that limits her confidence, and the Balmera was the stage of her first discovering that, as guided by Shay’s own grandmother. Where’s Shay- whose entire people live and die by their connection to the Balmera and its energy- guiding Allura through that?

I mean, with any ship, it’s important to dig into it, the micro and macrocosms of how these people engage with each other, how they feel, what made them feel that way. If this is your ship, if you love it, analyze the shit out of it, take that by the horns. If you’re just sorta here because you like fluff and you think the fluff would be cute with them, make a lot of fluff, show me all the places their lives comfortably intertwine with each other.

Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody point out the idea that shipping Shay in her current role with anybody on Voltron is a terrific setup for a long-distance relationship and all the fun and foibles that entails!

So I guess it’s... I’d absolutely love to be wrong about this but it feels like a lot of major ships between female characters feel really... halfhearted, not much energy to it, while conversely Klance- I’m picking on it since it’s my ship- has eight zillion AUs everywhere under the sun from trapeze artists to vampire-and-priest to high fantasy to “literally reenact the plot of Beauty And The Beast” and people digging into scene-by-scene analyses and hypotheticals with wild abandon, and I don’t feel like that difference is purely because of popularity. 

If anything, it’s suspicious that I can think of four popular male ships off the top of my head within Voltron’s main cast and none of them seem to exhibit that Purely Aesthetic problem that all of the female ships I can think of that I’ve seen in the fandom, ever, do. Just like I think it’s suspicious that whether or not I think Lance’s crush on Allura is unlikely to be reciprocated, it, and Hunk’s crush on Shay that does seem pretty reciprocated, seem to get all-but forgotten and not treated like genuine feelings. 

Like... they don’t have to be your endgame ship, but it feels really jarring to look from canon, with Lance who really does adore Allura, all flirtation aside, and Hunk who again turned down potential suitors because he’s monogamous and more interested in Shay, and to suddenly leap to a fanwork where these people just... feel nothing about each other?

[booklovershangoutlove]

RELEASE BLITZ Title: Brutus Series: Immortal Matchmakers, Inc. #6 Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff Genre: Paranormal Romantic Comedy Release Date: August 25, 2020 From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff comes BRUTUS, a Paranormal Romantic Comedy that will surely cause evil vampires to kidnap the author. Can the World’s Toughest Immortal Warrior Win the Heart of the World’s Toughest Immortal Woman? Brutus is not your average immortal warrior. He leads the gods’ army, he’s tough as nails, and his mind is so powerful, he no longer speaks to communicate with his men. Some call him telepathic; he just calls it being a badass. But despite the many bloody battles and hard-won victories, this is one mission he’s not so sure about. There is a plague sweeping the immortal world. Gods, vampires, incubi—no one is safe, except for those with mates, and sadly, there just aren’t enough women to go around. To keep the gods’ army intact, ready to protect the human world, Brutus must convince a group of ancient female warriors, located deep in the Amazon jungle, to return home with him, and…well…go on dates with his men. But when the toughest, meanest, man-hating, sexiest woman of the group catches his eye, all he can think about is conquering her heart. WARNING: This book contains a smokin’ hot immortal warrior looking for his forever love, a randy invisible unicorn, and bad, bad, such bad language. Okay, and some sex. Fine, yes! Lots of sex! And a kitten, a bit of violence, a man who loves knitting, mannibalism, unruly deities, Mayan priests who babysit animals, a naked goddess who wears a bee bikini, leather pants (for men), a very randy ghost who’s desperate for her HEA, anecdotes about evil mermen, a BIG plot twist even the author didn’t see coming, and a ton of romancy kind of stuff. Amazon US: https://amzn.to/34hUz8h Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/31eDHNR Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2Q9xLiK Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2E3pc73 Kobo: https://bit.ly/3ghVtnL  Nook: https://bit.ly/32b1rli Apple Books: https://apple.co/32pcoQz   Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53958372-brutus Other books in the series  IMMORTAL MATCHMAKERS, INC. ●Amazon: http://smarturl.it/3qyto3 https://www.instagram.com/p/CEUTW9_gHpE/?igshid=1w5iix2821857

[lifebooksloves]

Release Blitz: Tortured by N.M. Catalano

TORTURED by N.M. Catalano

Publishing:  February 20th

Romantic Erotic Suspense, Romantic Erotica, Contemporary Women’s, Menage

Order Links:  https://books2read.com/u/3nOjA9

Release Party:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/216611808764466/

Amazon US> http://amzn.to/2F8o3H7

Amazon CA > http://amzn.to/2uip6B1 Amazon AU > http://amzn.to/2umCyos

Pre-Release Reviews

“”Tortured” is NOT your run of the mill romance… Hell No! It’s sizzling hot to a point of INFERNO… you have been warned… PROCEED WITH CAUTION! N.M. Catalano does not do light romance… definitely NOT her M.O.! She will grip all your senses and thrust passion with so much force you will be gasping for air! She lives up to her reputation as the Queen Of Erotica…”  Pauline, Passionate About Books Blog

  “Tests the limits of your emotions!  From love to hate – from understanding to condemnation!  Unrestrained – Primitive – RAW.”  Joy, A Wonderful World Of Words Blog

“This overarching story has been building from Page 1 of Canvas. The tension is building and the pieces are starting to fit into place. The writing … N.M Catalano you are amazing.”  Cat, Amazon Reviewer

Description

They say I have demons.

They’re right.

They say I’m dangerous.

They’re right about that.  The four of us, that’s what we do.

They say I have no emotions.

I wish.

I feel everything, maybe more than you.

They said I shouldn’t fall in love with a married woman.

They’re right about that, too.  It wasn’t part of the assignment.

But I did.

Now they want her.

My demons are going to destroy them.

  There once was a girl who believed in fairytales.

They all came true.

With contracts and lies and deceit.

There is a woman who cries herself to sleep.

Who lives a lie behind a beautiful mask.

There is a woman who almost gave up.

Almost.

But then her prince charming came.

He is everything she needs.

Mysterious, dark, dangerous, who makes her do things, things that would shock you.

Everything that she needs.

There is a woman who belongs to someone else, who can never leave.

There is a woman who is imprisoned by deals and money and power.

There is a woman who loves a man she cannot have.

  There is a man and a woman who will be destroyed.

Raven I have rules. 1. Don’t get attached. 2. Wear the right heels. 3. Don’t. Trust. Anyone. That all went to hell when my life collided with the men of The Program. It seems if one isn’t threatening me, the other wants to save me. Everything was fine. Until it wasn’t. I used to have control. When Snake got a hold of me, it seemed control took a permanent vacation with no forwarding number. That’s just fine. He’s handed me carte blanche to use him. I’ll use him alright, I’ll let him think he’s the knight in shining armor riding in to save me. Beware Snake Priest, the Queen Of Hell will always burn the Priest. CANVAS, book 1 is right here >> https://books2read.com/u/4N1kn8 TRIFECTA book 1.5, Only .99!!! Right here >> https://books2read.com/u/4N1kn8

**18+, very strong sexual content, very strong language, MFM.  Suspense, a bit dark, BDSM, and absolutely intended for mature audiences, cliffhanger**

  Excerpt:

TORTURED, Book 3 in The Program series

“Torture With Pleasure” Teaser

“Tonight, my pet, I’m going to tie you. It’s going to be tight, and you won’t be able to move. I’m going to torture you with pleasure. When you give up what I want, I’ll reward you.” Another shudder ripples through her body. “Do you understand?” She nods her head yes, but doesn’t answer. “Good.” I drag my hands over her body and cup her breasts, squeezing their delicious plumpness in my palms. “Lift your arms.” She does, and I pull her silk gold ribbed sweater over her head. “When I’m done with you, your body will be covered with the rope marks.” She sighs that fucking sigh that gets me harder.  Undoing her bra, her breasts fall free. “What do you think when you look at my marks?” I whisper with my mouth at her ear. Her breathing is heavy now. I fucking love it.

She closes her eyes tightly. “I think, ‘yours’.”

That shit right there goes straight to my cock.

“Take off your shoes, Sasha,” I tell her as I unzip her skirt, slide it down until my thumbs slip into the elastic of her panties, and pull them both down her legs. With her now naked, I bend and pick up all of her things and bring them to one of the chairs under the window. The other, I carry to the foot of the bed. Next, I go to the walk-in closet, strip off my shirt, shoes, and socks, and leave them on the floor. In a box on the top shelf is where I keep the toys I bought for her. I take out the butt plug. Next to it is a bag of rope. I remove the five lengths I need. Back in the bedroom, I get the lube from the nightstand.

Pick up the other books in the series:

CANVAS Book 1 is right here >> https://books2read.com/u/4N1kn8

TRIFECTA Book 1.5, Only .99!! Right here >> https://books2read.com/u/49PpGw

BREATHE Book 2 is right here >> https://books2read.com/u/bwWBpv

TORTURED, Book 3 Right here >> https://books2read.com/u/3nOjA9

  LINKS:

TORTURED, Right here >> https://books2read.com/u/3nOjA9

Fan Group for Giveaways, release info, & other great stuff:  http://bit.ly/2kKBu8O

  AUTHOR LINKS:

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2jvjkCU

Amazon Author Page:  http://amzn.to/2j8K1h4

Private Fan Group:  http://bit.ly/2kKBu8O

Goodreads:   http://bit.ly/2jSw0Ye

Newsletter:  http://eepurl.com/bpEW9X

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/nmcatalano

Blog:  http://bit.ly/2bfPAva

Pintrest:  http://bit.ly/2kKz6PC

Instagram:  http://bit.ly/2kjCJLJ 

  COVER

AUTHOR BIO

  N.M. Catalano is an Amazon bestselling multi-published author. She spent many years in the corporate world, and owned several businesses. Having been fortunate to have such varied exposures, she had many opportunities to be exposed to different societies and cultures. After years of studying people and lifestyles, her fascination comes to life in the pages of her stories.

“I am just a woman, like many of you, who has lived through beauty and ugliness, happiness, (sometimes extreme), and sadness, (sometimes heart wrenching), and have grown to love life and myself even more. I write because I love the characters, I am madly and hopelessly in love with them and want to share them with the world. Life is beautiful and is meant to be enjoyed day by day, sometimes you have to pick out the good stuff with a magnifying glass like a needle in a haystack, but enjoyed none the less. The stories that I put on paper, I think, help us to find that enjoyment a little bit more.

I am just a woman who is in love with love… <3”

The post Release Blitz: Tortured by N.M. Catalano appeared first on Life Books & Loves.

from Life Books & Loves http://ift.tt/2HxDGbR via IFTTT

[shinybaublecom-blog]

Hell let Loose holds all the promise of realistic, platoon-based World War II shooter. With vehicle combat, combined with strategy elements including resources and airstrikes that can be called in from off the map, this WW II title has a lot going for it. Aiming to raise AU$136,000 (roughly $106,000/£80,000), Developer Black Matter has launched a Kickstarter campaign, which finishes before the end of this month (October 2017).

Indie developer Black Matter decided that they would only begin our Kickstarter campaign once they had a playable client from end to end. That means launching the application, connecting to a server and actually playing the game at an Alpha level of quality. Black Matter are thrilled that they can do all those things, and that all funds from this Kickstarter will go towards fleshing out and widening the scope of what they feel is already a deep experience. The team has released a nine-minute gameplay video that focuses on one squad protecting a capture point, of which there will be multiple on any given map.

As you can see from the gameplay video there are a few glitches or improvements that will need to be ironed out to improve the player’s immersion, namely the recoil. (which appears to be nearly nonexistent). There is still a lot we do not know, like how the strategy elements will work yet. One player will take on a commander role that will presumably oversee the battlefield and issue instructions to the 50 soldiers on their team, but there’s not much detail on that. What we do know is that capturing different points on the map will yield different resources: holding a fuel depot will allow your side to refuel vehicles faster and controlling a munitions depot will let you launch off-map naval strikes.

In Hell let Loose, Communication will be key, as there’s almost no HUD (or crosshairs) to speak of which ties into the theme of realism, and there’s a heavy emphasis on player positioning and team movement in the field.

13 different combat roles are available for players, and again it is unclear how effective the these roles will be or how role selection on the battlefield will change the dynamic of the fight.

Apart from the slight items that need to be developed, we think it’s well worth keeping an eye on. As with most kickstarters, there’s a variety of pledge levels, and $24.95 (roughly £18.65) will get you a Steam Early Access key when the game migrates to the platform next year, and the game when released will be around the $29.99 mark. A closed alpha is due early next year.

From the developer:

Hell let Loose Key Features

HUGE BATTLES – 100 players per game, 50 per team

COORDINATE – Win through teamwork, tactics, and communication

A NEW METAGAME – Capture sectors and resources to beat your enemy into submission

COMBINED ARMS – Over 20 different player-controlled vehicles and deployed weapons

EPIC THEATER OF WAR – Do battle across a 1:1 scale 4 kilometer-squared map

MORE THAN THE TWITCH – Supply, capture and building systems ​

EXPERIENCE HISTORY – Historically accurate arsenal with realistic weapon behavior

A MODERN ENGINE – Developed for Unreal Engine 4

Warfare Game Mode

Instead of capturing a small flag, the entire map is divided into capture sectors – forcing each team of 50 players to make continual tactical decisions as to where they should attack and defend. ​ When a sector is captured, it will generate one of three resources for your team, creating a complex metagame that will influence your push to victory.

Will the cost of spending Fuel on a Tiger tank inflict significant enough damage to the enemy to wrest control of the western flank? Will the Munitions spent on a Typhoon strafing run clear the distant hedgerows and open a path to the town of Carentan? Can the bridgehead at Feuilly be maintained without sustaining devastating losses to your Manpower?

3 Levels of warfare

Strategic

Play as the Commander and decide on the grand strategy as you deploy your forces and adapt to the ever changing situation on the ground. Communicating via radio, it will be up to you to summon reinforcements, supplies and powerful aerial and naval strikes while accurately assessing the situation on the front line.

Operational

Establish supply lines of trucks, transport vehicles and armored recovery vehicles. Supplies will allow your forces to construct minefields, defenses, and Garrisons. Failure to supply the front line will result in a devastating collapse.

Tactical

Play as an Officer and establish Observation Posts and Garrisons before working to determine the best course of attack or defense for your unit. Mark targets with your binoculars to notify the Commander and work together to flank, reinforce, supply and obliterate the enemy.

Epic Maps

Our first epic theater of war captures the beauty and foreboding of the Norman countryside in the early weeks of Operation Overlord, 1944.

Dense woodland, hedgerows and canals frame rolling stretches of open countryside, while small villages and towns provide the perfect choke-points to command crossroads and high ground.

It takes approximately fifteen minutes to cross on foot, and our unique capture territory system demands a new strategy and offers a totally different experience every time. Instead of pushing in a linear tug-of-war, you will be forced to fight across a realistically wide battlefield with an ever-developing front line.

Will you roll armour into Brecourt Manor from the west in order to quickly secure the northern approach, or will you attempt to choke the enemy in the stretches of open farmland between the eastern crossroads and the orchards that encircle St Marie Du Mont? Or will you become bogged down in house to house fighting as you battle tooth and nail to take the Manor at Hauchemail?

Realistic Vehicles

Deliver supplies to the front in an Opel Blitz supply truck, roll across the fields in a Sherman Firefly, flee a fearsome Panther tank in a Jeep or bombard the enemy position in a Priest. We plan to introduce up to 20+ vehicles into the game to serve a wide variety of functions.

Our first priority will be the inclusion of Supply and Transport vehicles before we widen the scope to the most prolific vehicles (Panzer IV, Sherman) and then introduce interesting variants such as the Sherman Calliope, Puma SdKfz 234 and Tiger II.

Realistic Weapon

The 16+ historically accurate rifles, sub-machine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, pistols and assault rifles are all accessible in realistic limitation. With no crosshair, a focus on realistic weapon behavior including jamming and overheating barrels, and a brutal suppression system. Hell let Loose gets as close to the historical truth of the conflict as possible without becoming tedious or chore-laden.

Grenades, mines, mortars, heavy ordnance, anti-tank and tank rounds dismember, while flamethrowers light up the morning sky. Each one of the 14 playable roles will be equipped with a unique array of equipment inspired by their historical counterparts.

More Information:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackmatter/hell-let-loose https://www.hellletloose.com/

Hell let Loose by Black Matter - now on kickstarter @hell_let_loose #sbc #gamingnews #kickstarter #gaming #ww2 Hell let Loose holds all the promise of realistic, platoon-based World War II shooter. With vehicle combat, combined with strategy elements including resources and airstrikes that can be called in from off the map, this WW II title has a lot going for it.