#< shiny new queue tag!

[rainbowthedragoncat]

I love that in 6-5 you try to talk to nahyuta and he just fucking leaves. Multiple times. And he's not even just walking away, he's running. you literally have to chase him out into the royal courtyard or whatever it's called lmao

[korattata]

ok i should like. go back to shiny hunting now

[cherubfae]

you're accidentally shrunk! || hazbin x reader

with Alastor, Lucifer, Husk, Angel Dust, Vox

tags: fluff, comedy, established relationships, gn!reader (implied masc reader for angel as always <3)

Alastor

He is quite amused by the whole ordeal, if not a touch worried for your wellbeing. You're utterly tiny, capable of sitting in the palm of his hand like a tiny doll. His claw gently nudges your cheek, tilting your chin up. Using his own magic proves to be futile. After several attempts he's still unable to change you back to your normal self. He isn't sure why his powers don't seem to be taking effect.

Alastor doesn't let anyone else touch or hold you. Legit will hold you in his hand above his head should Vaggie or Charlie try to get a better look at you.

"No, no, no," Alastor clicks his tongue. "I'm afraid I'm not comfortable in letting my dearest love be held by anyone but me. Surely, you understand." He gives you a little smile, his thumb gently stroking your head.

You aren't a little toy and the last thing he wants happening if Niffty mistaking you for a roach, so he prefers to have you sitting atop his shoulder, his head, or safely tucked into the pocket of his waistcoat with your tiny little head poking out to watch the world around you. As much as he finds you adorable and vulnerable in this state, he does prefer you as yourself. He'll probably head to Rosie first, he wants nothing to do with Lucifer. She always has her ear to the ground and he's certain he'll get you returned to normal soon.

Lucifer

Well, that's new. Lucifer is easily able to turn you back to yourself but he wants to have a little fun first. He lifts you up and presses little kisses all over your face, giggling to himself when you press your hands to his rosy cheeks.

"Can't help it, sweetheart! You're too cute!" He gently nuzzles your cheek, placing a loving kiss to the top of your head. He'll shapeshift himself into a mouse and pretend that you're a little fairy about to battle for Narnia.

When he turns you back, he is relieved. He much prefers you as your lovely self where you're able to snuggle into his side and hold you properly to his chest, sharing many kisses between you two.

Husk

Shit, this ain't good, but at least yer havin' fun, baby. Husk sighs, leaning his chin against his paws. His yellow eyes flick back and forth in amusement as you treat the bar counter like your own slip-and-slide, watching as you spin around on the shiny wood with a small squeak.

Husk catches you with his tail before you can slide off, lightly placing you back on your feet mirroring the grin you give him. "I'm glad you're having a good time but we gotta figure out how to turn ya back, hun." He leans back against the stool, hoping Charlie has found something or someone who may be able to offer some help.

Charlie, on queue, comes rushing down the stairs holding a light pink pearlescent vial in her hands. "Let's try this!" She stands triumphantly, proudly holding out the vial in her hands. "A drop or two on their head should bring them back to normal height. I have a feeling this will work, but as Plan B we can go to my Dad!" She beams.

Husk nods, giving you a tiny peck on top of your head that only serves to make Charlie coo. Placing you on the floor, Charlie uncaps the vial. A shimmery fuschia-purple liquid smelling of sweet berries oozes out and gently drops onto your head.

A whoosh of pink and yellow unfurls out and soon you're standing before them as mostly yourself. Your hair is now a dyed vibrant pink. Across the room, Alastor who is casually reading the newspaper, snaps his fingers and poof! Your hair is back to normal!

"You could've helped them this whole time?!" Husk hisses, fur bristling. Alastor hums, taking a sip of his black coffee, "Hmm no, just their hair. Good thing they're back in one piece, yes?" He grins. "Too bad you didn't play a little cat and mouse with them. That would have been a sight to behold!"

Angel Dust

As adorable as you are, Angel is fuckin panicking. He's not quite sure what to do and he's terrified of someone accidentally stepping on you. "Okay, baby, I've got ya, hang on!" Angel places you on his chest fluff, his hand holding you in place as he returns to his room.

Depending on how long this magic lasts, Angel will 100% want to play dress up with you and have you try on cute outfits or perhaps make a cute little dollhouse for you. He's too scared of crushing you in his sleep so until this wears off, he doesn't want to risk anything happening to you. He's also worried about Niffty mistaking you for a bug, so when he's out and about, he keeps you close to him at all times. If he has to leave and can't take you with, he instructs Vaggie and Charlie to look after you.

"Do not let Niffty or the Egg Bois around them, got it?" His stern eyes are narrowed, making an expression that he's watching Sir Pentious. "Keep the Eggies in line."

Vox

What the fuck? He blinks, a jolt of electricity nearly short-circuiting himself. Babe, what the fuck happened to you? Vox scoops you into his hands, holding you to his chest. He's doing his best not to panic, convinced this is another one of Alastor's stupid fucking pranks.

Thankfully whatever has happened wasn't permanent. A tiny explosion of sparkles and a poof blue dust has the futuristic demon stumbling back, sighing when you're standing there at your normal height with a hand pressed to your head.

"Holy shit, what the fuck happened?" Vox presses, grasping your hand and pulling you into his lap. He's cupping your face between clawed hands checking for any sign of injury. "Was it Alastor?" You shake your head, coughing out some blue sparkly dust.

"Nah, got caught under some pollen demon's magic on my way to HQ." You grumble, leaning your head onto your boyfriend's shoulder. Vox sighs, wrapping his arms around your waist.

|| I DON'T GIVE PERMISSION FOR MY WORKS TO BE REPOSTED, RESHARED, OR EDITED. TUMBLR IS MY ONLY ACCOUNT AND THE ONLY PLACE WHERE I POST MY WRITING. ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS, THE STORY BELONGS TO ME. || CHERUBFAE © 2024

"Ok, ok, well, you're back," he grumbles. "Don't do that to me again."

[reides]

as you probably know, the most recent pokemon games feature pretty significant pokedex cuts due to the sheer magnitude of pokemon that are now available to us. this means that some pokemon are simply not featured in certain mainline games, which adds a unique element to a lot of pokemon's ribbon master journeys. re: my experience with reides, working around unobtainable ribbons wasn't exactly a new experience - after all, there were no available shadow horseas/seadras/kingdras in pokemon colosseum or pokemon xd, so i knew that my kingdra wouldn't be able to get the national ribbon (granted to purified shadow pokemon) - but it still was something i had to consider and plot out carefully as i brought him up towards the more recent generations. for example, reides was unable to get the hisui ribbon (granted for taking a photo with your pokemon in the region's photo studio), as the horsea line was not featured in legends arceus... and, for a long time, i figured that he wouldn't be able to get any of the ribbons (and marks!) featured in scarlet and violet.

but then... the dlc happened. the glorious, glorious dlc.

the horsea line was re-introduced into the pokedex when indigo disk - the second batch of dlc for scarlet and violet - dropped. needless to say, i was EXTREMELY hype about this. in my previous post, i mentioned not being sure if reides would be able to join me in this current generation of pokemon. i wondered if i'd have to brave the long, long queues of pokemon shield in order to get the master rank ribbon on him and make him a true ribbon master... but fortune smiled down on me, and reides was miraculously granted access to generation 9 of the pokemon games.

before i get into reides' journey through paldea, kitakami and unova, here's a quick reminder you can find each part of reides' ribbon master journey here on my personal website, or here in my ribbon master tag on this tumblr! it spans from my childhood copy of emerald version to my... uh... adulthood (lmao) copy of scarlet version... so it's quite the sizeable read! to everyone who's stuck by me for this whole challenge and expressed support for my lovely kingdra: thank you so much! and for anyone new to the reides saga: welcome, and i hope you enjoy my posts about him!

with that handled... it's time to cover a brand new generation of ribbons and marks!

as a big pokemon fan, i tend to play new games and dlc the very moment that i can. in the current era of #gaming, that means obsessively checking for game updates on the night of dlc releases. as i mashed that + button on my pro controller to check for updates to my copy of scarlet, i felt especially nervous. thanks to people being mischievous and sneaking alleged leaks around on twitter, i knew that the horsea line was supposedly being introduced into the game... but i'm extremely skeptical by nature. (can you believe that some people go on the internet and lie?!?!) i didn't want to believe that reides' ribbon master journey would continue until i saw a little horsea (or seadra... or kingdra...) swimming around in a digital body of water myself. once my game finally updated, i sprinted over to blueberry academy as SOON as i could and began running around the terarium in search of a horsea. i found one swimming around in a lake almost immediately.

when i tell y'all... the scream i scrumpt... LMFAO. joking aside, it felt like i could finally breathe again. i was SO READY to plop reides into my file and get right to grabbing the ribbons and marks that were added for gen9. unfortunately, gamefreak had other plans for me, and pokemon home was under maintenance. after falling dramatically to my knees, i busied myself with getting the rest of my team for the dlc ready. this included grinding out the necessary bp to unlock wild starters in the terarium, then embarking on a shiny hunt for my fav starter pokemon of all time - totodile! after hours and hours of looking around, i managed to catch one successfully in a love ball and named him barge. along with the rest of my indigo disk team, barge would go on to be close friends with reides. anyway, after a lengthy maintenance, pokemon home was eventually ready to go. i leapt right in, retrieving reides and plopping him into my party. i'm a huge fan of the updated pokemon models in scarlet, so i was hype to see the one that they gave shiny kingdra. i was NOT disappointed in the slightest!

LOOK AT HOW GORGEOUS HE IS. the tiny scale details... the glossy shine... my god. as much as i liked the sleekness of the models in gen8, i like the more realistic ones that gen9 introduced a whole lot more. the devs did a phenomenal job; kingdra looks absolutely majestic. with my full indigo disk team now present in my copy of scarlet, i had to take a group shot and treat everyone to a sandwich!

reides met five new pals: bane the weezing, grunge the krookodile, bento the snorlax, axe the haxorus, and, of course, barge the feraligatr! i shiny hunted for all of them myself, as i really enjoyed doing the same for my kitakami team during my teal mask playthrough.

i wasn't quite ready to take on the indigo disk plotline, though. my first order of business was grabbing a ribbon for reides - namely, the paldea champion ribbon! i hopped on a plane and flew back to paldea, signing up for a spot in the academy ace tournament.

i really love the vibes of the academy ace tournament; everyone is so passionate about the battles, and the music is an absolute JAM. i was especially happy about reides' first experience as a competitor in it, too, because my fav character in the game just-so-happened to show up for it!

that's right: arven - the man, the myth, the legend - challenged me and reides to a battle.

shoutout to him holding his pokeball upside down. just one more reason as to why he's truly one of the best pokemon characters. (btw, as happy was i was to see arven, i always feel so bad to fight his mabosstiff. that's my FRIEND!!!!!!)

anyway, after sweeping his way through everyone in the academy ace tournament, reides was granted the paldea champion ribbon for his efforts.

after nabbing that ribbon, i decided that i should really get a move on with the indigo disk's actual plot, as i wanted to avoid spoilers and also REALLY wanted to know what happened next in the plot. i was pretty invested in the hooks that teal mask introduced and was especially worried about kieran. (just why did teal mask's plot force us to lie to that poor kid, btw?! just thinking about it gets me so annoyed. i'd go through an 'evil' arc too if i was in his shoes, i'll tell you that.) even though it's not really relevant to reides' ribbon master quest, i figured i'd share some photos of his storyline adventure, too.

(btw, i'm writing this post in feb 2024, which means that indigo disk has been Around for around 2 months and thus the spoiler embargo is pretty much lifted - but, still: be warned that there are some spoilers for indigo disk beyond this point!)

the battles in indigo disk ended up being pretty tough; i was glad that i put time aside to train up my team properly. we managed to take on the blueberry elite four and kieran and ultimately Prevailed - even if the battles were quite close, at times! i was kinda sad that there was no ribbon associated with beating all of them - it would've been nice to finally get some form of an unovan ribbon on my ribbon master - and i was also pretty shocked that the dlc didn't introduce a battle tower. regardless, even if reides didn't get a ribbon for his performance in the battles, it was still awesome to include him in them, and i had a whole lot of fun.

i also brought reides along for the Shenanigans following the blueberry academy plotline.

luckily for me, briar, carmine and kieran were chill with waiting in the underdepths of area zero while i took reides on a bit of a photoshoot. it was just so pretty down there!! how could i resist!!

anyway, silly little wanderings aside, it was really cool to have reides involved in the big showdown against terapagos. i was especially happy when kieran snapped out of his funk and i got to battle alongside him. his hydrapple even used dragon cheer, powering reides up during the battle. it made the whole experience feel all the more significant.

with everything all sorted out, i ended up being really happy with the indigo disk's overall plot. i definitely liked it a lot more than teal mask's narrative and was really pleased that we could become proper friends with kieran once more. (i still wish that we could've apologized for lying to him, though.)

now that i was safe from indigo disk spoilers and emboldened with love for pokemon as a whole, i decided to pick up my ribbon-collecting in earnest once more... though the next ribbon on my list was not actually a ribbon. it was a mark! introduced in gen8, marks are basically the same as ribbons. i think of them as little stickers on pokemon, haha. the first one that i set my sights on was the gourmand mark, which has a chance of being randomly given to your pokemon after eating a meal with them! these meals can be the store-bought ones or the ones that you make yourself via the picnic system.

frankly, i have no idea WHEN reides got this mark, as i went sort of crazy with buying lots of different meals. (i really like the food art in this game, okay!!) it definitely didn't take long for one of these meals to really strike his fancy, though. he got the gourmand mark very quickly and also got the title 'reides the gourmet' along with it!

i then decided that i'd try to get the other two marks on reides in one fell swoop. the first of these marks was the itemfinder mark, which your pokemon has a chance of getting when they pick up an item in the overworld. to get this mark, you have to make use of the let's go feature, which allows your pokemon to walk alongside you. the second of these marks was the partner mark, which... can be quite the ordeal. your pokemon basically has a 1/100 chance to get this mark with every 10k steps that you take. additionally, your pokemon also has to be friendly towards you in order for them to have a chance at getting this mark. since both of these marks rely on random chance, i knew that i could get really unlucky and end up going off on one hell of a grind for them... but i decided to just take it one step at a time. instead of focusing on getting the marks to trigger, i wanted to wander around and enjoy the sights around the various regions of the game. after all, i was lucky to even HAVE reides in this generation - and these marks gave me the perfect excuse to take lots of photos with him, too!

i was especially happy to take some photos of him with aske, my shiny gallade who joined me for my teal mask journey. as you guys know, reides the kingdra is named after a character that i play in a dnd campaign. similarly, aske is named after another character in that campaign; he's reides' boyfriend!

i also enjoyed roaming around *as* reides while using the new synchro machine, too! i'm not sure if items that you pick up count towards the itemfinder mark in this mode, but i'd like to think that they do.

thanks to my casual approach to getting these marks, i actually have no idea how long they took for me to get on reides. one day, i just happened to check and they were BOTH there, so i guess the 'grind' truly ended up being completely painless. in the following screenshot, i'm hovering over the partner mark, but you can see the itemfinder one at the end of the row above it, too.

with the marks now handled, i had one more ribbon to get on reides before he could become a true ribbon master. this ribbon was the one that i was the most nervous about by FAR. the master rank ribbon is granted to your pokemon once you emerge victorious in one (1) online battle against another player... but the catch here is that the battle has to be in the master rank. for me, it meant climbing from the beginner rank all the way up there.

naturally, i procrastinated with this ribbon a whole lot. i took reides along for the (amazing) epilogue when it dropped in january, taking more pictures with him and making more memories... all the while wondering just when i'd get around to tackling the Final Ribbon.

as it turns out, i didn't actually end up procrastinating on it all that long. my friend cody visited me a few days after the epilogue dropped, and my other friend blee stayed over at my house for his visit, too. both of them knew about reides the kingdra and we decided that we'd tackle operation: final ribbon acquisition together, with blee spearheading it as someone very well-versed in vgc. over the course of a few days, we managed to get up to master rank - running into a bunch of really interesting teams and occurences during the climb of legend. (special shoutout to a dedenne who kept trying to spam nuzzle on pokemon who were completely immune to it, but who successfully spread the glory of Cheek Pouch via entrainment onto us all.) i learnt a truly crazy amount of stuff about the competitive world of pokemon and really enjoyed all of the different rental teams that we tried out.

upon arriving in the master ball tier, we had to switch gears, though, as we couldn't use rental teams anymore and, instead, had to build one from scratch so that reides could be included in it. i ended up building this portland regional finals team as per blee's recommendation, though we swapped out raging bolt for reides, himself. since it was my own team and not a rental one, we gave nicknames to each team member.

my entei is one that i got in an event years and years ago (they're shiny and in a cherish ball), so i couldn't nickname them... but just know that they are 'flamberge' in spirit. o7 reides also got an electric tera type (and tera blast as part of his moveset) for fun, as his namesake is associated with storms.

it was a lot of fun making this team!!! the very specific ev-spreads that some of the pokemon required gave me a newfound appreciation for all of the feathers that i happened to pick up while wandering the terarium... not to mention all of the mochi that i collected while oustin' ogres in kitakami.

once the team was all built, it was time to get the final W in order to secure the ribbon at long last. we could all breathe a whole lot easier, as when you rank up to another ball tier, you can't "demote" to a lower one - so falling back into the ultra ball tier wasn't a concern. victory didn't evade us for long, either!

after a REALLY fun battle against someone named alex, operation: final ribbon was finally complete.

reides - along with the rest of the team who helped clutch out the victory - got the much-coveted master rank ribbon.

upon getting this ribbon, it finally happened.

reides the kingdra officially became a ribbon master.

a journey that began back in october 2023 finally came to a close. with his 91 total ribbons (since his two golden memory ribbons have 48 ribbons in total within them), reides now has each and every single ribbon that he can possibly attain from his origin game of emerald version to the current pokemon generation.

i'm sure that all of my posts speak for themselves in terms of the sheer amount of effort that i put into this challenge. there were many times that i thought i hit a "roadblock," be it in the form of a gruelling grind or worries over not being able to access something due to hardware restrictions. in the end, however, reides was able to rise above all of the challenges. i got sooo much help and support from friends over the course of this whole challenge, so i have to give a BIG shoutout to every single one of y'all! and, of course, i have to extend thanks to all of the people who posted about their ribbon mastery experiences online, as i definitely couldn't have guided reides to this point without them. i'm hoping that the posts that i made about reides' journey can serve as a guide of sorts to anyone who wants to pick up the challenge for their pokemon, too!

at any rate, reides is my very first ribbon master and i definitely plan on keeping his ribbon collection up-to-date in future generations of pokemon. i say it time and time again, but the ribbon master challenge is amazing because it gets you interacting with aspects of the pokemon games that you may have never even thought of trying out. you form a true emotional bond with your pokemon, and it's just... so very fantastic. you make so many memories!!! so while there might not be an update to the reides saga until those generations are out and about, i'm already excited to keep on hunting for ribbons and am hoping that the horsea line is included in every single game going forward! because, quite frankly... it's what reides deserves. >:)

before i Sign Off on this post, however, i wanted to share something i bought to celebrate reides; namely, a custom shiny kingdra diorama from nerdidecor on etsy.

ISN'T IT SO CUTE!!!!! i put it right on my desk next to my pc so that i can always have a little reminder of my amazing ribbon master with me. i'm hoping to get more shiny kingdra stuff in the future, too!

either way, thank you all so much again for keeping up with me and my beloved kingdra! i'm already looking forward to being able to write up another one of these posts in the future! until then, reides is definitely going to enjoy a nice vacation from ribbon hunting. rest assured that i will be taking the very best care of him!!! :D

[endless-season]

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

tagged by @defeateddetectives /o/

3 ships you like: *looks into void* do I even have 3 proper ships

1) MikoIzuTotsu (Suoh Mikoto x Kusanagi Izumo x Totsuka Tatara) - K

And no one was surprised. I MEAN ITS BEEN OVER TEN YEARS. BUT A GOOD CHUNK OF THOSE TEN YEARS WERE DEDICATED TO HOMURA TRIO (well technically... the real answer is Totsuka Tatara however we will ignore that for the sake of this meme). Get yourself two others who will go through it all with you thick or thin. Get yourself a leash i mean what. Get yourself a Kusanagi-san! Settle down in a bar and raise i mean gather a gang family!

2) Qin Jiu x You Huo - Global Examination

Felt obligated to include them since I'm currently trying to drag ppl to read this lmao. Also bc i have no ships to answer with, help. BUT THE CHEMISTRY! I mean, this is probably the first time I clearly see what people mean by the word ~ chemistry ~. Qin Jiu is such a chaotic menace, You Huo is such a chaotic menace, they are similar but also different and then put them together and everyone suffers, it's beautiful *wipes tear*. But they are also so so so soft together (i was going to say, in private.... but also in front of people's salad so!!!) *clutches heart*. The author, 木苏里 just does a create job exploring the two throughout the story, READ GLOBAL EXAMINATION! THERE'S ALSO AN ONGOING MANHUA THAT COVERS LIKE A THIRD. DO IT. and then send me liveblogs pls and thanks.

3) H-h-help... ships... are hard... I... don't ...

first ship ever: IzuTotsu (Kusanagi Izumo x Totsuka Tatara) - K Shamelessly links to that post where I sobbed over everything #Actual Marriage Goals The trust! The intuitive understanding! The communication! (sorry Mikoto, your grunting fails you) The ~ G o S s i P i n g ~ ! The mutual support and comfort ;_;! The domesticity of it all! The quipping and doting! The we're all in this (this = Mikoto doom but with matching wing tattoos) together! The seemless division of labor haha

last song you heard: i turned on my playlist when i saw this question so that by the time i finish answering the meme and come back to this question, i will have an answer… Anyways, so the answer is…. ~ wHAT A coINcindENce ~ Dark Night Fireworks, Lucien's season 1 theme from MLQC.

favourite childhood book: Uh........ idk.... Deltora Quest? Alex Rider series? If manga counts then maybe Detective Conan? lmao.

currently reading: I’m Not Shouldering This Blame (这锅我不背) Current novel in my danmei binging spree. 40 chaps in, enjoying it so far. Synopsis gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. Hordes of book transmigrators trying to derail or benefit from knowing the plot, military dealing with the supernatural mess and notifying MC and ML who are supposedly the villains, MC... just trying to work in peace cmon, ML... just trying to seduce MC cmon.

currently watching: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Just finished it over the last few days hence why there's a few posts in my queue. It’s nice and chill. I admit I was eyeing Himmel the moment he appeared in the first episode and didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his instant transformation / flashforward to old bald man. Was pleasantly surprised to see him appearing constantly in flashbacks haunting the narrative ethereal dead wife style lmao.

currently consuming: I waited for dinner to write this! Was lazy tonight so just a bunch of easy to prep in 5 min sides. Rice, Prawn dumplings, Chilli Bamboo (Fu Chi brand), Century Egg + Tofu + Pork floss, Smashed cucumber salad that I managed to ruin :/

currently craving: A reason to live A shiny new satisfying fandom obsession... Motivation and energy and wisdom to adult... A yakult and WangLaoJi... ... ...... *walks to fridge and grabs yakult and wanglaoji*

---

A rare meme where I'm gonna actually tag!!! See what ppl are up to and eating these days >:)

@qserasera @chiaki-c @nervous-sheep @alice-chan-chan @jelly-cooperation

@laxmiree @caesurables @pu-san @vanishing-apples @dijeh

@ittybi @ellie-winthrope @bloomingmitsuri @a-justaway-is-just-a-justaway @constastan

As usual feel free to skip if tagged or do even if not tagged :> Edit: why is tagging not working *squints*

[linipik]

FAR OUT AT SEA

"Shiro is determined to know if the new human research base is a risk for his fellow merfolk with the help of a marine biologist and research intern Adam."

rating: T

pairing: Adam/Shiro

tags: Adam (Voltron) Shiro (Voltron), Keith for half a line but he is there, Merman Shiro, Everyone lives, First Meetings, plot-driven action, Alternate Universe Merpeople, Canon-Typical Violence

This fic is part of the Once Upon the Seashore PDF (get it for free on my Ko-fi)

Chapter 3 of 4

Or that was the plan. Unfortunately, there were cameras Shiro didn't discover on time and sensors he could not avoid. Before he could destroy more than half the machines, he was captured.

The superior officers tried to hide the havoc from the cadets, researchers, and interns. However, the damage was considerable, and, soon enough, soon enough the whole base’s personnel was moving.

 With his heart about to break through his chest, Adam ran towards Shiro's quarters and found them empty. At that moment he knew that a suspicious incident down in the deepest, more classified parts of the whole facility was thanks to one single person. How could Shiro go behind Adam’s back? the one person who has been helping him, after all the things they've discovered together. But if Shiro was really involved, doing so would be more dangerous than anything they’d been discovering before. Steeling himself, Adam resorted to going with the rest of the staff and waiting, turning off any suspicions for when it would be easier to sneak around.

He didn't find anything in the higher-up offices, the security rooms, or the storage units, which made him restless. It didn't make much sense to look for Shiro deeper down the base, but since they were being so careful and all out of better ideas, Adam went there.

The way there was painfully quiet, but he knew, thanks to the planes they uncovered early on, that there was a huge walk-in fridge at the bottom of the marine biology lab internal dock, which was used to store big tanks in a queue for cleaning. 

Adam almost forgot how to breathe. There were temporary cameras and alarms set in place so he could not come closer, but there was no mistake, that face was Shiro's face with pointy fins in the place of ears, sporting a very new very deep cut on the bridge of his nose. It was Shiro but all the way down in his shoulders in his arms shiny dark purple scales, all the way down to… to a lustrous dark flying fishtail. Adam had to do a mental double-take. 

Mermaids were real and Shiro was one of them. Mermaids, merfolk, merpeople, a merman. In front of him.

This was beyond anything Adam could imagine or dream. It also… made sense, somehow? No wonder Shiro had so much random deep knowledge of marine life, no wonder he asked stuff about their operation. Above all, no wonder he was so invested in unveiling whatever the base was doing in the middle of the ocean. Probably this was his home first and they were invading!

Adam was still frozen in place, wishing nothing more than to see that familiar and other-worldly face up close and to be able to talk to Shiro about everything he had seen while living deep in the sea, knowing that the truth was so much wilder than anything he ever imagined. It all would have to wait, though. Shiro was bruised and seemed heavily drugged, he needed Adam's help. 

The few officials with enough clearance were probably afraid and had decided to guard Shiro with machines only, probably wary of the reaction any soldier would have upon seeing a real merman. An actual merman! Adam couldn't wrap his head around it yet. Forcing himself to function, he dug in his memory for the passwords and system protocols he had learned while trying to breach the security measures with Shiro the days prior, and after a lot of tinkering and mumbled cursing, he managed to loop the key cameras and cut the flow of sedatives. Hoping Shiro was not too sensitive to changes in pH and temperature of the water, Adam connected the nearest water supply to replace the whole tank, dumping the contaminated liquid in another nearby.

Shiro stirred up after a while. He blinked heavily, disoriented, and bumped into the glass by accident, which made him scowl. Instead of trashing or causing a ruckus, though, Shiro shook his head vigorously and used his hands to explore the limits of the tank. Frozen in place, still unnoticed, Adam could see Shiro had membranes between his fingers.

It was truly incredible.

While Adam, mesmerized, stared at him, Shiro reached the upper edge of the tank and struggled to remove the lid… lid that was locked with a bolt placed outside the tank. Damn, what was Adam doing? He swiftly approached to remove the bolt, startling Shiro.

“Sorry!” Adam said, unsure of what he was apologizing for.

As soon as the lid was removed Shiro took his head out of the water.

 “...Hey” he added quietly, something between a greeting and acknowledgment of the new situation between them.

Shiro got his upper half body out of the tank and quickly crawled helping himself with his hand through the shallow water, following the drain into the marine biology lab main pool. It didn't look like the first time he has gotten himself in this kind of situation, very different from the helplessly drugged-up merman Adam first saw moments ago floating in the tank but not a little less impressive. Dumbfounded, Adam followed him, mindful of not stepping on his fins.

“Do you think you can open the gate to the cetacean interaction pool?” Shiro asked once he got comfortable in the marine biology pool, "There is a hatch towards the open waters at the bottom of this, I think.”

“Takashi.”

Shiro turned to finally see him. Adam had a million questions and the full awareness of that being the worst moment to ask any of them.

“Adam, I'm sorry,” Shiro said before Adam could gather his thoughts, there was a plea in his tone “you understand why I didn't tell you, right? No one is supposed to know.”

Adam knew that was exactly the case, yet he needed to understand.

“I…” he stuttered. It was hard to find of a single thing to say, their situation was far more complicated than the unnamed thing they’d been dancing around since they met.

Then they could hear the sound of people approaching. 

“Shit. I'll open the gate” Without losing a second, Adam ran towards the control panel and initiated the opening sequence. Shiro swam towards the sluice gate, ready to escape as soon as the pool got filled with enough water for the doors to open.

“They can’t find you here,” Shiro's worried tone traveled over the sound of the water rushing into the pool, “And… don't tell anybody I was an intern, they usually can’t put two and two together and realize we can shift forms.”

“Who's there?!” someone yelled from afar, “WHO IS THERE!?” the voice repeated while the footsteps came to a halt and the clicking of guns echoed in the corridor.

“GO!” Shiro shouted.

– o –

Adam could only run back inside the walk-in fridge, hiding behind all the tanks. He heard a crowd breaking into the lab, their gasps and curses upon finding Shiro, and many fierce screams and hits. There was a loud splash and many people yelled stuff like “Don't let him get away” and “Grab the UUVs.”

It was over after a few more seconds of whirring, clashing, and swearing. Curled in his hiding place, Adam couldn't help a sense of dread. Could Shiro really run away unscathed? Judging by the officer's cursing and rapid exit toward the upper levels, Shiro might have been lucky this time. When Adam determined it was safe enough to go out of hiding, the faint pink tint on the pool and the trail of blood made his stomach churn.

Adam was just an irrelevant intern, but he was determined to do everything he could to help. Lucky is not enough, He had to make sure Shiro was not followed, his secret his people were not going to be easily hunted if he could help it.

 Shaking his commotion off, he ran to erase any and all evidence of Shiro's existence, both as a human and as a merman And the last two hours have to be complete confusion. He tinkered with all the cameras, he stole all the files from the archives, he threw away the clothes, the food in the fridge, he burned the notebooks and fake IDs. While wiping out any mention of Shiro from the base, he wished he could wipe his memories as well. It was the sensible thing to do. The best thing to do. Shiro was something -someone- too amazing -too special- to be forced to be apart from his true home in the name of science or in the name of Adam's dumb feelings. He would never see Shiro again, and he'd better be at peace with that reality sooner than later.

With all evidence lost, the whole ordeal was officially brushed off as a freaky accident, something about a faulty engine exploding that didn't really make sense but was better than proclaiming a mermaid had come to destroy half the equipment of a supposedly super secure military base. The mess was picked up, the very few people implicated were bribed and then relocated, and nothing was said about the incident again, going down in everyone’s memories as a cryptid sighting at best and not more serious than that.

 Left adrift among all that chaos and all his plans for the future shattered, Adam ended up accepting a new position at an institute that had nothing to do with the one he originally aimed for, located on land where he could still see the shore from the lab's window.

----

Far Out at Sea is complete on PDF >> GET IT HERE <<

[bermudapube]

💥INSTAGRAM. TWITTER. TUMBLR. I MAKE ART. @ARGOTPOWELL. GO.💥

short bio:

argot, she/her, 22, rave researcher, forest explorer, party illustrator. 🏳️‍🌈

other blogs:

argotpowell: My art account. Art is my chosen career and my truest love. Do have a gander.

partyargot: Moodboard for argotpowell. Selected photos of parties and youth culture. Inspired by Ethel Cain's defunct blog mothercain.

other links:

My current neocities obsession with a Hometown archive as well as my art and other cool stuff.

Substack - stream of consciousness storytelling, alà Blindboy aka best ever podcaster in the werld

Shiny professional site - where my work is situated, along with contact details for clients and fellow artists.

💥

bermudapube tags to check out:

#pylonposting: Exactly what you'd imagine.

#flash photography: I love indie sleaze and old flickr photos. ESPECIALLY photos just taken by everyday people.

#autopost: New queue tag. More surreal content goes here. For my old queue, check out #queue me baby.

#my photography: This tag dates back to 2016.

🐛

🌾trans rights!!🌾

[rainy-circle]

WIP Game

RULES: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

@unmaskedcardinal tagged me in one of these.... sometime late last YEAR I think? And shuffling my queue has finally reminded me to actually do it. (I'm pretty sure most of these were on the last time I played this game so. you may not get many shiny new answers but hey. It's something.) Fandoms in brackets

dryya&pv (Hollow Knight)

Sunshine Serenade: Chapter 2 (Legend of Zelda)

into the hornet-verse (......Hollow Knight/Spider-verse movies crossover)

Atreus goes to Nippon (God of War. kinda sorta also an Okami crossover)

the himbo AU (Legend of Zelda)

FWtBT (Stranger Things)

no pressure tags!!! @sharpenote @ensrensage @deliriumsdelight7 @pearlypairings + ANYONE ELSE who wants to talk about their WIPs okay!!!

[post-cal]

Hello hello

Just wanted to stop in and say that we're not ignoring your asks. We're just reblogging older ones and giving them a shiny new tag so it's easier to navigate the blog!

You can keep sending your asks in, and we'll get to them after the queue is done >w<

[lire-casander]

WIP WEDNESDAY

since the amazing @wtfuckevenknows has tagged me, even though it's been months since i last wrote anything, i am sharing with you a snippet of a story that's not my usual fandom but that's helping me get back on track with writing (although it's been at a snail's pace).

“Flight AA2455 bound to Los Angeles, boarding gate number forty-seven,” calls the voice over the speakers.  That’s her flight, she realizes tiredly. She puts the envelope back into her purse before she stands up, grabs her carry-on bag and waits in queue for her turn to board the plane. The family in line before her is boisterous and chatty; the mother keeps babbling about the amazing time they will have visiting the grandparents and the father pipes in every now and then, while the two teenagers look bored out of their minds. Christa remembers what it was like to be a teenager; everything seems too big, too important, too much. Those are memories she cherishes, despite the existential anguish of not knowing who she was or who she wanted to be. She also remembers how she never got the chance to see her son go through that phase. When the line begins moving, Christa is drawn back from her memories. The teenage girls in front of her drag their feet through the floors as though they’re being sent to a slaughterhouse instead of to sunny Los Angeles. Christa sighs as she follows in their steps, and when it’s her turn to show her boarding ticket she smiles at the flight attendant who’s just doing his job. “Business class,” the attendant reads out loud. He frowns before addressing her. “Ms. Lorenson, your ticket is business class. You really didn’t need to wait in line. You could have boarded through our fast-boarding lane.” “I don’t mind waiting,” she smiles at him again, calmly collecting her ticket. “It helps me stay grounded, you know?” The attendant doesn’t say anything as she swishes past him and steps into the finger leading to the airplane. One of her secretaries picked the flight tickets for this trip; it’s been long enough since Christa has taken care of anything regarding her professional life herself. The hospital had hired two assistants for her office once the number of her patients became too large to be handled by just one person — especially one as busy as Dr. Christa Lorenson. And since she’d treated this invitation as a work issue, she’d left it in the capable hands of her secretaries. They always book her business class whenever she needs to fly out of town due to work, which doesn’t happen that often, but often enough for her to have accumulated some miles under her belt. Business class is a whole new world. She takes in the shiny seats, distributed so the passengers can sit almost on the ground and lie down for the six-hour flight that’s ahead of them. Waiting patiently for another flight attendant to take her to her seat, Christa notices the passengers that have already found their spot for the trip. There’s the typical businessman, taped to his laptop as he types furiously away on the keyboard. She also sees a woman, seated next to the bathroom exit, who’s checking her own reflection in search of imperfections in a pocket mirror. When Christa allows her eyes to wander further away, she spots a dark mop of hair sticking out over the edge of the backrest of the seat. She frowns; there’s something about it that inexplicably puts all her senses on alert, making her think about running away, but before she can decipher what’s going on with that, the flight attendant reaches her with a professional smile on her face.

[naesarangyunho]

Kissing Strangers- Im Changkyun

[I don't own these images credits to the original owners] *I know he's wearing red in this ff I just couldn't find a good pic

NSFW- MINORS DNI

Synopsis: Y/n needs a break from the project she is working on for her company so she decides on whim to check out the new nightclub and catches the eye of the owner.

Contains: Strangers to lovers, oral (fem. receiving), protected sex, eventual fluff

[wordcount: 4.1k]

Originally, Y/n had not planned to spend the evening at a nightclub.

She had wanted to stay in, lounge about in pyjamas, drink wine and work on her project that was due soon but she had been doing nothing but working on that project the last few weeks.

She was tired of the project, to be frank, and she was sure that neither she nor the company would die if she took one evening off.

She had spent a good amount of time wondering about what she should do instead then and she eventually remembered the nightclub she had heard of a few days ago.

It was called Duality and had recently opened up only a few blocks from her home.

With no better ideas, she decided to go with that idea and changed out of her pyjamas.

She hadn't really put that much effort into her outfit- she didn't have anyone to dress up for- but she still thought that she looked good nevertheless.

It didn't take her long to reach the club. She saw a reasonable queue outside and sighed. Guess she'd be waiting for a while.

When she was eventually let in by the bouncer she was eager to take a seat somewhere; heels were not great shoes to stand and wait in.

She took a seat at the bar and tried to get the bartender's attention and after a few attempts she was successful.

"Could I please have a gin and tonic?"

The man, whose name was Kihyun if his name tag was anything to go by, nodded and returned with her drink a short while later.

She thanked him and turned to face the night club. She took the lemon slice from the rim of her glass, plopped it into her drink and sipped at it as she took in her surroundings.

The club was tastefully decorated, mostly in shades of black or red, and the music booming from the speakers was loud but enjoyable.

People danced around, laughing and shouting over the music.

Some swayed drunkenly and some couples did a little more than dance with each other.

Overall, she liked the vibe and was glad she had come here.

She finished her drink after a while and wondered if she should get up and go and dance. One of her favourite songs by a group called NCT came on and she was very tempted to get up, the beat calling to her but she stopped at the feel of eyes on her.

She turned her head in the direction she thought the gaze was coming from and her breath caught in her throat for a moment.

She wasn't sure she'd ever seen someone as attractive as the man who watching her with feline eyes, a smirk tugging at the corner of his sensual mouth.

Her eyes traced his features.

His hair was dark and chin length, tucked behind his ears. He had a jawline that could cut and a mouth that looked absolutely kissable.

He was wearing a suit of all things to wear to a night club.

Black dress pants, shiny shoes and a red blazer. Her heart skipped a beat when she realised he wasn't wearing anything beneath that blazer. His collar bones and part of his chest was visible.

She bit her lip.

His smirk grew and he sauntered over to her, his energy powerful and intoxicating.

He seemed to command the room.

When he finally reached her, she was at a loss for words; he was even more attractive up close. This man could only have been sculpted by Aphrodite herself.

He took a seat next her and gave her a lingering look before he nodded at the bartender and ordered a drink for himself, as well as a refill for her before he had even said a word to her.

The bartender served him immediately and called him sir.

Very curious.

"Thanks, Kihyun."

His voice resonated within her chest and it made her knees weak.

He finally turned to her, pushing her drink toward her.

She accepted it, knowing from watching him that he hadn't put anything in it.

"I've never seen you here before." He said, taking a sip of his scotch.

She smiled nervously, "How do you know? I could be a regular."

He chuckled, "I'm always here. Trust me, I'd recognise a new face. Especially one like yours."

She tried her best not to blush like an idiot at the last comment.

"Always here?"

He nodded, "It's my club after all."

Her eyes widened, "Oh?"

He just chuckled again, taking another sip of his drink. She did the same.

She watched him as he drank, following the movement of his Adam's apple as he drank.

She couldn't believe that this beautiful man was sat next her and actually making conversation with her.

"So, how do you like the place?"

Y/n tore her eyes from his throat- she was being so ridiculous- and cleared her throat.

"Well, it's a lot better than other places I have been to. Very... tasteful for a night club."

"Hmm. Well, that makes me happy. I need to make sure my customers are pleased."

"Well, I'm pleased." She responded without thinking.

He smirked, "Oh, are you now?"

She blushed despite her wishes not to.

"I mean, I could be." She was trying to be bold. It had been a long time since a guy had shown interest in her.

He smirked again, revealing pearly white teeth and held eye contact with her. His gaze was smouldering.

Her heart was racing and she squeezed her thighs together.

He finished his drink and gave her a look, one dark eyebrow raised.

"Since you like the club so much, do you want me to show you how I run it?" He asked, nodding his head in the direction of a staircase off to the one side of the dancefloor that she assumed lead to his office.

She bit her lip, considering the offer.

From the way he was looking at her she knew that the reason he was inviting her up there was not to show her paperwork and ledgers.

She'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity like this.

"I- Sure."

He grinned and held a hand out.

She looked at it for a moment before placing hers in it.

Her heart jumped at the sight of how small her hand was in his.

He stood up and tugged her along behind him as he made his way through the crowd and guided her up the stairs leading to his office.

She followed him willingly, almost in a daze, but the confidence she had managed to muster up at the bar began to dissipate the closer they got to his office and once they were inside of it, it had disappeared completely.

She had never in her life met a man quite like him and she didn't know what to do with herself in his presence.

He was watching her and she blushed and averted her gaze.

She took that as an excuse to take in the room.

There was a large desk and a lounge suite amongst other things and everything was decorated in shades of black or red.

She looked back at him again and at his red blazer and black dress pants.

He seemed to love those colours.

As he should, he looked fucking amazing in them.

Her eyes traced his figure. Once again taking in his sharp jawline, high cheekbones, sculpted nose and his dark eyes.

Her eyes dropped down to his lips and she bit her lip.

This man was trully perfect.

She caught his gaze and he smirked at her, "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

She blushed again and dropped her gaze to her feet.

She heard him chuckle, a throaty sound that sent shivers down her spine, and heard him step foward.

He reached a hand up, a finger under her chin tilting her face up to look at him.

"You're so shy." He murmured.

She just blushed in response and looked at him from under her lashes. Her lips were parted as she looked at his lips and then back up and into his hooded eyes.

"Fuck." He cursed before holding her by the back of her neck and pressing his lips to hers in a fiery kiss.

She gasped against his lips, kissing him back and reaching her arms up to wrap them around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair.

He urged her into an open mouthed kiss and she let him, whimpering as his tongue met hers.

There were flames beginning to burn within her and she kissed him harder, her fingers tugging at his hair.

He groaned into her mouth and picked her up, gripping her by the back of her thighs.

She kicked of her heels and wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her across the room.

He held her to him with one arm and she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist as he used an arm to sweep paper and stationery off of his desk before placing her on it, not once breaking the kiss.

His hands never left her thighs. He was squeezing them now as he kissed her.

A hand travelled higher up her thigh and under the skirt of her dress.

She broke the kiss, panting as she felt his fingers on her inner thigh.

He took this as the opportune moment to move his lips to her jaw and neck.

She covered her mouth with a hand, supressing a moan as she felt his tongue and teeth on the sensitive skin of her neck.

He'd clearly done this before. He was so good at it, he seemed to know just how to drive her crazy.

She tightened the grip of her legs on his waist and pulled him closer to her.

His breath caught as his hips made contact with her body.

"Can I?" He asked breathlessly, looking down at the junction between her thighs and back up again.

She bit her lip and nodded and soon he had hitched the skirt of her dress up. The fabric bunched beneath her breasts and exposed her bottom half completely to him.

He pushed her gently so that she was leaning back on her elbows.

He dropped down to his knees in front of her and slid her panties down her thighs.

Only moments later she felt his mouth on her and his warm tongue pressing into her. She quickly became a moaning mess, her hands tangled in his hair and pulling at it.

He moved his tongue expertly and she cried out. His mouth felt so fucking good on her.

She came only minutes later and when he lifted his head she pulled him up and into a kiss, not even caring that he'd taste like her.

He kissed her back, biting her lip and pushing his tongue into her mouth.

She brushed her tongue against his and deepened the kiss further.

She had to admit that he was an amazing kisser and she loved the feel of his lips on hers and the feeling of his tongue in her mouth.

He broke the kiss, reached into his desk drawer and held up a condom, a question in his eyes.

She nodded fervently and he smiled before reaching down to undo his pants. She sat up and helped him undo his belt and tug his pants and underwear down.

She ran her eyes over his length and bit her lip, already imagining him inside her.

He rolled the condom over and onto his member before reaching forward and pulling her closer to the edge of the desk by her waist.

He lined himself up with her entrance and steadily pushed himself into her. She reached her hands up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He held her by the hips and paused for a moment after he was in all the way, allowing her a little time to adjust.

He kissed her lips quickly before moving his hips. She hooked her legs around his waist.

"Oh!" She gasped out and threw her head back as he began to move in and out of her.

He leaned his head forward, his lips and teeth attacking her arched neck as he thrust in and out of her at a leisurely pace.

"Faster. Please. Faster." She said between pants and he wasted no time in following her requests.

He rested his head on her shoulder, his breathing irregular and occasional moans leaving his pretty mouth.

Her hands moved to press into his shoulders as she grew closer and closer to her peak.

He began kissing her neck and shoulder again and she wasn't able to stop the moans falling from her lips.

"God, you sound so beautiful." He murmured against her neck and her cheeks flushed.

She just held him tighter, her heart racing and immense pleasure building within her.

"Oh god oh god oh god." She whimpered as she felt her orgasm approach.

She could tell he was close too by the way his breathing had begun to hitch.

He moved even faster, desperately chasing his release and she was an absolute moaning mess in his arms as she began to be pushed over the edge.

"Oh, fuck!" She cried out as her orgasm hit her hard.

He groaned as she tightened around his length and seconds later he climaxed as well, moaning into the skin of her neck and his hips stuttering.

He rode out his orgasm before just letting his head rest on her shoulder as he panted and tried to regain his breathing.

She felt so warm and weak after her orgasm and just stroked his hair as her heart thumped away in her chest and her breathing slowly began to return to normal.

He kissed her neck softly and she pressed a kiss into his hair. It was a strangely intimate moment.

He pulled away a moment later, reaching into his drawer once more.

He brought a box of tissues out and took some from it as he pulled out of her.

He gently wiped her clean and she blushed deeply as he did so. For a man who had just been pounding into her, he was being very gentle now.

He took care of himself as well when he finished and pulled his pants back up and did his belt up once more.

She followed suit, tugging her panties back up and pulling her dress down again and fixing her hair.

He turned to her and looked like he was going to say something but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Sir? Sorry to interrupt but we need you downstairs." Came a male voice.

"I'll be there now, Jooheon!" He called out in response.

He sighed, turned to her and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, duty calls. Let yourself out when you're ready, okay?"

Her heart dropped and she realised something.

"Wait! I don't even know your name!" She called out but he was already at the door.

He heard her though and turned and gave her a sneaky grin, "Well I guess now you have an excuse to come and visit the club again."

"I-" she began but he was already gone.

She looked at the closed door for a moment, her heart still racing, almost in disbelief that any of this had actually happened.

Guess she'd definitely be visiting the club again.

***

Y/n had been busy for the week and a half that followed her meeting that handsome stranger and she hadn't had a chance to return to the nightclub as a result.

She had been working on her project and now that it was finally done she could relax. She had been invited to a dinner celebrating the project but she had politely declined, not in the mood to make small talk with people who had no real interest in her.

She was once again at home with no idea what to do that evening.

She had taken a shower and stood at the bathroom sink in her towel and gazed at herself in the mirror.

She could still see the marks on her neck that the handsome stranger had given her. They were almost gone now and the thought made her a little sad. It had been nice to have a reminder of him and the experience they had shared.

She wondered if she should go to the club again. He had implied that he had wanted her to return and she really wanted to but it had been over a week.

Would he still remember her? Would he still care to know her?

She sighed deeply and mustered up all the courage she had. If she wanted to find out she would have to go see for herself.

She blow-dried her hair, applied subtle make up and changed into something nice but she didn't overdo it.

She swapped out her heels for ankle boots this time, not ready to have sore feet like last time again.

When she was satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her bag and left her apartment.

***

When she reached the nightclub she saw that the line was just as long again and despite not having worn heels, her feet still ached by the time she got in and managed to find a seat at the bar.

The bartender, Kihyun, strangely enough, served her immediately and with a smile.

She thanked him and sipped at her drink. Very curious.

She bobbed her head to the music and let her eyes scan the room.

It looked the same as the last time she was here except this time they were playing Stray Kids instead of NCT. She couldn't spot her stranger anywhere.

Was he here this evening? Was he in his office? Oh god, was he in his office with another woman?

She shook her head at herself. It's not like he owed her anything, right? If he had moved on then so be it. She couldn't help but be jealous though.

All of a sudden she felt eyes on her just like last time. Her heart jumped and she turned her head to find where it was coming from.

Eventually, her eyes settled on the staircase to his office. There, leaning nonchalantly against the railing, was her stranger.

He smiled when he caught her eye and she returned the smile.

She looked him up and down quickly. He wasn't wearing a suit like last time. Instead, he was wearing a black turtleneck, denim jeans and boots.

He was just as attractive as last time and his smile made her weak just like last time.

She watched as he pushed his way through the crowd to get to her. Soon enough he sat next to her and ordered a drink.

Kihyun smiled at the two of them knowingly and she raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Her stranger turned to her with another smile and she couldn't help but return it.

He wasn't as commanding and confident as last time. Instead, he just looked really happy to see her and seemed to be in good spirits. It was nice to see and made her heart warm.

"I thought you'd never come again." He said, an excited smile still on his face.

He was almost like a puppy today and she couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sorry, work got very busy but I'm here now. To be honest, I wasn't sure if you'd still remember me or want to see me."

He shook his head, "How could I forget you? I've been thinking about you all week."

His admission had her blushing.

"Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about you either."

He seemed to be very happy with this information.

He finished his drink and looked at her, "I know this might sound strange but do you want to go get pizza with me? I'm hungry."

She laughed aloud, "A little strange but I'd be crazy to say no to pizza."

He grinned at her, nodded his head at Kihyun and then reached a hand out to her.

She chuckled before placing her hand in his.

He pulled her through the crowd towards a side door that said 'staff only'.

He opened it and she saw that it opened into a small gated parking lot.

He closed the door behind them and before she knew what was happening he'd tugged her toward him and pressed his lips to hers in a quick kiss.

She kissed him back and he pulled back with a grin, "Sorry. Couldn't help myself."

She smiled back at him, "It's more than okay."

He grabbed her hand again and lead her to a sleek red car.

He unlocked it and opened the door for her. She nodded in thanks and got in. He closed the door behind her and walked around the car to get into the driver's seat.

Soon enough he was pulling out of the parking lot and into traffic.

She watched him drive for a bit. He was one of those people who for some reason just looked attractive when driving.

He turned on the radio and The Neighbourhood began to play softly.

Her eyebrows raised, she loved The Neighbourhood but she hadn't expected he would too.

He sang along quietly under his breath as he concentrated on the traffic.

She smiled softly to herself and looked at the road ahead.

This was a new side to him that she hadn't seen yet. She got a glimpse of it after the mind-blowing sex they had just over a week ago and, as much she had loved that confident and sexy version of him, she was really liking this side of him as well.

"Here we are." He announced, parking outside of a pizzeria.

She undid her seatbelt and he did too.

They got out of the car and entered the place.

A server seated them at a table by the window. They found out that they surprisingly both loved the same kind of pizza and order a large one to share.

Y/n grabbed a piece once they had been served and bit into it.

"This is so good! You know how to pick pizza places."

He smiled, "This place is close to the club and I'm pretty much a regular here."

He gestured to the almost empty restaurant.

She finished off her slice and reached for a second one. He was on his second slice too at this point.

"Do you want something to drink?" He inquired.

"Will you laugh at me if I order a chocolate milkshake?"

"Nah, I love milkshakes." He grinned.

They seemed to have a few things in common already. This seemed to be going pretty well.

He ended up ordering a vanilla milkshake and sipped at it for a bit before glancing at her again.

"So, what do you do for a living?" He asked, wondering what had kept her so busy.

She washed down a bite of her pizza with a sip of her milkshake before answering.

"I'm an engineer. I work for a company that makes sustainable homes. Like with solar power and so on." She said.

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Besides owning and running the nightclub I also own a flower shop downtown." He said casually and she snorted.

"A flower shop? Are you pulling my leg?"

He shook his head with a chuckle, "I'm dead serious. I even work there sometimes.

"Oh my god, that's so unexpected." She laughed and he smiled at her.

She had a beautiful smile and it made his heart skip a beat.

"I'm Changkyun by the way." He said as her laughter died down.

"Changkyun? I haven't heard that name before. I like it. I'm Y/n."

His face flushed slightly. Her eyes widened.

"Are you blushing?"

He shook his head and took another slice of pizza. His blush deepened, "I am not."

She laughed, "You are too! Even the tips of your ears are red! How adorable. And just last week you were telling me I'm the shy one."

"Shut up." He laughed.

She grinned broadly.

"I like this." She murmured and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Like what?"

"This side of you. I mean, I enjoyed the way you were last week when you were... well, you know. But I like this honest and happy side to you a lot."

She was blushing at this point and so was he. You'd never have guessed that just over a week before they were shamelessly fucking on his desk after only having just met.

"Me too. I like this side of you, too." He admitted.

Her heart was racing again and she leaned over the table and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Let's do this again. And again. And again." She said as she pulled away with a soft smile.

"Of course. Who would've thought that kissing strangers would turn out so good?"

"Well, it's no longer kissing strangers now is it?" She said with a smile and he nodded as he returned her smile.

"Not anymore."

A/N: I could've ended this better. Remember that requests are open. Just comment or send me a DM with the idols' names and what you would like to have included as well as whether you want smut or fluff.

[fountainpenguin]

Traffic Time

[Inhales deeply]

I hope y'all are ready to be reminded that I am traffic life trash because boy we are going for a ride.

I was on Tumblr hiatus throughout most of 2021 and 2022, so y'all didn't get to see me liveblog Double Life and Limited Life (I'll have to dig up the doodles I posted on other platforms... I also did a ton of Naked and Scared and Skyblock doodles because... Imp and Skizz my beloveds <3), but I plan to reblog stuff to this blog too.

I've also got a shiny new Life fan series 'fic ready to go. It's called Dog's Life and it'll update Tuesdays. Is this the dawn of a new era where I actually post short chapters?? idk

At the moment I'm just planning the one 'fic since I don't have a lot of plans to mess with the world itself and all I really want to do is a character analysis 'fic about arranged marriages and consensual murder, but I'd love to write one nice 'fic for all my fandoms before I retire from 'fic writing someday, so here we go!

---

Tags to block [if you want to] will be #trafficblr / #traffic life smp and my 'fic is #Dog's Life. Also, I'll use #traffic soulmates to cover reblogs / fanart of the Double Life soulmate pairs and #Imp and Skizz for anything Naked and Scared and/or their Skyblock.

I'll use #mcyt too which will cover all the Minecraft YouTuber content regardless of server.

I'm not in the habit of reblogging blood to this blog [hashtag author has hemophobia :') ] but there might be a little here and there depending on my mood, which I'll tag as #tw blood if they end up here. Not likely, but better safe than sorry.

If we get a Traffic Life Season 5, I'll also make a new post with my season spoiler tag so you can block that if you like. I'll also use the tag #traffic life spoilers for content I personally deem spoilery, but if you're trying to avoid spoilers in general... tread with caution here, because I'm not planning to tag all the things that happen as spoilers.

---

My queue is already full of 200+ posts of my usual fandom content, so that's not going away- I'm just throwing a new fandom into the mix because... when you love relationship drama combined with unhinged violence as much as I do but you've got a blood phobia, then man is it nice to have a SFW, blood-free fighting series to sink your teeth in <3

I do highly recommend giving 3rd Life [AKA Traffic Life Season 1] a chance if you haven't before because it's a lot of fun-- I feel like it has a similar vibe to my writing style which is very "large cast of characters," "relationship drama," "up and down emotional jolts," "domestic stuff," "fluff pivoting into angst," and "magical realism," so if you follow this blog and enjoy my other fanfics, maybe you'll like the Life series too.

I think that covers everything. Enjoy!

[a-ramblinrose]

Hello My Dears!

I realized that a pinned introduction post would be wise. This realization did not actually tell me the best way to do this XP so excuse my nonsense. Or enjoy it! Enjoying it would be nice!

To get the necessities out of the way:

 Call me Rose! My gender is a *insert weird noise here* but I’m fine with she/her/they. Really just be polite and it’s all good. This blogger is closer to 30 than they would like because the passage of time is a trap. I’m a Taurus so I've warned you all about how stubborn and ridiculous I can be. No claims of surprise on that front allowed. In theory I’m a poet and prose writer but in practice I’m in the middle of a slump on the wordy front.

 I’m an avid bookwyrm with a massive hoard of a TBR Pile and an even larger library of books I’ve loved. Discovering fanfiction only increased my consumption of words and my fic bookmarks are a vast labyrinth to get lost in. 

This blog is a mix of book and miscellaneous fandoms run 90% by queue to give some verisimilitude of functionality/organization to my chaos. I do tag. My book related tags are honestly basic and the fandom stuff is mostly titles. There are a few lingering custom tags from when my blog was shiny new and I had dreams of being Creative™ but never without the simple tags for clarity. I don’t tag for ships. I’m a shameless multishipper with an armada behind me spanning way too many fandoms to count with new interests as the wind blows. No, really I’ve been lurking in the fandom areas of the internet for a very long time. When nostalgia hits weird things end up on my blog.

Favorite Poets:  Mary Oliver, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, John Keats, Rumi, E.E. Cummings, Leonard Cohen, Andrea Gibson, Billy Collins, Ocean Vuong, Richard Siken, & many many more

Favorite Authors:  Terry Pratchett, Ursula K. Le Guin, Neil Gaiman,

 Becky Chambers, Ben Aaronovitch, Robin McKinley, Megan Whalen Turner, Tamora Pierce, Phillip Pullman, Tanya Huff, Eiichiro Oda, Hiromu Arakawa, T. Kingfisher, Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù, J.R.R. Tolkien, & many many more

And a small selection of fandoms that end up on my blog:  

Batfamily, Star Wars, MDZS, TGCF, SVSSS, BNHA, ASOIAF, Discworld, Sandman, FMA, One Piece, Sailor Moon, The Magicians, Studio Ghibli, LotR, Clamp, Black Sails, The Queen’s Thief, & many many more

[takaraphoenix]

Tumblr really doesn’t make anything easy for its users, does it?

With the new post editor, I can do polls! I can also edit tags!! That’s great!

HOWEVER... If I use that, then xKit’s Quick Tag feature doesn’t work which sucks for my queue because I love not having to type every damn tag myself. Same goes for my saved tags.

The new post editor doesn’t show me my previously used tags when I start typing, it only shows me popular tags starting with these. Not mine. So that sucks.

Could I just maybe have the polls and editable tags... while also still getting access to my previously used tags? Like, I get that xKit compatibility isn’t a tumblr issue and I hope xKit is gonna get onto that, but how does the “shiny new post editor” not show me my previously used tags anymore...? :/

[all-my-friends-were-glorious]

(( Well... I think maybe I'm back. Slow going, but back. Gotta put some drafts into the queue...

Due to losing all my goddamn tags with the """Shiny New Post Editor""" I am just going to go to (Muse -Whatever-), (Muse), and (Ship) tags. Obviously the CWs but like. Eh.

I have no idea where the muse will take me but Firkle is up, and Tweek may be talked into something. We'll see if I can get anything else to function. I'm barely a human being today, I think I'm just a strange cat.

Regardless, I'm gonna also make an attempt at changing the theme today. We'll see.

[enigmaticxbee]

I posted 2,181 times in 2022

That's 445 more posts than 2021!

95 posts created (4%)

2,086 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ellivia

@enigmaticxbee

@baronessblixen

@scullyverse

@lotzzoforangezoutside

I tagged 1,899 of my posts in 2022

Only 13% of my posts had no tags

#xf fanart - 734 posts

#i’m not going to ask queue if you just said what i think queue just said because i know it’s what queue just said - 378 posts

#xf rewatch - 195 posts

#txf - 69 posts

#revival - 55 posts

#the x files - 49 posts

#msr - 48 posts

#❤️ - 47 posts

#🥺 - 43 posts

#xf meta - 34 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#interesting i’ve never thought that much about mulder’s relationship to religion but his animosity when he’s open to so much else must come

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

122 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

#4

Revival Rewatch - Fic Recs

Need something to read to pass the time waiting for date night to start while your (past - present? - future) partner tears his (your?) Unremarkable House apart in search of a lost Twilight Zone episode that he’s sure is somewhere in this pile of old vhs tapes? I don’t read a lot of revival fics but here are a few I can recommend:

Revival Smut:

Subterranean Pool by @somekindofseizure - Office sex, season 7 vs season 10, NSFW, so good.

Gravity by @ms-starlight71 - Sex in the Unremarkable House, NSFW.

Birthday Girl by @storybycorey - It’s her birthday, you know. Fifty-four years old and tucked into the back of a shiny yellow St. Louis cab, wearing a dress probably better suited to a thirty year old, with its slit up the side and its deep V of a neckline, but she looks so damn good in it, she doesn’t care. NSFW, so hot.

Just One by @observeroftheuniverse - Plus One sex scene, what we all needed, NSFW.

Familiar by @phillippadgettwrites - Plus One sex scene, NSFW.

Revival Fix-its:

Untitled by @myassbrokethefall - rewrite of the Plus One conversation in bed so that it actually makes sense.

End of Story by @cecilysass - Plus One conversation in bed fix-it.

Transitive Property of Equality by flicked_switch - fills in the gaps of their relationship over the course of season 11, canon-compliant, NSFW.

Of Monsters and Men, and a Woman by @snickerl - the confrontation with CSM they deserved.

After She Left by @agoodwoman - Over the course of the season 10 timeline, Mulder and Scully have to heal, forgive and learn to trust again as they decide what the future holds for their relationship before it's too late. NSFW. I’ve been trying to find a fic I remember with similar themes to this, where they work through their issues after the breakup in the season 10 era - it was a casefile (like this fic has between season 10 episodes) but I remember couples therapy being a big part of the other fic - if you know what that other fic might be please let me know!

Post Revival:

Times Colliding by @gaycrouton - 2018 and 1998 Mulders switch places, WIP but I just love this concept so much. NSFW.

Reprise by akaJake - Thirty years after Eugene Victor Tooms was mangled to death inside a moving escalator, several murder victims are discovered with their livers missing, ripped from their bodies without the aid of cutting tools. There are no identifiable points of entry at any of the crime scenes. Could Tooms be back?

Straight Out of the 3-Pack by DanaScullyMakesMeFeelAutopsyTurvey - Following the events of My Struggle 4, Scully finds a token from their shared past, inspiring a revelation and a sensual reimagining. NSFW.

It’s Après Ski, Scully by @agirlcallednarelle - Mulder takes Scully skiing for New Year's in 2018 to help them both move on from the events of the year. Some angst, some fluff, some closure. This is what I want for them post-revival.

The Rains of Bimini by @slippinmickeys - How could he have known, when she walked into his office with her bad suit and her earnest smile, that she would be the last person he would ever love? You don’t always realize the momentous things as they’re happening, and so he’d needled her a little; without any thought to his lost sister, he’d used his snottiest big brother voice and accused her of spying. Her. His last, best love. Set far in the future, it’s just lovely.

128 notes - Posted September 5, 2022

#3

S10 Rewatch - MSR

I’m not even sure where to start here because all of the writers except CC seemed to pretty much ignore the break up, and CC had no interest in really exploring why they broke up or what it would mean to start working together again post break up. I certainly would have been on board with the show exploring the fissures in their relationship - if it actually wanted to take seriously their personal and shared traumas and how terrible they’ve historically been at communicating. (Although I don’t think they would have even needed to break up if that was the aim - people can be in a relationship and have issues and work through those issues you know! Might actually be interesting to watch!)

But all we get is one line by a random character about how Scully left because of Mulder’s endogenous depression?? Bullshit. And once they start working together again they’re fine. If there was supposed to be some kind of arc this season where they come back to each other (without working through any of the issues that tore them apart apparently) then I guess it all happened when Scully agreed to go back the X-Files in the first episode? Because literally nothing in the rest of the season would have to be different if they had never broken up… Does the Mulder who shows up - to sit with her at her mother’s hospital bed and hold her as she cries and go back to work with her even though it’s a terrible fucking idea and sit and listen as she grieves the answers she’ll never get about her mother and her son - seem like a man dealing with his ex who he still works with or like a man showing up for and supporting the most important person in his life, the love of his life, no matter how complicated the current status of their relationship?

So what was the fucking point of the break up this season? To get back to that Schrodinger’s box place the original series lingered in for far too long where they both were and were not in a relationship as long as the show didn’t directly acknowledge it? Because that ship fucking sailed a long time ago and if CC really wanted to capture the old magic he would have put Mulder and Scully on screen together for more than two minutes.

145 notes - Posted April 15, 2022

#2

158 notes - Posted May 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

169 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

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