#even better when they’re both thinking functions

[quietwingsinthesky]

even deserves gentle forehead kisses

[pepprs]

ok mutuals i know this is cringe i am so aware and i am so sorry. but this is my…………………… warrior cat oc who represents me (i am so so so so sorry. i am so sorry.) and im doing some tweaks to her design rn and i can’t decide whether she looks better with or without this like spiky cheek fluff that’s supposed to make her face look more starlike. so what do u think. vote now on ur phones (without fluff on the left, with fluff on the right)

[thedeadthree]

🌸💕

I FEEL OKAY !!!!!!!!! I FEEL FINE ! REALLY!!!!!! THE HUG SCENE HAD NO EFFECT ON ME IM NOT CRYING!

[fingertipsmp3]

Just remembered I still need to cancel that job interview I got signed up for against my will

[ryukatters]

don’t go - k. bakugo

a/n: I’m so horny for this man I can’t even think straight. This was supposed to be short and fluffy but now it’s turned into this. I would say sorry but I’m not. (Yes I am alive)

pairing: katsuki bakugo x fem! reader

wc: 1.5k

content/warnings: smut, unprotected morning s*x, begging, overstimulation, bkg is obsessed with you, also completely not proofread

Your boyfriend Katsuki is clingy. Very clingy— in all senses of the word, and you’re convinced that if you open a dictionary right now his name would show up as the very definition of it. Bakugo would live under your skin if he could, or at the very least come up with a way to keep you in his pocket. 

As lovely as your boyfriend is, his innate urge to smother you in affection poses a problem in times like these— early mornings where you have to get up and get ready for work. 

“Katsuki, I need to go to work. Go back to your side of the bed.”

“Just quit,” he murmurs, “I’ll take care of ya.” 

“As appealing as that sounds, no. I need to get up and do my part as a functioning member of society.” Any attempt to leave your shared bed is shut down by Bakugo, his strength easily overpowering yours as he wraps his arms around you and lays on top of you. 

“But you’re my pillow,” he says with a bit of a sigh, pressing his into the crook of your neck, melting further into you. His hot breath tickles your skin, and it’s enough to have your heart pounding along with a familiar warmth in between your legs. Katsuki is observant to a fault, he knows you better than the back of his own hand, and knows just what to do to turn you into putty. 

His hands snake up under your (read: his) shirt, kneading your breasts. You let out a sharp gasp as he tweaks your nipples and sucks a love bite at the junction of your neck. He hums in appreciation as he slowly leaves a trail of wet kisses down your stomach, stopping just as he reaches your underwear. 

He traces your slit, eyes darkening as the fabric begins to dampen with your slick. “So wet for me already, baby.” It’s not a question, it’s a fact that he already knew. Katsuki wastes no time sliding the garment down your legs. He takes a moment to run his hands up and down both your thighs before prying your legs further apart, exposing yourself to him completely. He can feel his mouth water at the sight of you. 

Katsuki can’t help but moan the minute his lips attach themselves to your clit, sucking fervently. “Always taste so good, princess.” 

You take a moment to glance down, which proves to be a mistake. Katsuki’s practically making out with your pussy, and when his eyes meet yours, they’re nothing short of lovesick. His vermillion orbs draw you in, and they’re absolutely magnetizing. You have to close your eyes to stave off your orgasm for a little longer. 

Katsuki can’t help but grind against the edge of the bed to feel some sort of release. He’s so fucking hard. He thinks he’s growing delirious. Katsuki swears he can cum from the taste of your pussy and the sound of your angelic voice filling the room with a sweet symphony. When you let out a particularly breathy call of his name, he has to will himself not to finish in his boxers, which is already usually a difficult enough task on its own, but now it's almost impossible from how impossibly hard he is with morning wood.

You grind against his mouth, hands carding through his hair as your orgasm rapidly approaches. Katsuki is more than eager to be used as a means of getting there. Even as you cum, he continues to fuck your hole with his tongue and lapping up your pussy. It’s only when you begin to push him away does he feel the need to lean back, a loud pop reverberating as he does. 

“You gonna be a good girl and let me take care of ya?”

“Mmm, fuck. Yes, ‘ki.”

“Good girl,” he coos, his lips pressing against yours with fervor. You allow him to deepen the kiss, sucking on his tongue. He moans appreciatively, hips stuttering as he continues to grind against you. The head of his cock bumps against your clit over and over, smearing precum all over your pussy. His tip just barely presses against your fluttering hole, and you can feel your insides ache with anticipation and utter need.

He’s teasing you. You’re overstimulated yet somehow unsatisfied. Your pussy is craving to be stretched out, and Katsuki is making sure he’s doing everything but that. He likes getting you like this— needy, clingy, nearly delirious as you beg for him. He likes to think of it as reparations for how insane you make him feel on the daily. 

You’re not sure how much more you can take. 

“Katsuki, please,” you whine, lifting your hips to grind against his dick, hoping to get what you want, what you need. You look up at Katsuki and for a moment, you think you’ve got him— think that you’d be able to look at him with those doe eyes and get what you want easily, like always. He never could refuse you.

But he merely smirks, and uses one hand to press you back down into the mattress. 

“Tell me what you want, princess. You know I’ll make it good for you.” 

“Want you to fuck me, ‘ki.” 

“Yeah?”

“Mhm,” you whine sweetly. 

“I’ll give you what you want baby,” he affirms, the timbres of his voice reaching the depths of your soul. He uses both hands to press both of your legs by your shoulders, cock lined at your entrance. I always do, don’t I?

You can’t stop the moan that tumbles out of your lips as he fills you up. Katsuki presses a kiss against your forehead, relishing in the way you tighten around his dick. 

The familiar coil that’s been forming in your tummy is threatening to unravel, if your stuttered moans and breaths are any indication. Katsuki seems to know this too, as he pulls out right before you hit your climax. You whine at the sudden lack of overwhelming pressure, and Katsuki’s quick to silence you with a hard stare. 

His breath ghosts against your lips, vermillion eyes burning into yours with intense, unspoken passion. “What’s wrong, princess?”

You shake your head in the negative. “Wanna cum, Katsuki. Please.” 

He starts thrusting again, slowly and with purpose. His eyes never leave yours. It doesn’t take long for you to be on the brink of an orgasm again. “You want to cum, right baby?” He smiles when he sees you nod. “You can cum,” he says carefully, “but only if you do one thing for me.” 

“I’ll do anything Kats,” you manage to choke out. Katsuki continues to pound into you, the sound of skin slapping filling the room. You really would do anything, Katsuki’s own desire and utter want for you is so persuasive that you feel compelled to follow. 

“Don’t leave,” he whispers, lips pressing a chaste kiss against yours. “Stay with me, today.” There’s an urgency behind his words despite them being said so softly. 

Fuck it. 

You barely manage to let out a stuttered “yes, ‘ki,” before you reach your peak. The pleasure rolls over you in waves, tears threatening to spill as Katsuki continues to drill into you, chasing his own high. A few particularly rough thrusts punctuated by staggered moans let you know that he’s cumming. 

Katsuki manages to plop right next to you, bed shifting under his weight. You lock eyes as you both try to catch your breaths. He gives you a quick smile before pressing a kiss to your sweaty temple, one arm wrapping around you to pull you against him.

“So…” he starts, his eyes brimming with satisfaction, lips upturned into a smirk. He knows he’s won. “Ready for round 2?”

[anthurak]

As someone who was very curious as to how Mammon was going to be presented in Helluva Boss, you can probably imagine I was looking through the new episode very closely.

And while I may have been off the mark with my theory that Mammon would follow the trend of Asmodeus and Beelzebub and NOT actually be antagonistic, I nonetheless think it is VERY interesting how Vivzie and the team handled and presented him.

Specifically, in just how PETTY Mammon is shown to be in this episode.

Like really think about what you might generally expect from a character like Mammon just from a basic background description: He is one of the seven rulers of Hell, lord of the seven rings and embodiment of GREED. Likely a fallen angel who helped to create hell as it exists today, is matched in power only by his five fellow Sins, and is functionally only truly outranked by Lucifer himself.

And yet, Mammon’s characterization in this episode presents him as this petty, selfish, manipulative asshole interested in little more than money and attention. He acts more like a shitty, full-of-himself asshole celebrity than a demon lord. Just look at how he manipulates Fizzerolli, not through lording power and authority over him but through emotional coercion like an abusive parent, ex-, or boss, which is precisely WHAT he is presented as. fi

What makes this even more interesting is that despite Mammon being characterized as Fizz’s petty, manipulative boss, we nonetheless see him display all the POWER and experience we’d expect from one of the seven rulers of Hell. Asmodeus mentions earlier in the episode that he’s known Mammon ‘since the START of Hell’, confirming they were both involved in its creation, and when the two square off at the end, it’s clear that Mammon is very much Ozzie’s EQUAL in power, and that everyone else present is pretty much an insect in comparison.

This is what I think makes the inclusion of that one creepy, obsessive fan of Fizzerolli’s in this episode so significant; he serves as a point of comparison to Mammon.

For all the power and authority that he might wield, Mammon is characterized as being no different/better than a creepy, manipulative, entitled and obsessive stalker.

I think this might be the true common ‘thru-line’ connecting all of the seven sins through Helluva Boss and possibly even Hazbin Hotel: That despite essentially being ‘God-Emperors’ of Hell and outclassed in power likely only by the most powerful angels of Heaven itself, the seven sins are characterized in a very grounded, down-to-earth and for lack of a better term, ‘human’ way.

All the times we’ve seen them, Ozzie, Bee and Mam haven’t presented themselves as these all-powerful beings lording themselves over their subjects like we might expect or even what we’ve seen of the Goetic nobility. They don’t present themselves as ‘royalty’ but rather more like celebrity performers, which is certainly in keeping with Vivzie’s comments about how Hell is meant to represent a circus.

It really gives this fascinating dichotomy to the Sins as characters, where they’re presented as these big wacky celebrities with big, over-the-top personas which in turn hide very grounded, down-to-earth people underneath. While at the same time still being these monstrously powerful and ancient beings whose dominion over Hell is entirely uncontested.

It also gives them a nice contrast with the Goetic Nobility and the Sinner Overlords. Like those two groups actually do act and present themselves like demonic ‘royalty’ who lord themselves over those considered ‘beneath’ them, while in reality they’re at best the ‘middle-managers’, and instead it’s these wacky characters who are the TRUE masters of Hell.

It may even continue into what we might see in Hazbin Hotel, what with Charlie being this bubbly, happy-go-lucky Disney-esque princess who also may very well have power outclassing literally EVERYONE else in the show apart from her parents.

Overall, I loved this episode and I think we may now have a good idea what we might expect from the other Sins, and possibly even Lucifer himself in Hazbin Hotel.

[littleluvsie]

in moments | spencer reid x reader

a/n: little thing i wrote today maybe intended for longer series, not super edited (sorry hehe). trying to get back into the habit of writing with this new side blog. send me any requests if you'd like <3

wc: 1.9k

warnings: fem reader, use of she/her pronouns (reader), shy!reader, early seasons shy spencer, just pure fluff (for now)

There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in anyone’s mind that the BAU changed when you and Spencer seemingly arrived at their doorstep out of nowhere – both of you young and bright-eyed, but an undeniable force together, a wealth of intelligence. But sometimes – especially in moments like this – the team wondered how either of you managed to function in society up until now. Everyone is watching curiously, trying and failing to hide their amused smiles behind their coffee cups.

You’re nervous. They see it in the way you fiddle with the hem of your sweater behind your back, the way you squeak out your words like you’re afraid of them. If anxiety were personified, it’d look incredibly reminiscent of you. Spencer isn’t any better. From the base of his neck to the tips of his ears, every inch of exposed skin is visibly tinted with a cherry-red hue, and his eyes continue to fixate on everything, everywhere except your face. 

“How are they even getting anything done right now? They look like they’re both about to throw up,” Emily mutters. 

Morgan nods, “My money is on both of them having nervous breakdowns in the next ten minutes.” 

Penelope tries her very best to swallow her laugh, but her efforts prove to be futile as a giggle manages to escape from her lips anyway. She quickly coughs and covers her mouth with her fingertips in an attempt to stifle it, but to no avail. Both you and Spencer hear it and glance over with adorably similar facial expressions, brows tightly knitted together and a hint of a pout gracing your lips. 

When you’re only met with silence, you tilt your head questioningly. 

“What?” 

“Nothing, nothing! How is it going over there? Did you guys find anything?” 

“Yeah, actually. Spencer thinks that the Unsub’s location can be narrowed down to these specific neighborhoods given the pattern of…” As you turn to look at Spencer, you realize you’ve made the greatest mistake in your life. It’s as if every possible nerve ending you have in your body surges with electrical current, and you swear you can feel your heart pumping from the middle of your throat. His eyes meet yours, and he’s closer to you than you remember. Was he here the whole time? You have the sudden urge to crawl under the desk and stay there for as long as you can get away with it.

Do his lips always look like this? Has his hair grown out since yesterday? Is he furrowing his brows?

You realize that you haven’t spoken in what must be at least thirty seconds. Spencer would know how long. You feel even worse.  

“Given the patterns in where the victims were found.” you finish quietly. 

Spencer swivels his chair to face the team and continues with his explanation, but you can barely hear him as all of your thoughts focus on the fact that his leg is now pressed up against yours. You’ve come to the natural conclusion that your brain is no longer functional anymore, your career is over. Maybe if you beg on your knees, Hotch will let you take a sick day? 

“Alright, let’s send smaller teams out and cover all possible locations, see what we can find,” Hotch announces from behind you. As he begins assigning pairs, you breathe out a sigh of relief. Now, you’ll have at least a few hours before you have to face Spencer again, and hopefully, by that point, all of the residual awkwardness of your stumble will be completely obliterated from everyone’s memory.

“And (Y/N) and Reid, you’ll take the last of the locations. Let’s debrief here once we’re done.” 

As you stare at Hotch in disbelief, you swear there’s a very, very faint hint of a smile on his face. 

You’re going to kill him. 

~*~*~

Spencer reads through the case file for the millionth time since getting in the car with you. There’s really no point to it; you and everyone else knows he has an eidetic memory, he only had to read it once. If you asked, he’d lie and tell you he does it to pass the time or to just fill the silence with the sound of pages turning. But he thinks he really does it so that he doesn’t have to hear himself stumble over his words trying to talk to you. 

It’s torture, being around you. You’re pretty and smart and nice and so wonderful, and if he thinks about it for too long, it hurts his head. Spencer wants to be around you all of the time and simultaneously none of the time – it’s an unsolvable equation, and he hates it. It’s torturous. 

Even so, he knows his best days are always spent with you. 

Most of your shared time is inevitably spent dissecting the neverending influx of cases received by the BAU. But every once in a while, there are times scattered between the chaos. Sometimes it’s the early mornings before anyone else has arrived, and the both of you drink your coffees together in comfortable silence. Sometimes it’s the late nights spent sitting at your desks across from each other with hot takeout and tired eyes. In these moments, both of you can talk about the books you’ve been reading recently, the best classical music composers, or your favorite episodes of Doctor Who, without any hesitation or uncertainty. Perhaps the delirium of sleep deprivation gives you courage, or maybe it’s just that both of you feel safer in the quiet, when the world feels a lot less overwhelming and all of your focus can be devoted to one another. Regardless, it’s what Spencer looks forward to the most, above all else. 

So, he tries. 

He clears his throat, “D-Did you know that Carlo Lorenzini, the guy that wrote Pinocchio, was said to be obsessed with the human nose?” 

“Really? Huh… I wonder what the origin of the obsession was, y’know where it came from.”

And for just an instant, the anxiety has subsided, quickly replaced by a much stronger, fluttering from the depths of his stomach. 

“Not sure, but sources say that he frequently wrote about noses in his earlier stories, so whatever the cause was must’ve been prior to the 1880s, when Pinocchio was published.”

You hum in acknowledgement, “Have you heard about the Pinocchio Paradox before?”

“The one created by Peter Eldridge-Smith’s daughter?”

“Yeah, I think her name was Veronique. What do you think of the possible solutions?”

While he thinks of an answer to your question, he also thinks about how seamlessly you manage to fit into the fragments of his mind. He’s never felt more seen than when you glance over at him, when you think he can’t see you. You’re perfect in a way that feels whole and complete to him, as if there’s nothing else he could ever want or need. He thinks about all of this, and much, much more. 

~*~*~

“Do you want a cup of coffee?” Spencer asks. He begins to rise from his seat, rubbing his eyes tiredly. 

“Y-Yeah, sure. I’ll come with you though, I think I need a break anyway.” 

It’s late, everyone else has gone home. All of the fluorescent, overhead lights in the bullpen are off, both of you opting to turn on a few of the surrounding desk lamps instead. 

You don’t particularly like the dark, especially when it’s this late into the night. The walk to the kitchen feels a lot longer this way, your path being guided only by the residual light coming from the streetlights outside. 

There’s a sudden crash to your left, and you yelp, jumping towards Spencer. 

“Sorry! Sorry, that was me. I accidentally kicked a box of files I guess someone left on the floor, it knocked into one of the desks.” 

“No worries! It’s okay. I’m just,” you sigh, “I’m just a little bit afraid of the dark.” 

As your adrenaline levels steadily return to baseline, you’re suddenly hyper aware of how your entire body is quite literally pressed up against Spencer’s side, your hands gripping onto his forearm for dear life. But just as you start to loosen your death grip, you feel Spencer’s fingers searching for you in the dim moonlight. 

Every thought you’ve ever had, every bit of information you’ve ever learned escapes you in a single breath as he intertwines your fingers with his. 

His voice is just barely above a whisper, “I’m a little bit afraid of the dark too.” 

Both of you walk the rest of the way to the kitchen in complete silence and at an incredibly slow pace, as if even the sound of your soles against the linoleum floors would ruin this moment. You almost want to keep the abrasive lights of the kitchen off as you finally walk through the doorway with Spencer in tow; you know that the very second you flip the switch, you’ll have to let go of his hand. It’s not realistic for him to keep holding your hand, you chastise yourself. How would he even make his coffee if you’re holding his hand hostage?

You turn the light on. The alternative would be standing in the dark and you couldn’t think of a reasonable excuse for doing so quickly enough. 

A beat passes, your eyes adjust to the sudden change in brightness. You look down, and to your surprise, Spencer’s still holding onto your hand. Worse, he’s rubbing slow circles into the back of your hand with his thumb. I will never recover from this, you think. 

“D-Do you still want coffee?” 

“No, not really,” you respond. With how your heart feels like it might burst out of your chest, you really don’t think it’d be a good idea for you to consume any more caffeine. 

“Me neither,” he trails off. His eyes are glued to the floor as if he’s afraid to meet your gaze, as if it’ll make you realize with sudden clarity that it’s his hand you’re holding and you’ll pull away. 

“As you become drowsier, adenosine accumulates in the neuronal synapse and binds to the respective receptors located in the synapse of specific central nervous systems neurons causing further drowsiness,” you ramble. 

“And caffeine is an adenosine receptor antagonist.”

“Exactly, and knockout mice studies reveal that it’s specifically the adenosine A2A receptor which is a member of the G-protein coupled receptor family.”

“Interesting. Even though you only have one PhD, having it in biology seems to be proving pretty useful,” he smiles. 

“Yeah. I mean, it’s gotten me this far, wait what do you mean only one?”

“Dr. (Y/L/N), you realize I have three, right?” 

“Dr. Reid, please shut up.” 

You make him feel safe. 

“Okay, sorry,” he giggles, “Can you please tell me more about caffeine?” 

And because he asked so nicely, because he smiles at you the way he does, you tell him more. It’s nearly the middle of the night, but you’d still stay up and you would tell him everything you know, as long as he continued looking at you with his soft, brown eyes. 

You both talk about everything and anything either of you think of, all while holding each other in the palm of your hands. 

The next morning, he sits even closer to you. Luckily, it’s slowly getting easier to talk to him without losing the ability to form coherent thoughts, but it’s still hard sometimes. You still get nervous when he looks at you. You can still feel the butterflies flapping against the walls of your stomach, especially when he holds your hand underneath the desk. 

Both of you think you’re being subtle, but everyone notices. They pretend they don’t.

[comradekatara]

Ik you went into the whole stupid "nonbenders are oppressed" thing in lok in one of the asks I sent you, but it keeps on making me think about how much I wish i got to see mako and bolin's mixed earth kingdom fire nation heritage play a role in the story. Maybe if lok had the themes of atla it could go into how the two are treated differently for Mako looking more fire nation and bolin looking more earth kingdom. I think it'd be interesting if Korra keeps on hearing Amon's followers yell on the streets about how benders oppress everyone but then notice how Bolin gets treated significantly better when he pretends to be a non-bender fire national/lean into his fire nation heritage by ignoring his bending compared to when he is openly an earthbender which directly ties him to his earth kingdom heritage.

right!!! i am literally always saying this. like it’s sooo weird how lok does not understand what it means to be mixed in any meaningful capacity. neither with the kataangs nor with mako and bolin, they’re each just largely tied to the element they bend with no consideration given to the other half of their heritage. bumi doesn’t consider himself an air nomad until he magically gains airbending, despite his father literally being the only air nomad currently in existence. instead of trying to preserve his familial heritage, he completely undermines all of aang and katara’s cultural values and joins the fucking military. kya doesn’t seem to give a shit about air nomad culture either, seeing as she doesn’t even know guru laghima’s name (and he’s the wisest air nomad who ever lived!). despite apparently being an independent free spirit who values her freedom, she seems 100% affiliated with her mother’s heritage, because waterbender. even though the values of community and tradition kind of conflict with her whole “you can’t tie me down” attitude, so. um. and they never once explore how the value of, for example, hunting as an important cultural tradition in the water tribes may conflict with the value of vegetarianism and doing no harm to any living organism. these are interesting tensions that could have been explored!! but instead, tenzin is merely an air nomad who takes after his father both culturally and physically, kya is a waterbender who takes after her mother, and bumi is a…..cosmopolitan, and nobody likes him.

as for mako and bolin, they don’t even get the privilege of being the children of the avatar and the chief of the southern water tribe (i said what i said), so being mixed race in the neocolonial cesspit that is republic city would be bound to cause some tensions. but instead of actually addressing what the ramifications and complex colonial dynamics of inter/multiracial family structures in a postwar society that is nonetheless still struggling to contend with a century’s worth of global imperialism and the lingering trauma of that violence would be, they kind of just….ignore it. yes, mako is a firebender who takes after his fire nation mother, and bolin is an earthbender who takes after his earth kingdom father, and they live in a city that was once earth kingdom land that now functions as a neocolony of the fire nation, but also, the police force are all earthbenders, and there isn’t any sort of lingering racial/colonial tensions in this city whatsoever! you know how mako and bolin were orphaned as children and forced to live on the street and dumpster dive for food and eventually did labor for a gang because they had no other means of survival? are we going to question or implicate the systems that enabled those abject conditions? no, of course not. look at mako fumble two gorgeous, ridiculously privileged girls! look at bolin do the charleston! isn’t republic city FUN???

[itsclydebitches]

Hazbin Hotel: Let's Talk About Cursing!

Trigger warning for lots of cursing in this post (obviously) and discussion of canon abuse scenes

As I delve further into the Hazbin Hotel fandom, I’ve inevitably come across a variety of people who dislike the show for an equal variety of reasons. One criticism I’ve seen with some consistency is in regards to the cursing and yeah, I get it. That’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. However, the repeated claim that the cursing is only there as a—failed—attempt at bad, lazy humor got me thinking about why I personally liked the cursing, and why I think it serves a greater purpose in the show.

Now yes, some of the cursing does function as an arguably simplistic joke. The most common setup I’ve noticed is one that leans into a contrast in tone/personalities. We see this a lot with the polite, comparatively timid Charlie as she navigates her distinctly vulgar domain.

Charlie: “Hi, mister!” Demon: “Go fuck yourself!”

The entirety of “Happy Day in Hell” plays with this contrast, setting up Charlie’s slightly skewed, but significantly optimistic perspective of Hell. We are shown again and again how her lyrics are contradicted or twisted into something less innocent through the visuals: a “revealing” street where it’s “hard not to stare” has BDSM going on in a nearby window, Charlie will “open the door” for her people and then literally does so... for a guy who’s already dead. (Or, you know, temporarily out of commission until he heals, or whatever demons do when they’re ‘killed’ by things other than angelic steel.) The entire point here is to contrast the happy, skipping girl claiming that there’s a “warm, fuzzy feeling” in the air with the actual environment of unchecked fires and decaying limbs. And yes, that can be amusing. Not necessarily for everyone as humor is highly subjective and dependent on context, but distilling this contrast down to the shock of a polite greeting getting a “Go fuck yourself!” in response is a kind of entertainment. Especially when Charlie’s reaction adds another layer: for me that’s a very funny—and currently relatable—expression.

We can potentially make the case that this humor format overstays its welcome, but I personally think the show does a good job of keeping Charlie’s cursing both simple and comparatively rare, so that when she is put into these contrast situations the humor lands better. The best example I can think of in the latter half of the show is Susan. There we get the whiplash of polite, trying-to-get-these-people-to-like-her Charlie reaching a breaking point to become “FUCK YOU, YOU OLD BITCH” Charlie. It’s a moment that builds off of the earlier surprise of the courteous Alastor calling someone an “Ornery old bitch”—while Rosie is trying (and failing) to find a nicer way to phrase this.

However, as stated above I think the cursing serves more of a purpose than to just be funny for (some) viewers. Beyond those who simply find cursing distasteful, I’ve seen a fair bit of, “This is so stupid. No one even talks like that!” going around.

Except... I do? I talk like that.

See, I like cursing. I was born to former hippie parents and grew up playing MMOs, so cursing was something I became pretty acclimated to. Personally, I’m glad I was because I’m fascinated by language and cursing—for better or worse—is an integral way that many people communicate. I was taught to see cursing not as the Bad Forbidden Thing You Must Never Ever Do, but rather as just another form of expression, something to be used in moderation and under specific circumstances. Once I became an adult I already understood how I wanted to curse and when it was appropriate to do so. People at work are often shocked when I tell them I curse a lot because no, of course I’m not doing that at my job. That isn't considered professional in this space. Among my friends though?

We can sound a lot like the Hazbin crew.

Undoubtedly the most common curse in the show is “fuck” and its variations, which very much tracks with my personal experience among other people who curse. In fact, it’s so ubiquitous that it barely counts as a curse at all in some groups. It’s more of an easy, accepted way to add emphasis. Vaggie’s “What the fuck was that?” about Alastor’s commercial is a perfect example. She’s pissed and simply saying “What was that?” doesn’t carry the same weight, no matter how angry she may sound when she says it. Vox’s long “Fuuuuuuuck” at the end of “Stayed Gone” conveys an emotion you just can’t capture any other way. No dialogue at all would create a fundamentally different experience of Vox’s feelings and another non-cursing response is just gonna hit different. Not necessarily bad, just different.

“I don’t want to go to the party!” “I don’t want to go to the freaking party!” “I don’t want to go to the fucking party!”

The above represents three distinct characters to me and I think Hazbin Hotel gets that. Cursing isn’t thrown around randomly because something something cursing supposedly sells; it’s all linguistically logical. Characters curse when something surprising or bad happens, or when something unexpectedly good happens, when they’re angry, trying to be sexy, or they want to add that emphasis. That’s a lot of different situations where cursing can be useful and when you use “fuck” in your daily life a lot you become pretty desensitized to it. As said, for many it’s barely a curse at all. Which means that when you really want to curse you’ve got to up the ante. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that the two uses of “cunt” I can recall—a word that is generally considered far worse than “fuck” and makes a lot of people understandably uncomfortable—is used by two of the worst characters in moments that are meant to horrify the viewer:

Adam: “Can’t wait a whole year to slaughter those little cunts / I know it’s just been a week, but we’ll be back in six months!” Valentino: “When I say you’d better get that fucking cunt out of my studio, you say...?”

This horror is especially emphasized in Valentino’s scene. The creators know this word is coming up and deliberately build towards it. Angel is currently being abused and has been reminded that Valentino “owns” him. The above question is a part of a trio that Valentino asks (a standard structure in writing), wherein the third option is the outlier/most shocking of the three. The animation leans into that shock, with the music building and Valentino grabbing Angel to pull him close right on the word “cunt.” Perez even puts emphasis there because he knows that this is a significant word that will change our understanding of Valentino.

Despite having hit Angel multiple times and taunting him with the contract, this is the moment Valentino stops playing the ‘nice’ employer. This is the real him. No more fake compliments and endearments aimed at Charlie, no more fake comfort/intimacy aimed at Angel. That “cunt” conveys a hell of a lot about how Valentino really sees them and when you have a cast of characters who are already cursing on the regular, it takes a word on that level to do that kind of work. If Valentino had said, “get that fucking bitch out of my studio” it wouldn’t have had nearly the same impact because he’s the kind of guy who uses "bitch" even when playing ‘nice.’

Adam’s line from “Hell is Forever” does very similar work. The scene needs a word to align with the horrific reveal that another extermination is just six months away, that conveys Adam’s deep disgust for Charlie’s people, and that still catches the viewer’s attention even though he’s the character (I believe) who curses the most. Here the music drops and Adam is a little closer to speaking than singing; there's this shift because, like with Valentino, our perception of him is shifting. This isn’t just some egotistical idiot who wants to be called “Dick Master,” he’s the leader of an army coming to gleefully kill them. Framing a whole world of people—people Charlie loves—as “cunts” while treating their murder as a holiday that can’t come soon enough creates an, 'Oh shit. This guy is actually a threat' understanding that you can’t quite get with anything else.

On a smaller scale, cursing does other character work throughout the whole show. I watched a number of cursing compilation vids for this meta (that was a trip lol) and again, cursing is not thrown in randomly. Each character has a unique way of cursing that aligns with their personality and motivations:

As said, Adam curses the most in the show which helps sell his truly over-the-top, irreverent personality. Linguistically, the amount he curses also allows for some fun grammatical play. Lines like, “Fucking love putting my name on shit, shit’s the best!” help convey the versatility of cursing.

Also as said, Charlie curses a fair bit but she’s comparatively polite and her cursing tends to be a result of genuinely big emotions—like saying “Crap” when she’s shocked and falls, or “Shit!” when Adam locks her out of the room—rather than sprinkled into her conversations as a modifier. That leaves space to create those moments of amused surprise when Charlie really let’s loose.

Sr Pentious curses even less than Charlie which fits his secretly gooey center. He talks a big game at the start of the show, but he’s actually quite bad at being, well, bad (especially the Amazon version compared to pilot!Pentious). His idea of getting one over on Alastor is ripping a bit of his coat. He loves his Egg Bois and “doesn’t want to live” without them. He has no desire to go into battle without minions/a big machine to hide behind and, of course, he’s the first to be redeemed. He's too much of a secret sweetheart to curse a lot.

Interestingly, Niffty doesn’t seem to curse at all. At least, not enough for me to think of examples off the top of my head. Right now I’m inclined to read that as an extension of her lived experiences/design—the cute 1950’s housewife archetype who is obsessed with keeping things clean doesn’t [gasp!] curse—as well as a way to maintain her legitimate creep factor. As said, cursing is common among the hotel residents and is a way for them to linguistically fit in. Niffty, however, is positioned more as an outsider (despite how much they all obviously love her): she’s actually scary in a way most demons aren’t and despite how weird this whole world is, she stands out as someone no one else can make sense of (even Alastor). If cursing is normal, Niffty is a character who is decidedly positioned as not normal.

Angel curses a fair bit, though his irreverence is conveyed more through innuendos. Angel is great at verbally twisting others’ words (especially Husk’s) to give himself a conversational advantage:

Husk: “Go fuck yourself” Angel: “Only if you watch me~”

Husk: “You’ve come—” Angel: [very loud orgasm noise] Husk: “...to the right place.”

Meanwhile, Husk uses “fuck” plenty, but he’s also one of the few characters who use “bullshit" too. I wouldn’t say there’s anything particularly revealing about that choice, but just giving him a go-to curse that’s otherwise used infrequently helps make his character distinct in a cast of other cursing characters.

Vaggie occasionally curses in Spanish, showing us her heritage if she used to be human, or a distinct knowledge/verbal preference if she’s always been an angel.

Heaven, as the ‘good’ side, doesn’t curse as a general rule, which leaves room for cursing to do more of that silent character work. We’re reminded of the stuffy, overly critical beings she’s dealing with when Charlie receives the combined judgement of the court for saying, “Fuck yeah!” In contrast, we understand just how shocked St. Peter is to see a Morningstar when he lets out an unintentional “Fuck!” The angry vindication of Charlie’s “That’s what the fuck I’ve been saying!” lands harder after multiple scenes of very little cursing, and Lute’s “Some crack-whore who fucked up already? / He blew his shot like the cocks in his mouth—” helps set her apart as an exorcist + Adam's second in command: her shocking violence comes through in her word choice too; words that supposedly don't belong in Heaven.

In what’s arguably the funniest line in the whole show, Lucifer undermines his dramatic standoff with Adam by going, “You mess with my daughter and now I’m going to fuck you.” Beyond just cutting the tension, that fits his bumbling, oblivious personality perfectly. Lucifer is crazy powerful and can absolutely wreck Adam. He also has none of the classy intimidation that, say, Alastor displays when he tries to convey that. This is a depressed himbo who makes ducks in his free time and settles on, “Hey, bitch!” when greeting his estranged daughter. Of course he’s going to accidentally turn a threat into a promise of sex.

Which finally brings me to Alastor, someone whose cursing is already understood well by the fandom. He’s characterized as manipulatively courteous, using manners to both hide his true nature and draw attention to his power—’You’re so beneath me I’ll just calmly sip my coffee and politely ask who you are, despite the fact that we've fought multiple times.’ This is a guy who calls people “My dear” and unironically insults them with the phrase “wacky nonsense.” So when he curses you can BET it’s gonna have an impact. It sure did for me. I had to pause the episode after Alastor’s first “Fuck you” because it was so shocking to hear that language from him. And that’s the point! The scene wants that reaction from the audience. The "Fuck you"s visceral anger contrasting the fake laughs he and Lucifer have been giving, the quick-fire exchange that’s suddenly cut short by Alastor’s choice of a direct insult, the fact that he’s officially dropping the polite veneer they’ve both been indulging in and raising the stakes before Charlie intervenes, the loss of the radio filter that otherwise demonstrates his control over a situation... all of it screams, ‘THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER MOMENT.’

"Fuck you” reveals that, for the first time in the show, Alastor is legitimately threatened by someone. Which makes sense given that, you know, Lucifer is the King of Hell. Cursing for Alastor isn’t normal, so when he does curse it’s going to reveal something about a guy who otherwise is obsessed with being unknowable. Having the King of Hell dismiss him is actually infuriating in a way Sir Pentious’ threats could never be and the exchange kicks off a rivalry that rattles Alastor in ways Vox’s never has. (Side note: is it any wonder people ship them? Character A making control freak Character B feel vulnerable is classic!) It’s no surprise to me than that the one other true curse we get from Alastor is, “I’m about to end your fucking life,” delivered to Adam who, like Lucifer, poses a legitimate threat and does end up beating him. I say “true” curse because calling Susan a “bitch” does similar work for him, but the takeaway is humorous rather than dramatic. It’s funny that the only people who can piss Alastor off enough to curse are the First Man/a powerful exorcist angel threatening his life, the literal King of Hell... and Susan.

So there’s a lot going on here, more than what many viewers might assume if they approach the show as just “stupid,” needlessly vulgar entertainment. As shown above, I don’t think the cursing is needless, especially given that, well... they’re in Hell. They’re sinners, supposedly the worst that humanity has to offer, so of course they're going to curse a lot. Does cursing mean you’re a bad person? No. Can you craft a hellish world that doesn't rely on cursing to convey a group's immoral nature? Sure.

Does it make sense that a writer would equate a sinful, irreverent cast with linguistic rebellion and would want to convey a certain vibe that, frankly, you just can’t get without dropping an F bomb?

Yeah, I think so. No one has to like that kind of creative decision, but it’s worth acknowledging it as a deliberate choice.

That’s all! Thanks for reading this fucking long post ✌️

[deadsetobsessions]

The Gotham City Planning and Building Committee might not be the best in terms of new or innovative designs (listen, they’re called Gotham for a reason) but at least they’re not the Metropolis City Planners. Those poor schmucks who think they’ve got it so good. Any employee who’ve worked at both would choose Gotham, any day. Well, not the city, but the Committee.

Why?

Well…

1) They’re the most well funded committee in the entire city (thanks, Brucie Wayne!), both officially and unofficially funded. This is impressive, considering the amount of bribes (see: unofficial funding) the GCPD gets from the local crime bosses and occasional Rogue.

2) Is the GCPBC probably led by a Court of Owl member? Probably. But the employees get Talons for body guards and no one fucks with them.

3) Metropolis has to deal with sky scrapers, ground gouged out by Superman’s strength, and the holes Superman and Co. puts through buildings. They’re frantically adding emergency supports and replacing cars. But in Gotham? The preliminary demolition is done for them. They save so much money on demolition when everyone and their mothers know how to bomb a building. The occasional sky scraper and mansion suffers either shattered glass and smaller property damage but they don’t have to even worry about it too much! The streets only have to stay functional. The damage is part of the Aesthetic.

4) They have a villain hazard pay- something Metropolis doesn’t have on the account of Superman saving the day before things get blown up. Lame.

5) Their local billionaire isn’t a massive sleazy supervillain who probably underpays his employees. Brucie Wayne is Gotham’s Baby Himbo dammit, and Lex Luthor can go suck the rgg his heads trying to imitate. Brucie Wayne respects women and wants to pay for the betterment of the city because their taxes are going to corrupt politicians. Lex Luthor’s got a hate boner for an alien and causes massive property damage to his own city.

Also Bruce Wayne is hot and Lex Luthor is very much not.

[miniimight]

hi!!! I really love your works! I’ve been enjoying them a whole lot and I’m looking forward to see more of it :) Sorry for the long request ;;

Can you write something with Izuku and Shoto (separate, and you add anyone if you want to!) with GN!Y/N getting super tired in the middle of their study/work session?

Like, they’re studying/doing hero work at home together and Y/N worked really hard for the past few days due to the workload, so Y/N gets noticeably tired from it and the other person decided to rest?

Y/N is kinda insistent but they’re also too tired to be too stubborn about not wanting to rest (^^;;

TOO MUCH STUDYING . you worked extra hard on your studies these past few days and you're in need of some rest... not that you'd admit it

with deku, todoroki

notes thank you !! <3 no worries about the length, it gives me more to work with <3 idk if i hit the mark with this one but hope u like it !!

you were studying with him. actually, it was more like he was studying with you. you were constantly over your books, so intensely it seemed like you were the anchor and he was just riding the wave. even for a overachiever like him (and we say this with love), he saw it as unhealthy. he took a break and came back, you were still at your desk. he left for work and came back—still at your desk. begged you to take a break to which you'd say five more minutes—still at your desk.

IZUKU

"hey, honey?" he said softly, his concern getting the better of him. he gently rubbed your back as he leaned over your seat, seeing a bunch of angry scrawls across your notebook. "i'm gonna go to bed now, think you should too."

"noooo..." you sighed. "i just have a couple chapters left and i'll come, promise."

he rolled his eyes, a smile coming onto his face as he shook his head. you're impossible. you've used this exact line the last few times. "that's what you said yesterday, love, and i woke up to you still studying."

you gripped your pencil tighter.

"you need to rest," he whispered softly, pulling the chair from the desk and kneeling before it. his hands gripped both handles as you tried to shimmy back to the desk, preventing you from moving. "come on, i'll carry you."

you pursed your lips. "but... but i'm not even halfway done..." you murmured, sadness overwhelming you.

he frowned and hugged your torso, his head of green curls brushing against your stomach. "i know you feel like you're behind, love, but you can't do it all in one night. i'll help you with it tomorrow, okay?"

you sighed.

he looked up at you, a loving smile gracing his lips. "that big brain of yours needs sleep to function."

you rolled your eyes, about to protest that you're doing just fine when izuku lifted you off your chair, slinging you over his shoulder with a bright, triumphant laugh.

you gasp and knocked his back. "izuku!"

"what?" he giggled, making his way to bed.

"you—ugh." a soft laugh bubbled out of you as you relented to his charms, too tired to resist.

he fell onto the bed with you in arms. he couldn't help but stare at your sleeping face as you dozed off the minute you hit the sheets.

SHOTO

shoto sat at the edge of your desk, his arms folded underneath his head.

you looked over to him every once in a while to almost catch him falling asleep. you sat back and brushed the hair from his eyes. "sho, if you're feeling tired, you should go to bed."

a deep sigh was his reply. "m' not going to bed without you..." he murmured, his words slurring together.

you glanced at your notebooks, frustration involuntarily bubbling up inside you. you weren't getting anywhere with your tiredness, but you wouldn't admit that—not to yourself or your boyfriend.

but it pained you deeply to see shoto stay up for your sake. he was just as stubborn as you.

you tapped your pencil against your notebook, your mind wandering.

shoto's hand brushed against your forearm, trailing down and settling on your wrists. his fingers inched their way into your palm. he squeezed your hand as he looked up at you with sleepy eyes. "come to bed with me. please?"

you melted but your brain brought back the huge workload before you. "sho... i haven't even scratched the surface of what i need to do yet..."

"but you're tired, love." his eyes were closed but he couldn't be more focused on the situation. "and i'm tired. so i say... sleep now." he rubbed his face into his arm. "you know?"

you giggled, the sleep getting to his speech. "you're cute, sho."

"cute enough to make you come to bed?" he opened one eye to observe your flustered state, though you still looked at your books with worry. "don't frown like that, love. i'll help you. but let's sleep now?"

you know what? fuck it. you smile and help him up, both of you trudging to the bed. you didn't make it. you passed out on top of him on the couch.

© miniimight ! thanks for reading <3

[jame7t]

Why so _______

- The ______

Fill in the blanks!

“Why songbirds?” She asked, fiddling with the faux-feathers. “Wouldn’t a corvid be a better fit for a… spy?”

Melvik rolled his eyes again, as if spywork and the elaborate creation of false-life was a simple thing that his temporary protégée was failing to grasp. “Sure, yeah, ravens are nosy little fucks- but when you see one, you watch it. They’re smart. You look at birds like that. You can feel them watching you. And watch one too closely…”

“…you’ll notice it’s fake,” she finished. “Okay, but why songbirds? They make so much noise.”

“It gets drowned out in the pack. Flock. Whatever. And that’s the point, too. Nobody expects a spy to make noise.” He leaned back from the desk, a single false bird complete- one more to the pile. He plucked the soon-to-chirp thing from the wooden bench, and placed it on the metal sheet her siblings sat motionless on. “Five-four. I take the lead again.”

Gloria furrowed her brows at him- it’s not her fault she’s the only halfwit in the spire who knows about faux-life the month before deployment. “Where IS your little helper, anyway? How come I’m stuck here helping you?”

Melvik leaned forward awkwardly to start on another songbird. “He decided he’s an aspirant.” He spit the word.

“Little Crug? He’s an aspirant?”

Melvik raised his eyes to meet Gloria, and gave a single small nod.

“Good lord- The other children call him Crug, how is he gonna be an aspirant?”

“He’s not. He’ll wash out.”

“Right.” Gloria looked down at the spy in her hands, realizing she’d inserted a feather backwards. “Fuck.”

Continuing as if they hadn’t reached the natural stopping point, Melvik sighed- “It’s like he’s ignored everything he’s good at in favor of something that’s get him killed even if he doesn’t flunk out. Which, mind you, he will!”

Fumbling with a misplaced leg, his rant continues.

“Even if he does, somehow, become a pilot, which one would he even drive? The Mercello? The damn Mercello? We need things other than Titans to protect the Keep!”

Gloria nods, half listening. She opens her mouth to interject- not yet sure if she agrees- but Melvik isn’t done.

“He’s going to wash out of training, and when he comes back with half his motor functions intact, he’s gonna be sorry when I don’t let him back in. I can’t!” He meets Gloria’s eyes. “It’d be a security risk at that point. You get it, don’t you?”

She gives him an uncertain half-smile; the act of becoming an aspirant is seen as noble- a sacrifice, even. But those who ‘wash out’ are not often kept in high regards. Gloria’s cousin was one such unfortunate aspirant.

Melvik sees the uncertainty and relents- his eyes close, and he opens them to view the rotten thing in his hand. He managed to insert both legs backwards in his anger- and maybe, he dreaded, his age.

“I just needed one. One guarantee this craft wouldn’t be lost when… when I lose it.”

Gloria grimaced- she didn’t think her workmanship was that bad. “I’m sure there’s others who’ll keep it up. You know? You’re not the only weaver.”

“Nobody knows how to weave like I do.”

“And why’s that? What’s your special secret?”

“Nobody knows how- they-“

“Come on, then! Spill it! Nobody knows how to what?!”

“Fill in the blanks!”

Gloria rolled her eyes. “That’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” he groans, continuing far past the natural stopping point. “Real songbirds don’t just ‘start and stop’- real foxes don’t just sit and watch. You have to make them real. You have to make them feel real.”

“So what you’re saying is, the director pays you extra because you play with puppets.” She meant it as an insult- she certainly thought so.

Melvik grins.

He looks to the small, soon to chirp thing in his hands- legs corrected, little beady eyes ready to see. “Yeah…”

He envisions the Titans- the pilots sitting within their puppet-rigs, marching along the ocean front; watching for the minions of the Corpse Moon to meet them along the coastal crags.

“Puppets.”

Maybe he does understand.

[steddieas-shegoes]

One more idea: the party realizing that Steddie is their role model for a healthy relationship due to how they interact with each other & the party. Like maybe they have a fight and the makeup & communication happens in front of Max. & Lucas sees Eddie joining Steve with his hobbies and Steve joining Eddie for his hobbies. Dustin seeing Eddie showcasing Steve's intelligence in a way he never would never have seen in any other way/situation. Mike & Will having a queer couple in love and functionally healthy.

EVERY TIME I SEE YOUR NAME FOR A REQUEST I'M CRACKING MY KNUCKLES AND GETTING READY TO GOOOOO! This was cute and fun and let me write short little bursts within one bigger thing which comes across as a nice quick read for people. I love things that just flow without being completely one thing? I don't know if that makes sense. I rarely do. Hopefully this does though! - Mickala ❤️

----------------------------------------------------

“You never clean up after, Eds. I’m just asking for you to do the dishes after Hellfire!”

“I’m tired after so I leave them in the sink to do in the morning, it’s not my fault you wake up before me and wash them!”

Steve and Eddie had been arguing for about five minutes now, not even noticing that Max had walked into the room when she’d heard them bickering.

“It’s part of having people over. You have to clean up after them.”

“I know and I would if you would just let me do it in the morning!”

Max watched as they both got more visibly frustrated, Steve’s face turning red and Eddie’s fists clenched at his sides.

She was half expecting one of them to storm out or Eddie to throw his fist through the wall.

He’d never hurt Steve, but sometimes anger flies in any direction it can.

Sometimes that direction is a person’s face. Sometimes it’s a wall.

Max was familiar with both.

But they just kept staring at each other, and Max kept staring at them, waiting.

Then, Steve let out a small laugh, and Eddie let out a small laugh.

Max felt her jaw drop.

What the hell was happening?

“I get up so early. Why do I do that?” Steve asked as Eddie crowded closer to him.

“I can’t tell ya, especially when you leave me alone in bed, cold, afraid, crying for attention.”

Steve snorted at Eddie’s theatrics, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s waist so he could run his hands up and down his back.

“You could just get up with me sometimes. We could clean up together.”

“Can’t we do it at a reasonable hour?”

Max was so confused. They went from arguing to seconds away from making out, and they were joking about it?

“How about on the mornings after Hellfire I sleep in 30 minutes, and we get up to do the dishes together?”

“I wash, you dry?”

“Deal.”

Steve gave him a quick peck on the lips, but Eddie deepened it, pulling him against him and smiling into the kiss.

Max decided she’d seen enough, confusion causing her to turn from the room and join the rest of the party again.

Will noticed she seemed out of it when she sat down, nudging her shoulder and raising his brows in question.

“Just saw Steve and Eddie arguing. I think. I’m pretty sure?”

“Arguing? Did they break up?”

“No, not at all. They argued for a few minutes and then kissed and talked about it? I dunno, kinda weird.”

Will snorted.

“You mean kinda how people are supposed to solve things?”

Max pushed his shoulder and scowled.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“They’re pretty good together, I think.”

Max rolled her eyes, but gave him a small smile.

“Yeah, they are.

—--------

“Okay, so this is rich coming from me and all, but you gotta plant your feet more. It’ll help you keep a centered balance before you make the throw.”

Steve had been practicing with Lucas for almost an hour now, sweat pouring off of them both as the summer sun beat down on their skin.

Lucas tried again.

“Better! Let’s run the drill again, you come up the side, I’ll toss the ball while you run, then you shoot. If you keep your feet planted, it’ll go in.”

Lucas nodded and ran to the spot where Steve told him, which happened to be where Eddie was sitting, reading a book with Steve’s sunglasses on.

“Is he making you do it again? Jesus Christ.” Eddie pushed the sunglasses down and yelled to Steve. “What did Lucas do to piss you off?”

“Nothing! Just read your book!”

“I just don’t understand the sportsball thing. Practice is important, duh, but like, this is the same drill for an hour. How can this actually be helping?”

“Do you not rehearse songs over and over before performing them?”

“Speaking of rehearsing, I have to be doing that in the next 40 minutes. You promised you’d come today!”

Eddie slipped the sunglasses back on as Steve rolled his eyes, but smiled at where Eddie was lounging.

Lucas saw it all happen.

Eddie hated basketball. He hated all sports, actually.

But he was always out here with them when Steve was practicing with Lucas, and he always sat with Steve at Lucas’ games during the school year. He almost always sat on the couch with him when it was March Madness time, most of the kids not having the patience for it, but Wayne finding his way to Steve’s house often and smirking at his nephew suddenly taking an interest in a sport he never bothered to watch before.

And Steve.

Steve was always with Eddie for his band rehearsals, even the ones that were just messing around. He went to every show, even the ones that were in Indy. He even wore his own Metallica and Dio shirts so he could fit in a bit more, even though he much preferred the popular hits on the radio.

Lucas saw how they showed up for each other.

He saw that they did it because they loved each other, supported each other in everything.

He thought about how his dad would always watch his mom’s favorite movies on date nights, how his mom would go to baseball games with his dad.

He thought about Max learning how to play D&D because she wanted to spend more time with Lucas and how he learned how to skateboard so he could go to the park with her. He couldn’t keep up with her, but he could still try.

He smiled to himself as Steve yelled for him to start.

—--------

Dustin was trying to be patient.

It’s just that his brain worked so much faster than a lot of people’s and it was frustrating being the first one to arrive at a solution to a problem.

They were playing a mini-campaign at Eddie’s insistence, introducing Steve to D&D slowly.

This campaign was kind of a joke, but Dustin let it slide because he was so happy that Steve was joining.

But it was getting kind of ridiculous how easy some of the traps were, how little they really had to think about what to do.

Lucas and Max joined in, but none of the rest of Hellfire was here. Eddie didn’t want to intimidate Steve too much on his first try.

But this was supposed to be the Big Bad. And they were trying to leave it up to Steve to make a decision on how they’d all proceed, let him kind of get the idea of what works and what doesn’t.

It was easy. Dustin saw the clear way through. He knew Lucas and Max could too.

Eddie was just waiting patiently for Steve.

“So we can’t go around the rocks because there’s nowhere to step outside of the poisonous lake. And we can’t jump because there’s low hanging vines that can sense when they’re touched.”

Eddie nodded, proud that Steve was catching up.

Dustin was losing his patience.

“Is there a reason we can’t just take the bad guy with us?”

What?

“What?”

Eddie’s brows furrowed for a moment.

“How would you do that?”

He can’t be serious.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Dustin, shut up for a minute.”

“Well, it just seems that all he wants is a part of the diamond treasure, right? He doesn’t want to kill us or hurt us, he just doesn’t want to lose his prize because of us.”

“Go on.”

Dustin was blinking at Eddie. No way could he really be letting Steve think like this.

“So since my charm is so high, I could just convince him to come with us, give him some of the diamonds, and send him on his way.”

“And what if he decides when you get there that he wants them all?”

“Isn’t there a diamond sword there?”

“That’s the legend, yes.”

“Then we could use the diamond sword to kill him. It can kill anything.”

Dustin snapped his mouth shut.

Hm.

Okay.

“What if the sword isn’t there?”

“Lucas still has his potion that makes anyone who drinks it fall asleep. If he turns on us, we offer him a drink before we go, slip the potion in, and he falls asleep so we can escape with the diamonds.”

Well.

Color Dustin surprised.

Steve had thought of everything. He’d come up with a plan, a backup plan, and a backup to the backup plan in only a couple of minutes.

Eddie beamed at Steve.

“Roll for charisma, my liege.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but rolled as Eddie asked.

“16! Plus 10 means 26. Is that good?”

Dustin was bouncing in his seat.

“That’s awesome! There’s no way he won’t be charmed to come with us.”

“Dustin’s correct!”

As Eddie continued with the campaign, Lucas nudged Dustin.

“Hey, Steve’s pretty good. You think he’d play a real campaign?”

“I hope so. None of us would have thought to charm him. Or remembered the diamond sword.”

He hated to admit it, but Steve had shown that he was incredibly smart, had paid attention from the beginning, and remembered everything Eddie had thrown at them.

He wouldn’t doubt Steve ever again, even if it took him a little longer to get there.

—--------

Mike stormed into the trailer, Will following behind him with tears in his eyes.

“Mike, wait!”

“No! You told me we didn’t have to tell anyone yet, and now you want to tell the whole party? No!”

Eddie walked in his living room from his bedroom, hair a mess from, well, activities.

“Uh. What’s going on?”

Mike turned to Eddie, face red, hair windblown like he’d run here.

“Will is pressuring me to come out!”

“No I’m not! I was just asking if he thought he would be ready to tell a few people soon! It’s okay if he says no.”

Will was about five seconds from crying and Eddie could not handle it if Will cried.

“Steve! I need backup! Now!” He yelled towards the bedroom, hoping Steve had enough common sense to get fully dressed before coming to see what was going on.

When he came down the hall, Eddie let out a breath of relief.

“What’s wrong?”

He looked at Will and Mike, how they weren’t facing each other but clearly wanted to.

“Apparently, Will asked if Mike was ready to come out to a select group of people and Mike thought he was pressuring him.”

“Ah. Been there.”

Mike and Will’s heads snapped to Steve.

“You have?”

“When?”

Eddie laughed.

“You think I wanted to keep it quiet that I managed to land the King of Hawkins High? No way in hell. I wanted to tell everyone immediately. All of you, all of my friends in the band, Wayne. Stevie here was against it though. Said he didn’t want to come out until he ‘got a read on everyone’.”

Steve shook his head.

“Yeah, yeah. I took my time. But I started to feel bad that Eddie was waiting on me. I loved him and he loved me, and I knew anyone he wanted to tell loved us.”

“So you gave in?”

Steve tilted his hand back and forth.

“A little. We told Wayne first as a test run. Eddie had been out to him for years, so he knew he would take it okay. After he did, we told the guys in the band.”

“And then you told us.”

“Actually! Steve didn’t want to tell any of you.”

“What?”

Steve and Eddie couldn’t help but notice the way Will and Mike were crowding closer together as they all spoke.

“Yeah, I kinda just didn’t want to have to do a big reveal. Figured it would be easier to just let you all figure it out.”

“I told him how much of a very bad idea that was. How hurt you all would be if you found out we were hiding anything.”

“Oh,” Mike said, looking down at the floor. “But it was to protect yourselves.”

“Yeah. And maybe it was the right call. But really we have the most supportive bunch of assholes around, his worry was kind of silly.”

“But what if they tell?”

“Well, that is risky. But they haven’t told anyone about us that didn’t already know, right?”

Mike looked at Will.

“Right.”

“Listen, the world sucks for people like us. It’s not easy having to have date nights as a group so no one gets suspicious or stay home so we can hold hands. It sucks,” Steve said as he grabbed Eddie’s hand. “But we know we can be ourselves around everyone in the party. And that makes things a lot easier.”

Mike was quiet as Will smiled over at Steve and Eddie.

“I didn’t mean to rush you, Mike. I just really want to be able to hold your hand at movie nights. Like we do when it’s just us, ya know?”

“Yeah.” Then Mike seemed to grow a bit more confident, puffing his chest out a bit and nodding. “Yeah, let’s tell them.”

He started to walk out of the trailer and Will’s eyes widened.

“Wait, now?”

“Yes, let’s go!”

“Uh.” Will turned to throw a wave at Steve and Eddie. “Thank you?”

“Anytime, Will the Wise,” Eddie said as Will left the trailer.

He turned to Steve and smirked at him, wrapping one arm around his waist to pull him closer.

“It’s really hot how you parent the kids.”

“Oh yeah? How hot?”

“I might need to tell you in the bed.”

“Ohhhh.” Eddie picked Steve up and walked him to their bedroom.

They didn’t bat an eye when they went to the next movie night and saw Will and Mike holding hands on the couch.

[strawberrystepmom]

self ship coded, gojo and reader are in a semi established relationship it's a whole thing. f!reader, reader is referred to with feminine pet names and has breasts. i'm down so astronomically i cannot possibly stop writing about him as if he is the reason the world turns.

Is it possible to drown in the depths of your own want?

The question lingers at the forefront of your mind while you lay with your arms spread out on either side of you in your bed. The position emulates your body floating on the surface of a shimmering pool in a way that makes you feel heavy and weightless all at once, limbs weighed down by an invisible force you can only assume is love and nothing more sinister although they feel the same sometimes.

It’s only sort of your bed and yet it still functions as an anchor that keeps you tied to things that keep you from sleeping as the city rests silently on the other side of the walls. 

You rest in this bed more often than its true owner tends to and never hesitate to make yourself more than at home when he’s gone. Satoru’s sheets are a higher thread count than the ones you have at home, the quiet luxury comfortable rather than scratchy against your bare legs.

The current geographical location of your body may be here but your mind and heart linger many miles away, further than you think you can even conceptualize. Strangely enough, you sometimes believe all of your senses being overwhelmed by him even when he’s gone brings you closer to wherever he is. 

Letting this dangerous, selfish thinking take over makes you feel like you’re drowning once again, bobbing your head over the surface just long enough to take a deep breath. 

The bed smells like him. 

If serenity could be bottled and spritzed, it would match the clean scent of his skin. You find yourself nuzzling against his pillow, cheek rubbing against the soft fabric as if it’s the strong expanse of his chest. Biting your lip, you shift to your other side and rest your head on the pillow that smells like your shampoo.

It’s better this way, to close yourself off when you feel that things are too real. The moment he enters your mind as some kind of gilded hero, backlit with a dreamy light you can only describe as ethereal, you know when to take your space.

You can’t love him. He’s a god and you’re nothing more than a girl basking in the light he casts your direction out of pity. You’re selfish and want to keep him to yourself despite knowing he belongs to everyone. It’s his responsibility. 

Breath catching in your throat, you shift from your side to lying on your back again. The soft cotton of one of Gojo’s stupidly expensive t-shirts rides up your bare thigh and without thinking, you sit halfway up and struggle pulling the fabric over your head. It reminds you of a few days prior when he pulled his shirt over your shoulders and chest in the same way, a frustrated rush. He rested his cheek against your stomach and his palms danced across the underside of your breast for what felt like eternities, gentle breathing sending you both to sleep. 

Every memory feels like yesterday, it feels like a lifetime ago. You are too enamored with him to even keep accurate track of time.

Tossing the shirt on his side of the bed, you curl in on yourself with your back curved and knees pulled to your chest. It’s too late to catch a train home but you could call a car to take you back to your bed with its unimpressive sheets. You could melt into your own space, the citrus and cinnamon scent of your own home could be a reprieve from this feeling. This want, this monstrous need that’s swallowing you whole. 

Instead you turn and flop onto your back again, arms spread with a sigh.

You aren’t even treading water anymore, it’s over your head and filing your lungs. You’ve always heard that a person panics when they’re drowning, legs pumping wildly while they take gulps of salty cool water that will lead them to their end. It isn’t gentle because it can’t be, it’s against the very nature of the tumultuous tides themselves.

Love is a lot like that for you but you can’t seem to make sense of when you decided to let the current sweep you out instead of fighting against it.

Even if you decided to pack your shit and go home, there’s an indentation on the left side of your bed that resembles his shape too much for you to ignore it. You know you’d just find your way into it, fingers gently tracing the edges of where his body belongs next to you. Your sheets will still carry his clean skin smell; your heart will still yearn until the sun rises.

Reaching toward the edge of the bed, you grab your phone and squint as the backlight illuminates before you. A missed call alert pops on your screen and you half smile despite your uncomfortable restlessness, holding down the notification until your phone begins to dial the number you know by heart. 

“Can’t sleep?” Satoru’s playful lilt through the speaker makes your heart leap and you’re almost certain you saw it try to burst through your chest just a moment ago. 

Perhaps it’s exhaustion and you’re hallucinating, perhaps this is really the end and what’s been threatening to happen for too long finally has - you’ve lost and your heart is the victor.

“You know me, too busy thinking.”

He chuckles at your wry tone but notes how tired you sound. You always sound like this when the two of you are apart and it makes him feel a bit guilty for leaving you to your own devices. He ponders quietly for a moment but his quiet never lasts for long and he sighs.

“What do you do when I’m not there?”

Despite yourself, you laugh. He feels the warmth from miles away imagining your smile, a shape he has long since memorized. You flip onto your belly, resting your chin on your forearm while pressing the phone closer to your ear.

“Oh, business as usual. You know how it is.”

He doesn’t need to see you to know that you’re lying, the fact you are calling him at 2:15 am from Tokyo saying everything it needs to. 

“You never seem to be awake this late when I’m home unless I’m keeping you up.”

“Tonight is a rare occurrence, what can I say?”

He knows better.

“I miss you,” he baits. It isn’t baiting if he means it and that’s how he rationalizes forcing you to open up even a little bit. All it takes is a word and you’re back out of your head and in the real world. It may not be the most fair way to do things but it never fails. 

Blinking, you reach your thumb toward your eye and flick away an errant tear before it can trace down your cheek.

“I miss you too,” you whisper into the phone, pressing it against your ear so tightly it starts to ache. “More than usual.”

Satoru sits back in the bed he’s currently taking residence in, a hotel miles and miles and miles away from you. The sun is bright and shining where he’s at, hours behind you in a different part of the world but his gut told him to call you anyway. He had to make the first move to let you know that he’s still available and he’s still yours, despite whatever nonsense your head has cooked up for you in his absence.

“On the bright side, I’m almost done so you won’t have to miss me for much longer.”

The words provide the comfort you’ve been searching for and you settle, your erratic heartbeat slowing while you shut your eyes. You’re cognizant enough to speak but relaxed enough that it’s less filtered than usual.

“Don’t rush it if you can help it, Satoru. I’d hate for you to get caught up in some bullshit.”

He chuckles on the other end.

“Me? Never. Not when I have you waiting on me.”

You sigh, cheek further sinking into your forearm while your grip on your phone loosens and it barely rests against your ear. 

“I’m sorry I need you so much.”

Your honesty makes him laugh and at any other time, you’d bristle but for now you luxuriate in the sound filling your ear. It has been too many days since the last time you heard him laugh like that and it feels like pure joy. He shakes his head, carding his fingers through his hair.

If only you knew how much he needs you, it would make your own want look like a puddle instead of the ocean you insist you’re drowning in.

“Can’t say I blame you,” he teases and you snort, eyes staying closed while you feel your jaw slacken. “But don’t worry about it. I’ve been gone a lot lately.”

You hum into the phone and he can imagine how you look right now, the crease in your brow smoothing itself out as you relax.

“It’s not like you’re the only one who needs here, my pretty girl.”

The nickname makes your insides twist, the same way it always manages to, and you giggle surreptitiously. He still catches it, though and smirks from miles and miles and miles away. 

“Go to sleep. I’ll see you soon.”

Offering no other response, he knows you’re probably already asleep and as he reaches for the button to end the call, your meek voice keeps him on the line for a second more.

“Be careful,” you start and quickly trail off into a mumble that contains the syllables for the favorite words that leave your lips. He knows them by heart and offers them back without question.

“I love you too.”

[ggyurae]

when it’s one-sided.

pairing: mingyu x gn!reader

genre: angst

summary: you should have moved on

You have always known the fact that he’s far too good for you— incredibly smart, charming, kindhearted, a gorgeous man who constantly looks out for his friends and anyone he meets, family person— always treats his family members well, loves cooking and is very good at it, holds no grudges even when his friends pulled multiple pranks on him, talks sweetly to animals, smiles so pretty with his little fangs out, and well— basically almost beyond perfection.

Almost, because the one thing that makes him slightly less attractive is his undying crush on his senior.

And he likes to make it obvious.

“What do you think?” You blank. Then there’s a small sigh from the right side of your seat and a knowing look from your close friend, Seungkwan. “I wish I never introduced him to you. You’re always looking at him.” He complains with a whine, and you roll your eyes.

“Don’t be dramatic. I don’t do that.” You try to deny, but your friend knows you better than your mother does. You give him a harmless pinch on his arm when he made his disgusted face upon hearing your words. You both know the truth.

But Seungkwan also knows something that you might not want to know. As a friend, though, he cannot keep any secrets. Especially if it involves your feelings. He glances at his friend who’s now laughing with Wonwoo, his roommate, and focuses his gaze back at you, his voice lowering to almost a whisper. He looks rather concerned. “Have you.. heard about it?”

You look back at him with a brow raised, clueless. “About what..?” Then you see how troubled he wanted to open his mouth, the short pause in his response and the weird, ugly feeling that’s slowly approaching as Seungkwan takes more time to form his sentence. You start feeling anxious as you wondered why your friend struggled to tell you— did Mingyu get into a nasty fight? Did he get any trouble and get caught? Does he want to move out to another country and leave all of you here? Or maybe he—

“They’re dating.“

Oh.

And your mind stops working for a minute. You don’t know how to process that information as you lost all abilities to function, eyes staring nothing, your mouth opened but no words coming out.

Numb. You feel strangely numb.

After a few moments though, it starts sinking in. Your chest feels tight, heavy and has little space for you to breathe. Seungkwan notices the shift in your reactions and panics, immediately regretting his decision to reveal the news. “Shit, hey— are you okay?”

“Y—yeah, good.” You stammer, blinking rapidly. That’s embarrassing. “It’s fine. I’m.. I’m fine.” You respond with a shaky laugh and a small wave as a sign to dismiss your little overreaction. Seungkwan wants to argue but his guilt eats him up more. His eyes soften as he apologizes. “I’m really sorry. I thought sharing this to you would help you to.. you know.”

You know. You do. You were supposed to move on way before this could happen. When Mingyu stopped making small conversations with you weeks ago, when Mingyu no longer offered, which he absolutely didn’t have to, to help you with your assignments, when Mingyu started replying late, when Mingyu did not look at you excitedly when you arrived at your friends’ usual place, when Mingyu didn’t give you random compliments about your basic outfits, which was the same boring style that definitely needs an upgrade.

When he stopped doing these little things that used to make you feel special, as if you were more than a— what? What exactly were you to him? Sure, your friends are also his friends but that does not equate to you having a close friendship with him like the others. But there was something unspoken that only the two of you knew. It lingers when he’s close, makes your heart jumps when you stand near him, and it’s warm all over your cheeks when he starts speaking to you. You could count the times you two verbally interacted, which was not a lot, but you treasured the moment every single time. You always sleep with the biggest smile on your face after talking to him.

Seungkwan is right. You’ve always looked at him. Mingyu would sometimes lock his pretty eyes with yours too. You would blush immediately and he would smile wider, proud that he’s caught you staring at him again. But now he smiles at his phone instead. Probably due to his crush girlfriend’s texts.

“Has it been long?” You don’t want to know, your heart hurts thinking about him, yet you found yourself asking for more details. You just missed him that is all, and want to gather as much information as possible through his friends since you two barely interacted. You blame it on your introverted, shy, delusional self. Things wouldn’t end up this way if you acted normal, if you stopped yourself before getting so invested.

Seungkwan can hear the difference in your voice. He has witnessed some of the worst times in your life. Was there to calm you through your emotional breakdowns, there to lend you his shoulder for you to cry on, cuddling you to sleep when your pet died, volunteered to cook for you even when he has no skills, took care of you when you had a bad fever. So when you constantly torture yourself with the thoughts of him, even when Mingyu is also one of his friends, it pains him.

“No, let’s not do this anymore. Stop hurting yourself, please.” He gently takes your palm into his and rubs soothing circles against the skin. You look up to find Seungkwan smiling gently. “Come, let’s go out and eat. I’ll treat you this time.”

You hum with a grateful smile and spend one last glance at Mingyu as your friend drags you out.

He still does not look back.

[sxcret-garden]

P1Harmony Reaction ღ Walking in on their s/o getting off by themselves [M]

ღ P1Harmony Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak x gn!reader ღ genre: smut reaction (all parts take place in the reader’s room, and it’s also the first time that they walk in on you) ღ warnings: none

Keeho:

will exclaim in surprise once he sees you, so there’s no way you don’t notice him walking in on you

the smirk on his face tells you he doesn’t dislike this situation though

“This is what we’re doing now?” he asks, and a moment later he adds, “Keep going.”

starts telling you what to do, where to touch yourself and where not to

shoots you a sharp look if you don’t obey, and watches with great interest as you struggle to follow his instructions to go just a little slower than you would want to

you think he’s just going to guide you through the whole thing, but he won’t have the patience for that

eventually just decides to scrap his initial plan and already throws half of his clothes off on the way to you

presses a sloppy kiss to your lips while grabbing your wrists and pinning you down on the bed to make sure you know he’s going to take over for you now

Theo:

stunned when he catches you but also starts sulking????

why are you doing this by yourself?? you better be thinking about him???

the second you notice him you can tell what he’s thinking

but also this just really isn’t a situation where you want to waste time explaining yourself

and he seems to realize that too

“Should I… help you with that?” 

you nod, but he’s already approaching you, because he was sure what your answer would be anyway

connects his lips to yours immediately while crawling on top of you

tears off any clothes that might still be remaining on your body, because at this point they’re just an annoyance to him

does the same with his own clothes, with your help

I don’t think I need to spell out what happens next

(he helps you get off while having pretty spontaneous sex with you, that’s what)

Jiung:

blushes.

dies.

silently exits the room.

won’t be able to do anything else though, so he’ll just stand frozen in front of the door, and with every sound he hears coming from you he’ll just freeze up a little more and feel himself getting more turned on

he knows that he shouldn’t just be standing there, but he can’t bring himself to walk away

after what seems like an eternity to him, you finally come out of the room and realize he must’ve at least heard everything

he just stares at you and then stutters an apology

this is the point where you should simply kiss him to stop him from bluescreening and in order to tell him it’s alright

there are so many ways to take this from here - tease him about it, ask him to help you out next time, suggest that you can probably take another orgasm and pull him into the room with you…

it’s really all up to you, because there is no way this guy can function anytime soon :’)

Intak:

he’s so stunned the moment he realizes what’s going on, he’ll just stop in his tracks and stare at you

he’ll stay there long enough for you to notice him eventually

he just can’t tear himself away from the sight in front of him

you realize how much this is affecting him, so in the end you simply ask if he wants to join

obviously he doesn’t think twice

so you two turn this into a session of mutual masturbation

that is until he loses his composure and tears your hands away from yourself, pressing his lips onto yours and kissing you with need

he’s quick to remove all clothes that might be in the way and to crawl on top of you

won’t lose a single second to get you both into position to have sex

after all, you both know there’s ways to make the two of you feel even better than if you simply take care of yourselves each