#this is what happens when you have no self control

[azzibuckets]

Pazzi prompt

A player fouls Azzi and hurts her and Paige goes crazy and gets a technical foul as an injured player on the bench

Bonuses:

Geno meeting with Paige after “what was THAT about”

Or post game fluff of Azzi finding it cute

i love you, you know [pazzi]

paige bueckers x azzi fudd

a/n: i think i deserve a round of applause for actually reading and sticking to the prompt this time 😓

word count: 1.7k

masterlist

It was all crystal clear in Azzi’s mind. She had to throw her defenders off tempo: Make a fake to the right. Let #11 jump. Go to the left. Fadeaway. 2 points.

But she only made it past the first step before she was sent reeling after a blow to the nose. She didn’t see any of it happen, her eyes fixed solely on the net and her mind focused on getting the ball where it needed to go. One second she was rearranging her hips, and the next, she was on the floor, staring up at the beams crossing the ceiling.

The noise in her ear roared, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the booing of the crowd or the now incessant ringing coming from god knows where. Trembling, she brought a hand up to her nose, and when she looked down, her fingertips were dripping with blood.

Lying there in dumb shock from the burning pain in her nose, the numbness of her left ear, and the watering of her eyes, only one thing pierced her muddled thoughts.

Paige.

When Nika’s face morphed into her vision, a blur of brown hair and worried eyes, Azzi groaned. Nika helped sit her up. Azzi could see her lips moving, but she couldn’t hear a single word or a trace of a Croatian accent. All she could hear was that same tinny sound, getting louder and louder.

There was a blur of movement in her peripheral vision, and Azzi could’ve sworn that she saw blonde hair and a snarl, but her vision went blurry again from how quickly she moved her head.

The next few minutes seemed like a fever dream. She somehow managed to stand up, her arms thrown around her teammates’ shoulders as she slowly walked off the court. When they passed the bench, she squinted, hoping to discern her girlfriend among the faces all looking at her, but to no avail. Her teammates kept on walking, and she was forced to leave the court.

••••••••••••••••••

When Azzi went down, nothing could’ve described the way Paige’s heart lurched. Panic crawled at her throat when #11 on the other team’s fist crashed smack in the middle of Azzi’s face as she came down from her attempt to block Azzi’s shot. The force of the blow sent Azzi falling, the side of her head taking the brunt of the fall as she collapsed to the ground.

Paige had scared herself in that moment. She’d never felt such a loss of self control, the way the edge of her vision almost went red from rage. Ignoring the yells from her teammates and her coaches and the throbbing ache in her left knee that intensified with every step, she’d stormed onto the court. She had one goal: knock the fuck out of #11.

Much to her dismay, Paige had only been able to give the girl a single shove (although she’d prided herself in being able to send the girl stumbling to the floor with only one push) before her teammates had come running to hold her back.

Yelling curses at #11 as Aaliyah wrapped her arms around her waist and walked her off the court, she’d only smirked at the referee when he threw his hands together in the shape of a T. But her smile quickly fell when she’d realized that #11 had only received a flagrant 1 call.

“Are you kidding me?” she yelled, ignoring Aaliyah’s begs for her to just shut up. “How was she not ejected for that?”

The ref glared at her. “You need to calm down.”

“I’ll calm down when you open your blind as fuck eyes,” Paige growled. “You might as well get on your knees if you’re gonna blow this game.”

Eyes widened, Aaliyah mustered every single ouch of strength in her body to haul Paige off the court and into the locker rooms. “I didn’t even have to turn around to know you got ejected,” Aaliyah muttered as she left to return to the game. “I would say I’m disappointed, but…” her voice trailed off as she allowed a slight grin. “That blowing joke was pretty good.”

Paige chuckled with her friend, but as soon as the door slammed shut, all her thoughts returned to Azzi.

•••••••••••••••••••

Azzi knew she wasn’t being rational, that the pain was clouding her logic. But she couldn’t help but feel an unsettling pit in her stomach from the fact that Paige hadn’t even tried to help her up or check on her after her injury. She had to keep remaining herself that it was a good thing, that Paige should minimize any movement in her knee in order to heal as fast as possible.

The team physician shut off his flashlight and scribbled something into his notes. “We still need X-Rays to confirm, but right now it’s looking like you fractured your nose. It doesn’t seem like you have a concussion, which is surprising considering how hard you hit your head.”

Azzi nodded, but all the words were tangling and jumping themselves in her head. All she could think about was how bad everything hurted, and how much she just wanted Paige. For her to show up with her stupid dorky smile, for Paige to hold her in her arms and make her laugh and forget about everything.

Even after the game ended, the team showed up to check on her but the blonde was still nowhere to be found. Azzi walked back to the locker room after she was all checked out, the hallways now empty. She felt decidedly alone in the silence of the gym, until she heard voices seeping from the film room.

“Of all people, I expect you, as the captain of this team, to remain cool under pressure.” Geno’s voice was hard.

“I’m riding the bench anyways, Coach. Why does it matter if I get a tech?” Paige’s words were fast, tumbling out one after the other, in the familiarly urgent way she spoke whenever she was really upset.

Azzi was starting to grow a headache. A tech? When did Paige get a tech?

“Never in my thirty nine seasons at UConn has one of my benched players been ejected after a single technical foul,” Geno fumed. “It’s embarrasing. It shows immaturity. That’s not the way we do it here.”

“Coach, she was bleeding.”

A pause.

“I’m starting to get the sense that your letting your personal feelings affect your focus on the game.”

“Oh my god, so I’m human.” Frustration seeped from Paige’s words, and Azzi flinched, wishing she could go in there and make Paige shut up before she said something she regretted. But she also knew that Geno gave Paige the most leeway out of everyone on the team - he respected her as a player and a person. But still - Paige was really testing his limits. “I can’t help it if I get mad that someone punched my girlfriend in the nose.”

“You’re allowed to get mad,” Geno said shortly. “You’re not allowed to storm the court and send one of the girls on the other team flying.”

A bitter taste rose in Azzi’s mouth.

Geno inhaled. “We’ll talk about this more tomorrow. Get your things and get out of here.”

“Yes, sir.”

The door swung open, and surprise flickered in Geno’s eyes when found Azzi just standing there. “You okay, kid?” he asked.

“I’m good. I just need to go to the doctor tomorrow for some X-Rays. No concussion though.”

Geno nodded. “You’re strong. It’ll take a lot more than #11 to take you down.” Azzi blushed at his words, looking down bashfully. Geno turned to leave, but hesitated before looking back. “Talk some sense into your girlfriend, will you?”

“You know I always do, Coach,” Azzi said with a wry smile before stepping into the film room.

Paige, still not having noticed her presence, was sitting in one of the swivel chairs, eyes fixed on her feet as her eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought. Azzi swallowed hard before stepping to the girl. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

Paige looked up. As soon as she saw Azzi, she shot up to her feet and cupped the younger girl’s cheeks. “Are you okay?” she breathed. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you earlier. Geno was giving me a hissy fit and-,”

“Paige,” Azzi interrupted. “Stop.”

“What?” The look in her girlfriend’s eyes was wounded, and Azzi had to breathe to keep her composure.

“Going on the court? Shoving a girl? What the fuck?”

Paige clenched her jaw. “Are you seriously mad at me right now?”

“You can’t be getting techs left and right. The media will come after you. You have a reputation to uphold.” Azzi broke eye contact with Paige and looked down, nursing her nose. “I don’t need you to defend my honor.”

“Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

Azzi bit her lip, knowing that she couldn’t respond to that without Paige seeing right through her.

“Let me see that.” Paige gently moved Azzi’s hands away from her nose so that she could study it. She let her fingertips brush the bridge of Azzi’s nose, the coldness of her touch bringing relief to the angry red heat radiating from the fracture.

“How does it look, doc?” Azzi teased.

A small smile formed on Paige’s lips. “Like it could use a kiss to heal.”

“Then patch me up.”

Paige was grinning now, and she leaned forward to lightly graze her lips against Azzi’s nose. Azzi winced a little, but she forgot all about the pain when Paige drew back and looked at her with so much softness in her eyes.

“It looked really bad out there,” Paige murmured, her voice slightly shaky. “I thought it could’ve ended up in a really major head injury.”

Azzi laid her head on Paige’s chest, allowing the older girl’s rhythmic heartbeat to calm her own. Paige let her cheek fall on Azzi’s head, basking in the warmth of their shared body heat. “Don’t worry about me. I’m all good,” Azzi breathed, letting her eyes flutter shut as Paige tightened her arms around her waist.

“I always worry about you.” Paige traced circles on Azzi’s back.

Azzi suddenly giggled. “Not gonna lie, you standing up to Geno was kinda hot.”

Paige’s thumb caressed Azzi’s dimple, her heart thudding at how pretty the younger girl’s smile was, even with her swollen nose and red eyes. “I love you, you know.”

“I know.”

“Good.” Paige let her mouth linger on Azzi’s temple.

“But I love you more.”

“Not possible.”

“Uh huh.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Uh huh.”

Paige tickled Azzi, digging her fingers into her sides until the dark haired girl was out of breath from laughing so hard. In the dim lighting of the film room, she could only clearly make out some of Azzi’s face, but when she looked at her she still thought she saw the most beautiful woman in the world.

When Azzi’s eyelids fluttered sleepily, Paige knew it was their cue. “Home?” she suggested. As she grabbed Azzi’s hand and led them out of the room, a warmth spread across her chest. Despite all the hectic and insane things that went on that night, she still held on to one thing - that she got to go home and go to sleep in the same bed as Azzi, and wake up in the morning to her gorgeous face, and spend the rest of her life with the younger girl by her side. And that made any stupid tech worth it.

[nayatarot777]

What Should You Focus On About Your Internal Self?

• Pile One •

Hi, Pile One! Welcome to your reading!

You’re being called to focus on your lack of productivity. It’s keeping you stagnant when you could be creating and manifesting great things for yourself. There needs to be a death to a part of you that’s stuck around for longer than necessary. You may be satisfied with less. Or seemingly satisfied with going without what you know that you could have. It’s time to change that. And it won’t be easy (a part of you will feel like it’s dying - because it is. Your ego will resist and try to drag you back from fully laying this procrastinator within you to rest) but it’ll catapult you out of this energy of being stuck in the same place. Your ego only resists death because it’s afraid of the unknown. Thats when you have to come in and soothe yourself by providing understanding to your ego about how the unknown is new, but positive. After death comes rebirth, right? There’ll be a brand new journey for you to embark on and learn about. You’ll be able to learn about your capabilities, your creative efforts and how far they can go, etc. This procrastination is a method of self-protection that your ego has utilised for a very long time, meaning that it’s afraid of experiencing failure which would ultimately lead to shame, disappointment, etc. However, it’s already experiencing these things because you’re allowing it to prevent you from doing anything anyway. There’s a reason why your ego is so closely linked to your inner-child. What do you do when a child doesn’t want to do something that you know would be good for them, due to their own fear? You calm them and slowly introduce them into the unknown that they’re afraid of, while reassuring them and praising them for ever step forward that they take. You don’t let them allow their fear to control them. You subdue their fear with comfort and assurance. This is what you need to do for yourself.

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• Pile Two •

Hi, Pile Two! Welcome to your reading!

You are being called to focus on finding peace and contentment. Focus on finding satisfaction within yourself as well as a feeling of safety. There’s an internal transformation happening for you, and it does lead to this feeling of safety that we’re speaking of. You may have a history of not having the tools of self-protection, leaving you vulnerable to those who wanted to use you or take advantage of you. There’s a part of you opening up that is some type of warrior on behalf of yourself. A part of you that’s able to protect yourself from anyone who gets too close to you too soon. This protector is your intuition. Your crown chakra that’s the medium between your higher self and your human self. This is what’s opening and transforming within you. You may be experiencing ascension symptoms (specifically your third-eye opening a lot more, enabling you to read between the lines of what people say and the situations that you find yourself in). Trust that you don’t have to be in defence-mode anymore, because you’re capable of protecting yourself. Don’t be discouraged if you feel like your consciousness is slow to catch onto certain things either. Tapping into uncharted territory such as your intuition or your 3rd eye takes time. Let it develop naturally. The people who don’t usually end up going a bit crazy and unhinged because they’ve opened their third eye (their pineal gland) forcefully and too quickly. You don’t want to be one of them 🙃. You also need to ensure that you’re breathing life into your intuition. What do I mean by this? You need to validate that your intuition exists. Don’t suppress it - because that’s the opposite of giving life to something. That’s how you squash it, eventually killing it. Validate its existence and its being. Again, your intuition is the direct connection to your higher self. Your higher self is on a higher dimension compared to you, meaning that they see things that you can’t see with your physical eye - hence why you see symbolisms and messages in your metaphysical (non-physical eye - your third eye. Your mind’s eye). Try to bring to an end your habit of disregarding what you see spiritually.

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• Pile Three •

Hi, Pile Three! Welcome to your reading!

There needs to be a lot of acknowledgement from you towards yourself in regard to how much work you’ve put into creating safety and peace within yourself. You’ve completed the journey that Pile Two is currently on. You’ve been busy putting yourself together internally, which your physical reality is probably reflecting in some way - as within, so without. I’m hearing “you can rest”. You’ve found a lot of the safety and peace that you were looking for, thanks to your own efforts. You can take some weight off of your shoulders and just relax. Get playful and treat yourself in some way. The reason why you’ve found this sense of safety is because you’ve protected your mind, in-turn protecting your peace. “The ALL is mind; the universe is mental” - for those of you who are avid readers, I suggest that you read The Kybalion if you haven’t already. It seems like you’ve already taught yourself one of the principles of mental alchemy, which probably means that you’ll be able to grasp the other principles relatively easily too. You’ve found peace because you’ve found trust in yourself and your inner-knowing. Your intuition has been working overtime 😂. Your intuition is why you can keep yourself in your serenity. I’m hearing clapping from your higher self. They’re proud of you. You’ve reached a stage that many of us are still working on completing. Now that this ability to connect and to have faith in your intuition comes so naturally to you, you can rest. You don’t have to be vigilant all of the time. If your intuition needs to tell you something, then it will. You don’t need to constantly stay alert to it because you’ve built a great connection to it now.

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[inphront]

thinking tonight about griddlehark as doomed by not seeing power and control as linked/trying to have one without the other.

harrow is desperate for control over every aspect of her situation, breaking down the moment anything happens that she can't predict or change or have agency in, but she's consumed by guilt and horror at the idea of being in power. she takes so much pride in necromancy as an element of her world and life where she is capable and a genius and in control, and it's a massive source of internal contention because one of the biggest gears turning her character is the cost of that control, and the fact that necromancy is inherently caught up in power dynamics. ianthe notices this about her in the epiparados: she's used to having her hands on the reins, can't cope when they're taken off, and doesn't have the personality to put them back on. harrow wants to run the ninth for the sake of having control over it, but situations like her birth where she has clear power over it make her want to die. she wants control over gideon, but is horrified by the power differential involved within necro/cav relationships. harrowhark deals horribly with uncertainty. she doesn't want power, just certainty, and therefore control. much of her arc involves the recognition that it is impossible to control an equal, which is her fundamentally impossible want: to be gideon's equal without giving her the right to leave, to be necromantically capable without the leveraging of power over her house that this requires, and the ability to align the world with what is just without the social position or the force so often involved in making meaningful change.

meanwhile, gideon has never felt important to anyone. her most fundamental desire is to be important to someone, and this manifests in her military fantasies and rebellion against authority as a desire for power. she wants the status and the catharsis of being at the top of a podium she's spent her life crushed underneath. but she doesn't put much thought into actually using any of this power she wants so badly. gideon doesn't want power for the sake of agency, but for the sake of admiration, which is how she ends up as a figurehead-- someone theoretically in a position of total power, with no control over even her own body. even her self-actualization as a cavalier was, to some extent, an acceptance of a title and a position within the empire under the understanding that she would be used. expressions of power, such as killing crux, don't feel good to her, but the concept of power itself, of having important parents and prestige and a big sword and recognition, do.

and how can they explain this to each other? they're both trying to take opposite halves of a mutually inclusive set. it's no wonder, then, that the tragedies of their relationship are desperate attempts to give each other things they don't want: gideon's death makes harrow far more powerful under terms harrow can't control. harrow then attemps to control those terms, and by extension to give gideon back her life and her agency, which gideon interprets as revoking the power she had over harrow's emotions and memory (as well as her imperial title, which may not indicate much power but sure does mean more than "indentured servant to the ninth"). for much of gtn, harrow had both power and control, while gideon had neither, and i expect this to switch when they interact in atn because it is impossible to only have one. in this way, their relationship raises a lot of questions about power structures as a whole: what do you do when changing the world requires you to leverage power against other people? what do you do when positive recognition inherently comes with a responsibility to be cruel? when relinquishing your capacity to hurt people limits your capacity to help, and when getting out from under the boot means putting it on? how do interactions with power and control interpersonally reflect systemic influence?

idk mostly i just shake them

[luvyeni]

THE DEMON IN MY MIRROR • PARK JONGSONG

pairing ‎⸝⸝⸝ demon!jay x fem!reader wc. 4.7k+

𓄷 warnings... jay is half human. mentions of a curse. jay is guiding her in her head. exhibition kink? mutual masturbation. oral ( m. reciveing ). unprotected sex.

nia's notes: jay is done ,, the series is almost over 😔,, the last chapter is next 🖤!!!

sunghoon | lucifer masterlist | ending

With a loss of light I fall , like a Lucifer…

Your little warmth , a ray of light that brightens my world…

Just like that two months had flown by; every single day had been a whirlwind of craziness— you and jake spending even more time together; having him help you clear out more stuff in the house, even helping bring in some of the new furniture your parents had delivered— which also led to six hours of you both straight arguing about the usage of instructions, eventually going to sunghoon , who even though was annoyed that you would bother him with something so trivial did it anyway.

speaking of sunghoon; things did get better between the two of you; he slowly but surely came to the conclusion that you in fact weren't like your grandmother and weren't gonna force him to hurt anybody; he became much nicer, yeah he would still like to act annoyed whenever you called for him; but that never stopped him from coming.

then it was the sex; it did take some time to get used to having sex with one demon; let alone two demons; two with different personalities. jake was always on the more softer side; sometimes borderline subby— but sunghoon; sunghoon was never on the soft side, he was in control , that's how he wanted it, and that's how you liked it.

the three of you eventually crossed the line into having sex all together; it first happened one day when you invited kai over— they really didn't like that; but you had promised kai another date, and you wanted to cook for him. that meant jake and sunghoon had to go into hiding; they for sure hated that. then when kai went to kiss you for the night; leaving— that was the last straw for the both of them.

that night; it ended up with both of them taking turns, fucking you; using your body for their pleasure. it was hot, sunghoon was his usual rough self; but even jake was rough, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as they pumped loads of your cum inside of them. that was the first time; after that it was basically free game, some days you'd just have sex with one of them, but there were some days you'd want both of them, or vice versa.

spending your days with both of them; the summer months slowly coming to an end, the questions hanging in the air everyday—what would you do when it was time for you to leave? you thought about the question everyday, so much the boys even listened in for it, sunghoon eventually trying to tune it out. “I don't want to hear your internal battle , think about something else.” is what he would always say. Jake on the other hand , would get sad every single time, you'd comfort him, telling him you'd make the right decision.

then it was the obvious elephant in the room; well the demon who doesn't show himself; jay— after confirming that it was him who shown himself in the mirror you were sure he'd eventually show himself, but he never did; but it was like you could feel his presence even though you didn't know him, you knew he was there, and he knew you knew.

jay; much like sunghoon hated your grandmother, but if he liked one thing about her, as a young girl she was just as vain and cold as she was as a elder woman, and loved to buy mirrors and placing them all around the house just to stare at herself— it annoyed him, watching her just stare at herself whenever she walked by, sometimes jay just wanted to shatter the glass; he hated what she made sunghoon do, but what could he do, he was a prisoner just like sunghoon; matter fact he was a prisoner much longer than sunghoon.

his liking for the mirrors came with you, you never really stopped to look at the mirrors, but he would catch glimpses of you, when you walked around the house the first night looking in all the rooms; when you first met jake, he was looking in the mirror, chuckling at how jake would stutter, and you tried to get away; he told jake not to startle you, but he knew his brother couldn't help it. He was pissed when Sunghoon tried to lure you into the wrong tunnel. He was the one who let jake know what his other brother was doing; he could have rescued you, but he let jake do it; he just stuck to watching you.

he didn't mean to look into the bathroom mirror; he was just looking through each mirror, hoping to get another glimpse of you that day; noticing you were naked , he quickly gave you the privacy you deserved, but he knew you had seen him; maybe a small part of him wanted you see him; he wanted it to be you; the first person to see him in 200 years.

jay was falling for you much like his brothers; sunghoon too, even if he swore he would never fall for you— and he knew your time was coming up, and he knew you had a decision to make, and regardless of the decision you make he wants to meet you formally once, even if he knew it could be his first and last time.

“it's been 200 years, he's probably just shy.” jake said, sunghoon snickering, watching the show, shoving food down his throat; no he didn't need it , he just like making a mess, leaving you and jake to clean. “maybe he hates you.” your mouth hung open and jake threw a pillow at him. “he doesn't hate you, he doesn't even know you, sunghoon you aren't helping.” then demon shrugged. “just saying the only time he saw you was through a mirror.”

“well why'd he stop coming out in the first place?” you asked. “I don't know.” Jake said, but you didn't buy it. “im serious, don't lie to me right now.” sunghoon groaned. “you two are annoying, look jay is a reserved person, no one knows why he stopped coming out , he just did.” sunghoon said, you both stared at him. “and if I take the necklace, you sure there's not a way I can leave him here?” you said , he glared. “no , sadly he comes with it as well.” Jake said. “haha , Jake won't save you later.” and with that he disappeared. “he's gonna hurt me one day isn't he?”

“kill you? no he's way passed that? but i can't be to certain that your mouth won't get your walking abilities put on pause for a few days, which could be bad for you.” you nodded. “I'm willing to take that chance, I like seeing him get upset.”

‘stupid fucking sunghoon’ is what you thought limping into the bathroom, looking in the mirror, your neck covered in bruises and marks from him practicing trying to suck the skin off your neck; grumbling curse words under your mouth. “I told you.” Jake yelled from your bedroom. “Jake, I will take this necklace off.” his eyes widened. “why would you even joke like that?” he whined. “You know I'm sensitive about it.” you shook your head. “my god for a demon you surely do have the emotions of a human still.”

looking for your concealer that sat on the counter, trying to cover it up. “i have to go out today.” you whined. “sunghoon!” you shouted. “he won't come out.” Jake said. “he took my concealer, i know he did.” you cursed at him. “he's the one stealing my stuff , I know he is.” you said. “yeah cause im stealing your things and not the one you found in your closet.” you heard his voice. “hey , I didnt take anything.” Jake argued. “yeah and why are her pink panties under your pillow?” you shook your head hearing Jake trying to defend himself, and sunghoon mocking him.

ignoring them both , you continue on with what you were doing; checking the bruises on your neck. “guess I’ll pick up some more concealer.” you said to yourself— then you see it; in your peripheral vision, written in the fog. ‘hi’ you furrow your eyebrows. “jake, sunghoon are you too playing around, stop drawing on the mirrors.” you realize how crazy that sounded, so did they. “why the fuck would I do such childish things?” you heard sunghoon say. “it's not me.” Jake said.

then you saw it with your own eyes; slowly words showed up in the mirror. ‘its not them’— you look around confused, looking back into the mirror. “it's you isn't it?” and then you see him in the mirror; and you remember the face immediately. “I'm jay.” the one you swore you'd never see; right in front of you with all his beauty. “not too bad yourself.” he smirked; he was reading your mind as well. “You're actually even more beautiful now that I can see you and not just through glimpses of you walking past a mirror.

“well maybe if you came out you could actually see me.” he nods. “You are right, not yet though.” he said; you tilted your head to the side. “not yet princess , when the time is right.” he said. “I'll see you real soon; just needed good glimpse of you today.” he smiled. “but— he's coming.” he was gone , you looked confused. “the hell is wrong with you?” sunghoon standing behind you. “I think I just met jay.” you said , looking back into the mirror; huffing at the mirror; ‘sunghoon, concealer, trash.” spinning around. “you asshole, you threw my concealer in the trash.”

“stop throwing things in the cart.” you scolded jake. “i swear it was him , unless you have another demon brother I don't know about.” sunghoon studied the food. “these cannot be that healthy.” you sighed. “Why did you guys come anyway?” you asked. “No fucking help.”

“yn?” you saw kai approaching you, sunghoon holding your waist, Jake glaring at the boy. you bump the boy in front with the cart. “hi kai.” you smiled, he returned the gesture. “i see your cousin is back.” he pointed to sunghoon. “nice to see you again.” sunghoon rolled his eyes. “and who is this?” jake spoke up. “I'm jake.” Kai nodded, his eyes lowering to where sunghoon's hands rested. “I'm not her cousin.” he said. “yeah we're her— they're my close family friends, they came back to help me with my grandmothers house.” he nodded, looking at the bruises on your neck , and then back at sunghoon, who grip got tighter. “oh , okay.” he frowned , finally getting sort of a sense of what was going on. “i have to go stock the shelves, I'll see you soon , hopefully before you leave.” he quickly walked away, you glared at the boys. “seriously?”

“did you come here just to intimidate him?” sunghoon removed his arm. “you did , both of you?” Jake gave you that smile, that got him out of everything. “i can't , I'm gonna go talk to him and apologize.” sunghoon stopped you. “doesn't matter now.” he said , cold as always. “yeah but he deserves an explanation.” you said. “he'll find a pretty girl and marry soon anyway.” he said. “and you can see the future.” you said, he looked at you. “i've got to learn to stop asking questions.”

“and why do I have to carry all these backs.” Jake struggled behind you. “because sunghoon I expect this , he won't ever change , but you jake I expect more.” you said, he pouted. “it wasn't my idea.” he mumbled. “did I put a gun to your head?” sunghoon said. “You're not in the clear , put them up.” you started up the steps , the boy glared , standing up. “I told you about telling me what to do.” you smiled, knowing he had no choice. “yeah well I had to pay 8 dollars for a new concealer so.”

making your way into your room , pushing the door open; your eyes immediately going to the mirror that sat in front of the bed, was he there? walking over , looking inside it. “are you there?” you knocked on the mirror; no answer. “Was I really going crazy earlier?” you start to question yourself. “ugh! these damn marks.” you groaned, seriously thinking about putting that boy on a sex ban. “That's gonna piss him off even more.”

your eyes lit up wide upon hearing the voice, you stood up and there he was; no he wasn't in the mirror, he was standing behind you. “turn around.” you turned around, facing him. “you were looking for me,” he smiled. “in-in the mirror.” you stuttered. “Oh, would you like me to go back?” he asked. “no.” you said, you thanked god for sending you three beautiful men, whatever you did in your past life , you hope to do it again. he smirked, his hand coming up to your cheek, his warm touch. “not god baby.”

His aura was different; he didn't seem like sunghoon or jake, you could tell they were human, because they still possessed certain human traits; jealousy being one of course. “i can hear what you're thinking,” he said. “human turned demons are pretty jealous, but demons who were born as demons are worse.” he said , his hand holding your jaw. “i get jealous all the time , watching them interact with you.” he said. “watching them fuck you, I love my brothers and I know you're ours to share.” his hands tighten just a bit. “But I can't help it , it's in my nature.”

he heard your heartbeat quickening, your face heating up in his hand, the smell of your scent about to set him off; not yet though. “Why did you only show yourself to me in the mirror?” you asked once he let your face go , his hands resting on your waist. “because I needed confirmation,” he said. “What is that?” you asked. “if you really were ours.” he said , his nose was so close to yours. “and?” he nodded. “I'm here aren't I?”

“jay?” jake was the one who broke the obvious sexual tension. “oh shit she really wasn't losing her mind, I thought she was.” sunghoon sat on the bed. “200 hundred years , and she's the one to pull you from the depth of your hellish like room.” Jay's eyes were trained on you. “He's serious I see.” Sunghoon said. “Should we give you some privacy, can't say Jake won't be listening though , we all know he's a perv.” Jake was about to defend himself once again when Jay turned to both of them. “no , I'll come back,” he said, turning back to you. “I'll see you soon princess.” and just like that he was gone. “You must really be something special.” Jake said, you smiled, your face still hot.

‘even though he said he didn't need it , he surely slept like he needed it’ you groan, hearing jake snoring next to you; something he did now so he never had to leave— but he slept like he'd taken 40 melatonin's; and the ache in between your legs prevented you for going to sleep. you tried calling for sunghoon; he ignored you the first three times , before telling you to go to bed in your head, which annoyed you.

After much deliberation with yourself, you decided that you weren't gonna get any sleep unless you got off; so here you were , Jake next to you as your hands traveled in between your shorts, rubbing yourself through your drenched panties. you bit your lip, whimpering as you drew lazy figure eights on your sensitive clit. “now I know that's not doing much, is it?” you heard a voice; not jake's, he was still sound asleep. “In the mirror baby.”

It was jay; he was looking at you through the mirror again— he was looking at you pleasuring yourself, you were about to pull your hand out, embarrassed he heard and saw you. “did I say stop?” you could hear his voice in your head. “keep going , I want to watch you play with your little clit.” his words made you moan. “take the blanket off; your little shorts too, I wanna see your pretty pussy.”

moving the blanket off of you , sliding your shorts down your legs. “good girl, open your legs.” spreading your legs, the air hitting your heat. “so wet, you're dripping all over the sheets baby , keep touching your clit , get your pussy even wetter.” you could hear him groan. “fuck i should've fucked you earlier, told them to leave just so I could have you all to myself.” he moaned; was he touching himself? “fuck yes I'm touching myself, you think I'd just help you out baby.” you moaned. “J-jay.”

“moaning my name and I'm not even physical there , nasty girl.” he said. “use those fingers, two of them.” he said, two of your digits pressing against your hole. “good , now stuff your pussy with your fingers.” it wasn't a much of a stretch, but it still made you moan out in pleasure. “fuck your pussy is so tight , can't wait to stretch you open with my cock.” he said. “my cock is getting harder just thinking about it.”

you tried to imagine what his dick looked like , how it would feel. “soon princess, soon I'll stuff you full of my cock.” he groaned again. “fu-fuck jay I'm gonna cum.” You moaned , you could hear him moaning. “fu-fuck me too.” he said. “cum all over those finger.” you covered your mouth , almost letting out a scream as you came. “fuck you're so sexy, next time it's not gonna be in your pretty head -fuck- I'm gonna make you cum with my cock.” he grunted. “fuck I'm cumming!”

your eyelids grew heavier, sleep ready to consume you. “Good girl, get some rest.” you heard him say. “good night jay.” you said out loud. “goodnight princess.” you heard him say in your head, just before letting the sleep consume you.

“right next to me.” Jake said the next morning; sunghoon ready to be sent back to hell just to get away from the boys complaining. “you got off right next to me, while I slept, I don't even need sleep , I sleep because of you.” he said. “and this is how you repay me , you masturbate with jay right next to my body.” he said. “Jake , it just kinda happened , plus you sleep like you were drugged.” sunghoon spoke up. “and this is nothing, you'd be surprised what we've done while you were sleeping.” you let them argue over that for a while— the question looming over your head seeming more and more clear , but you still weren't sure yet.

“jesus girl I thought you were dead.” yeji said. “Did you find some new summer dick up there and forget that you have friends back here.” you laughed. “not exactly.” you said. “god , I only talked to you like 3 times and it's been 2 months , leave me hanging like that again and I'm calling for a wellness check.” she scolded. “I'm serious.” you let your friend go on and on about all the updates you missed. “fucking tina is already complaining about work , like girl it's a paid internship and your spot of confirmed at the company.” you laughed. “yeah , thats cause she's fucking the CEO.”

“Which is crazy, but can't blame her.” you agreed. “But now to the serious topic.” she said. “Who is giving it to you , cause girl I can practically hear the glow dripping off of you.” you rolled your eyes, if only you could her , you would but she'd never believe; she might even push that wellness check to now. “do I need someone to fuck me in order to be happy?” you try to defend. “Girl, given that you sound like you hate life 24/7, yes, so tell.” she said. “no one.” you said. “Well whatever vibrator you have , I need it.”

She eventually talked herself until she was tired , letting you go. “one more month and we'll be together soon.” you said. “Of course and then we'll start our life together and have beautiful babies and get married.” you laughed. “yeah , many many babies.” you said. “don't go crazy up there girl , I'll talk to you soon.” she said before hanging up.

getting ready for the night; the boys doing whatever the two demons did when they weren't bothering you; you took a long hot shower, washed your hair; did a face mask , just enjoying the quiet before getting out, wrapping a towel around your body , making your way out of the bathroom. “i’ve been waiting a long time, princess.” you jumped a little holding the front of your towel. “That towel isn't covering anything I haven't seen already.” he smirked. “twice.”

standing up walking towards, you look to the side , at the mirror. “you look just as good in person as you do in the mirror princess.” he said, coming closer to you, raising his hand up to the towel. “although I would like to see you in the mirror all fucked out.”

he grabbed the towel , tugging at it , letting it fall to the ground; leaving you naked in front of him. “so pretty.” the demon , pushed you down on the bed. “J-jay.” You moaned out, he smiled down at you. “be a good girl.” He took your hand , guiding you down to his pants, you unbuckled his pants, freeing his cock. “fuck, put it in your mouth.” the demon groaned , looking in the mirror as you bobbed your head up and down , gagging occasionally on his thick cock. “fuck your mouth feels so good , grabbing your wet hair , pushing you further down on him. “fuck , I'm gonna cum.” he pushed your head down. “fuck take it , take my cum.” his head lolled back as he pump a load of his cum down your throat. “shit.”

Barely giving you a moment to take a break, before ridding himself of his clothes. “ass up princess.” he stroked himself. “fu-fuck look in the mirror baby , just like the first day I saw you.” he grabbed the back of your head , turning it to the mirror. “all pretty and ready for me to fuck.” You felt his cock head pressing against your hole. “I want you to watch as I fuck you.” you moaned as he pushed himself inside of you. “oh fuck , you're so tight.” he groaned , fully bottoming out. “ja-jay.” you tried to close your eyes. “no, no.” He stopped moving. “open your eyes.”

you forced your eyes open, the sight in the mirror so lewd , you couldn't help but moan. “see how fucking pretty you look, the prettiest I've seen in -fuck- hundreds of years.” the grip on your hips tighter as he began to plow into you. “ja-jay fuck I'm gonna cum.” you screamed. “shit , cum.” he pressed your head further into the mattress. “cum all over my cock.” he howled.

your body giving up , going limp as you came, he held you up , using your body to get himself off. “fuck, fuck, fuck.” his thrusts were relentless. “fuck I'm cumming.” He grunted. “shit!” he pumped his load into your cunt. “you feel so good.” he slowly pulled out of you. “so good baby.”

letting you shower again; dragging a jealous Jake from his room to help him look for your pajamas to set out for you; sending him back on his way, this was his time with you. “go, now.” he glared at the boy. “She's gonna ask, she asked all of us.” he said before disappearing, again. “Was that Jake , what did he want?” you asked , smiling at the display of clothes. “Thank you.”

“So why'd you stop coming out for 200 years?” you asked, he sat at the foot of the bed. “my dad banished me here years ago , when the first owner owned the house,” he said. “your dad?” you asked. “your dad was lucifer?” your eyes widened. “I've gotten that look at least 300 times.” he said. “the first guy found the necklace and that's how it all started , he summoned me and I was a prisoner ever since.” he said. “why did he send you here?” you asked.

“because that's what happens to abominations.” he said, you were even more confused. “my mother was a human, he seduced her , she fell in love with him and brought her to hell because well she was a naive human.” he said. “but he quickly fell out of love with her, because he's a heartless bastard— but he didn't kill her because she was pregnant with me , and regardless of me being half human , i was still part demon, and he thought if he raised me that would get rid of the good.”

you are now sitting up, listening to him talk. “hundreds of years later he realized there was no changing me, no matter how many murders he made me watch, the screams of the tortured souls in hell, none of it made me happy, like it made him.” He said. “He didn't want to kill his only son , so he banished me here,” he said. “and your mom?” his jaw clenched. “She's roaming around hell, she can't escape and I can't find her,” he said. “and even if i bring her here she'll age in human years within a second.” All these boys had terrible back stories, you felt extreme empathy for every single one of them.

“so why did you come out for me?” you asked, he smiled. “because I can feel it.” he said. “out of all the people who've had the necklace, you're the one who bonded with each one of us , you've even managed to bond with sunghoon and trust me he wasn't just like that because of your grandmother.” he said. “I believe you were meant to have the necklace— the last person to have the necklace.” he said. “You can break the curse.”

“break the curse?” you asked. “what does that mean?”

“This curse could end with you,” he said. “multiple years ago, when Jake first arrived, my dad came to me , if we could find someone willing to take the necklace and keep the necklace until they die then he'd set us free, jake and sunghoon could crossover and he'd allow my mom to cross over.” he said. “and you?” he smiled. “there's no crossing over for me, that's not apart of the deal.” he said. “What happens to you?” he lowered his, but you lifted it back up. “I will go back to hell and become the heir,” he said. “But it's what I'm willing to do for my family,” he said. “if they'll be happy in the end , I can live with it.”

“and no one has ever said yes?” he shook his head. “who wants to live with three demons attached to their hip? people get married , have families, even if they bond with one of us , they have to bond with all of us.” he said. “So normally they just put the necklace back, and forget us,” he said. “and you've managed to bond with us all, that's I came out , because I know you can break it.” he said , standing up. “i know it's a lot , you have a lot to think about.” he said. “But please promise to think about it.” he said, you nodded. “Of course, of course I will.” he smiled. “Thank you baby.”

“Now get some rest.”

TAGLIST. @deobitful @in-somnias-world @darlingz99 @luvitaria @lost-fantasy @lostinneocity @nalenhypen @heeshlove @kirinaa08 @strxwbloody @ryn000 @neosexuals @sakanelli-afc @yizhoutv @capri-cuntz @lilyuwon @criminalseung @hanhaeji @eggomi @serenijiny @luvvsnae @jakesfurry

©️LUVYENI

[dcxdpdabbles]

If you had to pick one of your stories to redo, either a portion or change the whole direction, which one would it be?

Ohhhhh, this is a good thought-inducing question. Ironically, some of my work results from thinking, "You know what? This would be hilarious if I didn't stick to plan and went off the deep end," and creating a new AU. (How Danny's grill came to be. It was based on The Bakery is a front with the same idea of Tim being undercover at Danny's food-based business, but instead of looking for proof of lawbreaking, he's looking for evidence that Danny is not human, and the bats freaking out about it)

But I would pick Freelance Inventor just to make it all through the Justice League's POV of Batman and his mysterious lover. They talk in the break room around the water cooler about how the Robins all at one point mentioned "B's Not-Boyfriend" and wonder what that means.

The League would see the Gotham heroes casually threaten Batman by telling on him to "Not-Boyfriend" and watch the Batman actually become the "Let's not be too hasty." meme.

They watch as the crazy, controlling Batman shake his head and sigh when he notices that his calendar was changed by "Not-Boyfried" to force him to stop going up to the Watchtower for meetings and instead go to "Photograph Award show, "Zoo day with youngest" "Cook for the father that raised you, you lazy city dweller who lacks respect."

Flash screenshot of the last one because the previous day, it was marked as "Speedster training and combat counters". Flash needed proof for those who would miss the massacre about to happen. He thought that he would witness Batman drag the poor unfortunate soul to dare mess with his Calander app down to hell, and instead saw him googling British recipes because he needs to have a meal plan out now.

It wouldn't just be the Justice League- though it starts with them from founding day to well over a decade- but all hero communities would begin to hear about Not-Boyfriend.

At different times, the Robins would grumble about doing class work on the extended space trips because Not-Boyfriend would be disappointed in them. They don't care if they piss off Batman, but Not-Boyfriend's sad, letdown eyes would haunt the Robins.

These are the same people who would swing themselves at monsters who were sometimes actually gods of myth with nothing but spandex and spite.

The Teen Titans witness Robin leave with his Not-Boyfriend during the Big Fight, which eventually leads to him becoming Nightwing. They start treating Robin like a Divorce Kid. Batman is the bum dad in that situation.

The Outsiders witness Robin go from anger to a protective, gleeful Redhood when Not-Boyfriend calls to check up on him. They are all welcome to stay in Not-Boyfriend's houses—he owns many properties worldwide for his travels—and he becomes the remarkable, safe adult house. They just never speak to him face to face.

Young Justice's Robin has some serious self-esteem issues. They all sort of do as the ones the older heroes forget about. This is why when Robin shows up one day asking if they would do a random fashion blog to trick Not-Boyfriend, they jump at the chance to make a more solid identity besides the clone, the time traveler, and the daughter of Zues. Then Not-Boyfriend, whom they never met and shouldn't care about, starts sending gifts, and I'm so proud of you kids through Robin up until he becomes Red Robin, they realize he's the cooler dad.

SuperSons Robin will respect no one- not even Batman or Nightwing- as he does Not-Boyfriend. They can get him to listen and calm down after noticing his siblings using the "I'm telling Not-Boyfriend on you" trick that worked on his father.

The heroes know so much about Not-Boyfriend but know nothing. He's like Big-Foot. Everyone knows who Big-Foot legend is, but no one can prove Big-Foot.

Of course, over the seventeen years of Justice Leauge's founding, heroes would assume Not-Boyfriend was helping Batman raise his children and, for some reason, couldn't be married (The rise in heroes demanding equal marriage helped legalize same-sex marriage after a bitter sixteen-year fight).

They accept he's Batman's husband, who may be a civilian, a hero, or even a villain.

They accept that Batman and Not-Boyfriend may be divorced and share custody of the children.

They accept that Batman may not be over his partner and is still, to this day, trying to win him back.

They accept that Not-Boyfriend forgave Batman years ago and are back together.

They accept that there was never a split, and the two just argued that Young-Robins blew out of proportion.

The hero community literally accepts any theory if presented well and backed enough with suitable examples. At one point, it was a tradition of trying to decipher what was going on with Batman and Not-Boyfriend.

It's even wilder when Batman reveals himself as Bruce Wayne because he is known for not having any dates despite the number of people who have tried to fling themselves at him. He's notorious for putting a lid on his playboy tendencies- showing growth, and his new persona changed to Ditzy Dad of Gotham- back when he took in Dick Grayson, but now they know it's because he had Not-Boyfriend?

Then finding out Not-Boyfriend is Danny Fenton, the Willy Wonka-esque of the inventing world???????

This man who disappears from the public eye only shows up somewhere in a jungle with an invention that low-key solves the issue of contaminated water? This man, who freelances to anyone and everyone, things that come straight out of sci-fi without a blink?

The same man who people years ago accused Bruce Wayne of sleeping with, only to be told point black by Bruce, "I wish I was sleeping with him. Have you seen him?," and people thought he was joking on live TV?

They lose their minds.

[worldofkuro]

Painted Smile

Painted Smile XXIX

<- Previous Chapter I

Summary: You couldn't wait to meet new friends. What you didn't expect was this smiling little boy, only one year older than you, that would take such a big place in your life.

Notes: Hoho dear... This chapter might be hard for some of you, I'm sorry. I enjoyed this chapter and I'm even more excited for next chapter. TW: Killing, gore, forced cannabalism, cannabalism, smut, death, Alastor being his creepy self. I hope you will enjoy this chapter, tell me your thoughts.

You walked with Alastor, gripping his forearms. The sun was now low in the sky but the air around you was still warm. You didn’t know where you were walking to, but you trusted Alastor. Tonight, you would get rid of those catholic freaks who dared disturb your peaceful life.

Your heels were hitting the ground but you couldn’t hear the noise, all you could hear was your heart beating. You weren’t calm, not at all. You tried to convince yourself, you killed so many times, it was going to be easy, just like your previous victims. But you couldn’t shake a bad feeling. You felt like something was going to turn badly tonight. 

You looked at Alastor who was looking at you. He must have sensed you were beginning to feel anxious. Even more after seeing him being possessed last night. Seeing Alastor controlled by something else was scary. He wasn’t someone who could not be taken down, he was the hunter, the killer, the star of the show. He wasn’t the prey, the victim… He was Alastor Sanglar, your husband in every realm that existed.

“ My love, talk to me.”

You looked at his eyes, so full of fondness for you. You didn’t want to bother him with your questions, with your anxiety and yet… You knew he would rather hear your thoughts than letting you handle yourself. Before every murders, he would ask you to tell you how you were feeling.

“ I’m… I have a bad feeling, Alastor.” you whispered, leaning your head against his shoulder. You felt his body tensed at your words. He knew to never take your feelings lightly, even more the one that was connected to the spirits’s realm. You didn’t know how you could sense if something was going to turn badly but you could just… feel it. You wondered if it was a gift from Papa Legba..?

“ How so?”

“ It’s the first time we are going to fight against opponents that have… powers, like us. We don’t know how we are supposed to fight. How are you supposed to take them down?” You close your eyes, gripping his jacket harder. How could he be so calm about all this? 

“ Darling. They are using the power of a failed angel.” He sneered at the sky. “ What could have happened?”

“ The power of the failed angel possessed you…” You opened your eyes and looked at him. You saw his body tense before he let out a sigh. He turned his head toward you, his smile a bit smaller than usual as he stared at you with a warm glint. “ How are you so calm..?” you whispered shakily.

“ I know you are scared. This might be the hardest fight we have to win… But Darling, when we first killed my father, we were powerless and yet we fought against this man. No demons, devils, angels could be… stronger than my father. He made me live through Hell.” He looked at your hand, taking them into his hands. “ We won’t lose. Not when we are together. Remember the three rules..?”

You nodded with a shaky smile. He stared at you and you opened your mouth.

“ Rule number one: Never drop your guard.” You closed your eyes when you felt him kiss your lips, encouraging you to continue. “ Rule number two: No one is stronger than you.” You smiled against his lips as he kissed you once again. “ Rule number three: Give up…”

“ That’s right, my love. Give up your fears, I’ll be there.”

You turned your head when you felt something poking your waist. You smiled when you saw Alastor’s shadow grinning at you, tugging at your shadow, showing themselves. It seemed like it was trying to tell you you weren’t alone because they were here too. You giggled when your own shadow poked at your belly with his hideous smile.

Yes, you weren’t alone.

You took a deep breath and looked at Alastor with a new found confidence which made Alastor smile immediately.

“ Perfect, then, how are we going to do it?”

“ Well, darling ! They are hiding in an abandoned church not too far from here. How subtil. There is a cave, which isn’t even locked. We will send our shadows first so they can see what is happening downstairs, and then we’ll attack. We won’t be greedy tonight, let’s not play and just go straight into killing. Don’t play with your prey, my dear.” He pocked your nose with a mocking smile which made you frown. He was the one playing with his victim!

“ You didn’t bring any weapons..?” you tilted your head.

“ Oh, dear, do you think me a fool? My shadow holds the weapon, I couldn’t be walking in New Orleans with a rifle and a knife, could I?” He laughed as you looked at his shadow and gasped when you saw his shadow having the shadow of a rifle and a knife in his hand. You rolled your eyes with a smile, how impressive. Once more, Alastor was amazinging you with his limitless talents.

You walked until you saw the abandoned church. Nobody was around which made the task easier. The doors were opened, mostly because one of them was missing. Alastor was already checking around the building, taking mental notes about the exit of the building. 

You were dressed in your hunting outfit, which made it easier to move and of course, to kill. You stretched yourself, moaning in bliss when you felt Alastor’s shadow massage your stiff shoulder. You turned toward your husband who was motioning you to come closer. You both looked at each other before sending your shadows inside the church. 

You looked at your husband who was waiting patiently before nodding to you. He entered the house of prayer without looking back. You inhaled deeply before following him. 

Once inside, you looked at the beautiful architecture. You always loved going inside religious buildings, it was always beautiful to see. Who would have thought this beautiful abandoned building would be so deceitful, hiding your prey like this… Your shadow was happily running around, looking at everything with childish curiosity.  You walked toward Alastor who was kneeling toward the altar. He was looking at a door on the ground. You didn’t make any noises, you knew Alastor was trying to hear any sounds from underneath that door. His eyes turned red and he sank his hand into his own shadow before taking out a rifle and a knife.

‘ Which one do you want, my love?’

I’m still not good with a rifle, give me the knife. I’m an expert with that.

You took the knife from his hands but before you could step back he tugged you against his chest and kissed you with hunger. You sighed against his lips, as you ran your hand into his dark curls. 

‘ This isn’t the last time I hug you, you hear me ?’

You nodded at him with warm eyes. He nodded before gesturing to his shadow to go check what was under the door. You did the same with your shadow which followed Alastors. You both stayed quiet, waiting for your shadows to return. You were gripping on your knife, your memories of your shadow being trapped and almost burned alive was still fresh in your memories. You didn’t want it to live this painful experience once more.

You felt relief when your shadow came back, gesturing to you that it was safe to enter. Alastor went first and then waited for you and the end of the stairs. You looked around, everything was dark, the only light you could see was far away, from a room on the other side of this dark corridor.

Should we separate? 

‘Check each room on the right. I’ll check the one on the left side, don’t enter the room at the end of the corridor before I’m here, okay?.’

Yes, sir.

You could see him roll his red eyes at you which made you grin. You nodded at each other before you walked quietly toward the first room. You sended your shadow inside it and when it came back with you, making an O with its finger you went inside. You looked around, you could see broken mirrors, burned books… You made a grimace of disgust. The foul odor was making you gag and leave the room hurriedly.

You did the same for the four other rooms, sending your shadow then going inside to see if you could find anything useful. The last room seemed to be an old office, you walked toward a desk in a pitiful state. You looked at the paper on it, some seemed more recent than others. You took a letter already opened but unfortunately you couldn’t read its content. The letter seemed to have been left in water, making the ink drip into unrecognized words.  You looked at the bottom of the letter and froze when you saw the signature.

Felleur.

You grasped the letter harder in your hand, feeling fury swirling inside your body. It was the Felleur seal. Your shadow was fuzzing behind you, seeming to share your hatred. 

Was John the one who sended those lunatics at you? Why was he still obsessed with you and Alastor? And when did he decide to work with the church? What was going on?

Darling, John might be the one behind all this.

‘ Please, do explain.’

After explaining what you just found, Alastor joined you into the small office and looked at the letter with an angry smile.

‘ We really need to get rid of him.’

You nodded,putting the letter away, in your pocket. Alastor walked toward the corridor once more and looked at the enlightened room in front of you. You could hear noise, were they talking..? It meant they didn’t notice you inside the church, that was perfect.  

Alastor went inside the room as quietly as possible and hid behind a wall, almost completely broken. You followed him, trying to be as quiet as him. He tilted his head, leaning where the wall was broken and he smirked. You did the same and there they were.

The man and woman who made your life a different kind of hell was smiling at each other while talking about their daily life. You frowned when you felt something wasn’t right… You watched as Alastor took his rifle, as quietly as possible, and aimed at their head. You looked around, feeling your heartbeat way too fast…

You sat on the ground and looked in front of you. It was going to end. You were going to be free of this torment soon enough… 

You looked at the ceiling and froze when you saw a big eye staring at you and Alastor. The  eye’s sclera was reddish, like it had been watching you without blinking for too long, but the pupils of the eyes were yellow, almost gold like. You didn’t know what to do, you couldn't move your body, you were petrified. 

You felt your shadow grab your arm, making you flinch before jumping on Alastor when you heard a loud noise. You opened your eyes and felt dread in your body. The place where you have been standing not a seconds ago was now under a big rock that seemed to have fallen from the ceilings.

“ Did it get them?” You heard the woman say.

You looked at Alastor who was staring at you, his smile no longer on his lips. He gestured you toward the rock.

‘ Can you lift it?’

You stared at him before looking at the rock and tried to lift it with your telekinesis. It was so difficult but you needed to do it quickly. You felt your shadow trying to help you as it could, making you smile a little. You could feel the rock’s weight on your body, but you managed to lift it and throw it toward the couple’s direction. You fell on your knees as you heard them panicking. 

You missed, damn it.

You looked as Alastor wiped a liquid from your nose. Were you already bleeding ? Did you already use too much of your power? 

“ A reminder to you all. Not to mess with my wife’s life.” Said Alastor with a big smile on his lips, his shadow taking more place in the room.

You looked at him as he aimed toward the couple. You stood up quickly at your husband's side. You watched as the couple were standing in front of you. The man was standing in front of the girl in a protective manner while she was opening her Bible, if it was really a bible..

“ You’ve made a mistake by coming here.” said the girl, her voice shaking but her form was ready to fight. The man was gripping at an ax, staring at Alastor.

“ You’ve made a mistake by threatening our life.” You said as power began to swirled inside you, your eyes turning red. “ No God or Devil is going to save you tonight.” You spat while Alastor was grinning ears to ears, his aim still trained on the couple.

“ I wondered how you could think you could take us down.” asked Alastor with a mocking voice. 

“ We managed to possess you, didn't we? Mickeal and I know you both are the serial killer that haunts New Orleans!” Shouted the girl, her hands gripping her book harder. “ We need to clear this city from evil!”

“ And yet, you killed an innocent woman, didn't you?” spat Alastor, his smile never leaving his face. You looked at the man, Mickeal, who was gripping his ax harder. You focused on the weapon and tried to make it move away from Mickeal. You knew, as soon as you would succeed, it would be time to fight.

You concentrated on the ax but you freezed when Mickeal’s eyes fell on you. He must have realized what you were trying to do because he pushed the woman behind him.

“ Don’t bother, Louise. Those are demons, Voodoo’s hippies. We must kill them.”

Why was he protecting the lady so much? Was she the one holding the spiritual power? Were they lovers? Well, you didn’t have time for this. 

You smirked when your shadow jumped on the man who, surprised, tried to get it off him. You telekinesised your knife to plug it into his thighs. Mickeal stared at you, not flinching once.

‘ Good shot,dear.’

You couldn't respond to your husband as Louise managed to free the man who rushed toward Alastor, blocking a bullet from your husband’s rifle with his ax. Alastor pushed you out of the way, avoiding a slash from the deadly weapon.

You turned your head toward Louise who was flipping pages from her book. You focused on the grimoire she was keeping and made it fly up in the ceiling. She looked at you with fury as you smirked at her. 

“ What? You can’t do anything without it? Just so you know, I’m more of a street smart than a book smart.” You smiled before running toward her. She tried to step back but you caught her hair and threw her on the floor. She gasped as you sat on her belly and began to strangle her. You have to be quick.

She was moving underneath you, trying to escape your hands but she couldn’t do anything. You were stronger, you have taken dozens of lives, you knew where to kill. You were–

“ Darling!”

You turned your head toward your husband's voice and managed to stop your own knife that had been thrown by the man. If you hadn't stopped it, the blade would have stabbed your throat…

You winced in pain when you felt Louise kick you off from her. She was like a little mouse, she wasn’t very dangerous… You watched as she ran away toward the other side of the room. What a coward…

You turned your head toward Alastor who was avoiding every slash of ax with an annoying smile which seemed to anger Mickeal more and more. You focused once more on the ax, making it way heavier than it was supposed to be. The man looked at his weapon with a look of disbelief before looking at you with pure hate. You winked at him before Alastor punched him so hard the man had to take a couple steps back. 

You screamed when you felt yourself being lifted up from the ground. You looked as Alastor’s shadow rushed toward you. You glanced behind you and scrutinized at Louise who was studying you with a mocking grin, with a book in her hands.

“ Just so you know, I’m more of a book smart than a street smart.” she spat at you, wiggling the book in her hand. “ Did you really think you had the right grimoire?”

That bitch.

Alastor’s shadow was banging against the shield that seemed to have formed around you. It snarled in furry before rushing toward the girl who began chanting, protecting herself with a goldish light. You inspected the shield around you, how could you get out of this. You knew Alastor was already thinking about saving you more than his own battle. 

Louise was busy with Alastor’s shadow, Mickeal was still fighting Alastor… Which meant… You searched for your shadow and found it on the ground underneath you. It was making big gestures toward you that you couldn’t understand. It frowned before showing itself then yourself…

Oh, yes !

You closed your eyes, calming your senses before sending your soul into your shadow. Your shadow rushed toward the woman, going behind her. It seemed like she didn’t sense you. Well, being weaker was more useful sometimes. You ordered your shadow to claw at her legs which made her scream in pain and drop to her knees. You went back into your body as the shield around you vanished, surely because the woman lost focus. 

You screamed as you fell toward the ground but Alastor’s shadow caught you before you hit the ground and put you on the floor. You touched it, it seemed like it had been burned by the goldish light that was emanating from Louise while she was chanting.

Damn that woman.

You were already ready to throw your knife toward her but then you saw Alastor being slashed by Mickeal’s ax. You felt like the world stopped spinning. You didn't know you could make such a scream with your voice. You projected Mickeal off from Alastor and ran toward your husband.

“ Alastor !”

You looked as his torso was cut deeply, the blood already dirtying his jacket. You pulled him behind a wall that wasn’t even one meter tall. You took off his top quickly, tearing off his clothes. Alastor took his rifle, put bullets inside it and aimed at the couple, as he sat up to aim. You didn’t even stop him as you began to lick the cut. You felt his body tense but never stopped. You had blood all over your lips and chin but you didn’t care. Alastor kept shooting at the couple even if you couldn’t see if he was touching them.

And then you felt it.

You freezed as you felt an anguish of pain going from your collarbones to the end of your belly. You weren’t moving as the pain was making you lightheaded. It was like you were being cut open, it was so painful you bit your hand to not bite your tongue off.

“ Darling, are you still with me ?”

You couldn’t answer, you were in so much pain and you were also afraid this injury would cost your baby’s life. But you couldn’t let Alastor with his pain, you couldn’t…!

You opened your eyes as the pain lessened and looked at Alastor who was looking at you with worried eyes, his rifle against him. You nodded at him, your body still twitching from the previous pain you had just felt. Your husband’s body was still tense but he accepted your answer nonetheless.

Alastor vanished inside his own shadow while you tried to calm yourself.  You could do it. Alastor was okay. Your baby was okay. You were okay…

You stood up slowly from your hiding place and looked at the couple in front of you. Mickeal was playing with his ax, staring at you. 

“ How do you wish to die?” he asked you as he walked toward you. “ Like your husband?”

Did he think Alastor was dead..?

You walked toward him, your hands in the air. Louise was looking at you with a mocking smile, closing her books. You looked at the man who was looking you up and down, like he was trying to see if you had any hidden weapons on you. 

“ Why did you do this?” you asked, your voice a mere whisper.

“ We need to clear this city. We were hired to watch people that needed to die. But you don’t need to know more, you life ends here, Mrs. Sanglar.” He lifted his ax up.

You raised your shield. You didn’t know if it could take such a blow, but you needed to try. Your shield was invisible, so even yourself, you weren’t sure if it was tougher than the other times. You would have to try your luck. 

You stared at the man as his ax clashed against your shield, the weapon leaving his hand and before you knew it you heard a scream so loud you wondered if someone else was here.

But no, Alastor had apparead from the man’s shadow and had taken the ax as it flew from Mickeal's hand and dug it into the woman's chest. You blinked as Louise was staring at the ax inside her body, before her legs gave out and she fell at Alastor’s feet.

“ Louise!” Mickeal cried as he ran toward her. You raised your hand and created a shield around Mickeal, squeezing it around him until he couldn’t move a single muscle, he couldn’t even speak.

Alastor smiled at Mickeal as he crouched in front of Louise who was breathing hard. She would die soon enough… You tilted your head before gasping as you watched your husband act.

He was cutting open Louise’s torso, not caring about her cries for mercy. He then took out her heart from her body, showing it to Louise who was already on the verge of death.

“ Thank you for the gift.”

You watched as Louise died, her body not moving anymore. You walked toward Alastor, making sure the shield that was trapping Mickeal was still keeping him in place. You peeked as tears were streaming down his face.  Alastor stood up with Louise’s heart in his hand and walked toward the man.

“ Make it so he can move his head, dear.”

You did as he asked and watched with curiosity what Alastor was doing. He took Mickeal’s chin and forced him to open his mouth before putting the bloody heart against the man’s lips. Alastor managed to put some of the heart inside the man's mouth and forced him to munch and swallow it. He then asked, with a mad expression.

“ How does your beloved’s heart taste?” he asked with genuine curiosity. “ I’m the one who killed her, I’m the one who took her from you. How does it feel? Do you hate me ? Do you wish to join her in death? Did you appreciate her heart wholly?” he sneered at the man who looked at Alastor with pure fear.

Yes, they might have worked with the devil, but Alastor was something of another kind.

You took your knife and walked toward the man, spinning the blade between your fingers. The man was looking at you with fear and confusion. Was he afraid because you were in love with a monster like Alastor? What did that make you? You didn’t care for those questions, but you could understand that other people would wonder about it.

“ If you don’t mind, I like to take souvenirs.” You smiled at him before taking his right eye from him. You didn’t care about his screams, you just looked at the eye with a satisfied smile. Now everything was over, they wouldn’t touch you anymore. They wouldn’t be a threat anymore. “ Do what you want Alastor, I’m done.”

Your husband chuckled as he looked at you fondly but then he looked at the dead woman’s heart, still inside his hand. You tilted your head, what was he thinking…? You watched as he brought the heart toward his lips and he bit into it, chuckling.

He bit it.

He bit the heart.

He bit a human organs.

He bit something that wasn’t you.

Maybe you were crazy, but you were more upset that he decided to bite someone that wasn’t you. He munched on the heart in front of a horrified Mickeal. He turned his head toward you with an innocent face.

“ Do you want to taste it?”

You stared at the heart and shook your head. You pouted as Alastor stared at the heart with a new form of fascination. You didn't want him to forget you because he found a new hobby !

“ You are crazy…!”

You looked at Mickeal who was shaking even inside of your shield. Alastor stared at him with a horrifying smile. You scoffed as you saw the front of Mickeal’s pants getting wet. 

“ Well, well, are you that scared of a mere human when you worked with the devil?” Alastor asked, chuckling darkly at the man. He walked toward you but you turned your back toward him, you were mad at him ! “ Darling ?”

You gave him a dark glare but he only giggled before hugging you from behind. 

“ Why are you upset ?”

“ You bit into someone else's flesh.”

…

You flushed as you realized you told the reason you were upset out loud. You were jealous? In this situation, were you jealous? He just bit a human being's heart and you were being jealous? You felt Alastor squeezed you harder, whispering darkly near your ear.

“ Do you want me to eat you?”

You shivered, looking into his red eyes. Being eaten.. By Alastor..? You turned your head to the side, not ready to have this discussion and not ready to understand why you felt hot. You moaned when you felt Alastor’s teeth dig into your neck, making you cling to him. This sensation after a murder was so… elating. 

Alastor kissed the place he bit you before going to Mickeal after taking your knife, throwing the heart away. He carved his usual smile into the man's flesh before killing him by slicing his throat.  He turned his head toward you with a small smirk.

“ Well, we should clean ourselves.”

“ And where should we do that, young man?” you asked, crossing your arms on your chest. Alastor guided you into the corridor and took you into a room and you gasped when you saw a bucket with water inside.

“ This is where they took their bath I guess.” He smirked at you as his hands began to undress you. You still were angry with him so as soon as you were naked you walked away from him. “ My Love?”

“ Why should I clean with you? You bite someone else? Maybe next time you should carve runes into it, would you like that Mr.Sanglar?” you said, batting your eyes at him. You knew you were being petty but you couldn’t help yourself. You didn’t understand why you were angry at him for biting into a heart when you should be… Afraid? Disgust? You didn’t know, but you never felt such a feeling when you were with Alastor.

“ Still jealous, I see.” He said with a knowing smile. “ I would love to dig my teeth inside your heart my dear, feeling your heart beating against my lips, feeling your life inside my hands, being the one who can decide whether you live or die. I want to be the one who takes your life but at the same time… I don’t want you to leave me.” 

You sat on a chair, still naked with bloody decorations on your body. You held your hand toward him, staring at him. Was it normal for you to feel this way? Why was he so attractive right now…? You looked at him as he took your hand in his and kissed it. He wanted to play, alright.

You fell to your knees in front of him and hid your smirk when you saw his pupils getting bigger. You gently took off his pants without breaking eye contact with him.

You never gave oral to Alastor, most of the time he always wanted to be the one to give you pleasure. To control what you were feeling, when you were feeling it. And you enjoyed every time. But this time, you wanted to take revenge for making you jealous of this scandalous act he did.

You licked your lips as you saw his member getting hard. You looked at him, wanting to see if he was okay with what was going on. Alastor gently stroked your cheek before running his fingers in your hair, inviting you to suck his penis by pressing your head toward it.

“ Are you trying to take control, my love?” he asked, teasingly.

"Um, huh." You grunted in frustration, but you kept going. You let the tip of Alastor land on your tongue. You could sense Alastor hardening up immediately. When your mouth started to tease your husband, it didn't take much for him to harden and become aroused. Just as a few beads of precum welled out of his slit, you flicked his tongue over it, maintaining your mouth around the entire head of his penis. 

“You’re really quite a natural at this. Have you been fantasizing about this, dearling?” Alastor sighed in bliss. You flushed, sucking on his penis, trying to give him as much pleasure as you could. Of course, you wanted to punish him so you were trying to edge him. 

Periodically, he would demonstrate his dominance by rolling his hips and forcefully pushing his penis into your mouth. You had to fight each time to keep from choking. You became further hotter and more agitated at his violent gesture. You always loved when he was showing how much stronger he was than you, even if you wanted to control the situation, you knew Alastor would easily take control. But you could sense he was teasing you, letting you take control even if he knew you wanted him to take charge.

"Mmm hmm." Alastor groaned sleazy, giving you all control. You rocked back and forth on your knees, sucking him off, giving it your all to blow him off. You licked your way up the shaft, savoring every last shred of skin and relishing in the flavor of Alastor. You didn't give your growing arousal any thought because you were too busy trying to get Alastor off. As if your life relied on Alastor's penis, you wanted to worship and show it affection. Every groan that left his mouth was a victory in your mind. You could feel his finger grabbing your hair, forcing you into a rhythm that made your eyes roll back.

You opened your eyes when you felt him stroke your cheek with a smirk, his breathing echoing into the empty room. You could see the madness in his eyes, you wondered what he was thinking. 

You, you were loving this moment. You never thought about giving oral to anyone, but right now, you felt like you needed it. Alastor was yours, no matter what could happen. You gagged as Alastor’s shaft hit the back of your throat, your eyes tearing up but you never stop looking at him. You could feel his penis throb against your tongue, was he close?

“ Darling… If you look at me like this…” he whispered in his deep voice, the one that he would never use for the radio. The one that was for you. And only you. 

You opened your mouth wider, staring at him, silently telling him to use you as he fit. He grabbed your hair and rolled his hips against you, his rhythm breaking as you felt him getting close.

“ Where do you want it?” he asked, panting.

Inside. I want to swallow everything.

Alastor groaned and not a minute after he came inside your mouth. You closed your eyes as you took everything your husband had to offer. You gulped everything and opened your eyes when you felt him let go of your hair. You licked his slit one more time before leaning back, looking at him with a smirk.

“ Did you enjoy it?”

Alastor was looking at you before taking your knife and pressing it against your throat. You giggled as he smiled down at you.

Noises could be heard from the abandoned church, but most of them were happy laughter.

Tag List: @lukneetoonz @martinys-world @littlepoetnova @sirens-and-moonflowers @eris-norwega @tiredflame132 @mo-0-o @vvollerie @sodavizz @boogiemansbitch @tessemerick @slytherin4ever @kammsinn @alastorssimp @t0xic1vi @diamond-almond @fangirlbitch02 @saccharine-nectarine @thenorthnightingale @bibliophile-yomna @itzjustj-1000 @mothraantics @yourdoorisunlocked @phamtasic @karmakillz @holographicage @sarcastic-sourwolf @akuraluna2468 @everwolf-20 @thesunandmoons-blog @songbrita @noraunor @fandomsbookclub @hokkaido97 @catticora @gasiacos @charlottemorningstarsdarling

[lostyesterday]

It’s interesting to me that Voyager has so many episodes where Tuvok becomes disabled and then stops being disabled by the end of the episode. The obvious examples are Year of Hell where he becomes blind before the timeline is restored, and Riddles where he experiences a major brain injury whose symptoms are cured at the end of the episode. But then there’s also Endgame, where alternate timeline Tuvok is in the later stages of a degenerative illness, and Meld, where what happens to Tuvok when he mind melds with Lon Suder could arguably be considered a disability (especially from a Vulcan perspective). Arguably Flashback counts too. These types of plots aren’t uncommon in Star Trek, but I think it’s interesting that such a large proportion of these storylines in Voyager happen to Tuvok in particular.

So, why Tuvok? I think it partially comes down to the fact that many people find it narratively interesting to see the most in-control, stoic, and independent characters stripped of their skills or strengths in some way. In other words, disabling them. How does a character who is defined by their self-control and discipline deal with a sudden loss of ability to control themselves? How does a character who deeply values their independence deal with a sudden necessary dependence on others? Tuvok is arguably the Voyager character who most represents competence, ability, and control. If being disabled is to be unable in some way to measure up to the standards of what a person “should” be able to do in society, then Tuvok in his typical state represents or possibly strives to represent the opposite of that. So, from this perspective, making Tuvok disabled affects him as a character more fundamentally than it would other characters, which is theoretically more narratively interesting.

From an able-bodied perspective, it could be argued that such a storyline represents a deep-rooted fear of becoming disabled. Able-bodied people fear disability because it represents the weakness and dependence that anyone can find themselves embodying under the right circumstances. Accidents and illness and old age can happen to anyone, and happen to almost everyone in time. Disability is a fact of life, but for many people, it is a looming cloud on the horizon – something they might ordinarily choose to ignore. To explore such a theme in fiction is to thus look at a subject tinged with discomfort. To give such a storyline to a character that represents the peak of control and ability could serve either to heighten that discomfort by showing even the “strongest” person being vulnerable to disability, or to lessen it by displacing that fear from an “ordinary” and thus more relatable character to one who is unusually skilled or strong (in this case, Tuvok being Vulcan on a ship of mostly humans). Either way, though, if the character is cured in the end and their disability is gone by the next episode, that discomfort is narratively relieved. Disability affects able-bodied characters only temporarily. There’s nothing to fear – they’ll be returned to “normal” next episode.

This might make it sound as if I entirely dislike the disability storylines centered on Tuvok, but that isn’t true. To a certain extent, the cures or time resets that bring Tuvok back to his able-bodied state after every episode are an inevitable part of a mostly episodic show like Voyager. Beyond able-bodied fears and miracle cures, I do think there can be something compelling about telling a disabled story centered on a character like Tuvok. I like that Year of Hell shows Tuvok skillfully using a tactile console and navigating the ship while blind, while at the same time having much more difficulty with certain tasks than he did before, because that’s realistic – that’s how it often actually feels to become disabled. Some tasks that were easy before become impossible. Some tasks seem at first to be impossible, but over time become possible as you adapt and learn new strategies. A skilled and resourceful character can be skilled and resourceful in adapting to disability, but they are still disabled. I also like that Riddles asks the question of what it means for a person to feel less valuable when they become unable to perform the tasks they did before. That kind of question can become more profoundly unsettling when applied to a character who defines himself fundamentally by the abilities he has lost. I do think it would have been interesting if Tuvok had been disabled for longer – if disability had been a more defining element of his character rather than merely a frequent theme. But I also think that what is there in the text has interesting elements as well.

[tickles-ivory]

Second prompted short story:

Bilbo sighed as Thorin sauntered toward him. "We really shouldn't do this."

Thorin raised an eyebrow, an amused smile playing on his lips. "Perhaps."

Bilbo frowned, trying to be firm but knowing he would soon cave under Thorin's sultry gaze. "No really.  Last time didn't work out so well for me.  My self-control seems rather lacking when it comes to you" 

Thorin chuckled. “It is the same for me. The night you are referring to was borne from necessity. We were both cold and seeking comfort. I am disappointed to discover that you regret it.”

“It’s not that I regret it,” Bilbo explained, finding it very difficult to think when such a delectable dwarf was standing close. “It happened so quickly and far too soon in our relationship.  I hardly knew you.” 

Thorin then made it worse by stepping closer, taking Bilbo's hands in his own calloused ones. "We have spent much time together since that moment and know each other well.  Now that Erebor has been reclaimed, we have time to do things properly: Courtship as befits a King." Thorin then brought Bilbo's knuckles to his lips in a gentle kiss.

Bilbo's stern expression wavered. "Courtship, is it? And what would that entail, Your Majesty?"

Thorin smiled warmly. "Wooing you with gifts of mithril and flowers from the surrounding valleys. Meals taken together, walks in the stone gardens as we share tales of our ancestors. If you find me worthy, perhaps another night alone together so that we may take our time discovering all the ways we may please one another."

Bilbo flushed pink but met Thorin's gaze steadily. "That...that does sound rather nice when you put it that way. Alright then, I accept your offer. But no more improprieties until you've truly won my heart!"

He walked away with a feigned huff, but Thorin saw the smile tugging at the edge of Bilbo’s lips and knew his hobbit was quite willing to be thoroughly wooed and cherished as he deserved.

[nabbit-unmasked]

Thinking about when time when I was in Reddit therian and otherkin communities.

Once time, I made a google slides presentation for myself with positivity about being C.A.R. kin, and every single being supported me except this one exclusionist guy. He called me controversial and had a whole argument with me in the comments.

He was very strict about who he saw as a valid otherkin and gatekeeped others to hell and back. It wasn't just with me and being an African nation, but he pretty much nitpicked everyone he saw. If there was anything about them that didn't match his perfect standard of being an 100% involuntary, monokin/very few kin, non-physical, completely serious, not seeking validation, mythical creature otherkin, he found a way to argue with you and tell you what he thought you should be. This man was in his 20s and talking to a bunch of experimental/new-to-kin teenagers about this stuff, mind you.

Later on, my and a fellow otherkin friend messaged a user that he was, once again, gatekeeping and invalidating. I believe it was because they were original species kin, but I'm not quite sure. Either way, they reported him and he was banned the next day (thank goodness).

When I was in Reddit spaces, this wasn't all that uncommon either. He was just a more extreme example. People did make fun of "tumblr kins", which I believe was a satirical/troll movement a couple years back that made fun of bizzare kintypes and experiences. But the same idea still stuck; sometimes, tumblr was known as the place with a bunch of fakers and confused teens with 50+ kintypes, which is extremely indicative of "faking" in reddit spaces.

I admit that I partook in it gatekeeping, too. Specifically in therian spaces: it was extremely common for young & new therians to come in and ask if they were a valid therian, and a few people would reply and tell them the usual spiel: "as long as you aren't controlling it and you dont think you're physically an animal and you identify as not with, then yes!!!!"

When I found the r/alterhuman subreddit instead of other big kin subreddits, I totally changed my views on who counted as a "real therian/otherkin/whatever-else-kin". If you identify as it, you are it, and only you can decide that for yourself. It's no one else's decision, because they aren't in your mind.

That's when I left Reddit and came over here.

I realized something that could have been useful years ago when I was experiencing impostor syndrome over my plurality.

If you think you're faking, what's the reason for that? Is it because you feel like you subconsciously chose to be the way you are? Is it because you got hyperfixated on the community you're in? Is it because you dont experience any of the common or "more serious" traits of your identity?

Chances are, whatever it is that's making you feel that way is actually valid. Gatekeepers will try to shape their communities into the perfect mold that their brain sees them as, or as the people around them have made it out to seem. In reality, the ideal community is completely subjective and imaginary. There is no one, no force, no ideology that can stop you from identifying the way you do. It's entirely mental, individual, and personal. Theoretically, I could put on any label that I wanted to right now, and no one but myself could stop me.

After I realized I could apply that to myself, I understood most of my imposter syndrome came from the fact that my autism clung to communities and made me subconsciously gravitate to them due to hyperfixation. I always tried to find reasons why that couldn't be true, but I realized I didn't have to do that anymore. I accepted that was essentially what was happening. If someone did develop their identity, subconsciously or not, due to a hyperfixation, that was valid. When I built my own moral compass and stopped gatekeeping others, I was then able to stop gatekeeping my own self.

[dairy-farmer]

Civilian Tease Au? owo ?

Jason doesn't die. Tim grows up watching, but ignored. By pretty much everyone. He hates it. Puberty hits him like a truck. Suddenly he's not just pretty, he's SEXY. People Pay Attention To Him.

But he's not dumb.

He knows what they want. Knows the dangers. Knows they'll use him and move on. He's just a pretty face to them. He refuses to be treated like that. Wants MORE. Wants EVERYTHING. Studies and learns, watching how the best of the best move and smile, tease and flirt.

Next time there's a party for "kids" his age? The heirs and heiress of Gotham's elite? He shows up. And he is so very, VERY pretty. Fingertips brush but no one can really get a grip on him. His smile is blinding, intoxicating, his words purr. So close the scent of him teases, wafting warm and spiced off little peeks of skin.

He's the center of attention.

He STAYS that way.

It's a dance, really. Tease and pull back. Tease and pull back. Treats to keep them from getting too frustrated. A handful. A squeeze. Running his hand over something they seem to think is impressive. Letting them slobber at his face in desperate kisses. Yes, yes, you're so very sexy. He's sooo impressed.

But? Then it's JASON. After a few years of practicing. Finally getting invite to a Wayne Gala. And? It's a strong, calloused, hand casually slipping up the back of his suit jacket where no one can see. Rubbing his lower back, finger splayed, as he talks to someone else.

A subtle shifting, moving his weight from one foot to the other, and it just so HAPPENS he's closer. That perfectly trained Bat body control, mask so perfect you have to be LOOKING for it too realize what he's doing is intentional. His hand is sliding around Tim's waist, dragging him just that bit closer, and to the front. Possessive in his grip, rubbing tight little circles low against his front.

He's... he's not distracted. Of course not! Just because Robin, THE Robin, is teasing him, in... in front of EVERYONE, doesn't mean he's distracted. He's totally calm. Cool. C..Collected, even. Manages to keep his face a polite mask, even when those fingers dip. Sliding past his belt, into his pants, beneath his briefs. Calloused fingers quickly finding their mark.

He has to lock his legs to keep them from giving out. Clench his jaw to keep from making any noises. Plaster a vague, empty headed but polite expression on his face. He's completely lost track of the conversation, can not longer play of the verbal cues like he should. Robin looks so SMUG as he takes a casual sip of his drink, not even looking at him.

Just strong, calloused, too clever fingers. Lazily rubbing in no hurry at all.

His own trick, turned back on him.

Tease then stop, rubbing then not enough. And... and he's IGNORING him. Talking to everyone BUT Tim. It feels so good. It's ROBIN! But... but Tim can't stand it. He HATES being ignored. He's self aware enough to admit that. No lover of his will EVER get away with that, not even THE Robin. No matter HOW good it feels.

Even though his insides want more. And his legs feel weak. And.. and he wants to do UNSPEAKABLE things to him with his mouth. How DARE he ignore Tim?

Tim reaches back and grabs his arm, drags that teasing hand free of his pants during some boring high society story. Robin seems startled, but Tim doesn't give him a chance to rally.

Go ignore someone else.

Jerk.

He stiffly martchs off to find a quiet alcove to solve his problem in. Finds a good one. Doesn't realize it's already occupied. He IS after all, a civilian. They rarely think to look up. And Damian wishes to be left alone. Something he is no doubt about to say... before the beautiful man below him... Oh.

Tim muffles himself, of course. Don't want to be caught. But he needs to take care of this so he can think clearly, you know? Damian watches, entranced. Knows exactly who this is. It's... he's... such a sordid and lustful affair. Is he always like this? Or does he just lack the influence of a powerful enough lover, to meet his needs?

Damian bets he could handle it.

Tim, once he gets off, leaves the alcove. Never realizing he was being watched. That even now, Jason's looking for him. That Dick has a THING for pretty young men, who tease and flirt. Make him hunt them down.

No, HE'S too busy trying to track down Batman. The no longer young bachelor heart throb. THE pretty boy of Gotham, who aged like fine wine, and who Tim knows is far smarter then he acts. He's heard "it" is LEGENDARY and by God, he IS going to find an excuse to Climb Batman Like A Tree.

It's not like BRUCE will ever know that he knows!

What could go wrong?

-🐼

tim being intent on fucking bruce 😭

[poggersbathwater]

vivziepop: this show is about criticising Christianity"

proceeds to: woobify sinners and make them overlords as a reward,for some reason all or most sinners (cannibals, rapists,murderers....etc) are queer,villainized Adam the first human (had nothing to do with Christianity at the time he got created and it's not his fault that god made him for a woman and just wanted peaceful life with her) who lost two women because of lucifer,made lucifer the good innocent guy (let's ignore that he is the main reason why humanity is suffering), "7 DEADLY SINS ARE GOOD FOR YOU ACTUALLY! LUST IS ABOUT CONSENT AND GLUTTONY ARE ABOUT SELF CONTROL,EXCEPT FOR GREED CAUSE THERE'S NO SUCH A THING AS A GOOD GREED CAUSE FUCK RICH!....btw please buy my Valentino cups! (I Wonder why 7 sins are deadly in a first place if they're caring and healthy according to viv)" "Wait.....are you telling me that stolas is a wise high ranking demon who give knowledge to those who summon him? Nonsense! Stolas is a horny softie who needs his imp slave to protect him! Screw accuracy! And you know what? I am making the rest of ars goetia and turn them into birds and had nothing to do with their demonology because I just need to use their names to make more characters"

(Yeah sorry about stolas accuracy part,it's just that I am tired of "not everything should be accurate" argument,that's like making thoth a Egyptian god of wisdom into a weak softie hypocrite character who is obsessed with sex and have nothing to do with his wisdom and knowledge,actually there's a lot of interesting things about thoth that makes him respected amongst gods and if viv wrote him he would be nothing but a joke character that have no personality outside of sex and victimhood mentally)

Alright lightning round here

Woobifying (idk what that means but i imagine it means glorification) sinners: I think the overlords are there to run businesses and industries in Hell, not to reward them exactly- but I do see the point you're making. The worse they are, the more power they have, which doesn't look too good for Hell's case.

Having most of the sinners be queer: Yeah I.. also get this one. It's weird how no fascists or.. well, generally bigoted people are there, but all the characters that ARE there happen to be queer. And I'm not saying queer people can't be bad, they can, but when there's more queer people than bigots in a place that's supposed to have the bad people... yeahhhhh no

Villainizing Adam: Yeah I hate how they turn Adam into a righteous douche- though it could make sense, since he did eat the fruit too (it probably changed his behavior a lot), turning him into a righteous douche who's bitter he lost his wife was.. kinda messed up.

The characterization of the sins: YEAH ACTUALLY THIS ONE SUCKS !! The whole point of Gluttony is that you just keep indulging without a care- the whole point of lust is that it's forced and it hurts people- if it wasn't about force, it'd be called love. Because consent is love. Force and betrayal (cheating/infidelity) is lust. The sins being characterized as good people takes away from why they are sins.

Stolas: Okay I don't know much about demon stuff, so I'll leave that alone (the ars goetia isn't talked about in Christianity so that's why I can't answer it), but I will say that stolas being the victim all the time is fucking ass. Yes, stolas has been forced into an arranged marriage. That sucks, it does. But that doesn't excuse any of his actions towards Blitzo, or his emotional unavailability towards Via.

I've never gotten this many asks Holy shit

[whisker-biscuit]

Sonic Big Bang 2024

Close Encounters of the Grim Kind

Rating: Gen

Summary: Sonic did end up telling his friends about the Shatterverse, but it’s clear to Tails that he's still hiding something. In an effort to find answers and with Shadow’s reluctant help, he uses the Paradox Prism to create a device capable of jumping dimensions. When he sends it out, however, what was meant to be a one-way trip returns to him with a cryptic greeting from a stranger who seems interested in researching the dimensions with him.

Now, Tails finds himself trying to solve two mysteries - why Sonic is acting so weird around him, and who this unorthodox, anonymous cross-dimensional pen pal really is.

It's a lot harder than it looks.

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

Chapter 1

The day Sonic finally told his friends about the Shatterverse and all that entailed within it, Tails had no idea how significant it would truly end up being.

He, his brother, Amy, and Knuckles were gathered together at the beach. The fox was in the pilot seat of the plane, adjusting some of the inner controls, while everyone else lounged about. They all listened with rapt attention as Sonic described the disaster that would have happened had he smashed into the Paradox Prism – the disaster that had already happened, if events were to be believed.

Frankly, it wasn’t very hard to go along with the idea. Weirder stuff went on in their lives at least twice a year; dimensional and/or timeline shenanigans sounded like par for the course.

“A bunch of miniature dimensions, huh?” Tails drummed his fingers against his screwdriver, thinking about the logistics of such a thing. Alternate universes were an aspect of quantum physics that he’d never delved very deep in.

“Yep! There was a pirate dimension, a jungle dimension, and even a dimension with five Eggmans!” Sonic shuddered and stuck out his tongue. “I always thought ours was bad enough, but then I met an Eggman baby. That’s one memory I’ll never be able to get rid of.”

“Did you kick the Eggman baby’s butt?”

“Knuckles!” Amy scolded.

“What?” The echidna asked defensively. “It’s a valid question! If that version of Eggman was still evil, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t also teach him a lesson.”

“Oh, trust me, he was definitely evil. Kicking his butt was extremely satisfying.”

Knuckles folded his arms with a self-satisfied smirk he tossed Amy’s way. She huffed and rolled her eyes, gesturing for Sonic to continue his story.

“There weren’t just other versions of Eggman, though,” he said with an excited gleam in his eye. “Every dimension I visited had new versions of you guys! Even Rouge and Big and Froggy!”

“Ooh, really?” Amy clasped her hands together. “What were we all like?”

“Well, the pirate versions of you all talked with these funny accents and were on a ship’s crew together. Knuckles was your captain but he was a big bonehead.”

“Hey!”

Tails smiled, going back to the wiring in the Tornado as he listened to the hedgehog tell them all about this strange new adventure that he’d found himself in. One eye he kept on his work, the other he kept on Sonic to show he was still paying attention, tuned into the rhythm of his brother’s storytelling just as much as the words themselves – and that was the only reason he caught the stumble.

Sonic was in the process of telling them how the Chaos Council had put the entire Shatterverse in jeopardy by punching holes between dimensions using shards of the Paradox Prism, and that he, Shadow, and an alternate version of Tails had stolen the shards back and were planning to put the prism back together. Then he paused, very briefly, and sheepishly admitted that they were unsuccessful before the Council had caught up.

That pause had been barely half a second long, but for the hedgehog it might as well have been a full minute. Tails stopped working as Knuckles began teasing Sonic for letting any version of Eggman be faster than him. He watched his brother carefully, noting the tension in his quills that the fox could only see from his place in the cockpit above. To the others, it seemed like Sonic was embarrassed about his failure, but Tails knew that wasn’t what it was.

Embarrassment was fidgeting in place and wanting to change the subject immediately. It was not standing rigidly with fingers twitching like they wanted to curl into fists, nor was it too-loud laughter at the ribbing his friends were giving him.

The fox quietly placed his tools in his lap and turned his full attention onto his brother.

When the teasing finally stopped and Sonic got back to the rest of his story, it felt different than before. More pauses, shorter descriptions of events, and vague answers to questions about how the Shatterverse was saved from ripping itself apart. The hedgehog’s expression was tight with sadness as he told them of the goodbyes he’d shared with all the different versions of his friends before he and Shadow found their way back to Green Hill.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was so excited to see you guys again – the real yous instead of those weird ghost holograms – but I also knew it was a permanent goodbye for them. All those different versions of you…they were still their own people, with their own goals and dreams and lives. I got to know each of them, and it was hard to walk away knowing I’d never see any of them again.”

“It’s not like you to dwell on goodbyes,” Amy said gently.

“I know. I just…” Sonic glanced up at Tails, then looked away immediately before their gazes could properly meet. The fox narrowed his eyes in confusion. “It was really bittersweet, in the end. I wish you all could have met each other.”

As Amy pondered over what her “sisters” might have been like and Knuckles pointedly declared that the other hims would have probably just gotten on his nerves, Tails’ namesakes curled around each other in a slow mimic of his flying movements. It seemed like the hedgehog was simply melancholy over the loss of his new friends, but it still felt…off. Like there was something he hadn’t told them, or even something that Tails had missed, that was obscuring the whole picture of his experience.

He briefly considered asking Sonic outright when they were alone later, then immediately nixed the idea. His brother was open about nearly everything right up until he suddenly wasn’t, and then pulling information from him was just as hard as convincing Knuckles to part with the Master Emerald for more than a week.

“Do you think the other dimensions are still out there even though you put the Paradox Prism back together?”

Everyone fell silent as they all looked up at the fox. Sonic’s mouth pulled sideways like he wasn’t sure how to answer.

“I mean, I assumed they are. Don’t really like thinking of the alternative.”

“I’m sure they are!” Amy was quick to reassure. “You can’t just unmake a bunch of worlds once they exist, right? And you said it yourself, Sonic – the Shatterverse collapsing only happened because the Eggmen misused the Prism Shards. All you did was make them whole again.”

Tails tapped the end of his screwdriver twice against the Tornado’s steering wheel. An idea was starting to develop in his mind, formed from a swirl of thoughts and his admittedly shallow knowledge of Quantum Physics. He kept it to himself, however, as he continued to study his brother’s body language and the tension still present there.

Just a few days later, that particular tension was gone from Sonic but the idea was still firmly in the fox’s head. He took every physics book he had that touched the subject, plus several that were “liberated” from one of Eggman’s laboratory libraries, and began researching. It didn’t take very long for him to conclude that no matter what theories he read about, or potential blueprints he began to draw up, he wasn’t going to make it very far on speculation alone.

If this idea was to become tangible, then he needed the Paradox Prism. And achieving that, Tails remembered with a grimace, would be more difficult than any mathematics he puzzled through.

He could only hope that its keeper would be in a good mood.

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

Contrary to popular belief, Shadow was not particularly difficult to find. He was a creature of habit, much like Sonic. The real issue was that those habits tended to seem erratic at best and completely nonsensical at worst to anyone who didn’t know them well. To the average person, Sonic was flighty and never settled down in one place for long, and Shadow just couldn’t be found to begin with.

But Tails was not an average person, and he had a lot of experience in tracking down speedy hedgehogs.

There was a large waterfall in Green Hill that overlooked an even larger lake. It cascaded constantly down from a giant cliffside that was difficult to climb and get down from. Sonic avoided the area entirely unless absolutely necessary, but Tails loved to practice his aerial maneuvers there. It was for those three reasons – his many visits, the general seclusion, and the consistent lack of Sonic – that the fox knew how much Shadow preferred the place, too.

It was here that he looked for the black hedgehog first. He started at the base of the cliff, shielding his eyes against the sun as he peered up past the waterfall while lake water lapped just a few inches short of his shoes. After a minute or so of squinting and scanning, Tails caught sight of a dark figure standing at the very top of the cliff, arms folded and looking out at the scenery.

Excited, the fox began to fly up towards him, making his presence known as obviously as possible so Shadow knew he wanted to talk. He felt the moment those piercing red eyes snapped over to him. The fur on the back of his neck prickled by instincts honed from years of Eggman battles before settling down immediately afterward, recognizing the gaze as non-threatening.

That didn’t mean the hedgehog was happy to see him, though. Irritation was visible in every line of his face when Tails touched down a few feet away from him.

“Is Sonic with you?” Shadow asked, in a tone of voice that suggested he was going to teleport at the first syllable of a ‘yes.’

“No, he doesn’t know I’m here. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

One black-furred eyebrow rose in mild surprise. He tilted his head the tiniest bit forward to acknowledge he was listening.

Tails took a deep breath and took the plunge without wasting another second. “I know you have the Paradox Prism. I was hoping to run some tests –”

“No.”

The answer came so strong and curt that it made Tails’ mouth click shut before he even registered what was said. He blinked, caught off guard by both the reaction and the way Shadow’s entire body seemed to tense. It almost looked like he thought the fox was going to attack him, which was as bizarre an assessment to make as the realization that Shadow saw him as a viable threat.

“Why not?” He asked, thoroughly confused. “I didn’t even tell you what kind of tests I’d be conducting.”

“It doesn’t matter what kind; the answer remains the same. The Paradox Prism isn’t something to be tampered with.”

Tails resisted the urge to let out a huff. “I’m not going to tamper with it. I just want to learn more about those other dimensions Sonic was talking about.”

“Then ask him about them and stop wasting my time.”

The hedgehog turned on his heel and began walking away. The hum of his hover shoes coming to life threatened only a few seconds left before he disappeared entirely. Tails knew his one and only chance was slipping out of his grasp.

He didn’t think; what came out of his mouth next was pure panic.

“I think something’s wrong with Sonic!”

Shadow froze mid-step. The fox blinked and then suddenly they were an inch apart. That unreadable glare seemed twice as potent now as it searched his face for any kind of deception.

“…Elaborate,” the hedgehog finally said in a quiet yet uncompromising demand.

“W-Well, he told us about the Shatterverse, and you guys trying to get home, but I feel like he’s…omitting things?” Tails paused, thinking over the last week or so. “He’s been clingier, too. He wants to hang out with everyone more than usual. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him plan so many get-togethers before now.”

Bringing everyone together had usually been Amy’s or Tails’ idea, and Sonic always popped in at the last minute or stumbled into the group in the middle of a run. Now, he was asking them all to hang out so often that Knuckles had threatened to slug him if he didn’t leave him alone for at least a day.

“And then, yesterday…he got really upset when he couldn’t find me.”

Tails remembered it vividly. He’d made an impromptu trip to the nearest junkyard in search of parts for his idea, forgetting to leave a note for potential visitors because of how short the excursion was, and had come back to his workshop in disarray and one agitated hedgehog looking ready to tear down the walls in search of him. His brother had grabbed him in a tight hug without any words, visibly shaking, and had stayed with him in the workshop for hours afterward. There hadn’t been any explanation; Sonic had remained tight-lipped in embarrassment and so Tails had assumed it had to do with the brief loss of his friends during his Shatterverse adventure.

But putting that odd encounter alongside the clinginess and simultaneous avoidance now, it was starting to paint a much more concerning picture. The fox wanted to kick himself for not connecting the dots sooner. Hyper-fixating on a new invention was no excuse.

Shadow was still watching him. Tails took a deep breath and spread his hands out in an honest, pleading gesture.

“I’m just really worried about him. I think there’s stuff he’s not telling me, and I don’t know how to approach him about it.”

“What makes you think studying the Paradox Prism will help with that?” The hedgehog’s voice was flat but no longer as harsh. He had a funny look in his eye that was impossible to place.

“I want to figure out whether those other dimensions are still out there. If they are, I think it will perk Sonic up. But the only way I’ll know for sure is with the Prism’s help.”

Silence floated between them for a long time. Tails swallowed the urge to continue making his case, and instead waited as patiently as he could for Shadow to come to a decision. A myriad of emotions flitted across the other’s face, all small and fleeting and unreadable.

“…Fine. I’ll let you look at it.”

“Really?” The fox gasped, excited, but Shadow held up a hand before he could say anything else.

“On three conditions. One: that I’m present the entire time you’re with it. Two: that you do exactly what you told me you want to do and nothing more. No using it to power machines unless it’s explicitly for finding other dimensions, no tampering with it or trying to break it apart, and no additional investigations. I don’t care how fascinated you are with it.”

“Okay, I can do all of that. What’s the third condition?”

“That you don’t involve Sonic in your studies.”

Tails frowned. “Why would I involve –”

“Agree to all the terms, Fox, or you’re not seeing a hint of that crystal.”

“I agree!” He replied, quick as he could before the hedgehog changed his mind. “You’ll be with me the whole time, I won’t mess with it, and Sonic stays out of the process.”

“Good.”

With the deal struck, Shadow nodded once before walking off again. The fox watched him, uncertain, until he threw a glance over his shoulder.

“Are you coming or not?”

Tails didn’t need to be asked twice.

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

And so, two hours later, they were both back in Tails’ workshop with the Paradox Prism floating innocently in the middle of a containment chamber. Shadow leaned against the closed garage door – which he had demanded stay locked while they were working – eating out of the can of raw coffee beans he’d requested when Tails had offered food. It would have been quite the sight if he wasn’t already used to the bizarre black hole of a stomach that belonged to his brother.

Maybe liking weird food was just a hedgehog thing.

The fox, meanwhile, was in the middle of making complex calculations as he studied the Prism, adjusting for energy levels and power output with every spike that appeared on his scanner. He was quickly realizing that developing technology that could reliably run on this energy was going to be a careful balancing act; it fluctuated sporadically in seemingly indecipherable patterns, and every sudden jump was volatile at best, downright dangerous at worst.

If not for all his research into chaos energy, handling the Prism would’ve been infinitely harder. Their properties weren’t all too dissimilar, now that the thought crossed his mind, and it took a lot of willpower not to get sidetracked by that line of theorizing. The promise he’d made to Shadow was one he intended to keep no matter how painful it was for his scientific mind to ignore every other possibility.

“What are you doing now?”

The hedgehog’s question broke the melody of furious pencil scribbling. It was a common occurrence while Tails worked; he barely even glanced up when he answered.

“I think I’ve finally isolated the most benign wavelengths of energy the Paradox Prism is giving off. Using that, I can power the interdimensional device without risk of it exploding.”

“What is this interdimensional device for?” Shadow asked, suddenly right behind him.

Tails absolutely did not jump, but the grip on his pencil went tight as he pulled back from his blueprints a bit to blink owlishly at his suspicious companion. “I told you already – it’s to determine whether those miniature dimensions still exist.”

“How is it going to do that, exactly?”

The fox resisted a great urge to sigh. “It’s just going to be a probe. If prism energy is capable of making things jump between dimensions like Sonic said, then even a tiny amount will make my invention cross the theoretical inter-dimensional barrier and hopefully tell me what’s out there.”

“Hmph.” Shadow’s eyes darted across the schematics laid out on the table. It was hard to tell how much of it he understood, but Tails had a feeling it was more than most people usually could. “Remember: only for this function.”

“Loud and clear, sir,” he mumbled with a roll of his eyes before he could stop himself. The hedgehog’s glare sharpened considerably, but he went back to his place against the door to finish off his coffee beans without another word.

Now that Tails had successfully found a safe power source from the Prism, it was time to actually build the device that would make use of it. He wasted no time getting to work – grabbing scrap metal and wiring and as many tools as he could carry, then starting the process of putting together his newest invention piece by piece. Just like with anything powered by the chaos emeralds, the probe couldn’t simply be built and then pumped full of Prism energy. Every aspect and every addition had to be tested for durability. If it could channel its power source without issue, then he moved onto the next section and repeated the testing process. If it couldn’t, then he had to rework his calculations completely until it wasn’t at risk of frying from a single jolt of energy.

A tedious endeavor, but one he enjoyed wholeheartedly just for the way it occupied his mind. The fact that success meant a new, fully-functional invention was just the icing on the cake.

When at long last the fox was satisfied that his interdimensional probe wouldn’t blow up the moment he turned it on, he swiveled in his chair to hold it up triumphantly. Shadow, to his credit, had not made another sound nor moved a single inch through the hours it had taken to complete the device. He peered at it with a mix of curiosity and wariness.

“Are you going to send it out, now?”

“Yeah, but first…”

Tails turned it around in his hands to reveal a tiny screen and keyboard on one side, pulled straight from Knuckles’ most recently-busted flip phone. He typed in a string of code and watched with a satisfied snicker as a message appeared on the screen in response.

– Hello Worlds! –

“What is the purpose of that?”

“Tech joke.” He placed a solid metal cover over the keyboard, but left the screen visible. “I doubt anyone is going to find this, because it’s supposed to only travel through the space between dimensions, not actually visit them, but it’s funny to think about.”

“Hm.”

If Sonic were here, he probably would have told Shadow to lighten up. Tails, on the other hand, was much more aware of the precarious state of their arrangement, so he didn’t do that.

Was definitely thinking it, though.

Before turning the device on, the fox double checked that its connection to the Miles Electric was strong and secure. Sending it out without a way to relay information back would have been a silly mistake to make. Confident that there was nothing else to be done, he flipped the single switch on its underside, and they both watched as it hovered out of his hands for a few seconds before disappearing in a flash of rainbow light.

Shadow eyed the spot where it had just been, expression tight, then lifted the Paradox Prism’s container with ease. “Keep me informed on what you find. I’m…curious, as well.”

“Okay.”

Their gazes locked for one brief moment before the hedgehog also disappeared with his charge – in a green flash instead. Tails let out a long exhale. He was exhausted but in a good way, like running a marathon and beating your best time.

He checked the Miles Electric. Nothing yet. That was to be expected; interdimensional travel was probably not as instantaneous as Sonic made it out to be. All he had to do was wait.

So, he waited. And waited.

And waited.

A week passed with no signal. Not a single, shallow blip on his radar to show that the probe had survived its attempt at escaping the barriers between their dimension and whatever lay beyond. Disappointed but not entirely surprised over the possible failure, the fox stopped checking for it as often. Every hour dropped to a few times a day; a few times a day dropped to only once per day. As yet another week began creeping by with nothing to show for it, he finally took the Miles Electric off his desk and put it away to make room for other, more pressing projects.

The device might have ended up a bust, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other ways to confirm the existence of the Shatterverse. Tails began sketching up tentative ideas for his continued research. He didn’t have any Prism energy left to work with, though, and Shadow probably wasn’t going to be as generous if he asked for help again. The power to cross dimensions was going to be the biggest hurdle.

Just as he was debating whether chaos energy would work as a potential substitute, there was a sudden flash of rainbow light to his left. The fox startled, whirled around with his hands up in preparation for a fight – and stopped.

Stared.

There was his device, hovering in the air. Tails’ ears twitched as the Miles Electric suddenly let loose a muffled cacophony of sounds from within the desk drawer; the familiar, loud pings that meant a probe had been successfully connected to. Stunned and unable to think of doing anything else, he slowly reached out to stop its hovering and hold it instead.

From the way he had grabbed it, the little digital screen was visible. Tails looked down at the message and felt his heart skip a beat.

[ hello stranger ]

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

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

A/N: Several months ago I joined the Sonic Big Bang event, and today is the culmination of that event where we flood the fandom with fics and art! We are Sonic Fans and we cannot be stopped lol. Expect a chapter release every day until the fic is finished!

The fantastic artists paired with my fic are @currantlee, @phantom-howl, and @dewdropdraws. I'll link their artwork when it's all posted, please please check them out cause they're all wonderful! Thanks so much to @sthbigbang for hosting this and letting me participate! I had a blast!

[panelshowsource]

now that s17 is over, how did you like it? it feels like most people either thought it was mild or weak, which makes me sad, so i stopped going to the discussion threads about it :""( i also don't see much anticipation for s18...

aww anon well, first, if you had a good time then that's what matters! so i hope series 17 brought you a little joy each week, that's what panel shows are for in my humble opinion 😚

because i know i'm about to word vomit some word salad, i'll throw out some s17 reactions + s18 thoughts below the cut! that way anyone who is sick of my nonsense doesn't have to scroll past it lmaooo

series 17 was a decent one! i don't think it's in the hall of fame, but it's definitely nowhere near the couple of "unwatchables" as they're (pretty unfairly) called. i've talked before about one of the downfalls of a season is when a group doesn't harness their dynamic and take control of the show — when they're in the studio and just sit quietly, waiting for greg to give them permission to speak, things flow well for the editors but the experience lacks. this is why s1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, even 12 are so silly and chaotic: the contestants were constantly fighting, interrupting or pausing judging, trying to convince or gaslight or challenge greg, just...speaking! talking! interacting! if that doesn't happen, taskmaster can just feel like show and tell, which is not when it's at its best

ultimately, this is why too many polite and well-behaved people in a single series is a pleasant watch but doesn't hit very hard. this series was exceptionally nice, we have to admit. joanne followed by steve may have been the "hang on a second ☝️" contestants of the series, but not by a lot, meanwhile nick and sophie were the loveliest, pretty quiet people and john was dead silent most of the time. actually, that was something that ended up surprising me — john was so focused on the tasks, so focused on winning, most of the time he didn't pause to give significant, funny commentary while filming, didn't give us *nearly* the banter with alex i anticipated, and was particularly quiet in the studio. i knew he'd be in it to win it, don't get me wrong, but he approached taskmaster more as a richard herring than an ed gamble, if you know what i mean. it was very funny to me when he was on the tm podcast and was more or less like "i know i didn't prioritise being entertaining" lmao that earnestness can be sweet, because i do like to watch the show imagining how i would do each task, but his ~no nonsense~ approach was turned up to 11 for a lot more of the series than i anticipated. i almost wish john had leaned a little more into his self-aware neuroticism and competitiveness just because that's generally a good character on taskmaster — and this series was definitely missing that

(you know, talking about this really reinforces my belief that kerry godliman is perhaps the most perfect taskmaster contestant...ever. competitive, no nonsense and full of nonsense, top bantz, stands up for herself and tears down others but fights without being genuinely angry or butthurt, doesn't know enough to try and figure out a workaround for every single task, loves and bullies alex in equal measure... just love the woman. love her. fuck it, same for jess knappett. i miss my girls😭 this is ALSO why i think rosie is a great fit for tm)

anywayz i haven't read mucho mucho discourse about series 17, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's the vague "criticism" people: just more lowkey vibes than other series. but some people prefer that, so..!!!

i think, too, too many people look back at series 1–...7? at least and want to see the same greg–alex dynamic, approach to the prize tasks, approach to scoring, lil tricks, what have you — and that is not gonna happen again. ever. for example, greg and alex have talked too many times about how hard they try to score things "fairly" because that's become such a big point of conversation for the viewers at home and, atp, even the contestants. personally, i don't prefer that. fuck fair! this is not a real competition it's an entertainment show!! when greg was throwing out points willy nilly, bonus points for eating hair, giving 5 points to a prize just bc it's his personal sense of humour and ranking another contestant's prize low every week just bc that's a funny recurring joke/dynamic, whatever. i do not care. give phil wang 1 point every time. points schmoints. but that cannot happen anymore because the viewers starting taking the points so darn seriously. (not to mention the opportunity to do coc is now pretty coveted for its $$$ and exposure, too, i'd imagine.) the same goes for greg leaning into his dictator role, the master/slave relationship between him and alex, alex being super stoic and quiet — not only does tm think those characters and dynamics are played out, but in some ways the audience has evolved beyond all that

my point is that people get caught up in the Old Gen Taskmaster that hooked them and can't accept the ways in which the show has evolved — even if it's in their opinion for worse. do i think it would kill taskmaster to go back to slightly less convoluted tasks and commit to the 1–5 point system instead of constant ties (or "this was a 3-point effort")? no. i would like to see that lmao but i don't view the series through the lens of a series 1 fan anymore, either. a reality check would help a lot of complainers

i did read one thing i thought was interesting — that with the huge number of series we're at with tm uk, and now the accessibility of other countries' spin-offs, there is a bigger and bigger pool of God Tier Taskmaster to compare each new series to. it used to be "hmm does this new series stack up against series 4, one of the all-time greats?" but now we're stacking new series up against the top ~6 of tm uk, tm nz s2, a couple of the tm belgiums, tm aus s1, and so on. competition is stiff!! not many series can be The Very Best Of All Time, so with each new tm uk that isn't, people start to feel like the show has gone downhill when it probably is stagnant at worst. does that make sense?

i don't wanna sound like every criticism of tm can be explained away or comes from a bad place. as i've mentioned above, i have my qualms. this series, one of my major qualms and seriously unpopular opinions was that i didn't like that steve wasn't actually bringing in prizes half the time. like, he was doing bits and they were funny bits, but greg was scoring him mad high for the effort he put into his bits instead of the actual prizes he brought in for entry. i stand by that opinion, but the thing is i didn't let that ruin my experience of the show. but, maybe, it just comes down to the fact i want to like it...so i do ^^

maybe i talked way too much about criticism and negativity hahah some things i really enjoyed from this series:

nick is probably the second person following john kearns who i actively disliked before taskmaster specifically because i had only ever seen their comedy characters doing dictionary corner or a bit of standup — and i really didn't like them. (still never seen ted lasso!) lo and behold, they go on taskmaster and are S Tier Sweethearts and i see them both in totally new lights! in fact john's last standup show is being released shortly and i cannot wait to watch it — which me of the past would never believe i'm saying lmao so i'm so grateful the show opened my eyes to what a funny, sweet person nick is!! and may i say his and john's styles in the studio are massively underrated. they are both incredibly snazzy dressers!

steve and nick were a sweet little team weren't they! i think it would have been funnier to have john x sophie (the best and the worst, in their own ways) vs. the more harmonious steve x nick x sophie, but regardless it was very cute stuff

the location was great! i fucking love a big open field, i fucking love a river

greg has had some really strong intro "speeches" the last few series and i loved his this time around. they're just equal parts stupid and weird + his authoritative, classic greg delivery always makes me laugh heh

some of the strongest live tasks in a while!! catching the little monsters, passing the loo through the tube, bouncing the ball on the bar — all felt like quintessential uncomplicated classic taskmaster parlour games and they were good fun

TONS out outtakes content!

and gosh it's wonderful to have a new little hour of pleasantness to have each week :)

regarding s18... it's an interesting lineup! in a good way!! i think rosie's character is more or less a perfect fit for the taskmaster format. obviously she is one of the biggest female comedians in the uk right now, but i didn't bet on her doing tm because i didn't think the show could commit to accommodating her disability for 10 episodes. and, frankly, they may not — and i guarantee she is completely okay with that. she was born from the rhod gilbert school of showing up to fuck around, and i sleep soundly knowing she will do just that. i really like jack dee and i'm happy for alex to have made it work with him. it typically wouldn't be my choice to have two senior comedian white men on one series, and (unpopularly?) i'm not really a zaltzman person, but i have no doubt he'll be quite charming. emma sidi is part of the alex horne bubble of friends i have mentioned a few times before, but i actually don't know much about her. babatunde feels like a sensible fresh pick since he's been doing more variety/panel shows; i don't watch him on googlebox (which i love) because i don't like mo gilligan (very unsorry about this opinion heh), but what i've seen of him i've enjoyed! i don't think the group's dynamic is obvious just from their list of names, but the fact they're all comedians is VERY promising and makes me supersupersuper happy — all comedian lineups are historically the strongest. so yay!! but can you imagine who will be on a team?? god imagine a jack x rosie team lmfaoooooooooooo i live for the thought

hope that made sense and if it didn't whoops! don't mind me heheh

[ilanorgratvol]

I know, there are plenty playlists for our gorgeous Wizard of Waterdeep, but I just had to let it out of my system.

What strikes me the most about this one is that like almost every song for me is associated with some stage during Gale's life (well, almost, I'm still filling the gaps). And I just can't stop and listening to it, imagining all these events in my head.

I hope someone will find this interesting.

Goddess of the Rain - the stage of ultimate devotion of Mystra. Young Gale, had just gotten the attention of the Goddess of Magic herself and is eager to prove himself worthy.

Take me to your church Teach me how to sing Show me how to pray

Break me as you will Let me be your priest Let me be your prey

Let me rise to stand Here beside your form As your right handHere within the storm

Paradise - we've gotten Stockholm syndrome, guys :) Gale is still devoted to his Goddess but started to realise all toxicity of their relationships. Is he able to go away? Well, not now.

"In the most nights, she keep returning in her weaves..."

Toxic, kinda' crazy, hot Keeps me underneath her thumb Robs me of my dignity tonight Always wants to take a piece And chew me up and spit me out Just enough to get me through the night Before I know it— I'm just doing what she says Yes, I'm doing this...

Wrong Side of Heaven - Gale has already gotten the Orb and was abandoned by Mystra. He feels frustrated and lost and locks himself in his tower.

I spoke to God today And she said that she's ashamed What have I become? What have I done? I spoke to the devil today And he swears he's not to blame And I understood 'Cause I feel the same

Goodbye Cruel World - Gale lost himself in self-pity.

Whoa, goodbye cruel world I'm off to join the circus Gonna be a brokenhearted clown Paint my face with a good-for-nothing smile 'Cause a mean, fickle woman Turned my whole world upside down

Can't Find a Way - Gale finally left his tower, hoping to make a brand new start. This is when he was captured by the Illithids and the events of the game had taken the place. He started to accept Mystra's decision and tried to disassociate from the past.

Now that youve gone again Ive found other friends You ask what you are You don't even care for me Im tired of belivin Now that youve gone away Nothings left to say You ask what you are You dont even care for me Im tired and leavin

A Place in Your World - gods, isn't it the most Golden Retriever song?)) Gale meets Tav, slowly falling in love, seeking their attention.

Would you like to see within my heart? Would you like to be there when I fall apart? The sun might scorch my eyes But no one ever cries a tear for me Is there nothing more that I can stand? I feel so displaced now I'm the lonely man But look into my eyes And maybe you can see what's in my heart

Repentance - Gale has gotten the message from Mystra and considering to follow her order. I imagine him sitting alone in his tent, illuminating only by candle on his table; his hands in his hair, his head lowered and eyes shut closed.... Oooogh, it's a tough one.

Staring at the finished page before me All the damage now so clear and evident Thinking 'bout the dreaded task in store for me A bitter fear at the thought of my amends

Hoping that the step will help restore me To face my past and ask for forgiveness Cleaning up my dirty side of this unswept street Could this be the beginning of the end?

The Cross - Tav persuades Gale not to follow Mystra's order and claim the Crown of Karsus. Gale meets Mystra to threaten her. "Not happening" Gale's line is in my mind forever.

I was young and so naive You were God and I believed You made me kneel You made me feel Like it was all my fault But now I know it wasn't mine at all

Lose Control - I mean, guys. You know what it is about ;)

Something's got a hold of me lately No, I don’t know myself anymore Feels like the walls are all closin' in And the devil's knockin’ at my door, woah Out of my mind, how many times did I tell you I'm no good at bein' alone? Yeah, it's taken a toll on me, tryin' my best to keep From tearin' the skin off my bones, don't you know

First Light - classic! Gale and Tav find comfort in their tower in Waterdeep and themselves. I don't think I need to explain anything here))

One bright mornin' changes all things Soft and easy as your breathin', you wake Your eyes open at first, a thousand miles away But turnin' shoot a silver bullet point-blank range And I can scarce believe what I'm believin' in Could this be how every day begins?

_________________

Want me to make playlists for other characters? Let me know in the comments.

[onejellyfishplease]

he's a disco ball now >:D

Also I added so many cameos have fun finding them all!

@tmntaucompetition

fingers crossed that tumblr doesnt ruin the quality

[oatbugs]

i feel rly sad and conflicted abt one of my best friends on earth but idk who to ask for advice bc i usually would have consulted her in this situation lmao