#this is why I love season 3 and 4 a lot where they build up the other miraculous holders | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

clairenovakz · 7 months

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art school blues (sam winchester x reader)

pairing: sam x reader warnings: general violence, grief summary: when your roommate is murdered, two fbi agents show up to solve the case. word count: 3.7k a/n: please send me feedback!! i would love to hear any of your thoughts :-) i imagine this is set around like season 3-4, or at least imagine a younger sam and dean. enjoy!

"Are you Y/N?"

"Who's asking?"

“I’m agent Angus and this is agent Young, can we ask you a few questions?”

“I already talked to the local police, why do I have to talk to the FBI too?” You asked, crossing your arms.

The two men lingering in your doorway glanced at each other briefly. The taller one - agent Young - turned and gave you a polite smile. “Ma’am, this matter has been turned over to the FBI, so we just want to do some routine questioning. It won’t take too long.”

You hesitated. They seemed a little young to be FBI agents, but you hardly had any reason to doubt them. You crossed your arms and sighed, stepping back to let them into your apartment. “Come in.”

The events of the past few days had been harrowing, to say the least. You moved the various blankets you had been bundling up in the past few days on the couch with to make space to sit. Agent Angus and Young sat across from you, both leaning towards you. You were already nervous about the FBI being in your dinky college apartment - even moreso now that they were looking at you so intently. Does it pay to be this cute? You wondered thoughtlessly, shyly checking out Agent Young’s perfectly tailored suit and the way his hands flexed when they rested on his knees.

You cleared your throat and began to recall what had happened.

You and your roommate, Tara, were at the library, studying for upcoming midterms. It was past 10 already - most students had gone back to the dorms and it was quiet. As an art history student, you’d been meticulously making flashcards and taking notes to help you remember the various artists and their works. Even though you loved art, you had a hard time remembering exactly where a lot of the work originated. Tara was quizzing you, while you took notes on the ones that you kept forgetting.

“Y/N, I think you’re good. The test is gonna be fine,” Tara reassured you, finally setting down the rest of your flashcards. She leaned back and stretched her arms, clearly cramped from hunching over a table for the past two hours.

“I know…” You groaned and laid your head on the table, the coolness of the wood feeling good against your flushed skin. “I just really can’t afford to get lower than a C on this one.”

“Relax,” Tara leaned down with you and you brought her eyes to hers. “I think all you need now is a good nights sleep. We should head out anyway, it’s pretty late. I think the library is probably closing soon.”

You sat up and nodded, beginning to gather your materials silently. Tara stood and pulled her coat on. “Where are you going?” You asked, realizing she was already stepping away from the table.

“Relax. Just gonna pee. See you in a sec!” She tossed her hair and began walking towards the bathroom.

You smiled slightly to yourself and finished grabbing your books, when the lights suddenly flickered. You looked around. No one was around. There were a few large paintings that were up on the walls, and you tried to pinpoint if they were anything notable, but you didn’t really recognize them. Figures. Maybe all your studying had gone to waste…

The light flickered again. You’d never seen this building have power problems, and it was beginning to unsettle you. You quickly slung your bag over your shoulder and headed to the bathroom to find Tara.

“Tara?” Stepping inside the library bathroom, the lights went dark again, before coming back. It was eerily quiet. Swallowing thickly, you pushed open the first stall. Nothing. “Tara, hello?”

When you opened the second stall, you couldn’t contain your scream. Tara was there, but there was blood splattered all over the stall. Her body, completely covered in blood, was near unrecognizable to you. As you stepped back in horror, you turned slightly and saw a woman standing next to you.

You bolted. Running to the library doors, you raced outside and called 911, hoping that this was some sick dream.

It hadn’t been. As you finished recounting your story, agent Young leaned towards you and put a hand over yours. “It’s okay, just breathe.”

You hadn’t even realized that you were trembling. You looked up at his warm hazel eyes, and nodded only slightly. “I haven’t been able to go back to my room since she died. It’s just too empty back there.” You gestured vaguely to the hallway, where your and Tara’s rooms faced each other. The couch was your home now, you were sure of that.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Y/N.” Agent Young squeezed your hand.

You sucked in a sharp breath. “Do you need anything else, agents, or can I be alone now?”

“Would you maybe show us around the library?” Agent Angus spoke up, flashing you a smile. You thought for a second. Better to stay around your empty apartment, or actually try to get justice for Tara? Yeah. You knew what you were gonna do.

The school library was taped off, but with no police around, the agents went under it and let you in after them. You had always loved this library - it was beautiful, architecturally, and you loved the warm and communal feeling you always got when you went in. Now, walking inside, all you could feel was a cold chill running up your spine.

It was big inside, with sprawling tables for students to study at and rows and rows of books. You looked up at the familiar paintings that lined the walls, and something caught your eye that you hadn’t noticed before. “Huh.”

Agent Young sidled up beside you. “What’s wrong?”

You pointed to a painting above the circulation desk. “That one must be new, I think. I don’t recognize it.”

The painting depicted a young woman with her arms folded over her legs, smiling serenely. Her hair was wispy and blonde, and she wore an elegant white dress. You didn’t recognize it.

Agent Angus went up to the painting to get a closer look. Just as you were about to ask what seemed so important, agent Young put a hand on your shoulder. “Would you mind showing me the bathroom?”

“Sure,” You lead him away towards the back, into a small side hallway that lead to both bathrooms. You stopped, suddenly feeling sick. “Um… would you mind if I waited out here, agent?” A pain-stricken expression crossed your face as you remembered what you had seen.

Agent Young looked at you softly. “You can call me Sam.” He said, before nodding. “I’ll be right back.” He stepped inside the women’s bathroom, leaving you alone.

You leaned against the wall and stared at your shoes. For the first time since you saw Tara, you noticed there was some blood splattered against the side of your shoe. You leaned down to try to scrape it off, and suddenly found that tears were pouring out of you. “Oh, God.” You muttered to yourself, curling in on yourself, trying to forget the tragedy you’d experienced. You didn’t have many people in your life - an unkind family and introverted lifestyle had led Tara to be your closest friend. And she was really, truly gone.

You didn’t even notice when Sam had stepped out of the bathroom, but suddenly felt arms wrap around you. You pulled him close to you, suddenly just wanting comfort that you hadn’t gotten. “Sam…” You gasped, trying to pull yourself together. “I’m s-sorry.”

“Don’t say that,” he replied, sternly but with genuine fondness. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He squeezed you tightly, holding you to his shoulder as you cried out for a little bit.

You pulled back, looking at his face. He couldn’t be much older than you, still looking like a boy in a handsome suit. His hair, long and soft, tickled your cheek a bit. You were so close to him. He suddenly flushed with color and cleared his throat. “Here.” He held a hand out to you, which you accepted, and pulled you up. “You okay?”

You smiled a little. “Yeah, thanks.” Suddenly bashful, you didn’t know how to break the tension.

“Hey.” Agent Angus suddenly appeared, rounding the corner with an inquisitive look. “What’re you guys doing?”

“Nothing.” Sam said quickly, pulling away from you. You were suddenly offended, and you scoffed. Sam looked back at you and you realized he was still blushing, looking slightly disheveled and a little less put together than he had been. He looked away from you quickly, and you fought the urge to laugh. An FBI agent getting all flustered because of you? It was endearing.

“Look, I think we’ve got all we need from here. Let’s go.” Agent Angus motioned for the two of you to leave. You were glad to get away from here, and followed the two of them from a slight distance as you left the library. They seemed engrossed in a private conversation, so when you got closer to them you cleared your throat.

“Thanks for looking into Tara’s death,” You said, sincerely. “But I’m gonna go now if you really don’t need anything else.”

“Here,” Sam handed you a card. “Give us a call if you find out anything else.”

Agent Angus suddenly nudged him and Sam shot him the bitchiest expression you’d ever seen. You swore, if you didn’t know them, you’d think they were like brothers. You laughed a little at that. “Sure. Thanks.” You pocketed the card.

You couldn’t wait to eat takeout when you got home. It had been a long day.

“Y/N.”

You groaned.

“Y/N. Y/N. Please.”

You turned in bed, not wanting to open your eyes.

“Please, Y/N. I need your help.”

You shot awake, suddenly breathing hard. You swore you’d just…

You blinked in the darkness. “Tara?” You whispered, feeling foolish. Her voice had been right in your ear, you swore. You felt sadness well up in your throat again. “Tara, are you there?”

There was no response. You threw your blanket off and got out of bed, knowing there was nothing else you could do about sleep now. You had to do something. Go somewhere.

When you started walking across campus, it wasn’t a surprise when your feet carried you back to the library. What was a surprise was that even though it was dark inside, you could see a flicker of a flashlight through the windows. Concerned, you ran closer, bypassing the tape once again.

It was dark and cold out. You wished you’d grabbed a jacket. Somehow, being pressed against the front door of the library did not warm you up at all. It felt even colder.

Had that really been Tara’s voice you’d heard earlier? Or was it just a bad dream? You missed her. You wished you’d gotten to say goodbye, or anything at all, before you were never going to see her again.

What were you really doing here?

“I want answers.” You told yourself, placing a hand on the library’s door handle. “I need to know the truth.”

Bracing yourself, you slowly stepped inside.

“Hello?” You called out, a half-yell because you were still afraid. Moving slowly in the darkness, you stepped closer to the bookshelves, wanting something to anchor yourself. “Is anybody in here?”

A creak sounded close to you. You turned around quickly, but saw nothing. “Hello?” You tried again, feeling like you were close to throwing up.

“Y/N.”

“AGH!” You screamed suddenly, jumping when you felt a hand on you. You turned back and saw Sam there, agent Angus behind him. They were dressed in plain clothes and carried all manner of strange things, most notably two shotguns. You stared at them dumbfounded.

“What are you doing here?” Sam whispered, seeming slightly angry.

“Me? What the hell are you doing here?” You pointed at him. “Are you guys even really federal agents?”

“Great, this is exactly what we need.” Agent Angus groaned, slapping a hand over his face.

Sam glared at him. “Shut up, Dean.”

You didn’t relent. “Tell me the truth. What’s going? Are you really here to find Tara’s killer?”

“Yes.” Sam said. His hand was still on your shoulder, and he squeezed you slightly. “I promise, we’re not doing anything shady.”

“Then what-”

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and off, and you startled. Sam and Dean looked around.

“Dean?” Sam looked back. Dean was holding a small device that was aglow with light, which was making quite a lot of noise.

“There’s some major mojo in here, Sam. Get Y/N out of here.” Dean motioned to you, and you started moving towards the door, not wanting to question anything anymore. Sam came with you to the front doors, but just as you reached them, they slammed shut.

“What the hell?!” You cried out as you tried to open them, jiggling the handle to no avail. “What’s going on?”

“Shit, Y/N, stay with me, okay?” Sam said, slightly panicked as he brought you away from the door. The lights were flickering like crazy now, and you saw the painting above the desk shaking.

“The- the painting!” You pointed out. Dean opened his bag and pulled out, to your surprise, a shotgun. “What the-”

He fired a round at the painting, and just as he did you saw it. The woman you’d seen in the bathroom when Tara died was flying out of the painting, coming right at Dean. When the shotgun round hit her, she disappeared in a cackle.

“That’s- the woman! The woman from the bathroom!” You looked at Sam. “What’s really going on here? Who are you?”

“No time, Y/N.” Sam grabbed a large canister from his bag and began shaking salt out of it on the ground, creating a large circle. “Trust me - just stay in this circle, okay? Don’t step out of it no matter what.”

The two of you looked at each other and you weren’t sure how to feel. He wasn’t an FBI agent, for sure. And neither was Dean. They’d lied to you and gotten you to show them where Tara died. What could be more messed up than that?

Then you remembered how Sam had let you use him as your personal tissue. He’d seen how afraid you were and told you to stay with him. And when you looked into his eyes, you saw nothing but softness.

“Okay, Sam.” You said, calmly. “But you’ve got some explaining to do.”

He laughed. “Yeah. I know.”

The woman suddenly reappeared and shrieked, loudly. She was moving incredibly fast towards Sam, and Dean shot her again with the shotgun. Suddenly, the bookshelves made a tremendous noise. As you turned, you saw books flying out in random directions, pages being ripped all around. You screamed as the books came towards you, a few of them hitting beside you but never reaching you. The salt circle. It was protecting you.

Books were barraging Sam and Dean as they continued to fight the woman. You saw the painting in the distance shaking back and forth, as if it was alive. The woman suddenly pinned Sam down, Dean too distracted by fending off books to help him. You knew what Sam wanted you to do. Stay in the circle.

But God, as you looked at him, you couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

You grabbed a fist full of salt from the circle, breaking it. Running up with a scream, you flung the salt at the woman with a punch, spraying it everywhere. She dissipated long enough for you to grab Sam’s hand, pulling him up. “Y/N-” He started, looking at the broken salt circle with a helpless expression. “You shouldn’t have-”

“Shut up, Sam! You’ve gotta get to the painting!” You pushed him towards it, and he didn’t question you again, this time breaking out into a run.

You followed behind, but books began flying out all around you. Dean, finally wrestled out of his own predicament, began running to you, trying to shove books out of the way as you were beginning to get buried in them. Suddenly, the woman was upon you, her face right up against yours.

She looked haunted, and you saw now that her eyes popped out of her head, swinging wildly as she grabbed you. Her hands were around your neck, squeezing tight. You thought of Tara, and the blood that had spattered around the bathroom stall. You thought of Sam, his back disappearing as he got further from you, towards the painting. You could just make out Dean over the woman’s shoulder, trying to pry books off of you and get you away. There was so much noise and commotion you could barely tell what was going on, but you knew one thing felt for sure - you were going to die.

Your hands reached out, desperately trying to claw away as the woman squeezed your throat painfully. You felt bile coming up as you tried to scream. Blood streamed out of your nose. Nothing came out of your mouth. You could see Dean mouthing your name, but you were shaking too violently to try to respond.

Suddenly, it all stopped. The woman was gone. The books laid motionless beside you. Choking for air, you found your breath returning to you all at once. You reached up and realized blood had been leaking out of your nose and the corners of your eyes, and your vision was cloudy.

Standing at the far end of the library was Sam, holding a lighter up and burning the painting of the young woman. But as you saw it now, you realized she had somehow morphed into a much older woman. The same woman who had nearly killed you.

“Y/N, we have to go, now!” Dean grabbed you roughly, pulling you up as you hobbled toward the door. The fire from the painting was quickly spreading, burning the wallpaper and scorching across the floor.

“Sam,” You managed to choke out, tugging at Dean’s shirt as he dragged you. “What about Sam?”

“I’m right here,” He suddenly materialized beside you, also grabbed an arm so you could walk a little more properly. The three of you ran outside, smoke billowing out of the building behind you and blood completely dripping out of every orifice of your face.

You laughed, suddenly and violently. Your head was spinning. “Sam..?” You managed to say, before you hit the pavement with a crack, and everything went black.

Beeeep. Beeeep.

The first thing you felt when you woke up was the stiff sheets beneath you. As your senses came back to you, you felt yourself clench and unclench your fingers. It was cold and uncomfortable.

“Hrr..” You managed to spit out a noise as you opened your eyes. The hospital lights blinded you momentarily, and when you sat up, you finally regained your bearings. You were in a hospital bed, an IV hooked up to you. Next to you was Sam, wearily sleeping in an uncomfortable looking chair.

You couldn’t believe your eyes. You couldn’t believe he was still here, couldn’t believe what had happened, and still… you felt grateful. Relieved that maybe it was over now.

“Y/N?” Sam blinked slowly, coming to as he heard you wake. He sat up suddenly, wiping at his mouth as if checking if he had drool. “You’re up.”

“You saved me,” you whispered, still in disbelief.

“You saved me first,” he replied, smiling softly as he held a hand out to you. An offering. You took his hand gently and squeezed it, smiling back at him.

“I have so many questions,” you said, looking around to see if Dean was nearby. “Who are you? What was… what happened? And the library.. Is it..?” You couldn’t seem to force yourself to stop talking as questions began spilling out of you.

“The library burnt down. Looks like the guy who killed Tara also committed arson.” Sam solemnly said, his mouth in a hard line. “You were saved just in the nick of time,” He shook his head, beautiful hair shaggily falling around his cheeks. “Or at least that’s the official story.”

“Mm.” You muttered, nodding. “And what’s the unofficial story?”

“You really wanna know?” Sam looked much older now, the weariness in his eyes aging him. “Because you don’t have to know if you don’t want to. I promise you it will make life easier for you if you don’t.”

You thought of everything you’d been through the past few days. You thought of that woman horrifically choking you to death, the books and the salt circle, and the burning painting. And you knew you wouldn’t be able to forget it as long as you lived.

“I want to know.”

“Okay, Y/N.” Sam looked sadly at you, your hands still intertwined. “Your library bought a cursed painting. The woman who painted it was murdered, and she was haunting the painting. When they hung up the painting, she manifested herself as a ghost and killed Tara.”

“Hm.” You said, after a long pause. “So… ghosts are real?”

“Yeah.” Sam shrugged. “So is every other supernatural monster you can think of. It’s my brother and I’s job to kill them.”

“Soundless like thankless work, Sam.” You said quietly, leaning towards him.

“You’re taking this surprisingly well.” He whispered back, leaning towards you. He seemed so hesitant. You felt like he wanted you to take the lead.

“I’m freaking out inside, don’t worry.” You replied, giggling slightly. “Or maybe the shock just hasn’t set in yet.”

“You’re a lot braver than you look.” Sam’s eyes crinkled as he laughed.

“So if all that’s real…” You said, leaning in incrementally closer.

“Yeah?” His eyes were sparkling. You could see your whole future in them.

“Is this real too?” You leaned forward and kissed him. He stayed stiff for a moment, but suddenly kissed you back, embracing you slightly as you didn’t let go. You pulled back once, just enough to press your forehead against his and to see his serene smile, and then went back in for more. He kissed you with every ounce of his body, pulling at your hips slightly to bring you even closer.

It didn’t matter what existed outside of this. To you, in this moment, it was perfect.

#sam winchester x reader #sam x reader #supernatural one shot #supernatural x reader #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #reader insert

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hesalleyes · 1 year

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If you're a bit confused about Rusty Quill or what's been happening, hopefully this will be a handy guide.

Hello everyone, especially all newbies to the Rusty Quill family! I thought I'd talk a little bit about the company. There's a lot of information out there, some of which may be contradictory or difficult to find, and so I compiled it into what I think is a decent timeline. I've also included some of my thoughts on what Rusty Quill has been through, and where it's going.

(check the end for associated footnotes!)

A Brief And Mostly Objective Timeline For Rusty Quill Ltd.

Alexander J. Newall wanted to start a company for creatives. His father (presumably) laid down the starting capital and Rusty Quill was founded 29th June 2015. Alex owned 99% of the company, John Newall, 1%. (1)

Alex reached out to a bunch of his improv friends and asked if they would participate in an actual-play podcast. Alex hadn't seen a fully produced actual-play with sound effects and background music and he wanted to fill that niche in the market. James Ross, Bryn Monroe, and Lydia Nicholas all agreed. Tim Meredith was otherwise engaged, but said his brother Ben would be up for it. Rusty Quill Gaming (RQG) was born and started airing episodes in June 2015.

Meanwhile, besides running, editing, producing, directing, and mastering RQG, Alex also worked nights at an extremely boring data entry job James Ross set up for him. James also helped Jonny Sims get that same job (2). At the time, Jonny was playing gigs with his band The Mechanisms, but his passion was for writing. The Mechanisms were a folk band that reimagined classic stories/myths to music with hefty narrative pieces, which has obvious applicability to a podcast company. Because of this fortuitousness, sometime in 2013-14, Alex and Jonny met and found that they were both highly creative people who desperately wanted out of this job. Jonny invited Alex to a Mechanisms show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Alex loved The Mechs show. He was convinced he must work with Jonny on something. Jonny had a few ideas and pitched what would become The Magnus Archives, though it was first more of a Twilight Zone anthology, which is why the "narrator" had Jonny's name. Alex wanted to add more of a narrative framework and they shaped it together, all five seasons, so that it was cohesive the whole way through. Some things did, organically, pop up later. For instance, Martin started mainly as a foil to Jon, and only became the love interest after a bit of writing.

Around 2018, Patreon funding eventually allowed RQ to build a studio in Rusty Towers that enabled them to record their high-quality audio (3). Before that, they were - at various times - recording in a ‘yurt’ made of blankets and duvets for most of season one (usually at James Ross’ house or Martyn’s hallway, since Alex was - at that point - intermittently homeless due to asbestos problems).(4)

In 2016, RQ set up the Rusty Quill Forums, an official RQ fan-space where fans could interact with each other and RQ members. (5) This early arena for interaction would precipitate the more immediate (and much larger) Discord, Rusty Quill Official. Anil Godigamuwe, Community Manager, was the main force behind running and moderating the forums.

2016 was also the year that Mike Lebeau decided to gather a few people to play games and raise money for charity in what would become the predecessor to Rusty Quill Giving and Gaming. This event involved only Mike, Bryn, Ben, Anil, and Martyn Pratt (Chief Technology Officer). It only lasted twelve hours and they raised £700. (6)

Late 2017, Rusty Quill, in association with Historic Royal Palaces, released Outliers, a historical fiction podcast. Probably the least known of RQ’s podcasts, but very good and well-done. (Yes, this is a plug for Outliers. Go listen! It's great!)

In 2018, the Rusty Quill Official Discord server (RQO) went live and most of the fans from the forums moved there. (7)

February 15, 2019, Stellar Firma, the improv comedy sci-fi show starring Tim and Ben Meredith, began airing.

Mike wanted to explore more of the video side of creating. On January 25, 2020, RQ Streams launched, and soon there was a decent amount of content generated on RQ’s Twitch channel. Video content would gain traction in the form of New Player Challenge (NPC). Many RQ members would stream, including Anil, Autumn, several editors, and Helen Gould (member of Rusty Quill Gaming and later promoted to Head of Inclusion). The streams would get big enough that RQ would eventually hire a few mods specifically for the streams (30). RQ Streams wasn't fiscally sound as a primary source of income, but streaming helped encourage community engagement.

In February 2020, Alex gave an interview to Haggis and Dragons at PodUK. The host asked why, despite their success, Rusty Quill hadn't been present at many events such as PodUK before. Alex responded that the company was dedicated to making sure they took care of their people first, but now that all the finicky backend admin stuff was finished, they could do fun things like conventions. (8)

A month later, COVID-19 shut down the world.

At this point, TMA had been running for four years, and - while relatively successful and critically admired- was still a smallish podcast, especially when measured against engagement levels of other fiction podcasts at the time. Whether COVID, the whim of Tumblr, or a spark that refused dim, the fuse on TMA had been lit. It would jump sharply with the season four finale in Halloween 2019, but when season five premiered on April 2, 2020, TMA was at its second highest peak in popularity , its highest only a month away. It would maintain a high level of engagement until the series finale in March 2021. (9) Whatever the reason, TMA had exploded, and no one could've predicted it.

In July 2020, Hannah Brankin, Chief Operations Officer and spouse of Alex Newall, became a director in the Rusty Quill company. (10)

In August 2020, Autumn Jarvis (longtime fan of RQ) with a history of convention organization came on as Community Assistant. (11) This role promoted her to Head Moderator of the Discord (RQO), coordinating communication between the Discord mods and RQ admin. RQ hired her to help Anil, as at this point, RQO had nearly 8000 members.

The official Rusty Quill Discord server (RQO) went from a reasonable 1000 participants to nearly 14,000 before its shutdown in September 2021. In August 2020 (a few days after Autumn took over), a group raided RQO, proclaiming issues of racism, ableism, and other accusations directed at Rusty Quill, but also at the volunteer mods. It was the only major attack, but from time to time small incursions would occur thereafter. RQO’s many mods (at least 11, at one point) were unpaid. Whether or not that was a good business decision is debatable, but mods were responsible for monitoring content that was Patreon-exclusive, so one might think a Patreon subscription should’ve been included.

April 2, 2021, Patreon-exclusive Inexplicables began airing. The show was initially met with a lot of positive feedback and excitement. The RQO channels were full of theorizing and chat, which Alex could be seen reading. While Inexplicables seemed ripe for a sequel, there have been no indications of future content.

In May of 2021, Rusty Quill launched the Rusty Quill Network. Many felt the network wasn’t explained sufficiently, but subsequent clarification from Autumn verified that RQ was not doing any of the following for the new shows that would be included under the network’s umbrella: producing, funding, editing, or creating. Apparently, the RQN was designed to act as a distribution and collective bargaining service. Unfortunately, this aspect was never made explicit to the fans by official RQ channels.

In September of 2021, Autumn was terminated. While Autumn has stated the reason she was terminated, it was on a private server and because RQ has made no official statement regarding the termination, I won’t share that information. RQ did ask if she would like to appeal the decision, but Autumn declined. Later, the mods organized a walkout in protest and quit. Only the mod known as Crunchy remained, and was the last one to close out the server. Later, he would admit that the mods actively decided not to include him in this decision. (12) While there were RQ Streams mods, they, unfortunately, didn’t have as much power as the Discord mods and were unable to assist much (30). RQ released a statement on September 15, 2021 regarding the closing of the Discord and the mod walk-out, and RQO has been dark ever since. (13)

RQ Streams, it’s worth mentioning at this point, had some mods specifically for streams, but also relied on the Discord mods to moderate the chat during streams (30). Ultimately, when the mods walked out, RQ Streams was also forced to stop.

Since the mod walkout, any events run and sponsored by RQ have been modded by volunteers, and usually small enough that it hasn’t become an issue (RQGG21 being modded by some Discord mods, with other Gather events modded mostly by RQ employees) (30).

April 26, 2022, Chapter and Multiverse, the analogous successor to Rusty Quill Gaming run by Maddy Searle, the former lead editor of Stellar Firma, began airing. It would conclude its first season in August. While RQ has indicated that C&M will continue, it has been postponed until 2023. However, Maddy Searle posted a tweet (since deleted) indicating she is no longer employed at Rusty Quill. After claims that Maddy was reprimanded and forced to take down the tweet, RQ would later clarify that they have a 48 hour confidentiality policy regarding things like that, and that's why they requested the removal of the tweet for that time. Maddy hasn't reposted the tweet, or commented publicly on her reasons for doing so.

On June 10, 2022, Mike announced he was leaving Rusty Quill. (14) Although others had also streamed on RQ’s Twitch in the past, he was the primary force driving its relevance and the channel has remained mostly unused since the aforementioned Discord mod walkout, most likely citing lack of moderation as a main concern.

August 2, 2022, the original RQ production Trice Forgotten premiered. Trice Forgotten continues to update.

As per the September 21, 2022 Patreon email, Cry Havoc! and Neon Inkwell, the other RQ original productions, have been postponed to 2023. (29)

With their three original podcasts completed and many future projects postponed, Rusty Quill had reached a quiescent stage. Patreon emails were sparse and while RQ maintained a loyal base, activity around the company had slowed.

Then -

October 10th, 2022 a string of strange letters appeared in a Patreon email. (15) Fandom quickly deduced that it wasn't a mistake, but rather a cipher. A Discord server dedicated to cracking the code sprang up almost immediately and fandom deciphered the cryptic letters in a few hours. This began a mini-ARG leading to the announcement of a Magnus Archives "side-quel": The Magnus Protocol. On a subsequent livestream, Alex confirmed the sequel and announced that the project would be fully funded by a Kickstarter. No money would be taken from Patreon, current or proposed shows, income generated through ads, agreements, merch, RQN residuals, etc. (16)

The Magnus Protocol Kickstarter launched November 22. It was fully funded in less than one minute, and as-of publishing this post is currently at £ 624,268, 4162% of their original goal. Release for the project is expected in October 2023 and is said to follow two British civil servants, Alice and Sam, as they deal with the legacy of the burned-down Magnus Institute of Manchester. Curious, as the Magnus Institute from the original series was very much based in London. (17)

On December 12, 2022, Newt Schottelkotte - marketing director for the Fable and Folly podcast network - released an opinion article on Medium detailing several allegations against Rusty Quill. (18) Schottelkotte submitted the article to several publications that declined to publish it. They decided to self-publish on Medium, which allows for independent publication. In good faith, I won’t presume this was a targeted attack by another network, but rather the opinion of a contingent of industry professionals who tried to represent those allegedly wronged by Rusty Quill as a production company (perhaps taking advantage of the timing of the new Kickstarter to gain traction for their post - but that one can only leave to speculation). The testimonies were anonymous.

December 13, 2022, after a resulting influx of polarizing social media posts, RQ released an official response to the Medium article, refuting most points raised. (19)

Now, before I get into less fact-based territory, and knowing RQ intends to announce a more recent Operations Update in the new year, I feel it's relevant going forward to mention that for all the talk surrounding both sides of the story, the composition of Rusty Quill is not as large as some might think, considering the assumptions of some of the claims. In 2021 the company conducted a voluntary internal census on company makeup and satisfaction. (20) At the time they had 28 employees. 23 responded, and here are a few interesting tidbits they had to say:

91% identify as Neurodivergent

30% identify as non-cisgender; 48% identify as female, 26% as male, and 26% as not exclusively one of those categories

30% are people of color

30% identify as bisexual, 9% pansexual, & 9% queer. 26% identify as heterosexual. These numbers may or may not include the 17% who identify as asexual.

This census doesn’t include individual contractors (which comprises most of their editors and voice actors). In the census, RQ recognized their huge deficit in hiring people of color. RQ maintains a flat pay structure across all departments (including leadership), which - thanks to Patreon funding - stands above the London cost of living rate. (21)

The Less Than Objective Part

Rusty Quill is a small company. The average number of employees for 2022 was 21. (22) This number doesn't reflect possible layoffs/terminations since then. Most of its voice actors and editors are contracted. This is intended partially to allow flexibility on both RQ and the contractors’ part as well as enable RQ to diversify their talent without the contractual obligation of employment (the UK doesn’t recognize ‘at-will’ employment; termination must be for a cause). Meaning that even if the company finds itself in the position of having to terminate employees, it maintains the possibility of working with those same people as contractors to help out RQ financially, but also to allow those employees to find more stable or long term jobs in the interim.

However, holding onto only an essential team of staff (as you find in any small company, but especially in an industry without historical regulation - often relying on a presumed integrity of nebulous industry standards, as opposed to codified protections) employees are often forced to wear many hats. Most often voluntarily, but often to their detriment. This manifested in such things as Autumn transcribing Stellar Firma, without any transcription experience, or the continual mishap of Alex or Hannah responding to delicate situations with off-the-cuff inexpertise (generally sweet and earnest, but not as diplomatic or clear as needed - something that larger companies potentially avoid with dedicated teams regarding media training), but is perhaps most apparent in the early stages of RQG and TMA where Alex, in addition to being a primary player/voice actor, did the majority of the editing and mastering until Lowri Ann Davies joined halfway through RQG. Based exclusively on the runtimes of RQG episodes/specials (not including how long it actually took to edit down recorded footage to what we hear), Alex edited a total of 217 hours of RQG, over 9 whole days, or nearly 83% of the content. (23) Early specials, behind the scenes specials, and Q&As often contain jokes about Alex needing to sleep. This sort of work-life balance should not be necessary for success, but many creatives know that it’s the unfortunate reality for many startups without the resources of a major media network backing them.

And, as evidenced here, despite its exposure and popularity Rusty Quill’s resources were limited from the start. Alex and Hannah, as directors and main shareholders in the company, are solely responsible for the company’s fiscal viability. As such, I think this has led to some decisions where one or both of them have taken over projects or refused to delegate when it would have better served that project or even themselves. But there’s also something to be said for a duty of care, and the difficulty of giving that up.

In such an environment, it’s not surprising that a large part of smaller podcasting companies’ revenue is generated through fan-funding. The grassroots organization of a devoted fanbase can help grow a company without access to other funds or a robust marketing budget. Steady patreon subscriptions can make up for periods of instability in advertising returns, but issues begin to arise when companies encounter something like RQ did: an explosion in popularity that lacked sustainability, and the contingencies and strategies to deal with that. However, it’s a double-edged sword. The importance of Patreon and fan goodwill can help create the mentality that RQ owes the fans something. Nothing in Patreon's TOS requires artists to offer rewards; the idea behind Patreon - at least to me - is that in exchange of supporting someone making art you enjoy, you occasionally get glimpses into the creative process behind that art. This idea has evolved over the years, but I think Patreon has become, to some people, more transactional: I pay you five dollars, you give me one piece of art. This more give-take mentality can lead to feelings of ownership; fans pay for RQ to exist, therefore they should have a say in how RQ conducts its business. Whether RQ views it that way or not.

RQ has begun to diversify their income, however, with the creation of the RQN, where they get fees from providing marketing and distribution services for other podcasts. Although RQ has experienced a drop in Patrons, it has returned to subscription levels similar to those before the meteoric rise of TMA and is hopefully navigating towards finding a balance between delivering what fans want without enabling an unhealthy relationship of catering to what’s profitable instead of what they want and are excited about making. (24)

Fandom and The Illusion of Closeness

There’s no denying that many creatives have an intimate relationship with their audience, especially smaller and/or newer ventures. RQ had, for a long time, quite a close relationship with its fans. It’s still visible in the old forums, where Alex, Mike, and Anil could be seen posting with regularity. There are many images from past RQGGs (even up to RQGG19) where RQ staff and fans casually mingled.

However, there is an issue with something like Discord where the immediacy of contact creates the illusion of intimacy. The ability to ping a creator facilitates the idea that the creator is therefore available and willing to be pinged. It’s not so much an issue when there are 1000 people on a server with only a hundred or so active, and only a fraction of them irregularly contacting creatives. When that number goes up, even proportionally, it results in a huge uptick in forced contact. It’s been theorized that both Jonny Sims and Ben Meredith stepped back from the Discord server because of crossed boundaries. Another staff member had a fan harass them to the point of needing to block said fan and the fan was eventually banned from RQO by the mods.

On the other hand, Community Manager Anil continued to always be available and Alex & Hannah would occasionally hop on and respond when they were active. This apparent ease of access can trick people into believing that they are close to the creators, and the illusion of this perceived relationship can be problematic for both parties.

In these circumstances it’s natural for creators to develop a persona to protect themselves. There’s nothing wrong with this and it is, in fact, a healthy and smart thing to do; the person fans interact with is not, exactly, who that person is. Not to say they’re fake or lying, but that creators deserve a degree of privacy that comes from concealing certain things about themselves that fans aren’t - and shouldn’t be - privy to. Fans’ insistence on access to creators and their secrets can be extremely difficult and exhausting, especially for creators who don’t have a publicity or security team. For instance, Jonny was forced to reveal his past with drug abuse when people incessantly questioned and berated him about his portrayal of drug abuse in "Strung Out," a season five episode of TMA (notably also when the fandom had exploded beyond the comfortable community of its earlier seasons). Fan entitlement to knowledge about creators and access to them can be particularly egregious in this sort of setting where the creators are trying to maintain the intimate community they used to enjoy, one that (at least in the initial stages) they relied on financially, while dealing with a huge influx of new fans. Even Critical Role, arguably the largest podcast in the actual-play genre, has suffered from a similar issue, though the actors in CR have much more experience than RQ.

Rusty Quill is a business and their dealings are of proprietary interest. Like any other entertainment company, they produce a product for consumption but the way they run internally isn’t something consumers are (or should be) privy to - barring gross mistreatment which, despite claims, hasn’t been proven. When Autumn was terminated, RQ didn’t release an official statement on what led to the termination. While many fans wanted to know, RQ has no obligation to reveal internal processes like hiring/firing, especially if details of such could affect an employee’s future employment. Identifying particular employees as responsible for certain policies or potentially upsetting updates could open that employee to threats or harassment (which RQ experienced before).

The Disproportionate Critique of Small Creators

It would be ridiculous to assert that Rusty Quill has never made a mistake - sometimes repeatedly - or a misstep. They’ve issued an apology multiple times for the lack of sensitivity in their content or a miscommunication on their end. Miscommunication was, in fact, a key factor in why the Discord mods left. RQ tried to preemptively combat these issues by hiring Helen Gould as a sensitivity director to ensure their content had been looked over for things that could be harmful. Given their company makeup and the composition of their talent - both writing and on-air - RQ has tried to diversify itself so that their content doesn’t come solely from the perspective of cishet white male. Stellar Firma would be the only show to suffer from this, however, it’s worth mentioning that on the production side Maddy Searle and Katie Seaton seem to have been brought on intentionally to avoid, or at least ameliorate this issue.

There is a pervasive issue with fandom as a whole to apply a more rigorous rubric against smaller and/or indie companies producing entertainment because they’re accessible. It’s easy to see why this phenomenon exists; when a person sees that they can speak to a creator directly, that the creator might respond specifically to those critiques. It can feel as if the consumer has more power in the relationship. Complaining about Disney cutting out a lesbian kiss in Star Wars, for example, will never reach Bob Iger, but if you want to talk to James D’Amato about a choice he made in the most recent Skyjacks episodes, he’s almost certainly going to respond. By feeling more intimately connected to creators, fans can feel empowered to be more aggressive in their criticisms.

A sustainable medium must exist between the two extremes of critique. A small indie company like Rusty Quill cannot be above criticism because of its size or its intention to do better - at some point, it must actually be doing better (which, I believe, it has and is consistently endeavoring to). Conversely, it can’t be upheld to a stricter standard than a larger company purely because its creators are accessible and will directly encounter the critique aimed at them. Rusty Quill has expanded their base of collaborators - which includes having an open pitch form to allow anyone to submit ideas - and made headway on wider and more accurate representation in their shows. There are certainly other shows and companies tackling and portraying difficult issues and diversity with a better outcome than Rusty Quill. That doesn't detract from the efforts RQ is making and shouldn't invite a disproportionate level of critique.

So What Now?

While it is fair to offer critique aimed at Rusty Quill and what it does, I think the benefits of this coming from a large audience diminish due to a few factors: quantity with no control for quality, purity culture, and entitlement. These things could comprise a much much longer essay, but I’ll be brief.

One of the huge benefits RQ got out of early Patreon release on the Discord was a limited quantity of feedback. Alex would show up to ask about the sound quality: if anything seemed off or if we had comments or noticed something. Anil would collect extra content warnings if needed, and some titles even changed when fans pointed out redundancies. Both Alex and (to a much stronger degree) Helen interacted with patrons about Inexplicables, including thoughts and theories. At one point, RQ created a gaming system called Ensemble and elicited feedback from people, encouraging them to play. These comments and critique are very helpful for RQ because of their pointedness. Contrast this to the response to the s5 TMA episode “Strung Out" - or the controversy surrounding a later episode’s perceived insensitivity to current events, necessitating a warning and apology before the usual opening theme (a perception generated before the public launch of the episode, stoked by assumptions and Twitter discourse).

Fandom as a whole has veered bizarrely into an obsession with purity - if something isn’t perfect, then it shouldn’t exist. RQ will not and cannot get everything right. It’s not a format made for easy editing and revision after the fact. It can be lauded for its achievements and persuaded to do better in a way that isn’t overly aggressive or hyperbolic. People tend to forgive mistakes if they like something and focus on them if they don’t, but it’s better to avoid assigning a moral value to something like representation - the effort and commitment is important. (For clarity - I believe it is moral and ethical to do everything you can to achieve accurate and diverse representation. The morality I reference here is more in regards to labeling something, irredeemably, as bad just because it doesn’t live up to your expectations).

Not to be repetitive, but fans in smaller fandoms often feel a sense of entitlement because of their ease of access to creators. If Alex is right there talking about the Trice Forgotten schedule, why shouldn’t he answer a prod about the continuation of Chapter & Multiverse??? The answer is that he’s updating you on Trice - not Chapter. Fans are not, and shouldn’t be, part of the internal machinations of a company, however close they feel, and why certain things happen or when isn’t always going to be obvious. RQ has varying degrees of success when it comes to updating their fans about timelines or happenings in the company, and while there is definitely room for improvement, overall, it shouldn’t be a requirement or expectation. That is to say - the relentless inundation of tangential comments or questions offers no benefit and can impose an increasing feeling of frustration: for the company, for the fan asking, and for the fans witnessing. Not even mentioning the personel issue. RQ has shown a willingness to acknowledge, apologize, and modify their content when there are complaints made against it. Because RQ has acted this way, it might invite the idea that they should have the same transparency and openness to comment about the way their business runs; of which they have no obligation to do so, and in many instances, definitely should not.

For instance, several people may have been let go from Rusty Quill recently, probably because of financial issues due to the downturn in the UK economy (see RQ’s statement for more specific reasoning). Although it is tempting to be angry or upset about it, businesses make decisions involving structure and the reorganization of employees in their company all the time. For a variety of reasons. Lay-offs or terminations may be needed in order to keep a company afloat. Often these legal reasons and internal processes cannot be disclosed, and barring that the individuals involved may not have consented to their information becoming public - despite audiences wanting to see corporate due diligence. The point is that while it might be comforting to know why things happened, ultimately it isn’t reasonable to expect a company to share those details or any others that have to do with its internal running or function.

Moving Forward

Rusty Quill is in a precarious position. The unexpected juggernaut of The Magnus Archives turned them from a small, emergent company to a well-known name in the podcast community. They were unprepared for it, very few people could be, and nearly three years later they’re still struggling to find a sustainable balance. RQ has had to adjust to the influx of fans, fan opinions, money, and the resulting issues of accountability. And now that TMA is over, they’ve had some time to try to adjust to not having that same monetary inflow. Whatever outward critique can be placed on them for how they’ve handled the transition, the formation of Rusty Quill Network seems to have leveled out their income in a way that will enable them to stay solvent, even if it means occasionally stopping to restructure and reorient. There is no provable model for success.

While some detractors may claim that the Magnus sequel Kickstarter is a huge windfall, it isn't necessarily so. Money made from a Kickstarter must go toward what is promised - hence the use of clearly stated stretch goals. It is against Kickstarter policy to give funds to charity, so the KS money will be used solely for projects relating to TMP. That money is spent and should be treated as thus and not a surge of new money into RQ’s coffers. It’s not a bail out. (25)

RQ has a brand that people trust and they should lean into that reputation, heavily promoting their new shows and focusing on getting those running. RQN seems instrumental in keeping the company afloat and therefore it’s understandable that so much time is spent introducing and promoting the shows taken under that umbrella (that’s part of the incentivizing service they offer RQN shows anyway), But RQ cannot expect the ad revenue from their new shows like they did with TMA and have to adjust accordingly. I hope RQ recognizes that they’re still mostly a small indie company with a surprise hit and allow themselves the restrictions - and responsibilities - of that.

As for fans, I think RQ should capitalize on the good favor they have and reengage the fandom in an appropriate manner. Livestreams are wonderful, but should automatically have slowmode to at least 30 seconds on any stream, 60 on a huge one (like the KS promotion livestream). It not only allows the on-air talent to catch some messages, but it allows the mods to filter easier. How they reestablish a team of mods is theirs to outline, but with better communication and potential benefits (i.e. a patreon subscription) it’s likely folks would be willing.

Secondly, I believe RQ should reinstate the forums. The benefit to something more static like forums (or reddit threads or whatever is similar) is the ease of moderation and the forced expansion of time. Without the instant chat function of Discord, it isn’t as overwhelming to participate in forums or threads. These should be official RQ forums and moderated (which won’t be as difficult as a Discord). As mentioned, compensation is a tricky subject because when you start paying ‘volunteers’ they can claim employment and it opens up RQ to a whole swath of responsibilities. A “Mod Team” shirt or pin, a patreon subscription, maybe some mod-creator meetups could be provided for services rendered.

RQ could possibly look into reopening the Discord, perhaps limiting it to patrons. While that would make it more manageable, it potentially leads to issues involving classism or elitism. It could also exacerbate the earlier issue of fan entitlement. If RQ decides to reopen the Discord, they should do so with a lot of consideration.

I'm a huge fan of Rusty Quill. There are plenty of times I’ve been frustrated or disappointed with them, but at its heart, it tries to accomplish what I think to be a noble and admirable goal. Rusty Quill seeks to create good art with an emphasis on highlighting diverse voices that might not otherwise get a chance to perform. And, from what I’ve seen despite some ups and downs, tries to do their best to create sustainable income for those they bring along as collaborators. The love the team has for storycrafting is obvious and that - along with their community - is where they should focus.

EDIT:

I started this post about three weeks ago, so the Medium article was a big surprise. I won’t dissect the article because that’s not my goal, but I do have a few thoughts.

So, let's address the article on Medium.

Here is the article so you can read it for yourself. https://medium.com/@newtschott/whos-afraid-of-alex-j-newall-ae3a67f3a5e1

Here is Rusty Quill's response: https://rustyquill.com/2022/12/13/public-response-to-an-opinion-piece/

This tumblr post speaks about an inaccurate quote that the article mentions, and I think is relevant: https://www.tumblr.com/dadhuddle/703488191401984000/journalistic-integrity-re-newt-schottelkottes-rq?source=share.

Here is a link to a tumblr post from Harlan Guthrie, creator of the Malevolent podcast, which is part of the RQN. I felt it important to get a point of view of someone involved in the network. https://www.tumblr.com/malevolentcast/703493906802868224/you-probably-already-know-about-this-but-an?source=share

The issues the article raises are very important. If these allegations are true, they need to be addressed. Newt being the marketing director of a rival podcast company and failing to disclose this for several hours casts the entire article in doubt because the conflict of interest is something ethical journalists would've avoided. (26) Newt also favorably compared RQ's practices to Fable and Folly. (27) Newt and the other two editors of the piece also provided their contact information to provide help with "research, job searches, and more" to former/current employees of RQ. (28) Neither of these things are inherently wrong, but Newt's connection to F&F casts them in a different light. This could possibly be construed as encouragement for current RQ employees or network shows to leave RQ for F&F. It's unfortunate, because this conversation needed to happen, especially if the purported issues are factual. Now there is a haze over the veracity of this article because of this lack of disclosure and the conflicts of interest from the author.

There has been some talk stating that podcast networks are not rivals. They can be friendly, they can share actors, they can share spaces. They almost certainly don't share profits. Every show added to a network brings in income for that network. If one of these networks dissolves, then the shows under its umbrella can move to one of the other networks, raising its profits. It's difficult to deny that one podcast network would benefit from the dissolution of another. I would identify that as rivals, even if they're friendly.

I don't believe that Fable and Folly had anything to do with this article. I don't even think Newt intended for them to be involved at all or for people to make that connection. It's the appearance of bias that muddies the waters. Most journalistic codes of ethics tell journalists to avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. If it seems a journalist has a stake in the outcome of a story, it compromises the neutrality and the authenticity of the piece.

And unfortunately, despite Newt's claims of a background in journalism (unverifiable at the time of posting this blog outside of editorial publications), the necessary practices to lend credence towards these allegations weren't followed.

This post represents my own opinions, based in my involvement in the community. I've tried to provide sources whenever I could, though much of it was lost when the RQ Discord shut down, or mired in the sheer breadth of content. If there's a blatant untruth, please let me know with supporting evidence so I can correct it.

Footnotes:

1. Establishment of the company and ownership as per the foundation documents.

2. Alex & Jonny working the same job James Ross gave them (160 Q&A)

3. Patreon funding builds new studio via Studio tour video: (the video is patron-only, so here is a screencap of Alex stating that Patreon funded the studio)

4. Alex was homeless for a while, retrospective 189.5 (amongst others)

5. Rusty Quill Forums https://rustyquill.proboards.com/board/1/general-board

6. RQ Forums post celebrating the first RQGG

7. Rusty Quill Official Discord goes live, via RQ Forums.

8. Haggis and Dragons interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkYsA50Ts9M&list=FLaf41raWk5sb2VhQcEcPpsg&index=27

(Alex talking about the company stepping back from the public 12:30)

9. Popularity of the term “the magnus archives” from Google Analytics

10. Hannah becomes director, via RQ filing documentation

11. Autumn becomes Community Assistant, via Patreon email

12. Rusty Quill’s official statement about mods walkout.

Announcement - plain text 15-09-21.pdf

13. Crunchy's tweet

14. Mike LeBeau leaves RQ, via his twitter

15. The first Magnus sequel ARG prompt, via Patreon email

16. Oct 24 Pre-Kickstarter Announcement Livestream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLOj5JKq-QU&t

17. The Magnus Protocol Kickstarter launch livestream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xk1hgVY2cc&t

18 Newt Schottelkotte's Medium piece: https://medium.com/@newtschott/whos-afraid-of-alex-j-newall-ae3a67f3a5e1

19 Rusty Quill's response to the Schottelkotte piece: https://rustyquill.com/2022/12/13/public-response-to-an-opinion-piece/

20. Rusty Quill internal census

21 The end of the RQ census summary:

22. Average number of employees at RQ in 2022, via RQ filing documentation

23. RQG editing stats, courtesy of the LOLOMG: A performance review by Oscar Wilde team (the team theorizes that Alex was still mastering during that early gap, but forgot to credit himself) [additional note: LOLOMG was a fan project to celebrate the end of Rusty Quill Gaming] note added 10am - incorrectly attributed, my deepest apologies to Straw and their team

24. Patreon retention stats, via Graphetron

25. Kickstarter use policy

26 The lack of disclosure on the initial posting of the Schottelkotte article.

27 Comparison of Fable and Folly's practices to Rusty Quill's.

28 Contact information for the writer and two editors given to current and ex Rusty Quill employees and network shows.

29 Patreon announcement of Cry Havoc! and Neon Inkwell postponement (I knew I had this lying around somewhere!)

30 Some additional information from Crunchy (thanks Crunchy!). sorry for the awful paint edit job (added 16/12/22 7pm)

#rusty quill #rusty quill drama #the magnus archives #rusty quill network #the magnus protocol #that's like just your opinion man

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justmeinadaze · 10 months

Text

Head Filled With Demons Part 2 (Steddie X You)

A/N: If you haven't read that first one please do! It explains some things. Again, I play fast and loose with demon mythology and some things that happen in Season 4 of Stranger Things.

By the way! You guys ask a lot of thought provoking questions :). I love it! I do want y'all to know I plan on answering any things I allude to in any of the chapters in future ones so dont worry <3

There is a scene where they are talking in her head. Eddie's dialogue will be in red.

Warnings: Demon Steddie X Human Female Reader, SMUT, this dips heavily into their dominate side (smacking, rough smut, choking, taunting, holding her wrists down, undermining names like "Little Girl".), there are mentions of the readers past relationships with other partners crossing the lines (very brief). FLUFF, they do open up a bit more with her and vise versa.

ANGST: Lots of Angst! We do learn more about why both demons were banished. There are two killings including the HER Eddie has mentioned. Readers father is sick, talks about losing her mother, this chapter does focus a lot on the grief of losing any kind of loved one <3, mentions of blackmail (in a vision) as well as a sick child (very brief, not described just mentioned).

Word Count: 7545

It’s so warm…why is it so warm?

As your eyes shoot open, you realize the room is on fire and you immediately jump out of bed. Bolting to your window, you try to pull it open but it won’t budge. The buildings outside are in just as bad a shape as you watch Hawkins residents run from the blazes that surround them.

“Dad?!”

Quickly, you run to open the door and head to your father’s room, shocked when you don’t find him there.

“Dad! Where are you?!”

Sprinting into the burning living room, your stopped by the presence of your two demons looking down at you with soft smiles.

“We told you what would happen, honey.”, Steve shrugs. “It’s kind of funny this is how we would go out, huh Ed?”

“No! I still have time!”

“No, sweetheart. You don’t…but you did the best you could.”

“Where…where’s my dad?”

They don’t answer as they continue to stare at you with those gentle brown eyes. It reminds you of how each of your parents looked at you when they told you they were sick; pain and empathy, mixed with…acceptance.

“You don’t have to stay here. Go to Oblivion. You said you could live there and be safe!”

Eddie stepped forward and tenderly ran his thumb along your bottom lip.

“I already lost one princess. I’m not losing another.”

Abruptly, he yanks you to his chest and wraps his arms tightly around you before you feel another set of limbs hook around your waist. The world around you seems to shake as the house caves in—

A gasp leaves your mouth as your body shoots up in your bed. Panting, you look around the room trying to find your bearings as you slowly begin to realize you’re safe and it was all just a dream.

On impulse, you reach out to the other side of the bed behind you only to realize Steve isn’t there; neither of them are. Sighing, you rise from the mattress and get ready for the day.

***

“I see Space Cadet is back.”, Carol mocks as she smacks her gum. “Are you going to work today or are you just going to stand there staring into the void?”

You glare at her, flashing a fake smile as you continue to fold the clothes in front of you.

“No one would blame you for killing that one.” You jump at the sound of Eddie’s voice. “After what she did to you and the fact that she still has the audacity to still be a bitch.”

“Plus, popping gum like that is fucking annoying.”

You smirk at Steve’s comment as you try not to look at either of them, not wanting to seem like a crazy person talking to yourself.

“Y/N! My office, please.”, your boss shouts from across the store.

“Geez, ok Dick, don’t need to yell.”, Eddie playfully whines as you head towards the back area.

“Hey Richard. Is something wrong?”

“Um, yes, Y/N there is but don’t worry we’re talking to everyone not just you. It seems that…”

His voice drones on as both demons lean against the wall behind him. “He’s not an innocent for sure. He blackmails women all the time who are caught shoplifting.” Steve snaps his fingers and you see a quick flash of your boss sauntering around the office you are currently in as a twenty-something year old girl sits with her arms folded.

“Now, I don’t want to call the police and I don’t have to…if you do something for me. A girl like you seems to be very good with her hands…”

“What do you think, Y/N?”

You rapidly shake your head and the image disappears. “Huh?”

“I asked if you noticed anything odd since we’ve been missing money from the till every night.’

“Oh! Um… no I haven’t but I’m also not here past six because of my dad…”

“That’s right. I’m sorry I completely forget that you look after him. Alright, just...you know…keep both eyes open.”

Politely nodding, you get up and leave the room as quickly as possible.

“You need a new job, sweetheart. Maybe after you save the world from the apocalypse you can find something better with people who aren’t douchebags.”

“That’s every customer service job though.”, you whisper.

“She’s not wrong.”, Steve chuckles. “It’s like hell before you go to hell.”

Turning to face the wall, you pretend to organize some of the items in front of you. “Have you two ever been there? Hell?”

“Steve, I’m starting to think she can’t read. No, Y/N. We’re from a different realm, remember. Completely different place.”

You scowl at him, stomping towards the backroom where no one could see you. As soon as you closed the door, they both appeared behind you.

“Why are you such an asshole to me? Aren’t you supposed to be like on my side or something? Didn’t that thing say you two were good at relieving stress?”

“I don’t know, you tell us. Did we do good last night?”

“That doesn’t give you license to be a jerk. And aren’t you supposed to be protecting me?”, you ask gesturing towards Steve.

“From physical harm, not your personal feelings.”

“Y/N!” You huff under your breath as Carol barges into the room. “Are you going to work today or what?!”

“No! No, Carol, I’m fucking not! I’m using some of my sick leave.”

“Y-you can’t do that!”

“I can’t? Well shit. I should stay here then. Maybe I can talk to Richard again about how great of an employee you are. I think he would love to hear about you fucking my boyfriend in the breakroom during business hours!”

“I-I-I…um…”

“Good. I’ll see you in a few days.” You give her a sassy wink as you storm out the front door.

########

You lean your head next to your mother’s gravestone as you exhale heavily.

“That was amazing. Watching you standing up for yourself like that.”, Steve softly smiled as they both sat next to you. When you didn’t respond, he glared at his friend and nudged him with his elbow.

“Y/N, I’m…ugh…I’m sorry for…hurting your feelings.” Eddie winces at the last word like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Have you always been mean like this?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

You giggle at their answers as you shift your body to face them a bit more.

“Were you ever mean to her? Your princess.”

The metalhead’s eyes clouded over with anger as he growled and turned away. “I told you not to talk about that. You don’t know anything about it.”

“That’s why I’m asking.” When he growls again, you sigh turning your attention towards the gravestone next to you. “When my mother died, it killed me to talk about her. I know that sounds dramatic but it’s true. Anytime anyone would come up to me and give me their condolences or talk about some memory with her it was like being stabbed in the chest. I would always think ‘The fuck do you know? She was my mom and meant so much to me.’ People only knew her for small moments…I knew her my whole life.”

When you glance at Eddie again, you notice his entire demeanor has changed. He’s still glaring at the ground but his face softened as he listened to you speak. His jaw tightened before his eyes closed and he snapped his fingers. Images filled your mind of a beautiful, bright world with the sun beaming on a mansion style home.

You heard sniffles from a figure sitting outside against the wall of the house. She was curled into a ball, crying into her arms as she hugged her knees to her chest.

“Are you alright?” The girl jumps at the sound of Eddie’s voice. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you, princess. I just…wanted to see if you were okay.”

“Yeah, I’m…can I ask you something?”

He comes to her side and slides to the ground. “Of course.”

“Do you…ever feel like…you’re losing your mind?”

Eddie flashes her a toothy smile before playfully pouting out his lips. “Oh, you know…just on a daily basis.” As she laughs, his smile grows. He loved the sound of her laugh. “What’s going on, Chrissy?”

She gazes up at him with her big, beautiful eyes before curling up in his side. “My dad wants me to marry someone I don’t want to.” She began to cry harder as he pulled her tighter to him, resting his chin on her head. “I just want to be with you.”

The memory cleared and you were back in reality.

“She was gorgeous.”

“Yeah…she was.”

“Do you know what happened? To her I mean.”

“Does it matter?”, Eddie snapped. “She fucking died and they blamed me.”

Steve hesitated a bit before raising his fingers and snapping them together.

“Chris! Come on!”, Eddie whispers as he enters her room. “We need to go now, babe.”

His eyes scan the scene in front of him as his body freezes at the sight. Chrissy was on the floor with a knife in her chest as blood drenched the carpet around her. The weapon was one he had used before but gave to her so she’d feel safe.

“Baby?” He fell to his knees as he reached out to touch her face…she was gone. “N-no. No, no, no!” Eddie pulled out the knife and threw it across the room as he lifted her into his arms. “Wake up, princess, please! Please, baby. I need you.”

The doors to her room flew open as her father’s guards charged in; people he knew Chrissy considered like family.

“Come on, Edward. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

He tenderly kissed the princess’s forehead before slowly getting to his feet and bolting towards the hidden exit he entered through.

“You fucking asshole!” The memory shook from your mind as Eddie punched Steve in the arm. “Don’t you ever show her my memories again! You had no right!”

“To be fair, I got banished with you. I have every right.”

“Fuck you.”, he growled before abruptly disappearing.

“Where do you guys go when you vanish like that?”

Steve sighs as he gestures absently. “Around. We can’t go far but…”

“Do you blame him? For getting you kicked out of your home?”

Without any hesitation, he shakes his head and snaps his fingers again.

“Steven! How can you not know where he is?! He is your best friend!”

“Sire, trust me, I’ve looked for him. I want to talk to him to but he’s nowhere to be found.”

“Please…talk to him about what?! The only thing I want to hear from him is the sound of his screams when he’s tortured for all eternity.”

“Sire, if I may, he wouldn’t hurt her. They were friends.”

The king loses his composure and shoves the demon against the wall of his home. “I don’t give a fuck what they were. He KILLED my child. Now, either you bring him to me or you can join him in a cell. Personally, I don’t care where you end up.”

“I knew he didn’t do it. The three of us were friends. I saw the way they were together. She was always happier in his arms than anywhere else.”

Your heart breaks as you lean against his shoulder. “Did you ever have anyone you felt that way with?”

He grins as he leans back on his hands. “There was this girl I really fell for. Would you believe she ended up with a demon slayer?! Of all people!” His grin grows when you genuinely laugh. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you home.”

“You’re not going to harass me into killing someone tonight?”

“Not tonight. I think you earned a break.”

***

“Miss Y/L/N?”, the man greets you as you’re walking up the path to your house.

“Um, yes? Can I help you?”

“I’m Detective Hopper and I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions if that’s alright.”

“Oh, um, sure…of course.”

“Did you see anything strange last night or out of the ordinary? Maybe someone in the neighborhood you had never seen before.”

“Ah, no sir. I usually work until 6 and then I come home to take care of my father. He’s in bed most of the time so he wouldn’t have seen anything either.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. That he’s ill…not that he didn’t see anything… Look, here’s my card. If you remember something or if you see something suspicious just give me a call.”

“Yes, sir. Should I be worried? Did something happen?”

“Oh, nothing for you to be worried about ma’am. Just always make sure to think smart and stay safe.”

You nod and watch him get into his car before driving away.

“You wouldn’t want to kill him. He’s actually one of the few good people here.”, Eddie exhales in frustration. “You two have a lot in common though. His daughter got sick and passed away a few years after your mom.” As he raised his fingers to snap them, you quickly closed your hands around his.

“Please… not really something I want to see. I know what it feels like with a parent. I can’t imagine what he went through with a child and I don’t want to.”

He nods his head, affirming your request as you open your front door.

“Dad, what did I say? You’re supposed to be in bed.”, you whine as you take off your jacket and head towards him.

“In my defense, you weren’t supposed to be home for another hour.”, he chuckles. “Who are your friends?”

You freeze as you turn to give him your attention. He’s smiling directly at the demons in front of him but only you should be able to see them, right?

“My friends?”

“I know it’s been awhile since you’ve brought anyone over but yes, Y/N, friend.” Your dad rises to his feet and extends his hand to both of them, beaming proudly when they finally shake it. “What’s your name, boys?”

Holy shit. He can see them…

“I’m Steve and this is my friend Eddie.”

“Pleasure. How do you know my daughter? From work?”

“Something like that.”

“She’s never mentioned you but she doesn’t tell me much about that store to be honest. Well, I hope you’ll stay for dinner.”

“Which I will make in a bit. I just have to talk with them about something really fast here. Come on, guys.” You shove them towards your bedroom and shut the door. “Why can he see you?!”

“I, honestly, have no idea. Maybe family members can see us to.”

“Eddie, how stupid do you think I am? ‘Maybe family members can see…’ You two have been doing this for how long and you’ve never come across this before?!”

“No, we haven’t. I think more than anything though we should focus on the fact that we don’t eat.”

“Not food anyway.”, Eddie smiles coyly in your direction making you giggle.

“You’re so stupid. Ok, ok. I trust you. Um… you can’t eat any type of food?”

“No. We don’t get our energy that way like you humans do.”

“Shit.” You continue to think before clapping your hands. “I got it!”

###############

Your father laughed as he continued telling the demons the story of how he and your mom met. He loved to tell that story to anyone who would listen and to your surprise both of them did in fact listen. They seemed so entranced in his tale like little kids listening to an adult read them a book.

“I’m telling you, boys. I literally fell for her, flat on my face! She was so beautiful though… I couldn’t take my eyes off her when she went out onto that stage and danced. I remember thinking ‘what the hell would a ballerina want with a greaser like me’? She got so mad when I actually asked her that.”, he chuckled.

“Could she do the whole spinning on her toes thing?”, Steve asked as you came around to clear their dishes.

You had decided to make a meal that required bowls instead of plates so their meals wouldn’t be on display and they could hide the fact that they weren’t eating anything.

“She absolutely could. The first time she showed me, she explained how she was doing it like she was reading a phone book. Just so monotone!”

“Yeah, dancers have amazing strength in their legs and abs. Chrissy used do flips and stuff all around her house and I was just amazed.” Eddie paused then, realizing what he just said as he shifted his gaze down to the table.

When you sat back down, you placed your hand on his lap comfortingly. You dad sensed the change in tone, knowing it all too well.

“When my wife died…it was like getting hit by truck. We had so many more plans and things we wanted to do. I hate that we didn’t have more time but I’m so grateful for the time we had and the gift she gave me.”, he smiled as he gestured towards you. “No one can take those memories away from you, son. I’m sure while she was here you made her feel happy and loved.”

Eddie’s hand reached down to cover yours as he held your hand. You knew he was trying to not disappear again especially since your dad could see him. He as being forced to face this conversation and it was killing him.

Your father began to cough and you quickly ran to his bedroom, coming back with his medication.

“Stop! Don’t…don’t look at me like…like that. I’m fine.” You wrap your arms around his neck and he leans back into your hug. “Here…I’ve bothered your friends…enough. Go spend some time together…without this old man.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Y/L/N.” Steve politely grins down at him, Eddie doing the same. Before he can walkway though, your dad tugs on his hand.

“It’s…it’s ok to care about someone again…Eddie. You’re not replacing her…you’re just…opening your heart again.”

The demon gently pats his shoulder as he leaves him to head for your room.

***

You sat on your bed, fiddling with their stone as you continued to examine it.

“What’s it like for you guys in here?”

“We’re not genies, honey. We don’t literally live in the stone. It’s just a conduit, I guess you would call it.”

“We have kind of a whole little area to ourselves.”, Eddie adds.

“Can you show it to me?”

“Uh, unfortunately no, and trust me. You don’t want to see it.”

“Are you prisoners?”

Their eyes shoot up to fully look you over.

“I guess it depends on your definition of ‘prisoner’.”

A heavy sigh leaves your lips as you meet their gaze. “Are you happy?”

“I don’t really remember what happy feels like.” Steve turns to glance at his friend, taken aback by his honesty. “After she…Chris… died, I felt so lost. I didn’t know what to do so I ran. While we were wondering around the realms, by the time we found the one who gave us this task I was elated. At least we could finally stop moving around and just do this.”

“Steve?”

“When the princess was killed, everything changed. Home didn’t feel like home anymore.”

His fingers hovered in the air again, pausing before Eddie nodded and he snapped them together.

A front door burst open and Eddie was tossed violently to the ground at Steve’s feet.

“Found him trying to get in a boat and swim across the shoreline there.” One of the demons boasted as he held the wanted demon down with his boot. “This is it. Imagine how the king will reward us when we bring him the head of the demon who brutally slaughtered his daughter.”

Eddie flinched as he laughed.

“Wait. Who said anything about killing him here? We’re supposed to take him back alive.”

“I’m pretty sure his majesty won’t mind if we—”

As the demon kicked his friend, Steve shoved his chest knocking him back.

“No! We follow orders.”

“What do you care? Don’t get soft now just because he’s your best friend. I’ve seen you tear apart demons you’ve known longer than him just because you were told to.”

“That’s right. I was ordered to. Just like I’m ordered to bring him in, Jason.”

“The princess was your friend to. You saw what he did to her. Are you really going to let him get away with that? Don’t you want to fuck him up even a little bit?”

Steve looks down at his bleeding friend before growling low in his throat. “I do.”

“There we go! Let’s tie him up with that rope and—”

While the demon was talking, he made the mistake of allowing Steve to get behind him, giving him enough opportunity to ram his bat into his skull. Jason fell to his knees before slumping to the ground. He yanked his weapon back and pointed the end towards Eddie.

“What. Happened?”

“I-I don’t know. She was dead when I got there, Steven. I swear. I would never do anything to hurt her.”

His jaw clenched as he extended his arm for his friend to take.

You gasped as your reality came flooding back.

“Whoa! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just…gore…not a fan. Even after—”

“Sorry. You get used to a story so much you kind of forget details like that.”, Steve chuckles. “So, yeah, I didn’t really care to go back home if everyone was going to be like that especially since one of my friends was dead and the other was banished.”

“Aw, I love you to, man.”, Eddie smiled as he patted his back before turning to look at you. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just…you’re not like how I would expect demons to be…”

His grin grows as he covers the side of his face with his long hair. “Mean and scary?”

“Something like that.”, you giggle.

He and the other demon share a look and he knows without his friend having to say it; you are just like Chrissy.

“We can be mean if you’re into that.”, Steve winks.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve never… you don’t have to…”

“Don’t have to what?” His head tilts when you gesture towards your body, mimicking your movements. “I don’t know what this means. You have to say what you’re thinking out loud like a good girl.”

“You don’t have to…sleep with me again.”

“Did we sleep last night?”, Eddie asks playfully. “I don’t remember much sleeping.”

“Oh my God-goodness. I’m just saying you don’t have to! I’m not someone you have to please or whatever.”

“Why did you correct yourself just now?”, he inquires as he wiggles his finger in your direction. “You started to say God and then stopped. Why?”

“Um…I don’t know. I—”

“You’re a terrible liar.”, Steve laughs.

Your gaze shifts between theirs as their eyes heavily penetrate your own. “Eddie didn’t like it. I don’t want to offend you or anything.”

The demon softly smiles at your honest answer. “You listen. You are a good girl.” He turns to face his friend who leans his head against the wall behind him. “Now can we use her our way?”

A heavy exhale leaves your lips at his choice of words as they both focus back on you.

“What do you think, Y/N? You want to play the demon way?”

“Will-will it hurt?”

Steve shakes his head as Eddie grins. “Not unless you want it to.”

“Is, um, is there a safe word or something…”

“Do you feel like you need one?”

“I think you forget, sweetheart, that we can read you. We know where your boundaries are.” The metalhead looking boy snaps his fingers and you see a quick flash of all your sexual counters. None extremely worthwhile but a couple of times, men had crossed a line.

“Ow, Dean! Don’t bite me like that. It hurts.”

“Stupid whore. You like being fucked hard like this don’t you, slut?”

“Honestly, Kevin, you’re making me feel dirty not sexy.”

“Ow! Y/N! Jesus Christ, Stop!” The boy ducks as you try to smack him.

“You’re supposed to go slow, you asshole! Not just ram it in. I told you I’ve never done anal before!”

“Hm, thanks for that.”, you whine as you wave your hand in front of your face like it wipes the memories.

“We wouldn’t hurt you like that but, again, if it makes you more comfortable…”

“I…I trust you.”

They both smirk in your direction and a shiver runs down your spine to your core at the sight.

“So, I’ll ask again, do you want to play our way?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, Steve, I do…want to play the demon way.”

Both their heads straightened up as the smiles that had painted their beautiful faces began to fall as they starred at you. It felt like they were looking into your very soul and you couldn’t help but feel a little frightened.

“Alright, little girl. Let’s play.”, Steve growled wickedly as his fingers snapped and your world went dark.

#############

Your eyes snapped open as the breeze from outside hit your face. Rising to your feet, you realize you’re in a forest you’ve never been to.

“Have you ever done roleplay, Y/N?” You jump as Steve’s voice filled your head, quickly turning around to look for them and finding no one. “It’s ok, honey. You can scream and shout here. It’s part of the reason we chose this place.”

“We also kind of like the camp of it all. Demons fucking an innocent girl out in the middle of nowhere.”, Eddie giggles.

“Where are you?”

“Around.” This time they both chuckle as the wind around you picks up.

“I’m not innocent.”

“In life maybe not but sexually, sweetheart… You may as well be a virgin.”

“You of all people know I’m not a virgin.” When you turn around, you are suddenly met with Steve’s palm around your throat.

“We aren’t people, Y/N. Never forget that. Never forget that we are demons. We are above small beings like you. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes. WHAT. You better show us some respect, little girl.”

“Yes…sir…” You gasped for air as he threw you to the ground. He looked down at you with amusement when you sat up and clung to his leg like a scared child. Abruptly, you fall forward and just like that he’s gone.

“Aw, baby. Are you afraid?”

“No!”, you try to sound confident as you rise to your feet.

“You’re right. She’s a terrible liar.”

“What frightens you more, Y/N? The fact that you have no control or the fact that you like it?”

A ringed hand brushes lightly through your hair as lips gently kiss along your neck. When you turn your head to kiss them, you find yourself alone.

“Answer. Me.”

“I don’t know how to let go of that control.”

“We can show you how. We can show you a lot of things, princess, if you’ll let us.”

“Is that the ‘demon way’? I thought creatures like you just take what you want.”

“Creatures. I like that. Good choice of words, little one. It’s never quiet that simple. We can’t just take…it has to be offered.”

“Then…then take me.” The wind around you stops as the woods become silent. “You both deserve to feel good to after what you showed me. I gave you permission to do it your way. I trust you.”

“As you wish. Hey, honey?”

“Run.”

***

You didn’t need to be told twice as you ran in no particular direction. Hell, you didn’t even know where you were, you just needed to go. You imagined wherever you were headed, they were leading you there. You understood that you had just asked two lions to be their prey and the thought drove you wild.

Panting against a tree, you stopped to catch your breath. As you looked at your surroundings, a small rundown house that looked like it had long been abandoned suddenly came into a view. Carefully, you moved towards it, finding the front door open.

“Hello?”

No one responded except for the creaks in the wood as the wind quietly blew. Powerwalking towards the fridge you were grateful to find cold water within it…almost like it was left for you. You chugged down as much as you could until you felt your thirst was quenched, placing it back where you found it before beginning to look around.

There was really nothing of note that stood out. All the picture frames you passed were empty and besides the typical furniture there was no other decoration. As you glanced down the hallway, you noticed a faint light coming from one of the rooms and went to investigate.

There were candles strategically placed everywhere illuminating the bed in front of you. A sudden chill caused you to rub your arms, making you gasp when you realized your clothes you had on abruptly changed. When you looked down, you were no longer wearing jeans and a t-shirt but a red silk nightie with nothing underneath, no bra, panties, or even stockings for your feet. You felt extremely vulnerable but as you started to back out of the room, your back hit something hard.

“Took you long enough.” Eddie’s low, rough tone sent a shudder through your body. “Get lost?”, he asked as he grabbed your hair and pushed you to the floor. “I imagine your legs are probably tired from all that running. Don’t worry, we’re going to let your rest on your knees for a while.”

A naked Steve sauntered into view from the side, his large half hard cock now level with your face.

“Open up, little girl.” Your mouth had barely begun to widen before he shoved himself between your lips. His fingers gripped both sides of you head as he thrust his hips, pushing his length to the back of your throat making you gag. “Fuck, that’s it. Take it, honey. Take my dick like a good girl. Don’t forget about Eddie.”

Steve released you just long enough for the other now naked demon to thread his digits back into your hair as you wrapped your lips around his thick cock. He groaned at the feeling as you flattened your tongue and bobbed your head. “Good, baby. Keep stroking him. Last night was—mmm—was about you. Tonight is for us.”

As you alternated between them with your mouth and your hand, you felt your slick begin to drip down your thighs, your pussy desperately needing to be touched.

“Hey!”, Eddie growled as he yanked your hair back, forcing you to meet his angry eyes. “Did we tell you to move? Huh?! ANSWER ME!”

“No…no, sir. I’m sorry!”

“If no one told you to fucking move then why are grinding your hips like that?!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Just like with his friend as soon as the demon let you go, you wrapped your body around his leg, holding him tightly. “I’m sorry.”

His large palm began to pet the top of your head making you feel like you were on the moon. He was accepting your apology; you were being forgiven. You were being good for them and right now that’s all you wanted, you wanted to please them.

Eddie’s arms slide under yours as he lifted you off the floor and carried you to the bed, throwing you on to it horizontally as if you weighed nothing. Tugging you to the edge, he took the base of his cock in his hand and slid it between your glistening folds.

“Fuck me. Are you really that desperate for us right now? Geez, Steven, these fucking humans are always so easy to please. Do you want my dick, Y/N?”

When you only nodded, his lust fueled eyes flicked above you before a hand flew across your cheek.

“Words, little girl. You answer him when he asks your something.” Steve’s massive fingers held your head in place, forcing you to stare at his friend.

“Pl-please. I want—mmm—I want your dick.”

“Yeah? Keep begging, Y/N, because I’m not sure that I believe you.”

“Please! Please, Edward. I want your thick cock inside of me. Make me cum, please.”

The demon’s head tilted at his correct name. Only other demons ever called him that but for many years now even he and Steve referred to him as Eddie. The last time someone else called him Edward was the last time he spoke to Chrissy.

“Something bad is about to happen! I know it!”

“Chris, baby, hey.”, he wrapped his arms around her to stop her from pacing. “Nothing bad is going to happen. I won’t let it.”

“My father is having the ceremony tomorrow. After that, I’m never going to see you.”, she cried into his chest as he held her tighter. “Henry won’t allow us to—”

“Sweetheart, fuck that pretty boy alright? I mean not literally but…” Eddie smiles when he feels her giggle. “Why don’t we leave? Huh? Run away with me.”

“Run where?”

“Anywhere! We can go further out or hell we can hop to other realms. Steven knows all about that.”

She pulls back, gazing up at him with nothing but adoration. “Ok.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it. Meet me here at midnight and we’ll go.”

He grins as he kisses her forehead and runs towards the hidden passage in her room. “I’ll see you tonight. I love you, you freak.”

Chrissy laughs harder as she shoos him with her hand. “I love you to, Edward. Now, go!”

“Hey…” His curls move as his head shakes at the feeling of your thumb caressing his skin. “Are you okay?”

Eddie blinks before grabbing your wrist and shoving it to the mattress. “Why did you call me that? Edward? Why?”

The demon’s abrupt insistence startled you as his face hovered over yours. “I-I-I was being respectful. S-S-Saying your name properly. I’m sorry, Eddie.”

A loud growl mixed with a grunt reverberated through his chest as he guided his cock a bit roughly into your entrance. He didn’t inch his way in this time, fully thrusting into you as your back and neck arched up at the intensity. The demon’s lips whisper into your ear as he began to slowly slam his waist into yours.

“You…you can call me that here, baby. I—f-fuck—I don’t mind. With pussy this good, you’re the only one who can.”

Your eyes rolled back at his words as you clenched around him. Standing again to his full height, Eddie held your legs open wide as he thrust into you. Knees straddled either side of your head as Steve’s cock came into view.

“Open your mouth, honey, and don’t move your head, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

He grinned down at you before sliding his length between your lips. Your hands flew up to cling to his thighs as he began slowly fucking your face.

“Good—mmm—good girl, Y/N.”, Steve moaned as his palms reached out to play with your tits.

You couldn’t see much from the position they had you in but out of the corner of your watery eyes you could swear you saw Eddie pull Steve’s face to his shoulder as they both grunted at the feel of you. Did you see him place soft kisses along the tattoos splattered along the demon’s chest or was your mind playing tricks on you?

You barely had time to gather any more thoughts as Steve placed his fingers onto your clit, rubbing circles to match his friend’s pace.

Your eyes squeezed shut as you moaned around the demon in your mouth causing a deep growl to escape from his chest that startled you. His head quickly snapped down towards you sensing your fear and he promptly pulled his cock from your lips, pushing his body back so he could kiss you.

“It’s ok. You’re doing so good. That was a good sound, honey. Your mouth just feels so fucking amazing. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”, he whispered, gently trying to comfort you.

Eddie collapsed onto your body, rolling his hips roughly, tugging down the top half of your garment as he lightly licked and sucked on your nipple with his teeth. Steve leaned down to do the same with your other breast and you whimpered as you tried to keep pumping him with your fist.

“I’m…fuck…”

Eddie’s long tongue licked up your sweaty chest to your ear as his head fell beside yours.

“When you cum, princess, scream my name. Say it—mmm—say it the way you said it before.”

As his hips pounded into yours, you felt your body transport back to that floaty place before you were blinded by that white light and pulled back to earth by what could best be described as a lion’s snarl in your ear as you came.

“Fuck! Yes, Edward! Oh my…fuck, fuck, fuck!”

His rhythm sputtered as his fingers tangled in your hair and he released ropes of his seed inside of you as he grunted loudly. As he continued to lazily thrust into you, you tried to lift his head for a kiss but he hastily grabbed your wrist and held it against the bed.

“No…no, not yet. Give…give me a minute.”

“Are you okay?”, you asked and he nodded in response.

“I don’t …want to scare you. I just…need to calm down.”

“Please, Edward. Let me see you.”

He hesitated for a moment before letting you go and hovering his face above yours. Your fingers reached up to touch the splashes of demon skin that was displaying through his human one along his jawline. Eddie had to control every muscle in his body to keep from flinching. It had been a long while since anyone other than Steve had touched his original skin in anyway let alone as tenderly as you were.

When he had lifted his head, his eyes had remained closed knowing they were his real ones and not the ones he displayed for you.

“Can you open your eyes?”

Almost as if knowing what happen, Steve placed both palms on either side of your head again, holding you in place as the other demon sighed and did as you asked.

You squeaked in terror but they were both holding you down so you couldn’t move away. His red, glowing orbs tried to look anywhere else before the shimmering suddenly stopped and you were able to look directly into his irises.

“Why…why do they glow?”

“Uh, they do that when we’re angry.”

“Are you angry with me?”

His look softened at your question and you watched as the red changed to the brown, chocolate color eyes you had come to know over the past couple of days.

“No, sweetheart. Angry at myself for not being able to hold my appearance up for you.” His nose delicately bumped yours. “Hearing you say my name and then feeling your pussy cling to me like it does… I just couldn’t control myself there.”

Craning your neck, you leaned up to kiss his lips and he allowed it as he smiled against them. “I think it’s Steve’s turn. He’s been waiting very patiently to use you.” His eyebrows coyly raised as your cunt fluttered around him.

Arms slid under you, pulling you away from Eddie, and place you on your tummy as your face hits a pillow above you. Forcefully, the demon lifts your ass in the air, groaning as he breaches your entrance with his hard, leaking cock. Laying his body flat against yours pushes him deeper into your pussy, allowing access to sensitive areas within you that no one besides them could ever hit.

“Do—mmm—can I call you by your name?”, you whimpered as he slowly rolled his hips, bringing his dick almost all the way out before slamming it back in.

“Is that what you want, honey? Do—fuck me—do you think you deserve to?” Steve’s palm wrapped around your throat as he grunted into your ear. “Do you think you’ve earned the right, little one? Hm? Answer me.”

“Yes, yes I do, Steven.”

This must have been what hit Eddie so hard; he felt it as soon as you said his name. Hearing someone use his proper name after so long poked at the beast inside of him. It awakened a side he hadn’t utilized since his time in his own realm and it felt good. He wondered if what his friend had said about that mixed with you climax would really cause him to lose control like that. He had to find out.

Pushing up to his knees, he grabbed your wrists placing them behind your back as he pounded into you.

“When you cum, you scream my name like you did his. Do you hear me?”

“Y-yes. Fuck…please make me cum.”

For a few moments, only both your heavy pants and skin hitting skin were heard in the room but all the sudden, Eddie’s soothing, husky voice cut through. At first you didn’t understand why he was so far away until you realized…he wasn’t speaking to you but to Steve.

“You think she feels good now, wait until she says your name again. I’ve never felt anything like it. I don’t know what it is, Steve, but fucking hell.” Turning your head as much as you could, you noticed how his fingers ran over the demon’s hairy chest as he leaned his chin on his shoulder. “The thought is just making me hard all over again. If I could keep my dick inside her 24/7, I would.”

“St-Steven, I’m about to—”

Yanking on your hair, he pulls your back flush against him. “You say my name with confidence, little girl.” His other arm wrap around your front, holding you tightly to him as he thrust into you faster.

“Yes, Steven. Just like that, please. Don’t stop!”

Gravity left you and again you heard an animal’s rough growl before your face was pushed into the pillow as you came. The demon behind you pumped into you a few more times as red light flashed against the headboard in front of you and his spend warmed your insides.

He grunted, trying to catch his breath as both of them fell on either side of you. As soon as their heads hit the soft material, you blinked and found yourself back in your room at home. You tried to roll over so you could see him but Steve covered your eyes once you got to your back.

“No, no, honey. I think…what you’ve already seen is enough to give you trauma for the rest of your life. Let’s not add to it.”

“Can I touch you? At least since you don’t want me to see you.”

“You promise you’ll keep your eyes closed?”

“Yes, sir. I promise.”

Gradually, his hand left your eyes but you did as he asked, keeping them squeezed tight. Taking a hold of your wrist, he guided you to his face. Like Eddie, his skin was a rough material that was exposing itself mostly on his cheeks but unlike his friend, as you shifted to his hair your fingers ran into the horns protruding from his head. Steve seemed to have a lot more trouble keeping up appearances than the other demon.

After you were done touching him, he assumed you’d recoil away but you didn’t. Instead, your roaming digits traced down to the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss that had him softly humming. As soon as you disconnected, you two opened your eyes and you were greeted with the amber ones he always displayed for you.

You curled up into your bed, reaching behind you to bring Eddie’s arm over your waist. It startled him at first but he finally settled into it as he nuzzled his face in your hair.

“Do those woods and house have any significance for you guys? Or was it just a random place?”

“The woods are from our realm. Eddie and I used to hang out there when we were growing up.”

“The house is just a house. We didn’t think you’d be comfortable on the dirty forest floor so that particular home is a combination of places we’ve been to.”

“Oh? Is considering my feelings the demon way?”, you grin as your eyes begin to drift.

“It’s our way. Remember, Y/N, we’re still here to serve you. We protect and guide you while you complete your task. Plus…”, Steve exhales as his fingers caress your cheek, eyes scanning you as you sleep. “Demons usually don’t hurt the ones they care about.”

“Ah,” Eddie chuckles softly. “So, you do feel it to? How different this go around feels.”

“She’s not like the others.”

“I know but, Steven, after she kills that last person, we’re gone. We’ll never see her again.”

“I know, Edward.”, he growls. “Let’s worry about that later. I’m sure when this is all over she’s going to end up hating us anyway.”

###########

@unfocused81 @tlclick73 @iaminlovewithdilfs @tiannamortis

@steeldaisies @goodhappyfriday @paleidiot

@fireeys-on-teller-dixon-grimes @strangerthings64

@howlingco @hellfire--cult

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mazeofyeni · 17 days

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(🔴) ... [ NOW PLAYING ] THEKSTARNEXTDOOR !

( 🤍 ) ... outfit !!

they took off their shoes , making their way in the building, sitting down. "cece." the staff handed her a blanket to cover her legs. "oh thank you." she smiled politely, covering her legs.

"thekstarnextdoor4 , we're starting with the starting artist, we're off to a great start with nct dream!" they clapped; cheering.

"in season 4 the neighbors will join us, since it's the first episode please say hello with all your energy." Jonathan read from the card. "let's say hello 1,2,3.." jeno said. "to the world, this is nct , hello we're nct dream!"

they all introduced themselves, then it was her turn. "im cece, im happy to be here." she waved.

"by the way your video had the most views in season 3." he said. "i should really take credit." chenle said making them all turn their heads in confusion. "because i watched it a lot."

"you watched it 1.1 million times?" "it was so funny, i watched it everytime i ate." he explained. "is there anyone who didn't watch it?"

"jisung." they all laughed. "cece did you watch it?" chenle asked. "oh, um i didn't have the time." she laughed nervously. "but i did see different clips."

"let's move to your individual profiles."

"cece's k-profile." he read off the paper. "k-swindler" she tilted her head in confusion, laughing. "i don't like this."

"we have evidence here , of you wearing various clothing worn by your members." he flipped the book, the boys turned to her. "you told me you didn't have that." jaemin said. "wait , wait let me explain— the evidence is right there." jonathan said making them laugh.

"wait listen." she said. "go a head."

"sometimes i see something in their wardrobe that i like , but i only want to wear it once." she said. "yah you still haven't returned that." chenle pointed to his glasses she was wearing. "yes because im not done wearing those, now all the other stuff i returned."

"you still have that shirt, i don't have it." jaemin said. "you don't?" she said. "do you know where it is?" Jonathan asked, she laughed. "if he doesn't have it i don't know ." jaemin turned to her. "yah!" everyone laughed. "move on, quickly, please." she reached over changing the paper. "please."

"ciara you also send a lot of bubbles." she nodded. "but not intense bubbles." she shook her head. "im not good at them." she said. "fans says you treat bubble like naver." she laughed as he flip the page to the evidence. "you asked fans where can you get good pimple cream, you even provided pictures of the pimple."

she covered her face. "yah, her idol image is gone." jeno said , she slapped his leg. "so embarrassing." she whined. "but really they're helpful though." she said. "because it's gone now, i used a recommendation from a nctzen— ah why did i send that." she said. "at least your nose is clean." chenle said. "yah shut up."

"i heard it's healthy." she let a hum of confusion hearing jaemin explain why he slept naked. "it enhances blood circulation."

"that's odd." she said, hearing the way they all sleep. "this is why i live alone, imagine just walking into their rooms." they turned to her. "pervert." she almost cursed. "cece doesn't like to knock." jaemin said. "but like imagine having to look at—" the staff behind the camera look at her hesitantly. "I'm sorry." she bowed. "im sorry."

"cece i have a question." she looked nervous. "why do you look scared?" Johnathan ask. "your questions scare me." she laughed. "it is okay , it's okay." he said. "i have a question." she signaled him to keep going. "do you often get annoyed with them." she looked at them. "no i love them, they make me so happy."

"she says plainly okay." he showed another collage of her looking annoyed. "why is most of them aimed at chenle?" she laughed. "no it does look like im always annoyed."

"that's cause you are." jaemin said. "stop it." she pushed him. "speaking to them is like speaking to my brother sometimes." she said. "most of the stuff i say goes in one ear and out the other, and it's hard to control it." she explained. "you sound like my sister." johnathan said. "that's cause we realate so much." she said. "but why is it most me?" chenle asked. "because you're almost always doing something that warrants it."

"finally it's the reason you're here, introduce your new song for joining the beginning of season 4." he read, they let jeno explain it, then jaemin gave his explanation that made everyone laughed. "he's so annoying." she said covering her face.

"cece , you don't go on shows a lot , how was it today?" Jonathan asked. "it was so fun." she said. "will you be back?" she shook her head. "no." he looked shocked. "you can't just say that." jisung laughed. "she doesn't mean it." jaemin said. "she'll come back soon."

"maybe if this episode does good." she said flatly. "why is she so scary." she laughed.

"im kidding, i'll comeback soon, for now keep watching nct dream and enjoy our comeback." she finished off.

©️MAZEOFYENI

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oftlunarialmoon · 5 months

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Ciao lovelies! I have written before on the topic of Age Regression many times, from explaining what Age Regression is, to Age Regression Self-Care, to Age Regression Journaling. I never explicitly said before now, but I, myself, am an age regressor to cope with stress (and some other mental health reasons). The reason why I have officially decided to come forward and say so is because I feel that I want to keep writing posts on the topic of age regression, some with personal experience perhaps, so I want to be open with you all and let you know why I continue to write on this topic. I’ve also noticed some of this blog’s audience is made up of age regressors like myself, and I want to provide you all with some content from a safe, welcoming, and open-minded source. All that being said, today I’ve decided to write down 101 activity ideas for Age Regressors/ Things to Do When Bored, Age Regression edition. Please be sure to let me know in the comments (yes, you can even comment anonymously!) if you like these ideas, please be sure to tell me your favorite!

101 ACTIVITIES FOR AGE REGRESSORS

Outside Activities for Summer

1. Play on a swing-set!

2. Play hopscotch!

3. Color with chalk!

4. Build Fairy houses with materials you find outside!

5. Take pictures of your toys in nature! This works especially well for dinosaur toys, animal toys, et, because they look like they’re meant to be in nature!

6. Jump rope!

7. Go swimming!

8. Go fishing with a net and play catch and release!

9. Go to a beach and find cool seashells!

10. Read a book outside in the sun!

11. Go for an ice cream!

Outside Activities for Fall

12. Find leaves and flowers and press them into a journal. You can also do Leaf rubbings, where you put a piece of paper over a leaf and use a crayon to rub over it to get the imprint of the leaf on the paper!

13. Carve a pumpkin!

14. Go to a pumpkin patch and take lots of pics among the pumpkins! You can even pick out one to take home and make into a Jack-O-Lantern (like #12)!

15. Collect cool leaves and make a leaf arrangement/wreath!

Outside Activities for Winter

16. Build a snowman!

17. Build a snow-fort!

18. Have a snowball fight!

19. Try to catch snowflakes on your tongue!

20. Make snow angels!

21. Play hide and seek in the snow!

Outside Activities for Spring

22. Collect flowers and make bouquets!

23. Make flower crowns!

24. Play tag with some friends!

25. Weave grass into cool shapes!

26. Collect cool rocks/gemstones…You can even pretend to be a dragon who’s collecting rocks for their hoard!

Indoor Activities for Any Season

27. Redecorate your room!

28. Clean your room! (I know, bleh, but if you clean then you’ll have a clean slate for #27!)

29. Change your phone’s wallpaper/lockscreen (check out our Instagram Highlight for some of ours!)

30. Play with makeup!

31. Try out new hairstyles!

32. Play dress up!

33. Play with some dolls!

34. Play pretend! You could pretend to be a teacher for your dolls/toys, or even have your stuffies go on super cool adventures with you!

35. Craft! You can make accessories, décor, toys, clothes, anything! Check out our DIY tag for lots of fun crafts!

36. Read some kid books!

37. Stim! I like crinkles when I’m small, and I also like slime and flappy hands!

38. Play with squishies!

39. Walk around a store and look at all the toys and kid stuff!

40. Go on a Dollar Store shopping spree! You can get a lot of stuff at a dollar store for under like $20!

41. Color in some cool pictures!

42. Design a new OC (Original Character)

43. Draw some comics! They can be of yourself or of your OC’s!

44. Cosplay your OC’s/any character you like!

45. Do a photoshoot!

46. Make a sensory bottle!

47. Set up a dollhouse!

48. Make beaded bracelets!

49. Make yourself a snack!

50. Or a meal!

51. Bake some cookies (just be careful with the hot oven, okay?)

52. Have a dance party with your stuffies!

53. Make a playlist to regress to!

54. Find new regression YouTubers!

55. Play some video games! I love Slime Rancher , Animal Crossing, and more!

56. Play with some phone apps! I love Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, Pastel Girl, and Pokémon Go!

57. Try to mix your own perfume!

58. Design a picture using glitter!

59. Draw some fashion designs!

60. Start an age regression journal!

61. Practice some age regression self-care!

62. Make a self-care box!

63. Make figures from modeling clay!

64. Paint your nails!

65. Give your stuffies/dolls a makeover!

66. Find cute regression music!

67. Make posters for your room!

68. Make gifts for your friends!

69. Find a new penpal!

70. Write letters to your pen-pal!

71. Start a sticker scrapbook!

72. Open some blind-bags!

73. Watch some toy youtubers. Our YouTube Channel has some toy videos, my other favorites are Cookie Swirl C and My Froggy Stuff!

74. Make your own YouTube Channel!

75. Create a mystery to solve with your stuffies!

76. Solve a Crossword Puzzle!

77. Solve a Wordsearch!

78. Finish a puzzle!

79. Design your own puzzle!

80. Make an escape room for your toys!

81. Paint something!

82. Watch cute anime like Himouto Umaru Chan!

83. Watch cute shows on Netflix like Twelve Forever or Hilda!

84. Watch fun shows on Hulu like Gravity Falls!

85. Go to the library!

86. Play chess or checkers!

87. Watch a movie! I like Welcome to Monster High!

88. Go see a movie in theatres!

89. Make temporary tattoos using food coloring!

90. Make your own T-shirt using a blank T-shirt and fabric paints!

91. Take a little nap!

92. Put on a play with or for your stuffies!

93. Make clothes and accessories for your stuffies!

94. Make clothes and accessories for your dolls!

95. Make furniture for your dolls!

96. Make your own blindbags for a friend!

97. Upcycle your old clothes and jewelry by designing them into something new!

98. Visit a thrift store!

99. Go to a museum!

100. Go to the mall!

101. Visit an Arcade!

WHEW! I hope that is enough ideas for you bored little ones out there. Have a great day!

#agere #age regression #sfw littlespace #sfw agere #age regressor #sfw age regression #agereg #age dreaming #sfw little blog

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dudefromwormhole · 3 months

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Hazbin Hotel Headcanons:D

That I collected through the internet and now have and absolutely adore. Feel free to add yours:)

Warning for cannibalism and possible spoilers. Enjoy:)

Alastor

1) Alastor rather eats meat of his possible victims than organs. He finds them edible, but just doesn’t like it.

2) Alastor never shares his food. And even when/if he is cooking something for others, he will cook the same food in the separate bowl just for himself.

3) Even if Alastor fell in love he would never(or really unlikely) realise that. Possibly because his own ego and beliefs.

4) Alastor sometimes fantasises about him being executed rather than his own original death. His favourites so far: hanging and electric chair.

5) Alastor would have a love/hate relationship with Will Wood’s music(yes.) just because he despises and underastimates all modern music.

6) Alastor has literal piles of old(and sometimes broken)radios.

7) Alastor hates discussing love and relationships, if they’re not about breaks up, while Rosie adores talking about them.

8) Sometimes Alastor cannot control his shadow. In terms of where it goes and what it does. So yeah, sometimes he walks around without shadow.

Rosie

1) The stuff Rosie proposed to Charlie when they met was prepared by herself.

Also I think Rosie can cook anything(aside from bones perhaps). She knows a lot of recipes about how to cook organs, different types of seasonings, etc.

2) Rosie has Belgic roots. Or French. I feel like she speaks French and maybe Italian or something. I haven’t decided.

3) Rosie only likes to drink dry semi-sweet wine among the alcohol beverages.

4) If Rosie would ever open a fashion business, all her clothes would be with embroidery. She loves embroidery and is pretty good at making it.

The Vees

1) Vox has a love/hate relationship with an electro swing. He likes it, but also “hates” it just because Alastor also likes it. He also likes dubstep and techno genres.

2) Valentino’s afraid of tickling.

3) Val’s also absolutely cannot sleep with the lights turn on, because he’s a moth.

4) Vox was absolutely horrified when he got to Hell and realised that he’s a fucking TV. If there wasn’t a constant danger of getting killed, he would probably sit in the corner of some building in shock.

5) Velvete uses Vox as powerbank.

6) Valentino’s eyesight got worse especially after he realised that he can use Vox’s head when he’s asleep, so now he kinda watches whatever he wants on his head when he’s bored.

7) And also Val and Velvete play the console using Vox(ye, the comic:))

8) In earlier days Vox was absolutely disgusted by someone touching his screen(in first days(look up #4) himself included), but as the time went and also the upgrade, change in themes, he kinda suppressed this disgust.

9) Velvete likes strawberry in chocolate.

10) Vox can draw decently, he just usually doesn’t have time and much imagination to do so.

11) Also Vox has a bad habit of tearing paper to keep his hands busy. By that I mean any paper. So yeah. There were some accidents.

Residents of the Hotel

1) Residents of the Hotel bump into Nifty at least two time per day.

2) Sir Pentious hates stairs.

3) One of the reasons why Husk hates his form is because he cant stop throwing off hairballs.

4) Angel can keep important secrets.

5) Nifty and Charlie both likes those bright and colourful plasters.

6) Vaggie is allergic to citruses(lightly but still).

7) Cherri makes her coffee with energy drinks. Tastes awful, but at least she’s full of energy to kick someone’s ass.

8) Husk knows a lot of card games and also taught the Eggbois how to play couple of them so they’d stop bothering him so much.

9) When he was alive, Husk used to travel and move from one country to another quite often.

10) Sir Pentious when he has a shower, always takes his Eggbois with himself.

11) The reason why Sir Pentious’ ship was covered with plasters was because his Eggbois thought they would actually heal it.

12) Lucifer will never admit that process of making ducks stopped bringing him as much happiness as it used to. But after seven years of just making them, trying to keep his mind off his problems, it just became a routine.

13) One of the reasons why Lilith decided to “disappear” was because at night Lucifer constantly stepped on his ducks and then screamed and cried and apologised to them, making it harder to sleep.

14) Charlie used to make little theatre shows with her toys when she was younger.

15) When Vaggie and Charlie’s relationship got a little more established, they had a whole trip through rings of Hell.

16) Lucifer has a handmade duck copy of every person that he met. He made the most absurd one for Alastor, of course

17) Angel is scared of swallowing bubblegum, because he genuinely believes that his gut will glue together if he does so.

18) Vaggie can’t stand sleeping covered.

Other Overlords

1) Zestial is a tea nerd. I think he would actually do those Chinese ceremonies and stuff. It’s like… the more he appreciates you, the more effort he would put into tea x)

2) Carmilla was(and maybe is?) a big fan of ballet and took classes when she was alive.

Other

1) Adam would love Beetlejuice. In any form, cartoon one, film, musical… He would be a fan.

2) Adam hates waking up at the morning and tells to “fuck off I’m a Gods fucking son” to anyone who tries to wake him up.

3) Adam hates tomatoes and will absolutely roast anyone who eats them when he’s near. Except for Lute.

4) When Heavens court plans to set up a party they usually don’t plan to invite Sera and St Peter.

5) Mimzy is the one who talks about her previous life more than anyone else, each time adding almost unrealistic details.

6) Adam calls his Exterminators group "tits" for because they are woman and there's a bird like that.

6)(this one is to Hell in general) I like to think that you don't die in Hell in a way that when you recieve a deadly wound your body just kinda... gets more regeneration, so you still feel pain untill the wound is healed, but you don't die. So when Exterminators stab sinners with angelic weapons, process of regeneration stops, which gives them opportunity to die.

7) Though Vox created his own special kind of dying for himself. When his screen gets badly damaged, he changes it, so same goes with his body. I think he has a folder somewhere with his personality.

#hazbin hotel #ramblings #hazbin lute #hazbin adam #hazbin valentino #hazbin rosie #hazbin charlie #hazbin alastor #hazbin sir pentious #hazbin headcanons #hazbin carmilla #hazbin cherri bomb #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel husk

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creative-caramel-coffee · 8 months

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Spring sucks

Pairings: Wandanat x R

Word count: 1.3K

Summary: You have allergies and Wanda and nat look after you.

TW: nosebleed, allergies,

A/n I may be projecting just a little bit (or a lot).

Baby animals? Whatever. Flowers? No. Spring? Awful. Why? Because: allergies.

It had taken three days to figure it out. Nat noticed. Wanda noticed. Even Tony noticed. You couldn’t stop rubbing your eyes. Wanda had taken your hands from your eyes more times than you could count. But the itching hadn’t stopped. Around day three you realised. It was spring. Spring meant flowers. Flowers me at pollen. Pollen meant allergies. Stupid stupid allergies. It wasn’t ever more than itchy eyes and an irritated nose. But nothing stopped the itch.

The meeting was going well but you were fighting with yourself to not rub your eyes. A sneeze was building, and your nose itched. It was just a debrief after a mission, but you were trying to pay attention. Eventually you caved and tried to as subtly as possible lift your hand to your eyes. It felt amazing. With a finger you massaged the area near your tear duct rubbing it hastily. You missed the glare Nat shot you. You missed her tap Wanda’s leg and point her pen at you. You suppressed a whine when you felt Wanda’s cool hands take your own away from your eyes. She held them under the table and shot you a disappointed look. Soothingly she ran her thumb over your knuckles as she held your hands in her lap. After a moment she turned back to listening to Steve. You did your best to pay attention. But your eyes still itched and your nose twitches as you suppressed a string of sneezes. Wanda caught on and decided enough was enough.

“Steve?”

“Yes Wanda?”

“Do y/n and I have to stay for this?”

“Um. No?” Steve looked confused.

“Ok then we’re going to go. I’ll get the notes from Nat later.” Wanda said nodding at them and standing up with your hands still in hers she dragged you out of the room. Nat gave a mock salute as she passed, and Wanda rolled her eyes.

Once in the lift Wanda looked into your eyes.

“Y/n/n sweetheart what have I told you about rubbing?” She said chastising lightly.

“Not to.” You moped dejectedly. Finally, you sneezed violently before straightening and rubbing your nose Wanda grabbed your hands again.

“Bless you love.” Wanda said and you sniffled with tears in your eyes as the allergies seemed to almost get worse. “Aw honey I know it sucks.” She said and let go of your hands shooting you a look when you lifted them towards your face. Slowly you lowered them to your sides again where you began fidgeting with the hem of your shirt.

“Go lie down in my room I already have a dehumidifier going and the windows shut for you sweets.”

“Thanks wands.” You said and set off while she went towards the kitchen.

“No rubbing!” She called after you.

Entering her room, you laid on the bed and draped an arm over your itching eyes. A moment later the door opened, and you felt your arm being removed from your face. You whined and Wanda shushed you. A moment later you couldn’t stop the small moan as she placed a cold compress over your eyes. Wanda chuckled.

“I thought we would try the compress because you don’t like eye drops my love.” She said and you muttered a thank you.

“Always my sweet. I’m just sorry that 3/4 seasons hate you.”

“Survival of the fittest should have taken me out years ago.” You joked and Wanda lightly hit your arm.

“Don’t joke I need you.” Wanda said stifling a laugh.

“I need for winter to not make my asthma try and kill me. I got heatstroke this year in summer. And spring makes me want to remove my own eyes with a spoon.” You sigh.

“Aw honey I know. But I’m here and at least autumn doesn’t try to kill you.”

“Yay” you said monotonously “one out of four. Lucky me.” Your sarcasm dripped from every word.

“How does it feel now?” Wanda asked rubbing your arm.

“Better but still itchy.” You sighed.

“Ok love shuffle over and we can cuddle.” Wanda said nudging your side. You wiggled for a moment and felt Wanda slide in next to you. You buried yourself in her side and she ran a hand over your back.

“My sweet girl. It’s ok. I’m here.” She said as you fell asleep.

When you woke up next the cloth had fallen off your eyes which still itched but not as badly. Wanda was laid next to you quietly talking to Natasha who laid with her arm around you. You smiled at your girlfriends and sniffled.

“Aww sweets do you need a tissue love?” Nat asked.

“i don’t think it’ll do much.” You sighed miserably. Nat ignored you and took a tissue from the box on the bedside pressing it to your nose.

“Blow.” she instructed still holding the tissue.

“No natty gross.” You said. “Im not three.”

“Baby shes just trying to help.” Wanda said but she was cut off when you sneezed into the tissue Nat was still holding to your face. Your cheeks flushed at the realisation of what you had just done.

“No baby none of that.” Nat said reading your face. She threw away the tissue and pulled you into her chest for a hug. With your front pressed into hers you felt Wanda wrap around you from behind.

“We love you sweetheart even if spring doesn’t.” Nat said and pressed a kiss to the top of your head. you sighed and buried your face in her chest. After a moment you felt another sneeze building and you tried to pull away from Nat, but she held you tight. Wanda sensing your distress pulled you from Nat’s arms and pressed a tissue to your face as Nat had before as you sneezed again.

“Shit sorry wands.” you said embarrassed.

“No problem baby its better than sneezing on Natty.” She grinned and Natasha shrugged unbothered and wrapped her arms around your waist and pulled you back into her. Wanda threw away the tissue and came to join the hug. The quiet was only broken by the occasional sniffle and light slap as Wanda stopped you rubbing your eyes. After a moment Natasha slipped out from behind you and returned a moment later with the cloth now damp and cold again. Nat guided you back into the pillows and laid the cloth over your eyes. You sighed in relief.

“Thank you natty.” you said.

“Anytime bubs.” she said.

You couldn’t help the aggressiveness with which you rubbed your nose. Wanda scolded you lightly.

“Y/n/n I know its itchy bubs but if you keep rubbing it that hard you’ll get a nosebleed.” She said not looking up. A second later you quickly sat up bringing your hands to your face as the cloth fell off.

“Too late.” You mumbled and hurried to the bathroom as the blood began to drip into your cupped hands and down your fingers.

“Oh Y/n.” Nat said as her and Wanda walked into the bathroom where you stood over the sink letting it drip into the white porcelain.

“Lean forwards love.” Wanda said as she placed the cool cloth on the back of your neck like she was taught. Ideally, she would use an ice pack, but they didn’t have one and hopefully by the time she would have returned from the kitchen it would have already stopped. You sighed as it continued to drip down the drain. Nat rubbed your back with her hand. They knew you got nosebleeds often, but it was more of an annoyance for you than a problem. After a few minutes the bleeding stopped and you washed the blood from your hands and the sink down the drain, the pink water disappearing from sight. You wiped your face with some toilet paper so you didn’t stain a rag with blood. Wanda helped you back into bed and replaced the cloth on your eyes.

“No more rubbing Y/n/n or it will start bleeding all over again my sweet.” Nat said and the two girls curled up beside you as you drifted off.

MASTERLIST

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dearmrshudson · 3 days

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The post of saddest(?) supernatural moment gave me the idea to maka a list of my own... You know, an honest list which will not push any agenda or exclude one of the main character completely to forcefully feed to a romantic pair which does not even exist.

so here it goes-

10. Dean's reaction after Sam's death in 13x21 :

This one is so nominal and insignificant to be in this list and not one of top moments for a lot, but this scene ripped my heart open when I saw it for the first time. It manages to show us how Dean's whole world will literally fall apart and make him an empty vessel if Sam is gone and he can do nothing about it - and Jensen manages to portray it with just a walk, two blank eyes and then one drop of tear. Kudos.

9. Church Scene in 'Sacrifice' (8x23):

Anyone who has not cried in this scene? Perfeftly shows the core of the show, the deep love between two brothers- despite all the reasons, all the idiological differences, all the mature discussion and all- Sam is the baby brother of Dean; at the end he needs Dean to be there as a big bro, to tell him to let it go, to clutch him in his chest. Ultimately they will always choose each other and nothing else will come between them.

8. Dean's death in 9x23:

One of the saddest death of Dean, and perhaps it comes to this list because of the build-up and drama follows this. Both had their own reasons for the tension they had this whole season, but when the tragedy comes it hits so hard that all those logics fell apart. It scares to peep in Sam's headspace at this time of dean's dying- imagine you discarding the person you love the most as you are reasonably angry with him, and in a few days he is dying in your arms when you have hardly talked out your differences.

7. Why don’t you believe in us too (14x12) :

Probably should come much later in this list, but this scene stood out in my eyes because it was such a fresh air in the terrible plotless mimicry that SPN had become in later seasons. The scene after ages which sums up Sam and Dean, the codependent brothers whom we had forgotten. Such a long time after we see Sam the little brother, witness the emotional turmoil he was going through silently and how it exploded. The only scene which makes season 14 worth remembering. Also Jared just nailed this scene!

6.) Dead or Alive (3x16):

This scene breaks my heart in pieces. Dean bravely going for the last fight before the horrible death he will be facing. And he trying to cheer up baby bro, he wants the last memory with his brother to be in this car- singing along together... How his face slowly glooms at the end and his eyes full of fear... Early seasons really were gems!

5. Sam in Mystery spot (3x11) :

Undoubtedly one of the best SPN episode with perfect blend of mystery, fun, laughter, tragedy and emotion... The funny vibe of the episode ends in a moment when we see Sam is not waking up from the nightmare loop. Then we see a robot- a scary robot who only wants to get his brother back at any cost. This episode is yet another example of how Sam loves Dean just as fiercely as Dean does, and he is not any less codependent.

4. Barn scene and alone Sam (15x20) :

God! What can I say about this!

Just want to add, Sam wandering alone in the bunker after creamating Dean hurts me equally.

3. John's death (2x01):

Cannot forget this one. This episode happens to be another favourite of mine, and the way John sacrifices himself for his son proves that a father can go to any extent for his children. The farewell scene of John - where he asks for forgiveness and goodbye to dean without him understanding brings tears to my eyes. Such a beautiful acting by JDM and so realistic portrayal of a flawed, helpless and loving father.

2. End of Season 5 (5x22)

The ground was set, the battle was about to begin, the ultimate faceoff between Lucifer and Michael was going to start- then what happens? A stubborn idiot boy with a muscle car and hellbent attitude comes in between- knowing that he cannot survive this- just because one of these celestial entities have captured his brother as a vessel and he won’t leave his brother alone. Till his last drop of blood he keeps on trying- trying to reach his brother who is trapped under something much bigger- keeps on telling that It's okay, he is not alone, his big brother is here. And guess what, he succeed. His brother broke free the bind of one of the strongest entity of universe and fought. The climax scene gives me goosebump always followed by a bunch of grief and saddness the ending carries. Had season 5 been the last season of SPN, and this be the exact way the series ended, I would absolutely have no regret!

1. Sammy's first Death (2x21):

No matter how many sad scenes are perfectly executed in SPN, nothing can exceed the emotion of this one. Jensen will also not be able to exceed the level of performance be set in this particular scene. Period.

So this is it... I must have excluded many. And turns out my list is full of Sam and Dean only and I am also not unbiased 🤣🤣 Well, there are sad scenes that do not involve only the brothers and I still like them, but not my top 10. Maybe have to make list of top 11 to 20 in order to include them. 😁

Please share your favourite saddest top 10 as well.

#supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #sam and dean #john winchester #spn #jensen ackles #j2 #anti destiel #top 10 list #jared padalecki #best episode

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writer-sedai · 6 months

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I've been thinking about how Rand's relationships might be handled in season 3 of the show, since there are already several big differences in how various relationships have been portrayed/set up as of the end of season 2 compared to where things are at the beginning of The Shadow Rising:

1. Rand and Egwene: in the books, their relationship is definitely portrayed as more of a puppy-love, "we'll marry each other because it's what's been expected our whole lives and not because it's what we actually want" sort of situation. By aging up the Emonds Fielders, the show also matured their relationship into something that was, as of s1e1, more romantic than their book relationship ever was.

It's true that Rand and Egwene already broke up in that first episode and never REALLY got back together, but it's clear throughout season 2 that Rand still loves Egwene (she's the one he's trying to forget with Selene! When given the opportunity to visit anyone in the world, she's the one he chooses!) and Egwene, if not for the fact that she believed him dead, would still love him too (given the state of their relationship at the end of season 1, when they reconciled).

The original reason they broke up was because Egwene was going to become a Wisdom - a position that meant she couldn't have a family - and a family was all Rand really wanted. Their futures were incompatible. Now, neither of them is going to have the future they imagined a year ago - a family is completely out of the question for Rand (poor boy) and Egwene is set to become an Aes Sedai, with a lot more freedom to choose other aspects of her life.

Likely, their futures are still incompatible. But I think they need to figure out why that is again before they can break up as amicably as they did in the books - especially if they end up traveling the waste together.

2. Missing connections: Egwene never met Gawyn or Galad in the Tower to develop a crush on one or both of them. Elayne did not meet Rand before going to the Tower in order to discuss her feelings for him with Egwene. Min is out of the equation completely at this point. And Egwene and Elayne never met Aviendha in order to form a friendship with her. The timing needed to set various pieces into place before all the groups split up again is missing.

Now, I think a time jump at the beginning of season 3 could fill in a lot of the gaps here if it's handled well. But I can't see Elayne/Egwene coming to the same agreement re: Rand as they do in the books unless Egwene is sufficiently over Rand.

Which brings me to:

3. Everyone's older and more mature: the scene where Egwene breaks up with Rand and then leaves Elayne to pick up the pieces is, tbh, one of the cringiest in the series. (Actually, TSR is one of my fave books overall but the first hundred or so pages do feel very immature). I caaaaaan't see this scene playing out in the show the way it does in the books.

And even with the romantic meet-cute between Rand and Elayne in 2x08, I don't know if they'll introduce the idea of them as a pairing yet both because of time constraints before they get thrown into different storylines, and because...

4. Rand hasn't been taught about polyamory yet! In the books, I think he's already having dreams about multiple women and feeling guilty about it by this point. Similar to the time constraints in point 2, Rand hasn't had time to get used to the idea of having feelings for multiple people (even if he takes a very long time to actually be COMFORTABLE with that idea).

The audience has been introduced to polyamory through Alanna and her warders, prepping us for a similar type of relationship with Rand in the future, but Rand himself is missing that conditioning. I don't know that the show will have Rand going from Egwene to Elayne over the space of one or two episodes (I doubt they'll spend more time than that together) and then ALSO try to build up him and Avi this season.

Which kind of ties in to my final point, which is:

5. Writing relationships for seasonal television: it makes sense from a writing perspective to work on relationships between characters that are in the same place together, and save everything else for later. The time between seasons is long and each season needs to act as a self-contained arc, so setting up Rand/Elayne only to not pick up that thread again for another season or two is not very time conscientious.

Imo they've already done something like this with Min; Rand met her in s1 but now likely won't see her again until S4. As far as we know Rand has absolutely no romantic feelings for Min based on their encounters in Fal Dara and likely won't develop those feelings until they meet again. (Min herself might feel differently, but she always knew she was Prophecied to fall in love with Rand anyway and could be dealing with that knowledge in the background.)

___________

Anyway, all of that is a prelude to the following preposition:

Keep Rand and Egwene together (or semi-together, uncertain of their actual status) for the first part of season 3.

Leave Rand/Elayne as a slowburn for a future season and instead have Aviendha come in as a new love interest for him. Instead of Aviendha aggressively reminding Rand how beautiful Elayne is while feeling angry and hopeless over her own feelings for him, transfer that over to Egwene - Aviendha and Egwene have become good friends, Egwene's feelings for Rand are still ambiguous, Aviendha is angry at herself that she would fall for someone who "belongs" to one of her closest friends.

Egwene can still give Aviendha the necklace that Rand spends so much time thinking about. Aviendha (or the Aiel in general) can introduce Rand to the concept of polyamory. When Rand and Egwene do finally break up amicably, Egwene can make it clear to Aviendha that Rand no longer belongs to her.

Everything else from TSR, including Flesh Balloons and Sex Igloo, can proceed as written.

Thoughts?

#wheel of time #wot on prime #wot book spoilers #listen i am first and foremost a Randgwene truther #not necessarily romantically but in the sense that i like to squish them together #and spin them around in my head like they're in a washing machine #i need them to not “i think of you like a sibling” their way out of this one #rand al'thor #egwene al'vere #wot spec

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enamoredwithbella · 3 months

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PJO TV CRIT RANT COMING !!

If you don’t want to hear or don’t like it just don’t read it. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion

I’ve been on the pjo tv crit tag and I gotta say I agree with most of what’s on there 😭😭

All my praise for the show goes to the actors alone. I’m not stupid I didn’t expect the show to be an exact replica of the books cause that would’ve been boring as well but I feel like say “faithful adaptation” is a bit overzealous.

1. The changes

Some of the changes I love. Like them stopping for candy and Annabeth going in was so cute. Grover using psychological warfare on the God of war ate.

But a lot of the changes were just like ???? What was the point? And all the stuff that they revealed like 4-5 seasons too early. Stuff that was hinted at through the books that built suspense and intrigue just dumped on the table was a bit 😕

I remember finding out about Luke’s mom and why Luke REALLY hated his father. It literally had me gagged it was like finding out something I didn’t even know I was waiting for. The build up to them finding out Kronos involved was always a favorite cause it felt so raw. It was pure fear encapsulated by words, you could feel it, it was palpable and we just didn’t get that in the show. It was so “here you go. Kronos it was him *but said intensely*”

2. Them knowing everything

I do understand how it does make sense that they would know a lot of things from the jump as they all literally grew up with this information but a lot of the times where they didn’t realize exactly what was happening right away in the books have a slight reminder of how young and innocent they are. These neurodivergent 12 year olds who have been tasked with a Gods job and have been trekking across the states for days; yeah I wouldn’t expect them to be at the top of their game ALL THE TIME no matter how smart they are. The slip ups show that even though they’re these tiny warriors they aren’t immune to being a little naive.

3. Setting

I’m not gonna criticize the settings cause if that’s how Rick imagined it then that’s how he imagined it but I can’t blame the ppl who are a bit miffed at how the sets were portrayed. The underworld did truly throw me off.

4. Info dumping ?? Or not enough info idk

I also saw a post about how they would just throw random names out there pertaining to Greek mythology and then just not explain 😭😭 and all the stuff that they left out too (fields of punishment, isle blest, etc) which sets up for things in later seasons. And I understand the time crunch; 8 episodes 40 mins give or take and a dream is what they had. That being said this shit was a mess 🤷🏽‍♀️😭😭 like badly set up, script was not doing them any justice, and it felt so boring most of the time.

5. Whimsy and fun erasure

There were gems I will keep saying that. There were fun times but the fun times also felt very strategically placed whereas in the books it was sorta woven into the chaos. Charon being a lil silly, Grover playing the shooting game in the lotus casino and killing humans (I love him so much 😭😭), annabeth geeking over the architecture of the arch and going on a tangent about how it was made while Grover and Percy trade candy in the back. Talking to the animals and Percy finding out he can speak horse, the car wash where annabeth scares off a grown man in a Lincoln, “shows over! Thank you and goodnight!”, Percy and Grover clowning annabeth for watching the discovery channel unironically. I’m not saying I expected them to put all this shit in there cause again I’m not an imbecile but the type of wit and humor that made everyone fall in love with the books was cut out for the more serious stuff. And what’s so frustrating about that is I KNOW the actors would’ve ate it up. Walker especially that boy IS Percy.

I could keep finding stuff but I’m trying to be grateful cause even after all of this Rick did take the time to try and think of us and maybe it’s not his fault but idk it’s just a bit disappointing after the way it was marketed towards long time fans

Much love to Walker, Leah, and Aryan and hope for future seasons 😊

#pjo tv crit #percy pjo #percy tv series #percy series #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson and the olympians tv show #book percy jackson #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #leah sava jeffries #walker scobell #aryan simhadri #rick riordan

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ultrasofts · 1 year

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any advice on how to get into indycar? i see more posting about it these days and it seems fun but i don't know anyone personally who watches it

Okay, I took like three weeks to reply to this because I am using it as an excuse to make the “Indycar 101 from the perspective of a new fan” post that I have been meaning to make for a while, because I would love for more people on here to watch it!! It’s extremely fun, close racing, with some great talent and interesting narratives. It’s a less polished product than F1, and sometimes upsettingly American, but it’s great and it genuinely brings me a lot of joy.

This primer is light on the history of the series, designed to answer the basic sorts of questions that will come up if you just put on a race and try to follow what’s going on. It’s also 100% targeted at people who watch F1, since, you know, that’s the corner of the internet we’re in.

There’s three basic sections, so feel free to jump around as is useful, because this turned into a probably unnecessarily long post.

Part 1: Basic series info

Part 2: How to follow a race weekend

Part 3: Who to root for

Big thank you to Fir @josefnewgaydengayden for their contributions <3

Part 1: Basic series info

Teams

I think the first thing to know is that there’s no teams championship which imo is a big part of why the teammate dynamic is quite different to F1. Team orders aren’t really a thing, and there’s not really any such thing as a “number one driver” in a comparatively meaningful way

Teams have varying numbers of cars. Anything from 1-4 is common (last year’s grid had that full spectrum). You can also have part time or shared entries - for example Marcus Armstrong and Takuma Sato are essentially sharing one of the Chip Ganassi cars this season, with Sato running the ovals and Armstrong running everything else

Currently, the two top teams are Penske (Power, Newgarden, McLaughlin) and Chip Ganassi (Dixon, Palou, Ericsson, and Armstrong/Sato). Last season the championship contenders at the back end of the season were Power (who ultimately won), Newgarden, Dixon, McLaughlin and Ericsson (yes there were five title contenders down to the finish)

The close competitors - teams what will almost certainly win at least one race this season (very possibly more) and could have their best drivers in title contention are Arrow McLaren (O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Rossi) and Andretti (Herta, Grosjean, Kirkwood, DeFrancesco)

There’s other teams that I will leave you to look up based on which drivers you’re interested in

Cars

The cars are mostly spec—they have the same chassis and aero package. There are two engine suppliers: Honda and Chevrolet, and the tyres are Firestone

Teams are allowed to build and develop some of their own parts, like the brake ducts and certain suspension parts

Overtake assist is Push to Pass rather than DRS — drivers get a set number of seconds per race where they can push a button to get a power boost. They can use it anywhere on track, offensively or defensively, but once it’s used up, it’s used up

Unlike F1, the cars have no power steering. That’s why Josef Newgarden looks like that (jk but also not)

The cars also don’t have anti-stall, so if a car stops on track, you’ll often see it have to be fired up to get going again

Tracks

Indycar races on street courses (street tracks in F1), road courses (equivalent to what just get called tracks in F1, like Barcelona or Bahrain), and ovals

I wasn’t 100% sure about the whole oval thing, but oval racing can be crazy exciting (and absolutely fucking terrifying). I would highly recommend this twitter thread as an intro to Indycar oval racing—and in general Cassie is a great follow for new fans!

The Indy 500 is its own beast and won’t get into it here. Really though, the main difference aside from the Stature and Importance is the qualifying format and the extra entries—in terms of the actual race, it’s conceptually similar to other oval races

Where do I watch it?

If you’re willing or able to pay, Indycar Live is a great deal—it’s only $3/month or $20 for a season pass. They also have individual race passes! You’ll have to use a VPN though, if your location is not on the access list (due to broadcast restrictions)

Otherwise, check whatever the way to access it in your jurisdiction is - in the US/Canada I believe you can get it with a Peacock streaming subscription, and in Australia it’s on Stan Sport (although it is so much cheaper to get a VPN + Indycar Live)

Alternatively, all your usual illegal streaming sites should have what you need!

Part 2: How to follow a race weekend

In broad strokes, it’s very similar to an F1 race weekend. Practice, qualifying and race sessions, although obviously some of the details differ…

These car liveries girl help 😭

This was probably the thing that I found hardest in terms of watching a race and understanding what the fuck was going on - teams don’t have the same liveries on all their cars (although sometimes, e.g. McLaren, they go for similar looks across them), and cars don’t necessarily have the same livery race-to-race

My advice is to just pick a few to learn and pay attention to throughout a race. The livery of your favourite 2-3 drivers, or ones that are really easy to pick out (because they’re bright colours, or just catch your eye, or whatever). Once you know a couple of livery + driver combos, that’s a useful anchor to the timing screen, so you can find who is in front/behind them. You’ll pick it up much faster than you think—and you really do not need to know every single one, I certainly still don’t!

I’ve put the spotters guide for the liveries for the St Pete race just gone below and circled a few I would generally recommend learning. The circled ones are all what those drivers are running this weekend in Texas, with the exception of Josef who has my fave livery of the weekend with the fruity PPG look

Liveries I’d recommend as good starting points: Scott Dixon’s PNC Bank because he doesn’t change much and tbh it always pays to know where he is in a race. Kyle Kirkwood is often in the hot pink Andretti. Josef’s Hitachi livery, and Will Power’s black and red Verizon are pretty easy to spot. McLaren are generally easy to spot if you’re used to looking for the papaya cars - I’ve circled Pato’s papaya and black livery below. Colton Herta’s yellow and black Gainbridge and RoGro’s DHL liveries are also pretty distinctive!

Practice

It’s free practice who gives a shit

Qualifying — Street/Road courses

In generally, it’s really similar to F1—there are 3 timed stages, with a cutoff position in Q1 and Q2. The main difference is that Q1 goes out in two groups, and the fastest 6 in each go through to Q2, and the 12 get whittled down to 6 for Q3

Qualifying — Ovals

For oval races, drivers go out one at a time, in reverse championship order. They get two warmup laps, and then two consecutive qualifying laps

Average speed across the two laps is the driver’s qualifying speed, and the fastest speed gets pole

As I said above, Indy 500 qualifying is its own beast, although it broadly follows the strokes outlined above

A word on the goddamn qualifying timing screen because this is the hill I will die on

Look, if you watch F1 quali, you’ll know enough to follow the basics of a street/road course quali session out of the box

However, the timing screen is not good and you just gotta live with it. The number on thing I wish we could bring over from F1 is the broadcast timing screen and some of the broadcast graphics

When drivers are on a lap, there’ll be a delta time next to their name, and the box with the time will either be green or red. Sometimes the delta time is to the cutoff (i.e. the delta to the person currently in P6) or to P1. Sometimes it’s clear from context which of the two it is, sometimes it’s not. Also because everyone is on the lap, just because someone is green, doesn’t mean they’re safe as everyone else below the cut could also be green, and unless you can do really fast math… no hope. The size of the delta will give you a sense of how safe or not someone is, and if you’re focusing on one driver it’s mostly manageable but it’s not ideal

In general, I would say qualifying matters less than in F1, as the cars are closer in performance and there is in general a lot more overtaking, so I can live with it

Race start

Indycar always has a rolling start — they do a formation lap, then the green flag goes and the race starts as they cross the line. Sometimes I miss the drama of a standing start — lights out in F1 is pretty fucking cool. That said, the Saudi GP of 2021 cured me of the need to ever see a standing start again in my life so it’s good, actually. The start is still exciting and stressful, just a notch or two less so

Pitstops

These really can be chaos personified. There is no such thing as a safe release. Pray to any god you believe in that your guy makes it out alive, especially if a ton of people are in at once on an oval

Stops are significantly longer than F1—the limiting factor is typically the refuelling time, so there’s less of a hustle on tyre changes (although they are obviously still very fast). 7-8 seconds is typical

Races will often have more stops than an F1 race, too—3-4 stops is not uncommon

Strategy

This often comes down to tyre strategy and fuel management

Similar to F1, everyone has to use both a hard tyre (called the blacks, or the primary tyre) and a soft tyre (called the reds, or alternate tyre. This season there’s actually a different alternate compound, with a green stripe, for street courses. So you might see commentators/drivers referring to “sticker reds” when a driver is quite clearly on a green-stripe tyre

Similar to F1, drivers have to use more than one compound; the rule is actually that drivers have to complete at least two laps on each tyre type. Drivers can start on whatever they want and use them in whatever order, but they have to use both

There’s a single type of wet tyre for rain, and also a specific tyre compound for ovals. (Note that oval races don’t run in the rain on account of how it would be extremely fucking dangerous)

Tyre deg management is conceptually similar to F1, and broadly the same strategy considerations apply

Fuel management is absolutely critical and fuel saving strats and ability can make all the difference. I feel like it’s especially critical on ovals although this might just be that it has been for the oval races that I’ve watched. If you start watching Indycar you will, inevitably, hear a commentator talk about how Scott Dixon is a master of fuel saving

Part 3: So who do I root for?

So I am a firm believer that you don’t pick your fave—your fave picks you. But that said, here are some of the narratives for some of my faves, fave-adjacents and popular picks that may or may not be of interest to you. Listen to your heart…

Scott McLaughlin, aka Scotty Mac. Kiwi driver, came across to Indycar from Australia’s V8 Supercars series in 2021 (as a three time champ in that series) and took to single seaters like he was born for it, scoring a P2 in his third ever race (and first oval) and winning rookie of the year. He had a breakout season last year, with three wins and admittedly a bit of a midseason slump. Super fast, super racey. Genuinely a title contender, but there’s a lot of that going round in Indycar. For me the narrative this season is whether he can build on last year and be a proper front runner, and build some of the consistency that was lacking last season

Josef Newgarden, America’s Boyfriend. Handsome in a corn-fed, broad-shouldered, pure American beef kind of way. Two-time title winner, with a hattrick of runners-up trophies. Number one Scott McLaughlin fan. I think the narrative for him this season is if he can find his happy place every single week. He had a frustrating year last year—true win or bin. He won more races than anyone else, but had quite a lot of DNFs too, often not of his own making. Changes to his crew and team meant that things weren’t exactly seamless, and I think it was really clear that it was a frustrating year for him. I really hope he can find some goddamn luck this year, to go with the mountains of talent and hard work

Scott Dixon, the GOAT. He’s won six championships, and has been a contender in almost every season he’s run. He won his first title in 2003, and his most recent one in 2020. Fuel saving king. Nothing in life is as certain as death, taxes, and Scott Dixon being in the title fight. Literally does not matter where he starts a race, you’d be silly to ever assume he’s not going to find his way to the front. Root for this guy if you love a capital w Winner. (And if you’re a FE fan, his WAG is the man who finished 33rd in the 2008 Daytona 500, Dario Franchitti.) Narrative-wise, there’s a few records he’s chasing, and a seventh title would obviously be a huge deal, but his Big Thing is that for a driver with as much success as he’s had, he’s only had one Indy 500 win. It was all lined up to be his last year, but I’m too traumatised to talk about it but a 1 mph pit lane speeding violation scuppered his chances

Will Power, yes that's his real name. Imo Will wrapped up his Compelling Narrative last season, when he won his second title with one of the biggest mindset and energy shift a professional athlete has ever pulled off? Historically a big hothead, he won the title in 2014, but was never able to get it across the line a second time. Last year he came in with a totally different attitude—he was zen as hell, so much so that it clearly freaked out and bemused the commentators because it was a talking point literally ever race. He was Mr Consistency, always always maximising his points and staying out of trouble, and it won him the title. This season it’ll be interesting to see if he can deliver the same kind of energy and performance - signs from race one point to yes

Colton Herta, he’s just a funky little guy! Front man of garage punk band The Zibs moonlighting as a racing driver. You've probably heard of him in some way or another if you're following the McLaren-Ganassi Saga last season, and the subsequent superlicense eligibility back and forth that followed. He's highly rated for a reason: he's IndyCar's youngest race winner, and since his debut in 2019, only three other drivers have won more races than him (Colton won 7, 2 of them in his debut season in a non-clear front runner car). He's still rough around the edges especially when it comes to patience, but you can't deny his blistering pace, car control skills, and racecraft. With Alexander Rossi moving to McLaren, as the most "senior" member of the Andretti Autosport organization this might be the year he's expected to step up. Fights alt right trolls on Twitter from time to time

Romain Grosjean, the ex-F1 driver (there’s a bit of that going round in Indycar). If you’re coming from F1, you obviously know the backstory here. He had a great first year, but a frustrating second one when he moved to Andretti. He’s had two poles, and been close to race wins, but hasn’t closed the deal yet. (Personally I think the man should not try it around the outside of turn 4 at St Pete but maybe that’s just me.) I do think him getting a win is very likely, either this season or next—I don’t know if he’s title contender material yet, but the thing about Indycar is you kind of never fucking know

Pato O’Ward, no. 2 entry on Zak Brown’s list of twinks under contract. I understand why people tend to sort of compare him to Lando, but I personally don’t really see it? He’s a bit of a shit stirrer and trouble maker, but he’s extremely funny about it—he’s annoying (affectionate). Multiple race winner, and general consensus is that he has what it takes to be a champion, but can McLaren Get It Together. He lost out on what should have been a win at St Pete due to an electrical (?) issue and he was incredibly pissed off about it in a way that made me like him enormously. The other potential interesting narrative is the light potential for a McLaren Civil War between him and Alex Rossi which isn’t something that’s expected to happen so much as something I am desperately hoping for

I’ll leave it there otherwise it’ll end up covering half the field because, well�� There’s hard-done-by F2 drivers who didn’t have the money or connections or whatever to make it to F1 (Callum Ilott beloved, and Marcus Armstrong), there’s the good-but-never-quite-delivered-on-his-promise Alexander Rossi driving for a new team (McLaren) for the first time in his Indycar career, a 33-year old rookie in Augustín Canapino who’s only ever raced tin tops but has no fear of god or the english language and is doing a full program, including ovals, this year, Florida Man Kyle Kirkwood, a man whose actual name on his actual birth certificate is Sting Ray Robb… the list goes on and on.

So...now what?

Indycar is back this weekend in Texas for an oval race (which had a crazy exciting finish last year) and then in two weeks at the Long Beach street course. I can’t recommend giving it a go enough, and my inbox is always open for questions, and my DMs for in-race screaming (and also questions.) I’m still pretty new to the series myself and almost certainly won’t know the answer but I will do my best and point you to someone who can answer you if I can’t.

If you’ve made it to the end, thanks for reading and pls watch Indycar <3

#this is too long sorry i got carried away #also if i did your fave dirty (sorry marcus ericsson fans he deserves more than this) pls feel free to add your one paragraph #on why someone should root for them #indycar #asks #anonymous

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