#will edit this later if need be. god i'm so fucking awkward

[multishipperbish]

HEY HI HELLO

-> my name is Nico but I also use Alex :3 -> I use he/xe pronouns -> I have a really hard time interacting with anyone ever but I'm working on it!! -> I'm aromantic and pansexual we ballin -> I listen to like. folk punk and goth music and midwest emo it's horrible inside my head -> I'm gonna post mostly about LOTF because I have insta and discord and ao3 to post about my other interests so if you're not into that... tough luck bucko -> other interests include South Park, the Riordanverse (particularly Magnus Chase), Houseki No Kuni, Wings of Fire (me when i'm stuck in 2014), Artemis Fowl (except i gotta reread it and the movie was foul), Good Omens, and horror movies -> I write and I draw... mostly traditional but I might post some digital art too :3 -> I speak English and French and write in both -> I have an ongoing LOTF fic that's surpassed 40K words and it's kind of scaring me -> I'm open to discuss anything!! dms always open -> dni proships and any kind of nefarious -phobia. shoo. none of that allowed here. -> me personally i have trypophobia and emetophobia and cynophobia (for the really big dogs not the silly ones i'll reblog) so don't do that to me!! alright peace out fags

[hutchersonsgurl]

fuck it were getting back together -Mike Schmidt

paring x Fem reader

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒】: 18+; mdni | profanity, oral sex (f receiving), unprotected p in v, degradation, choking, ( not edited)

summary: your ex-Mike calls you for a booty call 😏

"Hey, bring your fine ass over here. Abby is staying the night at a friend's house tonight, and I'm drunk, and I need you here." Mike slurred over the phone.

You look over at the clock and see it's three in the morning since you and Mike split. The two of you mostly just see each other for booty calls because neither of you wants someone else to touch each other.

"Alright, fine, I'll be there in 5 minutes, you respond.

"Alright, good, don't keep Daddy waiting," he says, and then hangs up the phone.

You know you shouldn't go over there because the morning after, he acts like a dick, but deep down, you know you miss him like crazy.

You hop in the shower and spray his favorite perfume on your body, then get dressed and hop in your car.

5 minutes later

You arrive at Mike's house, and he answers the door and lets you in. You see the empty beer bottles on the table, and you can already tell that he's really drunk. You are in the kitchen cleaning up his mess as Mike comes from behind you.

"God, that ass is so damn fine. Why did I let you go?" He asks as he grabs your sides and spins you around. Are you facing him now?

Your leaning against the counter. "I mean, you're the one who said you didn't want me anymore, Mike." I respond, looking at him in his puppy dog eyes.

"So we are clear, that's a fucking lie," Mike says. His hand moved down to your neck, giving it a gentle squeeze before he leaned forward, crushing his lips against yours.

For a moment, there was just dry pressure and an awkward clash of teeth. His hands found your upper arms, hoisting you up the counter. You could smell the alcohol on his breath, but you didn't care; nobody could make you feel the way he did.

He grabs you by the back of your neck and shoves his mouth on yours. The two of you are fully making out now. His grip on you loosened briefly, his tongue slipping out of your mouth as he mumbled gruffly against your lips.

"You have no fucking idea how much I need you to be inside of you," he says with his lips against yours.

He let the words hang in the air for a second before crashing his lips back onto yours. Nudging your head to the side, he ravaged your neck with a series of wet kisses interspersed with sharp nips of his teeth. Mouth swiftly moving down your neck, hungrily marking any exposed patch of skin he had access to. With one hand entangled in your hair and the other securing your waist, he systematically disheveled your composed appearance. The bruises and bite marks adorning your neck conveyed a clear message: it was clear you were still his no matter what.

Mike bites his lip, and he gets down on his knees, his brown eyes looking up at you while his hands find their way to your hips, long fingers gently hooking themselves under your waistband. His throat bobbed once, a subtle rise and fall before he spoke up: I need to taste you; let me taste you, he said with a purr in his voice.

Your jeans and pants fell to the floor with a muffled thud that was barely registered; the only sound was the pounding of your own heart. Mike looked like he was a kid in a candy store, licking his lips with his hands placed firmly on your knees as his head dipped between your thighs.

“Fuck.. I’ve barely even touched you, and you're already drenched. Look how bad you want me, he muttered, his lips grazing over the sensitive skin of your inner thigh.

You gasped, your eyes fluttering open to glance down at him. His nose was gently bumping against your cunt. He used his tongue to lick both sides of your folds, driving your insides crazy. "Mike, I need you so bad," you mutter out in a moan.

"Daddy's got you," Mike answers. Then he licked a hot stripe between your folds. clenching the countertop with both hands behind you while letting out a loud moan.

Mike dipped his head to nibble teasingly at your clitoral area. "Mmm you taste so damn good," he inhaled deeply before diving back between your thighs. “So fucking delicious,” he groaned, words reverberating against your throbbing core. You can't take anymore. You pull him back up by his shirt and start undoing his pants and pulling down his pants and boxers, letting them hit the floor. He kicks them off. "Mike, please just get inside of me now," you beg. "Only because you asked so nicely," Mike answers with a smirk.

He pulled up his cock and slowly stroked it, and then, aligning himself with your entrance, he shoved his cock inside of you.

The moment he slid inside, you both let out a simultaneous groan. The sensation of his hot, panting mouth at your ear and his sack smacking rhythmically against your cunt was so exquisitely sinful yet heavenly that you'd willingly descended into the deepest depths of hell for it. to have him inside of you only

“Mnngh! O-oh..-” He pressed in deeper and circled his hips, squelching inside you as louder moans escaped your mouth.

“You really are...” he chuckled, his voice strained, “my hot little slut. So fucking greedy for Daddy’s cock. You know that? I love it.” He reached around you, slowly curling his fingers around your windpipe possessively.

"Tell me, I'm the only one who can have you," he says in between thrusts.

"Yeah, your the only one, daddy." A guttural moan ripped from your chest when his tip pressed right up against your cervix.

"That's damn right, your mine"He pressed himself so deep inside you could feel his every throb and twitch, his eagerness to pump you full.

Hand sliding down to press between your hipbones, grazing against the slight bulge on your belly as his cock settled in there, where it belonged. He paused for a second to keep himself from coming too soon, tugging irritably at his balls to adjust.

As he panted into your sweat-slicked shoulder, you took the advantage to ease to your forearms and work yourself back on his cock.

Arching your back like a cat, you made languid figure eights with your hips. The wet schlick shlick sounds of your cunt swallowing his cock and your combined moaning ricocheted off the pantry walls, a steady cadence.

A downright animalistic groan escaped his lips.

“Oh my f-fuck...”

Nothing was sexier than Mike claiming you as his. Mike is moaning in your ear as he neared climax, which was a filthy, sinful delight. Abandoning all efforts to last longer, Mike went completely feral. He gauged his nails into your hips with bruising force as he scrambled for control. With each powerful thrust, you try your best to keep squeezing the counter so you don't fall down, weak in the knees.

He drove into you again and again. His movements became sloppy and less calculated as he neared his peak.

"Cum for me, baby girl," he grunted.

“Oh god… Mike You wailed as you reached your climax, clenching his cock tight with your slick channel as he drove into you one last time, burying himself to the hilt before releasing a torrent of thick, warm cum inside you.

He bucked his hips languidly a few more times, spending himself in a series of residual jerks inside you. Meanwhile, his hand stayed pressed to your belly, rubbing circles as his cock continued to twitch and spasm, grinding his creamy cum as deep as it could go.

Heavy breathing. Wet, sloppy kisses on the nape of your neck and your shoulder. The lingering scent of exotic spice mixed with sex heavy in the air

"Fuck, this is getting back together, he huffed.

wow kinda went hard for this one

First post back from my break

hope ya'll like it

not edited so please don't hate me ):

[starfall-spirit]

Summary: After picking up on Violet's attraction to Liam, Xaden proposes an arrangement.

Read on Ao3

CW: Sex, light bondage, dom/sub undertones

AN: My first Violiaden fic! It was written very quickly, with little editing or fleshing out, but it's still a fun piece so I'm going to go ahead and post. Enjoy!

"I want to watch you." 

Violet quirked a brow. "Watch me?"

"I want to watch you with someone else." That confession about floored her and she found herself fumbling with the laces of her corset as she dressed for the day. Xaden approached her from behind, smoothly taking the laces from where she held them, her arms frozen at a rather uncomfortable angle, flexibility be damned. "I may act like a possessive ass at times, but I've been watching you, Violence. You can deny it all you want, but I know there's something between you and Liam."

She blinked rapidly before turning to face him as he dropped his hands from the finished knot above her tailbone. "I haven't touched him, Xaden."

"I'm not questioning your loyalty. I'm trying to figure out if you'd let him join us for a night or two."

She bit her lip, trying to gauge his sincerity. Xaden wasn't the type to test people. Not his friends, and certainly not her. Not like this. "And this night or two, we'd be doing..."

"You and I will negotiate the baseline if you say yes. I won't bring this up with Liam until I have your consent. Ultimately, I have the same end goal as usual." Her heartrate doubled as he stooped down to whisper in her ear. "I want to watch you lose control, preferably while you're filled with my brother's cock."

Holy. Fucking. Gods.

~~~~~

A smirk. A smirk was all it took for Violet to know Liam was well aware of Xaden’s proposal when he met her at her door two mornings later. “Liam.” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Good morning.”

“Morning. Ready for breakfast?” She hesitated. “This is hardly the place to discuss the reason behind that look, Vi. I’m flattered by the invitation and I did accept, but if this is going to be awkward or you only said yes to make Xaden happy, then I won’t be upset with either of you for putting this behind us before anything starts.”

“I wasn’t going to—”

“Hey, thanks for waiting guys,” Rhi cut in. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

“Yeah, for Tara’s—”

“Honestly, Ridoc!” It was hardly a secret and Rhi didn’t appear the least bit ashamed or embarrassed, but Violet was already on edge without thinking about other people’s sex lives. Let them think this was a best-friend-defense or something. The pair blinked back at her. “Sorry. I just need food before I deal with the morning crazy today.”

Liam snorted from beside her, but said nothing more, scanning the route ahead of them as they made their way to the mess hall. “So you really are interested?” she murmured. 

He swallowed, his jaw locking as his throat bobbed. “Violet, if you keep pushing all I’m going to be thinking about is the things I plan on doing to you tonight and I’d really like to enjoy my meal and attend formation and classes without a hard on.” She winced, feeling simultaneously guilty and turned on. “I will say this once,” Liam continued. “I am more than pleased by this arrangement so long as it’s what everyone wants. Any other concerns?” She shook her head. “Excellent. Get your food.”

~~~~~

“You’re nervous. Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, Xaden. I’m not having any doubts. All of us are fine with this, but the anticipation is killing me.” 

He hummed softly, continuing his path alternating between massaging knotted muscles and peppering tender kisses over her bare back. “And as good as that feels, you aren’t distracting me. Again, he gave that quiet hum, this time parting her thighs. Oh that might help distract her. His fingers just dipped between her legs when a patterned knock fell on Xaden’s door. She rolled onto her back. “Pity,” he murmured, licking his fingers clean. “But then, this will be just as fun, won’t it?”

He grinned as he opened the door to let Liam past the wards. “Hey, come on in.” 

“Thanks.” She watched the pair closely, hunting for any signs of tension between them or hesitation on Xaden’s part. Though she hadn’t known either of them for very long, she could read them well.

This was going to work out after all. “Hey, Vi.”

She felt her face heat as he did nothing to hide his slow assessment of her bare figure. Compared to the two of them being fully dressed, it was a bit awkward. Hopefully they’d be joining her soon, before things started feeling truly embarrassing. She cocked her head as Xaden sank into a chair about five feet from the bed. 

“Don’t tell me you two are going to sit around and chat while I sit here naked.”

He chuckled softly, exchanging a look with their guest. “Violet, I’m not touching you again tonight. I’m watching, remember?”

Her mouth popped open. “There’s no way you’re actually going to be able to keep off of me while Liam and I have sex.”

His smirk broadened. “Challenge accepted, my Violence.”

“Do you two need a moment?” Liam drawled, somehow reading into the levity of their mental conversation. 

“No,” Xaden said. “Don’t mind me. The limits are set and poor Violet’s been wound up all day.”

“Believe me, brother, I noticed.”

“No reason you can’t put her out of her misery.”

The corner of Liam’s mouth tilted up, almost imperceptible in the low lighting. He cocked his head slightly, making a small noise in his throat and slowly rolling his sleeves back—fuck, didn’t he know what that kind of shit did to women—as if he was contemplating how to start in on her.

“Come here,” he finally said. She almost shivered. Though he kept his soft tone, there was no room for hesitation or defiance. No, he and Xaden were two peas in a pod when it came to that. “Violet.” She shuffled forward on her knees, instantly relaxing when he cradled the back of her neck, his long fingers tangling in her hair, already free of it’s braid thanks to Xaden. “Okay?” he murmured, anchoring his other hand at her left hip. She nodded. “Words,” he ordered in that quiet command.

“I’m okay with this.”

“Good girl.” 

Before she could say a word his mouth sealed over hers, tentative for a moment. Or perhaps she was the one hesitating, because only a moment later he was adjusting the angle of the kiss, the stroke of his fingers dropping from her hip to rest between her thighs, the friction there and the soft sweep of his tongue coaxing her to give into him entirely. She whimpered, leaning into his steadiness, yet aching to be drawn higher.

She’d grown so used to the wild desperation she and Xaden shared that she was slightly off kilter now, both pleased by the change and all sorts of needy for more. Frustrated he wasn’t letting the intensity of the kiss grow further, she aimed for the one thing she could control, snaking her hand between them to try to stroke her clit. Liam caught onto that too, his grip around her wrist just firm enough to keep her hand pinned behind her.

Dragging his tongue against the roof of her mouth, he drew back. “This,” he began, cupping her center, “is mine tonight. Did I give you permission to touch what’s mine?”

Brothers indeed.

“Answer him, Violet,” Xaden growled from his chair. 

“No. I wasn’t given permission.”

The consequences were already making themselves known, bands of shadow folding her arms behind her back so her fingertips were brushing the opposite elbow. She pouted, wanting to touch him freely. “Be a very good girl for me and I might ask Xaden to let your hands free.” Without warning, he sank two fingers deep into her core. “Soaked for me, needy thing.”

“Liam, let me come, please.”

“Begging already?” He hummed softly, drawing out a squeal as he swept her off her knees and pressed her flat to the mattress, careful not to strain her arms. Xaden already had the thought to redirect his shadows, pinning her arms over her head. “Good things come to those who wait, Violet. Believe me when I say I’m going to take my sweet time with you.”

His fingers slid home once more, pumping in and out of her as he urged her to spread wider, making room for him to dip his head, his tongue flicking out and tugging her closer to the high she was so desperate to reach. She clenched hard and he paused, letting her fall away before reaching her climax. “No!” she wailed. 

Gods, he was a fucking sadist.

She let out another cry as he lifted one leg over his shoulder, holding her open so she was forced to take the next round, his fingers curling and his tongue stroking deep enough her thoughts could only come in fragments. She was so fucking ready. “Liam!” His teeth pinched down on her clit and she shattered, her orgasm rolling through in sharp waves. 

“Go on. She’s ready.” She gave another deep groan, still trembling as the rustle of clothing fell away and Liam’s fingers were replaced by something much thicker. “Such a good girl, taking his cock so well.”

“T-told you you couldn’t stay away.” She groaned again, surrendering to the sensations around her, Xaden’s nails scraping over her scalp as Liam dragged in and out of her, agonizingly slowly. Realizing her hands were free again, she reached for Xaden’s waist. “I want you both. Please?”

He smiled down at her. “Who am I to deny you when you ask so nicely.”

It only took a moment to maneuver them, getting her in a position she could tilt her head back over the edge of the bed. It gave Liam and Xaden full control over what happened, even without shadows pinning her. Xaden stripped out of his clothes. “You won’t have much control like this, sweetheart. If it’s too much I want you to pinch me, okay?”

“I will. I trust you both, Xaden.”

His worry softened to pure adoration. “I know, sweetheart. But I take no risks with you if I can help it. Ready?”

She nodded, dropping her head back as Liam slid into her once again, a little sigh leaving her as Xaden slipped his thumb past her lips, coaxing her open. “Our perfect girl.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as he guided his tip past her lips, gliding over her tongue. She dropped her jaw, opening her throat as best as she could. “Good, Violet. Doing so well for us.” That came from Liam this time. She liked pleasing them both. He jerked his hips without warning, startling her enough she lost her rhythm and Xaden once again had to center her.

She let herself go, focusing only on what would bring Xaden to the edge with her, accepting the overload of sensations as they increased their pace, bringing her to her second orgasm. Neither of them had finished yet. And they seemed deadset on pulling another out of her. She whined softly. “You’re doing so good, baby,” Xaden encouraged her. In all honesty, she was hardly doing anything to pleasure him anymore. “This isn’t about me sweetheart. You’re giving us everything and more right now. All I need you to do is give in to what your body is telling you.”

“I can’t come again.”

“You can, Violet. You’re gonna come one more time, sweetheart.” Another whimper left her. She wanted to obey. To please them. “I know you’re feeling a lot, baby. So I don’t want you to try and think anymore. I want you to close those pretty eyes and let your body tell you what to do. You’re not going to fight what your body needs. You’re going to let Liam and I take care of you.”

“Just relax, sweetheart,” Liam said, cradling her hips as he quickened his pace. She was getting closer, riding the edge as they alternated their movements, setting a rhythm that would let them all finish without jostling her too much. She was lost in it, pride filling her as Xaden let out a sharp breath, spilling down her throat. She clenched around Liam, hard, not bothering to muffle her scream as they took her over again, Liam deep inside her as he finally snapped. “Fuck.”

He leaned down, his breath rattling softly as he kissed her brow before easing out of her and letting Xaden step back in to cradle her against his chest. “Can you get that water off the dresser?”

She peeled her eyes halfway open as Xaden shifted her in his arms. “Here, sweet girl,” Liam said. “Water first. Then you can have some chocolate, hm?” She didn’t bother trying to grab the glass herself since Liam seemed so keen on hand feeding her the water and candy. “Good girl. Rest now.”

She sunk down into the pillows, relishing the warmth the men on either side of her seemed to radiate. “You’ll stay?”

There was a heavy pause and she peered up to find him waiting for Xaden’s cue. “This shouldn’t be… just one time. I like you here.”

“Sleep, Violet,” Xaden finally said. “We’ll both be right here all night.”

She sighed. “Good.”

[spicywhenspeaking]

If I'm There: Chapter Eighteen

read from part one here!

summary: Noah and Natalie met in high school and developed a relationship through their love of music and art. Falling in love, innocent and young, they think nothing can keep them apart. However, sometimes in the pursuit of your dreams the things we love the most get left behind.

warnings: alcohol use

this is a complete work of fiction, some characters while based on real people are totally made up. :)

edited by me ....soooo if you see something spelt wrong no you didn't.

taglist : @lma1986 @cookiesupplier @notingridslurkaccount @blackveilomens @thisbicc @thebadchic @jessitpwk @samanthasgone @laurpartyprogram @myownthoughts12

Ryan, our receptionist has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. He’s thinking that he’s just setting me up with a band I don’t like. Ugh. It’s not his fault, nobody here knows Noah is Erin’s dad. Only Haylie and my family know. Although I never confirmed with my dad who Erin’s father is I know he knows.

As I frantically attempt to clear my workstation of anything Erin-related I look down and notice that because of the rip in my jeans, you can perfectly see the “Erin” script tattoo I have over my left knee.

“Fuck” I quietly exclaim to myself, no way of hiding that. My phone is cradled in my shoulder as I continue to lose my mind with Haylie. “I’m freaking out! Oh my god, ten years and everything I’ve worked so hard to overcome just walked through my fucking door.” I’m breathing in and out heavily as I look back up over the partition to see Noah watching me with peaked interest as he offers a small awkward wave while the rest of his band mates finished their paperwork. I quickly duck back down and continue to freak out with Haylie on the phone.

“Okay, hold on! He’s there? How did he know you were there?” Haylie Questions. “I have no fucking idea. Oh my god! Erin…she’s at fucking Six Flags having a great time and I just agreed to tattoo her fucking father! That doesn’t know about her, that she’s never met. That I’ve never told her about, god, I’m the worst mother-'' Haylie cuts me off “You need to breathe. It’s going to be okay, just try to remember everything Dr. Grady taught you'' she reassures me. 

“Okay,” I breathe out. “Okay, I’ll be fine. It’ll just be like seeing an old friend. That took my virginity. And got me pregnant and left me all alone” 

There’s a long pause “..….you could always sneak out the back door?” We both laugh at the absurdity of the situation. I have to laugh because otherwise, I would have a full-on breakdown. “I’ll be okay. I can do this. I can totally do this” I tell Haylie and also myself. Can I fucking do this?! We say our goodbyes and I return to my breathing technique as I try to calm my racing heart.

A few minutes later I hear their footsteps approaching my workstation followed by his voice, that’s only gotten better with time. “I can’t believe you’re here” he almost whispers. “What are you doing here?” Noah asks me quietly. 

“I work here” I state calmly. “I moved here after graduating early and started an apprenticeship with a friend of a friend, worked my way up,” I say, trying not to break my words as I look up at him, and oh my god how did he get even better looking? I’m totally fucked. I attempted to shake myself out of whatever daze being around Noah has brought me into so I can get through this.

“I could say the same to you? Of all the tattoo shops in Texas, you just happen to walk through my doors” I half joke. “Must be fate” It’s Nicholas Ruffilo that pipes up this time, coming around to hug me. “Long time no see Nat,” he says, eyeing me up and down. “You’re looking good,” he mentions with a soft smile. I’m not at all the girl I used to be, my hair is darker and I have multiple visible tattoos. My neck tattoo is visible and you can see the evidence of a stomach tattoo poking out the bottom of my tank, if I turned around they could see my dueling dragon back tattoo peaking past my shoulders and through the holes in my jeans, you can see a view of my full leg sleeve. “Really digging the tatted look,” Nicholas remarks with a friendly tone. He’s always been a good guy. I wish I had stayed in contact with him more all these years. But I couldn’t even keep in contact with Noah, despite trying, so that was wishful thinking. 

“Yeah, you too buddy,” I tell him, returning his hug. 

Turning to face Noah I give him a once over “You cut your hair.” When he left it was down past his chest but the short hair looks really good on him and I’m forgetting everything I’m supposed to be mad at him about.

“Oh yeah,” he reaches back and scratches the nape of his neck “it was just getting to be a lot to deal with.” 

I huff out a laugh and think about my life with Erin and how hard it’s been raising her as a single mother and remember the anger I’ve felt all these years. “yeah, i know how much you hate when things get complicated” I say and he slightly bristles. I ignore it and turn to the two unfamiliar faces. 

“Hi! I’m Natalie, I went to school with these two so it’s an impromptu reunion.” I stick out my hand to shake hands with Nick Folio and Jolly, the final members of Noah’s band, Bad Omens. “Two Nicks? Doesn't that get confusing?” I ask. “Yeah, people call me Folio, but you can call me anything you’d like,” Folio says with a smile and wink. Noah tenses at his friend's joke and eyes him with a glare. Choosing to ignore whatever that was, I turn back towards the group and ask, “So what are we doing today? I overheard a little, just some line work?” 

“Uh yeah,” Nick replies “I unfortunately lost my tattoo bag with my gun and needles, or else I would have done it myself.” He’s still the same Nicholas I knew so I can tell when he’s bullshitting. “Okay…and if you told me the truth? What would that be?” I give him a serious look, the same one Erin calls my “Mom means business face.” 

“Okay so I may have been looking online for tattoo shops in the area just for fun and maybe I came across an article about a certain women’s owned tattoo shop and thought I recognized one of the girls in the group picture.” He fesses up finally. “You knew she would be here?” Noah asks his friend, shock written on his face. “Why didn’t you say anything” he asks at the same time I question, “So you knew I was here? So much for fate huh?” I joke and push his shoulder back. “You didn’t think to call first? At least warn me?” I ask him. Noah pipes up “Well he didn’t tell me either if that helps.”

It doesn’t. 

“What? So you could be conveniently out of the office? Yeah right Natty, I’m not stupid. Or so you” he gestures at Noah “could find any way out of seeing her, no way” Nicholas’ cheshire cat smile tells me all I need to know. He wanted this to happen, for us all to see each other again. Thinking maybe it was just old friends catching up or love birds reuniting. Unfortunately, all he really did was throw my life completely upside down by unknowingly walking the father of my child straight back into my life. 

“Well, we will have some time to catch up while I work,” I say, “let me just pull up some more chairs so y’all can sit.” I walk and grab two folding chairs to add to my workspace.

I notice Noah looking at all the photos on my walls. Some of me, Kyle and Maggie all grown up, me with other musicians lying on my tattoo table getting something done. “Is that fucking Oli Sykes!??” Noah asks, pointing at a picture pinned on the wall. I laugh and nod “Um yeah, that’s a crazy story. My roommate Haylie ran into him after a show and they made a bet during a darts game and next thing I know I’m getting a call at 3 am about giving Oli a tattoo.” I laugh because it was actually pretty crazy, Haylie has stayed out later than me but I was lucky that Gwen had already agreed to babysit that night since it was our monthly girls’ night out so I knew Erin was safe. Having the lead singer of the Bring Me The Horizon on my tattoo table. That was crazy. “That’s amazing Natty, we’re touring with them next year.” Noah smiles when he says it, I know it is a huge accomplishment to be touring with a band he’s always loved. “Wow, that’s great Noah. I’m happy for y’all.” It’s not a complete lie, I have always been proud of Noah but it doesn’t mean it hurts any less. 

Several minutes later I have my station ready and I’m prepping Jolly who’s volunteered to go first. They want the symbols for death, peace, and mind to commemorate their most recent album. 

Jolly sits in the chair in front of me and is very nice, he offers a little small talk as I align the stencil and prepare the ink and tattoo gun. “So you’re the girl?” Jolly says and I see Noah lean his head back and mutter a nearly silent “Fucking Christ.” I start up the tattoo and huff an awkward laugh. “I’m not sure how to take that. Noah and I are exes if that’s what you mean?” I try to break the tension by addressing at least one elephant in the room. “Sorry, I don’t mean to make things awkward, I just mean I have heard a lot about you, though they failed to mention how incredibly beautiful you are,” Jolly says and I can tell he’s just playing and trying to get under Noah’s skin.

“You’re full of it Karlsson, I did too mention she was beautiful” Noah blurts out, surprising us both. “I mean..like objectively I mentioned it, years ago. Let’s just drop it okay?” He fumbles out and we all try to stop the laughter from bubbling out.

I finish up Jolly and Nicholas’s tattoos easily and next is Folio who is funny but a very playful flirt, he also asks a lot of questions. 

“So how long have you been here?”

“Austin? Or this studio?”

“Both”

“Austin about ten years and this shop about the same, it kind of all came together at the same time”

“Why did you move?”

“Lots of reasons. I wanted a fresh start”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“No”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No girlfriend either” 

“Kids?”

If the tattoo gun had been on his skin it would have flown across it leaving a massive black mark along his arm. Everything stops and my mouth completely dries. I finish the last bit of the mind symbol and place the gun down and slap his shoulder, “alright that was fun but I have to switch to the next contestant now, maybe we can finish 20 questions later” I smile and give him a wink and then Noah is taking his seat in front of me. “Let me just clean up and get ready” I stand to re-sanitize everything before tattooing him next. He looks up at me through his lashes, “okay, I’ll be right here” he says and there’s a fire burning low in my gut. 

You can do this Natalie. You got this. No more running. No more hiding. 

After sanitizing everything I’m ready to begin, “so I’m pretty much covered all over my arms and hands, but I was thinking somewhere on my ribs? I have some space there.” He says while lifting his shirt to show me and damn. He has definitely been working out but, I push all those thoughts away and just nod like an idiot. “I’m yeah, ribs are a good placement, well just need to move to the bench,” I say and point behind us where Jolly and Nicholas are sitting. They hop down and I move to quickly wipe it down with disinfectant and then Noah is lifting his shirt up and lying down on the table and then I realize I’m going to have to touch him.

I pick up the stencil and as I’m about to place it Ryan comes rounding the corner with the shop phone, “Sorry Nat, but it’s Erin. She said she tried to call your cell but you didn’t answer” he tells me. Shit. I take the phone and move to stand just on the outside of my workspace. “Hey Sweets, what’s going on? Is everything okay?” I try to keep my voice casual, “Ashley asked me if I wanted to go with her to the zoo tomorrow and have a double sleepover. Can I please??” Erin practically begs and I put my hand on the receiver as I look back at the guys. “Sorry, this will just take a second,” I say and walk towards the back of the shop. “Can you put Ashley’s mom on?” I ask Erin. I talk to her mom to make sure it’s genuinely okay before telling Erin it’s okay. Ashley’s mom is happy to take Erin with her, “oh we love it when Erin joins us, she is such a sweet and respectful girl.” I can’t help but beam at the praise for my daughter, “Thank you, I’m just so glad she and Ashley get along so well, and I will send you some extra money on Venmo so they can get some fun trinkets.” I end the call with Erin thanking me ecstatically and rejoin the group.

“Sorry about that,” I say and sit back down to finish applying the tattoo stencil. As I sit the Erin tattoo is fully visible on my knee and I see Noah clock it. But he doesn’t say anything.

In a few minutes were ready to start the process and I have to lean into his personal space, smelling his clean, woody scent, and try not to fall under his spell. “We’re playing a show tomorrow, you didn’t happen to get tickets did you?” Noah asks as I start to tattoo his skin. “Oh, um no I didn’t. I hadn’t planned on going.” I mumble out. “Oh, well if you wanted to we could get you a ticket. Or two if you want to bring someone?” Noah says and his eyes are boring into mine. “Um, yeah maybe. My d-. I mean, I’ll be free so maybe.” I squeak out and force my mouth shut so I don’t say anything else on accident. I know that I need to tell him about Erin but in private. 

The tattoos are finished and Folio is asking me more questions, “so what are you doing tonight? We need something fun to do.” he asks and I chuckle. “I’m going to a masquerade rave with some girlfriends, It’s a pretty good time if you’re interested.” I say and Folio’s eyes light up with interest, “Oh hell yes! We are 100% in! And we can be incognito.” Nicholas and I exchange numbers and Noah looks like he wants to ask for it as well but doesn’t. Nicholas sends me two backstage passes for the concert tomorrow night. I guess I’ll go with Haylie.

After cleaning my station again I finally make it home with plenty of time to get ready for the masquerade. I texted Nicholas all of the information and he sent me a thumbs up and told me they were all excited. Haylie was freaking out more than I was about the whole situation. “Okay, well you need to boost the sexiness of your outfit up by about 10000%.” Laughing we have fun getting ready for the party and I try to figure out how to tell Noah about Erin. I’m finishing my makeup and were having a few drinks. I don’t drink often so on girls night it doesn’t take many to get me tipsy. “Okay I obviously can’t do it tonight” I say as I button the front of my corset top, pushing my boobs up higher. “I think presenting him with your huge rack will really ease the blow of finding out he has a kid.” Haylie always has a way of saying the most shocking things and making them hilarious. “Funny.” I deadpan and down the rest of my vodka soda. 

A couple hours later we are walking into the immaculately decorated warehouse with our lace masks on. Mine is black to complament my red strappy corset dress and Haylies’ is purple to match her colorful outfit. Haylie’s sister Rachel and my boss, Anna are with us as well and we walk towards the bar to grab some drinks before heading onto the dance floor.

After a quick round of shots and another vodka soda we file onto the dance floor together and start moving to the music. It’s upbeat and energetic so we’re having fun jumping around and dancing together. I love girls night, it’s a night that I can let loose and have fun knowing Erin is somewhere safe. She called before we left to say goodnight. I love that girl.

At first I think I’m dancing on Haylie but then she appears in front of me and I look behind and notice it’s a guy. I shoot in closer to my girls to try and make space but he gets closer so I wave him off, “I’m good dude, no thanks” I try to yell over the music. “Come on baby!! You look so hot! Dance with me!” I roll my eyes and Haylie lightly pushes the guy back “go on dude, she’s not interested.” He huffs an arrogant laugh but there’s another taller figure behind him, “yeah dude she’s not interested.” I instantly recognized the voice as Noah’s. The guy turns around and notices Noah’s towering height and holds up his hands in defeat “all right man, she’s all yours,” he says and I can’t help but laugh. The rest of his friends appear and we all attempt to exchange hellos but on the crowded dance floor it’s difficult. We end up all just dancing and at one point I think Haylie is behind me and Folio is in front of me and I’m having and amazing time. Noah is swaying to the music next to Nicholas and my other friends. Our eyes keep meeting and it’s like he’s has his own gravitational pull because we all suddenly end up in a massive cluster. I’m loose and warm from the drinks so I’m dancing and having a good time, not noticing I’ve now plastered myself against the front of Noah’s body. He doesn’t seem to mind and with the music blasting I can’t seem to care. Eventually we all make our way back to the bar, the guys head towards an area designated for seating to find us all a place to chill.

Me and the girls are grabbing more drinks and chatting loudly to hear each other over the music, “so Natty, where’s the little one tonight? Will we be seeing her at shop more now that school is out for the summer?” Anna asks with a big smile, shes like a grandma to Erin having been apart of our lives since she was born. “She went to Six Flags with a friend, so I’m a free mommy for two nights!” I cheer and raise my glass into the air to toast our night.

I take a step back and bump into someone, “oh sorry!” I call out as my drink spill over onto my arm slightly.

I turn around and apologize to who I ran into and it’s funny how little masks actually hide someone's identity. “Oh Nicholas, sorry! You snuck up on me” I laugh and grab some napkins to wipe the drink that spilled on my arm. The pregame drinks plus the drinks I’ve had here to loosen up have definitely done their job. “Hey Nat,” he says over the noise. “Um I’m sorry, did I hear you say you’re a free mommy tonight? You have a kid?” he asks and I feel my vision black out. “Um. Yeah.” I mumble out. “What? Sorry, it’s loud.” 

“Yes!” I yell out louder and he nods slowly. “Wow! How old are they?” he asks innocently and I dont know what to do. I don’t want to lie but I don’t think it’s right to tell Nicholas first. “Um my daughter is almost 10.” I say and slurp down the rest of my drink and put it down on the bar. He nods again and then his eyes shoot up at me and I feel like I might throw up.

“10? Wow, thats, thats..shes 10? So you met someone when you moved?” Its starting to feel like an interrogation and I think about just running away, quickly realizing how stupid that would be. “No, no. I didnt meet anyone when I moved.” I offer up honestly. “So it’s someones from home?” I feel like he’s just chipping around the truth until I spill what he’s after.

I pull out my phone and show him my lockscreen which is a picture of Erin on halloween dressed up like a fairy to celebrate Haylie’s book launch. Nicholas takes my phone and I see his eyes go wide behind his mask. Hes just staring at it for minuets before I reach to take my phone back and put it back in my pocket.

“Don’t say anything yet, I will tell him. I promise, I will tell him.” I start to sound frantic and I feel myself growing into a flob sweat. “How could you keep something like this from him for ten years Nat?” He asks and I can hear his voiced lined with a dark edge.

“Excuse me? You don’t think I tried?” I ask shocked by his tone. His face is scrunched in confusion, “how hard could you have possibly tried? I mean you had his kid Natalie? And you didn’t tell him?” Nicholas voice seethes out in an inflection full of judgment. I’m drunk enough not to care who hears me when I say, “I told you I’d tell him and it’s really none of your business, so drop it.” There’s acid in my voice. “He has the right to know, you owe it to him to at least tell him the truth” Nicholas argues back.

“Did you forget that you both just left? You left too, Nicky. You both just picked up and left me. You don’t know a THING about what I went through! You have no idea how hard I tried to tell him, to get to him. When at every corner he was running further from me. You have no IDEA! Don’t talk to me about what’s owed Nicholas. You don’t want to go down this road with me.”

Our voices are starting to carry over and I see Noah look over from where him and the other two guys are sitting. He seems to notice our raised volume so he gets up to walk over and in a hushed voice I say “you’ll say nothing about this to him, I’ll tell him. Just leave it alone” It comes out as a warning and I walk away and pass Noah.

He stops me lightly by the shoulder to ask “Is everything okay? Were you and Nick just yelling?” I shake my head and slap on a fake smile “Everything’s fine, I’m just gonna go freshen up” I shrug off his touch and head towards the bathroom, grabbing Haylies hand and dragging her along with me.

What the fuck am I going to do? The timeline of needing to tell Noah has multiplied exponentially. I can’t make Nicholas keep the secret forever, not that he would. I’ll go to the show with Haylie tomorrow and tell him them.

divider from here

oh lord!!! It’s getting MESSY!!!

next chapter -> here

[wellntruly]

Some M*A*S*H laugh track thoughts (laugh talk), just because I'm having them.

The News, as it were, is that I’ve managed to push past my initial bounce right off no-laugh-track M*A*S*H, and have been catching some episodes without it as I was confirming my B-sides.

It is still true that I’ll get distracted in spots noticing that a scene is paced to something no longer there. This could, however, be an occupational hazard. It was once my actual job to pay attention to the rhythm of an edit of a TV episode, noting that we needed a bit longer of a beat here, or needed to tighten that cut there. But noticing this sort of thing is now mostly my curse—the rest of you don’t have to live like this.

It is also still true that particularly in those earlier days, where the laughter is almost always just ebbing and flowing around any non-operating scenes, to me it really functions much more like a score than anything. It was just part of the audio texture of the show, something I was just resting on, or kind of wrapped up in like a thick cozy blanket. That first episode I tried to watch without it, I felt like that blanket had been pulled off, leaving me feeling a little stark and cold.

However! It is also true, that some scenes? Do play quite different without a laugh track, play better. And in many different moods! I’ve seen characters reveal themselves in certain moments to have been funnier, needier, cuter, sadder. There was a scene of Radar selling Hawkeye shoes that had hardly registered with me with the laugh track underscoring it, that without it was suddenly so sweet and pathetic and lovable. Also, sometimes, scenes play worse! There it’s almost always that the characters feel more callous (that coldness, again). You also, of course, entirely lose the impact of the moments where the laughter goes away. Coldness in a different way (cold big good).

Toggling between the two sometimes reveals things about the actors’ performances as well, which I find really interesting. I only saw a couple from his era laugh-free, but I’m pretty sure Harry Morgan is funnier when the timing is all up to him. Loretta Swit is a fucking professional and built in so much space in the early days of her just making expressions and humph!-ing that she knew would play great with the track, suddenly making her deliveries feel oddly slow without it. Alan Alda, burlesque baby, is playing Hawkeye Pierce as someone who himself is also always waiting for the laugh, so his character feels entirely consistent across any form, which is fascinating and also makes me helplessly shove my hands into my hair. Silence around William Christopher’s Father Mulcahy feels awkward but it works, just a little differently; laughter version of the show is much fonder toward their chaplain.

Like how I feel about M*A*S*H in other ways, it drives me to distraction a little that I can’t have everything I like at once (later seasons Margaret, formally experimental episodes, Charles; early seasons rampant bisexuality, sharper anti-military sentiment, Henry). Sure I’m talking pie-in-the-sky, ‘give me this scene with the laugh track and then the next one without’ kind of dreams, but honestly mostly I mean on a technical level. The difference in picture quality between the restored & remastered edition on Hulu and the original broadcast version on the DVDs (as far as I can tell, the only source for the laugh-free cuts), can itself be almost laughable. Eye clarity in particular is really sapped by that low resolution, occasionally giving the Hulu version somewhat of an "unlocking the secret shrimp emotions" effect.

An interesting thing where at times the show can feel more real WITH the laughter in the background, because you can actually see into the faces of the people stuck in this tragicomic purgatory.

Then on the OTHER HAND, there’s really getting to hear the whoooole quality of Alan Alda’s voice in something like, say, this scene. (And oh my God.)

The nearest thing to like, a unified theory I’m probably gonna end up with, is that I wonder if M*A*S*H with laugh track and M*A*S*H without might be like film adaptations of books. This sets laugh-free M*A*S*H as "books," surely deeply pleasing the laugh-free M*A*S*H people who are going, correct, because the book is always better. Meanwhile the movie-first people are also nodding vigorously, with their belief that if you watch the movie first then read the novel after, you can love the movie itself, and then just get MORE and different material with the book later, picking and choosing from each to create your own personal whole of the art piece. And based on just, the very consistent anecdotes I've seen on this issue, I'm getting the feeling that similarly, starting with the laugh track version might be the surest way to love ALL the versions of M*A*S*H, every concurrently running story that this show was telling. Which, with a series this....surprisingly meta-textual, I sure want that.

[alicelufenia]

A few haphazard post-MSQ thoughts for Dawntrail

okay first of all fuck Zoraal Ja loved your trial

Dawntrail in general makes me want to go back and actually finish FFIX, and part of that is also to actually find out more about Kuja's deal. I was in vc with my static over DT ending and my co-tank pointed out Zoraal Ja's whole arc is a dead wringer for Kuja. Which makes sense based on the wiki summary I found. I just also dreaded the possibility of people comparing him more to Zenos, which thankfully, I haven't actually seen much of. But then I'm not on Twitter, and only just started exploring the tags, so maybe that take is out there. Sorry but as a dedicated Zenos Fucker I still don't see it XD not every violent man with daddy issues is a Zenos.

Speaking of daddies, it's a genuine accomplishment for Dawntrail to bring us both the BEST and WORST dads in the game. Congrats Gaius your seat at the bottom has been taken, but Man did Zoraal have to earn it.

Just one little issue. WHO IS GULOOL JA'S MOM??

I cannot believe this wasn't even at least questioned at any point, they put more words towards reasoning how he must be Zoraal's kid cause of his coloring but didn't question who his mother could be? Especially with Sphene the LITERAL QUEEN right there looking AWKWARD AS HELL when he's brought up.

My guess is this will be explored in the patches, but good GOD you thought FFXIV was shitty with its female characters, Gulool's mom wasn't even a character! Legit negative for me and any further storyline is just going to make me question why it wasn't relevant earlier.

However to shift tracks to GOOD female characters, I freakin' love Wuk Lamat! I love her design her facial expressions her voice good god her VOICE, I love her goals and how she tries to relate to her enemies but will not hold back but also won't sacrifice others to get what she wants.

I know she's every shonen protagonist rolled into an orange tabby, and that's great! They didn't stumble once with her as far as I'm concerned.

I'm probably gonna have to devote a whole other post to thoughts about Sphene and the Twelfth(?) reflection's fate. I appreciate that the stakes have been simultaneously scaled back but also shifted, I guess sideways would be the best description?

I find it interesting that the main threat is very similar to in Endwalker-that of moving on from dead end ways of living. But while Endwalker was finding a reason to go on living, Dawntrail is about finding peace with death. Cause you need both to live a happy life, and to have a society that doesn't eat itself, or everything around it.

Also a quick comment on msq-appropriate jobs; obviously any job is great, but I feel really good about sticking with both Dark Knight and Viper throughout. Viper in particular, for having both its roots in the main setting, and its capstone ability Reawaken has you call upon the memories of your hunter forbears, a kind of healthier version of the regulators' soul consumption ability. And Dark Knight is just my WoL's canon job, but also her self-styled title comes from DRK's quest title The Boundless Dark. So I HAD to finish the expansion as The Boundless Queen standing against The Queen Eternal.

Unfortunately, the Neo-Ishgardian Top didn't get the texture upgrade, so it clashes a bit too much. I'm gonna have to work out a good glam, but am using the Fallen set plus pieces of the Neo Kingdom Fending set as I get them.

Viper on the other hand, is perfect as it is and I love it. I don't even have to finish the role quests except for completeness. Look at the worn folds in the leather!

Anyway those are my current thoughts, I've only since unlocked Expert roulette and will start the normal raids later tonight, and then level crafters this weekend. Time to do the mmo bit!

Edit: Also the raid series is gonna be perfect for Alice. "Time to honor the memory of your queen! With Bloodsport! Let's go Zenos!" *Shinryu minion squealing sounds*

[podfeels]

Podfeels Adapt8ion Notes: Episode 2

hello! dare again, and i know that last time i said we'd be releasing these gradually in "the coming days", but, well, life happens. specifically, life happened to where i was unable to write these notes at all. as such, i passed the duty on to another dedicated member of the team. im gonna let them take over from here, and god Damn she was so much more thorough than i wouldve been, but whenever theres a place where my input is needed, ill pipe in with purple text like this! now to get to the real shit:

hey it's luna stagelights here for some adaptational notes for podfeels. i'm only really here to talk about script differences, i can't exactly speak for art and sound design because i wasn't involved in that part of the process. ill pitch in with sound design when necessary, but art was mostly covered in the general S1 post we had the first time.

anyway letsa go

so episode 2 is interesting from an adaptational standpoint because it was the first episode we had to do basically entirely on our own. for episode 1 we had sarah’s changes already, and the decisions she made from there served as as a sort of guideline for what we’re doing from now on, although as time went on we found our own sort of groove for this sort of thing, and we’re not super tied down to the way sarah did it as much i think.

on the topic of the actual changes though: chapter 1 of godfeels 2 part 1 begins with a flashback to pages 5283-5288 of homestuck, with John and Jade watching Con Air, with John declaring that “this movie fucking sucks!”. the episode begins a bit before that, with some noise from the movie itself, specifically audio synced to the footage on screen in the original comic. this change isn't really that major in the long run though, mostly just adding detail to help sell the scene better.

left is the original, right is what got put in the episode. there are a few inconsistencies between what i show here and the scriptlog shown in the episode , but i re-edited the doc to match what you hear in the actual episode.

lot of narration cut and replaced with sound. this is going to be EXTREMELY commonplace as we go forward. 

ok so this line wasn’t actually changed but I do distinctly remember there being some discussion about this, as john says “w8ke up” like “waitk up” here, which i thought felt awkward, however we came to the agreement that john is the kind of dork ass nerd who would say typing quirks like this aloud. but this does actually bring up an issue we’ll see a lot later on, and that is “how the fuck do you vocalize typing quirks”, especially with the inordinate number of gags that rely on presence of a typing quirk. the answer we’ve come to seems to be “on a case by case basis”, but usually characters don’t talk as if their typing quirks are a factor unless theres a good reason.

more lines changed from “texted” to “called” to reflect the change done from texts to calls as it’s an audio format, in line with sarah’s adaptations in episode 1.

“delete that message” was replaced with “forget i said that”, because it’s a call and that wouldn’t make sense.

another minor adaptational hurdle was dealing with emoticons in text. it’s another case by case thing, sometimes it can be just a little sound, sometimes if theres an emoticon at the end of a line we can just remove it and factor it into the delivery of the line, but with lines like this we just simply added terezi doing a little laugh to convey a similar emotion to the emoticon.

the “whoops shit” was added along with a sound of rose snoring, evoking the effect of being too loud on the phone while a friend is asleep, to reflect that it’s a call

the >:x is represented by terezi making a little ‘zzzp’ sound.

this is another answer to the emoticon problem, sometimes you just add a line there instead. 

text does a fun thing with color here, but we couldn’t do anything about that. I think there was discussion about having the va’s for the character who’s colors are represented in the text saying the line, but there was no way to get that to sound even remotely good so we just left the line as is. sometimes when adapting shit things like this will just have to be cut.

oh now THIS is a fun bit.

dare mentioned the talkpogs in the adaptation notes for episode 1, i can’t exactly go too into that part myself because it’s not my wheelhouse, but there is an INCREDIBLY fun bit in the youtube version of this, where terezi does her trademark scribbles on her own talkpog, just for the bit. in the audio-only versions, this bit is missing, and the scribble sound effect as she scribbles on her talkpog are also absent, because they’re a part of a joke that’s simply not there. the bit is still *kind of* there in the audio only version because in both versions terezi clears her throat. its also the first place where the talkpog coloration rules are demonstrated! in our talkpogs, the inner circle is their name color, and the outer ring is their text color. so when she draws on the hey dweebkid this you face, her outer ring shifts to john's text color!

another minor change, just having it be a more natural end to the phone call by adding some words.

after the call we added a new bit of dialogue here, as a way to more naturally transition between chapters, as this episode covers 2 chapters of the original fic. as time goes on and chapters get longer though, covering multiple chapters in a single episode becomes less feasible, often leaning towards us having some later chapters being planned to be multiple episodes.

the rest of the episode is basically entirely made up of narration, and there were actually no adaptational changes made in the narration! 

but there is one last moment. the text originally ends with a section break and then a text of vriska saying “there you are”, and for this episode we simulated that paragraph break by leaving in a bit of silence as if we’re going to cut to credits, before having vriska show up. in the video version, we also had that texton top of 7 dots, reminiscent of vriska’s spidery left eye (or the pokemon registeel, if you’re like me and for some reason that was where your mind wandered to first)

_____

so thats it covered! thank you to stagelights for doing the breakdowns for these episodes! tomorrow we'll have episode 3's breakdown released as well! (and this time i mean it for certain, because i scheduled it at the same time as this post >:P)

[thesherrinfordfacility]

i'm going into blathering oaf mode which i need to type out because otherwise i will literally sit and stare at a blank wall full monkey cymbals instead of doing work that, ya know, pays the bills

buckle up, i think ur going to want to read this one (and if not obvious by the Read More, spoilers ahead)

right im watching s1 again because it is literally my comfort show and i will have it on in the background whilst im working

and im on Hard Times (ep3) and it's just got to the You Go Too Fast for me Crowley scene which obviously HEARTBREAKING

but it just suddenly occurred to me - when we leave the 1941 scene, it feels like the metaphorical ice has been broken and they've like non-verbally agreed to let go of the Holy Water Tantrum

and on top of that we see aziraphale realise he's in love with crowley, and THEN we see the dinner scene in the s2 trailer like solidifies that theyre all cosy and bashful and intimate and seem to have certainly forgotten the whole argument

BUT THEN we get to the 60s scene. and suddenly there's atmosphere. there's suddenly tension. it's awkward and cold and almost a bit nasty. and there is absolutely no reason for it, if you judge only on the linear events given to us in ep3

(EDIT: i watched it again last night and the only other reason i can think of for az being such an arse is that he found out about the robbery by hearsay and not directly from crowley which ok yeah is plausible absolutely and probably the reason for all of it but sOMETHING in my hind brain is just nagging at me that it's more than that so i stand by the following musing....... you may proceed)

what the fuCK happens in that dinner scene??? what in the last circle of hELL prompts az to come up with the "you go too fast for me Crowley" line????

because im telling ya, im betting my last vestige of sanity, that it is NOT the holy water thing

im fairly certain that there's going to be a discussion of the holy water thing in the dinner scene, i think that's a given - when you take into account that az's gut reaction to Crowley asking for holy water was to refuse him because ✨IT WOULD KILL CROWLEY✨, i think that is going to be discussed in that dinner scene

but

BUT.

ahem

i full pussy, honestly and truly (but absolutely fine if im proven wrong), will die by this BELIEVE that there's going to be an a love confession of Some Sort from one of them

Let's face it ---- probably from crowley ("why did you save my books?" "...")

in this scene.

going a step beyond that, i even think there might be a move made from crowley (not The Kiss, mainly because the costume/hair doesn't match but also doesn't seem like the right one) but like maybe he leans in or crowds into az a little too close in this dinner scene and it's going to absolutely scare the beejesus out of az

HE. 💔 GOES. 💔 TOO. 💔 FAST. 💔

like az has literally just realised he feels something that, let's be real, he SHOULD NOT feel bc a) he's an angel and b) crowley is a demon.

but then crowley alludes to having feelings for az? possibly suggest to him that he has for ThousANDS of years???? and that he saved his books because he knew it was important to az????????

nopenopenope toO FAST BOY

az is an angel. opposite side to crowley. literally challenges everything az believes about being an angel and belonging to heaven. this could mean he falls. nopenopenope. too fast.

this is literally the onLY reason i can think of that would result in what appears to be a lovely cute scene, where az is quite blatantly moon eyeing crowley over a bottle of chateau, but immediately swings 30 years later to being cold and distant and "You Go Too Fast for me Crowley"

i will live and die by this, so help me god

and now....... discuss

[purpurussy]

id love to know more about your dinok au <333

thank you for asking <3 + sorry for responding to this a little late! i'm having trouble formulating my thoughts on it atm

my concept is that dan never found phil's channel, never met him, went to uni and married a girl he met there, and became a somewhat unsuccessful legal professional because he fucking hates his job. the vibe for him is that he kinda just let life drag him along, without really allowing himself to actually Live, and now he's in too deep to just come out as gay... like he's experiencing some insane cognitive dissonance dshshglk. coping through denial+alcohol has been working okay for him so far but now his career is flopping heavily and his marriage is falling apart bc he doesn't want kids (obviously) and his wife starting to suspect something is up. he meets phil through a mutual friend who he plays final fantasy with, they start talking via discord and then it's like "but wait what's this? my god it's manic pixie dream girl phil lester with a steel chair"

it's very angsty, slow burn, will they/won't they. but trust that phil is gonna see this sopping wet mess of a man and say "i can fix him" (and then dan will fix himself because i don't like that trope <3 but he needs phil to help him see that he can live his truth and be happy yk)

it's kinda hard to write because it's a bit depressing... i'm finally getting to the part where they meet irl and things start to turn around, but so far it's just been dan drinking to cope and feeling lonely :( i'm trying to go back and edit some humor into it to make it less upsetting to read lmfao. although it's fun to create a contrast between how bad dan's life fucking sucks and how much joy and whimsy he finds in talking to phil <3 it's also just really hard to write denial/cognitive dissonance if that makes sense? there's a lot to explore psychologically. and also I don't want to frame dan's beard wife as an antagonist, I feel like it would be very easy to demonize her but she's not to blame for this mess ykwim. like i don't want dan to be a "my bitch wife" kinda guy DSGSHGKG he's just scared. and the story is supposed to be about him being brave and healing, and realizing that a better life is possible. like he is his own antagonist dslskfghgjkl

I'm also enjoying the concept of the timeline roughly following their irl 2009 timeline. like they start talking around dan's 33rd birthday, meet on october 19th etc. i like the idea of some things being kinda constants even in a different timeline

anyway they just voice chat for a while and get to know each other without actually even knowing what the other looks like. and they lowkey fall in love even before they've even seen each other. so here is them seeing pics of each other for the first time and dying in a tragic double penis explosion incident

(earlier on phil tried to be like "why are you gay? you are gay." but dan just got scared and dodged the question so now he's not even out to phil . can you believe. that's gonna be real awkward when they start making out sloppy style 3 chapters later)

(also i just realized i've written [dan] like a million times while writing this LMAO that did not actually click for me until now)

sorry for rambling for ages! i'm so tired atm so i can't really be coherent lmao.

i really wanna post this once it's done, but i'm worried it'll be too sad and angsty at the beginning and people won't be into it 😭 i'm probably not doing a good job selling this but it'll be okay i promise

also shoutout to the people who helped me brainstorm dan's username! i havent decided yet but i like the idea of him picking something generic at first, and then changing it to something more meaningful as he goes on his little journey of self-discovery

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer Not-Incorrect Quotes, Meet The Family Edition Volume II: Van Dort Visit

Victor: [knocking on the door to Smiler's apartment, fidgeting anxiously] S-smiler? Are -- are you ready to go?

Smiler: [from the other side of the door] Yeah, just a second!

Smiler: [opens the door to reveal that they're wearing -- a plain black suit, white shirt, and black tie]

Victor:

Smiler: ...you okay?

Victor: [blinking and shaking his head] Yes! I-I just -- didn't expect -- [gestures to the outfit] I d-didn't think you owned -- d-don't get me wrong, it is p-probably perfect for visiting Burtonsville and m-meeting my parents, it's only...it looks d-downright funereal.

Smiler: [really awkward smile] Ah -- there's a reason for that...

--

[Context: the trio are being driven by the Van Dorts' chauffeur through the streets of Burtonsville to the Van Dort mansion]

Smiler: [takes a picture of the town and sends it to their friends]

Thirteen: [texting back] Ha ha. Take one without the black-and-white-filter, will you?

Galactica: [texting back] Yeah, be fair, Smiler.

Smiler: [a minute later, texts a picture of themselves and Alice in front of the window, showing that they're in full color]

Galactica: [texting back] WTF???

Thirteen: [texting back] HOLY SHIT HE ACTUALLY LIVES IN A TIM BURTON MOVIE?!

--

[Context: at the mansion, Victor is showing Alice and Smiler around]

Smiler: [staring down another hallway] Sheesh, how many rooms does this place have?

Victor: I'm honestly not sure. More than we could ever need, that's for certain. [rolls his eyes] Have to have room for all of Mother's "treasures..."

Alice: Yes, your mother in particular does seem to be into the conspicuous consumption. [small smile] At least you don't have a gold toilet?

[smash cut to:]

Alice: [staring at a literal gold toilet] Oh my fucking god.

Smiler: [also staring] Is it -- can you --

Victor: Of course not -- do you think my mother would ever allow anyone to befoul her beloved toilet?

Smiler: Rita is going to kill your parents if she ever meets them.

Victor: Please tell her to do so in a way that allows me a proper alibi.

--

[Context: Nell is holding court at tea and complaining about "this modern world"]

Nell: People just don't know their place anymore! Why, just a little while ago, I had the displeasure of dealing with the rudest, most incompetent barista I've ever met!

Victor: [not really paying attention anymore] Did you?

Nell: Yes! Cheeky little bugger didn't seem to understand anything about his job! All I wanted was a few little extras -- the sort a customer is entitled to -- and he couldn't even pour the coffee right!

Victor: [sudden horrified realization] Uh --

Alice: [calmly sipping her tea] That must have been terrible for you.

Smiler: [nodding] I bet you didn't even leave a tip.

Nell: Oh, we never leave tips anyway -- we don't believe in them, isn't that right, William? [William gets half a nod in before she continues] But we paid good money for that coffee, and I expected it to be done right! Not by some half-wit with dyed hair rolling his colored contacts at me!

Smiler: [completely deadpan] How dare they.

Victor: [muttering] Still drank the entire thing, though.

Nell: Not the point! [shaking her head as she returns to her own tea] At least you're not spending all your time with those sorts, Victor. If I knew you were carrying on with a barista I'd die of shame.

Alice: [under her breath] Can we have that in writing?

Victor: [trying very hard not to laugh]

--

Victor: [deep sigh as they all climb in the Van Dort's car to go home] Thank you both for putting up with that.

Alice: It's fine, Victor. They are your parents, and we were going to have to do that eventually.

Victor: I know, just -- I'm sorry. About them. They're -- a-a lot, I know.

Alice: [squeezing his forearm] I imagine you do, yes.

Smiler: Yeah, really. [pause] So, how do you think it's going to take before she finally realizes who I am and dies of shame?

Victor: Considering how much attention she pays to "servants" -- the heat death of the universe.

Alice: I don't think I can wait that long.

Victor: Please don't murder my mother.

Smiler: Yeah, Rita already has dibs.

[deadchovsky]

Ok nvm more yapping under the cut. Tumblr is my diary and baby, I'm writing in pink glitter gel. Ignore this <3

I'm formatting this like greentext bc its funny

Big Font.

😨

Ddo you like Wilbur soot. Cuz I do

Anyways:

>be me on NYE

>one of my friends asked me to take a picture out of this end of year video thing I post on my 15 subs youtube channel every year at the end of the year.

> he says because his phone screen is visible and hes worried about what's on it. Says it might be some rp server he was on at the time the picture was taken and thinks it could he embarrassing. (This is important remember this.)

>I zoom in on the picture, it literally looks like a black screen.

> he says hes still worried about someone seeing it

>okay whatever. I try my best to remove this picture that last for like 2 seconds out of a 15 minute long video. (Sidebar, this picture was already in a different video months ago and he was fine w it then and literally has never brought up removing it from that video once.)

> I save changes to the video

> "okay I think I got it, but there might be like .5 seconds of it still, bc YouTube's editing thing sucks"

> he says its fine, because it's a 15 minute long video and the longest that clip is in there for is like. A singular second.

> 2 months later

> be me

> this mf hasnt talked to me, or basically any of my friends since new years.

> guy literally dropped out of the play despite wanting to be in it since September

>guy is literally in all 4 of my classes and hasnt attended a single one since the second day of the semester.

>I'm walking around the school bc the gender neutral bathrooms are closed, so I'm going to the least scary girls bathrooms near the front of the school.

> guy and one of my friends show up and stop me in the hallway.

> friend: "hey guy needs to talk to you."

> me: "bro I have to piss rn can it wait"

> apparently not.

> Guy: "I know you don't understand why I feel this way" (most condescending tone possible)

> turns out changes didnt save in YouTube video and the picture is still in the video for literally 0.003% of the entire runtime.

> tells me to remove it because he thinks that he was "texting his mom about his attempt at the time"

> picture was taken a month before the attempt. also he told me it was the rp server the first time I tried to remove it.

> ok whatever. I say I'll remove the picture.

> interaction is very awkward(mind you we're standing in the middle of a high school hallway while hes telling me all this) I leave and go piss

> I go back to class after pissing

>friend (who was with guy) says that was the first time guys talked to her in a few weeks.

>I show her the picture on my phone, bc I feel like I'm going crazy. The phone literally only looks turned on bc you can see a slightly outline of a white keyboard. Not to mention the photo is BLURRY.

>friend confirms that you can't see fucking shit on the phone in the picture.

>thank god because I thought I was somehow wrong for thinking you cant see shit

Also, bro saw that video that the picture was in once, freaked out bc he thought you could see his rp server in it, then tried to tell me TWO MONTHS LATER (and almost 10 months AFTER the picture was taken and posted in a different video THAT HE SAW) that he was talking to his mom about a suicide attempt in there. I didnt even remember about that bro how tf did he manage to keep that in his brain for two fucking months. Get different meds you fucking dweeb like oh my god. Clearly whatever you're on now isnt working.

[dean-winchester-is-a-warrior]

All of That and More

Summary: Dean comes home looking for the softness Y/N has to offer.

Warnings/Explicit 18+: Implied smut, kissing, making out, mostly flangst.

Pairings: Dean Winchester x Y/N

Word Count: 490

A/N: I've been missing Dean a lot lately, and I've seen some posts from friends who have been feeling the same. So, I just felt like writing this little drabble as a way for us to miss him less and also to give Dean the love he deserves!!

The beautiful divider at the bottom was created by @talesmaniac89

Masterlist || Tag Lists

I wake up as I feel the bed shift behind me.

"Dean?" I croak sleepily, turning my head to see him sliding in beneath the covers.

"Shh, go back to sleep, sweetheart, I didn't mean to wake you up." He says quietly.

"Not a chance." I whisper as I turn to face him and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him to me for a kiss.

He settles in next to me, his lips sealed to mine. After exchanging soft kisses for a couple minutes, he brushes my hair back from my face.

"God, I missed you, baby." He says in his honey-gravel voice.

I wrap my arm around his ribcage and run my hand up and down his beautifully sculpted back, reveling in the feel of his warm, taut skin under my fingers.

"I missed you too. How did the hunt go?"

He doesn't reply; he just buries his face in my neck and I have my answer.

I pull him tighter against me and he groans into the side of my neck. "Fuck me, you smell so good." He says, inhaling deeply and then attaching his lips to my pulse point.

I sigh softly and drop my head back so he can easily reach all the sensitive spots on my neck, the ones he knows will drive me crazy.

He pushes open the buttons on my pajama top and smooths one hand down my side and over the curve of my hip before coming up and resting his big palm on my breast, his fingers curling lightly, promising more.

"How tired are you, sweetheart?"

I arch into his hand and purr as I palm him through his boxer briefs. "I'm wide awake now."

His breath catches and his eyes flare with heat, but his smile is gentle and loving. "Let me tire you out again, then."

He definitely follows through on his promise, making love to me slowly and thoroughly, making up for lost time, and pushing me past the edge to bliss over and over until I am indeed exhausted, my limbs heavy and boneless.

I know too, that he's making something beautiful between us to try and erase the ugly things that linger in his mind from the hunt he won't talk about.

He will eventually talk, eventually tell me about what went down, maybe while he's cuddled up against me later, or maybe not for a couple days, when he'll randomly start talking to me about it as I sit in his lap in one of the wide library chairs.

But however long it takes, I won't push him. I learned a long time ago not to demand explanations from him. Dean needs to open up in his own time.

In the meantime, I can give him this, give him me - let him find solace and comfort in my body and in the magic we create together in the soft light of our bedroom.

I'm not a hunter, but I love one with all my heart, for all he is, for all he does, for all he gives, I will happily give him all of me.

He deserves all of that and more.

Tags under the cut:

1. Jensen RPF + Any/All characters Jensen plays.

@lyarr24

@siospins2

@impalaslytherin

@akshi8278

@maggiegirl17

@candy-coated-misery0731

@nt-multi-fandom

@slytherinlyn314

2. Dean Winchester Fics Only.

@saikoswritings

@lgranger67

@carryonwaywardgirl

3. Any/All Fics (regardless of fandom/character.)

@sunshineandwings86

@kazsrm67

@sexyvixen7

4. Everything (includes fan vid/DOOL edits as well)

@unabashed-lover-of-fictional-men

@awkward-and-indecisive

@maliburenee

@supernatural4life2022

@spn730015

@b3autyfuldisast3r

@kickingitwithkirk

@waywardbaby

@foxyjwls007

@deanwanddamons

@deandreamernp

@deanwithscissors

@myloversgone

@snowlovespie

@leigh70

@all-alone-he-turns-to-stone

@fangirlxwritesx67

@charred-angelwings

@hopefuldreamers-world

@mysherlock221b

@jensensgotyoudean

@stixnstripesworld

@thoughts-and-funnies

@magssteenkamp

@norman1967

@princessmisery666

@eevvvaa

@mishkatelwarriorgoddess

@deepsketchsupernaturalcowboy

@b-i-t-c-h-i-e

@twirpbunwarrior

@mysweetlittledesire

@waynes-multiverse

@mrsjenniferwinchester

@bernasaurus

@jensenslady79

[separatist-apologist]

"truth is that i'm so damn in love with you that i don't know what to do with myself" - for lucien please!!

I'm so sorry I've fallen behind on prompts! I will be answering them all with a vengeance this upcoming week. Also, I hope you wanted smut.

This is NSFW, 18+, you know the editing vibes (non-existent).

--

Friends. That’s what Elain had said almost a year ago when he approached her. I don’t want a mate…but I could use a friend. Lucien had jumped at the chance to spend time with her. After all, something was better than nothing, right?

Wrong, he realized practically a month later. Even without the mating bond, Lucien thought he would have been utterly obsessed with her. Who knew how lively Elain could be? Or funny? Smart, and sharp and witty…she was everything he could have hoped for and much, much more. Friends. The word tasted sharp and metallic in his mouth, like blood pouring down his throat, threatening to drown him. He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. I don’t want to be your friend! He thought even as he smiled and escorted her from this court or that. He had made her a promise, and Lucien thought it was better to have her however he could get her than to not have her at all. Still, sometimes when she looked at him with those soft, brown eyes, the edges creased with fondness, he could pretend she loved him too.

Because Lucien was in love with Elain. Stupidly, head over heels in love with the female in a way that both terrified andthrilled him. She was all he thought about, all he dreamt of. Her smile made his bones ache and her laugh threatened to consume him with burning, passionate fire. They were back in Velaris, their time together officially complete. Rhysand had nothing for the pair of them and so Elain was unpacking as she chattered animatedly with her sisters and Lucien lay down the hall, face down into a pillow. Tomorrow he’d continue on his own, leaving her behind and why shouldn’t he? They were friends. Friends didn’t need to spend every waking moment together.

He didn’t move even when Feyre knocked for dinner. He heard the door open a second time when the sun went down and smelled Elain even before he saw her.

“Tired?” She asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Waiting for death to take me, he thought as he turned his head to face her. “A little.”

She brushed his hair out of his face with her fingers and Lucien tried to pretend the gesture had no effect on him.

“Tomorrow is going to be strange,” she murmured, her eyes meeting his. “You leaving…me staying. Who will make my tea in the morning?”

Lucien’s insides shriveled to dust. “I’m sure you could ask one of the servants.”

She nodded, her eyes becoming glassy with thought. “Yeah…it won’t be the same, thought.” Lucien could agree with that. Come with me! His mind screamed. Instead, he closed his eyes as she continued to stroke little pieces of hair off his face, the pads of her fingertips zapping electricity through his veins.

“Will you come to dinner with me, at least?” She asked gently. Lucien would rather eat his own hand than pretend everything was fine.

“I’m not hungry,” he told her petulantly. She withdrew her hand, biting her bottom lip.

“I knew it. You’re angry with me.”

Lucien pushed himself off his chest to sit on the bed. “What?” He asked dumbly.

“You’re angry. Why?” She asked, her chin trembling.

“I’m not angry,” he assured her, standing quickly. She looked up him with defiance.

“Then come to dinner with me.”

“No,” he replied, fear bubbling in his blood.

“Because you’re mad—”

“Fuck, Elain! The truth is I’m so damn in love with you that I don’t know what to do with myself!” He all but shouted, fisting his hands at his sides. Her mouth fell open, but Lucien couldn’t stop not that he’d started. “You want a friend and I want to be that for you, but I don’t wantto go downstairs and pretend I’m not gonna miss every single inch of you when I leave. We can go back to friendship in the morning but right now, I want to be alone.”

Her eyes were glassy again, her cheeks burning red, and he wondered if he’d taken things too far. He took a hesitant half-step towards her. “Elain, I’m—”

“Finally,” She breathed before launching herself into his arms, her mouth covering his before he could finish his apology. Lucien clutched her against his chest, groaning into her mouth with both suppressed need and his exuberance. Kissing, kissing, mate is kissing—

His mate was also quickly unbuttoning his pants, he thought, his tongue sweeping into her mouth.

“Took you forever,” she gasped against his lips, letting him pick her up, his hands bracing her ass like seat. “Started to think—ah, Lucien—you didn’t like me at all.”

He nipped down her neck, her legs wrapped around his waist, dress bunched up to expose her underwear to his aching, now freed cock. The position was awkward; his pants tangled around his legs, his shirt covered his chest and yet Lucien could not be bothered to fix any of it. Now,the mating instinct screamed. Have her now.

Elain pulled the scrap of fabric between him and her to the side and Lucien slid in, hissing at the slickness already pooling between her thighs.

“How long?” He demanded, pressing her back against a wall. Elain squeezed her thighs around his body.

“Forever,” she replied, her eyes closed. “Since Winter at least.”

God, he thought, his eyes rolling in his head. That had been nearly seven months ago. He’d loved her just as long. The knowledge that he could have had her as he was taking her then, up against a wall because he couldn’t stand being parted for the few seconds it would take him to walk back to the bed, was enough to drive him to madness. Lucien thrusted into her as Elain clawed at his hair, tangling her fingers in what was left of his ponytail.

“Should have told me,” Lucien grunted before kissing her with all the pent up, scorched heat he felt. Elain gave him as good as he got, her tongue already in his mouth establishing her dominance. She could have him however she liked.

“Didn’t want to mess everything up,” she gasped, her breath sweet against his face. Lucien’s arms ached from holding her and his cock throbbed, unable to fully bury himself within her.

Lucien snarled even as he pulled out, tossing her to the bed as he kicked himself out of his pants. Elain was fumbling with the buttons of her dress, as though he cared about that. Lucien spread her legs as wide as he could, growling softly with approval at the gleaming wet he found looking back between bright pink lips.

She began to pull the dress up over her head, her hips shimmying as though she meant to escape him. It felt like running and Lucien couldn’t help the way he reached for her, dragging her pussy to his face and burying himself in it before she got away. Mine, you are mine—

Elain squealed, still trying to free herself from the fabric. Lucien had no inclination to help, licking her with desperation. She tasted good,better than he’d imagined, somehow musky and sweet.

“Lucien,” she gasped when his tongue swiped over her clit. She ground against his face like she knew what she was doing, drawing her knees up and pinning him in place. She reached for his hair and pushed, demanding he stay where he was. Lucien’s hips bucked involuntarily, rubbing against the soft fabric of the bed to alleviate some of his arousal.

“Lucien,” she gasped again, her thighs quivering. He withdrew his mouth with a smirk and lifted her legs in the air, holding them against his chest. He rubbed the crown of his cock against her dripping cunt before pulling off his tunic and shirt.

“Close?” He asked, arching a brow. She whined, trying to pull him in. Lucien took himself in his hand and rubbed deliberately, using her own slickness and the head of his penis to rub slow circles around her quivering, swollen clit. She arched her back with trembling breath.

“Yes,” she gasped and Gods how he wanted to watch her fall apart like this.

“Do you want to come?” He asked. She nodded her head, biting her bottom lip. Up, up, up, she keened only for Lucien to withdraw his cock and sheathe himself inside her. He replaced the tip against her clit with his thumb, fucking and he rubbed. She was breathy, eyes open and locked on his face and so damn loud.

There was no mistaking what was happening in his room. He was sure the whole house could hear them, not that Elain seemed to care. Close, he could tell she was close giving how she was rhythmically clenching around him and how she panted through her pretty red lips.

“Lucien,” she whispered, a warning. He wanted it, wanted to knowwhat she felt like when she was lost to ecstasy. He pumped, her wet heat killing him with each stroke. Nothing had ever felt half as good in his life and he didn’t believe anything ever would, again.

She came with a scream, her cunt sucking him deeper, leaving him no breathing room, just his cock and the walls of her pussy he felt stretched over him. She yanked on his arms, pulling him down to kiss her as he continued to thrust, overwhelmed with the sensations. So much was happening; he could still taste her on his mouth, could feel nothing but how incredible it was to be inside her and yet the kissing only heightened that.

He was building, too. His muscles tightened and Lucien let himself go. She swallowed his cry as he pushed as far as he could go, trying to become two souls that shared the same flesh. She dug her nails into his ass, holding him there.

Lucien collapsed carefully, withdrawing himself so he wouldn’t crush her. “Fuck.”

She giggled, nuzzling her head into his chest as he yanked blankets up over their bodies. “That was nice.”

“I love you too, you know,” she whispered, kissing his shoulder.

Lucien smiled.

[talkfantasytome]

It Would've Been So Right - Chapter 4

Bryce and Connor both need a bit of a debrief with friends after the date.

Warnings: None | Word Count: 3,377 | Read on AO3

It Would've Been So Right Masterlist

a/n: After re-reading this chapter for editing, I realized I don't love it...👀 But, I'm not going to make big changes so, here we go. Something cheesy with rough descriptions from the characters. lol

"I know."

Danika chuckled and headed back into the apartment, Bryce following a moment later.

"So, you gonna tell me what happened last night? Or am I going to have sniff all around the place to try and figure it out?" Danika asked with a wicked grin.

"Hmmm…I think I'll go with option number two," Bryce countered, beaming back at her friend. "I'd like to see you tell me what happened."

Staring straight at Bryce, Danika took a massive, overly exaggerated sniff, and then smirked. "You didn't have sex."

"You already mentioned that." Bryce waved her hand in dismissal at the comment.

"It's the only piece that matters. And yet, Connor still shared your bed - care to explain yourself?" Danika stared her down, looking like a disappointed parent who's child had just received low marks on a test.

Bryce just sighed. "It was Connor's call."

"Couldn't get it up?"

"Fuck off." Bryce rolled her eyes, unable to stop the small laugh that slipped out.

"Bryce, what happened?" Danika asked in all seriousness. She tried to hide it, but in the end, she was probably just as invested in this as Ithan Holstrom was, though for vastly different reasons. Yes, Danika hated seeing Connor hurt the way he had been the past couple of months - she never should have set Bryce up with that limp-dicked idiot. But it was Bryce who made Danika so desperate to see this relationship work out, if not for any other reason than so her friend would have easy access to great sex.

There were far more reasons than that.

"Date was great. Started out a bit awkward, but we sorted through it," Bryce started to explain. "And from there, it was good, and he was so hot. And amazing, and kind, and chivalrous, but not too chivalrous."

"Not too chivalrous?" Danika questioned.

Bryce just smirked. "Definitely not."

Danika exhaled slowly. "Damn."

"Yeah," she breathed. "But, that's the point. The date was so good, so…tense?" She said that last part like she wasn't sure it was the right word. "He could've taken me at any point last night and I would have enjoyed the ride."

"That's not saying much," Danika snorted. It was a joke, for the most part. But, Bryce…she had a lot of energy to let out, and not many ways to do so. It wasn't all that surprising she was rather quick to jump in the sack. Especially on days she didn't have dance.

Bryce flipped her off before continuing. "Anyways, we got back to the apartment, we were outside, he was about to kiss me, and then I got your text." Danika laughed, giving her an innocent smile that told Bryce she definitely wasn't sorry. "So, I invited him in, obviously."

"Obviously."

"We talked briefly about…nothing. I don't know, it was all just a lead-up."

"To…?"

"The kiss," Bryce said, sighing again as if even the memory of it turned her on. Based on how her scent shifted, it probably did. "Oh my gods, Danika, that kiss. I thought he was about to fuck me against that wall." She pointed to the wall that covered part of the kitchen.

"Why the fuck didn't he?" Danika asked, sounding almost offended.

"Because he's good."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know how to explain it but, basically, he may have gone a bit feral for a moment."

Danika's mouth made a circle she exhaled through, as if to say 'oh'. She'd seen Connor's more feral side a few times, when his rage had built up enough during investigations or when needing to enforce the law. He typically had it under control, but every once in a while some prick would really set him off, and in those moments, even Danika was terrified of him. Not that he'd ever hurt her, but shit, seeing him shift like that, it was frightening. A perfect trait in a Second, in an enforcer. Not exactly the type of thing one would want to see on a date, even though it was likely somewhat different from the wild wolf Danika has experienced.

"Yeah." Bryce nodded. "So he backed off. Said that we were going too fast, and if we continued down that path he'd end up being everything I hate. I'm not sure I fully believe him, but I can't be mad at him either. I appreciate what he's doing."

"And yet he still ended up in your room?" Danika questioned, her eyes flicking to the open door showing the still unmade bed. Bryce just smiled in response. "So…when sex?"

"Great question," Bryce chuckled, Danika laughing with her.

"You know, there's an easy fix to all of this?" Bryce raised an eyebrow with curiosity. "If he tries to lock you away, I can order him to give you back to me." Danika grinned widely, making Bryce laugh even harder.

"As kind as that is, I think we should try it Connor's way first."

"Ugh! But that means you have to wait even longer for that sex marathon!"

"Yeah, so you better go find some for yourself and stop trying to live vicariously through me," Bryce teased.

"Then come out with me tonight," Danika crooned. "I'll let you pick out a male for me. Or, will you be with Connor again, already some old married couple?"

Bryce gasped and poked her in the stomach, making Danika snicker. "I'm so there."

Thorne Vale was lounging on a couch in the Devils' Lair, the common room claimed by the Pack of Devils within the vast complex that was the Den, when Connor shuffled in. He and Bronson both stood up, clapping, cheering, and 'whooping' as Connor practically fell into the cozy armchair next to him.

"The conquering hero returns!" Thorne teased, offering a bow to Connor.

"All hail!" Bronson added, following Thorne's lead, but adding a flourish of his arm before tucking it to his gut and bowing low.

"Get a life!" Connor chuckled, tossing a pillow that somehow managed to hit both him and Bronson.

"We would, but we'd much rather talk about yours," Thorne said, sitting back down on the couch.

Bronson joined him, pivoting to face Connor with a smirk on his face. "But keep it classy."

"Well, there goes story time." Thorne fell against the back of the couch in an overly dramatic way, winning him a barking laugh from Bronson, and another pillow in the face. He hadn't even noticed Connor had another one.

"You losers were never getting story time," Connor grunted. Despite the teasing and pillow-throwing, Connor seemed distant. Preoccupied.

Thorne exchanged a knowing look with Bronson. Connor never had been one to really, fully discuss his feelings, except maybe with Ithan. Though, even then, Thorne doubted he shared everything. It was just the Alpha male way - extreme feelings bottled up in massive bodies. It's no wonder the girls called them 'alphaholes'. They're all ticking time bombs living life that way. And, eventually, they explode.

Still, if Connor was going to talk to one of them, they both knew it would be Thorne. So Bronson lazily stood up. "Well, in that case, I guess I'll be going. Wanted to catch the new abstract exhibit." And try to pick up some CCU student pretending to be cultural. His favorite way to put all that artsy knowledge to use.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Connor gave him a wicked smile.

"Then I wouldn't be going to the museum, would I?" Bronson grinned back, his onyx eyes twinkling mischievously. He then waved and walked out, leaving Thorne to try and deal with Connor, but Thorne didn't mind. He actually enjoyed his role as Omega, which made sense. It wasn't just his role, it was who he was. Unlike Connor, who was technically the Beta of the pack in role - though Thorne often saw him as the second Alpha - but an Alpha male in being. Not that Connor minded being Second. His ambitions didn't really run that way, he wasn't looking for political power. He definitely cared about his own power, but only because it helped him with his job. He'd rather serve under Danika for the rest of his life than ever Alpha a different pack.

Lucky for Connor, one day he'll likely get to do both, whenever Danika becomes the Prime, or maybe even when she becomes Prime Apparent, assuming Sabine is wiling to delegate to her. Then Connor will step in to Alpha the Pack of Devils, since Danika will be too busy running all the wolves. And Thorne will be glad to serve both of them.

Taking the controls, Thorne turned the television on and raised the volume to an ungodly high level, to ensure no wolves randomly overheard them, and then looked back to Connor. "You want to talk about it?"

"No," he said firmly.

"Okay," Thorne sighed, leaning against the back of the couch.

"It's just these damn instincts!" Connor blurted out, leaning forward and rubbing his hands against his face. "You have no idea how lucky you are."

"Yep, super lucky over here. It's why I haven't even had sex in over a year," he said sarcastically.

"Yea, sure, that's why," Connor chuckled, giving Thorne a look that said he was all too aware of the real reason. Not that Thorne ever talked about it. But Connor, he knew. As did Bryce. And the entire pack. They were all so gods-damn perceptive, and nosy. "I just meant…" He let out a deep sigh. "Sometimes I just don't have control over myself, and yet I'm still being me. It sucks, because at the end of it, I can't even say 'that's not who I am' or 'I can't believe I did that', because I can. Because it is me. It's my nature, and I love being a wolf, I'm happy with who I am, so, technically, I'm happy with the instincts."

Thorne nodded in understanding. It may have sounded like a bunch of gibberish to someone who didn't know Connor, but Thorne, he didn't need any extra information to know Connor must have had a 'wolf moment' on his date, as Thorne tended to call them. Quick flashes of the beast within, when instinct takes over the body. Connor tended to get them the most, likely due to being an Alpha, but he was also the best at controlling them quickly. And it wasn't much of a surprise to Thorne that it happened last night, not after watching Connor want Bryce so fiercely, and wait so patiently for her, for five years.

He may not be the same as Connor, have those same territorial instincts that can turn a rational Vanir into a truly wild beast, but they did exist to an extent. And he could comprehend the problem, because the issue really wasn't Connor hating the idea of being territorial. Not that he necessarily wanted to be the type to completely rob a female of her freedom - he tended to prefer strong, independent females. No, the bigger issue was Bryce'sfeelings on those instincts, and Connor's desperate need to be what Bryce wants.

Letting loose a soft laugh, Thorne grinned at Connor. "Sounds like you need a guys' night. Just have some fun, clear your mind, and not worry so much about it."

"How, exactly, would that help me with control?"

"Well, sometimes, we're actually worse when we're thinking too much about the thing we're trying to fix," Thorne shrugged. "Plus, wouldn't it be better to not spend every moment of the day thinking about Bryce, and who you think she is to you? Might actually help calm your instincts enough to be able to forget, a bit... at least enough to let you enjoy her more without throwing a fit."

Connor thought for a moment, and then smiled. "You're smarter than you look. And I could use a guys night. I can meet you at eight - I have to head over to the Meat Market, deal with some things there this afternoon." He stood up and started toward the door that led to his room. "Don't let Bronson pick the place, I'd like to be able to get a beer - and one I can actually pronounce - and let's see if we can get Zach out, too."

Thorne gave him a mocking salute, and laughed as Connor flipped him the bird and then disappeared behind his door.

"You know, it's a lot harder to fuck a stranger in a bathroom or alleyway in jeans," Bryce sighed, eyeing Danika's pants disapprovingly.

"You'd be the expert," Danika teased.

"Yes, and as the expert, I think you should change." She grinned widely at her friend.

Danika groaned. She had no interest in putting on some dress she could barely breath in just to have drinks with her friends. And, sure, it would be nice to get off tonight, but she hadn't been serious about that being the focus of the evening. And was even less interested after spending the afternoon in the Meat Market with Connor, trying to nail down some black market dealer selling wolf bones. "I'm not going all the way back to our apartment just to put on some skimpy dress I'll be uncomfortable in."

"Fine." Bryce rolled her eyes and led Danika into the bar. "You're in quite the mood. Care to share?"

She didn't bother answering, just shook her head and started toward the table where Nathalie and Zelda already sat. She'd tell Bryce later. She really didn't want to bring this case up with the others. That's why it had only been her and Connor at the market, and she'd given him strict orders not to tell anyone else in the pack what it was all about.

"Tell me you ordered drinks for us?" Danika asked after she and Bryce greeted the two girls, sliding into one of the open chairs, Bryce taking the other, responding to a text she'd just gotten. No doubt from Connor, based on the way she was smiling stupidly. "Uh-uh, none of that!" She snatched the phone away from Bryce the second she hit send.

"Hey!"

"You can have it back at the end of the night," Danika said wickedly, pocketing the phone and ignoring the incoming buzz. Nathalie and Zelda snickered as a tray of drinks was brought over, the waiter laying on the table four very frilly cocktails.

"To answer your question, yes, we did," Zelda said, picking up one of the four glasses and raising it. Danika smiled widely at her in gratitude.

Nathalie followed suit. "To girls' night out!"

Bryce and Danika cheered as the four clinked their glasses against each other's and took long sips. The drink was fruity and flavorful, and verystrong, just how Danika liked it. There was no point in having a cocktail if you couldn't taste the alcohol. And Danika needed alcohol.

She'd received the call from her mother soon after Connor left the apartment, detailing what had been discovered in a raid on some low-level drug dealer's apartment. That someone was selling wolf shifter bones as tools to use in magic rituals. Considering all wolves Sailed at the end of their lives, there were a number of questions around where this dealer was getting these bones, on top of the huge violations in their laws in regards to tradeable materials. Shifter bones, like all Vanir bones, were on the 'fuck no' list.

However, after hours spent at the Meat Market with Connor, attempting to learn or see anything that might help them, Danika had arrived at dinner with nothing to show for her afternoon. And a gut-wrenching feeling that this might get a lot worse before it's all sorted, as well as the horrifying question of who those bones belonged to.

Danika was taking another massive sip when she heard Nathalie shout at someone behind her. "No! No way! Get out - we were here first!"

She turned around instinctively and her eyes instantly met a pair of familiar blue irises, making her groan. "Why are you lot here?" she asked in a whine, trying to ignore the look on Bryce's face.

Fucking new relationships. She should've known it would only be worse between Bryce and Connor, after five years of waiting and wanting each other. So it really wasn't much of a surprise to see them just stare at each other, as they so often did, their eyes intense, yet a smile shone in both of them. And suddenly a pit started to sink in Danika's stomach as she looked at the two of them, sensing the shift in her atmosphere. Bryce was starting down a new path in her life, a defining path, and Danika wasn't exactly sure she'd be able to keep up.

No, she would. She'd fucking make sure she did. It was Danika and Bryce against the world, Connor was just a tag-along. But, maybe, Danika should start thinking about finding a tag-along for herself. Considering the faint blush on Bryce's cheeks, it didn't seem so bad.

"We're here for guys night," Thorne said, not taking his eyes of Danika, who met his gaze again with a cruel smile. Of course that's what they were doing.

"Male's night," Bronson corrected with a roll of his eyes. It seemed someone didn't get lucky today at the museum.

Nathalie shifted her attention to Bryce. "Did you tell him where we would be?"

"No, I swear," Bryce said, her eyes snapping to Nathalie and then Danika, who was inclined to believe her. Danika was the one who'd chosen the bar. She hadn't even told Bryce where they were going, since the two of them had met up for dinner before hand - it hadn't been necessary.

"Connor had no say in where we went," Thorne added, giving Bryce a small smile. "I picked the place and just told him where to meet us." Connor nodded, confirming Thorne's story, but didn't take his eyes off of Bryce. He'd never been able to take his eyes off of Bryce.

Alphahole. But, despite her annoyed thoughts, Danika couldn't help but smile.

Shit, shit, shit!

Thorne had not expected to see the girls tonight. Of all the bars in Crescent City - and there were a ton - how the Hel did they end up at the same exact one? Especially seeing as Bryce and Danika tended to prefer clubs.

He had one job tonight - give Connor a reprieve from Bryce, a chance to stop thinking about her, and hope it helped with his instincts. How could he have possibly screwed it up so badly?

"Either way, looks like you lot have to find a new bar," Zelda sighed, brushing fingers through her dark hair. "We can't have a proper girls' night if you all are in the same building. And we've got dibs."

"Agreed," Nathalie and Danika said in unison, nodding their heads vigorously. Then the seven of them all turned to Bryce, who gave Connor a guilty smile.

"They're not wrong," she said with an awkward grin that didn't really curve upward. A round of cheers from the other females had Thorne and Zach both rolling their eyes, Connor nodding in understanding.

"Guess we'll be going, then," he said roughly, still staring at Bryce intently, as if she were the only other being in the world. She didn't shy away from it. She'd never really shied away from him, but she used to break those looks off, like a silent discouragement. Tonight, she seemed to let his gaze completely entrance her.

Bronson and Zach started to turn away, Thorne looking back at Danika and giving her a mock bow. "There's a great wine bar around the-"

"No!" the three males all shouted, turning toward Bronson in unison, causing all the girls to laugh loudly in perfect harmony.

Thorne started out the bar, just a couple steps behind the other two, but in his peripheral he watched as Connor looked back and gave Bryce a quick kiss on the cheek before pivoting and following the others out. He couldn't control the pang of jealousy he felt at seeing that, the relationship finally beginning to bloom between them. And he wondered if he might have the chance at something similar someday, with the female he'd been waiting for.

[easymarkforevilredheads]

I'm finally watching the new Grey's episode (The Great Return of One Addison Montgomery) so. Reaction time (under the cut):

- Amelia baby you look GORGEOUS please marry me.

- Bestie as an insult YES agreed

- She's already so giddy about the videocall with Kai???? No heterosexuality on sight and I for one am loving it

- The whole "is it gonna be weird" thing, I love it because she's literally all the viewers and I'm glad it's semi-addressed, indirectly lmao

- Oh l*nk showed up... please just go

- He's starting to get on my nerves as much as meredith did in s15-16

- Teddy Altman. I love you. You're a sweetheart and you deserve so much better.

- mer x hayes I SHIP YOU DAMN IT (she still gets on my nerves tho)

- HELLO ADDISON MA'AM STEP ON ME OH MY GOD

- LOVE the s1 easter egg line YES BABEEE

- Bailey looks so happy to have Addie around BESTIES I'M TELLING YOU

- Starstruck interns ((or residents, whatever, I'm lost)... mood. Intern taking pictures w their phone... MOOD.

- I love the new plastics doctor would gladly let her destroy me

- Yes Richard brag about Addie she DESERVES IT

- Helm honey i like u but stfu i will not tolerate Addison slander

- BADASS GROUNDBREAKING SURGERY BY ADDISON FORBES MONTGOMERY WE LOVE THIS FOR HER WE LOVE THIS

- yay for schmidt i do love him!!

- "get me some coffee" THE MARK SLOAN S2 VIBES IM SCREAMING I LOVE ADDIE

- we LOVE ADDISON IN THE OR and THE SCRUB CAP my heart can't take it

- I missed bailey so much actually like top 5 grey's characters ever

- ooh trouble in or paradise... "get me meredith grey" fair enough babe

- that's an interesting friendly greeting! and grey told helm to chill with the defensiveness thank GOD I was rolling my eyes ngl

- AMELIA ON THAT CALL WITH KAI I AM LOVING THIS. LOVING THIS. ALL THE LITTLE THINGS AND THE SUBTEXT I DAMN WELL HOPE THEY'RE BUILDING UP THE TENSION ON PURPOSE

- also Kai please top me

- Amelia is such a dork I love her to death

- the guided meditation....... I am looking. that's queer flirting. I will not be debating it.

- competitive Meredith/Addison banter and it is NOT about a man everyone make a wish we never thought this would happen

- ok fully honestly: I don't think i can ship current day meradd bc i have way too many issues with meredith but. That blood clot scene could make me consider it.

- why does Teddy always end up having to fix the men around her she deserves better

- "there was tension" ok maybe these interns/residents/whatever are gonna be shipping them and that will be FUN

- sidenote Addie you still give me bi vibes no matter how many years go by

- THE ELEVATOR SCENE I WILL C R Y i am so moved and so grateful for Kate Walsh's RANGE. I missed it. The depth she gives to her character was so necessary for the show and I will write more about this later but these kind of scenes are precisely why I tell you Meredith needs her as her counterpoint

- "Richard will understand" FUCK THAT'S A DIRECT PARALLEL TO WHEN ADDISON LEFT STOP IM GOING TO CRY

- Helm I officially don't like you

- Addison wearing a ponytail brain going brrrrr

- ADDISON HAS EAR PIERCINGS?????? I'M COMBUSTING

- love her speech about work conditions yes Addie revolutionary edition

- Teddy please give me a snowcone you're so ADORABLE

- saw Amelia and Addison in the same frame and had to pause for a minute.

- ok here we go.

- HAPPY LITTLE SCREAMS AND RUNNING TO EACH OTHER THEY ARE EVERYTHING I LOVE THEY MEAN THE WORLD RO ME OMG

- SHUT UP THAT 360 OF THE LONGEST HUG IN GA HISTORY WAS FOR US PRIVATE PRACTICE FANS I CANT I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I LITERALLY SCREA%MED

- FACE HOLDING PARALLEL I AM TEARS I AM PAIN I AM ADDIMELIA TRASH FIRST AND FOREMOST

- Amelia feeling awkward i love you baby

- (they're both so hot also like wtf)

- It feels SO GOOD to see Addison meet Derek's kids it's NECESSARY for the very foundation of the show's plot

- RAINBOWS,,,,,,, THINKING THOUGHTS OK

- guys addison/amelia/meredith is THE power trio they should be leading the show

[desidarling123]

Reviewing the Grishaverse Couples (Canon and Non-Canon/Alternate Universe) just because I can, here we go:

These are not based *strictly* on the books, but rather the Netflix show, which appears to have spawned ✨all the ships✨ as of late.

DISLAIMER: I don't hate any ships! And I won't tolerate any slander. Creativity is the core to all fandoms, and that's what shipping (canon or otherwise) is ultimately all about. Cool? Cool.

CANON COUPLES:

Darkling/Alina aka DARKLINA: What I came for TBH, though not necessarily what kept me watching through the end (damn you, episode 5! you got me so confused! ahhh but also corruption arc for Alina? hmmmm) Jessie and Ben have chemistry in spades, and Ben emotes well for an ancient asshat. These two have great fic potential.

Mal/Alina aka MALINA: Sweet! A little boring to me initially tbh, but much better on rewatch. They are each other's safe haven, and there's something really lovely about that. I like them together.

Kaz/Inej aka KANEJ: GOD TIER. THEY'VE RUINED EVERYTHING ELSE FOR ME. NOTHING EVEN COMES CLOSE. THE FUCKING PINING BITCH. HE LOVES HER. SO SO MUCH. 1000000000/10.

Full disclosure: I came for Darklina, but stayed for Kanej. And, at this rate, will happily suffer countless seasons where the most they do is maybe hold hands but also Netflix please let them heal their trauma together and kiss at least once for my poor shipper heart PLEASE

Nina/Matthias aka HELNIK: They're cute. Almost a little too on-the-nose with the tropes for me, personally, but the actors make it work.

Jesper/Stable Boy: Honestly? Good for Jesper. The only person on the show who actually managed to get laid onscreen. He deserves it.

Genya/David: Also very cute, though they don't necessarily occupy much brain space. I like that David is this awkward little dork but he's just. So good for Genya. It's very pure and she really needs that.

Darkling/Zoya: Zoya, baby, you deserve better. That said, I wish the show had explored their backstory a bit more. These two would clearly put the T in toxic (Aleksander largely being the one to blame here, of course).

Ivan/Feydor: As someone else put it, these two can be summarized simply by -- be gay and do crimes. They're real cute. If only they weren't Team Darkling.

NON-CANON/ALTERNATE UNIVERSE:

AKA time for some ✨multishipper controversy✨

Darkling/Inej aka DARKEJ: I am extremely biased since I've written for them, but honestly? I would like to convert you all. This pairing has POTENTIAL. The sinner and the saint, the immortal and the ordinary. Also they both have this elegant, shadowy grace to them. Bonus points? Kaz getting a whiff of this nonsense and meticulously planning how to cut up Aleksander into a million tiny little pieces lol.

Darkling/Kaz aka DARKAZ: Sexy. So so sexy. Not in a physical sense (for obvious reasons' on Kaz' end, unless you go AU with that aspect, too) but more a battle of brains. Would inevitably end with Kaz slitting the Darkling's throat, somehow as he should, lmao.

Kaz/Alina aka KAZALINA: I didn't understand this, initially. They barely interacted and Kaz seemed more the type to drag Alina by the kefta than woo her. However, I saw a bunch of people on TikTok attacking someone who made a fantastic AU video edit, (and by a bunch I mean at least two attack videos amassing 10K+ likes total) -- so now I ship it purely out of spite, LOL. It only works in an AU where Inej doesn't exist or Kanej is somehow still endgame, but you know what? The saint and the nonbeliever has some potential. I dig it.

Kaz/Jesper aka KESPER: There's some basis for it in the books. I do prefer them as friends (and come on! Wylan!) but again, I get it.

Jesper/Inej: I... want whatever y'all are smoking bc it must be AMAZING (I kid, I kid). While I can't fully claim to understand it, I love both characters, want nothing but the best for them, and am not entirely opposed to it given the right premise. And Jesper did say he'd kill a man for Inej pretty much without hesitation...

Kaz/Jesper/Inej: OT3 vibes. I haven't read anything with these three just yet but I think, done right, it could be absolutely perfect.

Inej/Alina: I feel like Inej's piety would actually get in the way of a true relationship but I think it's cute as a one-sided crush, Inej on Alina.

Mal/Inej: This one is probably the most random of the Inej ships, but I'm team "Give Inej All The Love" so I'll let this one slide. Also, Amita and Archie low-key have crazy chemistry off-set so again. I get it.

Mal/Kaz: ... does this even exist? Lol I think Mal would definitely drive Kaz up the goddamn wall

Mal/Darkling: Objectively hilarious to me on several counts LMAO (that fight scene at the end of episode 8 PLS). BUT there's a fine line between love and hate... maybe it's not Alina they were after but each other all along

Alina/Genya: Again, god-tier. Also, makes Genya's later betrayal of Alina extra tasty in my opinion. So yeah, add in a dash of heartbreak why not?!?

Alina/Zoya: Enemies to lovers excellence. Though Zoya clearly has some internalized self-hatred to work through (baby WHAT was that half-breed comment?), I don't hate it. Maybe some day...