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#she's his old character and i still love her
nekropsii · 21 hours
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People in the Cronus v. Vriska debate will also completely ignore that Cronus. Really wants to kill people. He just says that. No obfuscation included.
He doesn’t even have any excuse for it. Vriska killing people makes sense because she grew up on Alternia and had to feed her Lusus. Cronus just wants to kill people because he wants to do murder-eugenics and is really fucking mad murder-eugenics isn’t legal and does in fact have social consequences. Cronus just wants to kill disabled people for being disabled and not get in trouble for it. He explicitly says he wishes culling “meant what it should have” on Beforus.
Vriska was born and raised on Alternia, and that’s not her fault. It is, in fact, an entirely new level of fucking deranged to want Alternian laws to be real. Growing up in a system where killing people deemed below you is okay is different from wishing you lived in a system where killing people deemed below you is okay, because growing up there inherently means that that is already normal to you, while wishing that was the case inherently means it is not normal to you, you just want more harm to befall specific out groups (the lower class, the disabled, etc.) and to hurt more people in more violent ways.
People also love to casually ignore that Cronus is a grown adult. Like, sure, he’s 19, and 19 years old is pretty young in the grand scheme of things, but he is still a grown ass man who knows better. Him knowing better and simply not caring is literally a major part of his character. He is a grown ass man who can make his own legal decisions and live on his own. He can pay taxes. He could buy a house. He could invest in the stock market. In some countries, he can legally drink. He can drive. He can drink and drive. He can go die in the military. He’s grown. He’s a grown ass man. Vriska is 13. That is a child. Like, a CHILD child. Vriska is a middle school child. This is the difference between a middle schooler and a college student. Think of how mentally developed you were at 13. You weren’t even done with puberty yet. You’re not even done growing at that age. Cronus can fucking vote. He can go to adult prison. If you spotted a kid Vriska’s age out roaming the street with no guardian in sight, you’d probably be worried.
A major part of Cronus’s character is that he is a terrible person by choice, willingly, knowingly, and does not care. He is making a decision. Him being shitty and awful is a conscious choice he is making. He knows he is hurting people, and he knows what he is doing is terrible, and he does not care. Cronus knows that trying to bang children 6 years his junior is bad. He doesn’t care. He knows he is abusing Mituna, he calls it abuse, and he knows abuse is bad. He doesn’t care. He knows sex crimes are bad. He doesn’t care. He’s too entitled to care about anyone but himself and his own gratification.
Vriska is a 13 year old anti-hero who literally gets groomed and is shown to only be Like That because she is extremely traumatized and her experience of living on Alternia has made it so her guard is up 24/7. She literally cannot put the metaphorical swords down. She thinks it’s the only thing keeping her alive.
Cronus does not have an excuse.
That is, like… The Point.
The point is that he sucks and is irredeemable. He doesn’t have a single quality that makes standing around him worthwhile. He’s a relentless, unapologetic abuser. He just doesn’t care. He’s the most entitled man to ever live. He sees people as punching bags and sex toys, and any time this notion is rejected or faces even the slightest pushback, he freaks the fuck out about it.
And the point with Vriska is that she is complicated, and a child. A really, really traumatized, really, really scared child.
I don’t know, I think there’s a party here that is objectively worse.
… And - hear me out! - I think… I think it’s the adult sex predator… And not the child.
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rapha-reads · 19 hours
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Things from IWTV episode 10 (s2ep03) I noticed:
- the French is good this time! I still wonder if it's the actors themselves or dubbing. But it's actually understandable for a French-native person, and the language itself is exquisite. Wondering now if those lines are picked up from the book in Anne Rice's own pen, the translation of the books, or they're original lines written for the show by a French writer who has a splendid style.
- I just really loved the Armand flashback, both because of the language, and because it opens up the veil on the history of vampire covens throughout the centuries. Also we get to see more Lestat, this time Armand's Lestat and that's always a win.
- Armand is right about both Louis being broken and Claudia being pushed to the limits of how long she can accept this life of hers. I absolutely do not trust Armand, he's twisting the narrative for his own purpose (that I don't know because I haven't read the books yet), but still, he's a good judge of character. Can't not be one and survive for 500+ years I guess.
- the Loustat scenes, on the quai de Seine, in the bar and in the park, were insane.
- was that Sartre? Did. Did they just cameo'd in Sartre for the lols? Man, Paris.
- speaking of Paris, I know it was actually filmed in Prague, but man, I felt like I was back there. That Seine promenade, that's the one I walked countless times in my years living there. I could recognise the pavements like I was still there.
- Santiago's fed uppppp with Louis' BS. And he's definitely laughing at Claudia. Calling her "puce"... It's funny because in French, "ma puce" is a term of endearment, like "my darling", but indeed literally it means "my flea", so for an English-native like Claudia, it could be seen as literally being called the smallest, lowest member of the coven (like Delainey says in the episode insider), but for a French-native, it's like the coven is calling her sweetheart. And then they give her that dress and tell her she's going to play a kid for the bext 50 years, the one thing she hates being reminded of the most, and you go "ooooh. Oh, no, honey. They bad. This is bad." Clau's about to Break. Knowing how her story goes, I'm not sure I'm ready for that.
- Danny boy felt subdued this time. Like he's still reeling from Louis' invasion in the last episode, and now that Talamasca agent invading his laptop, he's feeling attacked on all sides and he's floundering to get back up again. That said, the scene with just him and Armand was particularly intense. You can sense how yearning Armand is, and how destabilised Daniel feels under Armand's gaze. In other words, that vampire really wanna fuck that old guy, and the old guy doesn't know how to feel about it but he's definitely feeling the intensity.
Need to read those books yesterday.
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liketheinferno2 · 2 days
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These aren't full ref sheets but I was trying to take some clear pictures of Hephaistos for later art reasons and then got side tracked doing all of the Pandaemonium bosses so here they are in order. Also for anyone following who doesn't play FFXIV and knows it as the catgirl game, enjoy this instead? VISUAL SPOILERS obviously.
Asphodelos
Warder of the Condemned: Erichthonios
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Mythic Creation: The Hippokampos
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Mythic Creation: The Phoinix
(+ familiars)
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Hemitheos: Hesperos
(+ sexy fanfic redesign by Nemjiji)
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To be brutally honest I never really liked either of these designs compared to every other Hemitheos we get, I think the really brutal black and red of the Phoinix is weakened by gold accents, but I still am always down for gay vampire surf rock. The Savage version kind of looks like Ultimalius as well if you've played XVI.
Abyssos
Mythic Creation: Proto-Carbuncle
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Hrgrhhgrhrgrh
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Hemitheos: Hegemone
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^ My favourite detail on this is you can see the parasite's outlines in her robes and in her legs, then right through the eye holes on the mask to wrap around the torso. I'm convinced this version of Hegemone is functionally an ant being piloted by a cordyceps infection.
Hemitheos: Agdistis
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She's very big
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Perfect Imperfection: Hephaistos
I'm probably biased by Abyssos being the first raid I was there for day of release but these really are all fantastic. It's also when the story abandons all pretense of not being (at least partly) about family abuse and is loudly using the body horror and shackle motifs to talk about that. It's great. Hephaistos specifically is constantly bulging and twisting in and out of different forms like a highly unstable chimera and the more I look at these the more I notice parts that just should not be there. He's giving everything.
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As for the Savage design It's a hard thing to rate as such but my favourite part is the veins that grow down from the eyeholes in his mask like bloody tears.
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Thanks Abyssos I love you
Anabaseios
Mythic Creation: Kokytos
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Dæmoniac Dungeon: Pandæmonium
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It's really hard to communicate how huge this nasty tumor crab I zoomed out as far as physically possible in the game engine and subsequently ended up at a goofy angle staring up his nose.
Ephemeral Justice: Themis
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Best boy. The double ended lance and second pair of arms are fantastic for this character.
Theos: Athena
In.. almost every final fantasy adventure you're fighting the real villain not at the very end but a little beforehand, the big iconic end boss is often more a metaphorical figure representing everything wrong with that first person's ideals. Athena cut out the middle man and became her own JENOVA.
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I do like the moth angel, especially the hollow body full of dubious orbs, but with her eyes closed all the time it gives off the impression of this not even being the true body but some kind of anglerfish lure in the shape of a fairy... which might be true because this exists:
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I really really love her twitchy anemone feelers and how the moth body ends up grafted to the rest of it waist down.
Anyway there's the gang I did not specifically intend for this to be design reviews I just wanted to have clear photos because when you actually see them in game there's other things to focus on. In hindsight I can appreciate more the theming of each tier and then the series as a whole, but my only (extremely obvious) observation for now is that every character Athena had a personal hold over is decorated in chains somehow and so I should have seen the Hegemone thing coming lmao. Heph and Aggy are still my favourites I don't think that's changing any time soon. I'm also noticing that Anabaseios is now just old enough for random DF parties to fuck up severely and I find that fun so I'm going to go fight the crab mansion now.
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sepherinaspoppies · 3 days
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Tell It To My Heart
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pairing: Original Male Character x Modern! Reader x Dark! Book Aemond Targaryen
summary: In her honeymoon with her new husband, Armando, she can not help but crave her first husband's touch, Aemond.
warnings: mentions of slight violence, handjob, p and v sex, and future spoilers to my main story. reader is Latina!
wc: 2,478
main story masterlist
my masterlist
notes: I'm still deciding if I should let Armando live or not lol. but anyways enjoy besties! btw Armando's face claim is Danny Ramirez ;)
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“M’ not drunk, mi amor.” (my love)
Armando bibulously says as she settles her, now husband, into their honeymoon bed. She chuckles, shaking her head side to side in disbelief. “Sure you aren’t, I’ll be the judge of that in the morning when you wake up with that hangover.” She playfully quipped back, untying Armando’s shoes to get him nice and comfortable. 
“Well I had to drink for two since you can’t—” 
“Hmm, I never asked you to drink for me, Armando.” She continued to tease, holding his gaze. 
Armando smiled lovingly before he sat up straight as his tipsy self could, “I know you didn’t but I wanted to, Mrs. Flores.” It was not the new surname that made her blush beet red, but the low and suggestive timbre of his voice. 
Armando’s smile slowly abated into an angry expression as his eyes trailed from the precious diamond wedding he slid hours ago, to the faded scars around her wrists. One could hardly see them from afar but up close where he sat, he was able to make out thick circular and pink markings. 
Armando had known the cause for such ghastliness. She had confessed the whole elusive truth to Armando, in the following weeks she had moved in with him to Oaxaca. It happened when Armando started growing concern for the sixth time in a row, waking up to ear-piercing screams in the middle of the night from his fiance. 
She expected him to push her away or call her crazy, that she’d been forcefully transported into a world she only knew existed in books. Armando’s expression showed nothing of disbelief or skepticism, he listened to everything attentively letting his amor explain it all to him. (love)
What Armando could not wrap his head around, was what kind of man could ever do such malice in the name of love? Love is kind, tender, and respectful. At least that’s how Armando grew up with defining it. 
Now that they were finally together, he vowed that he would never hurt or mistreat his wife. And may the Gods strike him down if he ever did. 
She trembled as her curly headed husband brought her hands closely to study them. His touch was delicate, making sure he didn’t press too firmly on the pink scars. 
“I meant what I said in my vows,” Armando softly speaks, his brown eyes holding steady against her own. “That I will never hurt or mistreat you.” 
“I know you won’t.” 
“But at any given point that I do, you can smash a wine bottle on my head too.” Armand laughed, and immediately she threw her head back, joining in to his giggles.
After she explained all the details of her grand escape, Armando tried to hide his amused smile, proud that she’d knocked Aemond out with a wine bottle to his head. Though what was more hysterical, was Aemond orgasming in the process. She did not mention that to Armando, not that he needed to know. 
Armando’s hands intertwined with her own as his lips brushed the skin where her scars laid, giving featherlike pecks all around. She sighed, closing her eyes, comforted by the feeling of her new husband’s warmth. 
“As long as I’m alive, you and our child are safe.” Armado promised devoutly. If it were possible, her heart almost soared out of her chest. 
When Armando confessed his love for her, minutes before he got down on one knee, she had asked him if he could still love her pregnant with another man’s baby. That did not discourage Armando one bit, the twenty-five year old loved her and the child she was carrying. To him a baby was one of the greatest blessings a couple could have, and Armando would help raise and care for their child like a good husband would do. 
In Armando’s eyes, the frijolito was his too. (little bean)
Blood doesn’t make you family. Family is who is there by your side, through the good and the bad and who love you regardless. 
Armando paused, his face becoming crestfallen. “I-I know you may not love me—” He stuttered full of nerves before she interrupted.
“Armando.”
“But… I do want this marriage to work. And I’m willing to wait as many decades more until you are ready to give me your corazón.” (heart)
She hesitantly shifted, before she swung her legs to either side of Armando’s to sit on his lap. Armando’s eyes widened in full surprise, taken back at her sudden boldness. They’ve never sat this close before nor been in such an intimate position. 
They have kissed, yes, but only mere pecks to each other’s cheeks and once on the lips when the priest declared them as man and wife. 
Armando knew his wife had no love for physical contact. Especially if she did not see it coming. After both Alys and Aemond, she wanted no one close to touching her. Though, she did feel guilty when Armando would approach her in a hug after coming home tired from work. 
Little by little she tried to work over her fear. First it was holding pinkies to the mercado but with a good distance between them. Then once that voice inside her head became hushed, she granted him permission to hold her hand out in public, shoulder to shoulder. (market)
The pecks began when a certain desire started blooming inside her. It was natural, of course, her doctor told her so. So when Armando came home with a bag full of tacos and a bundle of her favorite flowers, she approached him with multiple kisses to his face. 
Later on that night, she ashamedly humped her pillow with Aemond’s tunic she kept during her escape back to the modern world. For some reason she could not explain, she didn’t get rid of it. The lustful part of her was overjoyed she didn’t as she used it for the sweet release her body deeply craved. 
In such a position, she could smell Armando’s sandalwood cologne and admire the freckles she never knew he had. She thought about what Alys had said, about opening her heart out to him. 
Little by little. 
“Mi corazón es tuyo.” She whispered softly, her lips brushing his. Armando didn’t have time to respond, choosing rather to tug the back of her neck to close the thin gap between them. (my heart is yours)
He groaned at the softness of her lips he desperately yearned for. Her kiss topped any others his lips laid on. The sort of kiss worth dying for. If she didn’t want to continue further, Armando could finish just by this alone. 
She swiped her tongue on his bottom lip, requesting access before he granted it to her. His kiss was the opposite to what Aemond’s had been. With Aemond, it was needy, rushed, and possessive. But Armando kissed her delicately, without hurry, and most importantly consensually. 
Armando began to whine as her hips started to slightly rock against his pelvis, where he knew his member was surely growing hard. 
“Wait,” Armando suddenly pulled away. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this. I’m perfectly content with just watching our telenovela and ordering some tortas and aguas frescas.”
She giggled, using her hands to push his chest down onto the bed. “It is our honeymoon, it would be a shame if we didn’t break the bed in.” Besides they could do all that in the comfort of their home, she wholeheartedly wanted him.
“I’m sure I want this, Armando.” 
It was all Armando needed to hear, but before acting he needed to confess something he thought was embarrassing. “Um, I’m gonna need you to help me. I’ve actually never done this before and I reckon one of us oughta know what they’re doing.” He admitted with his eyes casting downward. 
Her jaw dropped at his unexpected confession, “You’re a virgin?” She reassured, wanting to hear it again. Armando nodded with his eyes closed, awaiting for her to get off him. Though he wished she didn’t. 
“I’ve only done it once, though I don’t recall much of it. We can both figure it out together.” She figured that if he confessed something private about him, so could she. 
Armando opened his eyes and gave her an encouraging smile. 
They began making a work out of their clothes, she anxiously chuckled when she couldn’t reach the zipper of her dress but with Armando’s help the garment slid right down at her waist, exposing her bare breasts to Armando’s curious eyes. 
“Beautiful.” He murmured loud enough for her to hear. With a nod of approval, he palmed each heavy breast and almost immediately pulled back as she gasped in both relief and pleasure, small beads of milk running down his fingers. 
Armando hummed at the taste, it was sweet. He found himself a little jealous of their unborn child for it would be dining on her sweet breasts. 
“Please use your mouth,” She abashedly pleaded, pushing her breasts close to his face. Armando didn’t need to be told twice, he took each pebbled nipple to his mouth, swirling and suckling his tongue, digesting her sweetness. 
She sighed, lacing her fingers through his curls, tugging his head back for another kiss. Little droplets of her milk remained on his lips yet she didn’t care. 
Armando’s free hand pulled down the rest of her dress off, leaving her with just her white lacy underwear. He cheekily smiled, it had been a gift from him for their wedding but she was unaware of it. 
Her fingers unlooped the red tie around Armando’s neck, throwing it somewhere across the room along with his dress shirt. She let her hands wander around the smoothness of his chest, feeling his heart race at her palm. 
Armando shuddered once her fingers started to trail down the patch hair right below his belly button, stopping right on the belt of his pants. “Can I?” She questioned, nudging her head to where he needed her the most. 
Armando fervently nodded, “Gods, yes, please. I think I’ll die if you don’t.” 
She giggled, unbuckling the belt, his pants and boxers down his legs. With curiosity, she let her eyes linger on his cock. It was a good length. Enough to not hurt her the slightest. Where Aemond’s was impressively long and overly thick, Armando was less smaller yet firmer. 
She thought about what her friends had told her: “Sometimes big doesn’t always mean great.” 
Gods she hoped so. 
She reached forward, wrapping her hand around his length, hot, heavy, and pulsating. Armando mewled, instinctively bucking his hips up desperate for some friction. Wanting to give her husband just what he yearned, she began to give him slow pumps up and down his length. His sounds of pleasure increased and she found herself also releasing soft moans, getting wetter and wetter by it alone. 
“Shit, I’m gonna come.” Armando heavily panted. She worked her hand faster, brushing her thumb lightly on his flushed tip, causing him to stutter his release. 
There was a dazed look in Armando’s eyes as he tried to take in the aftereffects of his climax. However, the sight of his wife bringing her come-covered hand to her mouth, instantly made him grow hard again. 
By all means, Armando’s taste wasn’t unpleasant and it resembled the amounts of oranges he often ate. 
She leaned forward to kiss Armando again, allowing him to taste how sweet he was. He ardently kissed her back with equal fervor, flipping them around so that she laid beneath him. Her huge bump pressed against his lower stomach, a primal feeling he absolutely loved. 
After pulling down her underwear, Armando slowly started to make his way down between her thighs, when she looped her fingers through his hair. “I want you right now,” She writhed against the sheets. 
Armando arched a brow, “You don’t want me to return the favor?” He pouted whilst looking down there. She shook her head, wrapping her legs around his waist. 
Though Armando wanted to have just a simple taste of her goodness, he did as she wished for. He gave himself a few more tugs before swiping his tip between her folds, gathering some of her excessive wetness to not hurt her as he went inside. 
Her eyes, which she did not realize were closed, shot open. There was a slight sting, not painful enough to move away but sufficient to feel little shocks of pleasure. With Aemond, it had hurt even with the two rounds of preparation before with his mouth and fingers. 
Armando’s eyes rolled at the back of his head, he didn’t know if he could last in such paradise he felt. She was so warm, wet, and tight around him. 
He took a deep breath and with a nod of encouragement, he slowly thrust his hips at an angle that made her squeeze his length so deliciously. “You feel so good, amor. So fucking good,” Armando praised, rubbing his palm around her belly. 
She moaned against his neck at the praise. While the speed of his thrusts felt good, it wasn’t enough to get her there. She wanted him to go faster and harder, to fill every single crevice within her that desperately needed to be filled. 
Shame started to loom at her as she subconsciously knew she craved the way Aemond hit that special spot inside that had her moaning loud, deep in the castle of Harrenhal. 
Even universes away she craved him. 
And she hated it. 
“Faster, please.” She pleaded, bucking her hips up with his thrusts.
Armando halted, moving his head out of her neck. “I don't want to hurt the baby.” Last thing Armando wanted was to cause her premature labor. She was still months away from her due date but he didn’t want to risk it. 
She shook her head, “You won’t, please. Por favor amor, I need it.” (please love)
Armando hesitantly quickened his thrusts, feeling his euphoric release closely approaching. 
She rolls her hips against his, it was slightly better but still not enough. She almost wanted to cry in desperation, instead she grips Armando’s hips, guiding him into that special spot. Her grip was vice-like causing Armando to hiss in both pain and pleasure. He only needed a few more thrusts to near his end. 
She moans when she starts to feel it. “Oh Gods,” She whimpered, digging her nails on Armando’s hip bones, tugging him deeper and harder similar to Aemond’s movements. 
Armando’s release washes over him like a tide. He never felt this good before, especially with the woman he always loved. He lets his wife chase her pleasure like the good husband he is. 
But what he hears next causes his loving smile to drop. 
“Oh, Aemond!” 
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Notes: I'm sorry Armando lol.
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the-kr8tor · 2 days
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Hiii!
I don't request often, but I had this idea in mind and I absolutely NEEDED to see it in ur writing style 😭
a fic where Hobie and reader both work at the daily bugle, and they both take photos of spider-man for hte newspaper. except obviously Hobie's going to have the better pictures because he literally is spider-man and reader absolutely despises him for it
he loves beating her in this little competition but what he doesn't know is that she's only a few pictures away from being fired because at the end, there can only be one photographer for the bugle
and she really needs this job
hopefully this made sense!!
Hihi! Thank you for requesting! ❤️❤️❤️
Pairing: Hobie Brown x fem! Reader/ Spider-Punk x fem! Reader
Tags: No use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader, co-worker! Hobie, Fluff.
ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ
Hobie acts like he's making coffee, the coffee table is conveniently placed in front of JJJ’s office. Where said man is currently screaming his head off at you, hell even laughing at you occasionally. Hobie can't hear what he's saying or why he's screaming, the sound proof glass walls seem to do the trick. But because of the glass, he can see everything.
JJJ is so mad that Hobie can see the veins on his temple pop out, and face turning into a giant tomato. Hobie's sure you're about to break your composure by how you grip your expensive camera on your lap. He's kind of proud of you that way, the way you don't break your resolve and eye contact even though your infamous boss is screaming his head off and looking like a character in an old 90s cartoon about a cat and mouse.
Hobie watches on, he tells himself that he only does just in case one of you gets physical. If JJJ gets hurt, and he will get hurt based on your searing glare, then no one's gonna pay him if the boss is injured. If you get hurt then who is gonna push his buttons down at the bullpen? Who's gonna push him to do a better job and take better pictures when you're gone? It's definitely not because he fancies you or anything like that. Or so he likes to lie to himself so he doesn't actually act on the feeling lest he gets called to HR and have the most uncomfortable talk of his life since the birds and the bees conversation.
JJJ seems to finally cool off, fixing his obvious combover, he sits down on his leather seat, sighing, eyes still aflame. Hobie wonders what you've done to get him all riled up like that. He hasn't seen him that mad since the doc ock debacle.
Everyone in the office seems to have the same curiosity as him, some blatantly watch in their seats, ignoring their own paperwork. Some hide the fact that they're watching the car crash right in front of them. And you're in the middle of the road.
Right when JJJ dismisses you, the entire office returns to their work as if nothing happened. You open the door with hidden anger, knuckles shaking on the doorknob, eyebrows knitted together. Hobie can feel your restrained anger from where he stands on the doorway of the break room. You pass by him and he swears that he felt heat radiating from you.
You close the microwave door that someone left open with a slam. Huffing over the sink, hands gripping the sides, you want to punch something but at the same time you don't want to break company property.
“What did the poor microwave do to you?” Hobie jokes to lighten your mood, but it lands wrong over to you.
“Not in the fucking mood, Hobart.” You turn to leave but he blocks your way. “What? You here to goad?”
“No,” he almost sounds offended. “I was gonna ask if you're alright.” With his tone sounding genuine, you sigh heavily, hand rubbing across your tired face. Hobie guides you towards a chair, sitting you down gently, you crumble immediately on the old chair.
Head in your hands, back curled, you refuse to cry especially in front of a co-worker who you've grown fond of over the years of working together. A cup of cold water is placed in front of you, ice clinking inside the mug that has your name scribbled with a red marker.
“Here, figured coffee wouldn't be good for you right now and we ran out of the tea you like so much.” Hobie sits across you, eyes scanning you for distress.
“Thanks.” You murmur, taking a small sip. “You know what tea I like?” For some reason, you calm down from his stare, when it's someone else it would piss you off more.
“Who do you think buys it? J? Fucker won't even shell out for two-ply toilet paper.”
You smile, now remembering all the times he has brought you tea whenever you're both at the field hunting down the latest scoop. “I remember now, it's because I always had the label out.”
“Yeah,” he nods, even though he knew about your favourite from the first time he saw you make it on your first day. Which was also his first day.
“He's gonna fire me.” You blurt out after a few beats of silence. “My photos were, he said and I quote, ‘fucking horrible, the worst pictures of Spider-Man I've ever seen!’ for someone who hates Spider-Man he's awfully obsessed with him.” You scoff.
“You're not gettin' fired over that. You're a better photographer than me.”
You chuckle softly, “I am,” he shakes his head with a ghost of a smile on his pierced lips. “but your Spider-Man pictures are much better than mine. And a photo of him sells more than a picture of some new public park.”
“Don't belittle yourself, love, he's hard to shoot. Anyway I loved those pictures of yours. Nice angles and lighting.”
“Stop trying to make me feel better, Hobart.” You take a gulp of water when you feel the tremors start again. “I can't get fired. I have so much shit to pay, I'm behind on rent, utilities and I haven't even bought my own car!” Hobie wants to scooch his chair closer to try and calm your shaking. So he does.
Standing up, he picks up the chair, plopping it right next to you. Sitting down, arm casually draped on the back of his chair, silver chains on his neck in full display thanks to the two buttons undone on his work shirt that you know he hates so much. You watch him with curious eyes. Your heart hammers in your chest, and you have no idea why. Knee to knee, he ducks down to meet your downturned eyes.
“How behind?”
“You gonna pay my rent for me?” You joke, eyes flicking away from his chest.
“Nah, even better.” You tilt your head, wordlessly saying, ‘go on’ “want to know my secret?” He pauses, trepidation behind his eyes. “On how I get those pictures of Spider-Man?” Hobie's nervous, you can tell by how he taps his index finger rhymically on his jean clad thigh. A tell you've come to be endeared to.
“Yeah, you're gonna tell me?” Your eyes widen. Will he finally tell you what you've pieced together years ago?
He leans closer, you can see every speck of green in his hazel eyes, a detail you take note of in your mind. He whispers lowly. “...he's a mate of mine.”
You take a deep breath, “oh, that's cool.”
“I just told you I'm best mates with Spider-Man and all you can say is ‘cool’?”
You straighten up in your seat, eyes warm for him. And in turn, he copies your movements. “If you put it that way, then yeah.” Chuckling, your worries are pushed aside for now. He has that effect on you. “I'm impressed, Hobart. I guess it makes sense that you both run with the same crowd. Are you in the same band or something?” The last comment was to throw him off the scent that you already know of his alter ego.
“Fuckin' Hobart,” he clicks his tongue but his own smile betrays him. He has a brilliant idea. “If I can convince him to meet you somewhere so you could take his pictures, will you finally stop callin’ me Hobart?”
You grin, heart full and eternally grateful. “Yeah, okay, it's a deal.” Reaching towards him, he takes your hand and shakes it. Your thumb rubs softly on his knuckles, so gentle that he can barely feel it, but he does. While his warmth practically consumes you, he drowns in your own. “Thank you, Hobart.”
“Oi—”
“You haven't arranged it yet, so until then, I'm going to keep calling you that.” You both don't notice how your hand is still clasped in his. Or maybe you two chose to ignore it.
“Cheeky,” He has no idea what he's in for.
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106 notes · View notes
darkbluekies · 18 hours
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The origin of the ocs
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Silas Achilleos:
I have always loved to write and read mafia fics. I wrote them before I wrote fanfiction, during fanfiction and now. When I created this account, I wanted a mafia man who's main characteristic was that he was kinky. I didn't like the ones I had read about that bent their partner over their lap for every little thing and that their entire relationship was built on sex. I wanted someone that felt human. So i made him in November 2022.
Silas name comes from a store I used to walk by all the time. I have no recollection of knowing about the name before I saw that store, so unconsiously the name must have come from there. I liked it because it was a name I hadn't been familiar with and I could "mold" the name to whatever I wanted, i had no connection to a certain person. I could make my own. His surname, Achilleos, was chosen because it reminded me of the character "achilles" and how he was untouchable besides one part of his body. Like this, i wanted darling to be Silas "achilles heel".
Silas personality comes from my want of something different. I wanted some humor, some drama, some weak spot. I made him childish, hypocritical, emotional. I didn't want him to be 2d.
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Dr Karl Kry:
I have always loved the atmosphere of hospitals. I don't know why. They almost give me "backroom" vibes. I thought that it could be interesting to try to write about a doctor even though I have no medical knowledge. I have always loved to write characters that are weak and dependent on someone, which would work perfectly if I created a doctor. I created him in December 2022.
Dr Karl Kry's name comes from swedish. "Karl" means "man" and "Kry" means the opposite of being sick (not sure if english has the exact word). I thought that it could be fun if a doctor had that surname because only swedes/nordics would be able to get that little joke.
His personality is a bit of a mixture between the sterotypical swede and an opposite to what you think a doctor should be like. He's cold, quiet, doesn't like touch and is very modest while still being very professional and "sweet". He is quite old fashioned and carries traits that were normal then.
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King Edmund of Vesanus
He wasn't supposed to be a character. I had gotten inspired to write the "Masquarade massacre/dance with death" oneshot because of a music video i used to watch when i was a kid (Eric Saade: Masquarade) and i wrote the oneshot in January 2023. It quickly became my most liked story so I decided to add him to the characters.
Edmund's name was originally Edward, but I have a character in one of my private novels with the same name and I thought that it would be weird for me if I named them the same thing. I decided to use a similar name and I decided upon Edmund. It sounded like it could belong to a royal. His kingdom "Vesanus" is in latin and means "mad/insane/frenzied" and I thoght that fit him extremely well.
His personality comes from the stereotypical spoiled king imagine, but I also wanted to make him ... human? He is a teenage boy who doesn't know who he is and only knows that he is the crown. He is lost and I think that shows. Edmund is ignorant, spoiled, rude and yet teasing, humorous, childish and caring.
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Jerry (Yubin) Kim:
My first girl. She was created as a side character in a kpop mafia fanfiction i wrote back in 2020 and then reaccured in another kpop mafia fanfiction i wrote in 2021, although she was not a yandere back then. I loved her character and knew that I had to add her here.
Her name is special, to me. I don't remember why I named her Jerry, all I know is that I wanted a male name for a girl, and Jerry is a boy name that also feel like a girls name. That is the name she goes by, but her birth name is Yubin, although she doesn't go by that anymore. Her surname is a popular surname in korean, so that doesn't have much behind it.
Her personality is a rollercoaster. When I created her back in 2020, she was a bit different to what she is now. She was much happier, joked a lot, didn't have much darkness in her. She was pretty flat. Now that she's here, she has evolved into a much more human like character, much more rounded. She is a pretender. She feels one thing but pretends to feel different. All her joking persona isn't all real, she is pretty emotional. Jerry has many layers and many emotions she can't understand, she feels a lot of guilt, fear, love and hate, but presents a careless, joking girl to everyone else.
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Hedwig Carter:
Hedwig is a character that was evolved from another character I was writing. In the beginning of this account, i tried out different kinds of characters to find the ones I wanted. I was writing a "quiet kid" yandere oneshot because I wanted this typical yandere setting, aka being in school. But I didn't like the character, I already had men (kry and silas) and I wanted it to feel like yandere simulator, so I scrapped that oneshot and created a girl. She wasn't supposed to be rich, but I decided to add it to have more to work with. I created her out on an evening walk in January 2023.
I don't like when characters who are supposed to be "normal" have "non-normal" names. I cannot imagine a girl who goes to school like everyone else having a name like "elowen", "amethyst" etc. i want the name to fit the situation and feel natural. Hedwig is one of those names. It feels wealthy, yet natural. It is distinctive, yet normal. The name Carter came to me when playing the game "titanic adventure out of time" when you have to go down to the cargo and the steward are like "YOURE A CARTER!!!" because the Carters owned the car that was on board the ship and a car in 1912 was expensive and etc. The name just stuck with me and felt like old money wealth, which she is.
Hedwig's personality is meant to be the opposite to Jerry, but they are quite alike too. Hedwig is sweet, innocent and loving. She doesn't like being mean. I wanted a rich popular girl that wasn't rude, entitled or a mean girl. Hedwig has a hard time controlling her emotions and can easily become "hysteric". I wanted an opposite to what's usually done - the rich popular girl is the one obsessed with someone instead of the other way around.
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scorpioriesling · 2 days
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Tight Black Leathers
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *
Pairing(s): Liam x reader
Warnings: SMUT, mdni, 18+
Summary: As Liam's girlfriend, you've been feeling rather... fed up, lately, that he's been ordered to hang out all day with another female. So... whatever will you do about it?
SR’s Note: Ooh, switching it up with a Fourth Wing fic? Okay, okay... and yes of course, Liam is my favorite character from Fourth Wing. No, I still haven't recovered. No, I probably never will. Denial is a river in Egypt-
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* ✧・゚: *
You clicked the power button on your phone once more, checking fruitlessly to see if your boyfriend had responded to your message. Of course, he hadn't -- but you'd expected as much. It was Friday, which meant he was on Violet-duty today, per usual.
With a sigh, you tucked the device into your pocket, zipping it shut as a familiar voice approached behind you.
"Hey Y/N!" Rhiannon's usual bubbly tone made you smile, and she took in your state. Her face softened as she took you in a warm embrace. You appreciated the kindness she offered you -- her friendship was a priceless one you'd made after crossing the parapet. She was one of the only people, other than your boyfriend, who truly understood how hard it was to be a rider when you were meant your whole life to be a healer instead.
"Still haven't heard from him?" She asks softly, releasing you. You shake your head, and she loops her arm through yours, pulling you with her in a cadence down the dormitory hallway.
"Well, there's no point in waiting around doing nothing," she starts. "We may as well have some lunch, hmm?" As if on cue, your stomach gurgles, and you both chuckle at the sound. You truly couldn't be more grateful -- you hadn't eaten all morning.
Entering the cafeteria, you find your squad -- well, most of them. Imogene's unmissable pink hair shakes back and forth as she listens to a ridiculous story Ridoc recounts; Sawyer is laughing at something Bodhi is saying across the table. You can't help but wonder...
"Hey guys!" Ridoc greets Rhiannon and you with a smile, but you only continue to search the tables near you. Imogene folds her arms over her chest, sitting back in her chair.
"He's not here," she says, and you look to her. Rhiannon takes a seat, motioning for you to sit by her, but you only stare at Imogene in hopes she'll keep talking. "Violet took the lunch break to get in extra training time, so-"
You squeeze your eyes shut, head dropping to face the floor. You'd been missing him so much recently, since Xaden assigned him to follow your fellow cadet around like a guardian, you barely saw him anymore. Your own boyfriend. He was spending time with another female. That was really starting to get old.
"Of course." You clip. Ridoc huffs a laugh, and Rhiannon glares at him.
"He's only doing what Xaden tells him-" Bodhi begins, and your eyes slide to his.
"Anymore, I don't really care what Xaden-" Your rage begins to bubble over, and the table falls silent as their gazes drift behind you. Shadows curl around your fists, the cool tendrils working against your warmed skin.
"Care what Xaden... what, exactly? As your Wingleader, I would love to hear you finish that sentence, Y/N." Xaden's lethally calm voice sounds from behind you, and you glance over your shoulder, face falling at the realization. You shake your head.
"I... it's... look, I just think it's a bit much to have Liam following Violet around all day, don't you think? Can't she defend herself?" You ask. His hard gaze on you only intensifies.
"I would say Liam is one of the strongest in this wing, wouldn't you agree?" He asks, and you nod.
"Yes, but-"
"So he will continue to defend what's most precious to me." He says in finality, turning to walk away as you scoff, throwing your hands in the air.
"What about what's most precious to me, huh? I never get to see him anymore because you're always having him whisked away to defend your girlfriend -- isn't that your job!?" You nearly shout. The entire room goes silent, and Bodhi slaps a hand over his mouth. Rhiannon's jaw is practically on the floor, but your eyes are only met with Xaden's searing gaze as he turns to face you once more. He steps close to you, speaking again in his constrained, calm voice.
"I highly suggest you take the rest of the afternoon off, cadet y/l/n. You seem a bit high strung -- wouldn't want you too worked up for the challenges later this evening." The muscle in his jaw ticks as you turn on your heel, beelining for the exit and stomping all the way back to your dorm room.
✧・゚: *✧・゚:*
You know what? Xaden was right. The afternoon off was exactly what you needed before a night full of challenges. You spent the whole afternoon getting yourself more riled up within the confines of your dorm, pacing back and forth and glaring into your mirror. Did you nap? Nope. Try to calm down, do some meditation, maybe? Absolutely not. Perhaps stretch, or read a book so you were at ease before the night began then. Hell no.
You were ripping a brush through your long hair, slamming it down on your desk when you decided the strands were untangled enough. You yanked at the band around your wrist, muscle memory causing your hands to wind your hair into a ponytail atop your head when you catch sight of yourself in the mirror. You glance down at your phone still dark on your desk, and an idea sparks in your mind. Dropping your hands, you run them through the strands a few times before separating the mass into three sections. Since he likes the Sorrengail so damn bad, you thought. Maybe you'd show him you she wasn't anything special. She was just like everyone else here; she was just like you.
Securing the band at the base of the tight braid, you sway side to side, pleased with the result. Pulling on your tightest-fitting leathers and boots, you sheath your finest daggers and head out of your room. Within minutes, you've crossed the courtyard and are in the training center, approaching a mat near the center where you find Ridoc and Bodhi and Rhiannon gathered. Rhiannon turns when Ridoc whistles loudly at you. You lighten your steps on instinct, realizing you're still stomping your way across the mats toward them.
"Ohhhh my, Y/N," she looks you up and down, taking you in fully. You huff a breath, pretending not to notice her stare. Or Ridoc's. Or Bodhi's. Or Violet's...
Or Liam's. From three mats over.
"New tactic?" Ridoc laughs, and you roll your eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Uhhh, distracting your opponent with the tightest black fighting leathers you could find?" Rhiannon giggles, and you scoff, feigning innocence. Bodhi only groans.
"CADETS, attention please!" Emmetario shouts. He stalks closer to the mat you stand before, calling off more pairs for challenges. You and your friends watch as people fight and wrestle match after match. Rhiannon wins her challenge, Ridoc hands Jack Barlowe's ass to him, and your attention snags on the mat a few feet away as a new pairing is called forth. Your perfect, wonderful boyfriend is taking the mat, shucking off his tee and revealing his perfectly toned body, abdominals flexing as he laughs at something Xaden says. He takes a fighting stance as another guy from third wing stands opposite him, and they begin. It's not long before Liam has the poor fella on the floor, tapping out. Being the kind male he is, Liam hops off and helps him up, shaking his hand and offering him a kind smile after they finish their challenge.
As he is exiting the mat, his eyes meet yours and widen slightly, raking over your body as he slowly steps off the platform. They linger on the straps clinging to the curve of your ass, then trail back up to the form-fitting compression shirt you've chosen and his brows knit in confusion when he notices your new hairstyle. You tilt your chin up and flip your hair over your shoulder, just as Emmetario bellows once more.
"Bodhi and Y/N!"
You walk onto the mat, Rhiannon cheering from the sidelines. Bodhi looks to you in silent apology, and you position yourself close to your friend, taking your beginning stance. You can see the worry in his expression, and you glance to your left as Liam, Violet, and Xaden flank the edge of the mat to observe as well.
"Bodhi, it's alright. I know you won't hurt me for real," You say. He grins at you.
"Never." Is all he says, taking his beginning position, not-so-subtly drinking in your form so close to his. You smirk.
"Begin!" Emmetario calls. Bodhi immediately lunges for you, but you're quick and dodge his advance, and he stumbles forward -- you've trained with him countless times, you knew he'd make the first move. You snake to the side, wrapping your arms around his midsection and using your whole body weight to throw yourselves both to the ground. You cry out as you land on your own elbow, and he tries to roll you onto your back. You dig your heels into the ground, fighting with all your strength to stay to the side of him and not let him get on top. He's stronger though, flipping you with his hands around your knees. You plant both feet in his ribs, knocking into him with as much force as you can muster and he falls back with a sharp cry.
The growing crowd winces and you jump to your feet once more, him following suit and clutching his side only for a moment before charging you once more. You crouch; but you're too slow this time. In seconds, his hands wrap around your waist and your thrown over his shoulder, hands smacking against his back.
You know what comes next -- this is the part where your opponent will throw you onto the mat, onto your back, knocking the wind out of you. You won't let that happen; not tonight. You tap into the rage you felt, all day, all week, and unleash it, feeling every feeling all over again.
Anger. You push against Bodhi, his hands losing grip and you tumbling haphazardly down his back. "Keep pushing, Y/N!" Rhiannon shouts.
Hate. You turn, Bodhi's still doubled over. Now's your chance. You run, jump, cling onto him, grabbing his neck and wrapping your legs around his waist-
Jealousy. It was a ploy. He whips you around, throwing you to the mat, hard. You shriek, breath catching in your throat as he holds you down with his forearm. He gazes down at you, his familiar friendly orbs glowing with warmth as he shifts uncomfortably above you.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Y/N, but... I'll be damned if anyone ever climbs me like a fuckin' tree-" the words die in his throat as your red-hot emotions dissipate, laughter rising and breaking free past your lips as he chuckles along with you.
"I don't care! I said she's done!" The sharp tone has your gaze turning to the left, the crowd making way as Emmetario calls after the tall male entering the mat and heading straight for you. In seconds, Bodhi's weight is completely lifted off of you and you suck in a breath of full, delightful air.
"Yep, and you can stay the fuck off of her, thank you very much," Liam gripes, bending down to grasp both of your hands in his and pull you up. You gasp as pain blooms in your back, and he begins leading you off the mat, away from the crowd. Toward the exit.
"Liam... Liam... I didn't tap out; my challenge wasn't over-" you stutter. He turns, his raging blue eyes narrowed on you. Yours widened in shock as you register an emotion so rare, especially for him you almost missed it.
Sadness.
"Trust me. It was over."
✧・゚: *✧・゚
"Liam, it's only a bruise, it'll be healed in a few-"
"He shouldn't have been man-handling you like that."
You stare at him, pacing back and forth in your dorm room from the bed where you sit. He half carried you back here a half hour ago, ending your challenge early and ignoring orders from a professor in the process. Now he seemed all worked up over your injuries, which were rather minor, at that.
"Like what, exactly? Liam, I've trained with Bodhi a million times. I know he would never hurt me. Not for real, anyways." You say, and Liam meets your gaze. His deep blue eyes are as dark as the midnight sea, only illuminated by the candle lights in your room. He chews on his bottom lip, halting his pacing.
"He trains with you?" He asks quietly. You scoff incredulously, fiddling with the band at the end of your braid and loosening the strands.
"Yeah? He's my friend, Liam. I have to have someone to spar with, right? It's not like my boyfriend is exactly... available..." you trail off, casting your eyes toward the floor. You finish undoing your braid, the strands hanging in loose waves over your shoulders. His brows knot in confusion.
"Y/N, what are you... what do you mean?" he walks close, kneeling before you, placing his hands on your knees. His face is level with yours, and Gods damn you if you don't want to kiss him-
"You know I'm always here for you Y/N..." he says softly. You meet his gaze, sucking your bottom lip between your teeth to keep it from quivering.
"Liam... I barely even see you anymore." Oh boy, here we go. "You always have to be with... with Violet... and if I do see you, it's never in our own privacy... I never just get you alone, to myself..." you trail off. He presses a soft kiss to your knee, and you praise yourself for changing into shorts and one of his big shirts when you returned earlier.
"Baby... you know I just have to hang out with Violet for now, just because of all the attacks and such, but," he places another soft kiss further up your thigh, and you feel your pulse quickening by the second. "...you have me alone... right now, right?" He asks sweetly, his eyes meeting yours again. You lean back on your elbows, and though his tone is sweet, the lust swirling in his irises tells a different story. You nod wordlessly, and he continues moving up your body, softly pushing up the hem of your shirt with his fingertips. His eyes remain in contact with your as he plants soft kisses up your abdomen, the muscles flexing as you fight to remain calm under his searing touch.
He pulls back, lips curing into a wicked grin as his eyes waver to your waistband, and he hooks a finger under the seam.
"If you wanted to be... man-handled... you could have just... asked." He says, your eyes widening at his words. Heat pools between your thighs, the incessant need for your boyfriend to ravage you only growing with every passing second he teases you. He chuckles, slipping a hand beneath the bands of both your shorts and underwear and wasting no time sliding a finger through your folds, easily gliding through the slickness. His lusting gaze meets yours again, and his free hand pushes himself closer to you on the bed.
"Mmm... you really have been missing me, haven't you?" You nod, looking up at him doe-eyed and innocent. He shakes his head, cupping your jaw and running a thumb over your lower lip while continuing to tease your leaking heat with his other hand.
"Such a good girl... I haven't been around as much as I should, have I." He says it more to himself, his forefinger circling your entrance and you rock your hips forward, aching for more.
"I haven't been as good of a boyfriend lately, and I'm sorry for that, okay?" He cups your cheek, and you meet his gaze.
"Liam... please..." you beg.
"Let me make it up to you?" He asks. Your nod of confirmation is all he needs as he slips both his index and middle fingers in -- knuckles deep. You gasp, jolting forward a bit and he pulls out, reinserting and driving them back in again. You bite out a moan, leaning back on your hands and looking up into his eyes. He's smirking down at you, drinking in every inch of your complexion as he massages that spongy spot inside of you.
"Liam..." you chant. "Liam, oh... my..... please-" He rises from his knees on the floor, continuing to curl his fingers inside you, to hover over you. He cuts off your whimpers with a beautiful, bruising kiss that is both sloppy and salivating. A mix of tongue and teeth clash as you make out with a primal need, his teeth finding your swollen bottom lip and playfully latching on. You groan once more, feeling the warm band in your stomach tightening.
"Gods I'm... I'm so-" Liam retracts his fingers and you groan, his lips finding yours again. He shucks his trousers off, kicking his boots off moments later. He breaks the kiss, yanking his shirt over his head and pulling yours off after, your bottoms following. Laying bare before him, he breathes deep, loosing his breath through the nose as he hovers overtop of your naked form.
"Y/N, you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen," he says sweetly. You blush, even though this is the hundredth time you've had sex with the man and probably the hundred millionth time he's called you pretty. You feel his hard on grounding against you, and you wiggle your hips, only creating more friction. Liams hand meets your hip, holding firm.
"Tsk tsk," he says, kissing your nose. His hand snakes between the two of you, his knuckles brushing against your pelvis making you shiver. His fingers wrap around the length of his cock and stroke a few times as he inches closer, and when the head finally makes contact with your dripping core, you whimper.
"Li... please..." He flashes you a devilish grin, his cute dimple warming your heart as your hands find their way to his built shoulders atop you.
"Since you asked so nicely," he says lowly, and pushes into you. You suck in a breath, the small stretch increasingly painful as he continues to push in, inch by delicious inch. The pleasure courses through you when he is finally fully sheathed inside of you, a growl escaping his throat as his hips retract and slam back in with immeasurable force.
"LIAM-" You shout. He pulls his hips back again, only pulling out half way as he continues to pound into you relentlessly, relishing in every breathless moan and scream of his name he can pull from your perfect lips.
"So tight, baby.... my gorgeous, gorgeous girl," he praises. Your hands slide down his tones arms, and the calloused fingers on one of his hands thread through your delicate ones, holding them to the mattress above your head. His breath comes out in short pants, and you let out a particularly sharp gasp.
"Ugh, fuck Liam; just like that," you breathe. His fingers let go of yours and wrap around your lower back, pulling you flush against his chest. HIs pace quickens as your breasts bounce with every quick thrust he delivers.
"You feel so good, Y/N," he says between breaths. His soft grunts almost send you over the edge, the new pace and angle spurring the impending orgasm from within. His warm breath tickles your neck, and his lips find your cheek, placing a single kiss as he continues to savagely thrust into you. "So perfect..." he whimpers.
You can't hold it together long enough to warn him this time as you fly over the edge, your orgasm barreling through you. You cry out, hands tugging on the ends of Liam's hair as your walls squeeze around his throbbing cock that hasn't yet slowed, riding you through your high. Your thighs start to shake, and Liam's mouth drops open as his eyes meet yours once more.
"Oh fuck, Y/N-" he jolts, releasing inside of your pulsing core as his movements begin to slow. Your combined ragged breaths are the only sounds filling the room, and his fingers trace the curve of your collarbone as his eyes lovingly gaze into yours again. You offer him a soft smile in your fucked-out state and he chuckles, slowly slipping out of you and retrieving a cloth from your desk. You move to take it from him, but per usual, he insists on cleaning you up himself.
Ahh, the gentleman he is.
He returns from tossing the cloth in the wastebasket, and you pull his big tee over your head for the second time today. He frowns at you, and shrugs, reaching for his pants and pulling them back up over his hips. He takes the spot on the bed next to you, propping up on an elbow to stare down upon you.
"I meant it," he starts, and you sigh.
"Liam-"
"Really, Y/N. I know its shitty that I have to always hang around with Violet. I know it sucks that it means I have less time with you. And... and I know it isn't your favorite thing. It isn't mine either." He says, taking a strand of your hair and twirling it around his index finger before letting it fall, and going for another piece.
"I know this, and I still listen to Xaden's orders. I know that doesn't make me a very good boyfriend, and I need to do better." He says in finality with a nod. "I'll talk to Xaden in the morning about it." You lean up off the bed, planting your lips on his. His hands cradle the back of your head, kissing you back with all the love he has to give. When you pull away, you know that no matter what, no matter how much or how little time you have together, there's no changing the connection the two of you share.
"Liam, I don't think I could find a better boyfriend than the one laying next to me in this very moment. You're as good as they get, my love."
✧・゚: *✧・゚
54 notes · View notes
erideights · 2 days
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With my 6th sense. (2)
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Pairing: Hunter x fem! jedi reader
Rating: nothing you should worry about, just tension between the sarge and the general
Wordcount: 2K
Chapters: (1) (3)* (4)* (5)* (*not posted yet)
Warnings and tags: none, extremely slight mentions of war and characters shenanigans
Summary: Another day, another suicide mission for the squad. This time commanded by a jedi general Hunter doesn't seem to really get along.
Side note: as I wrote down some ideas for next chapters, I decided to change a bit the time-line. So this happens 1 year before their introduction in The Clone Wars, 2 year of the separatist-republic war, (trust me, you'll discover why)
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A rough pair of gloved hands awkwardly but subtly tug at the collar of his new, extremely layered outfit that clings to his skin instead of his usual gear and armor. Hunter is still not on board with the fit change and the blatant lack of protection for such a risky mission. Though the chest plate and another, smaller plate cover his torso and right leg, it just doesn't feel right.
He gets the need to not be recognized as Republic soldiers since the political and military fallout would be a nightmare with no end in sight, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. And he doesn’t.
Narrowing his eyes, he crosses his arms over his chest and settles into one of the seats in the cockpit of the ship. His gaze is fixed on the holomap in the general’s hands, as is all his attention.
"I'd love to say our last recon squad managed to send back a better scan of the planet, but..." (Y/N) sighs and shakes her head slightly, an apologetic smile on her lips as she shrugs. The blue light from the holomap reflects on her youthful face, and Hunter can’t help but wonder how much field experience someone like her must have to be sent on a mission like this. She’s clearly not a kid, but she doesn’t seem like a 500-year-old Jedi master like the legendary Yoda he’s heard about.
Does he actually have doubts about her leadership and actual ability to act and adapt during this mission? Absolutely. But Hunter distrusts anyone outside his squad or other clones, well aware of the training they’ve all been through and their capabilities and limits. He doesn’t know hers. And that blindness it’s dangerous.
“I can’t give you more. The fact that we even know where Serenno is and have a rough map of the planet is a miracle in itself. So we’ll work with what we have and improvise as we go.”
“I like that,” Wrecker chimes in enthusiastically, pounding his fists together in a display of eagerness to blow things up.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that’s your style,” The jedi admits with a hint of amusement. “I’ve also heard that you like to cause chaos wherever you go and leave nothing standing behind, so I imagine that reminding you this is a stealth mission where we can’t blow anything up doesn’t exactly thrill you.”
“Buzzkill,” grumbles the big clone, exasperation evident on his face. Crosshair clicks his tongue, and Tech silently takes notes on everything being discussed.
“You wouldn’t be the first to call me that,” she replies with a playful smirk.
It’s strange how she effortlessly blends with the squad’s energy, her charismatic and fun aura making the clones not only listen to her but also interact with her as if they’ve known her forever.
Hunter, though not as maniacally as Tech, makes mental notes of the mission, paying close attention to every detail the Jedi outlines. Finding the scientific base where they store the droid schematics will be the easy part. Tracking the forested area and locating the entrance will be child’s play for him. Getting in and reaching the communications room for Tech to hack and steal the schematics without making noise… maybe not so much.
“They’ll shoot down our shuttle before we even get to fantasize about getting near the planet’s orbit,” Hunter interjects, tilting his head to one side. The way he looks at her, with such an overwhelming intensity reflected in his brown eyes, seems like a way of challenging her in front of his squad.
“They won’t if they don’t see us coming,” (Y/N) answers without batting an eye, her gaze fixed on him, her lips curving ever so, so slightly. If he’s trying to discredit her and make things difficult before the mission has even started, he’s in for a big surprise. Pressing a button on the holomap’s projector, a Separatist cargo ship appears in full view. “Commander Cody obtained some Separatist shuttle codes during his last mission. All we need to do is use them to pass as one of their ships, dock, and detach as soon as we’re in the atmosphere. We will land as close to the forest as we can to camouflage the ship, and for the rest of the way all of us will use our legs.”
“With the schematics of one of those ships I could mask our signal to mimic theirs once the proximity scanner detects us,” Tech adds without even looking up, his eyes glued to his datapad.
“I’ll get you those before we exit hyperspace,” she promises, nodding, pleased with their cooperation and the lack of complaints beyond, well, not being able to blow anything up. She’s sure Wrecker’s heart is broken since she mentioned that.
“Any other questions, Sergeant?” In her voice there's distant touch of… annoyance? Challenge? The jedi raises an eyebrow at the clone, silently pushing him the same way he did a few minutes ago with her. She doesn’t know what his problem is—whether it’s with her specifically or all Jedi in general—but she’s not about to let him intimidate her. She’d already be dead if she wouldn’t be capable enough to deal with way worse situations than a territorial man with trust issues and a heavy feeling of rejection towards others' command.
Besides, her mission isn’t to get along with him. Would his cooperation certainly make everything easier? Yeah, sure, but she will do just fine if at least the others listen to her.
Hunter grunts quietly, the skepticism refusing to leave his face even if he had to admit to himself, her plan seems to be well tied. "Just hoping we don’t get shot to pieces in these outfits."
(Y/N) just scoffs, rolling her eyes. Of course he had to complain about the whole ‘bounty hunter/scavenger/mercenary’ outfit. "You’ll be fine, sergeant. The entire point of this mission is to not trigger any blaster."
Wrecker, seated nearby and silent until now, pipes up again with a grin. "Yeah, Hunter, lighten up. We’re practically invisible in these things!" He gives a playful nudge to Crosshair, who rolls his eyes but smirks nonetheless.
Tech, ever the practical one, adjusts his glasses and adds, "Statistically, our chances of success are improved with stealth and subtlety. The armor is merely a psychological comfort."
Hunter shakes his head, a reluctant smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, yeah. Let’s just hope those stats hold up when the blaster bolts start flying."
‘’Again…’’ she sighs softly, licking her lips in an absentmindedly gesture while she tilts her head to the side, eyes looking for Hunter’s from across the holomap. Thanks to the Maker Jedi training comes served with an extra bundle of patience. ‘’let’s try to not reach that point.’’
...
As the ship hums through hyperspace, the journey long as she promised, everyone settles into their own routines after wrapping up their meeting, either to prep or kill time. Wrecker's lifting a couple of crates like they're weights, Crosshair's checking and cleaning his rifle, and Tech's deep in his datapad, muttering calculations and plans under his breath. The low, constant buzz of the engines creates a background noise that almost drowns out the tension in the air.
But this isn’t her ship, it’s not a place where she can really take a breath and relax, especially with how territorial the sergeant —not so subtly— has shown himself to be. She'd rather avoid getting comfy only to have him show up with that death glare of his and say something among the lines of ‘That’s my spot.’ So she decides to do a final check on each step of the plan and her clothing, making sure the belt where she keeps her lightsaber is properly secured.
Nonetheless, a question has been bugging her since they all met back in the base, and despite trying to keep it to herself for what feels like forever (but is really just a second), she can’t really stay quiet. That’s not her style.
“I got a question,” she starts, casually leaning her arm on the seat where Tech’s sitting. She doesn’t even look at him, avoiding any awkwardness. She speaks to the whole group, knowing they can hear her from the cockpit. “Who’s the genius who landed back on Coruscant?”
Without missing a beat or even bother to look at her, almost the entire squad responds in unison, “Hunter.”
As if her body had just been struck by lightning, the jedi freezes and bites back a laugh, her lower lip trembling for a fraction of a second before she presses her lips together in a frown, trying to keep a straight face and to avoid, at all cost, to let her gaze slip to the sergeant. Clearing her throat, she nods to herself, breathing very, very slowly and swallowing hard. She knew it. She would have bet her life on it, and now Obi-Wan owes her 20 credits.
From the corner of her eye, though, she catches a subtle reaction from Hunter—a slight tightening of his jaw and a quick, almost imperceptible smirk. And until now, the sergeant was sitting a few feet away, absentmindedly twirling a vibroblade between his fingers. The gesture by itself was innocent, the jedi sure that was nothing more than a way to distract himself and pass the time, or a way to better focus on his thoughts like any other method there could be, but even if it was almost meditative, there was an underlying intensity to it.
His presence is just so loud, she cannot help but to end up sneaking a glance at him, catching his eye for a split second. He looks up, their gazes locking. There’s a moment, just a heartbeat, where the air seems to thicken too much for comfort.
“Got something to say, General?” Hunter asks, his voice low, husky. There’s a hint of challenge in his tone, again, like he’s daring her to say something and to just give him an excuse to… bark ar her. She wouldn't be surprised at all.
“Nothing. Just wondering if your knife skills are as sharp as your flying ones,” she shoots back, a playful smirk tugging at her lips. She couldn’t just keep quiet, right?
Hunter's lips twitch, maybe the start of a smile, but most probably not. “You planning on finding out?”
“Maybe,” she shrugs, arching an eyebrow, arms crossed over her chest, leaning back against the wall as soon as she reaches the cockpit. “Depends on how the mission goes I suppose.”
Without saying another word and clearly annoyed, Hunter puts the knife inside the holster strapped to his left wrist in one fluid motion, his gaze still locked on hers. His voice's raspy, low, and there's this feeling she cannot shake off, telling her there's something else behind his words. “You think this is a game, General? Lives are on the line here.”
“I’m well aware, sarge. Just because I smile doesn’t mean I’m not taking this seriously.” Her voice softens a bit ‘cause she understands his point and what war means, but that fire behind her eyes doesn't falter, that resolution intrinsic in her being doesn't weaken, her gaze fixed on his own. 
And as expected since he caught her looking at him, the tension hanging heavy between them gets even thicker for a moment, the rets of the Batch already used to Hunter's not so subtle issues with other'safter many seconds carefully measuring his next move, or so she thinks, Hunter gives a small nod, acknowledging her words. “Good. Just make sure you're ready to do what's needed to even if it's not The Jedi Style.”
“Don’t worry, that's my signature move.”
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child-of-helios · 22 hours
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hello. I've a rather stupid question. I've only read the books once, as a kid, and I don't understand why people hate calpyso x leo. whys it so bad? why does everyone seems to hate it on here?
xxx,
eurydice
First of all, this is my first ever ask, I've made it mother :D Secondly, I'd gladly explain! Though please note that it really has been a good while since I've read the books too, so my memory is kinda foggy :] Warnings for: Slight mentions (but not too much) of rape, pedophilia and mental illness (oh boy this is a tough one)
So, I have made a post abt this before, but it was written in a fit of rage so not my proudest moment (but my most popular post, oops). Anyways, I feel that the hate towards Calypso x Leo is because of a few reasons. 1. It simply didn't get enough development to feel worth it imo. Similar to Jason x Piper, I felt like there wasn't enough there to warrant a canon ship. There is also the fact that personally, I thought that their dynamic was more of a familial or that of siblings, which made me uncomfortable. I would've much rather have them be friends. 2. The uncomfortable age gap. It feels very weird because while yes, Calypso was depicted as a teenager, she is thousands upon thousands of years old. The fact that she fell in love with a literal child is incredibly weird. It was weird enough with Percy, but at least they didn't end up dating. With Leo though, she did end up dating him and the age gap feels very odd. Its even weirder knowing she had a relationship with Odysseus, who by that point was a pretty old dude so she was probably very mature and an adult (though she doesn't act like it). 3. Calypso is kinda a rapist. In the Odyssey myth, she forces Odysseus (a married man) to sleep with her. I'm sorry, but I can't support any relationship involving a rapist unless its rapist x prison cell. It makes me uncomfortable because she could very well take advantage of Leo, a mentally ill teenager with self-esteem issues. 4. Her toxic treatment of Leo. Calypso was very pissed when Leo arrived on her island, rightfully so after what she had gone through, but even then her treatment of his was outright cruel, especially compared to that of Percy and Odysseus. She made him sleep outside, exposing him to the elements after he got flung through the air and ended up on her island, which must've caused some damage. Then after they started dating, I still felt uncomfortable reading about the two, because their dynamic just didn't work, and I don't recall her apologizing to him for her treatment of him. 5. Leo's arc was thrown away. I think the worst of all, is how this impacted Leo's character. He should've had an arc where he learnt to love himself, but because of Calypso he didn't. I think the moral was supposed to be: 'even if you're mentally ill or have problems, you still deserve love!' but it came over more as: 'ignore your issues and get all your love from someone else.' Isn't it more important for kids to learn about self-love? And as an extra: what could've been. I think that Leo shouldn't have gone back for Calypso, that that ship shouldn't have happened. I prefer him going back to Echo and them learning about self-love together as buddies (and maybe evolving into more than that). Echo was stuck in an abusive relationship with the Narcissist, so I think it would a good arc for them both. I also think that if you really wanted a romance, Jason x Leo would've been much better. We know that Rick can write good gay romances, we know that Piper turns out to be a lesbian, so why not make Jason and Leo gay? I think it would add much more to the tragedy of Jason's death, but that's for another post (and this one is getting too long already oops). In conclusion, I think Caleo is bad for many reasons, but especially because it didn't have enough time to develop and the dynamic was simply too creepy for me to get invested in. Sorry for the super long post- Have a lovely day :D
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idksmtms · 2 days
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You Are Not One Of Us (Poseidon x Norse Goddess!reader) - Part 6
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Full Request P2
AN: GUYS! Firstly, I’m back!!! Here’s a surprise update!! Secondly, omfgggg I found new pictures of Toby Stephens so you KNOW I had to make a new header to incorporate them. That man is the inspiration for this series so it is a MUST. 
The beginning is a bit of a filler to kind of answer some side questions about how things are changed between this world and the original Percy Jackson world and what I’m keeping the same 
Most of the action is at the end so pls stick through it because it starts to get intense. 
Also, they don’t call him Percy at first but like it works with the story and ideas have for later so idk, deal with it 
+ my summaries are just getting worse and worse I’m so sorry 
Summary: Time is running out. Sally and Poseidon meet, but there is still a big decision to make. 
Word count: 6.8k 
Trigger Warnings: she/her pronouns, AFAB reader, profanity, innuendo, age gap (even tho they are both thousands of years old), non-explicit depictions of giving birth, giving your child away, (please let me know if I missed any) 
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I do not claim to own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I do not own any pictures used nor do I claim to do so. 
Always appreciate comments, likes, and reblogs :)
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You met Sally on the beach at midnight. Poseidon had agreed to meet her but the true test was getting her to walk deep enough to submerge her head. You had spent an hour trying to tell her that everything would be alright, that both of you would be able to breathe under Poseidon’s protection, but you could see that she was still sceptical. You grabbed her hand and began toward the water. At this time of night it was at a slow crawl up the beach, and you looked forward to dipping your feet into it. You felt a shiver pass through her but you just held onto her hand tighter and continued dragging her into the water. Both of you walked until you were waist deep in the water. 
“Everything alright?” You asked, but Sally just nodded. You could tell her mind was running, it was difficult for mortals to take in the knowledge of the gods, but you just continued until you were shoulder-deep, the taller waves washing over your face and hair. When you could no longer feel the sand under your feet, you submerged yourself entirely and let out a deep breath to sink to the floor. It took her a moment, but Sally followed suit and you watched the shock register on her face when she took a breath in and inhaled nothing but air. 
“See? I told you,” you replied jokingly, and she just laughed, swimming around, walking on the surface, enjoying herself to her heart’s content. You watched on with a smile, almost like a proud parent, when you felt a presence behind your shoulder. Arms wrapped around you and a soft beard pressed to your cheek. You felt instantly warm, and you turned around and pressed your mouth to his. He chuckled against your lips, kissing you again and again before your laughter could no longer keep your mouths together. 
“Hello, my love,” you whispered, caressing his cheek. There was something so jovial in the air, as if you were all filled with hope and happiness and everything was just… right. He pressed his forehead to yours and reached down to caress your stomach. You always marvelled at how large his hand was, but soon your stomach would be its rival!
You turned around and found Sally standing a few paces away, smiling simply like a friend who was happy to see their friend happy. It felt so… nice, that for a moment tears came to your eyes. In Asgard, in Valhalla, you had Loki as your only close friend. Even with that friendship, there had always been something behind it. You were friends simply because both of you were gods, you were friends simply because both of you happened to live among the Aesir together, that there were no better options for friendship. While you still loved Loki, and a good friendship had bloomed from those circumstances, knowing that you had a friend because both of you chose to be friends, was something entirely different. 
“My love,” you held onto his hand and moved him closer to where Sally stood, “meet Sally Jackson,” you introduced, the bright smile on your face bordering on artificial with how nervous you now were. 
“Nice to meet you, uh, sir?” She tilted her head and both you and Poseidon laughed. He shook his head though his shoulders eased down slightly. 
“Poseidon is fine, it is nice to meet you Sally,” he reached out his hand and she shook it gingerly. You were sure she could feel his power through that simple handshake. Physical contact for a human with a god could be overwhelming if the god willed it. You beamed proudly at both of them, but especially at your husband for deigning to be so kind as to offer a mortal this much respect. “My wife has told me much about you.” Your stomach turned over and over each time he called you his wife, as if everything in the world settled into its rightful place for a moment. 
“All good things, I promise, Sally,” you added with a cheeky smile, but she just laughed, digging her toes into the sand. 
“I’m an innocent person, what bad things could there possibly be to tell?” She joked, but you just raised an eyebrow at her as you remembered one night from a few weeks ago when she was laying on your couch after having a bottle of pink wine all to herself, kicking her feet in the air like a child and giggling about the male anatomy. 
“Mhm, ok,” you muttered, but a small laugh still managed to huff out of you and you pressed your cheek to Poseidon’s arm. He pulled you close right after, almost encasing you entirely in his arms so your head peaked out just over his biceps and his chin rested on top of your head. 
“So, you’re like the god of all this, huh?” Sally asked, looking at Poseidon with raised eyebrows. “So if you’re real, does that mean Zeus and Hades exist?” Poseidon cleared his throat and nodded, a little frown creasing his eyebrows just slightly. 
“My brothers do indeed exist as well, one is currently throwing a rather useless feast for the gods on Mount Olympus so he can force his cupbearer to prostrate the new chalice Hephaestus has made for him, while the other chooses to ignore the invitation to play fetch with Cerberus over the fields of Elysium. I’m sure you can guess which is which,” he sighed tiredly, but you giggled into his arm. 
You never tired of hearing his stories of Mount Olympus, of the ways in which his brothers had not changed one bit and how your previous friends were doing now. You had been angry with all of them once, seethed with rage at even the thought of Ares or Zeus, but after an eon you’ve slowly let go of your anger. You can understand why you were the target of their suspicions, if it had happened in Valhalla, surely any of the Greek Gods would be the first suspect if they had been visiting. You only wished your father and Zeus could come to terms with their own anger and release this hellish bond they had placed on you and Poseidon. Too much time had been wasted on such petty nonsense, especially since the lightning bolt had been found so soon after. Whoever had stolen it, surely had not been serious in their thievery to leave it to be so easily found. And whoever it was, because the mystery had continued for these last millenia, had done nothing of the sort again, so what did it matter now? 
“I would say to give them my well wishes but… you know,” you shrugged, and while Poseidon’s frown deepened, you only smiled and chuckled lightheartedly, moving your hand up to rub at the wrinkles on his brow until his face relaxed again. While you had begun to joke about your situation, he still was not ready to release his anger. 
“I cannot stay long. It is already criminal for me to have been away from the feast this long without at least sending a gift in apology and I cannot possibly sacrifice another dolphin for Zeus’s new aquarium project on Olympus.” He sighed again, rubbing his forehead and you reached up and kissed him gently, a short but important distraction. You could feel the tension in his muscles, the worry that he seemed to carry everywhere with him, but you just pressed a kiss to his cheek and gently began rubbing his shoulders and arms. 
Poseidon turned away from you and looked at Sally with a warm smile, as if a thank you for the moment she quietly allowed the both of you, and he pulled something out of thin air and held out to her. 
“If you are ever in trouble, or require a godly hand, flip this coin into some water, and you shall receive whatever it is you wish for,” he dropped the coin into the palm of her hand and she gawped at it like one of the fish that swam past her. 
You smiled warmly up at your husband as she examined the drachma. You caressed his bearded cheek and pressed onto the tips of your toes to guide your foreheads together. He smiled, though you felt it more than saw it, and he shifted to press a kiss to the tip of your nose. 
“I already miss you,” you whispered, and he huffed a chuckle but did not refute your statement. 
“Every moment away from you is one moment spent in the body of Prometheus,” he sighed, and you almost teared up, cupping his cheek and pressing your mouth to his firmly. He kissed you with a sort of reckless abandon that he lacked everywhere else in his life, and you took joy in being able to turn this poised god into a rushed mess. 
Sally cleared her throat behind the two of you, a blush on her face as she thought about how far the both of you were willing to take this makeout session with another person present, but you just began giggling against his lips and he put you down. 
“Goodbye, my love,” he whispered to you, stealing another peck before stepping away. “And goodbye to you, Sally Jackson, I hope you learnt whatever it is you wanted to know.” Then in his place was a flurry of bubbles and your husband was nowhere to be found. 
You smiled at the sand underneath you sadly for a moment, wishing his arms were back around you, before taking a deep breath in and going over to Sally who was staring down at the drachma in her hand. 
“Are you ready to go?” You asked softly, gently touching her elbow. She looked up at you and nodded, but she wasn’t smiling. Her eyes seemed somewhere else, and you just nodded in response, walking beside her as you both slowly made your way back up the beach and out of the water, completely dry. 
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You hadn’t seen Sally for a week after that. Usually she would be the one to come to your door with an invitation to do something or other during the day, usually something to just waste time but a fun way to just be in the company of someone else. But since the night you had taken her to meet Poseidon, she had not seeked you out. Every day you waited for the knock on your door, the jovial voice that called for you to open up because ‘surely you aren’t doing anything more important than spending time with your bestie!’ But nothing came. 
It was one of those days when, despite doing nothing differently, the very air in the world seemed to weigh extra heavily. You had woken up and instantly felt a frown pull on your face. The weather was rather muggy and a sheet of pale grey clouds stretched until the horizon, bathing everything in their muted light. 
You had tottered around the cabin doing little things to keep yourself from falling further into the cloying sadness that seemed to hang at the back of your throat, but when there were no more countertops to wipe and no more floors to sweep, you sat on the couch and stared out the window and when the baby kicked again, you felt the emotion wash over you. 
You pressed your hand to your mouth as you cried, biting into it to hide your sobs. The pain in your heart seemed to seep into your entire body. Your hands trembled despite how tightly you clenched them into fists. Your eyes continued to leak tears despite how you squeezed them shut. 
Every time the baby kicked your heart soared then plummeted like a bird giving up mid flight. You could feel the little butterfly flutters in your stomach, the soft feeling that was the most odd yet most endearing thing you had ever felt. But you couldn’t help but think about how it would not last much longer. Soon the child would be born, and these kicks would become visible, yet you would never have the chance to see them. You would never be able to see its chubby little hands grasp for the air, its plush legs kick wildly into the air. These thoughts plagued you, never letting you sit still for long enough, because if you did, you would react the way you have just done. You would never recover from your tears, would never function again. 
You had never cried this much before your pregnancy. Even when you had been forced away from Poseidon, you had cried for a week straight and then only a few times after that. Now it seemed you cried at every minor inconvenience, at every thought about your baby or your husband. You looked up to the mantle above the fireplace and gazed at the pearls arranged in their shells. 
There was a knock at the door and you shot up, placing a hand on your stomach, apologising to it for the jostling. You wiped haphazardly at your face as you walked to the door, hoping to recover any semblance of normalcy before exposing yourself to whoever had deigned to visit you. You stood at the door and took a deep breath in before opening it. 
Sally looked just shy of solemn and she was staring at the door, not you. You could see that she was holding the drachma, flipping it between her fingers mindlessly as if she had spent the last seven days only doing that. 
“I’ll do it.” She announced simply, not daring to meet your gaze yet. Your heart began beating so hard that you were sure she could hear it too. “I will do it.” She repeated slower, and let loose a breath that seemed to take away all the weight on her shoulders. She finally turned to look at you, and her eyes were bloodshot and a little puffy. Your mouth began to quiver and your face seemed to crumple in slow motion but when the first whimper fell from your mouth and the first tear dropped from your eye, she was hugging you. 
“But I have a few conditions,” she whispered, and all you could do was nod, because you didn’t care about anything else. You would do anything, you would bring stars down from the sky if it meant your baby would be with Sally, your baby would be safe and happy. 
“Come inside,” you sobbed out, smiling broadly at her as you continued to shake with your tears, “come inside and we can talk.” She nodded, smiling a watery smile so similar to your own, and stepped inside. 
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“I want the kid to know as much as possible from the get-go. I won’t be mama, I’m Aunt Sally. They’ll know their parents love them, but cannot be with them.” You nodded vigorously, smiling brightly at Sally. 
“Ofcourse, yes, I agree completely. Tell them everyday that we love them, that this situation is for the best and they will understand someday. Just… just make sure they know we love them more than anything that has ever existed.” You smiled and nodded again, as if reaffirming to yourself that this was real, and things may actually be alright in the end. 
Sally smiled in return, reaching forward and patting your folded hands gently, a warm, knowing kind of smile on her face that made you feel somehow more hopeful. 
“And I want you to send me some type of sign, I don’t know, like a message on a steamy window or something, whatever it is. Just a sign that you’re there, that you’re looking out for the kid, and that everything on your end is fine for the moment.” She raised an eyebrow at you with this, and you just chuckled quietly. 
“Of course. Though I won’t be able to send them often, I don’t want anyone to stumble upon your location, but every so often, a little blue butterfly will appear wherever you are, and you will know that I am watching, that I am wishing to be reunited with my child.” Your head dipped slightly as you opened your palms and watched them as a beautiful butterfly began to appear in the middle of your cupped hands. Its wings shined in the light, bordered by an opaque black. 
“It’s called a giant blue morpho,” you told her, nudging your hand up so the butterfly could flap into the air and make its way to Sally, resting just on the tip of her finger. “They are found in what you call Peru today. They are my favourite species of butterfly,” you smiled dazedly, eyes transfixed on the little creature that gently flapped its wings every so often to stay on Sally’s finger. Sally reached out with her other hand and touched the tip of her index finger to the very edge of the butterfly’s wing, barely even a hint of a touch, but it burst into tiny little pieces like it was made of the most fragile glass and dispersed into the air like glitter on the wind. She stared at her empty hands, eyes wide and mouth tipped slightly open, but you only sighed with a tired smile. “The ones I create are not real, more like images of the real thing.” Sally nodded but you could tell she was still a little freaked out, unused to seeing you use your powers so freely, so obviously. Your smile became sympathetic and you cleared your throat, hoping to move the conversation on. “Any other conditions?” 
“Uh, yes, um, yeah, sorry, yes, I want a coin for the kid too. I want them to have that lifeline as well, if anything ever goes too far and they don’t know what else to do. It’s a connection to their father. I want that for them.” Her tone was firmer this time, as if this was one of the more non-negotiable topics, and you nodded in response. 
Sally had mentioned some stories about her own father, a strained relationship from what you had pieced together, a certain lack of trust, and you could see that she wanted better for this child. You almost hugged her in that moment, promised her that Poseidon would not be like that, that he would do what he could for the child in whichever capacity he was capable under such difficult and complex circumstances, but you stayed silent and simply nodded. A promise that things would be better. 
“And… I don’t think they should be told about all this stuff until it’s time for them to go to this camp. If they’re going to grow up in the human world, they don't need to be confused about what they’re seeing versus all this magic stuff I might be telling them. If it’s going to be a secret, then it needs to be a secret from them too, for their own safety. And that way they can go to school as well, a normal school for normal kids, for as long as possible. I know they won’t be normal, but if you’re posing them as even half human, then I want them to have that experience, to know what it’s like to just be a child and go to school, and not worry about anything else.” Sally paused for a second, taking in a deep breath and releasing it before looking you straight in the eyes. 
“You said this child will unite worlds. You said this child will be capable of great things, of-of breaking down everything all the gods once knew, but I think they have potential for more than that. I think they can make things better for humans as well, or at least the human children of these gods. If this child knows what it’s like to be mortal, if they know how to appreciate life and the fragility of everything, the sacredness of the time we have all been given…. Y/n, I think this child could change everything.” 
You held your breath as she spoke, at the fire in her eyes and the way she leaned forward as if this was the most important thing to ever have been said, and maybe… maybe it was. The room was quiet for a few moments as you both sat in the words she had just spoken, at the many possibilities that had opened up before the two of you. At least five minutes had passed when Sally spoke up again. 
“Ok, so tell me about this ‘camp half-blood’? What is it? Where-” 
“I could not have asked for a better person to look after my child,” you interrupted. A watery smile overtook your face as you watched Sally. She could see how happy you were, at the sparkle in your eye she had only ever seen when you looked at your husband. “You will be a great mother, Sally Jackson.” 
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The remaining months of your pregnancy were rather blissful. You did not have to deal with any of the symptoms the poor mortals go through. Sally explained morning sickness and swollen ankles to you and you truly believed that if you had been mortal in that moment you would have begun praying to the Aesir and making sacrifices to Frigg and Freya for relief. Though you were not completely immune either, and occasionally a slight twinge in your back would force you to sit down and rest before continuing about your day like normal. 
Nothing particularly eventful occurred, and Poseidon’s visits were more often concerned with laying on the ocean floor and discussing a hopeful future (because neither of you would entertain a possibility of anything else). 
As the days passed by and the time of the birth neared, a feeling of something building began to permeate the air. A heaviness settled on your shoulders, as if you were a character in a story that didn’t know something big was about to occur, but the reader was yelling at the book, unable to change anything. You began watching out of your windows day and night as if someone would arrive unexpectedly, as if everything were about to explode, but you simply didn’t know when. And so you waited, waited for anything to happen, for someone to pop the balloon. And then your water broke. 
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On the day your son was born, a storm began. Grey clouds began to gather over the beach, and with every hour that ticked by, the winds began to rush faster and faster. Thunder crackled, and lightning flashed bright white in the depths of the thick grey clouds. There was something in the air, a certain heaviness that could only be felt by the gods, and you knew your time was up. Someone on Olympus knew that you were here, that there was to be a child with the blood of the Greek Gods in its veins, and they were getting close to finding you despite all yours and Poseidon’s magic working to hide your sanctuary. Zeus knew you were here. 
Your labour was the most painful thing you had ever physically experienced. You had been imprisoned, stabbed, fallen so close to the brink of death in many a battle, but nothing could have prepared you for the sheer pain and exhaustion that came with having a child. It was as if the lack of any other symptoms during your pregnancy came back to make the experience ten times harder. It seemed to bloom from your core and spread outward until you wanted to writhe in pain and kick and scream and even cease to exist. Your skin burned, your insides clenched and released and clenched and released. Even your ribs began to feel like they were poking into your flesh and moving in and out of it with your every breath. 
You lay back on the bed, eyes shut tight so all you could see was the reds and oranges of light passing over your eyelids. Your hands began to steam as you lost control of your powers before Sally pressed them into bowls of ice water she had brought up to your room. Every few minutes you screamed at the top of your lungs, releasing this guttural urge that seemed to push out of you. 
In a small moment of clarity, when it seemed the baby needed a rest from pushing itself out of you, you looked toward Sally who stood by the end-table in your room and watched her. Her hands shook as she prepared towels and cold cloths for your forehead. Her face was pale, but stern, and she clenched her hands every few seconds to try and stifle any fear she was so clearly feeling. You began laughing, a breathless huffing where the sound was mostly just air pushing from your lungs. Your head was thrown back on the pillows and your chest glistened with sweat, cooling in the breeze that blew in from the open window before being bathed in sweat once more. 
Sally turned to look at you, bewildered. You were such an odd sight, lying prostrate on the bed, arms spread slightly, hands immersed in bowls of water that were once full of ice, legs akimbo from your most recent bout of screaming and writhing, but here you were, laughing like someone had told you the funniest joke you had ever heard. She began to laugh with you, began to laugh at the incredulity of it all, at the fact that here she was in her early twenties, helping a goddess give birth before taking responsibility for a child that would change worlds. She laughed so much she began to cry. 
“It’s ok Sally,” you whispered, trying to hurry the words out as you felt the pain begin to increase again. “It’s alright. I am so proud to call you my friend, and so glad to know my child will be raised by you.” Tears streamed from your eyes, and when the pain began again, you couldn’t tell why you had begun crying in the first place. 
You didn’t know how long it took you to give birth to your son, but you were lost in a haze of pain, ebbing and flowing with it until it crescendoed to a new height you didn’t even know was possible, before releasing like popping the cork from a champagne bottle. You felt paralysed, your entire body throbbing, eyes sparking and patched with black. You were numb all over but so sensitive at the same time that you would have cried if even a fly had landed on you. 
Slowly, you began to move your fingers, splashing them slightly in the bowls of water. Then your toes, a more painful task that shot tingles up your legs. You began blinking your eyes, hoping to clear your vision, and as the world came back into focus, there he was, standing above you with a little bundle wrapped in his arms. You stared up at Poseidon, stared up at your husband, as he cradled your baby. 
His hair was dishevelled, as if he had walked through a hurricane. His cheeks were pale, as if he had lost as much blood as you had, but his ears were bright pink. His eyes were bright red and shedding tears, pouring them out like the waterfalls he controlled. He had not looked at you yet, had not noticed that you had returned to the world. He was enraptured with the child, swaying with it in his arms, whispering words you couldn’t hear over the rushing of your blood, touching its cheek with the tip of his index finger. 
A noise came out of your lips, a gurgle and a yearning, keening, sound all in one. His eyes snapped to you, bright and brimming with a thousand words he couldn’t say. Tentatively, with the gentleness of a hummingbird, he sat down on the edge of the bed, as close to you as possible without touching you. He leaned forward and gently placed the bundle against your chest. You forced one of your arms up to wrap around it, to secure the fluffy pile of blankets to your chest, before looking down. 
Thick, gurgling, sobs began to fall from your lips as you looked at the most beautiful child you had ever seen. A red, wriggly thing that would not win any awards for looking particularly beautiful, but he was the most precious thing you had ever seen. He had little wisps of blond hair, soft tufts against his scalp that began rising up as they dried and lightly tickled your chin. His hands and feet were so small. They were so small, and you weren’t sure if you had actually begun to burble about them to Poseidon. 
The blanket he was wrapped in was baby blue, and he kept pushing his hands out of it to try and grab at the air, shifting his little body as much as he could. Poseidon reached over and adjusted it to cover his arms, stroking the top of the baby’s head. Your baby’s head. 
He looked down at the both of you, his face flushed, eyes red and teary, hands shaking and chest tight with barely held sobs. He had never felt joy like this. He had been alive since the birth of Ancient Greece. He had seen cities built, empires fall, people rise to a greatness unheard of before, but nothing would ever compare to this joy. To see his wife and son together like this, something he would most likely never see again, made a sob choke itself from his throat. 
You stared at your son, your little Perseus, with his eyes scrunched up and his tiny lips opening and shutting to let out soft grunts, and you began to sob again. Painful, heart wrenching sobs, like the wails of a banshee. Thunder cracked so loud outside that the entire cabin shook. Lightning flashed, so hot that it glowed blue, and Poseidon hovered himself over you and Perseus, just shy of laying on top of you. Perseus began to cry with you, the high-pitched wailing of a baby piercing the air. He began shushing you, soft sounds and affirmations slipping from his lips directed both at you and his son, trying to keep calm despite the desperation for your pain to cease. He had never heard such painful sounds. 
“Please,” he whispered, “please do not cry. I am here, we are all here, together.” But you only shook your head, clutching Perseus tighter to your chest and staring up at Poseidon with wide, child-like eyes filled with pain and desperation and denial. 
“I don’t want him to go! I don’t want to let him go!” You cried out, over and over and over. You kept repeating the words, stabbing him in the heart over and over as he sniffed and nodded, trying anything to get you to calm down. “Please, please, I don’t want to let him go.” Your voice cracked, and you began chewing on your lip, looking between Perseus and Poseidon like a lost child. He reached out and cupped your cheek, cradling your head in his hand, fingers splayed behind your ear. He stroked your cheek just under your eye, smearing your tears on your face, and began hushing louder. You gulped, once, twice, then breathed in and out shakily. Slowly, as the thunder quieted to a rumble outside, your breaths quieted, and you blinked less, just staring into Poseidon’s eyes. He smiled sadly, eyes wet with tears and bloodshot, and he nodded. “But he has to go,” you whispered, as if affirming between the both of you that this was the right decision. Again, Poseidon nodded, but this time you nodded in return. 
Slowly, with one shaky arm, you pushed yourself up to sit straight on the bed, swinging your legs to the side as your body began to heal and dulled the pain and exhaustion in your limbs. You still felt shaky, and you knew this recovery would be slower than any others, but you continued moving, pushing yourself to stand so you could look out of the window with Perseus cradled in your arms. 
The waves were crashing onto the beach furiously, cresting at even the farthest point your eyes could see, white capped and frothing as they attacked the shore. The dry sand higher up the beach moved in waves in the wind, and you could almost hear the little grains striking the front of the cabin. The wind howled, like Fenrir had been released to hunt you down and was announcing his presence. The clouds in the sky were almost black, and the lightning seemed to flash constantly. The thunder either crackled or rumbled but never ceased, not quieting for a moment, and you knew your time with Poseidon and Perseus had ended. Zeus knew something, or at least sensed something was off in this place, and he would soon come to find out himself if you all did not separate quickly. You turned to Poseidon, absentmindedly nuzzling your chin against the top of Perseus’s head.
“I will go to delay him, buy you some more time with Perseus.” You stared at him, face stoic, and he could not even begin to fathom what you were thinking. You took slow, shaky steps to reach him. He leaned forward and took a hold of your hips to steady you as you walked, allowing you the space to choose how close you wanted to be to him. You walked until the baby was pressed to both his chest and yours. You did not push further, fearing to hurt your Perseus in any way. You looked up at Poseidon, and pressed onto the tips of your toes so you could kiss him. It was gentle, your mouths just pressed together so you felt the plushness of each other’s lips but did nothing more. Neither of you tried to deepen the kiss, tried to take things any further. You stayed like that for a few moments, had another similar kiss, and when you pulled away, both of you had your eyes closed. 
“Goodbye,” you whispered, so soft that not even the baby pressed to your chest would hear you, and when you opened your eyes, there was only an empty space in front of you. 
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You knew you did not have long. Zeus was closing in and you had to get Sally and Perseus out of here before they were discovered. You swayed with Perseus in your arms for a few moments, allowing yourself only that. You watched him yawn and smack his lips, scrunching his eyes shut and settling into your arms. You hummed a tune you remembered Frigg singing from your own childhood. You couldn’t quite remember the words, but the music was imprinted on your brain, and you hummed it to Perseus over and over until you knew too much time had passed for you to dilly-dally any longer. 
“Sally!” You called through the closed door, hoping she was close enough to hear your raw voice. She was in the room in an instant, checking both you and the baby over, but you just smiled and shook your head. “There is no time, you and Perseus must leave. Zeus is suspicious, he has felt too much power here, has noticed a shift in the world, and he will begin investigating if this power does not dissipate.” You looked about the room for a moment before hobbling out and slowly making your way down the stairs. 
“I know you’re a goddess and all but shouldn't you be taking it easy? You just gave birth, you should be laying down and letting yourself heal. You should be… you should be spending time with him before… you know.” But you only shook your head in reply, pursing your lips as pain shot through your legs with every step down the stairs.
“You need to go Sally. I hope all your things are gathered because there is simply no time to lose. You have your car parked nearby, start loading everything into it while I put some final defences in place for Perseus.” Your voice left no room for argument, so Sally just nodded and ran back up the stairs to grab the baby bag. 
You stood in the living room with Perseus, making sure that any power he may possess was suppressed to that of a strong demigod. He slept so peacefully, so softly, and you couldn’t help but smile down at him. You pressed a finger to his forehead, closing your eyes and focusing only on what you could feel of him. There were flashes in your mind, of battles to come and parts he would need to play, of a great love, of families and friendships, and you began to cry, knowing you would not see any of it. And then it was over, gone in a moment as he became like any demigod child of the big three would be. 
Sally came back from the car, hair tousled and chest heaving, and stood by the door, watching you. You looked over to her, at the way she stood so still, and you knew your time was up. You looked back down at Perseus, at this beautiful little boy who had done so much just by existing, and you leant down to press a soft kiss to his downy little head. A small smile, the most a baby could conjure perked onto his lips in his sleep, and a teardrop fell from your eye and splashed onto his cheek. 
Slowly, you walked over to Sally. You stood in front of her, not saying a word. The world seemed to go quiet for a minute, as if even the powers of Zeus died at the moment a mother gave up her child. 
“Don’t… don’t tell him about me.” You sniffled, blinking rapidly to stop the tears that refused to cease. “Tell him about his father, tell him about all the Greek heroes that came before him, about Olympus and the pantheon of aunts and uncles. Don’t tell him about me,” you whispered, stroking his cheek. “I don’t… I don’t want him to miss any part of me.” You smiled, nodding to yourself, but Sally frowned. 
“He will miss you regardless,” she replied, “he will ask about you, and miss you, and want to know everything I can tell him.” 
“Yes, I know, I’m sure he will be a very curious boy,” you chuckled breathily, leaning down to kiss his head once more. “But it will be easier if he feels he doesn't know me.” 
“Easier for who?” She whispered, watching you with concern turning her eyes down and contorting her lips. But you just closed your eyes, gulped, and offered the baby to Sally Jackson, praying she would take him from your arms quickly. 
You felt her fingers slip under your arms, felt her grip him, lift him so your arms were light as air and… empty. Your entire body felt empty. Your chest was hollow, your stomach was empty, your limbs were simple outlines. You could still feel Sally and Perseus’ presence, like the warmth of a heater just a little too far away, a brush in the air in front of you. You knew Sally was about to say something, to try and comfort you, but you began shaking your head and pointing to the door.
“Please go. Please. There is no more time. Take him and go.” You almost wanted to scream, to yell at her and tell her to get the hell away from you before you decided to throw everything to the wind and keep Perseus with you. “Please,” you whimpered. And then the door was opening, the wind howling around you, a whisper from Sally lost to it. And then it was shut again, and you were still, and the room was quiet, and there was nothing but the wind outside, the creaking of the house, and the thunder above. 
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You stayed in that house for a few more hours. You lay on the floor, allowing your body to heal and thinking back on the precious moments you had with Perseus. You walked through each room like a ghost, thinking of the first time you felt the little flutter of a heartbeat in your stomach, the first kick he ever pressed against your stomach, the last… 
You weren’t sure how long you stayed, but by the time you had gathered your sword and your pearls, had changed into one of the dresses you had stopped wearing after the banishment from Olympus, the thunder had become distant. You gave one last look to the cabin, a fleeting glance back, then made your way back to Asgard and the Aesir you had not seen in years, back to the rest of your life…
Taglist: @thicficbich1, @pasta-warlord, @turtleshavesoulmates, @wolfgirl294, @stanswifties
(If you are in bold, I couldn't tag you for some reason)
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mamuzzy · 2 days
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THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY OPPOSING KAL SKIRATA part 2.
HIS FAMILY FROM THE PAST - Continuation
I've got a couple of response from @mysticaltora8276 and I decided that Ilippi's and Kal's relationship deserves another round to talk about because that's what the original post was about.
What you will find here now: - Dissecting Kal's and Ilippi's relationship even more but now with quotes from the books. - Me confirming the existing misogyny integrated into Karen Traviss' mando lore (I never doubted. I just wanted to find my own answers in this debate instead of choosing existing sides). - No. I still don't hate Kal. You can still love a character while not agreeing with their actions.
More under the cut.
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One of my interesting observation about the antis and "critical thinkers" that while they think they are protecting the women of Repcomm with claw and blood, they are the ones who write them off as "cardboard characters with no soul and own will".
Starting from Ilippy. I thought I emphasised enough how badass was for her to divorce from Kal when she felt she can't adjust to this lifestyle, and wanted to protect her children from the warrior's life.
And it suddenly clicked.
Holy shit, it's 2024. Divorcing from your husband is not a big deal anymore!!!! CAN YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE THIS??? O_____O
(this wasn't a sarcasm.)
Today, divorcing from your husband when you are abused, or neglected, you fear for your children, or bored or you realize after years of marriage that you just don't click is totally a normal thing today and doesn't come with social stigma anymore (in better places). You can even get an official distancing-order.
But people often forget that it wasn't always like this. And remember when these books were written. Hard Contact came out in 2004.
I can't talk about other countries, only the post-soviet ones, but in the 80's-90's, it was still considered shameful for women to initiate divorce from their husband, no matter whether she was treated bad, the whole neighbourhood knew she was treated bad, relatives very much aware that the wife was treated bad. They blamed women for not putting up the whims of the husband. Blamed by women and men as well.
Hungarian poetry is actually full of ballads, how the wives were forced to kill their husbands to save themselves from abusive relationships or forced marriage because divorce wasn't an option: it was, but then you were shamed by your whole community. Shamed by women and men as well.
One of the other thing, that really changed is the time when you get married. Today is also considered normal to marry and have a kid at age 30+, while couples of from my parents generation usually married at age 18-19. And Kal and Ilippi also married rather young, which is also the part of Karen Traviss's mandalorian culture, but can be a mirror about old generational couples of real life.
I looked up the definition of misogyny (my own experience is one thing but I'm not going to traumadump here):
Misogyny (/mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/) is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. An example of misogyny is violence against women, which includes domestic violence and, in its most extreme forms, misogynist terrorism and femicide. Misogyny also often operates through sexual harassment, coercion, and psychological techniques aimed at controlling women, and by legally or socially excluding women from full citizenship. In some cases, misogyny rewards women for accepting an inferior status. (From wikipedia)
In this definition, IN OUR HUMAN EARTHLING STANDARDS keeping Ilippi in lower social status as a wife in a secluded place where she was expected to raise their children and wait for her husband without any other option (they lived in the middle of nowhere, no neighbours, no cities around for her to spend time or work or getting friends), yes, it is misogyny.
Only Ilippi had options: embracing the mandalorian culture and became a warriorwife, asking Kal to teach her, maybe joining him later.
ASSUMPTION HERE: I don't think Kal really knew how to handle a non-mando girl. I don't think they really talked about their future as a mando couple. Ilippi worked as a waitress and probably at that time it was a good idea to be a wife of a mercenary. Two young people met, fell in love, and later they realized, their expectations hadn't met. I don't think Ilippi was really interested becoming a fighterwife just as Kal wasn't interested leaving the mercenary life and his own culture behind. But also: here is the confimation of mando couples marrying young from Order 66. But also that Ilippi first found Kal and his profession attractive in her eyes.
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Their serious arguments started when the possibility came up that Kal wanted to bring the children along with him.
This is a snippet from True Colors when they talk about the responsibilties of a mandowife.
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Ordo is making a (rather sexist) joke, so how reilable this information can be is very much debatable. If he says it's nothing hard for a jedi, than it is probably very hard and tiresome for a civilian like Ilippi.
SPECULATION: I can imagine that sometimes Mandowife gets up, now it's her turn to go out and make some money and the husband stays home with the children. -> But because the conversation above it can be interpreted many ways, it's hard to say what exactly was their duty.
Before you kill me for using mandowife here mandoWIFE there instead of riduur...
One of my problem with Karen Traviss' Mandalorian lore, that the whole culture and social expectations were supposed to be completely gender neutral. Can you handle yourself as a warrior? You are a mando. That's it. But here, there are inbuilt gender expectations and roles. -> By the definition of the misogyny above, this is one, because mandalorian women are still bound by the stereotypes of the patriarchal role of a women in a heteronormative family.
Ok, back to Ilippi.
Now this is the first scene Ilippi first mentioned in Triple Zero. I fail to see how she was treated bad by the narrative or Kal or Jango.
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Ilippi decided this life is not for her. Ilippi didn't wanted the mandalorian life for her and for their children. She didn't want to assimiliate. She realized these people are wackos and she has to get out as soon as possible before Kal really take their children to war. And she did.
This is how their divorce went (Order 66)
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Ilippi was never deprived from choices. She literally took the kids when Kal was away and Kal returned to an empty home. If she was really held in lower social status, and her rights and feelings weren't respected at all, Kal could have go and forced her to come back without her consent. Or simply do honor-killing like many cultures and religions do in real life where misogyny isn't just making sexist jokes (like the Ordo conversation), but the whole family will actually hunt you down for leaving your husband.
Kal respected this choice. Does he deserve a praise for it? Probably not. This is how it should be: respecting others.
But also this confirms that Kal never stopped supporting financially his family.
And lastly I wanted to add this one because I really loved this conversation:
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Kamino was the point were Kal actually cut himself from his family entirely. Not before. Kal had a chance to reconnect with his biological children when he got the news from Jango (though it's debatable, my speculation is that Kal would have been killed if he had left Kamino before the contract's end). He choose the Nulls and the commandos under his care.
But this is also interesting that in the Mando culture when your wife is divorcing from you, you, the husband are to blame: a switched-mirror to the formerly mentioned real life example of how divorcing from your husband is shameful as a woman. If you fail as a parent, as a husband, you fail as a human being.
ABOUT THE CHILD SOLDIER DEBATE: if you need the author to spoonfeed you with the narrative that explicitly condems the existence of childsoldiers, the problem is not with the media, the problem is with you.
IN CONCLUSION: Ilippy is still a fucking badass. Kal loved his family. Kal respected Ilippy and her choice. Real life misogyny integrated into the mando culture spotted which is - obviously - affected Kal too.
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HOOOOooooooOOOooOoooOoly shit, that was a ride. Because I partially touched to topic about his sons, I think my next post will be about Tor, Ijaat and Ruusaan.
If you actually read through all this blurb, in one hand KUDOS TO YOU, on the other hand, you can expect something like this from me when I actually start to my blogging about the books.
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bylrlve · 2 hours
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Warning! Potential Spoilers for Stranger Things 5!
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A compilation of recent tweets made by Alex and others about the mileven ‘making out in a field’ leak. Alex is insisting that this scene is separate from the sequence involving them talking on the rooftop, the scene which was leaked as a video back in January. According to 011scenes this scene happens ‘at the beginning’ aka in episode one.
The issue? Alex’s sources are people who speak to paps (which she lied about in answering a cc question; either that or she’s clueless), and who deliberately feed her inconsequential things production dgaf abiut because it distracts from the juicy shit e.g., what Mike and Will are doing. She was told ‘Robin and Will have a scene’ and that morphed into ‘Will is in his unrequited mopey Steve era, Jonathan and Robin don’t share scenes’, etc. The source said nothing about Byler being finished or about passionate makeouts.
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I’m suspicious of the second anon’s claim about Finn, as Noah is straight-up went on TikTok live right before filming commenced in January to read out byler endgame and Byler kiss comments lmao. The bit about the love triangle being kept under wraps seems accurate enough - they’re openly passing out scraps of mileven to leakers to pass onto Alex, and it’s pretty clear they didn’t care about that mileven video hitting national news website in the Uk (daily mail). Byler? On lockdown. The only thing we know is the hospital stuff and that’s due to specific leakers, and even then it’s not that much. It is clearly a big question going into s5 for the GA, so it being kept tightly guarded is unsurprising.
The context of the kiss will be interesting, regardless of if it’s pro-mileven or somehow anti-. Alex indicates that it’s only them present in the field - BUT she’s also said that she outright leaves Will out of ‘leaks’ and gave the example of Max, Lucas, and Will having a scene but her only reporting Lumax having a scene, so… S4 mileven was a concerted effort to show that the characters had matured from s3, and that their fight was more serious. They only kissed once, and that briefly, and were… unaffectionate at the end of the season, to say the very least. The reversion to kissing in broad daylight, in an apocalyptic setting when El will be mostly hiding with Hopper from the military, feels a little out of character - and will certainly be jarring tonally and thematically.
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Alex received this dm ^ back in February (discussed in my first leak post), which stated that hopper is annoyed by mike’s continuing presence around el. I and many others (including Alex iirc) dismissed it, as Hopper and Mike are on good terms at the end of s4. If Mike and El are still doing reckless things in s4, and if the old pattern of isolating El from others just to kiss re-emerges, though… The veracity of this is very shaky: the time skip occurs gradually over episode one, not in between episodes 1 and 2.
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It’s important to note that many leaks are undoubtedly missing context. Just today, Alex brought up how she was right about Mike ignoring Will at the airport, about their fight, and about the airport kiss. Yes, she was, but she lacked the tonal subtext of the scene itself, which portrayed Mike’s behaviour as inexplicably phony - and of course, she lacked the lynchpin of this plot, which is that Will is in romantic love with Mike. She completely missed that, and it meant she missed every important aspect of this plotline.
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Byrhop, a highly reliable st acc who’s closely following filming, was able to ascertain that Vickie is at the farm.
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Lastly, I want to go over everything I know to try and map a trajectory. The Byers are living in the radio station before it’s overrun by military and they flee to the Turnbow farm - I personally am not sure of when exactly this occurs. There is a leaked hospital file showing that Karen Wheeler is attacked by a demogorgan. The file is dated as 1/1987 but it could be a prop error, as I’ve seen claims that she’s attacked when Holly is taken..
As we know, according to the leaked episode 2 title, Holly Wheeler goes missing. This likely occurs at the end of episode one, but the chronology is unclear. Karen being attacked could happen here, and I’ve seen claims that it happens in episode 2. Mike and El kiss in episode one, and as I’ve said this has been overblown greatly by Alex. The chronology of this is also unclear. At some point in episode one, Mike and Dustin are at the high school and interact with the jocks. Mike is wearing the same outfit he wears on the rooftop - dark trousers, blue and black shirt with a yellow collar, etc. As this is what he wore in the official pic released by Ross of him in his room, I am speculating that this is the first outfit he wears in the story proper, after the last time jump to November 1987, and that he may wear it throughout episode 2 as well
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In episode 2, Mike, Nancy, and Karen have a plotline at the hospital. From official BTS pics, we know Robin and Vickie are there as well. The above anon does not mention Mike being injured, and its description of Karen’s mindset does not tally either with her having being attacked by a demogorgan prior or with Holly being abducted. It’s likely that they have partially but not totally accurate information; or else it’s a point in favour of Holly being taken and Karen being attacked after this happens, at the end of episode 2. I have confirmation that Mike is injured in episode 2, as are several other people - I discussed this in a post a few days ago - please discount the forehead kiss anon section of that post. This was confirmed by an extra who played a nurse on the scheme and by a different source later. The second source confirms that Will shows up last, and is crying and blaming himself for what happened. - I also have confirmation that El doesn’t show up to the hospital at all. The nurse extra also confirmed that Mike and Will ‘share scenes’ although he was not present for those so can’t speak as to what happened in them - I don’t have an image of that text so didn’t include it yesterday.
The forehead kiss anon is definitely not real (check @will80sbyers) but the rest seems to be.
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Lastly, Atlanta-filming insinuates that the m*leven rooftop scene occurs after the hospital subplot. It’s unknown how they came to this conclusion.
To summarise: m*leven kiss in episode one, potentially during one of the staggered time jumps (my speculation) and the short rooftop conversation between them likely in either episode one or two immediately before something involving Hopper and Joyce occurs down in the field that alarms El. I’ve seen conflicting into on when Holly is abducted - either episode one or episode two. In episode 2 Mike, Karen, and Nancy go to the hospital for plot reasons. If this occurs after Holly goes missing, it is likely to be related to that. I am speculating that Holly vanishing, whenever it happens, accelerates the byler plotline, as Mike will more-than-likely seek out Will for advice, reassurance, information. In episode 2, Mike gets injured somehow at the hospital, along with several other people in a small-scale mass-casualty event, and ends up being admitted to the hospital. As I’ve said, it seems to be rock-solid that Will arrives and is crying and blaming himself for what happened, and Will stays with him but El is nowhere to be found in this plotline. We know from BTS pics that Robin and vickie are also there, and I’ve seen claims that Jonathan shows up to be with Nancy, but have no proof or knowledge of the providence of such claims, so… take that for what it is. It is pretty certain, as far as I know, that El is not there.
One possibility is that Will is possessed at least temporarily in 501-2. Perhaps there’s another superspy, ‘it’s a trap’ situation? Will Byers would never be reckless with the safety of Mike Wheeler or his family… but I bet Vecna and the mindflayer are just itching to attack the one salvation standing between them and Will. Something to muse on.
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The timing of the rooftop scene is very important. El not showing up at the hospital is unlikely to happen after it. The scene is very clearly about affirming their relationship- whether as lovers or as friends. It’s likely that she’s distracted by Max, who is her main plot, but this is a narrative. El not being present for Mike, while Will is there and crying and staying by his side? That is telling of a potential rift that opens up in their relationship between episode one and two. There is a pattern of problems arising in their relationship in episode twos. In s2 El reached out to Mike during his call but he walked away while an ominous stinger played. In s3 they broke up at the end of episode 2. In s4 they had their disastrous roller rink date.
A few days ago, I gif’d the rooftop scene, and speculated that they’re discussing being friends, and that El apologises for not being there and Mike says ‘No. You should have been.’ before basically saying that he’s okay because Will was and “you’re all friends to me.” The ending of s4, to me, potentially marks a shift in Mike’s attitude to El, as much as it does for hers to him. In the hospital she seeks him out by resting a head on his shoulder, and she did speak briefly with him prior about Brenner, but he offers her no comfort beyond a stiff arm around her. When they arrive at the cabin, he walks in with the other boys instead of staying with her - as shes’s clearly very nervous and emotional about reentering the cabin. Finally, as we have all observed, she directs an almost angry look at Will and Mike before stomping into her room and slamming the door - a parallel to s3 after the phone call with Mike where she knew he was lying. When it pans back to Mike, and Will asks if they’ve talked? He rolls his eyes. Unlike in 403, he does not seek her out and push through her self-isolation. He leaves her be. This, coming from Mike the Paladin, suggests that he’s kind of done with trying.
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El’s attitude has been convincingly dismissed by M*levens as simple grief over Max causing her to retreat as she always does. It is bizarre, however, that the monologue did nothing at all to make her feel she could rely on Mike, and much more so that he’s very apathetic.
I posit that they might, maybe, fall into old habits of passivity and inertia and string the relationship along over the time jump. Perhaps the kiss is from one of the interim jumps between March 1986 and November 1987? I could see El having too much on her plate to really address it, and feeling that she doesn’t want to push him away - after all, he did give the big damn speech. The kiss could be a parallel to Boyce and Stancy. If that Hopper leak is accurate (doubtful), perhaps they fall back into habits of clinginess and immaturity while still being deeply unhappy. Nurse extra stated that Mike is no longer trying to be normal, and that he’s discovering himself, being himself again, and being the support he once was - the wording rather implies that it means being the support to Will.
Of course, I could be wrong, and it could be that they’re doing very well, and that the kiss is indeed as happy and loving as Alex paints it out to be… but I am skeptical bc of the hospital, and because of El the brave protector not rushing to her boyfriend’s side. It’s simply too early to say. If my musing on whether Will was possessed and effectively set Mike up (against his will ofc) is correct, and if my lip-reading is correct, Mike speaking affectionately of Will here could be due to the fact that he’s intimately witnessed Will being possessed, and he knows Will would never do something like that on purpose.
Finally, definitely worth noting that there have been no signs of any NPC love interests. Will’s storylines are being protected well from leakers, so people could be missing something, but there has been no indication of it. What we are getting, though, is a focus on Will’s love of Mike, and his selfless devotion.
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All of this is incredibly shaky, and I’m interested to hear your guys’ opinions on alternate sequences of events. Whatever the truth, clearly m*leven is inconsequential to the production, as it’s being deliberately leaked to distract from the real juicy stuff.
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Oh, and I just want to wrap up by mentioning this bit of idiocy. Someone in Alex’s inbox sincerely thought that the production actually kills fields they want to look dead-looking, rather than editing it. And Alex agreed.
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kaledya · 1 day
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In an alternate timeline, would Constantine and Serenity ever become an official couple?
I love both of their personalities, how different they are, but how well they balance each other out as well. Would Constantine be able to have genuine emotion of love for Serenity, would he ever consider a real future with her?
How would Serenity react if Constantine ever did hint of something more than a close friendship? Would she accept or deny it?
Thanks for reading, I love your work and your characters so much 🥹🫶🏽🫶🏽. Have a fantastic day Kaledya, keep UP the amazing work.
1) in SS AU I have no idea of ​​planning a romance between the two right now, in general I'm really trying to build a good friendship between them right now
//. But even if there's no romance between them There is a part where Constantin creates the illusion of 1940s New orleans to give as a gift to serenity and takes her there. (he wanted to give a gift that no one else could give) And in this way, he took Serenity to a place from which she could never return again, even if only for a short time,And plus he invented such a comprehensive illusion magic himself for this)
I really love this scene and find it sweet because before Constantine casts this spell, he asks Serenity to think about the place where her best memories are located.And when this illusion begins, Serenity appears in human form again, as does Constantine. They are seriously having fun and in the last scene, Serenity even goes to a place where her old house is (The spell is about creating a place with the memories of the targeted user, so the world they are in is Shaped according to Serenity's memories) I want to draw this scene. Serenity's reaction to what she saw in the beginning was very sweet. //.
But in another scenario, if Constantine were looking for a romantic partner, it would probably be Serenity. Currently, even in SSAU, And the only person who can understand what Constantine is going through is Serenity, and Serenity had similar experiences like Constantine when she was still alive. (I was even planning make a animatic with Loser Baby for them with changing the lyrics a bit )
And on the other hand, no matter how different they are, two people can understand each other. In general, I liken their relationship to Sherlock and Watson, or Marvel's Loki and Mobius, these two characters really complement each other.
Extra: And I'm really enjoying the dynamic of the two In fact, these days I am planning a orginal story about Crime(Detective) and adventure, not as an AU, but with Serenity and Constantine as the main characters. Maybe I can do some world building in terms of magic too. Idk
2) Hmmm, that's a really good question.If I were to think of such a scenario.Seriously, after so long of knowing each other(slowest slowburn) If Constantine realizes that what he feels is something more than friendship. He might try talking to Serenity about this. But I can already imagine Constantine seriously failing at the romance thing. (Ask this man the most difficult questions and he will give you the right answers without any hesitation or thinking too much about it. But ask this Man to tell you about his feelings and a knife event won't open his mouth)
Likewise, if there is friendship and trust between them, Serenity accepts the offer. And say something about it
"We were already like an old married couple, you just made it official."
It was my pleasure to answer your question!❤️❤️
And I'm very happy that you like my work.I wish you a fantastic day too🌟
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moonah-rose · 2 days
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73 Yards is a good concept but I think I know the reason it's not gonna stick with me like similar episodes
Spoilers under cut
I called it from the trailer that the old woman would be an older Ruby. The framing alone reminded me of when Amy and Rory see their older selves waving from far away in S5. So knowing that was coming I was hoping the pay off would give me a little bit more to surprise me.
It just didn't. Older Ruby stopped Younger Ruby from doing the thing and the timeliness got fixed. And outside of an odd sense of de ja vue, she nor anyone else remembers what happened.
This a trope I really dislike in time travel stories like this because my feeling is, if the characters aren't going to remember it, why should the audience? It's kinda like the "and it was all a dream" twist. Except even that I don't get as bothered by if the person has grown or changed from having the dream, for example "there's no place like home".
Now compare this to similar episodes where Doctor Who has done stories involving timeliness crossing etc - Blink, the Girl Who Waited and Turn Left. Those all ended with a happy resolution but there were consequences that weren't fully undone. Blink has a ton of people's lives screwed up and 'killed' off screen. The Girl Who Waited manages to save Amy before she can become like old Amy but at the cost of old Amy sacrificing herself and the trauma she went through, and the effect that has on the Doctor and Rory who have to carry on knowing what happened. Turn Left has Donna stopping herself making the wrong choice and resetting things but it's implied that an actual parallel world was created from Donna's first choice that still existed and also she keeps some memories from that world, which also carry on into the series finale. I'll also mention Heaven Sent because there you have the Doctor going through this massive trauma for billions of years but it keeps getting reset and he only remembers a little bit each time. Except even then he is partly aware there are other versions of him before and after who are continuing this struggle and he has to carry that with him into Hell Bent.
73 Yards could end up linking into more stories later on but as it stands, that journey that Ruby went on all those years and what she had to go through is essentially erased. Maybe there will be a lingering sensation for her like a bad dream but I suspect Russel is going to want this to be his new Midnight and not answer any questions ever. Which is fine, I love that about Midnight. But while we didn't get answers about Midnight, we still had the Doctor having to remember what happened and being scarred from it. In 73 Yards we get neither answers nor consequences so it just leaves me shrugging my shoulders, like okay that was a thing.
Was beautifully shot though and the first part where Ruby is just in Wales was really chilling, it's when they took the story back to London it lost me.
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bearw-me · 2 days
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Just read that vigilante request, can we please get that character somehow running into I.M.P. (maybe even helping them against Striker or Crimson?) , and also maybe a bit of a romance with Loona? You've got full creative liberty here on how that happens tho
vigilante!reader is back!! 😭😭💖
𝐈.𝐌.𝐏 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫
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𐐒 ft : vigilante!reader, blitzø, millie, moxxie, loona 𐐒 cw : swearing, fluff, crushes, mentions of killing 𐐒 summary : odd circumstances lead hell's newly found 'hero' to I.M.P 𐐒 note : i loveee this, lets make a series lol
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Blitzø hired you to help out his company, offering you "the fucking glory" of going back to Earth and help him and his crew do some good by killing some "bad fucking people"
It honestly surprised you that the little imp was cunning enough to track you down one night and offer you something so- casual
Even though you insist you and I.M.P are "mutual partners" Blitzø brags to everyone that you're on his payroll and work for him. It brings him a ton of business so he advertises it WIDELY
Like whenever clients come in looking to hire the company, Blitzø likes to try and wrap an arm around your shoulders and flaunt you off smugly before you twist his wrist backwards, successfully taking his arm off you
Moxxie is obviously skeptical, always questioning you, your morals, why your doing this, etc.
It gets old, and you have to just start shoving the imp away from you (literally keeping him at arms length)
Moxxie likes to try and brag to you about not letting your 'status' in hell affect him.
And honestly Millie likes having another badass on the team. She's the perfect co-worker. Respectful, bubbly, and fucking scary when she needs to be. She isn't intimidated by you so there don't seem to be barriers when she speaks to you.
She's terrifying, so you respect her for it. And she respects you back for carrying your weight in the company.
Millie would one day like to spar with you to prove who is the strongest.
And Loona. . .
You clean your guns during meetings and job run-downs Blitzø goes over, wiping down your pistol and inspecting it closely. Listening to the plan, imagining yourself providing the crew covering fire from a nearby roof.
Then you feel her staring and catch her eyes, quirking an eyebrow at her.
The poor hellhound blushes from being caught and tries to look away. Always trying to fix her hair and checking her makeup in the mirror whenever you look her way.
You can definitely tell she's intimidated and nervous around you. And she always jumps at the chance to give you your paychecks and info from her dad.
Her and Blitzø are the only ones who know/have your contact for that reason.
Blitzø hates it. Trying to interfere and keep Loon-y off you, coming between the two of you whenever he can.
In truth Blitzø loves Loona and wants you as his badass friend he can show off. . . but his dad instincts always come first so "Don't get any fucking ideas Deadpool"
Despite a little skepticism at first, I.M.P and its employee's grow to trust you and your 'holy' endeavor to make the world a little better by ridding it of sinners.
They still all try to get to know you and get under your skin at times, despite your insistence on staying a complete mystery to them.
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recently i realized i havent given... any context, really, on kiru's family outside of her being yana's cousin, which is honestly a little shocking because i think about it a LOT and it provides a lot of context for why she presents herself the way she does, both in terms of physical appearance and in terms of actions/character as a whole. i also need to explain the nature of her relationship with yana, so this will be the tell-all on kiru's upbringing, as well as some elaboration on her general disposition! you know the drill! this one ended up being much longer than some of my other long winded posts, which is a little scary. but under the cut we go!
BEFORE I START i do want to disclaim: for the sake of canon compliance, assume anything i say about kiru's parents [particularly her mother] and grandparents' attitudes doesn't apply to yanagida's upbringing or family. as much as i love headcanons and speculating about background characters [theres a reason s1e9 is my favorite episode], i also want kiru's lore to be taken somewhat independently from those headcanons/interpretations if so desired :-)
In order to make things a little less confusing [mostly for myself, because im very scatterbrained], i have a little family tree graphic. thing. mostly to keep track of names + relations and all that! ill be referring to kiru's parents by name for that same reason. but uhhh tada 🎉
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OKAY BUT FOR REAL. the actual timeline is like this: kiru's childhood was pretty normal to start. her mother [mayumi] was a bit strict, but it wasn't anything too crazy, though she did prefer spending time with her dad [kentaro] during this time. this was all upended around the time she was eight, though, when her family had to move into her grandparents' home after her dad fell ill. kentaro, a lifelong smoker, had developed lung cancer, and the costly nature of treatments for his condition meant that they could no longer afford to life in their old house. in addition, kentaro's condition meant that mayumi had to essentially take over as his caretaker at home during this time, leaving kiru's grandparents as the ones to raise her.
i imagine this side of her family had a decent amount of social power within the community [this may just be a thing in my town, but you know those families where it feels like theyre kind of everywhere, like the school staff, the local politicians, etc.? theyre like that], which led to her grandparents being quite strict, if not authoritarian to a degree, with a particular emphasis on what behaviors were considered "acceptable". as such, while kiru was greatly encouraged in her academic endeavors, there was near equal pressure on how she presented herself outside of her studies. while the physical aspect of "dress neatly and maintain good hygiene" was part of this presentation, it also included a HEAVY emphasis on her emotional regulation. It reached a point where she began to suppress nearly any strong emotions she had, because she felt that there was never a Right time to feel or express them.
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^ it was kind of like this. not really any forceful or outright Mean enforcement of this ideal, but definitely a conditioning that was strong enough to impact kiru, especially at such a young age. past this i think they would be fairly normal as far as grandparents go, just not quite as nurturing.
even in the present day, kiru's calm demeanor is only really maintained because of her belief that sharing her feelings would disgust or embarrass the people around her. growing up, strong expression of any emotion was childish and unsightly, and she still conducts herself with this in mind; its not something she feels about others, but she doesnt extend the grace she gives others in this regard to herself.
BUT back to the timeline. after moving in with her grandparents, kiru got a bit closer to yanagida, who would often visit their home, since yknow. same city and all. during this time kiru was pretty lonely, since kentaro's illness meant she had to spend less time with him, and as a result her and yana spent much of that time together instead. yana particularly enjoyed kiru's knowledge of english, since kentaro primarily spoke bonin standard english in the home + taught kiru the language. in turn, kiru appreciated that yana didnt see her through the same lens of "respectable young girl" that everyone else in the family seemed to have picked up since moving, and they were able to meet each other on more of an equal level of just being friends.
this pattern continued up until kiru was 10, when kentaro passed away. aside from the obvious, this was a particularly stressful time for kiru and mayumi, since kentaro wanted to be buried in Chichijima + have his funeral procession held there. as a result, kiru spent about a month of that summer away from home, on the island with her father's side of the family. away from the eagle eye of her mother, she tried to make the most of the time, but found herself too distraught to enjoy any of it to the fullest. she was too ill-equipped to tell her relatives there how she was really feeling, so they mostly carried on with the impression that a young kiru was being "strong" in the face of kentaro's death and was taking it well, even though it was quite far from the truth. upon her return to mainland japan to start her new school year, most of her family carried on with the impression that all had returned to normal. that is, except for yanagida.
obviously, only being about thirteen at the time of kentaro's death and not really having a strong understanding of the expectations kiru was under at home [not to mention having the emotional intelligence typical of a boy his age-- that is to say, not much], he didn't really understand Why her behavior had changed so much since moving in with her grandparents, or why her demeanor had taken a near 180 in that time. but he didn't really need to understand the why to know that Something was wrong, even before kentaro had passed.
what he wasnt expecting, though, was her breaking down sobbing the second he asked her how she was doing after she got back from chichijima. since yana was Also a kid, and had never put on the same pressure that the rest of the family put on on her, kiru felt a bit safer talking to him with the confidence that he wouldnt berate her for feeling that way or be disappointed in her. he consoled her about as well as he could [or as well as any 13 year old boy could] and assured her she could come to him if she was ever feeling down, but instead she assured him she would be fine.
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after this event, yana started worrying about her quite a bit, but he wasnt really sure how to go about Expressing this concern [either to her or anyone else], so he just kind of let it sit there. as time went on, and kiru started to return to a more cheery persona, he let go of that worry for the most part and they returned to their old routine fun for the time being.
yanagida wasnt the only person whose relationship with kiru changed after kentaro's death, though. mayumi, who was wholly unequipped to handle the intense grief that kentaro's passing brought her, was wracked with a mixture of guilt, anger, and resentment; she regretted having ever met and married him, now knowing the pain it would come to cause her, and she even began to regret kiru's birth. its a feeling she was deeply ashamed of. she loved her daughter, but every time she looked at kiru, every time she heard her name, mayumi was acutely aware of the fact that kentaro was no longer there to share these memories, that he wasn't going to be there to see her grow any further. ashamed as she was of this feeling, it never fully went away, even if she made efforts to ignore it. the gap left between them was never fully mended, and though kiru couldn't place it at the time she definitely got the sense that mayumi didn't really want her around. as a result, kiru began to spend a bit more time around her grandparents, whom she had grown closer to since they were the ones raising her for the past couple of years.
as junior high rolled around for kiru, and as yanagida was going into high school, the distance between them grew as well; yanagida was beginning to exercise more independence from his family and spend more time with friends, and kiru was doing the same. they still made time for one another, though, walking home together once in a while when yanagida wasn't in the mood for hanging out with his friends. most of the time, though, they just stuck to their new groups. it was a small period of respite and was actually pretty chill for kiru, all things considered
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once it came time for kiru to start testing into different high schools, mayumi became a bit more involved with her daughter's life. more specifically, she became more involved in how kiru presents herself; if youre a daughter [or former daughter] youre probably familiar with the specific underhanded flavor of body shaming she experienced. kiru and yanagida also lost contact during this time, as yanagida was preparing to enter college and they were both too busy to keep up with one another too well. he was definitely a little concerned with all these changes regarding her appearance, though
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now, to this point, i want to say that mayumi was NOT being intentionally malicious or even aware of her harm during this time. during her youth, mayumi was ridiculed and ostracized for a more unkempt appearance that came as a result of an intense focus on her academic endeavors and matters other than her looks. not wanting to see her daughter endure the same thing, she tried to encourage kiru to put more care into her appearance. even so, her tactless expression of this concern ended up hurting kiru more than anything else.
high school came and went, with kiru attending St. Hanagaoka's, a prestigious all-girls school in the city. nothing particularly bad happened during this time, but kiru regards this time in her life rather poorly, because she spent most of it trying to Appear a certain way, rather than living how she actually wanted to live. its during this time that kiru became more acutely aware of much of her desires and identity; as femininity began to feel more like a prison, she found herself looking at the boys her age a bit differently. she had a boyfriend or two during her time at school, sure, but she never really felt that it was any different from having a friend. slowly, she realized the feelings she thought were admiration, or crushes on boys, were really just a sense of longing; she longed to dress like them, to be able to cut her hair short like them, even to pursue love with girls the way that they did. though she was still quite confident that she was a woman, she knew she wasn't the kind of woman her family wanted her to be.
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as such, when she finally got into college, kirumi cut contact with her mother and grandparents almost completely. her first year of college was a year of rebellion and experimentation; primarily with her appearance. at first she'd wondered if her discomfort for feminine clothing was the result of the KIND of femininity she was portraying, but quickly realized this wasnt the case. so the kirumi futch era was only about a semester long. after this, she started to present as more masculine, and this is around the time when she starts getting more concerned with fitness in terms of strength; she didn't manage to get built like yuko miyamoto just by standing around, after all! its during this time that kiru also began to make actual friends, though her problems with connecting to others emotionally made this a rather difficult endeavor when it came to maintaining those relationships.
during her second year of college, her grandparents both passed, roughly six months from one another, due to old age. while she had mixed feelings on the matter due to her strained relationship with them, she still attended both funerals. at the latter of the two, her and mayumi got into a bit of a fight because of a comment mayumi made about kiru "destroying" herself. this ended up pushing kiru, out of pure spite, to shave her head the second she got back on campus.
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it ended up being a mistake.
not one without a silver lining, though! this drastic change in appearance ended up catching the eye of one of her acquaintances, who was a close friend of her roommate. you might know her as keiko :-)
during this time, keiko was just starting her transition, and was still getting a feel for the big city. the two initially bonded over a shared love of terrible movies [as one of kiru's biggest hobbies is watching shitty movies to laugh at them], and kiru gave keiko many of her old clothes + some tips for hair and makeup now that she no longer needed them. but over time, they became quite close. in particular, they bonded over the fact that they experienced pretty strong discomfort towards gender roles and expectations in their upbringing; while keiko's family was much more loving and supportive than kiru's, she still felt an intense obligation to be seen as ""man enough"", mainly to her peers, having been bullied quite intensely during her high school years for her transness.
i could probably write a whole separate post about kiru and keiko's relationship [not any time soon though. jesus.], but the long and short of it is that they became a couple during their third year together at college :-) this is also the year that kiru secured her job at the butcher's shop in akatsuka, having been a bit of a floater before then.
after graduating with her bachelor's, kiru began to attend a veterinary school in pursuit of a doctorate in the field. they lived separately, but visited one another's apartments about as frequently as could be managed.
one summer, when school was out and she was less busy, kiru began volunteering at a local animal shelter, wherein she met and fell in love with a little cat named kabosu. after adopting her that autumn, on one particularly busy night, kabosu broke out of the apartment, and... hey, i've told this part of the story before!
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past that, uh... not really a lot to say! i have a whole storyline thought out about kiru and yanagida getting back into contact + how that intertwines with some other family drama on kiru's side of things, but thats an idea that i want to dedicate a different post to since i have. a LOOOOOT of thoughts on that whole arc. ill do that eventually but again, definitely not anytime soon. if i make another post like this too soon i think my brain will explode
BUT YEAH! if you managed to read this far, thank you!! i put a LOT of thought and consideration into kiru's background; i didnt want it to be like. senselessly edgy. since this IS a gag anime in the end. even still i am a sucker for complicated family dynamics so i tried my best to strike a good balance there
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