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#but yeah I generally dislike prom fics
violintrees · 2 years
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You ever get reminded of a fic so good, and you accidentally spend the evening rereading it and just lie there ranting to yourself over how good it still is?
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Well. In light of the recent vanessa fic, I am going to request a few things. How about Helena going to MC's high school reunion?
WARNINGS: Intolerable sexist arseholes Referenced rape culture Blood and minor violence Written by: @evoedbd ******************************************
“Helena… my feet hurt.” Kya’s soft, plaintive voice rung like gunshots in Helena’s ears. To hear that Kya was in pain caused a war of sensations within the Sorceress, turning her chest into a battlefield as she aimed to pick out her own thoughts amidst the din. The music was too loud. All pulsing beats and pop hits that all bled into one another in an unpleasant screech. With all the beauty Kya’s people could capture, the fact they abused that power to capture such meaningless garble was bad enough, but the songs that Helena’s ears had picked out went beyond this. The images of men taking what they pleased, or endlessly fucking hoes and capping foes… it set her teeth on edge. Why would anybody wish to put a cap on someone they disliked so much? It was absolutely beyond her. After all, she had seen the selfishness of humanity. She had seen people who would do precisely what the songs fantasized about. She had been one of those prizes. The pet. The mess left behind once a tyrant had finished with her for the night. She had been the violated girl dragging herself across the floors because she couldn’t walk, trailing blood. Why did some of Kya’s people find this concept worth celebrating? How many even knew what they danced to? “Helena?” This time, Kya’s voice was pleading. A gentle touch to Helena’s ravaged senses. This was accompanied by the lightest touch to her forearm, fingertips begging for more yet restraining themselves until Helena gave consent. The Sorceress had to close her eyes, to stop watching and picture a much calmer place. An open field, filled with flowers that had no name, not in this world. Flowers woven through black hair, accompanying laughter that became wings for Helena’s soul. She didn’t particularly want to open her eyes to the gyrating crowds. Around her, she could feel a thousand candles, each flickering in time with the sea of sorry, middle-aged bodies awkwardly trying to reclaim their youth. All dressed in finery above their means as they tried to convince everyone of their success and happiness, even as they reeked of misery. An ocean of people, all smiling politely whilst firing knives from their tongue, shooting daggers from their eyes. Alcohol flowing a little too freely, too dangerously. Control, so willingly abandoned. It was as if none of them knew its value. As if none of these people had ever seen or experienced control torn away completely, until even the breath a body took was at another’s whim. Then there were the lights. A spinning ball reflected everything, casting a thousand fragments of light across the floor, growing larger as they grew further from the centre. Spinning chaos across the wooden floors, illuminating the deep blue lighting, catching in the mist across the dancing masses. An unnatural mist summoned by machines… and Kya said her people possessed no magic. “Helena… are you with me?” The longing to answer hit her harder than a boulder from a catapult against a crumbling castle wall. Gods, how she wanted to open her eyes and find only one person before her. Yet, she was surrounded; drowning in the sea of bodies as the unnatural mist lapped at her ankles. As elbows collided with her, or fingers nipped at the bottom of her hair like vultures testing the fight left in their meat. Her heart pounded, beating against the cage of her chest much like how her magic pulsed with her fears. Limbs tingled; fingers began to move on instinct. Then, warmth. So much warmth. Enough that she gasped. Instantly, her lungs filled with air; her nose with that delicious mix she had never quite learned. Something soft, something smoky and then a hint of spice. Always, it was sweet. So very, very intoxicatingly sweet… but not sugary. The underlying bitterness of coffee tempered sweetness so deliciously that Helena found herself devoured by her craving for that scent. A second inhale gave her more, slowly begun to redirect her roaming senses to a singular focus. It was enough for her to open her eyes. “Welcome back.” A kind voice fell from naked lips. The smile upon them was small, nothing intended for the world to see. A secret amidst the crowd, the last life jacket on the Titanic. Just seeing it was enough for Helena to be saved. Shining grey eyes accompanied that encouraging little smile. Adoration glistened in beautiful grey depths, outshining the tinges of concern playing flecks in bluestone. In the swirling lights and dulled room, stone was more akin to gems than cobble, captivating Helena’s attention for far longer than society deemed polite. She could care less. Museums held marble statues of deities past, depictions of Aphrodite to stare at for hours. Marble was incomparable to the greys, Aphrodite a hag compared to the graceful woman donning such a flowing black dress. Elegance in its purest simplicity. “As if I could ever be parted from you.” Helena gave her best attempt at a purr. It was effective, given the creep of pink over Kya’s pale cheeks. Pale, not bloodless, Helena reminded herself. Bloodless was danger. It was the colour Kya had gone after the Queen’s spell struck her. It was the colour Kya had been when the Queen held a blade to her throat, when the Queen tormented Helena into confessing every pain, tried to make Sorceress scream and kneel. Tried to break her. Bloodless was the Witch Queen leering over a terrified girl, or ordering her most loyal man to ensure said girl was prepared… Helena flinched. Faster than Helena could blink, Kya’s hands left her, gathering in front of said woman’s chest. Kya held her hands there patiently, as if they were to be bound. Somehow, the speed and implications of such a gesture did not spark further fear within Helena, did not reignite the painful memories lapping at the edge of her consciousness. How such gestures could be made soft and welcoming, appealing even, still befuddled her. Flummoxed, her breath caught, even as Kya spoke. “Helena, I’m going to grab your tie, ok? I won’t pull, and my hands won’t move until I know you are ok. If you need to grab me, that’s ok. I know you won’t hurt me. We can just sway.” “The music is too upbeat for such a slow dance.” Came Helena’s rebuttal, even as her body moved to follow Kya’s suggestion. Cautiously, she gathered Kya into her chest, holding the otherworldly beauty there as if the world might snatch her away. Beneath Helena’s pale skin magic simmered. It heated her veins, writhing and bubbling like serpents of heated tar. She could feel the sparks escaping her control, trapped between her skin and her silken black button up. Kya had expressed her appreciation for Helena’s suit, several times, yet Helena had not seen the appeal until just now. The darkness of her shirt slimmed her down a little, whilst also concealing the fact she was sweating bullets. Her turquoise suit jacket was cut to perfection, emphasising both the strength of her shoulders and her feminine curves, without drawing attention to an overly generous bust. The matching pants fit her like a second skin, showing off impossibly long legs right to heels which meant business. Not only did they elevate her above the heads of many men, they also screamed womanly power. That she could, and would, step on any fool who crossed her path. Then, there was her crisp white tie… the very tie currently embraced between Kya’s gentle fingers. “Who cares about the music? We make our own rules, babe, always have. This was meant to be something fun, Helena. I didn’t think it’d be like this. I just thought it’d be romantic. Like going to prom with my soulmate, instead of some boy who expected me to finish the night on the backseat of his car.” “That boy dare-“ “He didn’t try to physically force me. He was confused as to why I wouldn’t, tried to convince me verbally, but he never laid a hand on me. He wasn’t a bad person, just an ignorant one. He was influenced by the wrong people. He actually wrote me an apology. It doesn’t makes my memory of prom the best.” “Yeah, had a bitch, but she ain’t bad as you. So hit me up when you passing through. I’ll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two” “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Kya exploded, her wrath erupting in an enraged shout. Her voice carried, drawing countless gazes to the human embodiment of furious flames about to claim their penance. Kya’s entire body trembled, almost as if her growls were causing her to vibrate, and her cheeks took on a hue often associated with a devil. The fire in her eyes seemed poised to devour the world in its search for vengeance, yet Kya tempered it to three precise culprits. Three large men, all crowding around an uncomfortable-looking DJ who cringed as the song continued to play across a stagnant dance floor. “What’s wrong? Don’t like the music, dyke?” The first man sneered, his voice grating from between crooked teeth. His mates laughed, playfully jabbing him in his well-padded arms, hooting their drunken approval. His large belly jiggled as he laughed. Helena’s eye was drawn to his shirt, specifically the valiant efforts of a single thread stretched between a disconnected button and said shirt. “You’ve been playing rape culture bullshit for over half an hour. Do you even know what half of this shit means? Slip her a Molly? That is roofies! Drugging a woman’s drink to sleep with her, cause that’s totally sexy. That Nirvana song? It is literally about a rape victim. Did you idiots even stop to think that some people here might have gone through that?” Kya’s accusations were sharp, to the point, a jab of a blade straight to the ribcage. “We thought it was setting the mood. Isn’t your bitch DTF? She looks the type.” The second man taunted, giving a poor attempt at a suggestive wiggle of his brows. This man appeared more in shape, lithe, with the veins standing stark beneath his muscles. However, the stench of alcohol was only smothered by the copious amounts of noisme body spray he stained his wrinkled shirt with. “This isn’t the 1800s, dude. Women have the right to get married and be together outside of a Pornhub video.” Kya’s tone dropped along with her brows, her expression challenging, daring the men to come up with a retort worthy of her. “It isn’t rape if the bitch wants it.” The third man jeered. Unlike his counterparts, he appeared clean and put together, something Helena might have even called attractive before he opened his mouth. A good-looking man, ruined by his horrific mouth or corrupt by the company he kept. “What happened to you three? How can you be so cruel as to deliberately target someone just for existing? I know you’ve been watching us and noticed Helena’s reactions.” Kya’s words struck Helena to the core. Suddenly everything made too much sense. How the songs had seemed to only get worse and worse, their violations and sexist attitude more crudely represented. More stark. How the music had steadily grown louder and louder, until their sounds had burned into Helena’s consciousness. Until they became shadows which she could not be free of. Shadows where leering eyes hid, a pride of lions or a pack of wolves slowly circling their prey. What she had dismissed as a trickle of sweat down her back now stood out, an instinctual twinge, a warning. One she had not taken heed of. It left her wondering, was anywhere truly safe for her aside from Kya’s arms? Even in this strange new world, where nobody knew her crimes, she found herself persecuted. Had coming here truly been the new start she believed it to be? Or had she just fled her own insecurity into a pit of newer, wiser vipers whilst she played catch up for over thirty years of missing knowledge? “This is America, we have the right to listen to what we want.” “You have a constitutional right not to be a colossal dick.” Kya fired back without pause. This earned several snickers from around the room at the man’s expense. She wasn’t done, not even close. Kya continued, launching into a scolding with enough disgust in her tone to cow the watching crowds. “After everything she has done for this damn country, hell, the world, she deserves ONE night without some douchebags throwing shit at her. All we wanted was to come and have a lovely night out, not cop sexual harassment from a failed security guard, an alcoholic and a walking advertisement for how not to be a man all trying to relive their high school glory days.” “What? She got bored of servicing all the real men and went for her own bitch to boss around instead?” The second man taunted, snickering loudly at Kya’s repulsed expression. The expression was barely a flicker on the way to a smile. No, a smile implied genuine joy and happiness. Kya’s expression was something far darker. Ink dropped into water, sinking to the bottom of the glass. Purity tainted by malicious intent. Helena internally flinched. That expression was unlike anything she had seen from Kya before, save when Kya dealt with the Queen. It was the closest Kya could ever come to such wickedness; the closest Helena could bare to see her fall. “Oh I get it now. This is about your inferiority complex that no woman as gorgeous as Helena would want to be within ten feet of you unless it was to deliver a restraining order.” Kya’s voice was so calm, so crisp and clear, yet somehow a sneer. Something that even the Witch Queen could never truly pull off. It all happened so fast. Faster than Helena could even react. One moment, Kya was snarling in the face of some asshole, the next he had reached out in a sloppy attempt to smack her. Kya was faster. In a blink, she had grabbed the man’s wrist, grip unyielding, stepped into his space and twisted her body. Just like Helena had taught her. The man went plummeting to the ground in a flurry of ill-fitting formalwear and disgusting body spray. The collision was bone-jarring, filling the room with an audible thud. Before anybody could do anything more than gasp, the third man launched at Kya’s exposed back. Helena’s heart leapt into her throat, her magic burning beneath her skin in preparation to unleash. It was a pointless endeavour. Kya moved naturally, as fluidly as a trickling stream with the passion of a dancer and the heart of a knight. Her elbow came up, driven into the man’s nose without a moment of hesitation. He too fell, left with only his hands to try and still the raging current of blood pouring between his trembling fingers. His hands desperately palmed the broken mass of his nose, which made his cries sound wet and gargling. A second strike, a vicious kick to his groin, ensured he would not be getting up again. Helena arched a brow. That was not something she had taught Kya. “How?” The most rotund of the three questioned, wisely keeping his hands well away from Kya as she stormed up to him. Helena knew his fear, it was once an intimate companion to her afterall. He looked at Kya as if she were the Witch Queen, something which sat uneasily in Helena’s gut. Even here, Kya was not the Queen. She had not taken evident joy in her power over these men, nor in their fear. Kya wore an entirely too calm expression, as if the violence had been a bore to her. As if the blood running down her arm was something to be nonchalant about. She was silent as she reached out, hooking a single finger into the string stretched between button and shirt. Finally, it gave out, snapping under the added pressure. Then, Kya spoke, her voice kept low as if to protect the man from further humiliation. “My wife is a war hero. I’m not the scary one.” She informed, using the tails of his shirt to wipe the blood from her arm. At Kya’s words, Helena noticed the room focus on her for a moment, awe and respect flooding their eyes in a manner that was entirely too familiar. Too uncomfortable. It was the awe and fear of Reiner’s army. How long would it be until they too saw the monster she could be? Could that be how they now viewed Kya? “She’s earned her peace, and I’ll fuck up anybody who tries to attack that. She shouldn’t have to kill anybody else to protect this country, let alone deal with shitfucks like your friends shaming her for having an ounce of happiness.” Kya continued, eyes blazing dangerously. That. That there was something the Queen never had. The heat in her eyes, the fire and compassion. Helena’s heart rose in her throat. She’d seen this scene before. The Queen, leering over her prey, leaning down to mock their failure before she crushed them. Now Helena could see it. Kya’s connection to the Queen. The heat had faded from her cheeks, yet that heat seemed to have migrated to her eyes. Where the queen froze, Kya blazed, charring the man’s willpower to cinders with but one annoyed glance. Her focused glare had him trembling, fearing what she might do next. Helena felt that fear. Had the queen claimed her lover? Was she to truly lose her happiness now? Was fate so cruel? “Your friends will need medical care. That elbow could have broken more than his nose, and your other buddy smacked his head pretty hard.” Kya added, concern filtering into her expression for a microsecond before she turned. With the grace and confidence of a Queen, she strode over to the first man, her dress fluttering around her knees like wisps of shadows and silk. She leaned down towards the man, crouching so that she could speak directly to him. “If I ever hear you dared touch another soul without their consent, then you will no longer have hands.” Kya warned, her voice a tide of outrage tempered by her own compassion. Her hand upon him reminded him to stay down, but also touched with concern. Feeling how his heart rose to meet her palm. Despite his unfocused gaze, he afforded her his full attention, staring at her as if he was looking upon an Angel. No, not an Angel. A Valkyrie of Nordic legend. A guide to the lost heroes, the one to guide their souls to peace. Helena understood, for she gazed in utter devotion. This Kya was a new creature, one embodying her soulmate, channelling Helena’s protective energy in a uniquely Kya way. Helena couldn’t help but smile, to grace her protector with an approving twitch of her lips and a nod. Kya was not the Queen, nor did she continue her violence when it was not in defence. She had picked up arms in this moment so Helena would not. So Helena did not have to. Just as Kya had promised, she protected Helena’s peace. Kya rose after a few more moments, stony eyes softened to gems as she gazed upon Helena. The Valkyrie extended her hand, fingers imploring Helena’s to weave between them with a silent little wiggle. Helena, a lost soul if ever there was one, was helpless to do anything but reach, to accept the hand offered to her. With the softest of smiles, she entrusted herself entirely to her soulmate, her Valkyrie, trusting that if Kya was not her peace then at least she would lead Helena there.
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socialdegenerate · 7 years
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OKAY for XV, then: Honestly, I want 'em all
fuckin’ hell. Ok, all names are misspelled on purpose to avoid search spam. Hit the cut.
What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*Iggy/Arane. I don’t know where it came from, I don’t know why it’s a thing beyond people projecting themselves onto Arane which great, you do you, but not my jam and please let me have my badass single 30yo women without making them get married and have kids.
Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?*Nyyx/Nocct, it’s like the 5th most popular pairing on AO3 and I just………can’t see Nyyx going for that in a romantic/sexual sense. Plus there’s our ongoing Straight Nyyx joke so, uh, yeah, that too.
Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?Not for XV but in general, I guess? Sometimes because of ships, sometimes because of stupid ship hate/throwing around terms that are far more serious than what they’re bring used for, sometimes when they get big in the fandom and start being really obnoxious about it. Oh, and if it counts, for being of the opinion that art reposting is okay. Fuck right off.
Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?*Not really, most things just make me shrug and keep going in XV. Anything with family is a big no-no though, but most of that is contained to the kink meme and easy to avoid.
Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*It hasn’t ruined the pairing but I don’t read a lot of Prom/Glad stuff because it sometimes falls victim to very uke/seme tropes and, ugh. Keep that shit away from me plz.
Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*I didn’t hate it, but I never expected to ship every single combination of the bros (I’m working on a fic for the final 2 person combo I haven’t written right now). Fandom definitely helped me get into things like iggy/prom that I didn’t really consider at first.
Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?*The next person to refer to Iggy as British is getting slapped through their computer screen. BRITAIN DOESN’T EXIST IN THAT WORLD. MAMO ISN’T BRITISH NOR DOES HE SOUND IT. I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT THE DUB SOUNDS LIKE. NEVER READ MY IGGY IN A BRITISH ACCENT PLEASE. I LIKE FOREIGN IGGY BUT STOP CALLING HIM CULTURED AND DIGNIFIED JUST BECAUSE HE “SOUNDS BRITISH”. FUCK.
Have you received anon hate? What about?*For XV in particular: My characterisations suck and I am a terrible person. Apparently.
Most disliked character(s)? Why?ENG!DUB!GLADI. REAL GLADI IS MY PRIDE AND JOY AND HE IS MY BIG SON AND I LOVE HIM AND WANT HIM TO BE SAFE AND HAPPY. ENG DUB GLADI CAN GO DIE IN A FUCKING HOLE. FUCK OFF.
Most disliked arc? Why?I don’t like the part of the game without Gladi because there’s no Gladi in it.
Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?Gladi, I guess? Because the dub fucked him harder than that bar full of dudes I wrote him into the other day. He’s not exactly unpopular, but there’s a lot of unreasonable hate towards him thanks to his English characterisation that wouldn’t exist had they just translated properly instead of forcing american cultural values onto these characters.
Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?I liked the original chapter 13. I thought it was a great change of pace (it dragged on a little long, sure, but the frustration was so real and very much like Nocct must have felt in that moment). Feeling genuinely fucking powerless against that…thing (I can’t remember what it was) that appeared on a bunch of the floors was a great touch. Plus there were obvious Met Gear influences and I’m all about that shit. The rest of the main game was so easy that it was great to finally feel some real challenges.
Unpopular opinion about XXX character?I wish people would stop excusing Cindy’s design like ‘oh she’s a strong, independent woman who dresses how she wants’ no. Fictional characters do not have bodily autonomy, they’re at the mercy of their (usually male) designers. Have you seen the original character sketches? Ugh. No mechanic’s gonna dress like that bc it’s fucking unsafe as shit. Great character with a shitty, objectifying design. OH&S ISSUES ARE SRS BSNS OK.
Unpopular opinion about your fandom?A lot of them seem to misunderstand the point of an arranged marriage. Look at Nocct/Lun as two friends who know that they could be getting married off to complete strangers and suddenly their relationship makes a lot more sense. Royals pretty much never marry for love and marrying someone pretty who you get along with is like winning the fucking lottery.
Also they take the cup noodle thing way too far sometimes.
Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?It was a great experience and I got over 100 hours of joy from it, regardless of the issues it had. Also I thought the ending was good at signifying that they found peace and actually had nothing to do with a forced love story because see above re: arranged marriages.
If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?THE SHITTY, SHITTY ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…INSTEAD OF A SHITTY ENGLISH TRANSLATION HAPPENING I WOULD HAVE MADE A PROPER ENGLISH TRANSLATION HAPPEN
Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased?WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE DO AND DON’T SHIP
What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?People who abuse the anon options
What is the purest ship in the fandom?The Bros OT4 bc such devoted friends and no one is left out and everyone is happy and- sharp inhale- I JUST WANT THE BEST OF EVERYTHING FOR MY PRECIOUS SONS THEY DESERVE THE WORLD AND I CAN’T CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM FUCK
What are your thoughts on crack ships?Not my thing but whatever. I can’t stand when people try way too hard to be funny writing ~wacky~ ~random~ crack fics though, it’s obnoxious (luckily not much of a problem in the XV fandom but hard stare at the jojo fandom)
Popular character you hate?I don’t really hate anyone in XV.
Unpopular character you love?Gladi for reasons mentioned above re: shitty dub lmao
Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not?Yesssssss because it’s funnnnnnn no matter how much people want to complain, I enjoyed myself and that’s what matters.
How would you end XXX/Would you change the ending of XXX?Less ambiguity about what happened to the bros, less tossed in references to Gladi’s sudden girlfriend, more emotional bro talks.
Most shippable character?Every bro is equally multi-shippable because they are all lovely.
Least shippable character?I only see one option for King Dad and Shield Dad and that is with each other. Mayyyyyybe with Cor but eh, mostly just with each other.
Or maybe Meth Dave because you shouldn’t fuck dodgy blokes like him, you’ll wake up in a bathtub full of ice as he sells your kidney for more meth money.
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