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#this is why you don't go to war without enough information
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Wei Wuxian really got an arrow shot in between two of his lungs ribs, pulled it out, and then tossed it back and fucking killed the guy who shot him - If that's not fucking terrifying (and more than a little awe-inspiring) I don't know what is.
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schwarzkatje · 18 days
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dark!orphan!ellie x nun!reader
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disclaimer: i don't ever write notes but this smells like too much blasphemy not to put some warnings and disclaimers. so, this contains ellie being still in an orphanage BUT i obviously changed the age so that she is of age because it goes without saying that p*dophilia is not contemplated here. also, "sister" is used as a synonym for "nun", not with the meaning of "family member". lastly, it does contain smut even though it's not so detailed.
> for part 2 click here
ellie didn't wake up one day choosing to be mean. in fact, if you ever asked her why the rude behaviour, she would simply laugh it off and tell you to shut the fuck up with a bitterness so unlikely for such a young girl.
ellie thought it was her god given right to do whatever she wanted, having being already stripped enough of the pillars of her life, namely a happy family and a place her heart could call home. that resulted in her receiving reprimands and punishments from the nuns more than any other kid in the orphanage.
and you, the youngest of the nuns tasked with the upbringing of the kids and the newest addition to the orphanage, seeing how ellie behaved, decided it was the perfect opportunity to enact the knowledge you had acquired during your noviciate by devouring books about dysfunctional behaviour, specifically in orphans. you were positive people could change if showed how.
what you would invoke the lord's name for to swear was your entire and firmly believed doctrine, came to a brutal halt the very moment you came to the realisation of what ellie's bad reputation really was about.
it wasn't just a typical scenographic display of childish behaviours like refusing to attend class or the occasional smuggling of cigarettes that concurred to tear apart your good intentions. these were merely common patterns studied throughout the years by psychologists and educators, and the main topics in all of your books.
no, what made you falter was the fact that ellie seemed to relish being mean. if others acting the same way sported an inconsolable sorrow in their eyes, ellie's green ones would glow with the eagerness that came with the raising of the voices of the nuns, the laughable detentions and the yet unexplored range of just how far was too far.
it didn't help that ellie had learnt from the older kids all the gross vocabulary she has now assimilated, repeating the filthy words as a sort of statement to maintain the hierarchical status she has fought for and ultimately achieved among the majority of the orphans.
so it caught you off guard only the first time ellie fiercely exclaimed that "if you care so much about me maybe you should suck my dick tonight," as you apprehended over time that this wasn't and wouldn't have been an isolated incident, rather an infuriating routine that seemed only to increase the more you showed ellie how much it pissed you off.
of course, that time your cheeks were burning red and your brain was at war with the mortification of having received such a vulgarity in front of other pupils, alongside the humiliation that ticked with each second you spent silent, at a loss for words to properly tackle the problem at hand.
the best thing you managed to come up with was the most generic and fruitless "go out," pointing at the class door.
before ellie could walk through the door, she turned to you, smirking like you had just made her day, and slurring a sultry "don't get so wet when you scold me," after which she left, winking at you.
your hands were tied. you understood that you could inform the other sisters of what ellie was making you go through, but you understood just as well that it would be no to avail since the other nuns were there way before you and knew to a greater extent the amount of work needed to be implemented when dealing with ellie.
after the heat of the moment had died down, you gathered all of your strength, prayed hoping to receive some mercy, and recited like a mantra that you were the bigger person and couldn't possibly let your purpose go to waste.
the fact was that you realised too late that the presence of what you called the devil had certainly been lurking around and now manifested itself in the obscene form of ellie fucking two of her fingers inside of you from behind in the scriptorium, something that dealt the final blow to any hope of creating the optimal conditions to demonstrate the good of your heart.
ellie and her breath, together with her hands, were four fiends cooperating under the same objectives, being disrupting you, disrupting everything you represented and disrupting everything you stood for.
"no one has ever made you feel so good," ellie was insane herself for needing to hear you say it "otherwise, you wouldn't be needing to play the part of the perfect little sister who thinks she can fix everyone to compensate how empty she is," and no matter how desperately you tried and tried and cried out while doing so, your pussy was glistening with slick, feeling euphoric and on the brink of madness with how enticing the sensation and the blasphemous words that left ellie's mouth were. "you would be too cock drunk and stuffed with cum to care about anything else".
the ink and quill you were previously using laid on your desk where they shouldn't, spilling the black liquid and dirtying everything they touched. ellie could be compared to the two items, given how many times the sisters told her how harmful her tainting existence was. and maybe that was the reason her brain clicked and gave the command to her right hand to gather some of the ink and write "ellie's cum dump" on your ass.
as soon as your breathing quickened, ellie grabbed a fistful of your hair, yanked it throwing your head impossibly backwards and let you ride out the hardest orgasm of your life. the gesture wasn't just a display of dominance but it served as a lever to push you flat against the desk, treating you like a discarded toy.
"next time you come for me, expect me to fuck your ass. and it won't be with my fingers only"
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red-viewe · 10 months
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general lilia x reader thoughts 🔫 (part two✌)
COLORED TEXT IS FAE LANGUAGE (tw: metions of bl99d, swearing)
Part 1 part 3
---
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'Fuck my life.'
Here's the tea. You found a half-dead but sexy asf fae on your sidewalk and decided, 'Hey! Let's bring him in, warp him up and fall asleep!' Which was a stupid decision, because now, you're leaning against Mr. Hot Guy's head, pretending to be asleep, because right now, THE FAE GUY IS AWAKE AND HE MIGHT KILL YOU.
After about 5 minutes of awkward silence, this happened.
"I know you're awake."
He said, as he slowly started to get up from the couch. "W-wow, i didn't think you would notice..." God, get yourself together, dude.
"Where am I?" He says, turning to the very sweaty(?) you. God, this man is so hot.
"You're in my house...in the woods, a-and you shouldn't stand up right now, you're still injured.
" You abruptly stand and gently push him down back on to the couch.
"I'm Y/n L/n, by the way... " Mr. Fae still seemed to be om guard.
"Why did you save me? Don't you know about the war going on right now?" He asks in a stern tone (which was kind of hot...).
"Well, war is stupid when you can literally solve everything without death." You say as you walked away into the kitchen.
"...Is that so.." He mumbled.
---
It toke time for the fae to tell you his name, you respected that. You wouldn't tell a stranger your name either. (Expect you did, but we ignore that) Afte a while, he finally said to juat call him Liliy. Being shot in the stomach with an iron arrow, it toke Liliy time to be able to actually move, but it was progress.
Your days suddenly became more interesting, as you spent more time with him, learning more and more about him.
Like how he's insanely good at games, even when he doesn't try, or when he sometimes helps you prepare for the day before you open the bar.
---
"I'm not playing with you anymore." You cry in a joking tone as you lose yet again another game of chess.
"Pft, if you'd like, perhaps you'd desire an easier game? May i suggest rock paper sissors?" Liliy says with mischievous smirk on his face.
"Oh, screw you."
'Is this man trying to poison me?' Was the first thought you had when you opened the lunch Liliy attempted to make for you.
"It can't be that bad..." You say out loud, slightly gagging when you scooped up some of the meal(?) onto your spoon.
---
And...sweet moments, which made your heart beat a little faster and your cheeks warm up.
---
"Sleeping late, beastie?" Liliy said, as he toke some of your hair into his hands and started combing playing with it, making you blush when you felt his breath a little too close.
"Mhm, I'm doing some stinky taxes before i go to bed." You said, writing down information. After a while of liliy playing with your hair, you started to feel drowsy and fell asleep, waking up the next day on your bed, with a half asleep liliy next to you, staring at you with half closed eye lids and a blush on his face.
'How are you so freaking fine?'
---
You honestly did not know when you and the fae started getting so comfortable with each other, but are grateful for your friendship with Liliy.
---
The some of the buildings were set ablaze, others half torn apart, and human bounty hunters were tearing the town apart looking for Lilia Vanrouge. Rumours of the infamous general seeking refuge with someone spread far and wide, wide enough to reach the ears of the royal family. The bounty on his head was more than 9 million thaumarks, and bounty hunters were eager to find the fae.
'Fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck' You screamed on your mind as you swiftly ran back to your home in the woods, running from the danger.
"LIliy!" You burst into your home, praying that your fae would still be there.
"Y/n." Liliy was dressed in the armour you found him in, with his gargoyle mask on this head, carrying his weapon. "I have something to tell you, beastie."
"That you're Lilia Vanrouge, I know." You're not stupid. You saw the bounty posters. Bro.
"Are you leaving..?" You silently said, eyes meeting his.
Lilia stepped closer, his voice now low and soft.
"I have to. If I don't I- You- my queen needs me, and it's too dangerous for me t-" You hug him, eyes watering. Lilia's arms gently embrace you, and he kisses your forehead. "I swear I'll be back, my love"
Tears fall down your face, as he slowly releases you and leaves, turning back for one last glance of you.
'Please come back'
--
Authors note
This one was a bit sad😭 maybe if i finish part 3 i can make some side stories with crack and stuff 😭🙏Would you like that ?🤔
(Also just comment if you want to be tagged if theres a next one)
(Tag list: @anonima-2)
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oh-koenig-my-koenig · 5 months
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(to the tune of Avril Lavigne's sk8terboi)
He was a human battering ram.
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She was a recon sniper.
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Can I make it any more obvious?
Headcannons - Fit for a King - König x fem!OC fanfic
Instead of making a y/n fic, I decided to create an original female character because I ususally write all of my stuff in POVs. Due to posting the chapters often right after I've written them some of the context and the characterization might not be explicit in every single piece, some of the information is only gonna get revealed down the road.
(TW: alcoholism, death, violence)
Karina Müller is almost 30 years old, she served in the Norwegian military from right after school until the death of her brother who was KIA on a mission together. She fell off the wagon after that, feeling responsible for his death and effectively being shunned by her family after that. Her pick of poison was alcohol and it got so bad that she more than once was drunk on the job which led to her getting kicked out.
The years after that she spent getting help, trying to get clean and going back to a civilian life, but the military was what she knew, so the civilian jobs didn't stick and she started to work as a mercenary, now a dry alcoholic. Which might be an issue for some contractors, but KorTac doesn't really bat an eye.
She's a compassionate person who loves to laugh, she's seen enough shit not to take any from her teammates and can stand her ground when faced with any challenge thrown her way. She's still working through some stuff, coming to terms with her past, but she has an optimistic spirit and a strong will.
Even though the Colonel seems scary at first, she learns pretty quickly that he is to be respected in training and on the battlefield, but on a personal level he's really not that bad. The 6'10'' killing machine, Austrian war criminal (insert "what murdeeer?!"-meme here) is quite an anxious person when it comes to basic human interaction.
Shouting orders at his team, stomping his enemies into the ground is more comfortable to him than just talking about mundane stuff with other people, he mostly keeps to himself (except for Horangi because that little shit would never leave him alone). And for the first time in a long time, Müller makes him wish that he could just go up to people and strike up a normal conversation like a normal person (don't we all).
König is 38 years old (we don't know his full name) and has the biggest metalhead dad vibes without actually having any children himself (his favourite band is Death, although he listens to a bunch of different ones, it's also their merch shirt Müller steals in "Are you wearing my t-shirt?").
When he started out in the military, he shaved his long metalhead hair off because that was the way to go back then, but he let it grow back when he was older and already Colonel. He has gauged ears and a plethora of tattoos all over his body because the soft pain of body modifications and working out until he almost passes out are his ways of dealing with his anxiety and stress. His body is a testament to that.
He has a huge scar on the right side of his face from when he got beaten to a pulp by his bullies at school, something he never let happen again after that (five on one was really unfair). His nose has been broken two times and sometimes his tattoos get destroyed by battle injuries, but he doesn't really care about that - or his looks in general. He's a soldier and not a model.
So the reason why he's always wearing the selfmade hood is not the scar. He prefers not to show his feelings to others, staying hidden underneath the mask for his own comfort, even if it makes him scarier also in situations where he doesn't want to be.
(CW: some nsfw headcannons ahead, talk about not wanting to have children) They're both switches, though König is leaning more on the Dom-side while Müller is a sub who likes to brat a little too much, just to see her man falter (for example when she calls him a good boy in random scene #1).
Müller is bisexual, something she discovered when serving in an all-women-taskforce of the Norwegian military (we don't really know about König's sexuality though). She decided a long time ago that she doesn't want to have children (she doesn't see herself leaving service again anytime soon and given her past, she doesn't see herself fit to become a mother), so she got her tubes tied. Which also comes in handy when a certain Colonel's favourite pasttime (well, actually second favourite) is leaving creampies inside her (no 'unexpected pregnancy' trope in this household).
König definitely eats pussy for his own pleasure, begging Müller to let him eat her out in "Sit" or losing a little friendly competition for a sexual favour in "But no funny business" (oh and he definitely steals her panties at any chance he gets). She's totally not opposed to servicing him as well, but the size of his dick makes this a whole endeavour (like seen in "Open wide, Prinzessin").
They match each other's energy pretty well, just going at it like rabbits at every chance they get, which sometimes proves to be difficult as they're sneaking around in secret.
Their arrangement is kind of a fuckbuddy/fwb-situation, they fuck hard and rough, without ever really kissing (the mask stays on), but after a while feelings start to get in the way... After all they do belong together <3
Read more at the Fit for a King - Masterlist or keep an eye out for the AO3 link - coming soon.
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norrisleclercf1 · 5 months
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So I'm in the mood for some heartbreak 🥺 My request is mafia Lando, where he's super protective over y/n, always trying to keep her safe given his line of work. He loves her and doesn't ever want her to get hurt, but she loves him just as much and wants him to be safe as well. Their house gets attacked, and she takes a bullet meant for Lando to save him? 😭 I'm having a shitty week so I'm feeling quite sad as you can probably tell. You can make the ending happy or sad. Tysm for allowing requests, love you 🩷🩷🩷
A/N: Fuck I'm sorry this has been sitting in my inbox for so long but I've been fluffy and now I'm in an angsty mood so I apologize
He never thought he'd breath again. Lando always assumed he'd be alone for the rest of his life.
His line of work didn't allow him to be vulnerable or in love. He never once thought he'd have that with you, yet here you are asleep on his chest and wearing his ring.
Lando spent most nights awake, unable to sleep as a loaded gun laid under his own pillow, ready to kill anyone who dared come in. He refused to let anyone harm you, even himself. Nothing would harm you, he even refused to fight with you in fear he'd scare or harm you in some way.
Lando goes still when he feels you move, but relaxes when you just cuddle closer and hide your face in his neck. His large hand moves from your hip to your back as he rolls pulling you impossibly close.
Things with work have been getting worse, a new family popping up in his territory. He alerted the others, letting them know he might have to go to "war" in a way. They offered their help, yet Lando told them he could handle it.
You knew nothing of it, as he preferred to keep you in the dark. Lando had told you what he does for work, yet you never pushed for more information. Lando feels that cold dread settles in his chest, his thoughts ramping up his anxiety.
Moving closer, he takes a couple deep breaths. Breathing in his cologne, you, the touch of dessert you two had, and the candle you had lit during your bath. The scents settle deep in him, soothing the anxiety as he closes his eyes.
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It's worse, never had Lando have some nobodies show up and openly attack one of his warehouses. Here he was, standing it rubble from the fire and gun shells littering his feet.
"What was their reason?" It was a stupid question, Lando knew the reason. "It's a message," Oscar whispers, yes it was a message. That even they could take something from Lando, no matter what kind of power he holds.
"Sir, this was attached to the note." Lando takes it, without looking. His eyes grow wide when he feels the familiar fabric in his hands. He knew this fabric; it was a gift to you from him. Looking he sees the blood and carnage the fabric has been dealt. This was the message.
They weren't coming after him, no they were going for you first.
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Lando refused to tell you the reason why. Why you couldn't leave the house, or even step foot in your favorite garden. He hated hiding the truth, but he didn't want to plague you with the nightmares he has.
"Lando?" His head snaps up, eyes adjusting to the dark figures in the shadows. "Lan, are you okay?" He sighs, feeling the weight crushing him as you step into his office. You didn't come in here often, just enough to know your way around but that was it.
"What are you doing up?" Lando cringes when he hears the own annoyance in his voice. If you notice, you don't say anything about it. "I woke when I didn't feel you beside me," Closing his eyes, the softness and innocence of your words has him hating his world.
"Sorry, bug." You just hum as you come to his side and nudge the desk chair back. "Whatever it is," You settle yourself in his lap, lying your head on his shoulder. "You can always tell me," Lando smiles, he wants to tell you, but he won't.
"I know,"
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Foolish, stupid, he was completely betrayed. He should've known what was going to happen, that having this party was a ploy for them to get into the house.
"Get out of here. Get her out of here, Oscar!" Lando yells, as Oscar tries so hard to drag you out of the room. "No! No, Lando!" Your screams, pierced the room sending chills through everyone.
They were the screams you hear when someone is told they lost a loved one. The ones that rattle the soul and stay with you forever. If you living meant Lando had to die, he was fine with that. He was always prepared to be the one to go first.
Turning he sees the gun raised, the scream of your name from Oscar. Closing his eyes, he waits for the impact of the bullet, but it never comes. Opening his eyes slowly, he's instead meet with your crumpled body in front of his feet.
Ruby red, pools at his feet and around your body. "No," He whispers dropping to his knees as he gathers you in his arms. "No, no please Y/n?" Lando whimper, touching your face with the red on his hand staining your peaceful face.
"It was supposed to be me. I'm supposed to go first, I've always been ready to go first."
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sp1d3rzz · 1 month
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The Devil's Bride
Ryōmen Sukuna
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Warning!! : Mentions of death/killing, forced marriage, and basically Sukuna being an asshole and having no respect for reader.
Summary : After Sukuna reclaims his throne and becomes known as the King of Curses once again, he decides on bringing forth a Queen. You
A/N : I somewhat switch pov's during this so don't get confused. Part 2 coming soon!!
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Days have passed since Sukuna has once reclaimed his throne. Yet, he seems to be bored out of his mind. There's nothing to occupy him from his apathy.
Sure, he has countless people at his feet he can order to do as he pleases. But what's the fun in that? He needs something exciting to happen. Something to fill his empty pit of boredom.
He contemplates on whether or not he should start a war, find more slaves soldiers to do his bids, or perhaps even go on a killing spree somewhere random in this dark, dark world. Better yet— why not just kill everyone??
Well, not yet at least.
His teeth grind together and his fists clench in annoyance to this endless pit of nothing he can't seem to shake off.
But just before he rips someone's eyes out with his bare nails from frustration, he forges an idea. And with that idea, comes a no-good smirk spreading across his face.
What does every king have in every fairytale, movie, and book? That's correct. A Queen.
"You." His thundering voice reaches the ears of a guard who could be approximately 52ft ahead of him. "Come here." he motions with his fingers.
Almost immediately, the soldier makes his way up the steps and to the throne of his King. "Yes, my Lord?"
Sukuna makes a simple face of boredom, supporting his head with a propped up fist. "Gather 5 of my best soldiers and find me my Queen." his eyes squint, which silently says 'Hurry it up.'
And without another word, the guard takes off to seek out to the Kings orders.
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Not many people could get in the mind of Ryōmen Sukuna. To understand what goes on in that so called empty mind of his is mildly impossible. But, taking a wild guess, the soldier puts together things the King takes an interest in.
Power, Control, and Cruelty.
To find a Queen fit to the Kings likings, she must be innocent. A girl who can't stand up for herself, but when she attempts to, she cowards out.
A girl who needs someone to make the decisions for her. But also a girl who has a little spark in her soul. A spark that can carry her to victory no matter the battle.
This shall be the woman who Sukuna finds quite delightful.
The next step was finding a girl who fits this description.
While this soldier is pondering off into space, he almost forgets about his group of men. Which, he's surprised to see catch up to him with a younger looking woman.
"P-Please!! Let me go!" she sobs, loud enough the birds in the trees fly away and flee from the scene.
Tears flow down her cheeks and onto the dirt. Her clothes are scrunched up and dirty, most likely from how roughly his men handled her. And her breathing is so uneven, she might just pass out.
"I swear I'll never tell a soul—" hic! ",if you just let me go!"
There's two men on each side of her, both practically dragging her through the ground. "We found her out here by herself. She seems to be lost." The one on the left inquires.
Once she's dragged to be met face to face with the lead soldier, he grins.
She's a mess. Forehead so sweaty strands of her hair stick to it. Panting so rapidly, she might use up all the air she has left in her lungs.
The soldier takes one last look at the girl, eyes scanning her over, just to analyze how fit she is to take the role as Sukuna's Queen.
"What do you want for me?! Why– why are you doing this!" the girl begs to know any sort of information. Anything to get a grasp on herself.
No one responds.
She looks to her sides, expecting any kind of answer. But is instead met with the men completely ignoring her.
"She'll do perfectly."
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Heavy footsteps echo throughout your head, which by now has been ruined with a horrible headache. Lucky you.
It's hard to tell how long you've been out for. If they've hurt you, or if you've somehow died and awoken in the after life.
The only thing you're sure of is how much pain is coursing through your body. It's to the point you're numb all over and you can barely lift your head up. Barely lift a finger for that matter.
"My lord." A familiar voice rings in your ear and back out. "Your Queen." Another one seems to say in-front of you.
In a desperate attempt to figure out what the hell is happening, you weakly lift your head, blinking a couple of times to regain your focus.
Your vision still remains slightly blurry, but you're only able to make out a set of stairs. Stairs that lead to what seems to be a throne. And in that throne, sits a man.
As you concentrate on this mysterious man, your vision slowly begins to recover.
He has spiky pink hair, long black nails, two eyes on one side, with a plated set of 2 more next to it, and 4 arms? His chiseled shirtless body seems to be tattooed with stripes and dots on each of his shoulders. No, no, this can't be right.
"Bring her here." his voice practically echoes into the air.
Your eyes widen to this sudden command, and you wiggle your arms, attempting to loosen yourself of the men who have you a strict hold over you.
Though it seems to not work, because the men ignore you and continue to their orders. Step by step, the men take you to who appears to be the lead of this whole situation. The man who looks to be the devil himself.
In protest, you kick your feet a little, trying to gain balance and hopefully escape wherever you've been brought to.
But before you can successfully break away, it's too late.
You're met with the horrifying (but somewhat sexy) face of the man who has caused you all of this misery. You scowl at him, which in return earns you a small look of satisfaction.
Disgusting.
His men hold you up to him like a piece of meat, dangling you in-front of his nose as if he was meant to devour you with one swift bite.
His eyes scan up and down your figure. Almost like he's purposely invading your personal space. "Pretty little thing, aren't you?" his words taunt you in a sense you'd never thought you'd feel.
You avert your eyes from his. Turning your head away so he's only in view of your cheek. You're mentally unable to face him.
The prideful moment you had was quickly interrupted. With one swift move of his arm, his hand snatches your chin and snaps you back so you can looking him eye to eye. "Did I say you could look away?" he growls.
His sharp nails press into your skin, making you wince. With how tight his grip is on you, it feels like your skin might tear.
His brows scrunch together lightly as his eyes lock with yours.
"I-"
"Silence." he's quick to cut you off.
Your mouth closes shut almost instantly, and your head drops once he releases you from his grasp. Pathetic.
Everything hurts so much. Your head, your body, and apparently your voice now too.
Small whispers spread around you. From one person to another, you can hear all sorts of comments the strange people are making about you.
If the men holding you up right now were to let go of you, you're sure you would collapse and never get back up again. Fall into an endless abyss and never awaken.
"Take her to the cellar. I shall deal with her later." he orders.
You groan a little when the men tighten their arms around yours. But your vision fades back to nothing as they take you away.
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It's been hours.
Hours of crying, screaming, and wishing upon your own death. To end this confusing mess that has somehow been brought upon to you.
You're curled up in the corner of the cell, cold walls and bars keeping you away from whatever source of life might be out there.
It almost pitch black in the haunting cellar. The only things in sight is your arms, which wrap around your legs to pull yourself into a tight ball.
Everything feels dirty. You feel dirty.
Small droplets of damp moisture fall from the ceiling and hit the rough concrete. Your skin is hot, tingling up your bones to the point you might overheat.
Your mouth is dry, deprived from the lack of water you've had in the past week or so.
Before you were captured, you were on the run from home, escaping the endless chains of torment your parents had put you through.
It might have been a stupid decision, especially since you had no where to go at the time, but it had to happen. Your life wasn't meant to be lived like that, and neither was it for this life.
Your eyes close shut, mind struggling to block out the unbearable sound of water meeting cold, hard, ground. It itches down your skin with every fall.
Abruptly, the creak of a wooden door captures your attention quickly. Lifting your head up out of curiosity to see who's there.
"H-Hello..?" You call out, but it seems useless since no one replies anyways. Though you know someone has to be there. The evidence of lingering footsteps tells enough.
Seconds pass by to what seems to be an eternity before the footsteps stop in-front of your cage cell.
Everything, including the man in-front of you, seems so unreal.
He doesn't say anything, just stares down at you as if you were just some dirt on the floor.
"What do you want from me!" You shout at him, but it appears to get you no answer except a irritating frown.
Your teeth are gritted together, and it take everything out of you to not pounce at him. Well, not like you have the strength or energy to do so anyways.
He rests his bottom two arms on his hip, and crosses his other two over his bare chest. "Y'know, you're starting to piss me off."
A moment of silence rests between the two of you before he finally speaks up again.
"What's your name?" it's more of a demand than a question, but you don't care. You don't owe him anything.
And once again, another pass of silence flows by.
He raises a brow, giving you another chance to answer. But, it seems you wont of any use for the time being.
"Name's Sukuna, but you can call me your King."
His words catch you by surprise, lifting your eyes up in a shockingly manner. "W-What..?" you have to confirm what he just said was actually him and not just an imaginary voice in your head.
He let's out a huff, shaking his head to your stupidity. "Do you know why you were brought here?"
Well obviously not, or else you wouldn't have been taken aback to his statement. "No, I don't."
"You were brought here to stand beside me as I rule over this.. kingdom of mine."
And just like that, his words crash and bring down your whole life. Everything you've been through, fought for, and accomplished are all worth nothing. It was all useless.
"No, I refuse–"
A hand slams down on the bars, causing you to flinch. "I don't remember asking how you felt, did I?"
Immediately, you go quiet. The hurtful beating of heart being the only sound audible as he glares down at you from behind the bars.
"Tomorrow shall be the wedding. I'll have my men bring you to me first thing in the morning."
Leaving you no time to protest, question, or even give him a snarky reply, he disappears.
You're left all alone, mind now pounding with how quick this is all happening. You have no say in anything, it seems.
Nothing seems to matter when you feel your eyes flutter close. Too exhausted to reject this rest, you fall asleep.
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Thank you for reading! I'll try to have part 2 out as soon as possible (which contains the smut 👀) but I hope you guys enjoyed this so far ^^ Reblogs are also greatly appreciated 💗💗
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fantasyinallforms · 9 months
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Alright, we've got to talk about this scene because for a scene as short as this one, it packs a huge punch! They manage to cram a frankly impressive amount of information into less than a min. This will be a long one so strap in and let's start at the very beginning, right after Ori asks, "What about Bilbo?"
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Up until this point, we have only ever heard Thorin's voice crack once. Just once, and that was when he thought that he missed his chance to enter Erebor. A huge defining moment in this quest. The second time was right here when he said, "Give him more time." Please note how Thorin is standing. Hands pressed together and head bent, his back completely turned to the mountain. He doesn't even turn his head until Balin utters the word "Killed".
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Now Here Thorin says, "You're afraid." He does it in an almost accusatory way and directly after Balin finishes his above sentence. I truly think this is because he has been sitting here dreading Bilbo's fate for hours. This, combined with the dragon sickness that's starting to take hold, wreaking havoc on his psyche. In this moment, the lines between Bilbo and the treasure are getting blurred. His face is a picture of discontent and fear. So in usual Thorin fashion, he lashes out. He voices his fear to Balin as an accusation. I don't think anything articulates how bizarre Thorin is acting more than the below gif.
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Balin fully leans away from him in shock, eyes searching this face before going on to say that he fears for him with tears in his eyes. Thorin is at war with himself. He's at war with the growing greed pumping through his veins, and how much he cares and worries for Bilbo. His love for Bilbo is winning because he is desperately forcing himself to detach Bilbo from himself. They go out of their way in the next 13 seconds to tell us that multiple separate times! I will break those down for you now.
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Let's start here with this line and how it's said. Time and time again, clearly on and off screen, Thorin has shown his regard for Bilbo. The handful of time we see is not enough to invoke this strong of a reaction from Balin, a Dwarf who has known him his entire life. Would not hesitate is a powerful choice of words. Think of the things you would not hesitate to save from death or destruction. They're all things you love, things you can't live without. That is what Balin is implying Bilbo is to Thorin. Balin knows the depth of Thorin's affection.
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And here we have the response and the third time we ever hear Thorin's voice crack and stutter. He chooses to call him "burglar" and forces the words out through his teeth like a curse, like he's fighting something. The statement in and of itself is an obvious lie. He has risked his life for Bilbo multiple times. The trolls, the cliffside, even when Bard threatened them, and he practically glued himself to Bilbo's side.
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That brings us to this moment. This is right after the dragon's roar. The look of pure panic at Balin's words. He looks at the door, and the battle between Bilbo and the Arkenstone flips to Bilbo like a light switch. In this moment, Bilbo is more important. He rushes through the door into fiery danger, and the relief in his voice when he sees Bilbo, is clearly audible. Now we all know in the next scene, he holds Bilbo at sword point, and it flickers again. After that, however, Thorin's sickness seems to reconcile Bilbo and the treasure as one thing. Why else would he give him the second most valuable thing in the hoard? Treasure can't steal treasure.
I do have a theory that if Bilbo had revealed the stone, Thorin would not have been upset. It was only when he gave it away that it was deemed betrayal in the highest order.
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keepyourpantsongohan · 2 months
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Ayesha Liveblogs Spy x Family S1
"Proof that the foreign minister wears a toupée. I even have the negatives." "Well done. Now we can force him to resign." How could this possibly be enough to force a resignation? Is wearing a toupée a sign of dishonesty or shame in this cultural context??
"In an era in which the nations of the world were waging a fierce war of information just out of sight, this man survived the battlefield by being a master of disguise." Ooooh is this a historical anime? How fun!
Update from 1 minute later: The newspaper confirms this as a Cold War-era story!! Colour me intrigued
"Farewell. May you find happiness." What a polite end to such a callous breakup LMAO
Why does Donovan Desmond look so incredibly haunted LOL
"In order to achieve this [spy mission] you will get married and have a child." Ah, there we are with the premise!
Of all the spy strengths they've displayed thus far, I am most impressed with this blond man's ability to pull a newspaper apart without bending it. You must need to generate a lot of force:
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"Yeah, sure. Take whichever one you want." This is about the average regard for orphans in Shonen Anime Societies
"This little girl happened to be a telepath." She's a WHAT NOW? What a casual way to introduce this fact
Honestly the random facts about what Anya likes and the bursting into tears with unclear motivation seems very much a realistic parent and child experience
"I just don't understand this irrational behaviour." I love how quickly Loid Forger aka Twilight, International Spy, has been foiled by this tiny, psychic child
Loid is approaching parenthood very casually so far. Surely a spy (pretending to be a psychologist, even) can recognize the psychological impact of abandonment on a child
Fjlkjfljflf what kind of society allows Loid to barricade his six (or maybe four) year-old child inside their apartment unsupervised all day LMAOOO
SCREAM not Anya immediately revealing their location from playing spy games. Also a very realistic problem to have
"Boss, I think we should just give up on the toupée." [Pulls out a gun and shoots him] "Transparency is essential in government. Toupées are a no-go." WHY ON EARTH ARE TOUPÉES THE ULTIMATE SPY PLOT DEVICE JFKJFJF
Love that the betrayal of the nation is SECOND to the toupée. They said: Wigs are for liars and cowards
"No one reached out their hand to save me. I felt alone, in despair, and so powerless all I could do was cry." We have unlocked Loid's parental instincts AND his tragic backstory in the span of 1 and a half minutes
"I'm a failure as a spy? No. My mistake was putting that little girl in danger to begin with. How could I forget? To create a world where children won't have to cry... That's why I became a spy." Alright Loid, colour me charmed:
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Ahhhhhh I love Loid giving his enemy the chance to go back to his daughter instead of attacking him
Loid deciding to take Anya back with him despite all his misgivings bc he wants to give her a home 🥺💘 HE'S NICE
"Papa is a huge liar. But he's such a cool liar." Awww, Anya
I can see how being psychic and being able to hear every single child's confusion during a test would be distracting
"I... relaxed? What the hell is going on with me?" FATHERHOOD
"It is mandatory that the applicant attend with both parents. Absolutely no exceptions." For a society with such a cavalier approach to violence and orphans (at least where Loid goes), you'd think they'd be more accepting of single parents
Everyone's absolutely on Yor's ass for being a single 27-year-old. [Yor as Charlotte Lucas voice] I'm 27 years old. I have no money and no prospects. I'm already a burden to my brother—
"I have a client for you, Thorn Princess." Is Thorn Princess Yor's sleeper agent activation phrase? Her whole face darkened
Clearly Yor doesn't have the same violence-aversion as Loid:
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Yor ready to fall in love with anyone who's nice to her. Mgkjgkg but same perhaps
"A spy...An assassin...? I'm... so excited!" [Narrator voiceover] "The little girl was straving for entertainment." The narrator's interjections are very funny
HAHAHAHA I love that they're both trying to fake date each other for very different reasons. Incredible, 10/10, love this
It's fun that Franky, spy gadget guy, is also now mission back-up
Also I take back everything I said about Loid's violence aversion
"I'll be sure to tell your brother that you came alone." Why is every woman that Yor works with (and, it seems, every woman with more than one line in this show thus far) seem to be so mean-spirited LOL
HFHLKHGLHGLGH Loid showing up to the party covered in blood and introducing himself as her husband when she needed a boyfriend. We love a spy who is terrible at his job
Loid managing to somehow make a really amazing impression on this party by being hot and defending Yor's past as a masseuse (murderer). GOOD FOR HIM
"The concussive recovery method is the latest in modern medical practices." Imagine going to your doctor for a prescription and having them kickbox you into submission LMAO
"Um, Loid-san, this may not be the best moment to ask, but why don't we get married?" SCREAMING AT YOR BEING THE ONE TO PROPOSE AND HOW KNOCKS THE WIND OUT OF LOID:
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"No matter what hardships await us, let us be there for one another." [Explosions go off in the background] Colour me sold on this grenade-pin ring and spy-assassin romance
I love that they're going on a little family outing to prep for their interview
I can also understand how a political rally would be stressful for Anya
"I've completed countless missions, yet once again I find myself losing heart." Loid will eventually get used to his girls who are obssessed with nuts and knives 💞
All of them calling attention to themselves by helping an old lady deal with a purse snatcher ❣️ I love this family. I've only had the Forgers for two episodes but if anything happened to them I would [redact] everyone in this room and then myself
"I guess... receiving thanks every once in a while wouldn't hurt." "Papa is a softie." YEAH HE IS
"Papa and Mama are flirting." "No we are not!" HEE HEE
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"Anya, are you going to be okay in this crowd?" Dad Mode Activated
Ohhhhhhh Anya helping the cow through her fear. Baby!!!!
OHGHGLGHLKGH setting aside how they managed to have at least three outfits in that suitcase, I really want to know how the quick change is happening in the middle of this cobblestone pathway to the school
"Why are you getting irritated, Loid? She's not even your real wife." I love that whenever someone makes an out-of-pocket insult to Yor (her coworker calling her a whore, this dorm master critiquing her lack of cooking) Loid jumps in and he's like, HEY, THAT'S MY WIFE
"My Papa and Mama are both so much fun, and I love them very much. I want to be with them forever." I also want this family to stay together forever, Anya 💗
Both Yor and Loid ready to fight this jerk for making their daughter cry!! I love them
The hope that Loid has because of his new family. This is really fulfilling a deepseated psychological need that I had to watch an anime that's just about a nice man
"He might just be the best spy in Westalis, so don't worry too much." With all due respect, that doesn't say much for the other spies, considering how suspiciously Loid acts everywhere he goes
Yor genuinely considering murdering someone to get her daughter into school 💝 Parenting!
"I appreciate the attempt at consolation, my elegant boy." This is how I will be responding to all attempts for someone to comfort me from now on
Loid just carrying a party popper around in his pocket for when Anya gets in. I LOVE HEEEM
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Loid can waste government resources on a little play mission for his family. As a treat
"He's requesting agents. As many as possible," incredible how Loid immediately folds to his daughter's request to be attacked by enemies LMAOOO
HAHAHAHA Loid telling them in morse code it's an imperative part of Operation Strix, which is technically true, but not at all for any reason they would think
The way they're all like, "I will JUMP at the chance to attack Loid, been waiting my whole life for this," is also really fun
I was waiting for the spy costume. I am so glad it is a plot point
I can't decide what I enjoy more, Loid's blush over having to put on the costume mask, or the way the other spies are fangirling over him
Loid getting his butt kicked by Yor in this drunk roleplay does make me wonder if we're going to see that her assassination missions run contrary to his goals of peacekeeping
"I've come to save you, Princess Anya." "Papa!" "Wait, I'm supposed to be your dad in this?" AWWWW ANYA JUST WANTED TO HER DAD TO ACT OUT SAVING HER
In fairness to Anya's fear of kidnapping, she has been kidnapped before!
"Though, you're usually on the ball, so [discussing Operation Strix Phase 2] may not be necessary." "Well... I may actually be off my game lately." At least Loid's willing to own up to it LMAOOO
Firstly, what happened just now was definitely an attempted [redacted] crime, which is hideously uncalled for, what the fuck. But secondly: I love Yor and Anya bonding time
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"I know it's really dangerous to be an Eden student now. But it won't be as scary if I train. I can do my best at school without dying!" I do love the idea of teaching this tiny child fighting techniques, but my god, what a thing to say
"Even if I can't be like a normal mother, I'm going to do everything I can for her." YOOOOOOOOOOOOR I love you
"She's already realized how amazing I am and fallen for me." Incredible confidence from Damian Desmond, Very Rich Six-Year-Old LMAO
"Mama, you liar. Smiling didn't help at all." I am very entertained by Anya's psychic child conflict management
Ffjhfkhfk I really do love the way that Anya tries her best to do things in a way that her parents would most approve of. Smiling first, trying to not get in trouble in front of the teacher when she punches Damian, claiming defence of a friend. She's a good kid!
What will Loid, who is not actually a psychologist, be doing during the day while Anya goes to school and his wife does her work. I hope it involves costumes
Update from 1 minute later: At the very least, it involves stalking elementary students from a rooftop
Update from 4 minutes later: IT DID INVOLVE COSTUMES!
Also. Also. How the hell would Loid's plan work if his daughter was NOT psychic. Like yeah yeah yeah, she knows she's supposed to be a good student. But it doesn't seem like he's explicitly told her out loud to be friends with Damian. So is he just hoping for her organic success? It's a good thing his baby knows exactly what he's thinking LMAO
I love that Becky has decided to be Anya's no. 1 supporter. She needs a friend!!
"Why do I find it so hard to speak when she's in front of me?" In a very expected turn of events, lil Damian has a crush:
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"Plan B is done for." You are wrong Loid! Plan Befriend has simply turned to Plan Boy Has a Crush on Your Daughter
This at-home tutoring really resonates with my experience of being the child of Asian parents with high expectations when it comes to their children's innate talent for math
"No, Yor. You're not a stranger, nor part of someone else's family. Right now, you're the mother of the Forgers. I'm counting on you to provide whatever I'm lacking." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I love the Forgers
I loveeee this parenting discussion around positive reinforcement
"I wonder what it'd feel like to have a real family," said Loid, tits deep in a family and fatherhood
"My sister got married?" I was waiting for this ball to drop. Can't wait!
NOT BABY BROTHER YURI BEING EMPLOYED BY THE TORTURE DEPARTMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OMG
"[Twilight] is the villain who is trying to make this world fall into chaos. You could call him my natural enemy." NOT BABY BROTHER YURI ANNOUNCING HIS INTENTIONS TO MERC HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW WHO HE'S ABOUT TO MEET AT DINNER:
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I gotta say, despite them introing with assassinations, I do feel like Yuri represents a drastic tone shift for this show
"Yuri... I mean, my younger brother is coming here today! [Loid's voice raises several octaves] "Today?" The voice crack was funny. Back to family shenanigans
As a sister. I AM SICK OF THE SISTER COMPLEX JOKES. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, BABY BROTHER YURI, ANIME AS A GENRE, AND WHATEVER JAPANESE SOCIETAL NORM THAT ALLOWS THIS TO BE A CONSTANT IN SO MANY DIFFERENT STORIES?
"What could my sister possibly like about this guy?! Just because he can cook a little, and he's handsome, and tall, and considerate, and a doctor," It sounds like Yuri is talking himself into having a crush on Loid????
Wow, Loid has made Yuri as an intelligence agent within like, mere minutes of meeting him. Maybe Loid is a great spy!
Ahhhh, so the reason Yor took up killing as a job was to put her little brother through school. How honourable!
"Kiss here and now." I can't decide if this is terrible or fun. Maybe both. My money is on Anya interrupting to see her Uncle
I do appreciate that Yor has never been kissed! It makes sense, given her murder job, and I feel like we don't often get 20somethings without prior entanglements
HDJHDKJDHDHD this is so unhinged and weird. Jesus. Yuri Briar puts the B in Behnchod
"Loid Forger. You may lay claim to my sister's lips for now." WHAT A THING TO SAY
"So, let's do everything we can to make sure Yor is happy." Loid is THE Husband. There are no other husbands, just him!
"Children are so curiously observant at times," said Loid, about his daughter who is literally telepathic
"It's a terrible idea to date a woman while deceiving her," said Loid, as if that has not been the premise of his ENTIRE romantic history thus far
I think Loid is starting to develop (romantic) feelings:
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You know, I haven't really commented on the horn cap thing, but I do wonder if they are to do with Anya's powers rather than just a fun little design thing
I need you to see what I'm looking at when they tell me this is Bill Watkins, Age Six:
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I do like all the montages of how all of these children (and Bill Watkins, Deeply Suspicious Age Six) were preparing for this dodgeball tournament
SCREAM THE CUT TO THE DRAGON BALL Z NAMEK BACKGROUND
Damian taking the dodgeball bullet for Anya. Love u little guy
Calling it right now, with all this lead-up, I don't think Anya's throw is going to work out the way she wants
Update from a few seconds later: Yep, that was correct!
Gnjghkgjhgkjhg Loid loves Anya too much to be strict with her so he is engaging in quite a permissive parenting style
ANYA TRYING TO SAVE THE LITTLE BOY FROM DROWNING WHEN SHE'S JUST A LITTLE GIRL HERSELF. SWEETEST BABY ALIVE
DAD'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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ANYA EARNING HER FIRST STELLA! YEAH BABYGIRL
I like how they do a count of her Stellas (merit points which lead to the Imperial Scholar Society of Parent War Instigation) and Tonitrus Bolts (demerit points which lead to expulsion) whenever Anya gets closer to her goal
Also, bonkers that getting a Stella doesn't cancel out your Bolt? It's like, forgive, but never forget
Fhkhfkjfhfkjh Anya deciding she'll only respond to Starlight Anya. Very Six-Year-Old Behaviour
"Do you really think we go to some third-rate school that would hand out a Stella by mistake?" Damian continuing his chivalry streak
1) Extremely rude of the people to treat the dogs that way and 2) Does that big white dog's flash to the Forger family mean that we have unlocked a psychic puppy subplot?
I have been thinking since Damian was introduced that he and Anya are paralleling the Syaroan and Sakura Archetypes, but there is no greater Cardcaptor Sakura parallel than the fact this episode is called Penguin Park
"Please wait, Papa, who is a good and normal person." 10/10 spy deception Anya, no notes
Gghkhgkghkg Loid being yelled at by his Spy Juice Lady for not prioritizing this other mission. How does no one overhear this!!
"Mama, I'm being kidnapped," said Anya, as if she did not latch onto this spy herself to help out her dad's Penguin Mission
It's incredible how many of Loid's problems are solved just by him being hot:
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Awwwwww I'm glad they did some actual family time after the Aquarium mission. Also I love how embarrassed Loid is every time has to do something silly, like pretending to be a Penguin Plushy for his kid, but how he'll immediately do it, even in public. Best dad!!
"Being both a Papa and an agent... must be tough balancing the two." Real and true, spy chauffeur
I love how they do parallel plots between family stuff and spy stuff. Anya looking for a puppy... Dad looking for bomb dogs!
They are in fact explaining the psychic puppy subplot
"It is far too early for Anya-san to get married!" Yor, I would like to study the way your mind works (also mom's here!!!!!!!!!!!!)
UHHHHHHHHHHHHHH EXTREMELY TRAUMATIZING FOR ANYA TO HAVE TO WATCH HER DAD'S IMMINENT DEATH BY EXPLOSION THROUGH DOG-O-VISION
That was an incredibly morose diatribe from The Handler, who is the only spy other than Loid to get a title/name
How is this baby supposed to disarm a bomb?!?!?!??
Ahhhh, by leaving a ketchup message for her dad on the door that says "NO! (Drawing of Bomb)" Of course! We love a girl who knows how to improvise
Dad has got back in the danger zone to stop the last of the Foreign Affairs Minister's terrorist threats, fair enough! I really hope they don't make him [redacted violence involving animal]
OH THANK GOD THEY HAD HIM ATTACK THE VEST AND NOT THE DOG—I WAS PRETTY CONFIDENT THEY WOULDN'T DO THAT TO LOID, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW WITH ANIME
From Yor's perspective, Loid has been in the bathroom for two full episodes
Yor kicking Keith the Radicalized Student Terrorist's car off the road after he has been discovered by Anya and foiled by Loid. We love a team effort!
"How many times must I tell you not to run off alone because it's dangerous?!" [Tearfully] "I'm sowwy." Awwww a very reasonable worry for your daughter who keeps running into every spy mission she possibly can
"I also had a daughter about her age." The Handler's tragic backstory unlocked?!
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"Be prepared to take care of him until the end. I may have no right to say those words." Loid's dog care advice has accidentally turned into existential dread about adopting a child for the sake of a peacekeeping mission
Awwwwwww Yor taking cooking classes from her workplace enemy to be a better cook for her family
"Camilla-san has always been a nice person," said Yor, about the woman who called her a whore in front of a room full of people and tried to scald her with hot food on like Episode 2
"The more I savour each bite, the more I see my life flash before my eyes." Say what you will about Weird Brother Yuri, he is supportive
Admittedly this cooking lesson episode has made me like Camilla
HAHAHAHA the "They are whispering" caption so the viewer can understand why no one's reacting to the yelling about spy intel on Scruffy's potential lover
Awwwwwww Loid opting out of the family outing to comfort his little scruffy friend, who I have just re-learned is named Franky
LMAOOOOO at them just having Henderson-sensei do literally all of the classes. Top-tier writing
The Handler now has unlocked TWO new names, which are Sylvia Sherwood and Fullmetal Lady
"On the one day each month that Mister Moon goes away, Anya's power to read minds goes away too." Oooooh new psychic baby lore unlocked
Even though I don't care for Weird Brother Yuri, it is nice that Anya has someone outside of her parents to rely on for tutoring
Loid covering for Incompetent Spy Daybreak jkhfkhfkjhf
I love that Loid broke into the school, not to boost his daughter's grades, but rather to check that she didn't fail and leave it that way, and then reverse cheat (as in, undo someone's wrongdoing) to make sure two other students got their earned grades. What a man!
Ffljlfjjflkj Becky objectifying Anya's dad. I know they're six, but it's not a trope I love
"I was trying to report the cigarette I found, then he punched me." I know this is a scheme but what kind of society has SIX-YEAR-OLDS plausibly smoking???
"Second Son wouldn't do that! Anya was watching." Heck yeah Anya standing up for Damian (even though her Damian motives are decidedly ulterior LOL)
"Don't try to drag me into these adult matters in the first place!" An incredibly reasonable request from Damian
Gdljljggjglkj I love these kids telling Glooman 'Actually, the biggest problem is you have a bad personality' True and real and cutting
"Don't worry. The West is a safe place." ANYAAAA. Something something children and their ability to see people outside of the confines of politics
"There's saltwater pouring out of my eyes." The implication that George has not cried once in his six years of life LMAOOOO
Genuinely heartwarming to see all these kids singing for George and giving away their favourite school items for his sake (also I bet you $5 he doesn't actually have to quit this school)
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Update from two minutes later: I was correct lol
I've been thinking about this since the hospital volunteering, but it is kind of a flaw in Loid's spy tactics to choose a public-facing job, because at any point someone could just walk into the hospital and realize he doesn't work there kjhgkjhgg like he should've just been some sort of private practice
Loid running home to "check on what Yor was doing at the school" but actually using it as an excuse to ask her on a lunch date <3
As if the show could psychically tell that I was wondering about it, they are now forcing Loid into a "Take Your Kid to Work Day" situation lmaooo
"[Loid] became an important part of our team as soon as he transferred in." How is Loid an important part of the staff if he's constantly out of hospital doing spy stuff??? How is he even capable of giving psychological care???
"To go with the rest of the facade, a number of my coworkers have also inflitrated this hospital." Ah, perhaps the fact he has a research position and other spies in the hospital is enough to cover his absences and maybe make him have fake patients
Honestly, it's a wonder Anya hasn't run into more problems in the spy realm recently other than getting stuck in a secret passage
HHGKJHGKJHGKJGH Loid taking Anya's improvised sandbox of toys as a sign of deep psychological distress
"He golfs at his workplace and creates shady channels." In every class there is one child who has the most chaotic possible interpretation of their parents' job (the kid who says their parent stabs people for money when really their parent is a tattoo artist) and Anya has decided to be that student
"But if Mrs. Forger just happened to retire, that position would have to be filled, would it not?" Why is Fiona so comically evil about getting to fake marry Loid
"But... this woman doesn't seem to have any flaws in her appearance." Even Father-snatcher Fiona Frost thinks Yor is hot
"To think the great Twilight is stuck playing house.. It's a disservice to the world." Loid said: Fuck you Fiona, I like playing house!
This silent spy standoff has certainly taken a turn:
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I actually kind of love that Loid is faced with someone else who has feelings for him, because I KNOW for certain he will choose Yor, and I think that's good for Yor to see
"You're already working hard enough, Yor. That's why Anya is so fond of you. I couldn't ask you to do anything more." HE LOVES HERRRRR
I really resonate with Yor's Girls Who Are Bad At Stuff representation kjhgkgjh
"Agent Penguin suffered honourable injuries in battle." Loid sewing up his daughter's penguin stuffy and making up a backstory for their dog chewing him up ❤️ I love hiiiim
I appreciate that Fiona confirms from someone who knew him before Loid has been changed by love (for Yor and Anya)
NOT THE DOUBLE FAKE TENNIS COUPLE NAMES BEING TWAIN AND NAFALIA PHONY
Though, now that I think of it, I guess Loid's given last name is Forger, so really this is a pattern of very silly names
"We've been developing a new doping agent called OSO-R along with the government in preparation for the upcoming East-West Sports Exhibition." Every so often they dip back into the crime world, and today it's sports doping
"I wonder what her relationship with Loid is." Yor babygirl, you do not need to worry about her, Loid is fully Team Yor
I love this little look into all the different things that come up in an infiltration (having to be very good at specific things like tennis, dealing with potential poisons, compensating for traps)
"You're still young, and you're clearly talented. From now on, hone your craft properly. I'm sure you'll become an amazing player." "Twain, I'll really do my best from now on!" Aside from being an incredible professional tennis player, Loid's talents also include reforming his opponents into better people:
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Fhfhfkjhfkfjhf Loid every time Fiona comes near Yor: Hey, please leave my wife alone
"Come at me with everything you've got." "Uh, don't, Fiona." Loid knows Yor has enough physical might to beat a hundred tennis players
Yor wanting Loid to praise her for winning the match 🥺❤️
Loid taking Yor on a reassurance date to let her know she's still #1
"Wait, does Yor have romantic feelings for me?!" TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH, BUT YOU GOT THERE, LOID
NOT LOID IMMEDIATELY SWITCHING TO PLAN HONEY TRAP AND YOR ACCIDENTALLY KICKING SOME SENSE TO HIM
"I can't let my guard down like that. Somehow, being with Yor throws me off." Loid, you stupid man, who can't see that him AND his wife have feelings for each other
"I would love for you to continue being Anya's mother. And to continue in the role of my wife." This is the most honest thing Loid has said in hours
Anya getting Becky a keychain because she didn't think she was allowed to get one for herself!! Sweet girl
What kind of father has ZERO time to interact with his son LMAO (Donovan Desmond, apparently)
"Anya's a little scared because she's not sure if Papa loves her or not. He always gets mad at me. But I believe in him because I love him." ANYAAAAAAAAAA
Papa Desmond and his truly haunting eyes finally make an on-screen appearance and meeting with Loid:
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"Even the child that shares your blood is a stranger." Is this a general view from Donovan on his parent-child relationships or is this a shot at Loid for not being Anya's biological father?
"People will never be able to understand each other." What a thing to say about your six-year-old, who is standing right in front of you with his friends
"What's truly important is to continue walking them despite [not understanding each other]. I decided that I would accept her regardless, and I try to find every opportunity I can to talk to her." Loid laying spy ground work on top of challenging Donovan to be a better father. We love a man who can multitask
"I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually dislike you. It'd make me happy if you could be friends with her." "Well, I want to, too..." Gjhgjhgjhfjlfj Loid is also working on Operation Playdate
This has been a pretty delightful show so far. Spy x Family proving to everyone you can fight people AND be nice!!!!
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girlgenius1111 · 3 months
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burning embers
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part 3 of the great war :)
no warnings i don't think.
a night out with the team ends disastrously. or, perhaps, it's just what r and Ona need.
-----
Fortunately or unfortunately, the team only spent one night in the hotel in Tenerife, leaving for the airport shortly after the game. You weren't ignoring Ona exactly, but you weren't going out of your way to be near her. You were embarrassed, honestly; you'd let things go too far. You couldn't help but notice, though, that when you were around her, you felt lighter. The team had a couple days off, and you were hoping the days away from the defender would help clear your head.
You didn't think that you could be more convinced that Alexia was up to something with you and Ona, especially after being roomed together. That was until she suggested going out as a team the day after the game. Alexia. Alexia "I don't drink during the season" Putellas. It was so out of character, everyone had first thought that she was joking. She only doubled down though, which was how you found yourself walking into a bar in Barcelona to meet the rest of the team. You'd spent... a long time... getting ready, finally deciding on a hot pink corset top that may have been too small and black leather pants. It wasn't for Ona. Definitely not.
Consciously, you had decided that you couldn't go for her. It was too soon, and she was your teammate. And she likely didn't feel the same way. Unconsciously, however, your every move was about her. What you wore, what you did, what you said. It was all done to catch her attention, all done somewhat without you even noticing.
You were late, as a consequence of this, and most of the team was scattered around the bar by the time you'd arrived. You made your way over to the table that several of the girls were gathered around. There was a general cheer of greeting as you walked up, which you returned. Ona smiled softly at you, and you returned the look, feeling a blush rush into your cheeks.
"Ay chica, I think it's time we find you a rebound, sí?" Mapi asked, throwing an arm around your shoulders. "That one is pretty," she said, nodding at a girl standing across the bar who hadn't taken her eyes off of you since you'd walked in. You kept your eyes anywhere but on Ona as you replied.
"Eh. I'm good. Not really feeling it tonight," you told her, ignoring the way every person around the tables jaw dropped.
"No... hookup? No rebound?" Mapi questioned. "Are you feeling okay chica?" She jokingly brought her hand up to your forehead, as if feeling you for a fever. You shrugged her off, laughing.
"One night stands aren't really me anymore," you shrug. "Apparently, they are Alessia's thing, though."
With that, you walk over to the bar, allowing the information to sink in. You weren't really sure why you'd said it, but you couldn't find it in yourself to feel bad.
"Alessia cheated then?" Lucy said quietly, as soon as you were out of earshot. Alexia and Ona nodded.
"I'll kill her," Mapi scowled, eyes burning with fury. Ingrid rolled her eyes, setting a calming hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.
"Don't talk about it, not tonight. I want her to have fun and be distracted." Alexia commanded, and everyone agreed.
You busied yourself with getting a couple of shots, downing two of them standing at the bar. You carried a third back to the table, a new goal in mind; getting absolutely smashed.
-----
It was too easy, really. No one really even clocked how much you'd had to drink, or maybe they were just letting you have fun, until you stumbled into Alexia on your way out to the dance floor with Pina and Cata.
"Amiga, I think you've had enough," she suggested, steadying you.
"Nope. I'm having fun, don't ruin it." You said, shrugging her arm off and following your friends. Alexia sighed, looking after you with concern. She knew you were safe, at least. This was why she liked going out with the whole team; there were plenty of eyes around, everyone watching out for each other. It would be hard for you to do something irreversibly stupid with everyone around.
"I think someone should take her home." Ingrid said quietly, watching you hang on Cata as you danced. She turned to Alexia, as well as she could; Mapi had her arms wrapped around the Norwegian protectively, as someone had tried to hit on her earlier. Mapi had not enjoyed that, and was now stood behind Ingrid, making sure unwanted guests stayed away. Ingrid was pretending to be annoyed, but her lips kept tugging into a small, shy smile, whenever Mapi glared at anyone who got too close.
"I don't know. I can't tell if she needs this, needs to have fun, or if this is a mistake." Alexia said, conflicted.
Ona's tore her eyes off of you, turning to face her teammates. "She's had fun. 7 drinks of fun."
"Counting her drinks, are we?" Lucy asked, smirking into her drink. Ona stepped on her foot in response.
"Someone needs to watch out for her, and you all seem content to watch her self destruct," Ona bit back.
"Oni, no one's going to let her self destruct, or let her doing anything stupid or unsafe." Mapi said.
Alexia chimed in. "She just needs to rela-"
"-Where'd she go?" Ona cut in, looking back at where you were, only to find you not there.
The other girls hid smiles at Ona's worry.
"She went to the bathroom, I just watched her walk over there," Ingrid informed her, and Ona nodded, pausing a second, before pushing away from the table and heading in the direction you'd gone.
"I give them 2 weeks." Mapi said. Ingrid nodded in agreement.
"2 weeks? 1 at the most." Lucy replied.
"Don't be ridiculous," Alexia said, and the other girls looked at her in surprise, expecting her to have picked up on the tension between the two of you. "If they haven't kissed in the next 2 days, I'm locking them in a room together." The table burst into laughter.
-----
Ona waited for you outside the bathroom, telling herself that she was just worried about a friend who was clearly struggling. That all went out the window when you stumbled out of the bathroom, into Ona's arms. She caught you easily, and your face was only inches away from hers, her warm breath hitting your face as her eyes flitted between your lips and back to your eyes.
You were drunk. Not too drunk, but drunk enough that you were feeling brave. You leaned in, pressing your lips to Ona's. She kissed you back instinctually, wrapping her arms more securely around you. She tasted like tequila and chapstick, her lips soft against yours. You could only enjoy the kiss for a moment, though, before she was pulling back. It took everything in her to end the kiss, but she couldn't let this happen.
"No, y/n, no."
"Why not?" you asked, emboldened by the way she'd kissed you back.
"You're drunk."
"Not that drunk. I want this Ona, I want you." You said desperately. She still held you at arms length.
"I- I want you too. I won't be a rebound for you, though. I don't want to just fuck you and forget it happened." she responded quietly, dropping her eyes from your face. You jerked backwards like she'd struck you. Ona's stomach twisted at the hurt look on your face.
"You think I'd do that to you?" You asked, shocked.
"Y/n," Ona started, apparently realizing how her words had hurt you.
"No, forget it. Just forget it Ona." You said, turning and heading back out to the bar. Ona groaned. How had she screwed this up so badly? She'd meant to make her feelings clear, that she wanted more with you, and instead, she'd made it seem like she thought of you as someone who would hurt her. Pulling out her phone, she sent a text to Alexia, before heading out the door of the bar, and beginning the walk home.
-----
You didn't quite make it back to the table. Instead, you found yourself, again, at the bar, drinking as much as you could before your teammates realized where you were and inevitably cut you off.
"Fuck." Alexia said, glancing down at her phone.
"What?" Mapi asked, looking over her shoulder.
"Ona said she left, and to keep an eye on y/n like 10 minutes ago. Something must have happened." Alexia looked up, scanning the room for you. She spotted you at the bar, slumped onto Cata's shoulder, Pina and Patri standing next to the both of you, conversing quietly. It was clear they were trying to get you out of the bar and home without any of the older girls noticing how drunk you were.
With a deep sigh, Alexia pointed you out to the other girls, and her, Mapi, and Ingrid rose to head towards you.
-----
You'd blacked out at some point, the last thing you remember being Cata taking a drink out of your hand, and trying to get you to drink some water. If she had intervened, it must have been bad.
You woke the next morning to the sensation that someone had run you over with their car. Your head throbbed painfully, and your mouth was completely dry. Your stomach didn't feel great either, but you ignored that for now, staying completely still in the hopes that if you didn't move, you wouldn't feel worse.
Your eyes stayed shut, protecting you from the morning light leaking in through the blinds. That is, until you feel the bed shift next to you. You crack open an eye, praying that it was one of your friends, just keeping an extra eye on you. Maybe you should have been more specific with that wish, because the sight that met you was Ona, propped up on one elbow, gazing down at you in concern.
"Ona?" you croaked out, almost not believing your eyes.
"Hi, cariño." She responded quietly. "How are you feeling?"
"I think I died last night." you reply, and she snorts.
"That's what drinking half the bar will do to you." There was a beat of silence.
"Ona, did we..." you trail off, not really sure how else she would have ended up in your bed.
"Ay dios mío, no. Of course not. You could barely stand, let alone consent." Ona stated. You nod slowly, squeezing your eyes shut when the movement makes the room spin.
"How did you get here? You left." You say. "Did you come back? I don't remember... anything really."
"Not to the bar," she explains, looking uncomfortable. "I... I came here. Just to make sure you were okay."
--
By the time Ingrid, Mapi, and Alexia got you home, you were barely conscious. Ona, meanwhile, had made it home, but was too wound up to sleep. She felt horrible for what she'd said. She had to fix it, as soon as possible. She checked her phone, seeing a text from Alexia that confirmed that you'd gotten home safely. She grabbed her keys, completely sober by now, and headed towards your house.
When she arrived, she knocked on the door, preparing herself to apologize. She was surprised when Alexia opened the door.
"Ale?" Alexia fought a smile at Ona's appearance at your apartment, and gestured her inside like she'd been expecting her.
"What are you doing here?" Ona questioned, following Alexia into the house.
"Y/n's pretty drunk," she explained. "We couldn't leave her."
"I told you to keep an eye on her," Ona scolded, glaring at Alexia.
"I didn't see your text for a bit, and by the time I did, it was kind of too late. We got her home as soon as we could."
Ona shook her head, shoving past Alexia and heading towards the bathroom, where the sounds of you being sick were coming from. She entered the room, spotting Mapi leaning against the sink, a glass of water in her hand, looking troubled.
You were hunched over the toilet, every drink you'd had that night making a reappearance. You were disoriented, and your throat burned with every gag, causing tears to fall down your face. Ingrid was sat next to you, rubbing your back and speaking soothingly in your ear. You looked so upset, so miserable, Ona felt her heart clench in her chest at the sight.
You leaned back finally, resting your head against the wall. You were sweating, and Mapi went to hand Ingrid a damp towel to put on your forehead. Ona grabbed it first though, gesturing for Ingrid to get up.
"Let me," she insisted. Ingrid raised an eyebrow, but stood, allowing Ona to take her spot next to you. With the utmost care, Ona dabbed the towel over your brow, gently wiping the tears off your face.
Mapi and Ingrid stood in the doorway, looking uncertain.
"Ona, I don't think she'd want you to see her like this," Mapi said.
The defender's head snapped up, and she glared at her teammate.
"Well, I'm not leaving," she stated, daring Mapi to disagree. The couple relented, but didn't leave the room.
"Lets get her in bed, yeah?" Ingrid asked, stepping forward to support your other side. Together, they managed to half carry you into your bedroom and settle you under the covers. Mapi and Alexia followed them in, and Ingrid stepped back to stand next to them. Ona sat on the edge of the bed next to you, smoothing your hair back out of your face. She looked to be in pain, and each of her teammates separately felt that it was purely a result of seeing you so unwell.
"Someone should stay with her." Alexia said, breaking the silence. Without looking up, Ona responded.
"I will." She left no room for argument, moving to sit on the other side of your bed, pulling the blankets up around your now unconscious form securely.
"Call us in the morning, okay?" Alexia said, and Ona finally looked at her.
"I will." She said. She didn't miss the way her captain's eyes held a warning; Ona needed to fix whatever she'd done, and do everything in her power to never hurt you again like she evidently had tonight. The older girls left, and Ona settled in next to you, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of your chest.
--
Ona gave you a very short, detail free version of this story, and you pretended that her version made sense, even though it seemed like she was leaving things out. She was avoiding your eyes now, and you could tell that she wanted to ask if you remembered kissing her. Deciding to get the conversation out of the way as soon as possible, you spoke up.
"Ona, I'm sorry I kissed you. I shouldn't have, it was stupid. I didn't mean to put you in a bad position."
It was perfect, you wanted to add. It made the ache in your chest fade away, like it did anytime Ona smiled at you. It was the happiest you'd been in weeks, her arms wrapped around you. You didn't regret it, not really. All you regretted was that you were drunk, and Ona had assumed you'd just wanted sex.
"Do you regret it?" She asked.
"Do you really think I'd just sleep with you and move on?" You countered, looking away from her.
She shook her head regretfully. "That's not what I meant, really y/n, I'm sorry it came across that way."
"What did you mean?" You ask, subconsciously scooting closer to her.
"I meant that I couldn't just have one night with you. I want more than that. I want you, all of you. All the time. And I know you don't want that. There's nothing wrong with random hookups, y/n, it's just not what I want with you."
"Why do you think I don't want more with you, Ona?" You wondered. She shrugged. Ona's jaw was clenched, uncomfortable with her vulnerability, and you wanted to make the look of unease on her face go away.
"You have a lot on your mind lately, I'm sure a relationship isn't what you want right now, especially after what happened with Alessia." She explained. You took a moment to gather your thoughts.
"I know I don't seem like I'm handling this breakup very well. It's not really because of Alessia. We wouldn't have worked, I know that. The cheating... that's been hard. The hardest thing though, the reason I've been so off, is you."
"Me? I'm stressing you out?" Ona asked, completely surprised. She'd thought you were torn up about the breakup, obviously.
"Ona, pretending that I haven't been falling in love with you is the hardest thing I've ever done," you whisper, and Ona's head snaps up, warm eyes finally meeting yours.
"Falling... in love with me?" She echoed, in full disbelief.
"I get it if you aren't there yet, really I do. It feels like it should be too soon, right? I don't know. Being around you makes me happy. You make me feel calm, when everything else in my life feels like an avalanche of stress. I just... I really just want to see your smile every second of every day. You make me feel like everything might be okay." You swallowed roughly.
It was out there now, no taking it back. Even though she'd said she wanted you, doubt still clawed at your mind. That is, until she spoke, after what felt like several minutes but was likely only a couple seconds.
"Thank god," she said, suddenly leaning in and pressing a searing kiss to your lips. Her hands were everywhere, in your hair, on your face, holding your body close to hers, as her lips worked against yours perfectly. It was perfect, it was everything. You felt more for Ona then than you had in the entire time you were with Alessia. Alessia hadn't make you feel this; like you were on fire, alight with love and need for the girl on top of you. You had to pull away much too soon for your liking.
"Oni, my head is already spinning,"you gasped out, and she pulled away instantly, concerned. "I really wish I wasn't violently hungover right now," you said, taking deep breaths as your head pulsed painfully.
"It's okay," she said. "I'll be here when you feel better." You look at her, bringing your finger up to lightly trace over the freckles that littered her face. The sun was shining in behind her, giving her a golden halo. It was fitting, you thought. It felt melodramatic, to think of her as an angel, but there was no other description that fit.
It didn't feel like you'd chosen her, chosen to like her, to feel this way. It felt completely out of your control, in a way that felt like some kind of divine intervention. If you believed in god, you'd be convinced she was sent by him. Instead, you decide that Ona, the angel, knew you needed her. Perfect, beautiful Ona.
Your perfect, beautiful Ona.
-----
this sounds like the ending of the story but its simply not. i have more up my sleeve 😈
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Backwards reflection
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Summary: Coriolanus deals wiht the war inside his head. You might be too alike after all, but maybe that's why you need each other. Facing the ugly sides is a mirror you have grown to love.
Pairing: Sub!Coriolanus Snow x Dom!reader
Warnings: Coriolanus and reader (edge lords who are a bit fucked in the head), angst, making out, fighting, lots of inner angst and bad emotions for both parties, brief fight, kissing, technically some nudity(nothing happens just touch starvation)
A/N: this tired me out emotionally and physically but I live making this man pathetic. Part three will include smut.(finally)
Word count: 3.2k
[Part 1] [Masterlist]
Coriolanus Snow who never acted out after the incident. Sure there were times where your behavior got on his nerves but you'd grown familiar with his responses and moods so you soothed his anger with a loving touch and he as always gave in.
Coriolanus Snow who had never realized how good it felt to be spoiled. He had never allowed himself the thought of relinquishing his control in any way to someone, it was all he had during the harder days. But with you here? Sure you hadnt given him much of a choice in the beginning, but you cared for him in the transactional way he did for you.
You loved each other the only way you could, and most days that was enough.
Most of his time was still spent juggling the Academy and keeping his reputation pristine but there was no need to be as obsessed with it as before. He'd give himself a breather sit and smell the roses(literaly). He'd sit in parks and indulge in using the lavish Capitol public transport with the card you'd given him. He discovers how limited his world has been, it hadn't occurred to him to think about the spaces inbetween the Academy and his home. He visits parks and gardens, cafes and restaurants. He meets a lot of his classmates outside of school, albeit it involuntarily, but still he indulges in their company now that the look of their inherited riches doesn't make him sick. He strengthens his bonds and positions. He feels good.
☆Coriolanus Snow who enjoys life under your thumb. You are aware of everything he does, who he meets and where he goes, what he buys. He never asks from where you get your information, you never answer anyways. He is behaving himself for now, so you alow him to roam freely but both of you know you'll clip his wings faster than he could comprehend if it came down to it.
☆Coriolanus Snow who spends most of his free time with you. At first it felt obligatory to be seen with you but now seeing you, talking with you, eating praise at the palm of your hand it felt like second nature.
You'd attend parties together, matching clothes in reds and whites. At first you'd allowed for his tailored clothes to show the symbol of his family but slowly you'd started to incorporate the crest of your family on it instead. Soon enough he was walking around branded as yours.
☆Coriolanus Snow who on good days felt triumphant, like he had won the lottery with this deal. Who would beam at you as you'd eat in some fancy restaurant, intertwining your hands together and going as far as to feed you from his plate if he deemed the dish so good.
☆Coriolanus who nuzzles his cheek into yours and the tip of his cold nose brushed yours and he laughed. A pure and beautiful sound you don't hear too often, you'd buy it if you could, alas it was too priceless.
☆Coriolanus who viewed you as his in his own way. You had become the center of his universe(on purpose) and he enjoyed it. Always having a gentle soft hand on your lower back, not so much guiding you but holding onto you. Coriolanus who held you tightly on the new matress you'd bough together as a form of shopping date, like you were his personal stuffed toy. You wouldn't admit you enjoyed it. But you did.
☆Coriolanus Snow who on good days relishes into the feeling of being known wholly and still accepted. Who enjoyed walking around without the weight of a bravado or mask. Coriolanus Snow who loved you without fear.
✹Coriolanus Snow who on bad days lived in constant fear that he wouldn't live up to the transaction and you'd leave him. He'd seen hiw fast you cut other people, how fast and with no warning you left him when he stepped out of line.
He comforts himself with the thought that you'd spent way too much money on him to just dump him out of the blue, as long as he behaved. That you could fix him, mend him, shape him however you liked and he'd let you. He'd let you shatter him if it meant you'd continue to (love) support him.
✹Coriolanus Snow who on bad days would study and work hard even harder than before. A part of him hated hiw easily he had slipped into your trap. How vulnerable to your whims hr had become, how dependent he was. He was scared you'd pull the rug and all would fall apart underneath him, his last chance at a future outside of poverty.
His whole demeanor would be off and you could tell immediately that it was one of his bad days even before he answered your daily calls on the phone you bought him. When he got into his fits of studying out of misery he became almost unreachable, he knew you were the one calling. I mean, no one else could call him.
He'd answer eventually and you'd invite hik to dinner in your house. Sometimes when he really had to study for a test you wouldn't force him to come, you still wanted him to actually have good grades, its among the things you like most about him. But now you know by the tiredness and lack of emotion in his short answers that he was simply not in a good place.
And he'd come at the designated hour, politely knock and make small talk with your parents. They weren't fully aware of your deal, they could see the indent of the money in your bank account but also it was money they had given to you to use however you liked so they didn't ask too much questions. If all of you started poking your nose in each other's business your family would fall apart.
Your parents liked Coriolanus, that meant they didn't mind you spending time with him or spending money on him. They also didn't mind it when you excuse the both of you from dinner in the grand hall and lead Coriolanus up to your room where a small feast was organized.
You'd walk ahead even if Coriolanus knew the path by heart, he spent a lot of time here. While his apartment had gotten a few renovations it was still showing all the signs of his finances demise, how he truly didn't belong in the world he was trying to be in. His envy and pride had kept him going blindly for uears to come, it's not like he had much choice. It was that or giving up and letting all the two people he cared about die with him.
In all his years he hadn't allowed himself to stop, to weaver, to be shaken for long from his future position, almost like it was promised to him. His circumstances didn't allow for anything else. Now he had too much time to sit with his own thoughts. Too much time to reminiscent about how much he had taken from Tigris'es youth, to notice how old grandma'am had become. How fragile his little world was.
Coriolanus'es heavy monotony steps echo behind you, you walk with your chin high and fight the urge to turn around to look at him. You know he is there. But you still want to see if he is with you, or lost in his own self made prison by your doing.
You reach your room and Coriolanus goes to open it by muscle memory. His gaze is still unfocused and far away and the thin layer of skin around his eyes seems worn out and raw. It makes something stir inside you, anger. He is wearing one of the cotton shirts you had given him, plain and simple with some blue pants that reached hus ankles. The necklace you'd given him for your first supposed "anniversary" sat prettily on his collarbone. It was a simple rose gold chain with a small pendant of your family's crest: the version was simplified but the branches of the walnut trees that made up a circular frame and the small image of lion stood proudly in its middle, teeth bared. The chain wasn't long, and it made it accidentally(completely on purpose) seem like a collar. The sight puts you a bit at ease.
You both enter your spacious room, it smells faintly of the perfume you wear. On the large bed lay multiple trays with lavish dishes all unique, with different protein or no protein, depending on what the both of you would prefer. Corio rarely would turn up his nose at something, for reasons that were never spoken but understood. You watched him suffer through a bean based dish once and decided not to do it again.
Usually by this point the sight and smell of your signature scent, the warmth of your room and the aroma of food would calm his mind and bring some light back into him, but today he seemed too far gone.
Even as you both sat on the bed, the matress dipping under your weight, he ate a few bites and most of the time simply keep his gaze occupied with something else. It made some sort of anger rise in you. You tell you're you are angry because he isn't cooperating, that you've spent so much on him and he doesn't enjoy it, that he is being selfish. The soft metal of your fork seems entirely too bendable in your tight fist. You tell yourself you hate it when he isn't acting like you want him too, it's not being you hate your own powerlessness, that you can't fix this by throwing money. You could lie, but you don't.
The whirling of emotions claw its way from your gut through your lungs and throat, where it begs to be released in harsh words and imbalanced actions. Your mind grows dull of reason and your tongue sharpens. But you are better than this. You have self control. You have the control.
"I have not poisnoned the food, no need to check it."
You bite out as coldly as you can, if you don't you might burn him with your own powerlessness. His gaze momentarily shifts upwards and to you, his eyes have a yellowing touch to them and the veins are prominant and red, eyes glassy hopefully from reading and writting for so long.
"I never thought you had."
"Is there another reason you arent eating then? Perhaps the food is not up to par?"
You can hear the barely hidden venom in your voice. He can hear it too. The air feels tense and almost weavers as you both look at each other. Corio as always reads you as well as you read him and quickly becomes defensive from his own powerlessness.
"The food is lovely."
He spats back at you with a forced angry smile. This was it. You were getting tired of him and his leaching off of you. The same way the charm of a Christmas puppy would wear off after a month or two so had his own twisted charisma. He would be thrown out in the cold and left to starve, quite literally like a dog. The betrayal made his chest flare up, it set something ablaze.
Both of you stand there the embodiment of pride as all can be heard is the faint sound of the ambient music from downstairs piano and the sound of both of your breathing. That and the blood rushing through your ears. Both of you stoically and pridefully guard their response and face, force of habit from the years of play pretend.
This was the hard thing about this comrades, deal, relationship of yours, you were the same. This puzzle pieces etched from the same wood that fit together in a way no one else could. But once theatching ugly sides were facing you couldn't even be close.
His brows scrunch firtger together and he seems to be loosing the inner fight with his head just as you are. Emotions got the best of him. The best of you.
So you pulled him by the chain and smashed your lips against his.
The unspoken argument was still hot on his lips but so were your own as then mended together. His lips were as soft as you had imagined on one occasion. At first he didn't respond, not expecting for you to allow him to stay. He thought you'd finally force him to leave.
His lack of response doesn't stop you, you double down and place your hands on either side of his jaw, digging your short manicured nails into the warm flesh under where his ear and jaw meet. You were going to keep him here with you, not his stupid head, not his hatred and fear, not inside the prison of his mind, with you.
It seemed to snap Coriolanus back to life. In a flash his eyes close and his lips move against yours, the kiss is slow but very raw. His teeth brush against yours and his lips redden and glisten as they dance with yours. It's not a fight for dominance like you'd expect, it feels like you are trying to consume each other until you are one. His hands dig into the cotton material of your house clothes. They lacked the usual designer brand and rich material you usually sported, it made him feel a bit better, it made you feel barer.
His nails dig crescents into the skin of your lower back, his warm hands had found their anchor underneath your shirt and on your body.
You were warm, so so warm. And he felt like he was dying of the cold, in his apartment, in his bed, in his body. He felt cold. He wanted to be warmed by you, that's all he wanted.
You take a step closer and now your clotyed chest is against his, your hands have found their way in his hair and his own are resting in a tight embrace on your back underneath the cloth. You pull off of the kiss breathless and a bit hazy minded, you'd never done that before and judging by the disheveled boy woth dilated eyes and lips redden by your chapstick he was feeling the effect of making out for the first time.
It proved more addicting than you had expected and after quickly putting the trays with almsot untouched food on your vanity you quickly crawl on the bed to continue. It was head-spinning and electric, it made your body shiver as you got lost in it. Maybe a more rational part of you would have done things differently, made you the seductress, made you the one in control, but your hormones were raging and Coriolanus was kissing you like he's trying to fry his brain up and fill the black hole in his chest. You couldn't pull away, it felt like all the barriers set up by society, yourself, your image and even the physical form were blurring and evaporating, especially as Coriolanus's lips trailed lower and kissed and nipped at your jaw and neck.
The movements were desperate, like he was trying to crawl in your skin. You weren't much better as your hands skimmed up and down his back, underneath the layers to feel his hot back, he felt like a furnace against you.
"Coriolan-"
"Corio, please call me Corio"
He muttered into your neck, his body weight was almost fully on you, only held up by his knees on either side of your hips and one hand that squished the pillow next to your head. It made your brain go quiet for a few seconds but you didn't want that. This was all going wrong. You are supposed to be in control.
So you grab him by the neck, you nails leave pink marks on the sides of the sweaty flesh and you make him look in your eyes and stop lavishing your neck.
"Who do you belong to, Corio?"
Your voice didn't carry the same steelness to it as ususal but it came out as a threats hiss and that was enough for you. At first he didn't react his wide pupils made his eyes seem almost black. Then he opens his mouth and wrapped his lips around words he couldn't stomach before.
"Im yours, Im yours, y/n. Let me be yours, please"
It's whiny and desperate, a bit tearfully if you listened closely. It soothes something deep inside of you but your expression doesn't let up, scrunching into an deadly grimace, the hand at his neck tightens until you can feel his thriving heartbeat against your palm.
"If you think there is some way for you to escape from me you are wrong. No one can help you, no man, no woman. You are mine, and you will like it"
You gritt out and you can feel a vein pop on your face as you stare unforgiving at him, as if it will drill it in his head and keep him happy. Because you wanted him happy.
His lips are half open and his eyes are doe wide, maybe it's the fact this sick proclamation soothes him, or maybe it's the fact he sees the weakness inside of you that makes him feel better. He doesn't know. He hasn't been thinking straight since he crawled on your bed. He leans down and a stray curl of his blond hair coiled and brushed against your forearm. His lips meet with your wrist and he places such a delicate kiss there you almost believe he cares about you. It halts your bravado and gives him enough time to lift his gaze you and look at you through his lashes.
"You are all that matteres to me. You are everything that i have. Let me be yours."
He says and drops his hand down so his forehead lays at the back of your hand. His words and the shock from there seeming sincerely makes your hold loosen. His lips are at your knuckles and he holds your smaller hand in both of his like he is praying at deity. For all he cares, you are his religion and sacred salvation. The closest his soul will get to accending is when he is pressed so tightly against you he confuses what is his and what is yours.
"i love you the only way i know how to. I'll make it be enough for you. Ill be enough for you."
You don't know what to say. No response cokes and you are scare of what will come.ojt even if it did. You have no words for hik to soothe his longing, you don't know how. Your armor stands shining as he bears himself for you.
You press your lips to the crown of his head and keep them there, you envelope his head in your hands and bring him back to you. He eagerly let's you move him as you like and when he rests his head against your now bare chest It makes something click in his brain. He takes off his won shirt and lays back down with you.
You can't say if he simply clinging to you or the otger way around. All you know is that you feel warm. You feel good. The cold ess is gone and you are here with him. With Corio, with your Corio who you love, you don't know how or where to even begin to understand this twisted version of something supposedly innocent. All you know is you belong with him.
He belongs to you. He isn't going anywhere and judging by how comfortable he is underneath your heavy duvet and in your arms, nestled on the warm skin of your chest, he doesn't plan on going anywhere either.
In the end you got what you want.
Coriolanus wanted you willingly, even if this wasn't the path you thought it would take.
Doesn't matter, you always won in the end. Right?
(Im gonna make them both suffer yall)
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redclercs · 11 months
Text
DELICATE✰ CHARLES LECLERC.
iii. one for the money, two for the show.
— the one where you were never ready, so you watched him go.
warnings: war flashbacks to the miami gp, more insight into y/n (look i have to give a lot of context for my own sanity), not really proofread sorry, 2.4k words.
masterlist ✢ next
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FROM “WHAT’S NEXT FOR AIDAN KIM?” POSTED IN THE US WEEKLY YOUTUBE CHANNEL MAY 2023
You are looking at the top comments.
aidanbabes nooo my baby😭 he looks so sad!
flowerbedkim I swear to god y/n better count her fucking days
halleyc don’t come at me but this sounds like he proposed
ynbby why is he talking about this though? y/n has been super private and he’s telling US WEEKLY THIS?
ynaidan i hate being a child of divorce😭
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Miami, Florida May 6th
GRAND Prix number two with Elix, attempt number two by Mr. Stuart Schafer to get into your pants. Can it get any worse?
Yes, yes it can. Because as long as you have “a job” you don’t have to come to these sponsor events. Which sucks for you, not having an acting job for the moment has never felt more like a punishment from the universe.
Artists, from actors to singers are here promoting their gigs while all you do, again, is take pictures with men in jeans and loafers and try not to barf every time you consume Elix.
You’re watching your career crumble in front of your eyes and you can’t do anything to save it from burning when it hits the floor. Mildred has called you several times during the course of the weekend to inform you of canceled interviews, revoked invitations and “sorry we’re just looking for something else” calls from casting agents.
Part of you is in disbelief that a five minute interview from your ex-boyfriend is feeding the fire, part of you expected it all the same. Women are the preferred villain in the narrative, and if it means putting a man above them, the media has had the choice made for a while.
Did you really have it coming, though? There have been endless comments about how it was about time people realized the type of person you are.
But what are you? Who are you really?
You’re a coward. You tell that to yourself in the mirror first thing in the morning.
Many people have the luxury to say they can’t pinpoint the exact moment where they went wrong. You can’t afford the pleasure of such obliviousness, because the exact moment everything went wrong was when Aidan got down on one knee.
And when the question that left his lips went from "Will you marry me?" to "Why won't you?" You knew there was no turning back.
Marriage wasn’t a foreign concept to you, but while it is generally seen as a milestone, for you it was just another stepping stone. The roles of The Wife and The Mother were something you might eventually grow into, but on the night of your third anniversary, you realized you weren't even ready for that of The Fiancée.
Was it genuinely a surprise for Aidan that you had to close the velvet box he was holding in front of you, hiding the diamond ring from your sight, before he dropped his other knee to the ground and whispered 'Why?'
Never, in the three years you'd been together, had you seriously talked about marriage. It was another bridge you would cross once you got there, and in your mistaken calculations, you thought it would be around the time your relationship turned five. That's the limit for romantic relationships without a ring involved according to most women's magazines, and your own mom. At least neither know the ring was the cause of the breakup.
It's a little pathetic how lucky you consider yourself that the tabloids don't know you rejected an engagement. They're cruel enough as it is, things can only go further downhill, straight to hell.
"You good?"
Your best friend in the world, Victoria Presley, is able to join you in the VIP area of the Paddock thanks to a couple pictures on instagram where she tagged Elix. God bless the era of influencers. Or, family connections. Being the daughter of Sony Music executive Luke Presley and celebrity life coach Claire Walker can open many doors. Well it isn't Vic's fault being born into a rich and influential family, at least she's doing her own thing with her beauty products.
"Yes, I am," you shrug. Q3 is going on right now and although you try your best to keep your focus on the two red cars around the circuit, you find it hard to get out of your head. Plus it's so hot in here you feel sticky and gross.
"I lost you for a moment there," she insists, sipping her glass of champagne, the eyebrow raise she gives you after means she needs more info into what was going through your head just seconds ago.
"Not getting any call backs right now," you sigh, taking the flute from her although all it would take for you to get your own is a few steps. "I'm kind of frustrated."
"I'm sorry babe," Vic rubs your back, unbothered by your stealing. "You'll get something soon."
"And E! cancelled my interview, AND—"
Tires screech and an 'ooooh' goes through the grand stands before the screens show a red car embedded in the barriers. A groan of "It's Leclerc!" passes through the people around you in the VIP Lounge.
You grimace, focused on the circuit again as Charles leaves his car, shaking his arms before hitting the halo several times, frustrated.
"See everyone has bad streaks," Vic has gotten her own champagne again and is pointing to the screen, where the Ferrari driver is being followed on his way out. "It's his second crash, no?"
Other people's disgrace doesn't soothe your own, so you give Vic a stern look, causing her to shrug.
Q3 is done and Ferrari has mixed feelings about their two drivers' results. As for you, the faster you can get back to your hotel, the better.
─────────
Vic drags you to dinner with a couple of her influencer friends. Everyone and their mother is in attendance at Miami, and they’re here to have fun.
"They're here!" the girl to Vic's left whisper-yells, stretching her neck to look over at the entrance of the restaurant.
The place has been completely full the whole time you've been here, which has been a while, you're done with your dinner and have a few drinks on you, yet Vic has begged you twice to stay 'just a little longer'.
Of course Vic is having the time of her life, talking about promotion agreements and posting schedules, and although you hang out with lots of influencers and social media stars on your daily life, you're not clicking with any of them tonight. Have you become bitter? No, of course not.
"y/n knows them, she can just introduce us," another one giggles, and she cheers with her tequila sunrise to your own half-empty drink that's resting on the table.
"Hmm, what?" you chuckle, unsure of how you missed the part where you entered the story.
"The Ferrari Drivers," the first girl answers in that 'obviously' tone you hate when people use with you. "You're with Ferrari all the time lately, aren't you?"
"I'm with Elix," you clear up, best as you can as they're not really paying attention, their eyes following the group of men that are being escorted by a hostess to their table. "So you know, it's not really—"
"But you've met them,"
"Well, yes but..."
Yes but, you've seen them in scattered moments where they nod and smile at you passing by and the three times you've had to take pictures drinking Elix. You don't even get to the coworker level of knowing them.
"Well let's go!"
"Hold on Holly," Vic speaks up for the first time, "I mean, they literally just got here."
"Which is why we came here," Holly can't seem to get rid of that know-it-all tone, and it's frankly starting to annoy you even if she has a different target now.
It's time to use the angry eyes with Vic, again,in less than 24 hours. That's why she kept asking you to wait just a little longer.
"How did you know they'd be here?" you question, although you already know what a cleveage can do to get any information you want. Can't blame a girl for using her tools.
“I have my ways,” Holly says, and does in fact, fix her cleavage. Fair enough.
"Vic..." you whisper, as the rest of them regather in their own conversation. "What's happening?"
"I just– they said they really wanted to meet the Ferrari guys, y/n," Vic half whines. She's doing the most to impress the other girls, which is a very Vic thing to do, but still you don't like it. "And since you work with them, well it would be easier to approach them, right?"
Wrong.
"I- Vic, I don't work with these guys. We don't even work for the same people, and... it would be weird to approach them while they're trying to have dinner peacefully."
You are not a big fan of interruptions because you've heard enough of your coworkers talk about how annoying it is. As for yourself, sometimes you mind, sometimes you don't. It all depends.
You can barely distinguish their table with all the movement around the restaurant, but you manage a peek at Carlos' hair. Both of them are there, surrounded by a bunch of other Ferrari guys.
"So? Let's go," Holly is speaking again, downing the rest of her alcoholic Shirley Temple.
"I have to use the bathroom," you announce, dropping the napkin that covered your lap on the table.
"Right now?" the other girl—you feel guilty for not remembering her name— groans.
You refrain from replying, and try not to stomp to the bathroom like a toddler throwing a tantrum. If there’s anything that you hate is feeling used, and it hurts a lot more when it comes from Victoria.
It’s something else when she uses her doe-eyed stare and says “please, please, please” to get her way even with you, rather than set you up to impress her other friends.
You take your time to reapply lipstick in the bathroom and soothe your annoyance. You have told Vic before that she needs to ask for things, not just push you into awkward situations. At least she didn’t follow you to the restroom.
Taking a deep breath, you step out of the bathroom, wondering how to go on about this. It’s very likely that things get twisted and it is you who’ll look like she wants to brag about knowing the Ferrari guys, which you’re sure they’re used to—being bragged about. But you don’t want that.
There are many clichés that you have experienced, both as a character in RomComs where the biggest makeover that is done to your character is to apply a little mascara and remove the glasses (you hate that, what’s wrong with wearing glasses?). And in real life, with big romantic gestures like receiving a bouquet with a hundred roses and one is artificial… Blah blah.
This cliché is a little more ridiculous, though, as you crash into Charles Leclerc while leaving the restroom.
“Oh, sorry,” you half-smile back at him, he’s already smiling, showing dimples and everything. You see his appeal no matter how much you don’t want to notice it. Tall, green-blue eyes and those stupid dimples. Not to mention the fact that you suddenly find accents charming. Again, stupid.
“Hey y/n,” he says still smiling, “Did you just get here?”
“Uh, no actually we’re leaving in a few minutes,” you move out of the way of a lady that wants to get into the restroom, she eyes you both for a moment before continuing on her way.
“Are you here with your friends? Or is it with Elix?”
“My friends. Thank God I get to be away from Elix for a few hours.”
Charles chuckles and the moment runs long enough to become awkward. You’re still outside of the bathrooms and another guy has too given you an off look as he made his way inside.
"Let me walk you back to your table," Charles offers as a way of breaking the silence and you shake your head no.
"You don't have to, my friends are probably on the way out already, anyway."
Are you being selfish by keeping Vic's friends away from him? It doesn't matter to you, not really. But really a small part of you doesn't want things to go their way.
Charles doesn't listen to your refusal anyway, and asks you to lead the way with a gesture.
"I didn't see you at the Ferrari Suite after Quali," he mentions as he follows you a step behind.
"I was in the VIP Lounge with a friend," you explain, "I'll be at the Suite tomorrow, though."
You stop at your table, where the three girls are still doing their best to ogle at the Ferrari guys.
"Hey," you get their attention back and not one in the three of them even attempt to hide the pleasant surprise that Charles' presence gives them. "Are you ready to go?"
It's Vic's turn to give you a look. One that tells you to not be unfair, things have just started to go as they planned.
While you return the pointed look to Vic, Holly strikes a conversation with Charles. Lightning quick.
"Let's go," you repeat, "Gotta be up early tomorrow."
"Can we get a picture, though?" the other girl—lord, if you could remember her name you'd feel a little better —adds quickly.
"Do you mind?" you ask Charles before he can reply. You don't want to make a fuss and have half the restaurant acknowledging his presence and his disposition to take pictures and sign autographs while he's trying to have dinner.
"Not at all," he shakes his head and waits patiently for everyone to be camera-ready while you stare. "Aren't you getting in the picture?"
"I'll take it," you hold your hand out for an iPhone, and get Holly's bedazzled one. Charles frowns but you just say 'okay, ready?' before pointing the camera at them.
No one else argues the fact that you're not in the picture.
A chorus of 'thank you's' passes quickly as you return the iPhone and the three influencers start checking the picture. They're probably better photographers than you, you can accept that.
"So I'll see you tomorrow, y/n," Charles leans towards you, leaving the group to their own thing after he pleased their request. "Right?"
"I'll be the one drinking Elix," you joke, half-whining.
"I'll be the one in the red car," Charles jokes back, a wide smile spreading on his face.
You laugh, fighting against the sudden shyness caused by the familiarity.
"Goodnight," he calls quietly, and the girls wish him a goodnight and good luck for the race before he snakes through tables back to his friends.
Not another thank you is directed at you as your group leaves the restaurant to wait for the Uber back to the hotel.
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─── team principal radio: ❝hello! thank you for reading! I'm really grateful for everyone who has interacted with this story, I hope you're enjoying it so far ♡❞
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kastlequill · 4 months
Text
iii/v. unearth without a name: the parent forced to eat its young before it grows
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pairing: keegan p russ x f!reader word count: 3.2k synopsis: the third time you hallucinate keegan tags: whumptober, psychological warfare, injury, electrocution, brainwashing, hallucinations, hurt no comfort, established relationship, ghost!reader, 4+1, no y/n warnings: canon-typical violence, torture ao3: read here ← prev | next →
III.
Things didn’t get much better from there. In fact, the torture only worsened. 
The passage of time remained a disorienting illusion at best, but you were certain that you’d been in this hellhole longer than the less-than-professional portion of your relationship with. . . 
With Keegan. 
It hurt to think about him. Well, it hurt to think about any of the Ghosts, men who you had seen as your crew, your family, but matters surrounding the sergeant in particular were infinitely more painful. They had each promised you one thing and one thing only: short of death, they would sooner lose a limb or two than abandon you. He, however, had gone a step further, all but vowing to follow you to the ends of the earth. 
Of course, Keegan hadn’t exactly said as much, for such a confessional manner of speaking was beyond his realm of expertise. Still, it was difficult to dispute the torch he carried for you when one took into account the way he slipped his treasured rations of dried jerky into your back pocket, or how he gave you his undivided attention both in the field and in the privacy of his own quarters. 
Anybody with a pair of workin’ eyes can puzzle you idiots out in five seconds flat , Merrick had said once. Makes the rest of us sick. Sick, I tell you. 
Unfortunately, reality was often disappointing. And you were starting to believe that the only person who’d ever been wholly honest about their intentions with you was Rorke. 
The day you first had this passing thought was the day you officially relinquished your already-slippery grip on sanity, mind finally at a loss. Because nobody of a sound mental state would consider their captor, interrogator, and torturer to be a pillar of truth or a beacon of honesty. Nevertheless, he wasn’t the one who had given you false hope, nor had he been the one to abandon you here, leaving you to waste away and rot. From the get-go, this monster of a man had detailed the exact terrors he would inflict upon you and then subsequently followed through on his words. 
A part of you—the worn-down, bone-weary, hollowed-out part of you—respected that. 
“Why don't we start the day off with a bang, hm?” Rorke strapped your wrists down to the arms of the wooden chair in which you currently sat. Giving a sharp tug, he tightened the restraints until a tingling numbness radiated throughout the meat of your fingers. “Get the blood flowin’, so to speak.”
In your peripheral, two Feds were hooking you up to some sort of death machine, which looked like an entanglement of wires and an array of dials. Malnourishment slowed your ability to assess and process new information, so you couldn’t muster the energy to investigate whatever damage they had planned for you. 
Resistance was futile; at this point, the pain was inevitable, and the suffering was unavoidable. You possessed no power, you had no leverage, and you were losing faith in your comrades fast. Combined, it was a sure recipe for disaster. Yet, you had no choice but to see all this chaos through until it’s likely-bloody conclusion. 
Rorke took a seat in a chair of his own, positioning himself just a few feet across from you. Close enough to intimidate, but not within kicking distance. To calm your racing heart, you focused your attention onto the deep scar that sliced his left brow and trailed the contours of his face before abruptly stopping at the edge of his jaw. 
Your sense of curiosity briefly flickered to life, and you wondered if it was the handiwork of another Ghost. Maybe Merrick, your methodical, war-horse of a captain? Or the Elias Walker, known to you only in the form of tales told by his remaining men?
Regardless, the image of the healed wound birthed in you a furious desire to bestow a matching mark on the unblemished side.   
“First order of business,” the ex-Ghost began. “The Walker boy. Logan. Is he back in it again, runnin’ amok with that sorry brother of his? Haven’t seen either of their ugly mugs in a while.”
During the previous winter, you’d learned some of the details surrounding Logan’s capture and escape, both of which had occurred prior to your recruitment. Keegan had always been pretty tight-lipped about the subject, usually dismissing it altogether by redirecting you to ask Logan personally. And so you had. 
What he divulged had sickened you to the core.
Although he wasn’t a big talker, Logan Walker had unveiled the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in a series of short fragments over the course of several weeks. His recounts weren’t always delivered in chronological order, for he occasionally jumped around as trauma poured out of him like an unleashed dam. He had spoken of the isolation and the disorientation, of the physical beatings and the mental lashings. Of reliving his father’s death again and again, of the apparition of his brother shouldering him with the blame. 
The most harrowing part, however, had been the brainwashing. The manipulation of the mind and its contents, the rearrangement of orderly thoughts, beliefs, memories into a locked state of disorder. Forcing the self to become a foreign object in its own native vessel. You had thus far managed to avoid undergoing such disfiguration. Still, considering Logan’s experience mirrored yours almost exactly, it was safe to assume that you wouldn’t remain unscathed. But where his strength and sheer tenacity had foiled Rorke’s plans, you weren’t optimistic that you’d be able to replicate his success. 
Even so, no matter the evils lurking in your future, you scorned the prospect of willingly revealing any information that could be used to harm your teammates. Especially Logan. Dying would be less of a burden on your soul than condemning him to this hellscape for a second time. He’d already endured it once; to curse him twice would be beyond cruel. 
Perhaps you were a tad bit self-sacrificing. You ignored the bitter, unwelcome voice from within that questioned whether the Ghosts would do the same for you if the roles were reversed. 
Finally ready to reply, your head jerked to the left, then to the right. No.
A harsh exhale escaped his nostrils, like Rorke had expected the small defiance but was nonetheless disappointed. He snapped his fingers. 
“Wrong answer.”
To punctuate the detached statement, a sudden current of what could only be described as concentrated lightning flowed into you. Your nerves caught fire, and every single muscle housed inside of you responded by contracting painfully. The sensation caused your joints to lock, stunning you into submission. 
You felt your eyes roll back, but you willed them to refocus, threats all around. It was the sole method of motion still under your conscious control, for the rest of your body was seemingly trapped in an electric prison. However, when you glanced up at Rorke, a blurry figure to his left stole your attention instead. 
Brows furrowing, you blinked rapidly to wash away the hazy features you had grown to love, but the mirage of Keegan remained. You would’ve noticed the sharp sting of an injection, so, unlike the previous two instances, this particular hallucination hadn’t been induced by drugs. It was a break in the pattern. 
I’m going insane. Great. 
“I wouldn’t lie if I were you. We’ve got ways of verifying, y’see, so cut the shit.” A nasty, blood-curling grin spread across Rorke’s lips. His soulless vessel swelled with delight as he unleashed another cruel stream of words. “Those sons of bitches can’t be worth all this. You’re nothing to them. Nothing. They didn’t think twice ‘bout sendin’ you off to die an undignified death, alone, and yet you wanna protect them?”
He shook his head and clicked his tongue, the expression on his face morphing into a strange mix of disgust and pity. “What a damn waste.”
Another snap, another electric shock. Those two Federation technicians must have increased the number of amperes or the voltage, for this wave trumped the previous in its overwhelming intensity. 
God, you weren’t built for this. Sure, all the Ghosts had to undergo conditioning and interrogation training. But Merrick, Keegan, Hesh, and Logan had been navigating war and its unforgiving brutality for almost their entire lives. In contrast, you’d been a plain and ordinary civilian up until the moment Keegan dragged you out from beneath a pile of rubble not even three years ago. 
For your dauntless comrades, who had confronted and conquered Death many times over, a little electrocution was indeed light work. For you, however, it wasn’t so.
Perhaps an additional year of experience would’ve solidified this weakness into something ironclad. Keegan had been giving you private lessons after sunset in an attempt to speed the learning process along, but your capture had indefinitely suspended such sessions. Thus, here you would remain, unrefined and incomplete.
At present, clouding your vision with the view of your torturer was more preferable than seeing the resigned disappointment on your lover’s war-painted face.
“Y’know,” Rorke mused, “the Federation could use a soldier like you. Someone with your kind of loyalty.”
You temporarily forgot your vow of silence and gave a derisive snort. The loyalty you had for the Ghosts hadn’t been acquired through material means; no amount of promised money or power in the world had a chance of swaying you. Bonds born of bruises and blood were damn near impenetrable and immortal.  
That level of devotion couldn’t be fabricated or repurposed. 
“Now, now, there’s no need to look so sour.” He bared his teeth, donning a devilish smile. “We’ll have you singin’ a different tune soon enough.”
This is it, you thought. This is where things get ugly. 
As if the steaming pile of shit that Rorke had already dumped on you wasn’t bad enough. Still, objectively speaking, the brainwashing Logan had described would be leagues worse than even the most brutal torture you’d withstood yet. Because it wouldn’t just entail physical duress; your mental faculties would be taken hostage and subjected to radical change.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” he challenged, cocking a single brow. “Choice is yours. I’m partial to the hard way, myself.”
No answer left your lips, which was in and of itself an answer. One that elicited a sigh from Rorke and an eyebrow raise from Keegan.
“Hard way it is, then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
You steeled yourself for a third wave of electrocution, but nothing could mitigate the calamity brought on by the hot coils that cascaded down your spine and traveled outward to your limbs and digits. It lasted for several seconds, minutes, hours. An eternity. 
To what limits did Rorke intend to push your mind and body? A muddled sanity and crippled form would be of no use to him, surely. So what did he hope to gain?
Probably nothing special. Some people just want to watch the world burn, Keegan had told you at the beginning of your acquaintance, not long after explosives had free-fallen from the sky.
And Rorke fell squarely into that category.
“How d’you think this ends? In walks a Ghost or two, and then off into the sunset you go, happily ever after?” He sneered. “Like hell.”
The wave of his hand brought on another current of heat lightning, setting your skin aflame. You clenched every possible muscle in your jaw as he ducked down to meet your unfocused stare. Upon making contact, your fatigued eyes fluttered shut to replace the image of him with total darkness. 
A fruitless endeavor, really. The hatred carried by his gaze and the imposing outline of his figure were both irreparably ingrained into the very grooves and folds of your brain. 
But despite how he haunted your sleep and consumed much of your waking thoughts, Rorke had miraculously failed to eradicate your willpower in its entirety. Still, he had failed to isolate and exploit your Achilles’ heel; still, he was ignorant to the fact that the root of your motivations surpassed standard camaraderie. It would thus take more effort on his part than electric torture to excavate said root.
You were not yet at your breaking point. And you refused to allow today to be the day you finally cracked underneath his reign of terror. 
For a moment, the pit was silent. Then came the dreadful murmur of his long-awaited epiphany. 
“Ah, I see what this is,” Rorke said, tone giddy and ominous. “Tell me, who’s the lucky guy? Which one’s got you actin’ all stupid?” 
Your heart stopped. 
Fuck.  
“Can’t be the quiet Walker, he doesn’t seem the romantic type. And it can’t be his mouthy brother either, too busy tryin’ to avenge the death of his old man. Merrick, well, the fella don’t really swing that way, if y’catch my drift. So, by my count, that just leaves. . .”
Heedless of your wishes, your lidded stare flicked to Keegan’s impassive face. Rorke hadn’t the faintest clue about the subject of your hallucinations or even about the fact that you were currently hallucinating. Nevertheless, the break in eye contact was sufficient evidence to betray you.   
His gaze narrowed. “Bingo.”
You forced yourself to refocus on the non-imaginary man across from you, but the damage had been done.  
“Keegan P. Russ, you sly sonuva bitch,” he muttered. Rorke pursed his lips and whistled in approval. “How’d he win you over? Did he call you pretty, say you’re special? Was he your knight in shining armor?”
In truth, Keegan hadn’t even needed to lift a finger to successfully woo you. Caring for him was as easy as breathing, and it had come so naturally to you that, without him, you felt a bit like a fish out of water. You couldn’t attribute this evolution of your relationship to a singular, specific instance; rather, an aggregation of stolen moments and intimate gestures had resulted in a mutual desire for more. But, to prevent whatever was mounting between yourselves from jeopardizing the team dynamic, the two of you had agreed to take things slow. 
Maybe too slow, in retrospect. This hush-hush, test-run of a relationship had lasted a mere couple months, terminated prematurely by the man who was currently trying to fry your brain. Now your time was up, and much of Keegan would remain a mystery to you, forever undiscovered and unsolved. Still, you couldn’t bring yourself to regret any of it. 
You couldn’t bring yourself to regret him. 
“Oh, this just keeps gettin’ better and better. I’m gonna have a whole lot of fun with you,” Rorke drawled, cracking his knuckles. A wave of apprehension washed over you, and he grinned at the horror that was surely etched into your face. “Don’t worry, I won’t kill our dear ol’ Russ.” 
Relief surged within you, rejuvenating some of our deadened spirit, but the feeling didn’t last long. Nothing remotely good ever did down here. 
“You will.”
Two little words, two little syllables shattered the illusion of Keegan, and with him went any remaining actionable hope. Try as you might, you were unable to reconjure his presence, incapable of reconstructing the facial features you had once loved to trace as he slept. Already, the pain had begun to distort his image in your mind’s eye, like how a digital photo album might be corrupted by malware. 
Perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps you should compartmentalize your memories of him, of the Ghosts, and of the resistance into tiny boxes, sealing them shut then storing them far, far away. Not just out of Rorke’s reach, but out of yours too.  
Because, ultimately, time was on the side of your enemies. Your body would erode first, followed by your sanity and ending with your soul; such was inevitable. Recognizing you were powerless to circumvent this fate, you instead sought to curate the information that would be revealed to Rorke once he finally penetrated your mental bastion. If you purged anything to do with the Ghosts from your memory bank, then the knowledge you possessed couldn’t be weaponized against them. 
The only way you could counteract Rorke’s plans was by forgetting the life you’d built alongside Keegan and the others. Even as you now sat tied up and riddled with convulsions, you were thinking about the four soldiers who had become your home, about how to protect them. Any strategizing you did was to discern a method of silent survival for their sake, not yours. Never yours.
You tried to stave off the bitterness that crept deeper into your heart. 
“Conserve your energy. You’ll be needin’ it for what I’ve got planned,” the older man advised, though his sinister chuckle contradicted any notion of good faith. The metal legs of his chair scraped against the ground as he pushed himself backwards and stood to his full height. “And it should go without saying—”
Rorke let the sentence break off and linger in the tense atmosphere. During these sessions, you’d learned that the older man had somewhat of a proclivity for theatrics. The ex-Ghost derived sick pleasure from randomly dropping bombs of intel on you to instigate a reaction, or from watching you struggle to persist in spite of the various mental and physical agonies he had inflicted. 
A true sadist.
“None of those sorry bastards are gonna barge in and save the day, so give that dream up already. You won’t be found. I mean, how’re they s'posed to find what they ain’t even lookin’ for?”
The sound of retreating footsteps meant Rorke had finally taken his leave, marking the conclusion of this interrogation. But, as the two remaining Feds prepared to conduct another bolt of electricity through your depreciating body, you knew that the prescribed torture had only just begun. 
You hung your head and stared unblinkingly at your bound wrists, at your traumatized fingers, still twitching from the aftershocks. Tremors born of fear, pain, rage. Rage at Rorke, at yourself. 
At Keegan. 
In a kinder world, perhaps Keegan would’ve been around to hold your hands in his, to soothe your scorched flesh with a gentle, mindless rub of his thumb. A fierce longing for him gripped your heart, yearning for that Keegan who could glean your emotional state at any given moment as informed by the mere hitch in your breath or the rhythm of your pulse. 
That Keegan, who let you crawl into his arms and steal his warmth on harsh winter nights, no questions asked. That Keegan, who caught the glazed-over look in your eyes whenever certain topics arose in conversation and thus tried to distract you by playing a game of I Spy, your favorite childhood pastime. That Keegan, who had once nearly broken a man’s wrist for daring to grab the collar of your shirt; he’d been the perfect picture of Death-incarnate, a fierce protector with his stone-cold warning and intimidating stare.
This Keegan, however, was all too different.
Because this Keegan did not come to your rescue. No, instead, he had left you here to die.
tbc.
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machinesonix · 22 days
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Somehow I have made it this long without realizing that none of the screen adoptions of Dune so much as mention the Butlerian Jihad. Like I guess it's burned into my brain so hard I sort of assumed it was part and parcel of the universe. Don't get me wrong, I think that's probably the first thing you learn if you want to dive deeper into the setting, but it still hits me like if the LotR movies showed us the big flaming eyeball tower and was like ‘Oh, that's why there are bad things, but don't worry, that's just background stuff.’ Yeah, you can understand the movie, but if the story is just like Frodo vs. The Witch King you are losing out on any of the conversation about the corruptive allure of power or theological undertones. So without further ado let's pretend this is for the benefit of interested new fans roped in by the movies and not part of my desperate attempt to silence the howling specters of literary analysis that live in my blood.
The Butlerian Jihad is an event set ~10k years prior to the events of Dune in which humanity won their freedom from the machines that they had enslaved themselves to. As a result, it is a religious taboo to create a machine that thinks like a human. That's frankly the bulk of the information presented by Frank Herbert in the text without dipping into books 7+, but whether or not those are canon is frankly an enormous can of worms, which really makes sense when you consider the size of the worms. But boy howdy, Frank loved his subtext and parallelism. Everyone has a foil character, every theme is hit from multiple angles, and Villinueve has been doing an excellent job of capturing a lot of that in repeated imagery and dialogue. The Butlerian Jihad happens off camera, but it's themes are absolutely critical to the big picture.
The Butlerian Jihad was a holy war. It was not merely a rebellion against the machines, it was a crusade against them. The prohibition against thinking machines isn't just a law, it's in the pan-universal Bible. Absolute psychopath Pieter DeVries himself claps back at the Baron for insinuating he might have a use for a computer, and this is a guy who has been hired specifically for his preternatural absence of morals. Let's hold onto that idea for a minute. 
Probably my favorite scene in the first book is the one where planetologist Liet-Kynes is dying out in the desert. As the last of his strength fades to dehydration he hallucinates conversations he had with his father concerning terraforming Arakkis for human habitability. He's told that the means are not complicated. There is already enough water on the planet, the Little Makers just have it all trapped deep underground as part of the sandworm reproductive cycle. You just need to isolate enough water to start irrigating plant life, and once it's established that'll keep the water on the surface on its own. The hard part is making sure everyone on the planet is environmentally conscious enough to foster a developing ecosystem. Nobody can drink any of that water while it's being collected, because they'll just introduce it back into the water cycle where the Little Makers are. It's going to take generations, so that sort of water discipline is going to have to go above and beyond a social convention. People need to be willing to die before they'll take a sip and compromise the plan. Ghost Dad Kynes concludes that the only mechanism in the human experience to enforce this consensus is religion. 
In the context of this whole parallelism thing, you have probably noticed that the Butlerian Jihad is not the only holy war in the narrative. Paul sees a new jihad as the only way of creating a future where humans can flourish. Now you might be saying ‘Wait now, Machines. I thought the point of Paul’s holy war was to avenge Leto and disempower established power structures by taking away the control of the spice!’ And you’d be right. The thing is, without getting into spoiler territory, Dune Messiah is not going to be about how everything just gets so much better now that Paul has destroyed the economy, government, and untold billions of human lives. This isn’t the endgame. Dude can see the future and the way he does it involves looking into the past. Paul lives in a society defined by a holy war and his goal is to redefine society. 
Putting it all together you can see what I mean about the Butlerian Jihad being essential to the themes even though the story never shows us a thinking machine or a narrative beat where the absence of computers changes the outcome. It helps us see the big picture. I’ve seen a lot of dialogue lately on whether Paul is a tragic hero or a consummate villain and I’m not here to answer that, but I am here to underline the critical detail. Paul intends to be seen as a tyrant. Just like Kynes’ hallucination says, religion is the lever to make a value stick around forever. He wants to traumatize humanity to hate chosen ones and emperors the same way the machines traumatized humanity to change them forever. The Water of Life ritual doesn’t invert his values, it lets him realize these visions of war are the means, not the ends. He is absolutely not happy about it, but this is Paul’s terrible purpose. 
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photogirl894 · 1 month
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Hi Morgan!
I don’t know if you’re taking more than one request per requestee for your 1000 follower celebration, so if you are, you can disregard one of mine, I just thought I’d submit another because I love your writing! I thought of this story: Hunter/reader, what if reader gets amnesia from something that happened to her so she doesn’t remember Hunter. It can be a relearning to fall in love and or/big memory reveal like they’re in the rain or something and that sparks her memory. Could do the forehead touch from your prompt list?
Thanks again for all your stories and sharing your talents <3
You know I love getting any requests from you, my dear 🥰 Especially if it involves our beloved Sergeant, as well 😍
"Muscle Memory"
1. Forehead touches
Pairing: Hunter x fem reader
***
Everything about your world was a haze right now.
You could only remember up to a certain point in time: waking up on a ship with a group of men you didn't recognize. Anything before that...was just darkness in your mind. You didn't know why you couldn't remember anything else at all. One of the men on the ship, who wore goggles and was called Tech, informed you that you had taken a bad fall, suffered a blow to the head, had been unconscious for a few days and now, seemed to be suffering a case of amnesia. You weren't sure what scared you more: the fact that you had amnesia or that you were doing something dangerous enough to make you fall and get a bad blow to the head.
The men tried explaining things in a way that would tell you who you were before without overwhelming you. They were a squad of Clones fighting in a war and you were also a trained soldier who had joined up with them. On their latest mission, an unexpected explosion had happened and had sent you flying over a steep hill, which was where things had gone wrong.
Wow...you were a soldier? Fighting in a war? That was definitely not what you were expecting to hear. They made you sound pretty badass. Even though you couldn't remember any of that, you were determined to get your memories back somehow and the Clones were willing to help in any way they could.
The others' names were Wrecker, Crosshair, Echo and Hunter. Though, of all of them, Hunter seemed to be avoiding you the most and you weren't sure why for a while. He seemed sad and closed off whenever he even looked at you. You would try to talk to him and his responses would be brief before turning away or walking away. Later on, you were told by Echo that you and Hunter had actually been an item before your accident and that it was hard for him at the moment being around you when you didn't remember any of that. You couldn't help but feel an ache in your heart for him. He was handsome, for sure. You wished you could give him back what he'd lost, but it didn't feel right when you couldn't recall anything about him.
Maybe one day.
A couple weeks passed and only tiny details would return to your mind every so often, but nothing really substantial. The Clones had suggested, once you seemed okay enough, to maybe try your hand at your combat skills to see if maybe that would awaken anything in you. You tried shooting a blaster and, even though you managed to land a couple shots, it didn't seem to work. However, Wrecker suggested sparring with Hunter. Apparently, you were better at hand-to-hand combat before and Hunter was the one who had taught you. You blushed immensely at the thought of trying to fight him and Hunter looked pretty uncomfortable, too. Though, the rest of the Clones pushed for it, too, and eventually, you both relented. With that, the two of you went outside, thinking the sparring might not last very long as the sky was getting dark with rain clouds.
"I'll uh...I'll try and go easy on you in case you don't remember how to fight," Hunter said to you timidly.
"I appreciate that," you replied, bringing your hands up to a defensive position. Hopefully, this wouldn't end too badly.
After taking a moment to psych himself up, Hunter stepped forward and went to throw a punch. For a split second, you panicked, but then your arm moved of its own accord and blocked Hunter's oncoming attack. You both stopped and looked at each other in astonishment.
"How did I...?" you asked aloud.
"Looks like your muscle memory might be kicking in," Hunter observed. "That's something."
That got you almost excited in the moment. "Come at me again," you told him.
Hunter gave a nod and went for a couple more punches and your body kept reacting before your mind could process things and you blocked both hits. A smile slowly crept up on your face. Your memories might not be coming back, but this was still progress. Your body hadn't forgotten the training instilled in you. You decided to take a chance and went for a hit at Hunter, going to fight back. He blocked and parried your hits and things began to heat up between you as your sparring increased. Punches and kicks were being thrown about at each other and parried with ease on both sides.
At one point, you could see a pleased grin on Hunter's face and strangely, it brought butterflies to your stomach...which felt both foreign and familiar at the same time. That small distraction was enough to give Hunter the upper hand and, getting too caught up in the moment, he swept his leg into yours, knocking you onto your back and suddenly, he was above you, pinning your wrists to the ground. His face was only inches away from yours, the two of you breathing heavily and fanning each other's faces with your hot breath. Along with that, you could feel a sprinkling of rain drops starting to fall on your skin from above. His brown eyes looked down upon you with an intensity that made your heart race...and the feeling of him above you, his face so close to you...this was something you thought you had experienced before...
There was a bang in your head and you let out a pained cry.
Hunter had pinned you down to the ground in your first sparring match and you groaned in frustration at him beating you. You had felt so confident that you'd best him. He had your wrists pinned down and he was only inches away from your face, his eyes gazing into your very soul.
"Maybe next time, sweetheart," he taunted you, his nose brushing yours.
Determined to not let this be the end, you decided to play along and said, "All right, fine. You win."
When you felt his grip on your hands loosen, you pulled them free and pushed back on him, flipping him over onto his back and you moved to straddle him, a cocky grin on your face. His eyes were wide in shock for a moment, but then his lips curled up in a smirk at seeing you on top of him like this. The flirtatious look in his eyes made your breath catch and finally, after keeping your feelings to yourself for a long time, you couldn't wait any longer. You bent over, took his face in your hands and kissed him firmly for the first time. After a brief, stunned moment, you felt him kiss you back and his arms wrapped around you, holding you tight like he'd never let you go.
Suddenly, your mind was flooded intensely with a wave of various memories in almost an instant.
Meeting the Bad Batch for the first time. Your first mission with them. The first time Hunter ever complimented you. Getting drinks with the boys at 79's. The first time Hunter held your hand. Crosshair teasing you about staring at Hunter from across the ship. The safety you felt with the boys. Them telling you that you would always be one of them. Hunter admitting to you that he had wanted you since the moment he met you. Your first night of passion together where you both ended up confessing your love for each other. The last mission you and the squad had gone on and then the explosion that had sent you falling....
A sharp, heavy gasp escaped you and your body convulsed, causing Hunter to rear back in shock.
You remembered...you remembered everything!
Fearing he had accidentally hurt you, Hunter asked with worry, "(Y/N), what's wrong? Are you okay?"
After taking a second to catch your breath, you gazed up at him, all-consuming joy overtaking you at remembering the man who held your heart, the man who cared so much for you, the only love of your life. You then decided to do the same thing you'd done in the first memory that had returned to you: you pushed him over onto his back and moved on top of him. Just as Hunter was about to question what you were doing, you took hold of his head, leaned over and crushed your lips against his. For a moment, he didn't move, but then you felt him relax and his arms wrapped tightly around your back. There, on the ground in the middle of the rain, your lips and his engaged in a dance you knew well that you'd thought you'd forgotten forever and it felt heavenly to be kissing your Sergeant again. Your back was getting cold from the rain that was now drenching you, but you couldn't have cared less.
Finally, Hunter broke the kiss and stared up at you, eyes wide with both surprise and relief as a hand came up to trace your cheek. "Sweetheart?" he asked, a trace of hope in his voice.
You nodded and exclaimed, your voice breaking, "I remember! I remember everything!" Then you leaned down and touched your forehead to his, your hands resting on his cheeks. "I remember you, Hunter, and I love you! I love you so much!"
He tilted his head up and kissed you once more. "I love you, too," he replied before flipping you over, putting himself on top this time. "Welcome back, my love. I missed you terribly." Then he resumed kissing you again, overjoyed at having his love back.
Back in the Marauder, the others were about to call out for you and Hunter to come back in because of the rain when they saw the two of you kissing passionately on the ground.
"Well...I think it's safe to say that the sparring idea worked," Crosshair remarked.
"I think we should just leave them. They'll come in when they're ready," said Echo, ushering the rest of them away.
They all were glad your memories had returned and you were yourself again, but at that moment, it was Hunter that needed you the most.
Photogirl894's Physical Affection Prompts
Photogirl894's 1,000 Followers fics
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flibbetygibbetsbro · 2 months
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Kay so I already posted this a month or so ago, but I find it very applicable to the fandom rn
The lore in Nightfall is actually insane. You're telling me that hundreds of humans went missing, and when the Elvin Leadership did NOTHING the humans revolted so hard-core that ya'll really had to DISSAPERE from their knowledge? "But it was to keep the peace!"
Nuh uh.
If you REALLY wanted peace you would have actually looked into the disappearances. That would have been waaay easier to pull off than erasing hundreds of minds and flibbety-dippen SINKING an entire city into the ocean. Despite Elven egos, I think that the council got scared. That's right. The humans you call dumb and violent SCARED you into hiding.  We ugly, weak, and untalented things decided enough was enough and you couldn't handle it.
What's extra crazy is the fact that the Elvin world has everything in their pockets OTHER THAN THE HUMANS. You're telling me that we idiots rule the Earth while you lock yourselves and others away? 
An even crazier thing is that Elves view themselves above everything, even if they won't admit it at the get-go. Ogres really are pissed about it. They are CRAZY strong but also incredibly intelligent. The average elf understands nothing about Biochemistry (other than extreme exceptions such as Lady Candace) yet Ogres have things that can wipe out entire species and put Elves in endless comas. "But the Neverseen used the sedative so they understand it!"
Nuh uh.
They stole the research from the Ogre scientists. (Or made a deal with the king I honestly don't remember at this point). They NEVER would have pulled that off without them. And guess what? Ogres are a generally violent species as well but the Elves keep them around. (Albeit on a short leash). 
The humans have a similar situation. Many times in the books a human story, invention, or belief is brought up only for someone to smugly say "They get that from us", or "he was inspired by ME". I believe there was also a scene where someone talks about how human "help" organizations were terminated because the information shared with them led to dangerous inventions. Don't you guys just love it when Elves claim credit for all good ever done by humans? But as soon as a nuclear power plant or bomb is mentioned (crazy complicated crap) it's suddenly the nasty humans and their dumb, violent minds. *insert eye-roll* Which is it? Are we smart or dumb? Are WE responsible or are YOU? Ya'll can't cherry-pick. Elves also pretend that they have control over humans, yet you can't stop an invention from destroying a Japanese City and ending a devastating war that killed more Jews than the average Elf could comprehend? If humans are so terrible, THEN WHY HAVEN’T YOU STOPPED US YET? WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL US WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE? oh that's right, you're too scared.
My final thought: The fact that HUMANS are what Vespera chose to "study". Why not Ogres or Trolls? Were humans the easier target, or was there some other reason? The fact of the matter is that Humans and Elves are more similar than either of us would like to admit. Ogre's minds are too different than an Elf's. Human minds are only different in the sense of how loud they are.  In fact, that's arguably the most important difference between us. We humans are loud, we feel intensely and love like nothing Elves would understand. For we love for our short lives while they wander on for eternity. The only reason we can handle violence is because we have to fend for ourselves. Elves have protectors and little green people to do their dirty work. Humans have to live through thick and thin, slavery, war, loss, and heartbreak. When Elvin minds shatter, our minds find ways to make it through. Lose someone? We make up afterlife after afterlife and history shows different religions arising when the general public needs a way to work through their violent and tiring lives. But maybe we AREN’T so different. The characters presented as able to handle violence/are inclined to it either had to suffer violence and neglect, lived through endless years of times before the treaties and the council, or spent time with humans. Take Fitz as a prime example. Bro legit beat the shit out of Alvar and trapped him in goo to die. NOTHING IN THE BOOKS SHOWS FITZ FEELING ANY GUILT FOR THIS. Hm...seems like a very "human" thing to do.
The real reason Elves fear us is because we're just an untethered form of themselves with shorter life spans and a lot less to lose. We feel more deeply, more “violently”. As the books go on the Council itself is presented in a more kick-butt way as they finally step up to Vespera and the horrors she caused. 
That sounds a lot like The Humans of Atlantice.
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Sleep, Demon! (Lucifer drabble)
Lucifer has fought literal wars. He's faced down forces of nature, had armies bend the knee at his beck and call, subdued entire realms.
So why, how, is this menace of a human still alive?
'Alright, enough.' MC sighed after walking into his office to find him still at his desk, unmoving. 'Get up, you've done enough.'
'Excuse you, I have work t-'
He didn't get to finish his sentence, they planted their palms over his papers and looked deep into his eyes, sleep in their own.
'Lucifer, I can literally feel your exhaustion through the damn pact. You've been awake for two days and I don't care what the fuck you are, that's not good for you. We are going to bed, right fucking now.'
The stare off was immediate, he can't argue that he's tired, but things need doing and he's stayed awake for far longer than this before. He's a demon, he'd be fine, if a little irritable.
But this human, wasn't having it. His human, he called them.
MC rarely changed that dynamic. They were very much master of his brothers, but the pact with Lucifer had been on his terms and thus, Mc gave him the right of way, most of the time.
Tonight, however, they weren't having it, and made it clear by the gentle tug he felt at the back of his neck, their magic pulling at his pact, informing him that he'd be getting his rest, whether he wanted it or not.
Still, he's the Avatar of Pride, and will always have the last word.
'Very well, but you will be joining me.'
'Yes, Lucifer. Now come to bed.'
He has no real way of forcing them, but doesn't need too, there's comfort in their eyes and warmth on their skin as he places his hand on the small of their back and guides them to his room, making sure his brothers wouldn't steal them.
MC kept their word and had their sleep clothes ready in his room, eagerly curling up in his silk sheets.
The nights without sleep soon caught up to him as he sank into the mattress, feeling their warmth seep into the sheets and warm his skin.
He cleared his throat, and they wordlessly slid their back into his side, settling their head in the crook of his arm.
The stress, the to-do list, faded into nothingness as MC's breath settled and stilled, melting away anything outside of those four walls. Their pact is a sweet lull between them, a firm connection never to be broken.
'Next time, just say you need help getting to sleep, you stubborn creature.' MC mutters sleepily, gently toying with his fingers.
'Next time, you should remember who you're dealing with, you little menace.'
'Hmph, if I make you breakfast tomorrow will you forgive me?'
'...perhaps.'
'Really? Even if I make your favourite tea?'
'You are a very daring little menace.'
'And you love me, so who does that make you?'
'Your handler. Now sleep, as you insisted I did.'
MC pouted, craning their neck for a kiss. Lucifer made a show of a reluctant sigh, even as he leaned down to indulge in the taste of them one last time that night.
The human tugged him close before he could pull too far away, whispering their words against his lips.
'I love you, Lucifer.'
The first born melted, all pretence falling away at once. He wrapped both arms around them, pulled their back firmly into his chest until there was not a breath of air between them.
'And I, you.'
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