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perictione00 · 8 months

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Selfish

Ch 2: Confession

Pairing: Geto Suguru x reader

Warnings: MDNI, smut, fluff, pining, teenage angst.

Synopsis: You left the Jujutsu World behind the moment the source of your warmth turned cold. So what happens when you come face to face with that one episode in your life that you wanted to obliterate? Simple, you reap what you sow.

Jujutsu Kaisen Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Ch 1

2006

On your first meeting with Gojo Satoru, you concluded that he was an arrogant, spoiled brat who was gifted with good looks and godlike powers. Fortunately, with him came the heavenly two: Shoko and Geto, who aligned with the normal spectrum of human emotions in your eyes, unlike the borderline narcissist called Gojo. Maybe you were biased, but at least those two didn't call you weak when you introduced yourself. It was not difficult to get along with all of them, so in no time, you grew close to everyone. You spent a lot of time with Yaga, who was trying to decipher your cursed technique, which he believed was something akin to Geto's, and that brought about daily practice sessions with your then crush.

Geto Suguru was nearly perfect in all senses, always on the morally correct side. His desire to protect everyone, his unique approach to the whole teaching situation, and his method of training added more to his already mesmerizing persona in your mind. You trained with him every single day after classes, had hour-long conversations about the most stray subjects while trading vintage cassette tapes, and feasted on any peculiar but palatable dish you came across. Regarding your slow growth, his patience with you bore fruit the day you stumbled upon an unfavorable breakthrough. You fainted halfway through combat, yet your body swerved every additional attack coming your way with some foreign cursed energy. He conducted certain actions that might trigger this behavior again, only to discover that you shared some sort of symbiotic relationship with an entity that resided within your subconscious. He surmised that it didn't possess you; instead, it protected you, the host, for mutually gainful results. It wasn't dangerous by nature. Geto tried exorcising it but gave up due to its unpredictable nature while secretly informing Yaga about it.

_______

After your lucrative performance in the Yamanashi Prefecture assignment, you were bombarded with numerous missions, sometimes assisting Haibara or Nanami, keeping you busy enough to miss out on your lessons with Geto. So naturally, Geto found himself gravitating towards you when he saw your bruised form coming out of the infirmary. "Missed me?", Geto asked, leaning on the infirmary door.

"You wish", you replied with a playful smile.

"Ouch... can't recall your Romeo already, I see". Now that is awful because that's the thing about Geto; he says stuff like this so casually, and it hurts knowing well the platonic character of your relationship. You feel terrible for not being a truly faithful friend. However, you have almost made peace with it over the span of 4 months, striving to get it through your head that dating is not the most significant experience of teenage life; maybe it's friendship, and it's okay to accept that some people are just way out of your league. These were the constant subliminal messages going around in your head.

"Yeah, found a new one. Hello husband", you retorted as Nanami entered the scene, and in true Nanami fashion, he took his time to understand that the remark was meant for him.

"So it was a head injury, I presume", Nanami said with a straight face.

"More like a heart injury after your blatant denial of our romantic married life just now!", you scoffed, trying to sound as offended as possible. You found out recently that teasing Nanami had become your new favorite thing; his reactions were to die for, and possibly Gojo's weird tactics were rubbing off on you.

To say that Geto was bewildered would be an understatement, because the last time he checked, Nanami wasn't one to entertain such chatter or blush at unintentionally flirty jokes. Generally, Geto considered himself the most mature of the bunch, and he was above all these sappy-feeling things, so why were several questions flooding his head? Was Geto the third wheel here? Was he feeling some sort of way for you? Did he want you to be this way only with him? Geto waited till Nanami left out of sheer awkwardness and embarrassment to ask if you wanted to hang out with him, and unfortunately, you were not free.

Actually, you were. You just wanted to save yourself from the heartache because it was frustrating how you felt around him. He was untouchable and really beautiful, and your sense of inferiority kicked in every time Gojo bragged about the double dates he went on with his best friend. So turning him down seemed like a better option than deluding yourself in fantasies. What you didn't know was that life already had a funny joke up its sleeve—that Geto had been assigned to an inevitable mission along with Gojo that very day.

2010

Geto was tired of dealing with the spineless monkeys; they were getting on his nerves. Such self-centered, one-dimensional idiotic bunch weren't worth his time, but their pockets full of money and senseless heads filled with blind devotion were. Since their disgusting lives lacked meaning, he manipulated them into believing in the revolutionary religious group that he was the god of. To make some sense of the useless souls, he was doing them a favor by liberating them and making use of their miserable existence. It was always easy to instill fear in the ignorant; hence, his blessings and powers became the perfect pearls in his already beautiful ornament.

What kept him motivated was something that he yearned for—the only boon he had been enthroned with—you. And right now, he was waiting for you to return from an important congregation you conducted to scout some new fools into this institution. He knew you were capable of so much more than just using your beauty and polite, submissive nature to exploit the beliefs of the non-sorcerers, yet he couldn't trigger your fragile state by exposing you too much to the consequences of following him. So he complied with your wishes of playing house as an escape from everything. It was everything and more; there was no harm, there were no curses, there was sincerity, there was love, and there was you, and you were all he needed.

"I'm never going back there again!", you declared as you pulled Geto into a hug the minute you arrived. Being surrounded by silly people, putting up a facade, carrying yourself like an angel in front of all the devotees, a ruthless sorcerer for the enemies, a diplomat in non-sorcerer politics, and a prudent young girl for all the perverts was exhausting. It was only beside Geto that you allowed yourself to let loose, as danger was always on your tail due to your close association with him.

"Come on, I have to show you something", he said, breaking the hug.

"I really don't have the energy to travel anymore, Suguru. Let's go back to the hotel", you whined.

"Please, just this once. You won't regret it", he pleaded, and you obviously agreed. The car ride was peaceful, with your head laying on his shoulder as he admired your sleeping form, waking you up once the car reached its destination.

You woke up to a duplex surrounded by a row of rare flowers and trees, arranged in a uniform manner. You looked around the area before speaking up, "What's this place?"

"It's our home", Geto answered lovingly.

You looked back and forth between the house and him, taken aback. You remembered telling him how frustrating it was to move hotels every week. How much you craved the warmth of your parents own place. How much you wanted to be with him in a place where you could breathe freely and not feel guilty about anything. You turned to Suguru only to see him looking at you affectionately. You could be here with him, and no one in the world would know. Maybe there's a chance for change. You wanted to convey your million feelings to him, so you closed the distance between you to kiss him and let him know, which he reciprocated by kissing you deeply, pulling you as close as possible, and stopping only to take you to explore the rest of the house.

The moment you entered the bedroom, Geto had you against the wall as you wrapped your legs around him instinctively. Nuzzling into your neck and pecking you, Geto felt alive for the first time in a while. The way your lips met, the way you tasted, and the way you were trying to move your hips to gain some friction were driving him insane; it was heavenly. Before he could do anything about it, you halted your movements and walked towards the bed, stripping yourself completely and turning to say, "Suguru, I want you to fuck me".

Almost as if on cue, Geto took off his black yukata robes and followed you to the bed. He was so aroused that he couldn't help but kiss you again and suck hard enough on your bottom lip to leave a bruise. Laying you down, he started sucking your neck and teasing your nipples, going south with every passing second. Once he reached your sex, a loud moan escaped your mouth when he swirled his tongue, entering your dripping hole as he initiated the assault on your clit with his thumb. His humming pleasured you more through the vibrations, showing you just how much he longed for you. "Fuck Suguru, don't stop", you whined out of desperation.

Your moans motivated him to lick your clit with broad strokes of his tongue. You were tangling his hair, pulling on them, and trying to grind on his face, and seeing your squirming body under his control made him painfully hard. Keeping a tight grip on your thighs, Geto buried himself between them, swilling and smacking the slick while relishing his new addiction. Your hole pulsated around his tongue as he kept slurping on your juices, and you climaxed due to the overstimulation.

High on you, Geto had you sprawled on your back in a missionary position. The hypnotic haziness of the moment was too much for him, so he entered you to fulfill his carnal desire to have you. Moaning wildly, he tried to move, only to end up shuddering due to the stimulation. He didn't want to hurt you, but your face—the mix of ecstasy and craziness—was enough to drive him to the brink. Forgetting everything, he started rutting into you with harsh, deep strokes, causing you to writhe under him. The delicious jiggle of your tits allured Geto to give them the attention they deserved, sucking on one while squeezing the other. "Fuck...ngh...hsh... you're doing so good, baby...ahh", Geto said with a shaky breath as he lifted your leg up to thrust even deeper.

It wasn't the first time Geto was doing it with you; actually, he had spent countless amazing nights with you before, but this time was different. He felt as if you both were sharing the unspoken feelings you held for each other; it was serene and intimate. Being a God to thousands yet he found true devotion only in your eyes, where he was what he aspired to be: kind. And in this moment, he became one with you, and there was no beyond. His exuberant feelings were waiting to be spilled, but something stopped him. Was it doubt or rejection? He didn't know, but he knew better than to say it out loud.

"I love you, Suguru...hah..fuc-", you were cut off with a suffocating kiss. Geto's thrusting became erratic as he tried to express himself through his actions. Suddenly, life felt more lively; every sensation on his skin felt more pleasurable; it was overwhelming; he was losing control. You both came together, yet none of you stopped, wanting to stay in that euphoric episode for longer. Geto had so much to say to you, so much to confess, but he didn't. There was no rejection now; however, there was vulnerability, and it scared him.

"I love you", was all that his cowardice allowed him to utter.

Ch 3

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mynameis-noe-body · 7 months

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Okay, for marquis de gramont we can get reallll toxic. Both the reader and Vincent are angry with each other and are tying to make one another jealous at the event. Because they’re very kinda delulu and possessive they kill the people they're using to make the other jealous and confess their feelings

Thank you so much for this request, my dear anon. I hope you'll love this. 🖤

I am your slave

Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont × you (F/GN)

Rating: Teen & Up Audience

Status: Complete (one shot)

Author notes: I used Google translate for the Russian and French sentences. Let me know if it's incorrect!

Obviously. You muttered the word under your breath, chewing its bitter taste, testing its sound on the tip of your tongue as you watched, disarmed, as the Marquis made his triumphal entrance.

The most influential families of the High Table had gathered at the Hotel Mademoiselle de Condé for a gala and business evening. Those weren't rare events, but that didn't make them any less sumptuous. Money flowed freely, as did the champagne, the drugs, the caviar. And the lovers. Yes, they were purchasable too. Women and men of supreme beauty, unattainable, sometimes sons and daughters who were given away, exchanged, lent — everything, in exchange for favors.

But the Marquis — Vincent — never had to ask anyone for anything.

With a gallant gesture he opened the door of his 1970 Cadillac DeVille and offered his arm to a woman. And not yet another high-class whore that he would have refused to touch even with the tip of his little finger, no. The woman who accompanied him that evening was a creature of rare beauty, perhaps someone's protégé. Perhaps his protégé. She was graceful, elegant, she flaunted a cascade of golden curls that would make Venus herself envious. And you, you felt flooded with anger.

"Champagne" you ordered, snapping your fingers. They served you immediately. You too had your power, and you had never hidden it. You knew, deep down, that it was one of the things that attracted him. Your shy elegance fiercely contrasted the anger that could ignite in your heart. The strength of your hands, the fury in your eyes, the power you wielded ruthlessly. Yet, in his arms and in his bed, you were capable of the deepest love, the most total devotion. He was bewitched by it, and inebriated. Therefore, he loved to instigate every jealousy in you, just to have you desperate at the end of the night.

Vincent didn't even glance at you. He shook dozens of hands, ordered food and drinks, laughed with his colleagues and friends. And he ignored you. At least until, from the door of the luxurious hotel, taking off his Armani coat and handing the keys of his Ferrari Portofino to the doorman, Mr. D'Antonio entered.

"Santino!" you exclaimed, with a smile so bright it lighted the entire dining room. Many turned, if only for a moment, to watch you gallop towards the man, with a hem of your beautiful dress grasped between your fingers to reveal crystal heels that echoed off the walls.

Santino opened his arms, and welcomed you with a loud kiss on the cheek. "Meraviglia! Look at you — beautiful, you are beautiful."

Santino was warm, welcoming, purely Italian. And charming, in every aspect of his person. He knew how to make any woman feel like the most beautiful in the world. He gallantly offered you his arm and ordered for you. His laugh was loud, contagious. His exuberant nature amused you. You had been friends for years now. You had worked together, sometimes — often you had worked for him. And he appreciated you. He was generous in his payments. And above all, Vincent was morbidly jealous, because D'Antonio had no qualms about making blatant advances on you, even in front of all those people.

Vincent was daydreaming about murder. God, how he hated him. And yes, he had planned to take that beautiful Parisian home with him, one of the new acquisitions of his organization, now that he saw you... you were his favorite. Oh, bullshit — you were the only one. Since he had met you he had no longer been able to keep faith with his numerous lovers. One by one, they had extinguished his desire, and you had ignited his. Or they were fallen dead, because you killed them. Many of them, to be honest. And every time he learned of one of your murders, his desire to possess you — body and soul — violently took hold of him. He didn't want to give in, not that easily. But now he understood how difficult it was to resist you, while your hand caressed the muscular shoulder of that penniless Italian. That coward. The mere thought that you could enjoy yourself under his fingers made him vomit — so much that he poured what was left of the wine into the boulle and twisted his mouth in a grimace of disgust.

With my bare hands, he thought. He crossed his legs and wrapped himself in his double-breasted jacket, brooding. I want to kill him with my bare hands around his neck. He would have done it. He was Vincent Bisset de Gramont, the Marquis and he could do whatever the fuck he wanted. He could have attached Santino D'Antonio to a pole and set him on fire to make him feel a tenth of the physical pain with which, due to that jealousy, he himself was now burning.

The young woman he had brought with him caressed his face. Or at least, she tried. But he grabbed her wrist before she could touch his cheek. He looked at her with the same hatred. "Go take off that lipstick" he hissed, through clenched teeth. "You look ridiculous."

She obeyed, humiliated, and reached the bathroom. Of course, she didn't expect to meet you anytime soon.

As soon as you saw her walking away towards the toilet, you took your chance, followed her and closed the door behind you with a sharp slam, waiting for her right there, outside her niche. She, surrounded by that shiny hair, those brilliant eyes, those scarlet lips, had raised a single eyebrow in an inquisitive manner.

"And you are?" she asked, passing a cloth over her lips, cleaning them from that bright color.

You inhaled deeply. "You know who I am."

She allowed herself an amused smile. "Ah," she had commented, smugly, "nomer dva."

You thought that, before speaking, she should have made sure that you didn't speak Russian.

▪️▪️▪️

"Dance with me." Vincent took your hand, intertwined his fingers with yours and dragged you before you could respond, or refuse.

He had chased you as soon as you left the bathroom. The Marquis had immediately noticed your flushed chest, your freshly washed hands, your disheveled hair pulled back with a mechanical gesture of your hand, your pupils as narrow as pinpricks. Magnificent. On the dance floor, he had first twirled you once, before grabbing you and holding you against his chest; one hand — the right one — on your back, the lower part, the other intertwined with yours and pressed against his chest, on the beating of his heart. And his face in the corner between your neck and your shoulder.

You huffed, trying to maintain composure. "They're all watching us" you whispered in his ear. He smiled against your skin. "You'll make us look ridiculous in front of the High Table."

"Mon amour. I am the High Table." Vincent left the ghost of a kiss on your neck before making you sway in his arms. Another pirouette, and there you are again in his inevitable grip. "I could order half the men in this room to lick the floor where you walk, and they would do it for me."

You barely held back a small smile. "I can not stand you." But you settled a little more against his chest. The soft, slow music lulled you gently. "And what do you think of Santino? Would he kneel for you too?"

His nails dug into your side, making you flinch. You met his icy eyes in mid-air. So cold, so beautiful. "The Italian. That's it then, you like him."

"He's a charming man."

"He is rude, and vulgar. So pompous."

"And you're not?"

You almost heard him growl. Vincent shot a terrible look at D'Antonio, across the room, who was watching you swing on the dance floor with dark, annoyed eyes.

"You shouldn't be here with me" you added, coldly. "Your woman? Where is she?"

He laughed heartily. "Oh, please. We both know she won't make it out of that bathroom alive. How long did it take you to kill her?"

But you didn't answer. You never responded to his curiosity... it was your game.

Vincent grinned. The kiss on your neck now became passionate. You felt his soft lips caress your skin from your bare shoulder to the tip of your chin with five deep, intense kisses. "You drive me crazy."

This time, you smiled happily. "You are sick."

Vincent looked deadly serious, hovering over you, his back straight and tall to tower over your beautiful figure. "I will have monsieur D'Antonio's raw heart served to me on a silver platter. I will kidnap you, lock you in a dungeon, make you die of hunger and thirst if necessary — anything, as long as you admit the truth."

He was scary. Exciting. Terrifying. Beautiful. You blushed, panting slightly. "What truth? What the hell are you talking about?"

He smiled. He leaned down and whispered in your ear. "That you love me, mon amour."

"I —" yes, you loved him. And you loved the way he made you feel. You loved that hateful jealousy you felt for him, and that he felt for you. You caressed his face with an unexpected sweetness. Your eyes were large, languid. Vincent felt his whole body tremble like never before... "I'll tell you. Not now, though. Tomorrow morning. Now, take me home, and make love to me."

He stopped. He smiled, looking younger than he was. So happy. With a ridiculous low bow, he offered you his hand. "Je suis ton serviteur."

#marquis de gramont #vincent de gramont #Vincent Bisset de Gramont #john wick #john wick fanfic #john wick fandom #marquis de gramont x reader #Vicent de Gramont x you #Marquis De Gramont x you #bill skarsgård

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divine-knight-hand · 7 months

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The Ball of the Red Death

Loki Masterlist || Full Masterlist || Read on AO3 Halloween Triple Feature Masterlist

Pairing: Prince!Loki Laufeyson x Enchantress!Female Reader

Summary: A royal feast being converted to a royal ball at the last minute by the god of mischief's mad magic-wielding lover, who just so happens to have an Edgar Allen Poe obsession. What could possibly go wrong?

Content Warnings: Descriptions of violence, discussions of death and mortality at length, implied major character death (you just really have to squint), use of enchantment, unprotected sex, mind reading/communication during sex, use of magic during sex, momentary clothed sex, porn with way way too much plot

Notes: I started writing this because I originally wanted Loki and the reader to have a kind of Gomez and Morticia vibe, but this ended up going in a very different direction.

I reccomend listening to this (TikTok Video) or this (Spotify) during the waltz scene. You can thank me later~

Word Count: 6,905 (Sorry about that, but I believe in y’all!)

Dividers by @chachachannah

“…‘And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.’” I closed the book I was holding and let out a satisfied sigh. “Poe’s commentary on mortality never disappoints.”

Loki and I were resting comfortably in our shared bedroom in the castle. Sometimes, when we had idle time together, I would read aloud from my collection of Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories as he attentively listened, closing his eyes as if he could hang on to my every word. This time, I had just finished reading The Masque of the Red Death —a short story that I’d read about a million times prior to this. Needless to say, it was my favorite one in the collection.

“I find Prince Prospero rather insufferable.” Loki frowned, his head comfortably nestled in my lap. “He didn’t even hesitate to shut the sick out to die. He cared not for his kingdom. He merely cared for the throne. His methods are those born of blatant greed and ignorance.”

I dropped my book on a nearby nightstand before reaching down to softly scratch his raven locks. “Lest we forget, you were once mad for power.”

The god sighed under my touch, closing his eyes. “And I would have done well with it. Asgard would truly prosper with me as its king.”

“I’m sure it would.” I smirked at his witty response. “Enough with the scary stories, anyway. I have more important things to tend to.” I let go of his hair, waiting for him to move his head from my lap. He didn’t budge.

“‘More important things to tend to’?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “I would choose your words more carefully, darling.”

I instantly felt guilty for my poor choice of words. “Loki, as much as I love spending time with you, you know I have to meet with Frigga to discuss-”

“The royal feast preparations.” He finished for me. “I’m aware.” He looked up at me, his blue eyes filled with longing. “Each moment I’m without you brings me closer to madness. Perhaps you’ve managed to enchant me, after all.”

“You know I couldn’t possibly do that, no matter how much experience I earn in my craft.” I tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear. “I promise you, my absence will only last as long as the blink of an eye.”

Loki sat up beside me. “I’m doubtful, but I will concede.” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before he continued. “Stop tempting me and go before I change my mind and keep you here for myself.”

I chuckled to myself as I finally rose from the bed and strolled over to the door. “You won’t even have the time to miss me.”

Loki simply let out a low hum in response as I shut the door behind me.

.·:*¨༺♚༻¨*:·.

I made sure to keep in step alongside Frigga as we strolled through the palace gardens. She wore an expression of immense confusion. “Are you absolutely sure you wish to convert the feast to a ball? You do realize the event is tomorrow, and a ball requires much more preparation than a feast, correct?”

“Have you no faith in my planning prowess?” I teased. “I’m absolutely positive. I have grand ideas, and I feel a simple feast wouldn’t do them justice at all.”

“I suppose that makes sense…” Frigga seemed hesitant to agree with me.

“Oh! There’s one more thing I feel inclined to add.” I twiddled my fingers in front of me as we walked. “I wish to plan this event on my own from here on out.”

Frigga’s eyes widened. “You wish to make this event your own? This is a royal event, lest you forget!”

“I’m well aware, my queen.” I reassured her. “I simply wish to take matters into my own hands and allow for the royal family to indulge in the resulting revelry.”

A strange, uncharacteristic darkness crept over her features. “Something tells me this isn’t your true intention.”

“Nonsense!” I waved my hand. “It’s all in good fun, I assure you.”

Frigga froze for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh. “I’ll be speaking with the Allfather. We need his approval for this change in arrangements, after all.”

We both stopped in our tracks, and I flashed her the sweetest smile I could muster. “Lovely! I thank you for your consideration on the matter.”

Frigga met me with a frightened look. “Sure… Yes- Well, I’ll be on my way!” With that, she hurried out of the gardens, as if she couldn’t get away from me quickly enough.

What a shame. I sighed as I watched her go. I do hope I didn’t let on too much…

.·:*¨༺♚༻¨*:·.

Odin grumbled at the documents in front of him. He hated signing laws into action, but they were a responsibility of his. He took pride in his work, no matter how mundane it became.

Tap! Tap! Tap! He rubbed the bridge of his nose as a soft rapping sounded at the door. He wasn’t as pleased with distractions.

“Enter!” He called, sitting up straight in his chair.

Frigga entered the room, clutching the front of her dress in an anxious disposition. “Allfather! There’s something important I must discuss with you.”

“Of course!” His booming voice practically rattled the castle walls. “What must we discuss, my dear?”

“It’s about the royal feast.” She nervously wrung her hands. “Lady Y/N wishes for it to be a ball instead…” Odin arched an eyebrow at her before she continued, “and she wishes to take on sole responsibility of planning it.”

“THE GALL!” He roared. “She’s casting you from the planning council? Who does that woman think she is?!”

“She claims it to be all in good fun…” Frigga’s voice trailed off into uncertainty.

“Yet you seem apprehensive.” Odin observed.

Frigga took a deep breath. “I sensed malicious intent in her. I fear the worst for our family. I fear the worst for our people.”

Odin sighed. He wanted nothing more than to have Loki’s concubine of a lover locked away in the dungeons for the rest of her days. There was something about her that just irked him, but he could never place his finger on it.

However, as the conversation drew on, Odin felt a change in him, and new thoughts began to creep into his mind. Lady Y/N didn’t seem as repulsive to him. If anything, he was curious as to what she had in store for the ball. She said it was all in good fun, after all. What would be the harm in giving his wife some time to relax? In front of him, Frigga’s eyes darted around the room as if she was searching for something.

Odin cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to him. “Give the lady full control of the event. I want every event planner in Asgard at her disposal. Her ideas deserve to be realized, and I wish to see what she has in store for us.”

Frigga audibly gasped. “But, Allfather-”

“Silence!” He waved her off. “I’ve made my decision. Now be off! I have duties to attend to.”

Frigga looked dumbfounded, her mouth opening and closing in an attempt to formulate a response. She never found her voice. She respectfully curtsied and rushed out of the room, leaving Odin to tend to his papers.

My fingers tingled with magic and excitement as I observed the scene from the rafters. This was all coming together too perfectly. Enchanting the Allfather was the easy part. It was no simple task to fool a master sorceress, however. Especially one as experienced and well-versed in Asgardian magic as Frigga. The thrill of almost being caught sent another jolt of electricity coursing under my skin. This is just too perfect!

.·:*¨༺♚༻¨*:·.

The following night, Fandral stood at the bottom of the grand staircase in the ballroom, which was decorated in elegant shades of red and gold. He himself was outfitted in crimson fabrics, and the attention of every partygoer was fixed on him.

“Welcome, everyone, to the Red Ball.” His voice projected throughout the room. “I see most of you abided by the dress code ordained by the coordinator of this event. Others… not so much.” He passive-aggressively cleared his throat. “Before we proceed with the festivities, it is my utmost honor and privilege to introduce the royal family, as well as their partners. I first present to you the Allfather, Asgard’s king, Odin, with his wife, our beloved queen, Frigga.”

The partygoers roared as Fandral stepped aside, leaving Odin and Frigga space to descend the stairs, arms interlocked. Odin was decorated in gold armor, and Frigga in a large and flowy red dress, a crown adorned in blood-red jewels resting atop her neatly coiled hair. The two were a paragon of a royal couple, descending the stairs in an air of grace and power.

Fandral bowed to the couple as they made their way off of the staircase before resituating himself where he stood prior. “Now I present their eldest son, and prince of Asgard, Thor Odinson, with his partner, hailing from Midgard, Jane Foster.”

Fandral stepped aside as Thor and Jane made their way down the stairs holding hands. The crowd roared again as the couple approached. Thor wore a tunic of red and silver, while Jane wore an equally red hoopless ball gown.

Once again, Fandral bowed and returned to the center of the bottom step to announce the final pair. “And now, last but not least, I present the youngest prince of Asgard, Loki Odinson, with his partner, who attended to planning this very ball, Y/N L/N.”

Atop the stairs, I felt my heart leap into my throat at the sound of my name. This was it. This was the moment everything would be set in motion. I smoothed my hands over the front of my crimson velvet dress before Loki locked one of my arms in his. He wore a tunic similar to his traditional choice, the only difference being that he swapped the green hue for red, as per my request. He tried to argue his way out of giving up his favorite color, but caved when I insisted.

“Don’t worry yourself.” He leaned in to whisper, merely inches from my ear. “Your beauty would make the very stars themselves whisper in envy, my enchantress. If nothing else, you are not the problem.”

I smiled before whispering back, “Thank you, my love. Never does a moment go by where you’re at a loss for the perfect words.”

He motioned his hand towards the stairs. “Shall we?”

I made a small nod. “We shall.”

With that, we began our descent on the stairs, turning onto the grand staircase, where the crowd could finally set their eyes on us. Scattered cheers erupted into loud applause as I set my hand in a delicate wave.

Loki gently nudged my shoulder as we neared the bottom step. “See, darling? They love you.”

“Nonsense, my prince.” I smirked. “Your royal visage is distracting them from mine.”

He lightly sighed. “Must you always evade my reassurance?”

“Not at all.” I responded, taking the opportunity to glance in his direction. “I just stand to reason that your approval is the only one that matters to me. I don’t need that of others.”

Loki and I stood alongside the rest of the royal family as Fandral wrapped up his introductions. “Now that I’ve introduced our esteemed royal family, let the festivities begin!”

At his words, the ballroom came alive. A band in the corner of the room began playing a slow orchestral waltz and couples began pairing up and swaying to the music, forming a sea of red with the occasional off-color sprinkled in. Black-suited figures entered the room carrying trays of drinks and finger foods to pass to hungry dancers. As I observed the scene, I felt a sense of pride swelling inside of me. Any minute now. It’ll be any minute now. I felt the corners of my lips upturn as my fingers began to tingle.

My gaze met Loki’s. “I can’t believe this is really happening!”

I fought to keep my smile from growing too wide. Damnit! Tone it down before you appear suspicious. Then again, it would be safe to consider that anyone in the room would assume that my excitement came from enjoyment of the party.

Loki warmly smiled at me. “You did well in planning this event.”

“The best is yet to come.” I winked, noticing Frigga stiffen in the corner of my eye. The song changed to one with a bit of a quicker tempo, eliciting the same change in speed from the dancers.

Odin clapped his hands, bringing the attention of the royal family and their partners to him. “I believe it is time for us to enjoy a dance as well.” He held a hand out to Frigga. “My wife.” She took his outstretched hand in hers with a small smile before he led her away from the rest of us.

“I’m assuming that’s my cue.” Thor held a hand out for Jane, who let out a small chuckle as she took his hand.

“Well done! This is amazing!” She called out to me before disappearing with her lover among the sea of dancers.

I turned to Loki with an eyebrow raised, and he quickly understood what I wanted from him, extending a hand towards me. “Care to dance, darling?”

I couldn’t hide the grin spreading across my mouth this time. “Let’s!”

I took his hand and he led me to the center of the dance floor. He then held his hands at my waist and I rested mine on his shoulders. We fell into step, dancing something similar to a formal ballroom dance, but with some elements that were more casual than traditional.

As we danced, Loki leaned in to mutter, “Darling, may I ask you a question?”

“What’s plaguing your mind, my love?” I gave one of his shoulders a squeeze.

“Your guest list seems rather…” His voice trailed off as his eyes quickly scanned the room before returning to mine. “How did you manage to gather so many people from the dungeon? This doesn’t seem safe, nor plausible.”

I waved my hand at his concern before returning it to his shoulder. “Worry not about that. They won’t be stirring any trouble tonight.”

“And you can guarantee that?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Indeed, I can.” I warmly smiled at him. “Besides, everyone deserves a chance to enjoy the festivities, don’t they?”

“I suppose…” Then, a look of realization crossed his features, and he sighed, a disappointed sound coming from a suddenly amused expression. “You’ve enchanted them, haven’t you?”

A small smirk tugged at my lips. “Guilty as charged.”

He lightly chuckled, his amusement pulling a grin from his lips. “I see no harm in the matter, then.”

We continued to dance to the music, my dress swishing with each movement as he held me, spun me, and dipped me. As extravagant as our dancing may have seemed, he never attempted a move that would be too much for me. He knew all the moves I could comfortably perform, and would always dance accordingly. Sometimes, I worried that I was holding him back, but he always assured me that there was no one he’d rather dance with than me. He really knew how to make me feel special.

All things considered, it was a wonder I didn’t trip over myself. My eyes remained glued to his, and his to mine. He was gorgeous, and I didn’t want him out of my sight for a second. Each moment I danced with him was a moment where everything else faded away. It was as if we were alone in the ballroom, dancing simply for our own enjoyment. I would stay with him like this forever if I could.

Unfortunately, forever didn’t last, and the song ended up changing to a more lively piece, sending the rest of the dancers into a frenzy.

I decided I wanted to take this moment to step away. “Loki?”

“Yes, darling?” He slowed to a stop as I did.

“Can we go to the balcony?” I gave his shoulders an affectionate squeeze. “There’s something I’d like to show you.”

I could almost see the gears in his mind turning as he considered this. “Of course.”

We interlocked arms and made our way back towards the grand staircase, Fandral spying us on the way. “Leaving so soon?” He called, unceasing in his dance with his partner.

“We will return, of course!” I waved with my free arm. “The night isn’t nearly over.”

Loki and I practically dashed up the stairs and down the hall to an inner balcony, which overlooked the ballroom dance floor. We had an overhead view of the sea of dancers below, each creating their own wave of crimson.

I let go of Loki to grab the banister, sighing as I looked on. “It’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.”

I felt his arms wrap around my waist as his head came to a rest on my shoulder. “This is all your doing, my dear. I have not the words to describe my pride in you, both for the event you carefully planned and for your great magical improvement.”

“Thank you, my love.” My lips curved into another smile as his pride filled me with my own. “Do you know why I chose the theme that I did?”

Loki hummed thoughtfully before answering. “I couldn’t possibly say.”

I stretched my arm over the party below. “Look at all those people. Every single one in here has something they’re trying to escape. Something they’re trying to avoid . They bide their time ignoring a malignant problem that doesn’t fade away. It festers, it grows, and someday, it drowns them.”

“How delightful…” Loki didn’t seem amused in the slightest.

“I know it’s morbid.” I lightly chuckled. “But inspiration struck, and that, I couldn’t ignore. Consider this an escape from what is a tiresome reality.”

“Alright,” A moment of silence passed between us as he let go of me and situated himself next to me. He spoke up again, “Why, then, did you ask a majority of us to wear red?” His hands reached forward to grab the banister.

I softly placed one of mine over one of his. “I believe you should instead be asking why some didn’t.”

Loki seemed to carefully consider this as he examined the dancers below. “It seems all the nobles and most of the royalty in attendance are wearing other colors.” He pointed out the wealthy and the royals from other realms, who were, in fact, devoid of the red color that everyone else wore in abundance.

“Very good.” I slid behind him and snaked my arms around his waist, pulling myself into him as I neared his cheek with my lips–which I conveniently left unpainted–and lowered my voice to just above a whisper. “You’re so observant, my love.”

Loki shuddered. “Darling… I’m still unclear on your motives.”

“All will be revealed in due time.” I coaxed his face in the direction of mine. “Be patient, my prince.”

The air between us seemed to crackle with electricity. I brought my forehead to his, closing some of the distance between us.

“We’ve been gone for some time,” Loki breathed. “The others will talk.”

“Let them.” I finally closed the distance between us with a kiss. I wrapped my arms around him, kissing him like it would be my last time. I wanted to drink him in. I never wanted to forget this feeling.

When we broke our kiss, Loki breathily asked, “And what of having patience?”

“You, my love, are the only thing that can make waiting feel torturous.” I sighed, leaning in to kiss him again.

This time, I heard a low hum escape him as we connected. His arms reciprocated my embrace, warming my body and heart.

When we broke our kiss again for air, Loki’s cheeks were dusted a light pink, and his lips were curved into the smallest smirk.

“You little minx.” He teased. “Have you no intention of returning to the event you planned?”

“Of course, I do!” I playfully scoffed, letting go of him and turning to walk away. “But, if you wish to hurry me off, then…”

“Wait!” Loki grabbed my arm, pulling me back to him. “Just once more.” He insisted before pulling me into a final, hungry kiss.

I felt his hand work its way into my hair, the other playing at my waist. I slid mine up his chest until I interlocked them behind his neck.

He sighed against my mouth before breaking the kiss. We were left gasping in each other’s arms, smiling like fools. But, we knew we weren’t fools. We were in love.

“I hope you know, I didn’t actually intend on walking away from you.” I breathlessly admitted.

“I know.” Loki smirked. “I simply enjoy indulging in your little games.”

My ears perked at the sound of a glass chiming. “Oh! I genuinely must be away now.”

“Allow me to escort you back to the festivities, darling.” Loki kissed the crown of my head before we rushed to fix our hair and return to the ball.

Fandral stood at the bottom of the stairs, the attention of the partygoers on him once again, with a glass in one hand and a silver spoon in the other. “There she is! The delicate and fair princess chooses to grace us with her presence once again… and Lady Y/N appears, as well.”

Loki rolled his eyes as I stifled a giggle at Fandral’s dramatic foolishness. “You two can save your childish banter for later. I believe I must take care of something now.”

“But, of course, my lady!” Fandral turned back to the crowd, tapping his spoon against the glass to make another chiming sound. “Now I ask for your attention as we hear a few words from Lady Y/N.”

The crowd applauded as Fandral and Loki walked off, leaving me at the bottom of the grand staircase. Loki glared daggers at the giddy blonde. He would remember that insult for a long time to come.

I had to stifle another giggle by clearing my throat before addressing the audience. “Thank you all so kindly for attending this ball. I worked very hard to put all of this together.” I opened my arms in a grand gesture and the partygoers erupted into applause.

I only spoke again once the applause died down. “With the creation of the Red Ball, I had a vision.” I began to pace in front of the bottom step. “A vision that no one has ever dared to enact before. I’ve brought together royals and delinquents alike in a display of unity.” More cheers filled the ballroom before I could continue. “But one question remains. Unity through what? What unites us? How can royals, commonfolk, and dungeon convicts be linked in any way?” The room went silent, the only sound filling the hall being my voice. “Well, there’s one thing that unites us. One thing that the royals gleefully ignore, but it looms over the heads of commoners. It’s punctuated by each ticking of the clock. It creeps in with every breath we take. It sweeps through every corridor we dare to step through, and it… is… red.”

Whoosh! All of the lights in the hall were suddenly extinguished, and a few screams were heard before the room came alive with scattered whispers and mutters.

“Please remain calm!” Odin’s voice reverberated around the room. “The lights will return shortly.”

A large pair of arms wrapped around me and I let out a surprised yelp. “Darling! Are you alright?”

“Loki?” I let out a relieved chuckle and settled into his embrace. “I’m okay. I just… What happened to the lights?”

“We’ve got servants looking into it.” Loki reassured me. “Odin believes the lights will return soon.”

“How soon?” My voice oozed with feux concern. I was relieved that the darkness was enough to hide the smirk playing at my lips.

A blood-curdling scream sounded from across the room before quickly tapering off into a gurgling cough, followed by a dull thud. The room plummeted into another silence before more screams of the same fashion filled the void of sound.

Loki’s arms tightened around me. “We need to get out of here.” He growled in my ear. “Now.”

“I don’t believe that will be necessary.” I reassured him.

“What?” He sounded flabbergasted.

“‘And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death.’” I quoted. “‘He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel,’.”

Loki began to sound desperate. “Please, darling, begin to make sense again. I know not what you’re speaking of.”

With that, the lights returned, revealing the red splatters of blood around the ballroom. The dungeon escapees I invited were gone, replaced with figures wearing masks–ghoulish pale faces covered in red blotches—that resembled victims of the Red Death from Poe’s short story. Each one carried a knife, as instructed… Well, as instructed by the enchantment they were under.

The only partygoers left alive were those who wore red. They screamed and sobbed at the carnage that was created around them.

“What the Hel is going on?!” Loki squeezed me tighter to his chest, shock coloring his tone.

“I suppose the name of the ball was a tad misleading.” I mused, “I do believe The Ball of the Red Death would be a much more appropriate title.”

“I beg your pardon?” Loki released me from his grip. I turned to face him as his hands ghosted my upper arms. His eyes were blown with disbelief at my commentary. “Did you have something to do with this?”

I darkly chuckled. “No, my love. I had everything to do with this.”

His eyes grew wide. “Wh- What?”

I walked my fingers up his shoulder. “In a world where the privileged forget their place, someone has to act to remind them that even they can’t escape their demise. Consider this a wake up call.”

Loki seemed puzzled. “You’re still speaking in fragments.” His brow creased in concentration before he spoke again. “While we were alone, you mentioned that people escaped something that only festered. Is this what you meant? Death?!” I responded with a silent nod as he scanned the room. “And the victims… They weren’t wearing red. None of them were.”

“Using the term ‘victims’ to refer to these over-privileged assholes is a bit of a stretch, if I do say so myself.” I insisted, “But, yes. The dead attempted to avoid the red… Well, they weren’t ordered to wear red in the first place, but my metaphor still stands.”

“I- I-” Loki was at a loss for words.

“I can understand your confusion, but I assure you there’s a method to my perceived madness.” I slowly approached him and caressed his cheek. “Commoners face death and ailment every day, only for their problems to be ignored and even trivialized by the royally and monetarily privileged. I’m merely reminding them that they’re no farther above the rest of their people. Is that so foul?”

The god puzzled this over for a moment before another scream filled the room. It was then that Thor found us, with Jane at his side.

The two ran up to us, Jane’s voice wavering with panic. “We have to get out of here!”

“Brother, get Jane and Y/N to safety!” Thor commanded, sounding as loud as his father would as he summoned his hammer. “I’ll hold off the murderers until your return.” The blonde sped off before Loki could respond.

I gingerly rested a hand on Loki’s shoulder. “Jane seems shaken. Take her away, then come find me again.”

Loki considered this, his jaw clenching as he rapidly scanned the room, before swiftly leaving with Jane. I smiled as I watched him leave, sounds of thunder and violence crescendoing behind me as I drew a knife from under the skirts of my dress. There was one more thing I had to take care of.

.·:*¨༺♚༻¨*:·.

It didn’t take long for me to tie up that last loose end. After discarding the knife and cleaning all the blood off of my skin, I was strolling through the halls–the sounds of metal clanging and bodies thudding fading into background noise–when Loki nearly ran into me.

“Gods!” He exclaimed in surprise. “I was just looking for you.”

“Loki!” I smiled warmly. “It was about time you found me.”

A moment of charged silence hung between us before he spoke up again. “You did all of this by yourself?”

“Hardly.” I waved my hand dismissively at the idea. “I had the entire planning committee, as well as those confined to the dungeons, at my disposal… with a little convincing, of course.” I held up my hand and let small tendrils of magic play at my fingertips to emphasize my point.

“You amaze me.” He breathlessly chuckled. “Truly, you amaze me.”

“You don’t despise me for the chaos I’ve caused?” This time, I was surprised.

“Darling,” He cupped my face in his hands, and I felt sparks tingle to life under my skin. “You’re speaking to the god of mischief. I’m not averse to chaos in the slightest. Yes, your planning was a bit bold… and unorthodox, if I do say so myself… but I could never despise you.” I cupped one of his hands in mine as he continued. “Besides, I do believe I’ve figured out the theme behind your little games.”

A smirk tugged at my lips. “Oh, really? Do tell, then, what my true motives were.”

“You’ve had quite the obsession with Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death . I have reason to believe our reading of that little story inspired you to act on your own beliefs.” He leaned in until our noses were nearly touching. “And after listening to you speak tonight, I have reason to believe that your motivation is rather agreeable.”

“Oh, Loki,” I let out a sigh as my eyes fluttered shut. “I’m glad we ended up on the same page. Truly, I worried-”

Loki cut off my sentence by slamming into me with a passionate kiss. I let out a soft moan as my hands trailed up his back to tangle themselves in his soft inky locks.

When we broke from the kiss, gasping for air, he reassured me between breaths. “You have no reason to worry. The royal court will have no knowledge of what transpired tonight. To them, this will be an uprising planned by the criminals who will be heading back to the dungeons after the battle dies down.” I silently nodded, my hand reaching up to trace his jawline.

He softly chuckled at my suddenly diverted attention. “You’ve been getting distracted so easily.”

“Your elegance is distracting.” I remarked, bringing my body closer to his.

“Then, forget the ball entirely.” He closed the gap between us with a quick kiss before continuing. “Let us retire to our chambers, hm?”

“I like the way you think~” At my words, Loki picked me up and carried me bridal-style all the way to our shared room, the sounds of violence fading away into complete silence as we swiftly moved through each palace hall.

I couldn’t help but giggle as our bedroom door slammed shut behind him, his stride unbreaking until he laid me down onto the bed. “You’ve done a great deal of work up until now, haven’t you?” He crawled on top of me, his hair falling around our faces, before pulling me into another kiss.

As his trail of kisses moved down along my neck, I shuddered. “I’m still surprised my strange methods for change haven’t turned you away.”

“Oh, darling,” Loki groaned. “I am no stranger to the madness you’re exploring. The darkness you entertain… Its allure is strong.” His kisses were unceasing, making their way back up to my lips before whispering. “I fear it not. In fact, I revere it.”

I reached a hand up to cup his cheek as my own burned warm in feel and in hue. “Loki…”

He pulled me into another kiss, his hips grinding into mine, the growing bulge in his trousers drawing a soft moan from my lips as it made friction with my core through the mountains of fabric between us. My hands were eager, and I felt the pull of magic threatening my fingertips as they desperately grasped at his back. He shuddered under my touch, clearly sensing my energy through the leathers that separated his skin from mine.

With no lack of grace, Loki hiked up the skirts of my dress, granting himself access to the lace panties I wore underneath. I hissed as he brought the fingers of his free hand against the damp fabric, the other creating a dip in the bed as he held himself up on it.

“Already so wet for me?” He hummed in approval. “Your desire for me is nothing short of glorious~”

“My prince,” I breathed as I resisted the urge to buck my hips against his hand. “Please, let me have you tonight.”

I heard the shifting of leathers before feeling Loki move my panties aside and tease the tip of his cock against my slick folds. “I will give you whatever you desire, darling.” Quickly growing impatient, he tore the intruding piece of fabric off of my legs, granting himself full access to my cunt.

I still felt the magic and excitement dancing in my fingertips when he grabbed one of my hands in his, interlocking our fingers. “I can feel this power of yours, my dear.” He brought my hand up to his mouth, unceasing in his teasing as his lips lightly brushed my fingers. “Normally, I’d warn you to exercise caution in allowing your emotions to control your magic… but, seeing as I’m immune to your enchantment, I’ll encourage you to remember the way it courses through your veins as I pleasure you tonight.”

I shivered under his touch, despite feeling extremely warm. “And you’re absolutely positive that you’re immune to my enchantment?”

Loki thoughtfully hummed. “Only your magical enchantment, it would seem. Your enchanting allure, on the other hand?” He leaned in and softly kissed me on the lips before continuing. “I fall weak to it every time.”

“Oh, Loki…” I moaned as I pulled him into another passionate kiss, feeling his magic beckon to mine.

It was playful. It teased at my fingertips, as if it was asking the sparks under my skin to come out and play. I’d never felt Loki’s seidr have energy this light-hearted before. Even when he was using it for tricks and games, it always had some sort of reserved and orderly feel to it. It only ever moved with a purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. But, not tonight. Tonight, it was almost as wild and eager as mine. Tonight, it was carefree.

Can you blame me? Loki’s voice mischievously chuckled in my mind. I have the most radiant woman in all the nine realms all to myself, at last.

You’ve always had me, my love. I sighed against his mouth, my free hand trailing up his back. I’m yours, for as long as you wish to have me.

Then, I’ll have you until the very end of days. Loki’s lust came through in his message, and I reached for his cock, eager to satisfy his hunger for me. Normally, he would softly reproach me for being so impatient, but tonight, he just shuddered when my fingers made contact with his length. Take me now, darling.

With pleasure~ I lined him up with my entrance and slowly let him slide in.

He let his kisses trail along my jaw as he bottomed out, whispering, “Gods, you feel divine…”

Loki’s breath against the shell of my ear sent a shiver down my spine, and my inner walls instinctively clenched around his cock, earning a soft, breathy moan from him in response. Without wasting another second, he began slowly thrusting in and out of me, setting a steady pace.

“Loki…” I groaned, my hand returning to his back to desperately claw at the leather that still covered it. “I want to feel all of you. Please…”

He softly chuckled at my eagerness, allowing his seidr to dissolve our clothes into thin air. A small draft washed over my now bare body, giving my skin a short-lived break from the warmth Loki’s body sent into mine. The delicious warmth…

“How ironic that I should provide you with such warmth.” He purred. “On account of my heritage being so frigid.”

“Yet, that’s the only cold thing about you.” I hissed as he brushed my sweet spot. “You’ve always been so warm and loving to me.”

“You’re the only one who’s proved worthy of that thus far.” He growled.

I felt my impatience heightening at his slow pace, the energy thrumming in my fingers growing equally restless. “Loki…”

“Yes, darling?” He mumbled.

“Harder,” I breathed. “Please… Harder.”

Loki’s low, mischievous chuckle sounded in my ear. “As you wish, my enchantress~”

He sped up his movements, slamming his hips into mine at a bruising pace. He relentlessly targeted my sweet spot, and I could almost hear my own moans rattling off the castle walls as he blended pleasure and pain into a beautiful experience just for me.

“Oh, Loki…” I felt my eyes roll back as my nails dug into his back.

Yes, darling... Loki’s voice broke through my mess of incoherent thoughts. Mark me just like that. Lay your claim on me and me alone.

“Loki…” His name spilled from my lips like a prayer. It was the only word I could speak coherently anymore. “Oh, Loki…”

“That’s it,” He praised me. “Let anyone who might overhear us know who you belong to. Yes, just like that.”

It felt so good. God, he knew just how to please me. Everything about the moment was so intimate. I never shied away from baring myself to Loki, and he happily did the same for me. Our thoughts were aligned, our magic played, and his body was fully available to me, pleasuring me in all the ways he knew I loved.

I felt my peak quickly approaching. “Loki… ’M cumming…”

“Do it, my enchantress,” He grunted. “Cum for me. Let me feel you clench around my cock. Show me how I truly make you feel.”

Loki’s words sent me over the edge, and he helped me ride out my nearly blinding climax. As I came down from my high, I noticed his thrusts becoming sloppier. Needier.

“D- Darling…” He hissed, his jaw clenching as he quickly approached his peak.

“Cum inside me, my love.” I mewled, still sensitive from my release. “Fill me- Ah!”

Before I could finish my pleas, I felt Loki’s cock twitch, spilling its seed inside me as his cries of pleasure filled my ears. I rocked my hips against his, attempting to help him ride out his high.

Oh, my enchantress~ Loki’s voice moaned in my mind, his real voice still occupied as he lost himself in ecstasy.

Once he finished, we were both panting. Energy still thrummed in my fingertips, but I noticed Loki’s slowly slipping away from mine. I willed mine to calm down, as well, feeling the sparks under my skin slowly fade away.

He then slowly pulled out, and a whine escaped the back of my throat at my sudden empty feeling. He didn’t, however, move from on top of me. I took the opportunity to pull him into a quick kiss.

Loki sighed against my mouth before pulling away. “Your temptation is going to be the death of me.”

“I beg to differ.” I breathlessly responded. “Your touch brings me to life, my love.”

Loki sharply rolled over, moving me to rest on top of his chest. I yelped in surprise before succumbing to a fit of giggles and pecking him on the lips. He held me in his arms, and I even began drifting off to sleep before a sharp knock sounded at the door.

“Brother!” Thor’s voice boomed as the doors rattled. “The prisoners have been defeated. We require your assistance in the filing of documents on the uprising.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Brother, it’s late. For the love of Valhalla, allow me some rest after this eventful night before I toil away alongside you and Odin in an excruciatingly lengthy meeting.”

A heavy silence hung in the air before Thor’s voice responded in an unusually low tone. “…Very well, Loki.”

After the sound of retreating footsteps, Loki rubbed my back, softly groaning, “Do feel free to enchant my brother the next time he insists on poking at my nerves.”

“As you wish, my prince.” I softly giggled before pulling him into another sweet kiss.

As gleeful as I might have seemed, the conversation left me with a small pang of guilt. I rested my face in the crook of Loki’s neck and breathed him in, willing the lull of sleep to pull me under.

I would have to break the horrific news to him in the morning.

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loveyourownsmiilee · 1 year

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Talking Buddie Language: Ep 6.15

This episode was really a rollercoaster of emotions. One of the main themes being death and grief made it very hard to watch for any one who have lost a loved one, especially a parent. I want to send anyone who struggled with this episode a big hug on my behalf 💜

We got a few good moments within this episode and a great Buck and Eddie moment in my opinion and I for one am really excited to get into it. There’s so much build up that continues with each and every episode which makes me believe we’re heading towards a huge finale. The ride’s been bumpy but we’re getting closer friends.

Before getting into this meta, one little thing I want to highlight is how we’re seeing Buck and Eddie working together again as partners on the job. Not only that, but they do such a wonderful job framing them two being close to each other and constantly looking at one another. In the first call we see Eddie looking back at Buck as he walks past him and I just love those little bits we get. Now I don’t know if it’s Ryan and Oliver’s little twist or it’s actually on the script, but I love to see it nonetheless.

Diaz Boys Visit Shannon

I really found the scene with Christopher and Eddie, visiting Shannon‘s grave to be so heartbreaking and emotional because we haven’t really had them talking about their grieving when it comes to her. The last we really heard of Shannon was in 5.10 during the Christmas episode where Christopher was worried. I really loved that they showed us Christopher talking to his mother about his accomplishments and schoolwork and his likes. This was about the Diaz family in its entirety but I can’t help but notice the bold parallel we get with Christopher and Eddie in this scene.

C: Do you think she can hear us when we talk to her?

E: Absolutely. That’s why we come here.

Now just to refresh anyone’s memory, back in 6.11 when Chris begged to see Buck while he was in a coma, we got him asking Eddie and Hen:

C: Can he hear me?

H: Bet he can.

He talks to Shannon and Buck the same, quiet and lovely way. His voice is steady and you can hear how much he loves the both of them. And I think with this blatant parallel, the show really is trying to emphasize how important Buck is in not only Eddie’s life, but Christopher’s as well. They’ve done a lot to highlight Buck and Christopher’s relationship aside from Eddie and this moment where he talks to his mother, in the same tone of voice as he did Buck, really speaks volumes as to what they’re trying to convey to their audience.

But going back to Eddie and Christopher, you can see how both of them are still grieving the loss of their mother and wife. Eddie is really trying not to tear up even though it’s hard, especially when he knows his son is still hurting from losing his mother at a young age. The part with the s’mores really made me so emotional because of what it can represent.

C: Can we make an extra one for mom?

E: Always.

The way I interpreted this scene was Christopher shyly, asking his father if they can keep his mother’s memory alive. To which Eddie confirms that she will always be a part of their lives, and in their hearts. It also ties in with what we saw last week with Eddie struggling to date/move on, but embracing that he doesn’t want to be alone forever.

Talk About Taxes At The 118

One of my favorite things on the show is when the firefam discuss literally all their life problems with each other at work. This time we see Chimney freaking out about the fact that him and Maddie are getting audited. This then leads into everyone else discussing how they do their taxes and there’s just a cute moment that I wanted to highlight here between Buck and Eddie, that came to be because of Ravi.

R: Look don’t beat yourself up Chim. I’m not great at doing my taxes either. No one is.

B: Uh, I am!

R: Seriously?

E: You missed his whole super power phase.

I love the fact that Ravi really questioned Buck because he was in disbelief over the fact that he may be smart enough to do his taxes. Which I know is like a running thing within the firefam that Buck is not as smart as he seems. But that’s like the opposite of what is in fact true because we’ve actually seen him come up with really wonderful saves while they’re trying to help the victims. I love how Eddie reverts to his usual flirty teasing ways but does it with such fondness that it would make anyone blush. He even looks at Buck while he says it and prolongs his stare just a little bit. It’s small things like these that really makes me wonder how it’s not obvious to anybody else that Eddie seems to be in love with Buck.

The Living Funeral

This was definitely something we haven’t seen before. The fact that there was a living funeral that got interrupted by an actual car crash was ironic in my opinion. Poor Marie just wanted a reunion with her friends and family that she hadn’t seen in a while and she ended up injured at this living funeral that they put for her.

One thing I found very interesting was the fact that Natalia was the one kneeling next to Marie. But the way they shot that scene, you see Eddie coming to take over where she’s kneeling, and she immediately gives up her place to him. Now I don’t know if I’m just seeing things or thinking things, but something about that specific moment, makes me feel like she is going to be some sort of placeholder for Eddie in the very near future. And when I say, placeholder, I mean a placeholder for what Eddie represents in Buck’s life. It may be possible for Buck to be interested in her on a romantic level. However, I don’t think that’s going to be the right partner for him and I will go into that a little bit more later on. Just the important thing here is the fact that I feel like, she is in place of Eddie currently, but he will eventually take over what she is representing in Buck’s life.

I love seeing Buck and Eddie, working together as partners again on the field. Just having Bobby say their names together made me feel all warm inside. This season we have seen Eddie take on more of a medic role and I just really miss him and Buck being fire fighting partners together.

When Eddie, Hen, and Buck are at Marie’s side, I want to highlight how the moment she explains that this funeral was for her, Eddie immediately looks over to Buck, while Buck looks over to Hen. They’re all in disbelief but one thing I find consistent with them on calls is them looking at each other when their victims say crazy things. So the fact that Eddie reverted to immediately look at Buck, but Buck was looking at Hen kind of teases some miscommunication amongst them two. They’re always in sync so the fact that this one tiny moment you can see them not being on the same wavelength really does tell me that there’ll be a misunderstanding or miscommunication of sorts soon.

M: We’re all gonna die alone. Might as well spend time with our loved ones while we’re still living.

Eddie’s face after she said that to him broke me. This was very reminiscent to Lev’s final words to Buck in 6.04. Buck collects old men while Eddie collects old women right? I believe her words are going to have a massive impact on Eddie these last few episodes, just how Lev’s words stayed with Buck throughout the majority of this season.

The End Of Life Doula

I love how when Marie introduces Natalia to them, Hen and Eddie look at her questionably. Meanwhile Buck seems intrigued almost immediately. This parallels to when he met Taylor Kelly for the first time when they saved her from the helicopter and he was smitten pretty much from the beginning. That’s the thing with Buck. He always dives in head first without actually sitting down and thinking about it fully. He sees a cute and interesting girl and is sold right away.

Buck seemed interested in her because of what she does and he tried his awkward flirting with her from the very beginning. The man clearly has unresolved trauma from his brush with death, and he is clearly not seeking help for it. So it makes sense that he would be interested in someone who helps with people dying.

From the way she was responding to him, you can tell there was no immediate attraction or interest on her part. Well, until she found out that he died. Then you see her facial expression morph into that of interest, and she immediately wanted to find out more. Which clearly was unexpected for Buck because he seemed confused when she told him the fact that he died was awesome! He even looked very shocked that she asked him out for coffee. There is clearly some kind of disconnect there, because it’s so obvious that he is thinking she’s really interested in him, meanwhile, she’s literally interested in the fact that he died.

Eddie Talks To His Mom

I love any and all scenes we get with the Diaz boys. I love how this season we’ve gotten so much Christopher content and he’s literally growing up in front of our eyes. He is so bossy and sassy and clearly running things in that household and we adore him for it. It also makes me believe he’s going to be a part of a bigger storyline that ties the season together.

C: We’re gonna be late. Dad hurry up.

I will say, Eddie trying to make time to go back home is something. He’s in a much better place with his parents and he genuinely wants to go and visit them. He also knows that time isn’t promised to anyone so he should see his family as often as he can. And that’s just coming out of the living funeral. But one thing that Eddie said really raised the hairs on my neck because it was such an obvious foreshadowing and not a good one at that.

E: We’ll figure something out ok, I promise. We got time.

Now the concept of time has been following Eddie around for many seasons now. The most recent one was literally mentioned in 6.01 when he’s playing the game with Chris at Buck’s loft.

E: Time. Aw you’ll win next time.

There’s just something about the concept of Eddie really thinking he has all this time to do something. Now what that something is is the question here, but the last time we had him give any sort of advice on time, it was to Chimney. He literally told him, “Tomorrow is not promised. So if you love her, tell her.” This is why I believe that the way they have Eddie continuously talking about time and how he has so much of it, especially knowing that he’s now open to finding love right at the time where the one person that might be the best partner for him is seeking love elsewhere, says a lot. Maybe now it’s his time because he’s sort of running out and he needs to do or say something before he really is out of it.

Date With The Death Doula

This date was literally giving the same cringey vibes as Ana and Eddie’s first date. The fact that Buck was super flirty and seemed into her, but she wasn’t, says so much to anyone watching. He was leaning in towards her the entire time but he did have his arms folded in front of him, which indicates he’s not fully opening all of himself up to her. He’s keeping some things to himself. She had sat back in her chair the entire time and really was just interested in what he had to say about his death, which was worrisome to be honest. It felt like she was questioning him and studying him for her own enjoyment, which is exactly how Taylor was any time they had scenes together.

Buck was definitely flirty with her with his little sparkly eyes, the way he teased her on being a death fan girl but it lacked it from her. You only see her show interest when she leans in towards him the moment he opens up about his coma dream.

Her calling him being close to death “cool” threw him back for a second because he seemed confused as to why she would consider that cool. But again he brushed it off as if she has some weird obsession to it. Which really should’ve been his biggest red flag, but alas Buck doesn’t realize the bad habits he partakes in most of the times.

The biggest takeaway from this “date” is the fact that it was literally built on death, and I don’t see how anything could bloom out of this. It foreshadows this so called “relationship” dying out eventually. Then he told her about his coma dream, which is ironic because he mainly told her about something that wasn’t real. We’ve never seen him talk to Eddie about his coma, dream, only things and feelings that are real to him concerning his death. That distinct difference is very loud in my opinion. Makes you think about the choices they’re making to show how he is with others and how he is with Eddie.

Buck and Eddie Have A Deep Talk At The Cemetary

I can’t believe they dressed so similarly to what they wore in 5.14!! Thank you Miss Taylor Wong for both episodes. Honestly, my heart was really breaking for Eddie during this entire scene.

First of all, these two literally do not comprehend the definition of personal space and I love them for it. As I have mentioned in my previous metas, their bodies are so in tune with the others that they just gravitate towards each other like magnets. They also always dress up for the other. Every single time we get Buck and Eddie doing something together, they're in their best clothes, which is funny considering Buck wore literal joggers on his "date" with Natalia.

E: We're all gonna die alone. It's what she said to me and Hen.

Poor Eddie really is going through it these last few episodes with the whole being alone and dying alone thing. Here's the thing, he did lose a spouse and he still hasn't fully gotten over that. But something about the last episode where he was in agreement about him not wanting to be alone, to now telling Buck they're all going to die alone says something.

It's the fact that it's these two together discussing dying alone when the few times either man almost died, or in Buck's case did actually die, they weren't alone at all. In fact, they were with each other. Buck was the person standing in front of Eddie when he got shot and he was the one who saved him. Eddie was at the bottom of the ladder and he ran up to get to Buck when he got hit by the lightning. Neither man was alone. But the way Eddie says that kind of indicates that he is anticipating be alone in death.

Now I don't want to go too much into speculating why he would think that, but I did find it interesting he said it to Buck, almost as if he already knows Buck won't be by his side in the very end. That's a rather morbid thought and I think it really does come from Eddie having feelings for Buck, but fully believing it's one-sided. I can't get over Eddie being so in love with Buck that he just knows he will never find another partner that is perfect for him. So he'll have to suffer through Buck moving on and finding the right partner, starting his own family, when Eddie is left behind loving him til his last breath. Now I know Eddie is dramatic and so was this little speculation so I apologize for that.

I found it interesting that Eddie was the one to bring up Natalia and not in his usually jealous teasing way. He opened the door for Buck to discuss her and discuss he did.

B: Yeah, uh Natalia. I may have paid her a visit too.

(Gif by @eddiediaaz)

Eddie's immediate reaction is that of exasperation. He is clearly already over hearing the same damn story all over again because that's what it always is, the same story every time Buck meets a woman on a call.

E: Really?

His voice is so heartbroken in this one word. He seems in disbelief but also you can hear how it's not his usual tone of voice. He isn't really teasing him or jealous even, just hurt.

E: Dating somebody you rescued. You know that never ends well.

Eddie is literally speaking from his and Buck's own personal experiences. Any sane person would be able to tell that Buck is reverting back to old habits where he gets all excited about the possibility of a new relationship when he's experienced something traumatic. What he needs is a therapist to be honest.

B: This is different. Anyway she wanted to ask me about the lightning strike.

E: Right, you love being the guy with the answers.

(Gifs by @eddiediaaz)

Something about this line delivery from Eddie really makes the viewer see how much he listens to Buck. Not only that, but he pays attention and retains everything he says. He also proves how well he knows Buck with just that one line. And this is before Buck even goes on to break his heart a little bit.

B: There's something different about her. I feel like she sees me. You know, she, she really sees me for who I am and what I've been through. I think she might even see more in me than I see in myself.

The way Eddie immediately turns his head and looks at Buck in disbelief screams volumes. He cannot believe Buck would say that to him of all people, especially considering that Eddie is the person who knows Buck the best. Isn't that what 6.12 proved to us? That he is Buck's person, the one who knows him truly inside and out, the one where he doesn't have to pretend with. So clearly you can see how Buck's words hurt Eddie. But I don’t think that was Buck’s intentions at all. I think sometimes, it’s easier to open up to a stranger because you know there won’t be any judgement or criticism from them that may come from someone who already knows you. Especially when it’s someone who knows you on a somewhat intimate level. Not saying Eddie would do either of those things. But maybe for Buck, talking about his death to a stranger was somewhat easier because he didn’t have to really dive into all the feelings he has behind it. Whereas he can’t lie to Eddie because he knows him better than anyone else. It was also much less serious with Natalia, whereas he was so honest and raw when discussing about it with Eddie.

E: Look I know we razzed you about your own math skills. Maybe I even tried to get rich off em. To be honest, you haven't been the same since it happened. How could you?

This whole scene really is very loaded. You can see the exact moment Eddie comes to a certain realization because of the way his eyes drift away from Buck and look off into the distance. He is connecting the dots about something. To be honest, I think this was somewhat of an oh moment for him. I think it was mostly him realizing that he himself is different after Buck's death. I mentioned in my 6.12 meta how the way Eddie was talking about how Buck would have feelings about his death implied that he had some unresolved feelings about Buck's death as well. I think witnessing Buck die for 3 minutes and 17 seconds really took a toll on Eddie as we saw in 6.11. He was grieving, he did not handle it well. And that is why he differs from Natalia. Whereas Natalia was so interested and wanted to know more about Buck dying, Eddie couldn't even look at him. He couldn't talk to him and just thinking about the fact that he had to live in a world without Buck for any amount of time killed him. It changed him forever and I think there needs to come a point where Eddie talks about his own feelings regarding Buck's death.

B: Truth is, I uh, I still feel like I have to try and be the same Buck, mostly for the sake of everyone else.

(Gifs by @bilosan)

Eddie shaking his head at Buck's words show that he does know him better than anyone else, especially someone he just met.

E: You don't have to be anything for anybody. And no one is ever the same. From 1 day to the next. Experiences like this, it change us. So what changed in you?

B: When I woke up in that hospital I felt like I had gotten away with something.

E: You cheated death.

I love how when Buck talks about someone else seeing who he is, Eddie shows him that no one will know him and understand him the way he does. Buck can say something and Eddie will know where his line of thinking is headed towards.

B: My life could’ve ended, right then and there. But it uh, it didn't. That has to mean something right?

E: It means you're one lucky guy.

B: Yeah, well I don't think Ima get that lucky again.

E: Well maybe you don't have to. Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice.

B: Which is why I have to make the most out of every single moment.

When Buck pauses here, you can see Eddie tilting his head towards him and patiently waiting for what he has to say. The moment it registers that Buck is looking for something other than Eddie, you see his expression drop a bit. He knows he really is alone at the moment and that Buck is going to give someone else a chance, and you can see the hurt on his face.

B: It's all a gift.

Now some thing that kept playing in the back of my mind while watching this scene was the Buckley Diaz family scene from 6.01 where Buck is complaining about Lucy getting chosen as interim caption instead of himself.

B: Struggling to pick a replacement when he has so many other excellent options right under his nose.

E: Like you?

B: It’s like he’s choosing not to see them and everything they have to offer.

Note how similar these two scenes are to each other. Eddie once again proving how well he knows Buck and knowing where his line of thinking is headed. But it's the fact that Buck is the one explicitly saying how there is the chance of choosing not to see someone who is right under his nose, and everything they offer. Because Eddie has been showing him he loves him in his own way for years now. He literally gave Buck the most precious thing he had, his entire world, his son, on a silver platter and Buck chose not to see that for what it really was worth. So now, it's going to be time for Buck to really open his eyes and realize that instead of repeating the same bad habits and jumping into relationships with people who are bad for him, that he gives someone who has been there in front of him the whole time, a shot. I think they have laid out all the pieces perfectly to get these two together, but they're slowly building the puzzle. We will get it done eventually friends.

Eddie’s Going To El Paso

I love how the man seems to want to flee the state in midst of everything he found out about regarding Buck being into the death doula. Now I’m only partly joking but I think it’s nice that he wants to go back.

The couch parallel scene with Christopher is so loud!! They had Eddie literally come and see Christopher asleep the same exact way we saw him see Buck asleep in 6.12. The couch metaphor is supposed to be present leading up to the finale and so far, every single thing we’ve seen involving a couch has been related to the Diaz boys. I mean it’s not that hard to imply what it can all mean especially for the finale.

The picture of Shannon and Chris falling possibly foreshadows something bad happening to the Diaz family. Now I’m not quite sure if something will happen to Christopher or a family member of Eddie’s. But I think it was pointed to having the picture of them fall and that being the thing that makes Eddie want to call his mom back and tell her they’re going back.

Finally, the way Eddie was looking at that photo just tells me he’s finally in a place that he wants to move on. He wants to find that love again and a partner in life again. And I think he knows who that person is but he’s running out of time to do something about it. So it’ll be interesting to see how this storyline develops further. I wonder if we’ll see pining Eddie or jealous Eddie or an Eddie that goes out and opens himself up to different possibilities to get over Buck. I’m intrigued to see what the rest of the episodes have in store for us for both men! It’s definitely going to be crazy ride for sure!

Thank you so much if you took the time to read this entirely. It really means a lot to me. If you’d like to be tagged in these, please let me know here. Finally, a big thank you to my lovely @aa-lionheart for all the wonderful gifs 💜

#buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #christopher diaz #911 spoilers #911 meta #buddie meta #buddie language meta #911 speculation #this took forever and I’m so so sorry friends

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salarta · 5 days

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For those of you not aware, X-Men 97 pulled an asshole move of completely excluding Lorna from what happened on Genosha.

This matters because in the comics, she worked with Magneto (before she knew he was her father) to build up Genosha and is one of the survivors of the genocide. Her story was one of failing to save everyone but having to relive the nightmare endlessly by replaying its final moments with her powers until the X-Men got her out of the ruins. Her history was also respected here in the Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon, which gave her great episodes and depictions - the only good ones she's had in cartoons to date.

There seems to be a common thread behind this genocide erasure in Lorna's history: nostalgia for Havolaris and how Lorna was treated in the 90s.

Jordan White was clearly trying to force each of these things while senior editor. At the same time, he had the X-Men books acting like Lorna had no connection at all to Genosha. This went so far that even an event where Kitty Pryde (Jordan White's favorite character, I've been told) did a big thing with Genosha had Lorna's appearance relegated purely to helping Kitty's plan and complaining about a lack of coffee. No acknowledgment she was a survivor of the genocide.

Then we have Beau DeMayo and X-Men 97. To date, the only references we've seen of Lorna were exclusively images of her with Havok and 90s X-Factor. One in opening credits, one in a photo in Forge's place. She's nowhere to be found whatsoever around Genosha in X-Men 97. The show even had X-Factor characters like Multiple Man show up to check things out, but no mention or presence at all for Lorna.

Here's where we stand right now. For a long ass time, I've said that I think there's a path to a relationship with Lorna and Havok eventually being a good thing. I've said it would take work and time where Lorna as her own character is restored and treated properly. I've never said getting the pair back together and it being a good thing was impossible.

This pattern of blatant, deliberate disrespect toward Polaris and her connection to Genosha is seriously making me reconsider that stance. If Lorna surviving a goddamn GENOCIDE can't be respected all because of some nostalgic assholishness, then how in the hell can Lorna make ANY progress or have ANYTHING good so long as the cause of this problem has any play around her? How can Lorna be treated as more than some stupid weakling supporting character girlfriend only there to kiss Havok's ass and jill off over his costume if something as essential as SURVIVING A GENOCIDE going to be ignored in service to sticking her in a toxic relationship with what is increasingly looking like a character that is just irredeemably toxic for Lorna to be around at all?

Up until today, I've said very up front that I seem a path of redemption for this pairing. X-Men 97 is changing my mind on that. I'm very seriously starting to think now that there is no redeeming this pairing and turning it into a good thing. Not when people like Beau DeMayo will erase a genocide from Polaris' character history for the sake of his personal fantasies.

I've said this elsewhere. But in closing, I'm going to be making a very deliberate effort to avoid everything having to do with Beau DeMayo because of his actions here. It's too late for me with the two Strange New Worlds episodes he did. But I already took Witcher and The Originals off my watchlists. And if he steps his toes into anything else I care about in the future, I'll be making it very clear why he shouldn't be involved in those things.

#x-men 97 #polaris #lorna dane #havok #x-men #marvel #xmen #beau demayo #jordan white #genoshan genocide

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mostthingskenobi · 3 months

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CASSIAN'S RECKONING - Chapter 18: The Reach

CHAPTER SUMMARY: A blatant proximity trope. That's what fan fics are for, right?!?!

This is one of my favorite chapters :) Because I am always here for a good proximity trope. If you think about it, the entire Rogue One movie is a forced proximity trope...Tony Gilroy and Gareth Edwards, I thank you.

In this chapter, Cassian says something in Kenari. I did some research about the language and I read that it's a mix of Spanish and Hungarian. Sadly, I don't know anything about Hungarian, but I learned a smattering of Mexican Spanish when I was in high school. So, I decided my version of Kenari would just be Spanish (firstly because I don't speak Hungarian and secondly because I wanted to show Diego respect). Thank you to my dear friend Adela for double checking my translation and helping me make it more accurate. (It's a small moment, but there's more to come in future chapters.)

I hope you enjoy!

READ THE FIC ON AO3

THIS IS A WHUMPY FIC W/GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE. PLEASE HEED THE TAGS ON AO3.

——————–

CHAPTER 18: THE REACH

“One way out! One way out!”

Prisoners were pushing past him by the dozen, shouting their freedom chant as they jumped from the platform to the waves below. The crowd’s momentum pulled him backward, inch by inch getting closer to the edge. He stretched out his hand, reaching through the bodies. “Come on!” he shouted.

Jyn, dressed in the dehumanizing Narkina 5 uniform, cowered, pressing against the prisoners behind her. “I can’t,” she said shaking her head.

He could see she was terrified but this was their only chance. If they didn’t jump now, they’d be prisoners forever. “Jyn, take my hand! We have to go!”

She began to collapse to the ground. “I can’t swim.”

A large figure appeared at his side. He turned and found himself face to face with a man who preyed upon his memory. Kino Loy’s eyes were hard and filled with fury, his hulking body crowding Andor back until he teetered on the platform edge. Paralyzed by fear, the rebel’s own eyes widened with horror; he only had time for his gaze to shift from Kino to Jyn and back before the huge man brutally shoved him overboard. Jyn disappeared as the prison’s exterior wall rushed by. The fall lasted long enough to panic, but the plummet was so sickening Cassian couldn’t even scream. Instead of hitting icy water, he smashed into a durasteal beam, bouncing until he landed on a metal grate inside a citadel tower, every bone in his body bursting like stardust…

…Cassian’s eyelids dragged open.

He lay still for a long time, face down in his bunk, letting his heartrate and breathing return to normal before he allowed himself to move.

This one had felt real.

He hated vivid dreams.

His experience on Narkina 5 was so profoundly dark it had burned its memories into his bones. The prison’s clean orderliness had been a veneer barely masking a system that was so sinister, so hopeless, so deeply futile that it haunted Cassian to this day. Kino Loy, a man who commanded respect and led hundreds of men to a freedom he could never share, was one of Cassian’s deepest regrets. If he could go back and change one thing about his past, he would grab Kino and drag him to safety.

But it hadn’t been possible.

Cassian shivered as he realized he’d left Jyn on that platform just like he’d left Kino.

He rolled onto his back and stared up at the metal bulkhead.

He knew what it all meant; the nightmares weren’t exactly subtle. He was afraid of missing his chance, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or in the right place at the right time and messing it up, or making a stupid mistake that killed someone he cared about.

But he also knew he couldn’t control any of that. Which ultimately meant the dream was about living with fear, accepting it, facing it, thriving in spite of it.

Cassian rubbed his hands across his face. “I need coffee,” he grumbled.

What he really needed was a solid night’s rest that didn’t include nightmares of Jyn screaming, bleeding, or crying. Tarkin’s torture had pried open a level of vulnerability Cassian wasn’t sure how to heal. His nerves felt raw, like his past was fighting with the present. Everything Jyn said to him the night before lingered in his mind, battling with a lifetime of insignificance. He had grown up the outsider, the selfish taker, the lost boy. He’d been aimless, careless, and angry. But ever since he’d joined the Rebel Alliance, all that pent up emotion was directed into something meaningful. Even so, Jyn had been right; deep down, in spite of his efforts, Cassian thought he was living on borrowed time. He couldn’t imagine himself as an old man, couldn’t even picture where he’d be in a year, and he always assumed that meant he wouldn’t live to be very old. He’d survived by mere chance so many times that he figured one day fate would catch up and want him to pay his dues. After Jyn said she was proud of him, for the first time in his life Cassian began to wonder if he’d survived all the horror for a reason. Perhaps fate had spared him because he was, in fact, trying to give others the freedom and safety he’d never known.

His brow pulled together as an uncharacteristically buoyant idea crept into his mind. He thought of Jyn, of all the moments that, when you added them up, equaled something undeniable; tackling him to protect him from a grenade on Jedha, supporting his injured body on Scarif, rescuing him from Tarkin, sitting by his bedside holding his hand while he recovered in the medical ward. He hadn’t just survived; he’d been protected. Perhaps they weren’t living on borrowed time; perhaps his time with Jyn was a gift, an opportunity for something neither of them had ever dared accept.

The idea almost scared him.

He loved her; he could finally admit that to himself.

But loving someone meant you had something worth losing.

And that vulnerability terrified him.

Cassian had already lost too much.

Could he risk losing her?

That’s just love. Nothing you can do about that.

Maarva’s words made him catch his breath; he could not think of his mother without also feeling the dull blade of grief.

But he relaxed and closed his eyes, letting the feelings have their way. Cassian lay back, tucking his hands behind his head, and turned inward.

“OK, Mom,” he whispered.

——————–

Rogue One gathered in the bunk room again that evening for another round of sabacc. No one had any money to gamble, so for credits Bodhi purchased several boxes of horrendously sour candy in the ship’s exchange. Whenever someone won a hand, they were required to eat a candy. Jyn currently had tears streaming down her face as she stomped her boot on the floor. “You bastard!” she shouted as the others laughed. She went to crunch the candy in half but they all protested.

“No, no, no!” Cassian cried, grabbing her shoulder. “You can’t cheat!”

“You know the rules!” Bodhi guffawed.

Baze was wheezing so hard he couldn’t speak. No one had ever seen him laugh like that.

Chirrut was beaming, basking in the ebullience created by his friends in the Force.

“I’m literally sweating!” Jyn squawked. “What kind of monster are you?” she pointed at Bodhi. The pilot was in stitches, hugging himself while he laughed. “This candy is evil! Why are you punishing us for winning?”

They had never laughed so hard as a group. And they knew it. An air of awareness hung over them, each realizing what a relief it was to feel joy.

“All the blood has drained from your face,” Cassian burst out, bending forward over his knees as he lost control again.

She gently shoved him and smiled, holding the candy between her teeth. “Just wait ‘til it’s your turn, Andor!” Finally, the sweets dissolved and Jyn gasped for air, wiping sweat from her brow. “You absolute bastard!” she glared at Bodhi. “You look all innocent and mild on the outside, but deep down you’re a fiend.”

“Keeps the playing field even,” Bodhi chuckled.

The group threw more candy in the table’s center for an ante.

“I never want to win again,” Jyn said wiping her eyes.

They played for a long time, but, despite his best efforts, Cassian began fading quickly. When the game paused while Chirrut and Baze went in search of drinks, Jyn turned to him and spoke quietly. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You can hardly keep your eyes open.”

He rubbed his face hard before pushing his hands up into his hair. “I haven’t been sleeping very well.”

“Is it odd being in a different place? A new ship, a new room?”

A grimace turned up the corner of his mouth. “No, I can sleep anywhere; on the ground, on a ship, in a prison, tied to a chair. I can do it all.”

She forced herself to smile.

“Is that joke too dark?” he teased.

Jyn rolled her eyes. “Of course not.”

He sighed and let his head droop forward.

“Bad dreams?” she asked, her voice serious again but still hushed.

He nodded.

She leaned toward him, her body pressing against his shoulder as she gently touched the fading bruise on his forehead. “No injuries today?” She brushed a rogue lock of hair off his brow.

Cassian turned.

Their eyes met.

And for a moment neither of them could breathe.

“It’s too quiet in my quarters,” he finally said, not breaking eye contact.

“Lets the bad dreams in?”

“I think so.”

She could hear Bodhi rummaging in his footlocker nearby. The members of Rogue One were not fools; Jyn suspected they all assumed something existed between her and Cassian, but she still didn’t like the idea of anyone examining her behavior, no matter what evidence they were looking for. Even so, she couldn’t pull her gaze away from Cassian’s. “What would help you sleep?”

He glanced down at her lips.

She could see that his breathing had deepened.

Suddenly, all Jyn wanted was to push her fingers through Cassian’s hair and close her lips over his. Instead, she swallowed thickly before saying, “Maybe you should try sleeping somewhere noisy.”

Bodhi slammed his locker shut just as Baze and Chirrut arrived with a bottle and glasses.

Cassian blinked and Jyn turned back to the group as Chirrut handed them drinks. “This should get the taste of those awful candies out of your mouth,” the guardian said with a smile.

“You’re a true hero, Chirrut,” Cassian said dryly before tossing the amber liquid down his throat in one go.

“I help where I can,” the guardian responded warmly.

They gathered around the table and shuffled out the cards again, but it wasn’t long before Cassian began to fall asleep sitting up.

“Perhaps I gave you too much,” Chirrut offered as Andor’s head dipped forward before jerking back.

“I’m a lightweight these days,” Cassian replied with a slightly drunken smile.

“I appreciate a cheap date,” the guardian snorted.

“Do you mind if I just lay down for a little?” he asked the group. His eyes shifted to Jyn’s. “I don’t mean to invade your personal space…”

She smiled and gestured with her head that she didn’t mind in the least.

Cassian crawled behind her, stretching out on his back.

“Do you want us to be quiet?” Bodhi asked.

“No,” Cassian replied, his eyes already closed. “I like the noise.”

The bunk was muffled and cozy. His friends continued their game as dark sleep crept around his consciousness. Cassian hadn’t felt this safe in a long time, Jyn sitting by his side, Chirrut laughing, Bodhi shuffling cards, Baze telling jokes. The noise was good. He tucked an arm behind his head, stuffing the pillow into a more comfortable position. His last thought before drifting off was that the soft fabric near his cheek smelled like Jyn.

——————–

When the card game broke up about an hour later, Cassian was deep in sleep. So deep, in fact, that Jyn couldn’t wake him. She shook his shoulder and said his name but received no response. She leaned closer and spoke louder. “Cass.” His left eyebrow pulled up for a second before going slack again. Jyn looked at Bodhi who hovered by her side. “I don’t know what to do.”

The pilot gave her a pathetic noncommittal look before saying, “Nothing you really can do.”

The overhead lights flashed, indicating lights out in five minutes.

“Shit!” Jyn grumbled, throwing up her hands. “Where am I supposed to sleep? I have an early meeting with Draven tomorrow. I need to get some rest.”

“Just get in there next to him,” Baze said, leaning down from his bunk above Jyn’s. “You can fit.”

The thought hadn’t crossed her mind, but she stooped in and found that she could squeeze in by the inside wall.

“If an officer sees you both, you’ll get in trouble,” Bodhi warned.

“I’m an officer, and so is he,” she said hiking her thumb at the unconscious Andor. “If you have a better suggestion, I’m happy to hear it.”

“You didn’t try very hard to wake him up.”

“Be my guest.”

Bodhi took a timid step forward before leaning into Jyn’s bunk. “Cassian,” he said loudly, shaking the commander by both shoulders. A small grunt came from the back of the sleeping man’s throat but other than that, he didn’t budge. Bodhi turned back to Jyn. “Yeah, he’s not waking up.”

“Thanks for your help,” she muttered sarcastically as the pilot retreated to his own bunk. The overhead lights flashed out and orange running lights came on along the floor. Jyn sighed and made up her mind. She grabbed hold of the rack above hers and climbed over Cassian’s body, careful not to jostle him. She pulled shut the long, black privacy curtain then settled against the inside wall. The bunks were incredibly narrow, and since Cassian was flat on his back taking up most of the room, she had to prop up on her right side. Jyn didn’t mind; she’d slept in worse conditions.

A thin line of orange light peeked through the curtain’s edge, backlighting Cassian’s features. Before drifting off she watched him, listened to his steady breathing, felt his weight on the mattress. Her last thought before falling asleep was that seeing him so peaceful was worth getting in trouble.

Hours passed and the room eventually settled and grew silent, apart from the usual sounds aboard a star freighter and the occasional snore.

In the night’s deepest hour Cassian became restless, his arms and legs contracting so much that it shook Jyn awake. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, unsure what had roused her, but when she heard his panicked breathing she knew he was in the throes of a nightmare. At first, she wasn’t sure what to do; anyone startled from a bad dream could accidentally lash out. The last thing she needed was for Cassian to flail around in these close quarters and break her nose.

Eventually, she settled on trying to calm him without waking him, so she ran her hand across his chest and gently stroked her fingers along his collarbone. She tried to send calming, comforting energy through her palm into his heart.

Without warning he rolled onto his side toward her, bringing them so close together she could feel his breath on her cheek.

He sighed deeply.

She could sense he had awakened.

“Jyn?” he asked too loudly.

“Shhh,” she whispered.

“It’s so dark I can’t see.” he whispered back. “Did I fall asleep in your rack?”

“Yes.”

“Shit.”

He was quiet for a long time. She couldn’t see his face anymore since his shoulders now blocked the light coming in around the curtain’s edge.

He didn’t move to leave.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” he finally asked, still keeping his voice quiet.

“I tried and so did Bodhi.” She shrugged in the darkness.

“But now what am I supposed to do?” She could hear the smile in his voice; he was teasing her. “What if someone sees me crawl out of your bunk?”

“Who cares?”

She could feel that his face had moved slightly closer to hers. “You don’t care?”

“No.”

“You don’t care how it looks?”

“I’ve never cared what other people think of me. It only matters what I think of me.”

Once again, they both fell silent. She could feel that he was breathing harder, just like her.

Jyn would be lying if she said this was an unpleasant predicament. Cassian’s friendship, their unspoken devotion, was a lovely, meaningful thing. But she could not deny that she found him absolutely and completely attractive. He was handsome to be sure, intelligent and disarming, but his good looks were magnified by far more important traits. No other man could both challenge and uplift her as he did. He was independent, confident, but not too proud to admit when he was wrong. He laughed with her, spoke to her as an equal, treated her with respect even when they first met and he wasn’t sure he could trust her.

Now that they were only inches apart, rolled together in a narrow ship rack in a room with fifty-nine other people, the rest of the galaxy seemed to disintegrate.

Cassian suddenly pulled her into his arms, breathing her name as he nuzzled against her, their lips brushing together. She cupped his face in her hands and gently traced his jaw, his cheek, his lips. He smelled like clear, fresh water warmed by the sun; she found him intoxicating. His fingers slipped up her neck and disappeared in her hair, pulling her even closer against him. Their eagerness was palpable, but they didn’t kiss. Instead, they clung to each other, as though Scarif’s scars demanded they finally come full circle, holding each other as they had on that deadly beach. Their breath came in shuddering gasps as an untenable dam of emotions threatened to break. Pleasure and pain and loss and joy surged to Cassian and Jyn’s surface. These two people, haunted by wrongs they could not right and misfortunes they could not repair, had finally reached for each other. That feat alone was a massive leap of faith, letting their guard down long enough to not just admit their desire, but to act on it.

She hooked her leg over his and completely closed the distance between their bodies. “Cassian,” she sighed, pulling his lips nearer.

His thumb gently played across her mouth. “Te quiero besar,” he whispered in a language he knew she didn’t understand.

She could feel his breath on her tongue.

Just as he was about to press his lips to hers, the bunk above them creaked and Baze grunted down the rack ladder, his foot shifting on the wrung mere inches from Cassian’s head on the other side of the curtain. Cassian froze, both he and Jyn instantly snapping back to reality. He listened wide-eyed as the guardian’s steps hit the floor and shuffled toward the bathroom.

He refocused on Jyn. “I should go. If I get caught here, we’ll both end up in the brig.”

She nodded.

They were disappointed by the interruption but energized by the wall that had suddenly come down between them. Cassian smiled and quickly pressed his cheek to hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he whispered in her ear. He drew back, one final caress sliding over her neck before rolling under the curtain. She couldn’t hear his steps as he walked away. Still a spy, she smiled to herself and pulled the blanket over her head.

——————–

END NOTES

NEXT CHAPTER IS CALLED “THE HOLOGRAM” - Jyn finally learns why she wasn't put on leave. She is not a happy camper. Brace for impact.

Thank you for reading!

Likes, comments, and reblogs are very welcome!

Much love!

——————–

READ IT ON AO3- Kudos and Comments Welcome :-)

READ CHAPTER 1 “The Razor”

READ CHAPTER 2 “The Scythe”

READ CHAPTER 3 “The Cold”

READ CHAPTER 4 “The Expendable”

READ CHAPTER 5 “The Truth”

READ CHAPTER 6 “The Detritus”

READ CHAPTER 7 “The Salt”

READ CHAPTER 8 “The Power”

READ CHAPTER 9 “The Betrayal”

REACH CHAPTER 10 “The Ruse”

READ CHAPTER 11 “The Reprieve”

READ CHAPTER 12 “The Ghosts”

READ CHAPTER 13 “The Redemption”

READ CHAPTER 14 “The Spoils”

READ CHAPTER 15 “The Interrogation”

READ CHAPTER 16 “The Rogues”

READ CHAPTER 17 “The Absolution”

READ CHAPTER 18 "The Reach"

READ CHAPTER 19 “The Hologram”

READ CHAPTER 20 “The Divide”

READ CHAPTER 21 “The Cost”

READ CHAPTER 22 “The Fallout”

READ CHAPTER 23 “The Wounds”

#cassian #cassian andor #andor #cassian andor fanfiction #cassian andor fic #jyn #jyn erso #jyn x cassian #rebelcaptain #rebelcaptain fic #rebelcaptain fanfic #rogue one #rogue one fic #rogue one fanfiction #bodhi rook #baze malbus #chirrut imwe

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pencil-peach · 8 months

Text

Thinking about Guel Jeturk (Pt 2)

This is part 2 in a series of cool ramblings about everyone's favorite GuyFailure Guel Jeturk. Here's part 1, if you're interested.

More Below the cut ooOOoooOOhh

At the start of episode 4, Vim is in a call with his investors, discussing Guel's repeat loses to Suletta.

What's important to note in this scene is how Guel is being spoken about here. He's not being discussed as if he is a person, but merely a product.

Because in the business world of the Benerit Group, Guel isn't a person. He's no different than the mobile suits the company deals in. His only purpose is to generate results to draw in investors and buyers. If he can't do that, he's not useful. (It could be argued that the battle vow stated before every duel is an intentional reinforcing of this ideal. "The result is all that matters.")

Later, we learn that yet another one of Guel's titles, those things he treasured as a measure of his worth, has been taken away from him. He is no longer the Ace Pilot of the Jeturk Company.

Not only that, but he's been barred from dueling whatsoever. It's a blatant statement from Vim to his son.

"You are no longer worthy to be a pilot. You are a disappointment to me."

This scene is also where we start to see one of the main points of tension between the Jeturk siblings, that being their respective relationships with their father.

Lauda cares for Guel, but he is also staunchly under the thumb of their father. He doesn't disobey his wishes, even if he opposes them (such as when Vim instructs him to set up the sprinklers to go off during the rematch. Lauda says "my brother doesn't need tricks like that to win," but sets it up anyway.)

And he constantly asks Guel to do the same, to just submit to their father's requests for his own wellbeing

Guel doesn't openly resent Lauda for this, but it does put strain on their relationship, because what he truly wants is for someone to unconditionally support him.

And even Lauda, his own brother, probably the closest person he has in the world, is unable to do that for him, because he's unwilling to go against their father.

The next time we see Guel, he's just learned that Elan is taking Suletta on a date, and in typical fashion, he demands to know where they're going. At first it seems that he's mad Elan is seeing her because HE likes her. A typical dudebro "don't touch my girl" kind of thing.

And at first, that was probably what it was, but all that immediately goes away as soon as Guel notices that Elan has made her cry.

And what I really like about this moment is that this sudden switch to a more valiant sense of justice doesn't just come out of nowhere. it's been occurring the whole time. Even if it's insanely warped by his pride and arrogance, Guel has consistently shown that he is not only capable but even prone to acts of kindness.

He couldn't come and do it himself because he was summoned by his father, but even still, not even a day after he damaged it, he sends Lauda, Felsi, and Petra to fix the mess he'd made of the greenhouse. (It's also important that this wasn't something he was bade to do by the circumstances of the duel. He made this choice himself.)

And when he IS bade to apologize by the circumstances of the duel, he doesn't just say "sorry" offhandedly, he truly and deeply apologizes. Even referring to his behavior as "boorish"

And now, even though he has been outright banned from dueling, and it's in his best interest to do everything he can to avoid angering his father, he is going entirely against it to fight in a duel he has No Personal Stake In Whatsoever, entirely for Suletta's sake. (Well, MOSTLY for Suletta's sake. Again, his own personal pride is also a very large factor in it as well.)

...and then he loses.

again.

And just like that, Guel has lost every single one of the titles that had until now defined his entire life. He is no longer holder, he is no longer the ace pilot of the Jeturk Company, and now, he is no longer its heir. He has been disowned, not even as a father disowning a son, but as a company discarding a useless asset.

And his final words aren't any kind of angry rant or prideful scorn. He merely asks one final thing of his brother.

To watch over Jeturk House in his stead.

#guel jeturk #i do this for the guel likers out there mwah #gundam the witch from mercury

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artemis32 · 2 years

Note

How about hc of yandere dad hansu seong with daughter reader since he'll be a protective duo along with taehooon?

Platonic Yandere Hansu Seong I

Listen, I'm the biggest simp for this man - but if you want something platonic, then platonic it is - sorry its a bit shorter than usual, my brain is struggling

I’m finally done with my exams, thank goodness (here’s hoping I won’t have to rewrite anything) - that being said, I’m finishing up with all the asks and requests previously sent, so feel free to send in more :))

To top off my good mood, winter has officially arrived and I'm preparing to hibernate for a few weeks

My milestone event is open now too, and the rules can be found here

****

Manager Kim Masterlist

****

This is in reference of this ask

****

He would be the absolute best father ever.

Taehoon is the difficult child, but you're his angel. In his mind, you can do no wrong.

He treats you very gently, like you’re made of fine porcelain, almost as if you’d break with the slightest nudge. Naturally, it drives you crazy sometimes. Even though you’re well into your teens, he still treats you like a toddler that’s incapable of walking two steps.

You would never get too mad with him though, because you know he does it with the purest intentions.

Something you do feel bad about is how hard he is on Taehoon when it comes to you. Of course he treats him fairly, but that doesn’t mean that he spares him a verbal lashing if you get into any sort of trouble while Taehoon is supposed to be keeping an eye on you.

Your father is extremely overprotective, almost suffocatingly so. You never complain about it though, mainly because you don’t realise it isn’t normal for one’s father to be as obsessed with their child’s safety as he is with you.

****

Taehoon doesn’t mind the blatant favoritism, he completely understands it seeing as you’re his favourite person too, and he could never fault your father for putting you first, before anyone else.

You’re for sure a daddy’s girl, and your father treats you as such.

He buys you whatever your heart desires, whether that’s clothing, food and sweets, books or video games, make up, figurines. You’re sure to never ask for too much, not wanting to take advantage of your father.

But no matter how much you may decline certain things, you always end up getting it anyway.

You’ve been discreetly eyeing a new dress? It’s on your bed waiting for you a few hours later.

Oh, there’s a limited edition Sailor Moon figurine you’ve been saving up for? There’s no need to pay for it yourself, your father got it for you as an early birthday gift (eight months early).

You’re running low on paint supplies for a new project? You’ll find high quality materials waiting for you when you get home.

However, Hansu draws the line at you going out whenever you’d like. He’s willing to give in to a lot of things that you ask for, but going out - specifically alone - that’s out of the question.

A compromise had been made in your early teens that Taehoon would have to accompany you on any outings you went on. That had worked well for a while, up until you’d hit about sixteen and had an itching desire for more freedom and independence.

It had resulted in quite a few arguments - admittedly one-sided as your father had his mind made up the moment you’d brought it up.

Regardless of your freedom or lack thereof, you enjoyed spending time with your family.

****

Of course, your father had introduced you to taekwondo at a very young age, almost as soon as you could walk.

There were various photo albums filled with pictures of you - you in a small taekwondo uniform as a toddler, your father proudly crouching beside you as you grinned at the camera, you and Taehoon standing next to one another, each holding up a gleaming gold medal with a large wall of trophies behind you, Taehoon watching you practice your form, strictly instructing you to kick higher.

It was a genuine passion of yours, one of the only hobbies you regularly practiced. A large part of that might have been because of how much time you’d get to spend with both your brother and your father.

Honestly, competitions were somewhat of a rarity until you’d hit double digits - your father’s paranoia being the deciding factor in your lack of participation.

Eventually he’d caved and allowed you to enter a competition, with very strict rules about your safety and how far you’d be allowed to push yourself.

That had been a critical moment for you. You had won all the matches you’d had that day, and you’d gone home happier than you’d ever been in your ten short years of living. Both Taehoon and you father had been overjoyed by your victory.

It had been decided then that you’d be allowed to participate in any competition you’d want, only because your father would rather die than take that sort of happiness away from you.

An added extra was that you’d decided to spend even more time training, which meant that you’d spend more time at home with your dear old dad.

As if you didn’t already spend most of your time there anyway.

Your routine was limited to school, home, and the do jang - not that you minded.

It’s not as if you were even missing out on anything incredible - you didn’t have any close friends or after school activities, so you were content to go to school to learn and come right back home.

Your father’s close friend -Mr Kim as you knew him - adored you too and always took some time out of his visits to teach you a few of his more docile defense moves.

Hansu wasn’t particularly happy about it - not because he thought it was unsafe, quite the opposite - he disliked it because he worried that you’d take such a liking to it that you would decide to abandon taekwondo all together in favour of choosing a more militant self-defense style of fighting.

Of course you’d never abandon taekwondo, not when you enjoyed it so much.

All of your other hobbies and interests tended to take a bit of a backseat when it came to taekwondo.

****

Despite your father's clear over protective tenancies and borderline controlling behaviour, you adored him. You might even go as far as to call him your role model.

You don't often question his rules, content to believe that your father had your best interest at heart - which he did.

Make no mistake, you didn't display blind devotion, you just admired your father for his work ethic and perseverance, but mostly you appreciated that he loved both you and your brother, and tried his best to raise you well and protect you.

He's actually not that crazy about keeping you locked up, you just happen to prefer staying at home, and you don't have many friends. He does tend to urge you to take Taehoon with you, but only because he doesn't want you to wonder around alone.

Overall he's a great father who isn't too insane, and all of his somewhat strange behaviours can be written off as typical parental concern.

Would he be crazy when you show interest in someone?? Maybe.

But he loves you and wants what's best for you. Most of all, he wants to see you happy, and if it happens to go against one of his rules, he'll find a way to compromise to keep everyone happy.

10/10 - very wholesome father :))

#viral hit #manager kim #yandere #dark content #female reader #yandere platonic #platonic #seong hansoo #yandere hansoo seong #platonic yandere hansoo seong #hansoo seong x reader #yandere hansoo seong x reader #platonic yandere hansoo seong x reader #hansu seong

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inhabited-by-something · 5 months

Note

(grips your shoulders) tell me about your alive elizabeth afton au

!!! Okay okay so. I have to make clear its not Just her, it's a whole "All the Afton kids live and are left to fend for themselves together with all their combined trauma" au but it's gotten very fleshed out for Liz specifically because my bestie @tibby and I love her ♡♡

But, to give you a very tldr background for this au (which I can/will elaborate more on later) in this version of things, Evan doesn't die from his birthday incident. He doesn't even get hurt aside from the emotional scars. Instead, Michael being the stupid older brother he is puts his arm in Fredbear's mouth after pulling Evan out to go "See, it's not even dangerous, you're crying over nothing" and promptly gets his arm bit, so badly that he ends up Losing the arm entirely. Due to a lot of factors that stem from this incident, William instead of being fueled by grief over his lost son to start killing kids, instead kills Charlie for different reasons, and after witnessing her possession, becomes Obsessed with the ideas of immortality and subsequently making a Perfect Version of his family via his robotics. So a lot of the main facets of canon still happen (Charlie + MCI + DCI murders, Henry leaving the company) but they happen for very different yet related reasons.

So all of that leads up to what happens with dear Elizabeth ~

Because you see, I do love the interpretation of her being a daddy's girl when it's done right (meaning making it as tragic and with lasting trauma as fucking possible.) So she's William's golden child. She's not rebellious like Mike, nor an anxious mess like Evan. No no, she's curious instead. She takes a genuine interest in William's robotics work, and in her he thinks he's actually found the perfect successor among his kids. She gets blatant favoritism from him and she loves it, she is her dad's kid thru and thru.

Unfortunately for her, being loved by William comes with it's drawbacks.

Because see in this version of things, he Was being serious about Circus Baby being built specifically for her. Elizabeth doesn't know that this means CB is meant to be the perfect vessel for her immortality, she's only 12 at the time, but CB is special reguardless.

So of course shes still mad when William doesn't want to let her see CB yet. (It's because she hasn't been perfected for Elizabeth yet, she's incomplete.) Due to other circumstances, one day while William is throwing two simultanious parties at the new pizzeria, he has to bring Elizabeth with him even tho he would prefer not to, and Michael as well. So he leaves Michael with one specific task: keep your sister away from the animatronics. (And of course because of his own accident, he already doesn't trust them, so he would have kept an eye anyways.)

At one point his attention gets diverted by some of the guests asking for help, and because he knows his dad would be pissed at him for refusing, he steps away for what he thinks will only take a moment. Elizabeth, finally free for a moment from supervision, knows she finally has a chance to see CB for herself and takes it. Except things go a little differently this time.

CB does still try to grab Elizabeth with her claws, but luckily for her, Michael arrives back just in time to grab her and pull her back from getting snatched, although not without injury.

CB's claw ends up catching Elizabeth in the face instead, leaving her with a fairly nasty scar that goes all the way from her eyebrown down past her cheek. And as a result, not only does she lose William's favor as his golden child because she's now "imperfect" and marked like her brother, but she's also lost Every bit of trust she ever had in her dad. His beloved machine made Specifically for her just tried to kill her and she can never look at him the same way again.

I'll skip over the finer details for now just to keep focus on Elizabeth, but at some point she, Michael and Evan are left alone together, and so Michael does the only thing he can think of and packs all their shit up to go ask Henry if he can take them in. He Really doesn't want to, not after what William did to Charlie, but he knows if he doesn't then the system is going to split the kids up, and so he does take them in, though hes not really a parent to them. They take care of each other for the most part.

But for Elizabeth, she gets to grow up and go thru highschool trying to reconcile how much of her father is in her, and how much of his kid she Still is even when she hates him, and how even after knowing what kind of monster he is...still missing him. Still wanting to be his favorite kid, the one he was the most proud of.

Elizabeth, as it turns out, is a bit of a robotics genius as she grows older. She outshines both her dad and Henry by miles, she learned a lot from watching her dad work for so many years and from pouring over his old journals she managed to get her hands on. She's utterly amazing, but a part of her hates herself for still following in her dads footsteps, and so she tends to limit herself on purpose in fear of turning out like him and somehow making her creations dangerous without intending to. She's continually haunted by the shadow of her father despite being a much better person than he ever was.

The one creation she does actually make and has a lot of pride in in this timeline is actually Helpy lol. (This started as a little joke but then it became serious.) Helpy isnt super advanced, he doesn't talk, but she makes him as a bit of a jokey gift for Michael (who still gets scooped in this timeline, that's its own thing) because she notices he's lonely between helping to look after her and Evan and because he's had to basically hide away from the world now that he's undead. And she doesn't think he's much at first, but Michael loves him. Helpy is his little bestie and he's the first real proof that Elizabeth is capable of doing good where her father didn't, even if she doubts herself a lot.

Theres so much more I could say but this is already so long so I will cap it off here for now. But rest assured you'll hear more about her later ~ I'm working on some art reference for everyone in this au too so I'll post that whenever it's done :)

#anyways. i love you my very specific interpretation of elizabeth afton ♡♡♡#elizabeth afton #fnaf #five nights at freddy’s #imperfect siblings au #<- thatll be my tag name for this stuff #kief.txt #ask #answered #michael afton #evan afton

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doberbutts · 1 year

Note

Your post abt how male victim sa is treated as a joke in media really resonates w/ me. like i dont watch drama tv shows, i watch like sitcom/comedy stuff and so its extra apparent to me in a way?

Because while in a drama tv show you can have both male and female sa victims, sitcoms will rarely if ever try to make jokes about female sa (or at least now anyway, i dont watch older sitcoms) they absolutely do make male sa jokes.

For example, in Parks and Rec theres this episode where April and Andy make a lot of doctors appointments in one day and in one part Andy is listing out all the doctors they've seen and Andy says like "One guy looked at my weiner, touched it, that was weird" and April says "And that guy wasn't even a doctor" and Andy says "...What" with an uncomfortable look on his face and then it just moves on.

And its supposed to be a funny haha moment but everytime I see that clip I get really uncomfortable bc like its never clarified if she was kidding or not but also why would you joke abt your husband being sa'd???

And thats just one example, theres plenty of others. (The whole thing with Barney and Rhonda French in HIMYM makes me super uncomfortable even tho its played as consensual, it gives me bad vibes)

But it feels like no one ever really cares to talk abt it, so it was nice to see someone bring it up. Sorry for the long ask 😅

The comedy I watch is normally yes about equal to Parks and Rec or Brooklyn 99 and yes, there's a lot of jokes that fly under the radar because they victimize one group or another that isn't seen as "in danger". The amount of prison rape and prostate exam (hinthint wink wink not performed by a doctor though teehee) jokes really stand out the more you pay attention to it. And maybe it IS time to pay attention to it, because clearly this is a symptom of a bigger issue, one that endangers everyone.

Going back to stuff I watch more of because I haven't seen more than a clip or two of HIMYM, but I remember when I was watching Buffy with my ex [then boyfriend] and he pointed out that Xander had a really good reason not to like Faith and it's because Faith rapes him (forced to penetrate) and how Xander really... never seemed to forgive her for it and always seemed uncomfortable around her after. And while I was not part of the fandom during the show's heyday, being that I am a relatively recent watcher only maybe about 6 or 7 years ago, he told me it was very frustrating to him that the fandom seemed to focus more on the wrongdoing of Spike's *attempt* to rape Buffy, than the *actual rape* Faith did to Xander.

Even with my Witcher example, I'm seeing people shipping Yennefer and Jaskier because they had a moderately improved friendship in season two, while not at ALL touching on the fact that Jaskier's first memory of her is a blatant sexual assault and maybe that's why he's increasingly aggressive to her every time they see each other for the remainder of season one and when seeing her again in season two. It's more than "he's somewhat jealous of her closeness with Geralt" when I know for a fact she pinned and grabbed him by the penis and I wouldn't fault anyone for not liking someone who grabbed their genitals without consent. I'm not yucking anyone's yum but it's really frustrating to me to see people skate right by that.

(again, books/games fans who follow/reblog, your faves are not immune, I present to you one Triss Merigold who rapes *Geralt himself* by means of a love potion in the books and who does it *again* in the games if you let her manipulate Geralt into sleeping with her when he has amnesia, do not even start with 'wehweh this is why the show sucks' when your favorite adaption did it too and Triss/Geralt is a possible romance path in the third game, AND Yennefer is mad at Geralt for... letting Triss rape him while they were together, because she considers it cheating, if you talk to her about it in the third game she dumps you in the lake to punish you for defending yourself)

Big sigh.

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fem-blade-adept · 9 months

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I’ve done a lot of Soulsbornekiro posts but I don’t think I’ve ever written a Game ranking. So here goes. Reminder that this is opinion based on the thousands of hours I’ve sunk into these games. Enjoy!

All Souls Games Ranked from Best to Worst

Dark Souls 3- This is a no brainer for me. EVERYTHING I love about the Souls games were on full display in DS3. The scale of the fights, the lore, the weapons, the environments, the aesthetic. DS3 will always win for me in every regard.

Sekiro- A spin-off, sure, but such a creative presence in FromSoft’s anthology. The combat was unique while still having the classic Souls flair. It also forced me to learn its combat system and when you learn it, it’s such a satisfying victory. My only gripes were that it didn’t have DLC and that it wasn’t a longer game.

Dark Souls 1- Where it all started for me. Looking back on it, it’s probably the easiest on this list for me, but it’s still a very solid entry. I love the nostalgia it brings me as well as it setting the pace for a lot of lore and moments we see in future games. I wish it had gotten a little harder in the remastered version, but I can’t complain past that.

Elden Ring- A lot of my moots are probably surprised to see this down this low. Mommy Malenia is a shining star and definitely tops a list of my favorite souls bosses, but looking at the rest of the game, it fells short in some respects. A lot of the bosses are either way too easy or brutally difficult and not always for the best reasons. The lore and boss scale is great, but a lot of solid play styles get drowned out by the rising difficulty and it becomes a cheesefest fairly easily. Also, I’m annoyed by a lot more bosses in Elden Ring than most of the games on this list and it’s not because they are difficult.

Bloodborne- This is where I will lose A LOT of people. People rank this at the VERY top of their lists for a lot of reasons and are probably gonna be completely lost as to why this is down this far. Don’t get me wrong. The lore is great, the environment is good, Lady Maria is perfect, the weapons are fantastic, and people know I love cosmic and eldritch horror stuff, so you would think I’d love this game. But for me, what really shafts this game is the balance, the combat, and the walk back. One of the first weapons you get practically makes every other weapon in this game meaningless if you let it, my favorite weapons come at the END of the game (#rakuyobitchfolyfe), the combat and dodge system bones me about as much as it helps, and the fact that blood vials are a consumable? Not my favorite design choice. I don’t like having to refarm my healing options after having to trek through Cainhurst or the Fishing Hamlet and if I’m slamming my head against the Orphan of Kos, it dampens the experience to have to go back and refarm blood vials because I ran out. There were a lot of things that could have been executed better and it probably wouldn’t have been as bad if these issues weren’t so blatant.

Dark Souls 2- It’s the design choices. I don’t hate DS2 as much as a lot of people, but I’ll admit the game did not come off good to me when I first played it. The hollowing system actively frustrates me to this day, the quantity over quality bosses leaves a lot of nebulous memories, the open-ish world hurts me a lot more than it helps, and the weapons were really meh compared to the rest of the list. It’s definitely not as bad as people say, but there were some questionable choices here.

Demon Souls- The walkback hurts in this game. The system is great, but again consumable healing is brutal. It also is a lot of punishment unless you know the gimmicks that each boss has and once you know them, it kinda waters down the experience in an unsatisfying way. At least in DS2, you have Estus and can always have a healing option, but Demon Souls’ LOOOONG walk back to boss rooms and exhausting areas really wore me out of love for this game quickly.

#soulsbornekiro #from software #dark souls #elden ring #sekiro #bloodborne

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hlsongs · 2 years

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KEEP DRIVING - Long Analysis

SUMMARY:

keep driving, the tenth song on harry's house, is a loving observation about a long-term relationship worth holding onto despite the presence of troubling truths and general chaos. its tender and delicate message portrayed beautifully by harry’s soft delivered lyrics in an almost humming manner, and the more concerning aspects represented by an increasingly chaotic chorus all ties into one question - should we continue this journey throughout life together?

CONTENTS:

- verse/chorus/bridge analysis

- comparisons

- final thoughts

VERSE/CHORUS/BRIDGE ANALYSIS:

First Verse:

Black and white film camera Yellow sunglasses Ashtray, swimming pool Hot wax, jump off the roof

the scenery has been set instantly from the first verse through a basic stream of consciousness writing technique. it implies that harry will be using the verses of the song to reminisce about memories shared between him and his partner.

the first verse has things that do not exactly relate to one another, with the exception of black and white film & camera. otherwise, it's quite literally a random toss of words that only have meaning to harry and his partner, and are therefore quite uninterpretable by anybody else.

A small concern with how the engine sounds We held darkness in withheld clouds I would ask, "Should we just keep driving?"

harry now snaps back to the current day. the vehicle represents their relationship, and thus the engine represents the state of their relationship. at the very worst, there’s a chance that their relationship may fail in the future because the situation doesn’t look ideal at the moment.

thus harry recalls an earlier time in which they had major concerns.

the lyric "we held darkness in withheld clouds" could mean several things, all of which have a similar message. he is remembering a period of time, perhaps within the band, in which their relationship was repressed. this caused them to hold darkness, or rather, to suffer greatly.

the past tense tells us they are no longer in that situation.

harry then says he would ask 'should we just keep driving?'. he's remembering that at the time they held darkness in withheld clouds, he would ask his partner if they should continue the relationship.

that is whats so interesting about this chorus. harry is acknowledging that there are problems with their relationship, but specifically notes that its a small concern. those two words sound so mild in comparison to the "darkness" he speaks about in juxtaposition. its almost like he's trying to say that we're concerned for the future, but we've been through worse.

Second Verse:

Maple syrup, coffee Pancakes for two Hash brown, egg yolk I will always love you

this verse is, arguably, my favorite out of all of them for four reasons:

his voice. this is the softest that he has sounds in the entire song, and it makes so much sense because its arguably the softest part of the whole song too.

the simplicity. the entire verse is just him describing their breakfast foods. it's sickeningly domestic, a simple and constant routine that he is highlighting because it means so much to him.

the last line. i will always love you is arguably the most blatant harry has ever been in a romantic song. he's not using flowery language and poetry and my eyes want you more than a melody. he's stating a simple fact. here are all our memories - i loved you during them. lets keep driving - i love you now. here is our breakfast foods - i will love you forever.

the fact that its the only verse in the entire song that follows a syllable meter rule (4/6), with four syllables making up the first and third lines and six syllables making up the second and fourth line. this is very often coincidental in songwriting, and more purposeful in poetry, but there's no hard and fast rule. assuming its not coincidental, the entire verse becomes even sweeter because its like he's saying that two things will always remain stable, a constant truth. the breakfast that we like. and the fact that i will always love you.

Second Chorus:

A small concern with how the engine sounds We held darkness in withheld clouds I would ask, "Should we just keep driving?" Should we just keep driving?

the second chorus has only one difference. he has thought about their memories in the first verse. he has reflected on what they did when they suffered previously in the first chorus. then, he remembers domesticity and love in the second verse. and now, upon having remembered that, he makes up his mind.

he'll ask what he asked before. the question is now being asked in the present. considering how they clearly kept driving before (as indicated by the past to present transition), there's an implication that he wants to keep going with his partner just like before.

Bridge:

Passports in footwells Kiss her and don't tells Wine glass, puff pass, tea with cyborgs Riot America, science and edibles Life hacks going viral in the bathroom

note: too many of you have been focused on the next line, and not on the fact that harry seems to have made an onlyjayus reference. tiktok harry please do not rise.

Cocaine, side boob Choke her with a sea view Toothache, bad move Just act normal Moka pot Monday, it's all good Hey, you Should we just keep driving?

this is one intense bridge.

what is interesting about this bridge is that it has become less intimate, less domestic. we're focusing on travel, fame, drugs, sexual innuendos, riots, america (in other words, not home), pain, etc.

its all a part of their relationship, but its not specific to them. and the second he starts talking about these things, aka when the bridge begins, the overall vibes of the song changes.

the music starts to become more and more intense, seemingly heading for a climax and there's a sense of anxiety and trepidation when one focuses on the music alone. it almost sounds like they're pushing the car's engine too far.

its like when the focus is on more chaotic matters in their life, their relationship suffers. fame, traveling, the state of the world. but whats also important to note is that the bridge is separated into two chunks and yet harry doesn't stop once between them to ask his partner the question. he doesn’t communicate.

but then, right when the climax is about to hit, he finally asks it. and the second he does, everything goes quiet. the music mellows and becomes the same sunshine-y rhythm as the beginning of the song.

and i think that's the whole point of the song. when you don't communicate (don't ask that question) in the more chaotic aspects of your life, there is a high chance that your relationship's engine will fail. its like harry has realized this because he doesn't try bringing up the small concern in how the engine sounds. he hears it, despite how obviously he's trying to keep his quickening voice calm and soft, and thus checks in with his partner.

and then does it again, and again.

COMPARISONS:

fine line, track 11:

this song can have a plethora of different interpretations, all valid. however, keep driving reminds me a little of fine line because i interpret both of them as inspections of his relationship (and life in general).

fine line is a slightly chaotic dissection between the extremes of his relationship like the really high & really low, while keep driving is about the in-betweens, like the memories, the inside jokes, the small and simple routines specific to him and his partner.

despite the difference in his approach to inspecting his relationship in both songs, the basic acknowledgements remain the same:

“we’ll be a fine line”/“small concern with how the engine sounds” - implying the imperfections of his relationship, that perhaps come with an instability and concern at times.

“we’ll be alright”/“we’ve held darkness and withheld clouds, should we just keep driving?” “it’s all good, hey you” - acknowledging that despite the issues, they’ve overcome bad things before and they’re gonna be okay.

“you’ve got my devotion”/“I will always love you” - assuring that above everything else, the good and the bad and in the in-between, there is an unwavering commitment.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

keep driving is a beautiful observation of a long-term relationship, layered in history and an endless stream of memories and absolutely drenched with commitment, love, and partnership.

the many different parts of life; the domestic, exciting and chaotic times are all shared within the comfort of one car on the same journey. there has been troubling experiences between them in the past, and there is small worries about longevity as anybody in a longtime relationship has experienced, worries that are perhaps not entirely in their control.

however, above all of that, there is something else. something that starts the song and ends it to. a willingness to make things work and continue being in this relationship together. there is communication that stops the chaos, the loudness, the potential failures. there is a softness to the narrators voice as all this happens, indicating the precious nature of the relationship itself. there is a reassuring admission of his endless love for his partner when he tells them he will always love them. there is a heart-fluttering playfulness in the way he greets his partner by saying hey, you.

all of these things, when combined together, make the reality of a long-term relationship. a reality that isn’t sugarcoated by poetry or prose or flowery metaphors, but is real and raw and existing and beautiful.

ignore this: tagging @larrylyrics

#this is a long one babes #i clearly have a favorite child !#keep driving #harry's house #hsh #hs3 #harry styles #hl #larry #larry stylinson #keep driving analysis #hsh analysis #lyric analysis #larrylyrics

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kalpasio · 3 months

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Beauty and Decimation

The Lightning and The Visitor

A Kalpas x Reader fic loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, Chapter 5 below!

Explaining your fear of being sacrificed to end the curse went about as well as you might expect. That is to say, Kalpas called you an idiot—or some variation thereof—at least four times and if he wasn’t both un-killable and capable of tearing you limb from limb, you would be doing a lot more than just glaring. As things stand now, however, he meets both qualifications, so you hold back from arguing too much.

With a scoff and an eyeroll from the beast, you were sent on your way to the library, having been told that if Mobius so much as breathes in your direction, Kalpas would deal with her. That didn’t seem to extend to the rest of the household, however. Elysia had been trying her best to get you to spend more time with the prince—for completely innocent reasons, for sure—and even Sakura seemed to be roped into her plan. And in a way, it worked.

You grew so fed up with their blatant attempts to set you up with Kalpas that you ended up hanging around him because that was the only time the harassment stopped. Without realizing it, you had inserted yourself into his daily routine and pulled him into yours as well. Mornings were now spent gardening outside while he trained nearby, and evenings were spent in the library reading or simply chatting.

Nights were possibly your favorite, though. Kalpas still continued to go out and fight Honkai in the woods, and it seemed the only reason he’d stop his crusade was to come back to you so he could brag about the battle. Often, his return would be closer to the sun’s rising than its setting and you found yourself falling asleep during the middle of his retellings multiple times.

At first, Kalpas had been furious at your apparent lack of interest, but you were so used to him being mad at this point, you were more concerned about the scorch marks left on the walls than of his flames ever causing you harm. You also had gotten quite adept at bartering with him; telling the prince you’d hear the rest of his story during breakfast, so long as he promised not to set things on fire right then.

You both had fallen into this schedule so easily, you were spending nearly every night together, whether you passed out on the couch, your bed, or even got dragged to Kalpas’ room. Mornings that had once been too cold were perfectly cozy in his arms or half-lying across his chest. The biggest issue was getting up afterwards. If Kalpas wasn’t dead set on keeping you in place, then you were being greeted by Hua’s averted eyes and Eden’s knowing smile. Even with all the teasing, given how well you’d rested, and how much you enjoyed spending time with him, it was worth it.

It felt odd saying it out loud, now that you think about it. Undeniably, you enjoyed being around Kalpas. Even if neither of you was talking, or if he was on a rant, the man had grown on you. Personality aside, he could easily classify as ‘good looking’ and you’d spent your fair share of time staring while he’d trained.

And now was certainly no exception. Choosing to sit on the bench behind him had not been an accident and you were going to milk the view for all it was worth. Or at least that had been the plan before Kalpas practically disappeared.

It took your eyes a moment to catch up, but you found him on the edge of the training grounds, flames surrounding him. A few feet away stood a woman who looked so threatening, even Mobius would be jealous. Her sword was held straight out, pointed towards Kalpas and you knew that whatever came next would not be pretty.

The clash of fire and blades had you holding your breath in fear. Each one of their movements was too quick to catch and neither seemed to hold a clear advantage over the other. Though Kalpas couldn’t die, the lightning flashing from the girl’s sword would undoubtedly hurt.

“I suppose I should have warned him I had a friend coming over,” Elysia sighed from beside you, startling you for a moment.

“Friend?” you asked, somewhat exasperated.

“Yeah, my best friend, Mei!” She clapped her hands together with a smile. “She’ll be spending a few nights here. I was really hoping she’d avoid a fight, but I suppose that with Kalpas this was inevitable.”

“Aren’t you going to stop him?”

“Oh no!” Elysia looked scandalized. “Mei’s fine! Besides, Kalpas isn’t the best at listening, and if we interrupt now, he’ll just start up again later.”

You looked at the girl next to you like she had three heads, but she was too focused on cheering for her friend to notice.

“If you say so…”

You were beginning to question whether Mei and Elysia were actually friends.

For one, Elysia was a bit too friendly. Then again, this is Elysia we’re talking about, so knowing whether her flirting was genuine or not is a bit of a crapshoot. Mei on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested and unenthused with the whole situation. Clearly, she had come to the castle of her own volition, yet she always looked ready to turn right around and leave. Personally, you hadn’t gotten very close to the girl but you...wouldn’t necessarily mind if she left a little early.

So long as she fought with him, Kalpas didn’t care if Mei stayed. This meant fewer mornings waking up to a tight hug and more startling away to the sound of crazed laughing.

But that’s fine.

It wouldn’t be forever, and Kalpas really seemed to be enjoying himself. Living so closely together, you had almost forgotten what it was like when you first came here, wandering the library on your own. Having this newfound freedom was a welcome change to being with. Walks through the garden weren’t interrupted by yelling and you had time to spend chatting with Su or listening to Eden perform.

But you couldn’t stop yourself from missing those interruptions. And maybe you were a little jealous that Mei was taking all his time, or that you couldn’t possibly get to their level of skill when it came to fighting. It was clear now that your inability to fight bothered Kalpas more than he let on.

Elysia had explained your situation to Mei early on, but aside from a nod your way, the girl seemed uninterested with your story. Most of your interactions with her had been either through Kalpas, or about Kalpas. Take, for example, today. He had finally taken a break (and a sorely needed bath) and was sitting with you in the library. Your back was against the arm of the couch, legs laid across his lap while he—very loudly—told you how he won his latest duel.

Upon hearing the library door open, Kalpas paused and listened, wondering if the visitor could be a potential opponent. Mei’s voice rang clear, and it was apparent Elysia was pushing her buttons again as the two walked deeper into the room. He would have gone to push your legs if you hadn’t already pulled them back and were standing off the couch.

“Enjoy your fight,” you waved over your shoulder as you left. Elysia gave you a confused look—that was likely fake—while Mei didn’t even glance in your direction. All four of you knew how this was going to play out, no need for you to stick around and confirm the theory.

That night, Kalpas came to dinner late, but you supposed you should be grateful he showed up at all. His clothes were still covered with burned patches and blood—from himself or his opponent, you couldn’t tell. The sight alone was enough to make you lose your appetite, so you kept your eyes focused on the meal in front of you. Feeling eyes boring into the top of your head only caused you to redouble your efforts in pretending the prince wasn’t there.

Throughout the meal, you both were silent. Sakura came in to ask a brief question that was answered with a nod, followed by a second question which Kalpas instead shook his head ‘no’ to. Having finished your food, you looked up to observe this interaction and your eyes followed Sakura as she left. Her ears brushed the top of the doorway, and you realized you have never seen them stand straight up like that before. Then you looked at Kalpas and realized he has never fixed you with a glare like this before either.

“Mei won,” he said. Your eyes widened in surprise and you were unsure what to say. The two seemed evenly matched, but this was the first time you’d seen Kalpas being so bitter over losing a fight. He seemed to revel in the challenge, and it seemed impossible for him to lose in the first place.

Then you noticed the bandages peeking out over the torn neckline of his shirt. Blood had clearly soaked through them, a feat you knew to be impossible. Kalpas—like Mobius and everyone else for that matter—should bleed when the wound is opened but heal shortly after. There’s no clear explanation as to why he would remain injured after the battle is over.

“What happened?” you asked, curiosity getting the best of you. The prince would surely go on one of his very long and very loud tangents about the exact gruesome details of the fight, but as long as you got answers, that was fine.

“She stabbed me,” he started, taking a bite of food. You waited as he chewed, and it wasn’t until he speared another potato that you realized he had finished his story and had no plans to continue.

“That’s it?” You winced, repeating the words in your head for a moment. Most people who got stabbed don’t calmly sit down and have dinner an hour later. Maybe your expectations had become a little unrealistic after spending so much time here.

“She stabbed me,” he repeated, “and I didn’t heal.”

Now that was cause for concern.

“What do you mean you didn’t heal?” The panic slipped into your voice before you could stop it. Kalpas calmly bit down on his fork to keep it in his mouth and used both hands to lift his badly damaged shirt. You would have taken that moment to appreciate his chest, but there was very little of it that was not covered by blood-speckled bandaging.

Satisfied with the shocked look on your face, he dropped the shirt and pulled the fork from his teeth to continue eating. Because bleeding out at the dinner table is a very normal thing to do.

“I still don’t understand why you aren’t recovering,” you spoke more to yourself than the man across from you. Then, with more urgency you said, “Shouldn’t you see Su?”

You were halfway out of your seat when Kalpas grumbled, “I did.”

“Then why aren’t you—”

“The curse broke.”

You fell into silence. The crackling of the fireplace alone was too loud.

Dropping back into your chair, you stared ahead, blinking but seeing nothing.

Was this it?

He’d fallen for Mei and now you were going to be kicked out? Sent back to the village that thought you dead; the townspeople who left you for dead? You’d had your fun pretending you belonged in this castle and now it was time for you to leave.

What did you expect?

Living the rest of your life with a dozen immortal beings could hardly be considered living. You’d run out of books, and they’d run out of patience and you’d be thrown to the wolves again. Did you really think they’d let you stay?

You knew this would happen. You saw how Kalpas and Mei enjoyed their fights. Shouldn’t you be happy that the curse had been lifted? Happy your friends were now free?

Are they your friends? Or did they just put up with you for the same reason Mobius did—in the hopes you would solve their problem. Either way, that didn’t matter now. They didn’t need you. You should have left when Mei arrived. It was foolish for you to have stayed, just like it’s foolish for you to continue sitting at this table waiting for Kalpas to say something else.

You know what he’s going to say.

He’s going to kick you out. So you save him the trouble.

You stand from the table, mumble a ‘good night,’ and you leave.

I had been reading a lot of angst when I wrote this, so I'm sorry if the story is super bland. I just want reader to be happy sometimes (even though that means nothing ever happens). Also it's not abundantly clear but sacrificing reader won't fix the curse, Mobius just wants you to suffer. That's why Kalpas just brushes off your concern. Man it sure would be good if I added that to the story. you know. like. wrote it in some way? idk sounds kinda wild

#azaryawrites #kalpas x reader #tamalethebear #cross posted on ao3 #HI3 x reader #x reader

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magnorious · 4 months

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A Titan’s Curse Retrospective, 16 Years Later

Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters **Spoiler Alert**

When I first got my hands on this book, I looked at how thin it was and worried that each consecutive book would be shorter than the last. Titan’s Curse is the off-beat middle episode of the five, occurring around the winter solstice instead of during summer break.

It was never my favorite, but I remembered liking it because it felt darker. I remembered that, for the first time, characters we were supposed to care about were dying on the page. The gods were up close and personal now, at the heart of the quest. There were guns in this book, destiny-challenging decisions to forestall the Great Prophecy for a little while longer.

And, of course, Blackjack, the Dam Snack Bar, Fred, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and the arrival of the di Angelos.

Maybe that’s just nostalgia talking, ‘cause I’m pretty sure that when it came out, before HOO, Titan’s Curse was dead last on everyone’s tier list for one reason: Annabeth is absent for most of the plot, and Zoë is kind of irritating.

—

The Titan’s Curse

We open immediately to a much more serious tone than before, and a timeskip unlike before. The growth of Percy and Thalia’s relationship happens entirely offscreen between books, which is a bit disappointing. During the gap between TlT and SoM, the time in between books was filled with school, details unimportant to the plot. Here, though, we’ve missed some potentially juicy plot beats like Thalia’s reaction to the passage of time, her meeting Percy, another illegal demigod, her reunion with Annabeth and discovery that Luke turned traitor.

Maybe, if the Disney show makes it that far, we’ll get to see those missed opportunities on screen. But you do start the book feeling like there was a chapter left on the cutting room floor.

Doubly so, they spent at least a couple months together before chapter one, enough to build a rapport and make a confident team together, and yet Percy somehow has never seen Thalia manipulate the Mist before.

Sixteen years later and it is buckwild even seeing Nico’s name dropped for the first time nine pages in. He’s not even in the book for more than the first couple chapters and right at the end for the big reveal. He was nobody’s favorite leading all the way up to House of Hades four whole ass books from now, just an eager little kid, then a bratty little goth wannabe, then an angsty goth wannabe.

Getting flung back to lil’ wide-eyed and bushy tailed 10-year old Nico is sobering. He was such a little nerd with his Mythomagic figurines and cards and dumb, dorky 10-year-old questions.

**Side note - in my SoM I falsely recalled that the Grover empathy link never made a reappearance and I am pleasantly surprised that it does get mentions here, even if it doesn’t do much.**

—

The opening fight, while thrilling, is held back a little by Percy’s continued ignorance. He’s fourteen, he’s been at this for two years now, and he’s still the last to find things out (for the benefit of the audience). Before, it made sense, he was young and inexperienced, but if he’s out here leading raids and rescue parties, he’s got no excuses to not be doing his homework and I wish Riordan had come up with a different method of getting exposition to the audience this time around.

Immediately after, enter the Hunters’ blatant sexism and I’m left scratching my head on why I remember liking this book so much. It’s off to a rather rocky start.

It’s not so much that Artemis leads a club of eternal tweenage virgins. The Hunters are a sanctuary alternative to Camp Half-Blood and it has its pros and cons. My problem, especially as I’m older reading this, is that Artemis gets Bianca murdered promising her a break from her horrible, no good, very bad baby brother, and there’s no reckoning for that.

There’s no alternative to her statement of only being patron to girls “before they go astray” like the moment puberty hits Artemis kicks these hedonistic sinners to the curb. Thalia sure hates them and calls it stupid (before joining them in the end) and Percy makes his opinions on Bianca’s selfishness clear, but beyond a reluctant approval of Percy after he almost dies holding up the sky, there is no “yeah our club isn’t actually as awesome as us snooty girls think it is”. Artemis is still a good guy, so are the hunters, and their ideology is never challenged.

Bianca dies! She’d still be alive if Artemis hadn’t been a predatory patron, snatching her up in a moment of weakness and ripping her little brother’s only family away because, by nature of being a boy, he sucks.

In other words, she doesn’t get to be painted as a decent goddess when she’s no better than Hera and Zeus with her strawmanning. Especially when Apollo and, heck, Dionysus, show so much more humanity in this book.

Artemis is just so hard on the poor kid and thank the gods Percy didn’t die before he could save Nico from himself. Nico would have absolutely joined Luke and burned Olympus to the ground without Percy’s intervention, and it would have been Artemis’ fault. “Yes, boy. You see, Bianca di Angelo is not the only one with an annoying brother.” My good bitch, who do you think you are? He’s 10!

It is abundantly clear why the Nico di Angelo Protection Squad found such strong footing. The whole nexus of this series is the gods’ neglect and the first 70 pages of this book are a stellar example of what Luke’s been yammering about this whole time.

—

As always, the foreshadowing and subtle reminders are solid. Tyson’s throwaway line about the Princess Andromeda heading toward the Panama Canal so it can eventually reach the West Coast, the reminder of the dragon that scarred Luke’s face via souvenir claw in the Big House attic. The reminder that Percy’s sword Riptide has a tragic past and all the hints that Bianca and Nico are children out of time as they suddenly remember forgotten details from their past and Bianca’s lucky strike on the skeletons.

Oh, and this poignant little nugget from the souvenir pile in the attic, a tag attached to a broken sword hilt: “This broke and Leroy got killed, 1999.” I can picture Leroy’s surviving friends staring at that broken weapon and having nothing more to say than that, and abandoning it to collect dust in the attic.

Percy is still rife with realistic, humanizing flaws. He’s jealous of Thalia and suffering an inferiority complex, mucking up the di Angelo rescue mission thinking he can do it on his own, and then the capture the flag game, and then going off on his own during the second quest that’s not about him. His rivalry with Thalia, the only demigod that can go toe-to-toe with him in terms of abilities, is something fresh for this book. Thalia’s like a less obnoxious Annabeth because she doesn’t suffer that Athenian hubris making her a know-it-all.

—

Bianca fits right in with the Hunters, not missing her little brother one bit (stone cold, girl. Stone. Cold.) Acting like a sudden expert at the Ping Pong table counselor meeting. I know she’s been groomed by a selfish misandrist but she’s not long for this book and it has done nothing to endear audiences to her.

She gets worse when she has her first minute alone with Percy and he reassures her that abandoning her baby brother is perfectly fine so long as she’s happy when… no? Percy took like, two weeks to come to terms with being a demigod and an entire quest. Bianca takes two days and she’s rearing up to go on a quest to save her cult leader.

She explains that she’s raised Nico all her life and wanted to experience something outside of caring for him, even though she knows it’s selfish of her to just up and abandon him, his feelings be damned. Thing is, it is selfish. I feel zero sympathy for this girl and I doubt she fully understands what she signed up for. She will be twelve forever and Nico will, theoretically, grow up, grow old, and see her only a handful of times in their lives before he’s dead. All because he’s a bit irritating at his age and she wants a vacation.

When she dies not long after, the point of her character even existing beyond being Nico’s motivation gets a bit muddied. Artemis and the Hunters aren’t punished by the narrative for getting her killed, she doesn’t die doing anything spectacular and she wakes the very monster that kills her trying to get a trinket for Nico, then she’s dead.

Trying to be independent set her on the path to dying young, feeling guilty about abandoning the only family she had left is what sealed the deal.

—

The original cover art! The ‘07 American version with Percy and Blackjack in indigo. TLT’s art didn’t pull from any one specific scene and SoM was more inspired by the rope bridge with Polyphemus on the sheep island, but TTC’s art is ripped straight from the page and I love how it has both nothing to do with the title of the book and is totally out of left field concerning Dionysus (and I think the best moment of the book).

The scene in question is Dionysus interrupting Percy and Blackjack’s pursuit of the questers in Manhattan, showing more agency in that moment than he had in the past two books. He tells Percy about Ariadne and why he hates heroes (because they’re selfish) alluding to why Zoë hates heroes. Percy has been quite self-important in this book, but he's no Theseus, not even close.

The settings in this book aren’t nearly as colorful as the previous two, and the same goes for the monsters along the way. It’s winter and it feels like it, in more ways than one. There’s human mercenaries, the grey skeletal soldiers, the Nemean lion that doesn’t talk, Talos that doesn’t talk, and a few other oddballs.

The junkyard of the gods where they fight Talos has wonderfully creepy and foreboding vibes. Things that get thrown away there are abandoned for a reason.

All the quirky sense of adventure that existed before is gone this time around and while I enjoy the tonal shift personally, I don’t know that it was the best choice to make for the series as a whole. The lack of “color” is made worse by all the other irritating and frustrating elements.

The best elements remain the most off-beat ones, like Apollo in incognito mode, the Dam snack bar, everything I remembered from reading this as a kid, along with Dionysus’ moments and Dr. Chase.

TTC’s prophecy is solid, and since we get it at the beginning this time, we get to wrack our brains trying to solve it along with the cast. It’s not as ambiguous as TLT’s prophecy, but I like the cadence, how long it is, and how ominous it is – right off the bat, you know two people are dead this book.

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan’s Curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent’s hand.

—

Zoë is… frustrating. I hate to go all “not all men” but jeez, girl, not all men. She even says those exact words herself as she’s dying. So much bitterness and resentment in her long life. Why couldn’t Artemis be a good patron of immortal tweenagers and find them a decent therapist? I’m lumping her in with Artemis for their antiquated and frankly ridiculous pontificating. I get that’s Artemis’ schtick; doesn’t make it fun or interesting to read.

Zoë is a victim of godly propaganda and her death is as tragic as Bianca’s, the fate of heroes little more than divine chess pieces tossed aside at a whim. Her memorial as the new constellation is poignant, it just unfortunately was given to a character more frustrating than endearing. Her whole arc in this book is appreciating that not all heroes are awful thanks to Percy, but she struts around like her sh*t doesn’t smell.

Zoë hates heroes because Hercules did her dirty, Thalia hinted that Annabeh considered joining the Hunters because of Percy, and Dionysus told Percy he’d never stop being selfish and self-centered and the thing is he’s… not?

Yes he messes up at the start of this book but they’re kind of strawmanning him, like by nature of being a boy and being a Greek demigod he’s doomed to be exactly like his predecessors when he’s shown no indication so far of using and abusing people. His fatal flaw is loyalty. Annabeth was never going to be his Ariadne.

—

The villains plan here is solid, Riordan has a good track record of walking the line between complex and contrived. They needed Artemis to hold the sky to get her away from the Solstice meeting so the gods wouldn’t be productive. To get Artemis, they made do with using Annabeth as bait. Then they needed Bessie and an illegal prophecy child (Thalia, the oldest) to trigger the prophecy two books early. It almost works, until Thalia dips out of turning 16 by becoming an immortal fifteen-year-old at the last possible second.

The villains also use mortals this time, and mortal weaponry – guns and helicopters and mortal mercenaries. They don’t do much, none of them even get named, but they exist and they help make this book a little grittier.

—

Despite all the above complaints, the book doesn’t fall to middle-chapter syndrome. The story is fast paced and gritter than the two before it, the battles are all well written and unique. It’s not a bad story by any means, it just has some frustrating elements that dampen the enjoyment. The slower beats aren’t between Percy and Annabeth this time and Grover spends a lot of the book mooney-eyed over the moon goddess so he and Percy don’t get a lot of solid moments either. Thalia is too prickly to let her guard down long enough for a deep conversation but she almost gets there.

Major characters die this time and the approaching war feels that much closer, delayed for now but still looming ever over our heroes. I do like the characterization of the gods this time around being much more involved in the story. When Percy and Annabeth do finally reunite, matching grey streaks in their hair, it's cute and fluffy and a great way to wrap up the story before the Nico reveal, and what a reveal it is. It's not Thalia, unambiguously older, it's Nico, definitively younger leaving you antsy that, still, Percy might not be the prophecy kid after all.

#percy jackson #pjo books #pjo series #pjo hoo toa #titans curse #percy jackon and the olympians #retrospective #review

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