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Just thinking back to this patch note from supergiant, and how it confirmed exactly what I’d thought since that one piece of dialogue between Melinoë and Icarus where I could tell exactly what Icarus was implying- that his father views him as a disappointment and/or expects failure from him.

Just as Icarus believes in death that he will never measure up to his father’s achievements as an inventor, his father likely enforced that belief in life, even if just through his actions and not his words. Even in that brief moment when they were free, before he flew too high, I imagine being a prisoner wasn’t the only weight on Icarus’ shoulders. There was probably the pressure of having a father who thought lowly of him.

From the way Icarus talks in game as well, it can be assumed his father wasn’t ever very warm or loving towards him. Maybe when he was a toddler, but as he grew up and they were kept in that tower year after year? No. More likely than not he was critical, cold and distant, only going as far as the bare minimum of trying to make sure Icarus at least escaped with him.

And that makes me wonder— did Daedalus ever regret it after he held his son’s dead and broken body on that shore? Did he ever let Icarus know he loved him at all, or did Icarus die believing he wouldn’t ever measure up to the expectations of such a master craftsman?

Or worse, did he die believing in a false hope that his father would show him love once they were out? Did he drown with his last thoughts being, ‘surely my father will save me’, only for the Fates to cut his life short before he had the chance?

The way Icarus treats himself and degrades himself in game after his death is honestly so important to me, and not just because I like angst- but because it showcases exactly what growing up with a parent like that can do to a child. You believe your parent(s) must care somewhere deep down, and you tell yourself that it’s fine, that you don’t care what they say, or if they actually do love you. As you grow up, you become self-critical and drown in self-doubt when you eventually realize you are/were not the priority, and that they must not care nearly as much as you’d hoped. You give up trying to prove yourself, because you start to believe it no longer matters.

It shows in the way he talks to Melinoë. He believes himself, especially after she lost her arm to help him, to be a burden to her, the way his father likely made Icarus believe he was a burden to him.

That doubt has long since planted its roots in Icarus— in his very core. It’s probably one of many reasons he attempts multiple times to ignore how he feels about her and push her away. After all, if he wasn’t able to prove his worth and value to his own father.. what worth and value could he possibly have to her?

.

.

.

Anyways I love them very much I’m so glad she made him realize he doesn’t need to actually have anything to give her other than just being himself and letting go of that guilt and grief. She’s so good for him, I hope we get more dialogue between them and see him heal or at least get some kind of closure with his dad?? Even if it is him telling his dad he doesn’t have to or need to prove himself anymore. Please let my boy get that comfort

Side note— as someone who grew up with a father who was extremely close to me and then grew distant and harsh after some years when I entered middle school their relationship in game speaks to me and resonates with me in a way I never thought possible. Which is also how I know what it can DO to a person and just. God heading those lines?? That hurt I really do hope we get to see something happen where he gets the chance to confront it with Melinoë (or even without her/he tells us that he did while we weren’t there/while he was away)

ALSO ALSO HERES THE PATCH NOTE IN QUESTION!!! sorry for my rambling 🪶

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I love how Mel is either blissfully unaware of these two fighting behind her, or she knows and chooses to ignore it

(She’s probably just ignoring it let’s be honest here cause if she were to even give them a glance they’d immediately stop esp Icarus, that boy is so whipped for Mel)

like mother like son passed on her love for tall big tiddy goths

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Don’t mind me I’ll be crying in the corner

candlesmoke and ozone

Author: Avin Ryd Fandom: Hades II Rating: G Pairing: Melinoë/Icarus Word Count: ~500

"Shades are, as the name implies, mere shadows of their living selves. There should be no blood-warmth or weighted touch, for all their body seems to be there. They are merely memories of both thought and form.

Maybe her ritual for Icarus did something after all."

--

Some Early Access fluffy fluff

Read on AO3

“Look Meli, I know I said…what I said, about shades and goddesses and such, but I’m starting to think— I don’t know, seeing you like this, nearly dying night after night, defying the very Fates’ wishes for you. I’m starting to think I was wrong.”

“Wrong about what?”

“About us…”

Kissing is, in general, not something Melinoë spends much of her time reflecting upon—who has time for romance or frivolous pursuits when there’s a war going on?—but as far as she’s aware, the experience of kissing a shade is supposedly different than planting one on a mortal. Shades are, as the name implies, mere shadows of their living selves. There should be no blood-warmth or weighted touch, for all their body seems to be there. They are merely memories of both thought and form.

Maybe her ritual for Icarus did something after all.

Even with such an obvious-in-hindsight cue, Melinoë is caught off guard when Icarus leans in, words getting caught between them in a muffled ‘mmhp’ before her brain catches up. Lips parted as they are, she tastes candlesmoke and ozone under the sharp salt-rime of this cursed ocean. While there is no heat in the temperature sense, no breath, something—pressure, movement, angle—conveys a tenderness in his movements that is a warmth in its own. 

It's when his hands come up to frame her face that her own breath catches. Barely more than fingertips against her cheeks, her jaw, not holding so much as guiding, his touch sends a sun-bright flare through her, warm where there should be ice. It shutters her mismatched eyes closed and something in her gives, letting the sensation pull her under. For the first time in a very, very long time, Melinoë’s guard falls, the two of them caught up in an ephemeral bubble of reprive.

It takes her an indeterminate amount of time to remember that, generally, both parties are expected to participate in a kiss—time spent unaware of anything other than Icarus’s gentle touch. Eventually though, her faculties return enough to prompt a response, a reciprocation, a tentative reach of the hand to catch a strap of his harness, keep him close— A reach that is thwarted by the inevitable return of reality.

A harsh gust whips across the deck, rocking the ship with its force and catching under Icarus’s wings. Credit to his skill, he doesn’t go tumbling, but its enough to jerk them apart and pull him far enough that her fingers swipe through empty air. The last of his touch to part is his hands, fingertips lingering until the storm sweeps him away, him and whatever words his lips—lips that she’d kissed!--were trying to form.

Melinoë stands there for long moments, after. The seas rage, thunder chasing lightning just as her heart chases what’s left of the feeling. She wants— Pointless, what she wants doesn’t matter. Maybe Icarus was right about them, maybe he wasn’t. It’s all moot until her task is complete—find the Titan, slay the Titan.

Right?

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Saw this on Twitter with a different caption but it still made me cry again to see it now. Just. Oh my God LOOK AT IT! His terror and hers when the spell goes wrong. The expression of PAIN as her arm turns to something she didn’t calculate for in her plans. The way it perfectly describes the exact way Icarus flew too high in his life and fell to his death, she grew too confident and lost her arm I- just,, GOD..

An uncertain incantation, a warning left unheeded, and a shade made half whole.

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This is a quick sketch I did of Icarus and Mel as kids falling asleep under a tree after playing tag in a field :3. ( I was thinking what if Mel was able to go to the overworld as a kid with Icarus. IT WOILD BE SO CUTEE and they just explore all the nature and plants together ahhh) ALSO I IMAGINE ICARUS WITH LONGER HAIR AS A KID IN A PONY TAIL?!

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(Noncanonbut still Hades 2 spoiler)

An old friend

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Oh. My God. Look at him. Gaze upon him.

AaaaAAAAAAAAA HES SO PERFECTTT

"Got you something…!"

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OH MY GOD

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Wait for me

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Melinoë in Zagreus' drip 🌙

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Considering the shit Chronos pulls in the second game???… yeahhhh………

i think they're funny

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Separated

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Taken by the Styx

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Again & Again & Over Again

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🌗 Into Tartarus // Out of Tartarus 🔥

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How it feels (to chew five gum /ref) to use the pin when you’ve got no death defiances left anyway

Engraved Pin

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ngl I would just let it hit me if I die I die, if not I get a tasty snack. A morsel, even!

sending out my burger of killing and violence to all my haters. good luck