#and what hals pulled snake out of

[lemon-wedges]

...

[sailorsenshishitposter]

Otacon x Reader

Warning

Highly cursed at the halfway point. Spoilers for End of Evangelion and I wouldn't recommend that sane people watch it just to try to understand what the hell is going on. Yes there are parts where people turn into orange liquid followed by screams and upbeat happy music about suicide. Also do not look up the hospital scene for this movie (which it is infamous for). You have been warned.

_______________________________________

Otacon

Your smash main is Snake, you're a weeb or you fall in love easily and are used to being hurt by others.

First Date:

None. This man is busy raising a child with Snake.

Second Try:

The two of you meet on a fan board and quickly exchange numbers. Soon he invites you over to his house for a date. You asked where he lived but he said he would prefer to pick you up. You wait outside until you feel what seems to be an earthquake. You go to run but then you look into the sky. "IS THAT A GIANT ROBOT!" The "vehicle" pulls up and sure enough, Otacon is waiting for you. "Good evening. You look wonderful..." He then handed you a bouquet of flowers and you came inside.

Man, he really was an otaku. His home consisted of a bedroom that was really more like a storage space, a bathroom and a kitchen. "Make yourself comfortable, I'm going to bring some refreshments." You looked around for a spot to sit down, his room being like that one photo of Yoshihiro Togashi but notably much cleaner. The walls were stacked from the floor to the ceiling. You would have to tell your date that piracy was also an option. Most of it was just anime so you knew better than to touch it.

There was a small CRT and just about every console you could think of. Even the bad ones.At the far end of the room was a computer. You didn't really understand how that stuff worked but you figured his setup must be very expensive since all you had was Windows 95. You saw a purple creature on the desktop. "What's a bonzi buddy?

"You then noticed that Hal had come back. "I brought you a bento and some pocky. Only the best for my little waifu." He then blushed and turned the television off. "Sorry. I forgot that I was playing Policenauts on my Saturn earlier.."He then asked Alexa to play his spotify playlist which consisted of nothing but Hatsune Miku.

After you were finished eating, he took you by the hand. "Allow you to show you my prized collection." He brought you to his glass stand filled with various figures. It had a little bit of everything. Transformers, all the Gundams, some Code Geass. Even this weird one he called Zone of the Enders? "Yeah, I'm a huge fan!" He then looked around to see if the almighty Mr. Kojima was watching."

But this... This is my favorite." It was a giant build of EVA 01. "I never knew you liked Evangelion..." He then pulled out a copy of End of Evangelion. "Would you like to watch it with me? I have the renewal edition..." You gazed into his eyes and kissed him. "Wow..." He then turned on his hello kitty DVD player and inserted the disc.

The two of you started frenching during the komm susser tod sequence. You began to stroke him while the lyrics "It all returns to nothing" played. "Looks like someone's snake is solid..." He then thought to himself while the screams of those being turned into orange juice could be heard. "It's just like one of my Japanese amines!" You gave one final pull, yelling "It all CUMS TUMBLING DOWN, TUMBLING DOWN, TUMBLING DOWN"

________

Having finished, Hal shut off his VR machine. Ever since David had left him to go on a date with a woman, he hadn't felt the same. He thought back to when he asked him if love could bloom on the battlefield and then started to sob into his arm. "WHY DOES EVERYONE I LOVE LEAVE ME!?" Little did Snake know but Otacon had created a program where he could be with him in a dating sim. He would later sell it on steam and become as rich as Snake did from the fortnite cameo, bringing him into the spotlight. They would later get back together and become the ultimate power couple.

[pigeonwhumps]

Christmas

Immortal Cannon Fodder masterlist

Taglist: @extrabitterbrain @wolfeyedwitch @fuckcapitalismasshole @painful-pooch @i-eat-worlds @a-funeral-romance @rainydaywhump

In medical training, Aaron tries to protect Joseph in what's possibly the worst way. Joseph is not happy.

Joseph belongs to @i-eat-worlds. Mention of the Pride Knights playing cards by @/prideknights.

2.9k

CWs: burns, power blocking, brief mention of past transphobia, fake medical stuff, emeto, past minor whump

It's Christmas Eve when Aaron finally finds the cuffs.

He's cleaning out an old storage cupboard in the HAL training centre, because someone needs to do it and also because he has his suspicions, and lo and behold there they are. The cuffs they need.

Their powers are getting stronger the more they use them, and they can't, they won't, hurt Joseph. They need to use their healing powers. But it's the Christmas holidays and he doesn't need his electrokinesis anyway.

He finishes the cupboard hurriedly and puts the cuffs in a pocket. He needs to find a bathroom, and there's one just down the corridor, which he barricades himself inside.

They pull out the cuffs with trembling hands and sit down on the toilet, trying to steady themself. They need to do this. It's the only way to stop them hurting Joseph.

But that doesn't mean it's going to be pleasant. It's not just the cuffs themselves, it's the memories, the staff with cold eyes boring into him, implacable as he asked them not to do this, not to make him so cold and burning and empty and hurting.

They seem to be moving in slow motion. The first one isn't too bad on its own. It makes them shiver, but it's okay. They can handle it easily, they're used to that feeling.

And then they snap the second one shut around their other wrist.

They feel empty all of a sudden. Something's gone, something integral, something that's been a part of them for so long they don't really know how to be without it. It's been years since they left school, after all.

The good thing about an oversized Christmas jumper is that it hides the cuffs when they pull the sleeves down, and they do so, hoping Joseph doesn't get suspicious. He shouldn't.

He almost falls over as he stands up. Woah. Did his balance really used to go like that when he wore the cuffs before? His stomach churns.

Back they go, back to the flat they share with Joseph. The world seems duller and more overwhelming at the same time, now, and the emptiness is turning into an aching burn.

He enters the largish studio flat, where Joseph's already sorting out his own bed. He turns around and smiles when he sees who it is.

"Thought you weren't coming. I've made you hot chocolate. It's still warm and everything."

"Thank you." Aaron's not sure he's up to drinking it right now but he takes the mug anyway, dropping onto the bed and warming his suddenly-cold hands on it.

Joseph frowns. "Are you okay?"

"Just a little tired. Cleaning that cupboard was really boring," Aaron lies.

Well. It's not quite a lie. The cupboard was boring. But most of the problem is the cuffs sapping his energy.

"Happy Christmas Eve. Did you want to play those games?"

"Yes, but not if you're not feeling great." Joseph's brow is crinkled in concern, and it occurs to Aaron that maybe he doesn't entirely believe them.

"I want to. Might make me feel better anyway."

"Knew it." Joseph pulls a colourful box off the shelf and holds it up. "Snakes and Ladders to warm up?"

"Sure, why not."

_

Aaron falls asleep as Joseph is preparing their third game of Cards Against Humanity. Just conks out right on the floor.

His dreams are confusing and strange, nightmarish in a way that makes him jerk awake, heart pounding, never wanting to sleep again.

Wait. Didn't he fall asleep on the floor? That's the last thing he remembers. What's he doing tucked up in bed?

Oh. Oh fuck. Did Joseph see? Did he–

No. No. They're still wearing their jumper. That makes it very unlikely. They hope, anyway.

They turn, looking over at Joseph, and a wave of nausea washes over them. They throw themself out of bed and dash to the bathroom, leaning over the sink to splash cold water over their face.

Oh god. Oh god. They feel cold, and hot, and hollow, and burning, burning, burning, nauseous but they can't throw up.

They press their forehead against the cold white ceramic of the sink. Their wrists. Their wrists. Surely a small break would be okay? They don't know what time it is but it's got to be early, Joseph isn't awake. Just five minutes.

Luckily the cuffs aren't locked, because his hands are shaking and he'd never unlock them without help.

He shoves them in his pocket.

His insides warm, filling with that intrisic part of him that was previously blocked, and... and the nausea's unlocked too.

He bends over the sink, retching, vomiting up what little's in his stomach until he's dry-retching. It feels like an eternity until he's able to stop.

"I didn't realise you were this ill," says a quiet voice behind them. They spin around and wobble, falling into the person's arms.

Pale skin... short brown hair... strong arms...

"Joseph?"

"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit."

"Mmm. I'll fetch you some clean clothes. Do you want to clean yourself up a bit?"

Now Joseph mentions it, he notices the clammy stickiness everywhere. He nods.

"I'll be right back."

Aaron doesn't think he has the strength to stand in the shower. He wets a flannel with blissfully cold water and presses it to his forehead.

Oh. Oh, that's so much better. He wipes the rest of his body carefully, trying to ignore the pain in his wrists as he touches them. It's... nice, to cool down like this.

There's a knock at the door, and Aaron wraps a towel around himself before opening it. Joseph's left a pair of pyjamas outside, soft and short sleeved, with a fleece-lined jumper and underwear. Aaron picks them up, shuts the door again and puts them on.

That's better. They feel more like a person again now.

Whoever put them on their bed last night (because they're lucid and awake enough now to realise it must've been a person, probably Joseph) was thoughtful enough to put their hair in a silk wrap. So it's probably not too bad. They put their glasses on and blink a few times as everything becomes clearer.

Joseph is waiting to one side of the bathroom, unnoticed earlier, and gives Aaron a small smile.

"Feeling any better?"

Aaron nods. His head swims. Best not to do that for a while then.

"How did you find me?"

Joseph shrugs. "You'd vanished. You were ill last night, and the door was unlocked, the sounds of vomiting inside. It wasn't hard to deduce. Like you'd be up and about yet anyway, unless it was an emergency. Merry Christmas, I guess."

"Merry Christmas."

Joseph hands Aaron a tablet and a glass of squash. "Something to settle your stomach, and squash to take away the taste."

"Thanks."

"It's no problem, honestly." Aaron slumps back on his bed, noticing vaguely that Joseph seems to have changed the sheets and why is he so thoughtful anyway? It's warm in here, and they absently roll up their sleeves. "You're my friend, and ill. I'd be a poor medic if I didn't help. I have a present if you're up to opening it, let me just put this on your forehead, and– are those fresh burns on your wrists?"

Joseph says the last part with such force that Aaron flinches, rolling down his jumper hurriedly as if by doing that he can make Joseph forget the evidence of his lack of stamina. He shakes his head. Joseph raises an eyebrow. He looks away, ashamed.

"Dammit, Aaron. What the hell did you do with the cuffs?"

"Trouser pocket," he murmurs, biting his lip. Joseph picks them up and digs around until he finds them, then throws them across the room in disgust.

"Where did you even get them?"

"Old storage cupboard."

Joseph nods, looking unhappy. "Makes sense. But they should've got rid of them all years ago, the effects are well-known." He fetches the first aid kit, spreading it out on the bed. "Give me your wrist."

Aaron holds one out, and Joseph starts wrapping a clean bandage around it. After a moment, he says quietly, "Why?"

"My powers have been getting stronger. And the stronger they are, the more likely they are to get out of control, and I don't want to hurt you. These are the only things that make it better, and I– I don't care if it hurts, if it makes me feel ill, I don't care, as long as you're safe."

"They are not the only thing that works."

"But in school–"

"In school you were an untrained kid, and the staff slapped cuffs on you because they didn't care and didn't want to bother with referring you for training or anything else that might've actually helped," says Joseph tightly. "You do not need to severely injure yourself to control your powers. Other wrist."

Aaron holds it out. "What else is there?"

"Training. You've already had some. They're like a muscle, and now you're using your powers they'll be easier to control anyway. Please, Aaron. I don't want you getting permanent damage on my behalf, from something you don't even need. The cuffs have probably already made your control worse, from the excessive childhood use."

"What– how do you know–"

"Pat," Joseph says, simply but sadly. "Also, in the last chapter of our textbook it talks about the dangers. Must be a recent addition."

Aaron swallows. "Can you... will you read it to me?" They don't think they can do that themself right now.

"Sure."

Aaron slumps back as Joseph fetches his textbook. The burns hurt. The bandages aren't tight but even so.

He still thinks the cuffs would've been safer.

"Okay. Here we go. Ready?" Aaron nods. "Right. Power-restricting cuffs are a traditional way of blocking a patient's powers if they reach a point where they're dangerous to themself or others, however recent research has changed academic views on that. Most doctors believe that they should no longer be used in any circumstances due to the effects. In the short-term, these can include burns, nausea, fever, fatigue, seizures, overwhelm, and a feeling of emptiness and dullness. Long-term usage can cause these same effects to be exaggerated into chronic illnesses or disabilities even when the cuffs are removed, as well as mental illnesses such as depression, and making the patient's powers less predictable and harder to control.

"The effects of the cuffs varies based on the root of the patient's powers. For example... hang on... ah, here. For example, humourous-based powers, most commonly exhibited in healing form, are more likely to cause fevers and confusion, whereas... nosebleeds and severe burns are more likely to be caused by energy-based powers. For all patients, the higher the strength of their powers, the worse the effects of the cuffs."

"Wait."

Aaron pushes himself up and rubs his eyes. Joseph frowns.

"Yeah?"

"Stop. Stop. I can barely understand a word."

"Confusion's still getting to you then. Shall we do presents and Christmas pizza, and you can try again later if you like? Or another day, if you promise not to try and use the cuffs."

"Promise."

Aaron reaches under the bed to pull out their presents and almost throws up again. Joseph hauls them back upright and shoves one of those cardboard hat-like things under their mouth.

"'m okay. But thanks. Sorry for ruining Christmas."

"You haven't, I promise." Aaron makes a sceptical noise, and Joseph finishes ordering their planned pizza order (it's a lot) before chucking his phone down and coming over, two presents in hand. "I promise. And I always mean my promises." He brushes against Aaron's wrist as he sits down and they wince. His face turns a little harder. "Could you write me a list of everyone who made you think the cuffs were the best and only option? For academic purposes."

Aaron coughs out a laugh. "There's a lot of them. Anyway, it's okay, we settled in the court case. That's how I manage to afford half the things I do, and how I got in here – I didn't pass by nearly enough but they saw that, I think. It's fine. It's over now. You don't have to do whatever you were planning, they had consequences anyway." And they still don't think they were wrong to use the cuffs, but that's an argument for another day.

"It might be over, but it's not okay. It should never have happened in the first place. You were just a child."

Aaron swallows. He needed the cuffs, but it's true, to an extent. They were a child who no-one ever explained anything to. And there was discrimination going on, they know it, or they wouldn't have ended up sharing with Sophia (not that they disliked that specific effect exactly, but she is a girl and the dorms were meant to be single sex).

He still needs the cuffs, though.

"Presents?"

"Sure. Two each, perfect. We'll alternate."

Aaron passes a present over before Joseph can object. "Merry Christmas."

It's a fairly thin rectangle with a small square on top, and Joseph peels the tape off curiously.

Once he sees what it is, he looks up at Aaron, grinning, eyes bright and shining. "How did you know?"

"I saw you looking at the Kickstarter. You looked sort of sad that you couldn't afford them, and I still have settlement money left, so I thought why not?"

"And you– you got me a framed print of the trans card. Thank you."

"Well. I mean. Queer playing cards are nicer to play with than ordinary ones, right?"

"Right." He wipes his eyes. "You're making me feel outdone."

"I'm sure you're not." They take the large, light, lumpy package and tear off the paper.

It's a very large, very fluffy, deep blue blanket. Aaron wraps it tightly around himself, hugging it. It's so soft.

"I take it you like it then?"

Aaron nods, then remembers why he wasn't doing that as their head swims. "Thank you. I... you'll need to pick yours up."

"Okay." He frowns a little at Aaron and opens the parcel carefully. "It's... Aaron, oh my god." His laughter is a little choked. "This is... I didn't know these even existed."

"Is it okay? I was worried it might be a bit insensitive, but you were a bit insecure and I thought– maybe..."

"It's perfect. You're perfect. At buying presents, I mean. I... Aaron, I love it."

A weight lifts from Aaron's chest. They were very worried Joseph would find a toy testosterone hormone bad taste, because just because Aaron's trans and would like it doesn't mean Joseph's the same, but it turns out the worry was for nothing.

"You're way better at buying presents than I am, but here you go."

Inside the paper is a mug that changes when the temperature changes. According to the outside of the box, a TARDIS appears in the starry sky pattern when it's hot. And it's glow-in-the-dark too.

He opens the box, more careful than with the wrapping paper.

Joseph appears to have carefully unsealed the box, placed a marshmallow-filled hot chocolate bomb inside the mug, and resealed it. It's impressive. He smiles.

"Thank you. I'm going to try it out."

"Yeah, but you're going to let me make it. I'll get you a chair and you can watch the hot chocolate bomb melt."

Aaron nods, letting Joseph help him over to the countertop. They very rarely actually sit here, so a chair has to be fetched (and they rarely sit in those, either).

"Why is it so much worse today?" murmurs Aaron, as Joseph heats the milk. "It wasn't so bad when I was a kid."

Joseph's knuckles go white on the handle of the mug. "You hadn't used your powers so much then, I think. They've grown as you've used them, and so has the severity of the cuffs' side effects. At least you're not bad enough to have seizures. Right?"

"Right."

"I'm going to give them to a friend to destroy later. Please don't go looking for a new pair and hurt yourself further."

Aaron's not sure how to answer, watching the hot chocolate bomb bubble and melt instead. The mini marshmallows look very tasty. He's not going to have whipped cream today, he doesn't think.

"Aaron. Promise me."

"I promise."

Joseph nods firmly. "You'd better stick to that."

Afterwards, they eat most of the Christmas pizza order sprawled out on cushions and duvets on the floor, and play a few card games with Joseph's new cards (the present wasn't entirely selfless). Then Joseph boots up his laptop and they both climb onto his bed, Aaron wrapping their new blanket around Joseph too.

"Since you're hurt, you get first choice."

"The Muppet's Christmas Carol?" asks Aaron hopefully. He's in the mood for a light-hearted musical. Which is odd when the original isn't at all.

"Sure," smiles Joseph, loading it. Aaron leans on his shoulder to watch.

They make it as far as the Marley song, both of them singing along, before their eyes start to droop. They try to open them again but they just can't.

The last thing they hear before drifting off is Joseph's low chuckle.

[lady-rose-moon]

Beautiful, as always || Prince Hal || 18+ || Kinktober 2022 ||

Part of my Kinktober Masterlist that you can find ~here~

My main Masterlist can be found ~~here~~

Summary: the King is asleep but you aren't, so you experiment.

Warnings: nipple play, fingering f!receiving, King Hal

A/N: I will not be writing in Shakespearean. I love his works but that language is dead for a reason 😂

The King of England had been quiet for the last few days, backlogged with meetings and visits down into the town. You scarcely saw your husband until he appeared in your bed at the end of the night and even then, he did not indulge your sinful thoughts.

You had known the King when he had just been Hal, a wayward Prince typically found in the taverns with a woman in his lap and a gay smile on his face. The young prince had respected you, never once touched you in a way you did not allow, and always listened to you. You were the one that brought him back to the palace whenever he was too drunk to get home himself.

Now, the man was a King. Shortly after the passing of his father, Henry the Fourth, Hal had become King Henry the fifth and he was secured on the throne with you as his wife, as his Queen. Every time he felt out of depth, you stepped in with a hand on his shoulder to guide him through it.

Tonight was just like any other night, Hal was in bed and you were wide awake with the insatiable feeling of lust trailing through your mind. Tiredly, you turned to your husband and admired his form.

The King never slept clothed when you were in residence at Windsor Castle, his body was always bare for you to see when you slept beside him. The King was certainly built for battle, the scars of his other ventures onto the field of war elegantly painted over his body like a mural of respect.

You shuffled a little closer to the King, hoping to catch a glimpse of more of his god-like body. You had been married to him for a grand total of two years now and yet you were still very intrigued by every detail of his features.

Slowly, you raised your hand and began to caress his chest, lingering over the small scars that were scattered across his chest from likely nicks from chainmail and the catch of armour. Your nails descended to his nipples, rounded and perfectly pebbled from the chilly air of early autumn. With patience, you scraped your nails over the buds and watched as your king groaned in his sleep but did not rouse.

Spurred on by the reaction, you scraped again, a little harder, enough to leave red scratches in your wake for him to see. The result was another groan escaping your king but he merely turned onto his back and resumed sleep.

You waited a moment before leaning down and securing your lips around the soft skin of his nipple, flicking your lip against the nub as Hal sighed above you. Your hand trailed to the neglected nipple and your thumb rubbed it gently, causing an airy moan to lift out of Hal's throat and his eyes to open, taking in the sight of you latched onto his nipple.

"Good morning," the King drawled, his fingers slowly tracing up your back as he observed you, "what has brought this on?"

You pulled away from his nipple and whispered softly, "I have missed you, my King, two long weeks have passed without us sharing ourselves thus."

Hal hummed and agreed before watching you play with his nipple and your mouth return to the other, releasing a moan to spur you on. "You are a vision, my true love," the King whispered, his hand snaking down to between your legs, one finger sliding easily into your entrance, instantly coated with the warmth of your arousal, "you could have just told me."

You whined at the feeling of his finger sliding easily into your dripping cunt but you carried on working the King's nipple, the stimulation from your whining causing the King to moan again and sink another finger into you. With every flick of your tongue against the hardened pebble of his nipple, his fingers drove deeper into your wanton folds.

"God," the King swore, his head relaxing back against the soft pillows on his side of the bed, "I should leave you waiting more often."

You glared at him and yet, broke when another finger was inserted into you, thrusting into your core hard as Hal became desperate for the alluring sensation you had shown him that he could feel through his nipples.

A coil began to grow in the pit of your stomach as his fingers worked you so you began to suckle on him harder, twirling the nipple in your mouth, biting it between your teeth before pulling back and letting go, allowing the nipple to return to its natural state and earn a desperate moan to leave the King's throat.

His thumb met your clit and you moaned with excitement at the feeling of the stimulation on your swollen bud as you worked his own sensitive nipple. You cried out in pleasure as the king's fingers continued to thrust into your desperate cunt.

"M-My K-King!" you panted, your eyes rolling and your attention to his nipple decreasing with the length of time it took for your orgasm to reach you.

"No," the King muttered, lifting your head with his other hand and glaring at you in the eyes, his beautiful ocean blues giving off the aura of the powerful king that he was, authoritative over everyone and yet, so perfectly equal to you, "you will continue to pleasure me while you cum, understood?"

You nodded weakly and continued to suckle desperately on his nipple, biting and pulling, watching as the King's head pressed deeper into the pillow and his cock strained underneath the blankets. He sighed with satisfaction when you bit down on his nipple as your orgasm crashed through you, your body tensing and moans stimulating his pebbled nipple.

"That's it," the King sighed with a smile, gently caressing your hair and pulling you off his nipple, "my amazing Queen."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you enjoyed!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@lokisgoodgirl @lokisninerealms @evelyn-kingsley @slpnbty2001 @jennyggggrrr @hahaha12123445 @ozymdias @holdmytesseract @itsybitchylittlewitchy @lovingchoices14 @xorpsbane @huntress-artemiss @muddyorbs @nerdy-fangirl-65

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Serums And Safety - Alice Cooper/Hermione Lodge

A/N: Day 17 part 1 for @augustofwhump

Hermione’s not sure what to think when Veronica tells her what Hiram is up to. Not at first. The serum could be just snake oil after all… but then she sees what it is. Jingle Jangle, a few other drugs and enough saline to potentially kill someone if administered wrong. So when she sees him with Alice, the woman still so hurt by Hal, she knows what she has to do. The injection of the serum has started by the time Hiram leaves the room and she moves quickly, pulls the needle loose, smashing the vials and scooping an already sobbing Alice into her arms. She’s gone by the time Hiram comes back, tucking Alice safely under her blankets on the back seat and driving her out of town. They won’t return to Riverdale for a while, Veronica and Betty will be fine, safe, Hiram would never do harm to Veronica’s fiancée, but Hermione knows she has to warn others. So she calls Mary as she drives, convinces her to leave town too, come to meet them. Alice must be safe but Hermione knows Mary is the one good friend Alice ever had. She will need her as she heals.

[linashirou]

" Snake's voice was abruptly cut off. Someone was knocking hard on the door. They both turned to look at the apartment entrance. 

"Shit!"  Hal muttered nervously, clenching his fists. Snake stood carefully, reaching for one of the loaded guns he kept nearby, trying not to make any noise. Once it was in his hand, he moved cautiously towards the entrance.

"They have found her. That's why she hasn't contacted me! Will Snake open the door? What if there are many of them? What are we supposed to do? We're so screwed!"   Hal, feeling suffocated, kept his eyes on the door. In one swift motion, Snake pulled it open and pointed his gun directly at a terrified Lina, who stood with her hands clasped over her chest.

- Who the hell are you?! Are you alone?!   

Her face contorted in shock, and the words tumbled out of her mouth. 

-W-Wait. No!! Don't shoot!!! I'm alone!

Her words were as fast as she could. Snake stepped forward, scanning his environment, his weapon ready, on alert if she lied. Even if what she said seemed to be the truth, she might still be trying to betray them. He pushed her gently into the apartment and closed the door, still pointing at her.

Hal was petrified by how this had played out. Everything had happened so quickly that he was still trying to comprehend it. Lina raised her hands surrendering. 

- Otacon!  -Snake shouted.

- Wh-what's going on?

As she spoke in a shaky voice, Hal's senses snapped back to reality, panicking as he realized the gravity of the situation. He stood up quickly, shouting loudly.

- SNAKE, IT'S HER! IT'S REALLY HER! STOP THIS NOW!  "

[apothekosm]

"if you want my advice," she doubts the other wants it, but she has been too close to predator not to know the incredible and ravenous pull the creature has. carol ferris owes to her own willpower, in some way, that she had broken away from its siren song. "don't trust it. the predator is seductive, as love should be, but it eats at you."

first, her love for hal jordan. then, when that wasn't enough, her love for power. it ate and ate until carol wasn't sure where she ended or it began.

To gaze at your reflection, and recognize not the eyes that stared back at you. This must be the sensation she'd inflicted on so many others with her lies... She hated this. The weight sitting in her veins and forcing her to sit there, and listen? HATED it.

❝ 'Eats away at you.' That's funny. That's very funny, beloved, I didn't expect you to have a sense of humour about this. ❞

If the intention is to make light of the way Ana'Hira found her new station in life, then the joke is VERY funny! Eating away at each other, two snakes bound fang to tail...

Why wasn't she laughing, then? Carol? Why aren't you laughing?

Perhaps then, Carol's words weren't tongue-in-cheek...? And the lingering (imagined) notes of holier-than-thou righteousness, pity, and faux-indifference were GENUINE?

Were that the case, and it did seem to be the case, then this interaction was far less funny than the parasite hoped.

❝ Why would I trust your advice, Carol? ❞ Chipper, despite the pout she was wearing for what should've been her mother, her sister, her IDOL and her predecessor. ❝ When my love speaks of you, all I hear is pain. The pain of loss, the pain of separation...❞ The pain of giving Carol the keys to dominating existence, and watching her squander the opportunity out of a misguided fear.

No. Ana'Hira did not want her advice. Not now. Not ever.

❝ Trusting the ones you love is the prerogative of the BRAVE, babe. Your cowardice isn't befitting my colors. Despite how far you've flown from home, you should still know that much, at the least. ❞

[killingbill]

In Love ... And War (killingbill, on AO3)

This is an episode rewrite of the episode In Love... And War, from Green Lantern the Animated Series. In this version, Carol Ferris is not waiting at home and Hal does not have a true love. Ghia'ta wants him, and will go to any lengths to keep him in compliance with her aunt Aga'po's plans for the lanterns. What might have happened should Hal have not resisted the Star Sapphire's advances? Now, we'll be able to find out for sure.

preview under the cut, full story linked above. explicit, no content warnings apply, f/m. Words:10,167 Chapters:1/1

What-IfVaginal SexSirensSmutCanon RewriteRewritePost-Canon Fix-ItOral SexAltered Mental StatesBreastsBetrayalRidingHand JobsLove Potion/SpellSeductionManipulationMind ManipulationNipple LickingKissingMaking LoveDistrustVanilla

“Is that all it takes to stop a green lantern?” Razer asks, a snide look on his face as he sits at the console, leaning back in his chair with legs crossed. His gaze is directed at Kilowog.

Hal already finds himself torn . He knows how beaten up his friend has been about his lady-love, and while he can’t exactly understand having someone at home, he has become acquainted with the pain of separation. It was just an unfortunate situation, and he’s sure his friend agrees.

“ A broken heart? ” Razer finishes coldly, while Hal looks over at Kilowog. His face was somber. I better go talk to him , Hal thinks to himself, approaching the larger of the two.

“You want to talk about it, sir, mopes a lot? ” Hal asks, coming up behind Kilowog and placing a hand on his shoulder, which is immediately thrown off by a great shrug.

“No!” The lantern shouts. “I miss Galia, okay?” He speaks, his ears lowering in the throes of upset.

“Hey, I know.” Hal says, remaining behind with his hands off for the moment. “But look, you need something to keep your mind off this emotional stuff.” The Green Lantern continues.

Luckily for them, Aya picks this exact moment to turn from her station. “Sensors indicate an entity, eight thousand meters off the starboard bow.” Her robotic voice informs the crew. Hal instinctively looks over at her with admitted excitement. Perhaps too much is too much where an unknown entity is concerned. “Contact in: twenty seconds.” Aya continues.

“Thank you, Aya. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Hal says, pointing a finger at Aya before his gaze moves back to Kilowog. “So, Kilowog. You’re in charge—what's your move?” Hal asks, his fists landing on his hip. Confident in his friend, of course.

Kilowog slumps, his red eyes closing softly before re-opening. “Look, Jordan. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but..." His brows lower. “I’m just not up for this."

Hal moves to respond, clearly disheartened, but all of a sudden there’s an impact that sends the crew flying from their previous positions. Aya and Razer roughly shifted from the con, while Hal Jordan ends up flat on his face in the aftermath. “What the heck?” Hal exclaims, before dutifully picking himself up as soon as possible.

Hal’s wobbly feet carry him towards the viewscreen, which is swiftly enveloped by the visage of an enormous monster.

Razer and Aya are both half-up off the floor when Razer confirms, “That’s a real monster."

“I did give ample warning.” Aya adds.

“I thought you were playing along!” Hal answers from the captain’s chair. “Let’s go, guys!" 

With that, Razer, Kilowog, and Hal all fly to the exit hatch, where the opening makes way for a giant, clear tentacle. The appendage sweeps through easily, the three bouncing around the space for cover until a snake-like form winds around their largest friend, pulling Kilowog from the ship.

Razer and Hal fly after them in a sweep of red and green glow, while Kilowog hauls out his hammer. He bashes the tentacle once, to no avail, with his friends in pursuit, who soon realize this entity has gotten itself wrapped around the entirety of their vessel. They’re trapped.

Hal raises his fist. "Aya, shock that thing off the..." Hal makes a noise akin to having the wind knocked out of you as a tentacle assaults him from behind and another grabs him from the opposite side.

Aya gasps, pressing down on the green button, sending a shockwave through the monster, who roars in protest. However, it doesn’t do much.

The monster is still clinging to Kilowog and gets a hold of Hal, even as Razer shoots at it. In fact, this action only makes the monster send another tendril to grab Razer in turn.

Just as Kilowog is being brought to the great beasts’ jaws, a flash of pink energy streaks against the stars and collides with it. The arm holding Kilowog diverted from the mouth as more energy came from the source.

“Huh?” Hal asks, narrowing his eyes as he looks towards the cause and sees two females traversing the sky, shooting the beams mid-flight. There was one dressed more ornately and another with a shorter presence.

They continue to shoot at the beast’s head as they approach, roars of pain emitting from their target as the ladies land. Hovering in a standing position in the meantime, the copious tendrils let go of the three crewmen in defeat.

“ How many lantern colors are there? ” Kilowog asks as the women continue beaming at their enemy—the three flying in the newcomer’s direction.

Kilowog and Razer begin to help the two in their efforts, shooting at the being while Hal takes another look at the females.

It was almost hard not to—perhaps for him more so, due to his humanity . The woman emits a pink glow that he almost finds himself entranced by. Hovering below, as eyes widen beneath the mask. His lips agape as the shorter of the two casts him a glance that ends in a wink.

His body feels calmer, despite the adrenaline.

Suddenly he’s able to shake himself from his reverie, his head literally moving side to side as he grunts. That was weird. He thinks to himself, “So you’re, what? Pink Lanterns?” He asks them finally as the fighting continues.

“Not precisely, green lantern.” The one with the headpiece says as beams of pink light continue to hurl at the monster. She’s… beautiful. Pink skin, exotic features... Her eyes are still beautiful, even though they are hollow and blue. He has to physically force himself to stay focused as he sets his eyes on Kilowog instead. Hell, he even takes a shot at the beast himself.

However, that doesn’t last long, as lowered arms move the feminine force from their current position. Hal had to turn to follow her movements.

“Where you value power, the star sapphires channel the power and serve the cause." The sapphire speaks, lifting her arm and pointing a fist at the monster. Her eyes were glowing a soft pink. “ Of love."

Hal watches in amazement, entranced once more with widened eyes. It’s like time and space slowed down, and all that remained were them and their power. The look on his face is awestruck, even when her back is turned to the company.

The shorter one has done the same as the elder, their rings pulsing pink and matching their auras. However, Hal finds it even more difficult to look away from her. She’s beautiful—perfect, even. Her pointed ears, her pert bust, her long waistline, and her curvaceous hips. That’s not even to mention the petiteness of her form and the gorgeousness of her carved bone structure. She was like a belly dancer from a mysterious place, and it was more than alluring.

However, to Hal’s amazement, the beast slumps. It seems to have become docile. If you’d asked him earlier, he’d never imagined the outcome to have been a voluntary retreat . Though the situation allows Hal to break free once more with another head-shake to ground him back to reality,

Two green and one red orb follow pink, and Hal joins the series of amazed glances between Razer and Kilowog too late. Providing one of his own before they moved on.

The three fly down to meet the ladies neutrally for the first time. “Thanks for the assist,” Hal says first. The two star sapphires turned in their direction. “How did you get to be in this neck of the woods?” He asks with a raised hand. Of course, he’s curious. These ladies are gorgeous, and with the effect they have, perhaps there’s something more to them that he’s not seeing. They said something about love, and now Hal has no doubt about it.

Either way, their mysterious presences and lovely appearances—not to mention their calming demeanors—have lured him into craving more of their time.

“This sector of space is ours.” The elder sapphire speaks matter-of-factly. Even their voices are beautiful and seductive. Yet, while Hal should be looking at the one who addresses them... He cannot help but stare at the younger of the two.

The other sapphire seems to notice, and Hal smiles awkwardly, which makes the girl giggle. There’s a pang of desire Hal feels in his chest, and that is enough to break his gaze. Even if it was out of sheer embarrassment,

“But, pardon my manners." The one speaking has a three-pronged, pointed headdress and a long ponytail that flows down her back. The two were dressed scantily (not that he’s complaining), and similarly, the one who’s caught Hal’s eye has shorter hair that’s half-up and half-down. It suits her, he thinks. It’s very cute .

The woman speaking lowers her head and lifts a hand to her chest before gesturing to her companion. “I am Aga’po. And this is my niece, Ghia'ta.” Ghia’ta turns her head cutely and flutters her lashes at Hal.

The man found himself immediately attracted to her. However, he chalked it up to her skimpy clothes and cute demeanor. He did not pay any mind to the way his eyes seemed incapable of leaving her. The way it requires more mental fortitude than an instinct to draw his attention to the current speaker to escape the warmth she seemingly provides.

Or, maybe he did pay it a little mind... But he tries to shrug it off as Hal turns to Aga’po and raises a brow. There’s a chuckle on his lips as he tries to laugh off the flirtatious display from Ghia’ta. "You're mighty handy with those power rings.” He starts. “We sure could use your help fighting the Red Lantern Corps.” He finishes. Perhaps wishful thinking on Hal’s part.

“I would enjoy aligning myself with you, Hal Jordan .” Ghia’ta speaks up, her head dipping close to her shoulder as she continues to bat her eyelashes at him. Her eyes lidded softly.

She was flirting with him, right? Hal thought, smiling dopily at her. He felt himself drawn in. This time he doesn’t catch himself until Kilowog clears his throat, and Hal turns back to Aga’po. He gives her an awkward look.

“We are close to our home planet.” Aga’po remarks. “Perhaps you’d accompany us for rest and repair before you resume your mission?” The alien finishes, hopefully.

Hal looks over to Ghia’ta, smiling at her as she continues to look at him with her bedroom eyes. At that moment, Hal knows what his answer will be.

Hal chuckles. “Don’t mind if I do." 

-

And with that, their ship departs. Aya is at the console, and she indicates, “Course plotted for Zamaron.” The robot turns around. This time, Aga’po and Ghia’ta were guests aboard.

Aga’po notices Kilowog slumped forward, and she decided to approach in an attempt to investigate the cause. She further notes the lowered eyes, the frown...

“ Kilowog.” She says, standing next to him with hands clasped behind her back. Her skin is a blue color that contrasts with their outfits. “You seem so... bereft. " She says this as the big guy looks over at her.

“I’d rather not talk about it.” Kilowog replies, looking back at the console. Though Aga’po cups his chin and guides his face towards her, 

“You’ve suffered a great loss. A broken heart, ” Aga’po tells him, and Kilowog’s red eyes look painfully into hers. She closes her eyes, reaching into Kilowog’s mind to see the vision of such a great loss. A female of his species is looking into the sky with anguish.

Unbeknownst to Kilowog, Aga’po is searching for a weapon. She removes her touch with a fluttering blink, turning to inspect her glowing power ring.

continued:

[gayspaceheist]

    Jin, shoulderblades pressed against the front of the scuffed yellow couch, looked up from the mess of gun parts on the floor in front of them to discover that Hal had spread a quantity of blueprints around herself and was studying them intently, pen in her teeth. She had a second pen in her hand and reached over several different pages of schematic to scrawl a sloppy question mark over what looked, from the wrong direction, like either a pair of sliding doors or an escalator. Mina had gone to bed, which probably meant Mina had gone to put on her noise-cancelling headphones and text eight people simultaneously about engine specs, but Jin had been too engrossed in oiling gun barrels to have really noticed Mina’s goodnight, other than a faint half a memory, if they really reached for it, of Mina ruffling their hair and saying, goodnight asshole, with that fond and sleepy crook of her mouth that meant she was tapping out. 

   They had sort of forgotten that Hal was still here, engrossed in the ritual of parts and placing. Felt weird, somehow, like they’d missed tightening a part of the gun mechanism or hadn’t noticed the air purifier had kicked on. Almost asked what she was doing, to diffuse the ticking silence, but probably it was only ticking for them, loud and pressing, now that they’d suddenly noticed it was there. And anyway it was just Hal bent over her spread of maps and blueprints, checking exits and entrances again again again, trying to find flaws ahead of time. She’d been doing it off and on for days, like a protection ritual. Maybe it was. 

   Jin went back to cleaning the revolver, which no longer needed the attention. They thought for a minute, like someone had unthinkingly tabbed open the window blinds in their brain, about the night before the last go, when Zarrow had got extremely tipsy off a fizz she’d stolen out of Mina’s workroom minifridge, and had mimed the entire plan, twirling Pross across the floor of the workroom with such giddy zeal that Pross even fucking laughed, and then with her hand still in Proserpine’s had braced her back up against Jin’s in a dizzy parody of their usual gunfights. 

   They sat up, blinking, trying to tear the cobweb of memory off. Hal was looking at them, felt-tips down, so still, arm flung over knees, eyes wide and dark. Jin said, “What the fuck are you looking at me like that for?” and Hal pulled her mouth wry and long and weirdly sad. 

   A beat. And then Hal said, like it was a perfectly ordinary question, “Can I kiss you?” 

   Jin stared, words and thoughts drying up. Their ears were roaring like they’d gone to sit in the engine room. They could see, suddenly, exactly how it would go. How, if they nodded, Hal would close the few feet between them, and the way she would first slide one hand against Jin’s face, thumb skirting the still-tender bone beneath their eye. Jin understood with horrible clarity the way they would turn their face into Hal’s palm, the smell of felt-tip and skin-warmth, how they’d kiss into her hand and shut their eyes. The way Hal, so slowly and so gently, would kiss the thin tissue of their eyelids, first one, then the other, and the bridge of their nose; the way they'd feel the riverbed-lap of her breath, the firm tender warmth of her mouth. How still so gently she’d press her mouth to the corner of Jin’s, and Jin knew the way their mouth would open at the touch, and the long slow breath they’d let out like an uncapped valve, and the way they would at last bite very lightly at Hal’s lip and draw her in and their mouths would align, and she would kiss them and she would kiss them and she would kiss them, Jin’s bony knee hedging her in, her hand skimming their jawline and fingers digging in behind their ear, the way Jin’s hands would stay braced to the floor, wrists white with strain, until Hal’s other hand came up to cup their jaw with too much reverence and they would snake a hand into her hair to tug meanly, hungrily, balance back the energy between them, turn the kiss-- 

   Jin flinched back. “You planning to die tomorrow? What the hell? Since when do we -- that’s dying-tomorrow behaviour. What are you going to do now, pull out your wallet and show me pictures of your grandmother back home? Fucking hell, Goshawk, get some air.” They reached over to cap the bottle of gun oil, crumple up their rag. 

   Hal looked stung, and then embarrassed. “No, I -- never mind.” She stood up, brushing at her trouser legs, leaving the felt-tips and the blueprints on the floor. “Anyway, I’m out. I’m not getting anything else done tonight. Did Kventhe shut down the -- never mind, I’ll do it. Get some sleep, hotshot. Can’t have you going blurry tomorrow.” 

   Jin stared up at her from the floor, knee pulled up. Their mouth tasted like metal. They scrubbed a wrist across their face and then set to reassembling the revolver. “Okay,” they said, light and casual. “All right. Goodnight, detective.” 

   Hal turned crisply on her grey-socked heel, somehow, and went for the door, leaving her collage of schematics behind. Jin watched her shoulderblades move under the black tank and the dark curl of hair at the nape of her neck. The sliding doors swallowed her up. Jin leaned back against the couch, and thought very hard about the way the cheap synthetic upholstery prickled at the skin of their neck like radio static. Every bruise they could remember having ached at once. They shut their eyes. 

[taio-kyo]

I know how you feel about my post about the Peace Chapter. Like, I just was thinking “this seems too perfect, and breaks the entire timeline” and then it struck me that we’ve never gotten a hint as to what they’d would have pulled beyond the giant robot but it’s never just a giant robot. The rule of franchise says they gotta outdo him reading your memory card and playing with your controller. It also falls into Rule of Three because Screaming Mantis did it too. And it all makes perfect sense when you combine those, because this is exactly the sort of offer that thematically fits and requires you to pull the trigger on each and every member of the cast at once just like with The Boss. That being how you kill The Boss also adds to this, and actually PT adds to this too because the themes of “this is my fault” were clearly in Kojima’s head.

PT is centered around a man caught in a loop of being tormented by the hell he created. Remember how the PT radio broadcast is in MGSV? Sure, mostly just an Easter Egg, but also a hint as to them being brothers in theme. Venom Snake is being haunted by the same radio broadcast that symbolizes that. The meaning of the radio broadcast is “haunted by your own crimes”, so that showing up isn’t meaningless joke. This is Kojima. Venom Snake is being haunted by Silent Hill, but Venom Snake is an innocent who is not Big Boss. He’s haunted by another man’s sins, so why would he be being haunted for those sins? He’s not. The radio broadcast is because of what he will do. Kojima loves his fourth wall breaking Easter Eggs actually being written to the same standards as everything else. Big Boss is legitimately in life actions the same as a Silent Hill protagonist and Kojima’s the one who says it implicitly here. But this isn’t Big Boss. That’s the twist. So that Easter egg is something that changes context before and after the twist, because the context presumed to make it make sense isn’t there if the twist happens. Unless Venom has had a cut moment where he embraces and takes ownership of the sins by making the same choice John made back with The Boss. Killing his men to save them doesn’t fully fit that because the circumstances aren’t the same. Failing your mission and letting the enemy win because you embrace peace or embracing war and winning? That’s the same.

Venom only ever inherits the mantle of Big Boss in concept and obligation in MGSV. This idea instantly makes him truly Big Boss, having had to make the same choice as Naked Snake with The Boss but on a grander scale. And he’s doing it during the only time he was ever a father to his son, and Venom choosing war over peace in such a moment perfectly fits Liquid’s concept of their father in MGS1. And prior lore already set up that despite his hatred of the cloning stuff, Big Boss warmed up to David enough that he trained David with the same closeness as he and The Boss. It’s just too literarily logical and foreshadowed so hard while making more sense with the cut content we have. The Peace Chapter being a Psycho Mantis illusion is the gun on the mantle in act one being fired.

It's. It's the way mgsv is a game about loss. You have everyone coping with the loss of mother base. Kaz with his limbs and constant anger. Ocelot having to pretend one man is another. And Venom losing his entire sense of self to live a lie. Strangelove losing Hal (fuck you Huey I hope you rot in hell). Skullface losing everything he had because of Eli, etc etc.

It's a game about loss and mourning. A game showing how everyone deals in their own ways. Ocelot focusing on rebuilding what once was while Kaz goes full on nuclear.

Or the entire scene at the medical platform after the vocal parasites take over. It's all about loss and how they cope with it, with Venom making diamonds out of his lost men ashes. To carry them with them. To make the lost hurt just the slightest bit less.

Yet, Mgsv is also a game about hope. About rebuilding what once was. About regaining power even though everything seemed hopeless. You started off as a man just out of a coma, having barely survived a plane crash crawling across the floor of a burning hospital, and you end it with being one of the strongest military powers in the world, once more (especially if you decide to build that nuke)

The entirety of the metal gear franchise is about hope.

You have Hal in mgs1 changing his mind and deciding to destroy metal gears, which only happened because he decided to make Rex. You have mgs2 with Raiden, a new generation to come after Snake. You have mgs3 with the boss.

And then there's mgs4. With the fall of the Patriots and that gut wrenching, final 71 minute long cutscene.

And that was supposed to be the end of it (with peacewalker, i believe)

But no. Mgsv had to be made. Kojima was a man pushed away from his own games. And what got cut out of this final game? The final chapter. A chapter about hope. Whether that would be a fake one created by Mantis, or a real one in whatever Kojima had planned, we will never know. Maybe it even was supposed to be about Venom mourning what he used to be, angry about the path he was forced to take in life against his will and coming to terms with this. But we will never know more than mission 51.

Yet, the cut of this chapter makes this franchise a perfect circle. It ends with Venom realising who he truly is and embracing the phantom he's supposed to be, and it starts with Solid Snake with a rocket launcher in Outer Heaven.

Metal gear solid is a beautiful loop about loss, grief, hope, and not letting your genetic past determine who you are. And god, even though it's imperfect at the end? It's a beautiful loop.

Eta: the entire grief part also loops back to the Boss' death, which eventually causes, well, all games after Snake Eater (chronologically speaking). Chronologically, the game franchise ends with Mgs4 when everyone comes to terms with the fact that everyone misunderstood her wish.

[marciabrady]

The relationship Joan Crawford and her mother, Anna, shared was, by all accounts, a strained one. As a child, Joan was always made aware of the fact that Anna disliked her and preferred her older brother, Hal. Hal seemed to be mentally disturbed and would often times take it out on Joan in ways that would affect her until her death. One of Joan’s biggest fears- which was of the dark- was formed during early childhood, when Hal locked her in a dark closet and no one let her out until the end of the day. Joan later said of Hal: 

“He was chronically mean...as kids he wasn't just the type of kid that would pull wings off butterflies, he'd pull the arms and legs off my dolls. When my mother needed help in the house, did she ever ask him to do anything? Hell, no! I waited on him hand and foot, and he was one of the big reasons why I wanted to get the hell out of the whole situation. Hal was bad news, all the way around. But because he was a boy he was always favored, and it was Lucille who had to do all the dirty work...as soon as I had a few options renewed at Metro, Hal appeared. One afternoon I came home and found him sitting on my sofa, smoking a cigarette, half-bombed, telling me that since I'd become a movie star he was going to live with me. Like an idiot, I let him stay. Hal was a louse, an out-and-out bastard. He could charm the skin off a snake, but nothing, not his jobs, not the men and women in his life, lasted long. Liquor, then drugs, and always his distorted ego, took over. I supported that son-of-a-bitch until the day he died. That man--or did he ever become a man--was a monster. God, I hated him.”

While Joan’s mother was aware of Hal’s behavior, she did little to stop him and, many times, encouraged him. It wasn’t until Joan was around the age of 11 that Anna interjected- and that was to kick Joan out of the house. Joan had been physically violated by her stepfather, but instead of breaking up with him, Anna blamed it on her underaged daughter ‘leading him on’ and sent Joan off to a boarding school where she had to work as a maid for her stay. Despite their past, when Joan began working in Hollywood, Anna moved in with her and Joan continued to support both her and her brother, Hal, for the rest of their lives. 

“I don't think she really loved me, but when you consider the life she led, what the hell. She married too young and too often. She was a little Swedish girl who wasn't too bright. All the way along, the wrong men appealed to her, and she worked her ass off, more often supporting them than they supported her. She was old and tired by the time she was 49, and when she came out here [Hollywood] at least a few of the fires had been put out, and she could be Hal's servant and my friend. She was a good woman, even though she ignored me when I was a kid, and she found life a lot easier during her last years... We weren't really close--we never had been."

This was confirmed by Christina Crawford in articles and interviews throughout the ‘60′s, as well as admitting that Joan had supported Christina and helped her find work as an actress for the better part of three decades. However, once Christina’s book “Mommie Dearest” came out, she distorted history and said Joan never supported her and would often times take work from her. She claimed Joan didn’t support her brother, Hal, or mother, Anna, either because she was ashamed of them. For more information on Christina’s false accusations, including how she perjured herself in court, visit this page.

[ragingbookdragon]

She's A Bird! She's A Plane! She's...Spiderwoman?

Justice League x Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 3.3K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: IDK where this came from but I was watching ITSV, so...there's that. Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

“This is your fault,” Barry griped, hacking away at the glowing fauna with the makeshift machete—in reality it was just a really big stick that had a really sharp rock tied to the end. “I told you our trajectory was off and what did you do? You said, ‘I’m Hal Jordan, the greatest pilot in the world. Watch my big head crash us on an alien planet where our central battery gets displaced during the impromptu crash land and thrown miles from our position’.”

“Do you want some cheese with all that whine, Bar?” Hal asked, an unimpressed scowl on his face as he illuminated their footpath. “It’s not my fault the orbital windspeeds were faster than the sensors picked up on. Blame the tech, not me.”

“That sounds like you’re just trying to pass off the blame,” he shot back, swiping down at another vine that wriggled like a dying snake and spat out fluorescent blue liquid on the broken end. “Y’know? Like you do best?”

“Seriously, find a better thing to do than complain, Flash. We’ve got bigger fish to fry than blaming each other.”

“Each other? I didn’t do anything! This was all you!” Barry spun on Hal and glared at him.

They glowered at each other when a clicking sound echoed above them and they both jumped a foot in the air, spinning back-to-back as they looked around in every direction, up and down and side to side.

“What the hell was that?” Hal worried.

“I don’t know,” Barry replied, just as concerned. “It sounded like clacking.”

“That did not sound like a chicken.”

“Clacking, Hal, not clucking.”

“Same thing,” he retorted, lifting his arm in the air, shining a bright green light amongst the glowing red treetops. A bunch of branches, neon red leaves and purple flowers, a darting limb—a darting limb?

Hal shifted the light back, jolting Barry’s shoulder in the process. “What is it?”

“There’s something above us,” he whispered, watching with cautious eyes as something shifted on the main branch of the tree, the outline of a dark head coming out, just enough to catch the edge of their bright gold eye. “It’s watching us.”

The something shifted back into cover, the clacking sounding once more, then the treetop ruffled, dropping red and purple fauna on the two men as it jumped to another tree. Hal tried to follow it, but it was too fast for his eyes; the only thing it left behind though was a string of long white webbing, hanging down from the blue tree branch. And Hal being the idiot he was, decided to touch it to see if he could figure out what it was, and only managed to get it all over his hands.

He pouted, trying to pull apart his hands. “It’s sticky.”

Barry let out a long and heavy sigh, placing one hand at the small of his best friend’s back, the other holding the machete. “Come on, dumb-dumb. Let’s go find that thing again.”

“Isn’t that the opposite of how the survivors live? I know we’re white, but I didn’t think we were that white.” He was half tempted to see if he could gnaw the webbing with his teeth. “This shit isn’t coming off.”

“Here,” Barry said, vibrating his hand as fast as he could and to Hal’s surprise, the webbing cut, falling to the ground.

“Thanks!” he chirped, holding his arm out again to shine his ring. “What do you think that thing was?”

“Alien lifeform.”

“No shit, Sherlock. What gave it away? The alien world?”

“I’ve just about had it with you,” Barry growled, cutting through another rough patch of vines. As the path cleared, they stepped out of the heavily forested area to see one older tree in the center of the circle. It rested atop what looked like an ancient cave, the rocks crumbling around the front.

“I’m not going in there,” Hal immediately stated. “You couldn’t pay me all the money the US owes in debt to go in there. Fuck that.”

“You’re such a big baby,” Barry chuckled, walking up to the entrance; it was about the twelve feet high and ten feet wide, big enough for the two of them to walk in. “Come on. It went in here.”

“Barry, please! Why aren’t you more worried about this?” Hal begged. “You should be more worried!”

“Hal, if it wanted to hurt us, it would’ve done so already.”

“Or maybe it’s luring us to our deaths!” he countered, even though he was following Barry into the cave.

There was more webbing along the walls of the cave, swirling around patterns of purple and blue. The farther they walked the stickier it got, and at one point, they were struggling to lift their feet off the cave floor to take the next step.

“Christ, what is this stuff?” Hal asked and Barry bent down, poking at the webbing.

“It’s like spider webbing, but stickier and stronger.” He vibrated his hand to dislodge it from the strings, then did it around Hal’s feet. “You might wanna float for now. I’ll vibrate my feet to keep from sticking.”

“Good idea,” Hal agreed, lifting a few inches off the ground. “Do you think the lifeform is intelligent?”

“Intelligent us or just intelligent?”

“Intelligent us.”

“Anything’s possible. It seemed sentient so I believe it’s probably intelligent.”

“What do you define as intelligent, Barry?” Hal questioned and the forensic scientist hummed.

“If it’s capable of calculus it’s intelligent.”

“Really? If it can do math homework you think it’s worthy?”

“Calculus is a difficult skill. You need the ability to think and to calculate in order to solve and understand it. That requires sentience and intellige—oh shit!” Barry’s words tipped into a yelp as the ground gave way beneath him and he sunk down, shouting all the way.

Hal’s eyes shot wide, and he flew down the hole. “Barry!” he yelled. “Barry where are—oof!” he collided with more of the webbing, this time enough that the entire left side of his body was stuck to it.

“Hal! You okay!”

He looked over, seeing Barry stuck on his back. “I’m okay? You!”

Barry nodded. “I’ve been better. What is this?” they looked around the best they could. Spiral upon spiral of iridescent webbings surrounded them, stuck to the walls for support, them in the center.

Hal’s eyes narrowed and he glowered at Barry. “I fucking told you it was luring us here.”

“Shut u—”

The clacking sounded above them and with panic, they both turned their eyes to the ceiling, watching as the alien lowered down near them. It looked like a human, two arms and two legs, no extra limbs at all. Hell, it didn’t even look like an alien spider; it just looked like a normal human, gazing down at them with two normal eyes. That was until it opened all six of its golden eyes and stared down at them with it’s mouth open, two one-inch fangs protruding from where the canines were.

“Ohshitohshitohshit,” Hal whispered, about to shit himself in terror.

The alien reached for Barry, and he watched as his friend sunk back into the webbing from the outstretched hand. Except he couldn’t go any farther and turned his head to the side, quietly whimpering as the long black claws touched his cheek.

“Barry!” Hal hissed and blue eyes met his, then,

“Friends!” the alien shouted. “New friends for Rhiezheveir to have!”

Their expressions pinched in confusion as the being started to twirl in the air, one hand holding to the webbing they’d lowered down on, the other elegantly flowing in the air.

“You can understand us?” Barry wondered and they looked down.

“Yes!” leaning down, they got in his face, and he saw the rather feminine looking features. “Rhiezheveir saw the ship come in the sky and land! I waited until you left it to search! The ship’s memory functions in this language!” she seemed rather excited. “Rhiezheveir found the core you were looking for! I did not know how to get you here to return it!”

She climbed up the webbing, disappearing quickly only to reappear with the ship’s core under her free arm. “Here it is! Rhiezheveir brought it back!”

“Why do you keep saying that?” Hal inquired and she lowered down next to his face, hers right in front of his.

“Saying what?”

“Rhieza-something-reservoir?”

“Rhiezheveir?” she offered, and he nodded.

“Yeah, that.”

“Rhiezheveir is my name! I am named after the brightest star in the Kosialaran sky!”

“In the what sky?” Barry asked.

“Kosialaran!” she answered. “This planet’s name! My planet!”

“Are there more of you?” Hal questioned. “You’re the only intelligent life we’ve seen besides bloodthirsty beats trying to eat us.”

“Yes, I saw you fight with the Erqurcus. They are not nice lizards. They like to bite Rhiezheveir when she tries to feed them.”

“Why do you refer to yourself in the third person?” Barry piped up. “Sometimes you use first too.”

“In Aissaveed culture, we commonly refer to ourselves in the third, though I learned from watching, that humans use first. Rhiezheveir is learning to mix them.” She smiled and the clacking sounded again.

Hal tried to look at her. “What is that noise?”

Bending down to his face again, she flashed her fangs. “They click when I get excited!”

Barry cleared his throat. “Um, Rhiezheveir, are there more of your kind in the area?”

“Not here. On the other side of the planet there is. Rhiezheveir has travelled far to get away from her people’s hunters. They do not like me.”

“How come?”

“Rhiezheveir broke tradition. Refused to be royal consort. Fled and hid here.” She let the tips of her toes touch the delicate silk webbing and then crouched, the web bouncing lightly with the weight. “Rhiezheveir is not welcome amongst her people anymore. I am alone now.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Barry murmured, even empathetical of the alien. “You’re here all alone?”

“Yes! Though not anymore!” she patted both Hal and Barry’s thighs. “New friends!”

Hal wiggled. “I hate to break it to you, Reservoir, but—”

“Rhiezheveir,” she corrected, and he sighed.

“Rhiezheveir. But we have to get back to our own planet. We have responsibilities.”

Barry nodded. “We need to get back to our ship.” he tugged against the webbing. “Can you help us get out of this? We’re stuck.”

“Of course!” she chirped, starting to snip the webbing with her claws.

“Wait a second!” Hal exclaimed. “There’s nothing underneath meAHHHHH!” the last thread snapped, and Hal tumbled down the dark and dimly lit cavern.

“Rhiezheveir!” Barry yelled. “What are you doing!”

She held up a finger in a wait motion, then a wet plop sounded, followed by, “NEVERMIND! I’M OKAY! THIS WATER SMELLS FUNNY THOUGH!”

The Speedster sighed. “Oh, there’s water down there.”

She looked at Barry oddly. “Rhiezheveir would not try to kill her new friends. That is not nice.” Snipping the lines around him, she held on as he fell and she let out a squeal as they dropped, though as Barry hit the water, she merely held on to the web in her hand, just above the body.

Barry broke the water and spit out the remaining in his mouth. “Water tastes funny too.”

Hal rolled his eyes. “Rhiezheveir, how do we get out of here?”

She smiled. “Follow me!” she shot out her free hand and another string of webbing left her hand, attaching to the roof of the cavern; letting go with her other hand, she swung like a monkey on a vine, then repeated the process, alternating her hands. And boy she was fast. Barry and Hal had to freehand like they were in the Olympics to keep up, and even then, it wasn’t fast enough.

***

By the time they made it back to the ship, their hair and clothes had dried off. They noticed that she didn’t like to be on the ground and crawled along the tree limbs above them. Bioluminescent flower petals shook from the branches every time she moved, creating an aura of beautiful red and purple around them.

Barry took the battery from her and slot it back into place, watching as they ship powered back to life; he walked over to Hal who was sitting in the first seat. “Everything good?”

Hal nodded. “A few nicks here and there, but the engine and all other vital systems are good.” He looked up. “We should be good to go once the power levels reach operational.”

The Speedster smiled and turned to her. “Well, Rhiezheveir, this is goodbye.”

She merely blinked. “What do you mean goodbye? I am coming with you.”

“There’s not enough room,” Hal said, and she smiled, those fangs clacking as she raised her arms.

“I will make myself small!” her dark body illuminated in a bright gold, then the shape began to shrink and shift, eight long legs appearing out of the main shape that had evolved into two orb like shapes. When the glow dispersed, she raised her front legs and waved, then skittered up Barry’s leg and body to his head.

“I have a spider on my head.” He said dumbly. “I have an alien spider nuzzling my hair.” Barry looked at Hal. “There’s a spider in my hair.”

Hal shrugged. “So long as it stays on you, we’re good.” He peered at her. “Rhiezheveir, can you understand us in there?”

She waved her front legs as Barry climbed into the ship, sitting on his seat; she scurried down his head to his shoulder and sat there, perfectly balanced, her beady golden eyes occasionally blinking.

“That’s a big ass spider,” Hal noted.

“She reminds me of a Goliath birdeater.”

“A what now?”

“Goliath birdeater. It’s the biggest spider on earth.” He examined her. “But her legs are so long…like a huntsman spiders’. I wonder if she’s got the abilities of different species?”

Barry reached up, holding out his hand and she climbed on it, letting him lower her to his lap. “Can you sit there while we take off, Rhiezheveir? Once were out of atmosphere, you can wander around the cockpit.”

All she merely did was raise her front legs and wave them once more before settling on his thighs, curling her legs in contently; he smiled down at her, then the realization of what bringing her meant and he blurted out, “I have no idea how we’re going to explain this to the others.”

“What do you mean?” Hal questioned.

Barry looked at him. “The crash land will be easy—you’re an idiot.” He ignored Hal’s outcry of offense and gestured to her. “How do we explain we picked up a shapeshifting spider…lady?”

Hal shrugged. “Hostile environment navigated by a peaceful intelligent lifeform who managed to be a stowaway?”

“I like the first half up until ‘who’.” Barry met his gaze. “She was threatened by her own people and begged to help her flee?”

The pilot pursed his lips. “We’ll need to use her reasoning for leaving. The whole royal consort business.”

“Sounds good.” Barry glanced down at her. “Rhiezheveir, does that sound—oh…I think she’s asleep.”

Hal looked down to Barry’s lap and sure enough, the hand-sized spider wasn’t moving on his legs other than the occasional leg twitch. “Sure she didn’t die?”

“Hal!” Barry hissed. “Don’t be mean!” he gently scratched her the top of her abdomen with his pointer finger.

“You’ve pack-bonded with a spider,” Hal noted. “Nice job, buddy.”

“Oh, come on. Like you don’t find her friendly.”

“She’s a spider.”

“She’s an alien who turns into a spider.” He watched the planet get smaller and smaller as they exited the orbit and into the stars. “Bruce isn’t going to be happy that we brought an alien back.”

“I think the pressing matter is that we have no idea what she eats.”

“Bugs?”

“You said she was an alien who turns into a spider, Bar. What’s she going to eat when she’s human…like?”

“Meat?” Barry wiggled his fingers in Hal’s side. “Man-flesh.”

Hal choked on a laugh, batting at the hand against his ribs. “Stop that.” He steered the ship through a debrief field with ease. “We’d better figure out or she’ll eat somebody in the middle of a fight.”

“In a fight?” Barry asked.

Hal shot him a look. “We didn’t take this Lady Spider with us just to get her off her home-world. She’s gonna help out somewhere.” He shrugged. “Might as well stick her in the Justice League.”

Barry’s lips pulled satisfactory. “That’s…actually a good idea.” He smiled. “I can’t wait to show her to Bruce. You know he doesn’t like spiders?”

“He’s scared of spiders?”

“I didn’t say he was scared of them, Hal. He just doesn’t like them. I think creepy crawlies make his skin crawl.”

Hal shoved him in the arm. “Don’t call her creepy crawly. She’s a pretty spider.”

“What happened to making fun of her?” Barry smirked. “You pack-bonded with the pretty alien spider lady, didn’t you?”

“Shut up,” Hal griped, going still when she shifted and crawled up the dash of the ship and stared out the window; she turned, waving her front legs. “Yeah Rhiezheveir? What is it?”

She pointed to the stars, drawing her front legs in downward arcs as if to say, “Wow!”

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Barry murmured and she did it again; he looked curiously at her. “Hey Rhiezheveir, you can understand us, right?”

She waved.

“Okay. Since you can’t talk to us until we get back, how about this—front legs up is ‘yes’ and front legs down is ‘no’. Do you understand?”

She lifted her legs up and he grinned.

“Good. Now, do you like warm places?”

Her legs went up, then down.

“Sort of?”

Up.

“You like warm and cool weather?”

Up.

“We’re going back to our world. There’re many habitats there. Some really hot and really cold. Others are in the middle.” He explained, watching her almost nod. “We’ll be meeting the group Hal and I work with on another ship. You’ll have to stay there for the time being. Is that okay?”

She lifted her legs up.

Hal leaned over. “Rhiezheveir, are you a spider that sometimes turns into a lady?”

Her legs stayed down.

“So, you’re a lady that sometimes turns into a spider?”

Up.

“Nice. Can you fight?”

Up and waving wildly.

Barry looked at Hal then back to her. “You said you refused the position of royal consort. Were you chosen because you could fight?”

Up.

“So, you escaped because you didn’t want to be forced into that position?”

Still up.

Barry nodded solemnly. “Rest assured, Rhiezheveir, you won’t be forced into anything like that on Earth. You’ll be free and able to live openly and not in hiding.”

Her legs stilled in the air, then the curled and Hal muttered, “I think you overwhelmed her emotionally.”

The Speedster cupped the spider in his hands, letting her crawl back into his lap. “Sorry, Rhiezheveir. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She merely snuggled into his lap and stayed there.

“Rhiezheveir,” Hal started. “Your name is really complicated for humans to say. While I think it would be a good identity for a superhero life, I think you should find an easier name for people to use.”

She waved a single leg, signaling she was listening.

“How about (Y/N)?”

Barry smiled. “Ooo, I like (Y/N). That’s a pretty name.”

She raised her front legs and waved them excitedly.

“I think Rhiezheveir likes it too.” He scratched her torso. “Welcome to the Justice League (Y/N). You’re gonna fit in perfectly.”

(Y/N) waved her front legs, rearing up on her back.

“HOLY FUCK LOOK AT THE SIZE OF HER FANGS!” Hal shouted.

[moonlight-escapade]

The King & I (Pt. 14)

Sorry it’s taken me a bit to write this! I've gotten a bit busy and distracted with other fictional worlds and characters, but I want to give an ending to this story. I hope you guys like it.

HISTORICAL AU (but not necessarily historically accurate bc this is a fanfic not a research project lol): King Henry V & “Street Urchin” reader.

CHAPTER 14: THE COLOR OF ROYALTY 

His wife.

Hal’s wife.

I can’t stop playing the words over in my mind. The sun has just begun to rise over the mountains, pouring through the diamond shaped glass of Hal’s bedroom windows… nearly pooling onto the lids of his eyes. He’ll be awake any moment now, but for now, I revel over his sleeping image.

My Wife. 

I can’t help myself when I reach towards him, running my fingers through the amber locks on his head. Hal begins to stir underneath me, his skin glowing in the sunlight as the blankets fall slowly off his shoulders. And then, his eyes peer open, gazing sleepily over at me. I smile softly, tracing his face with my hand. 

“Good morning,” he mutters in a gravelly tone. I can’t help but giggle, and the sound makes him smile. 

“What are you so amused about?” he asks, his hand snaking over my waist before pulling me towards him. I smile, pressing a kiss to his jaw. 

“We’ve lain together many times,” I say. He hums, amusement in his eyes. “And you are God’s chosen heir to the throne,” I point out, tapping his nose. 

“Indeed,” he says, resting his cheek against your forehead. “Well, as long as you have a good word with him, please let God know I was seduced by his chosen heir and it’s not my fault I’ve lain with him before marriage.” 

Hal laughs sleepily, pressing me close in a hug. “Really, Hal!” I tell him. He hums in response. “If I’m punished for it I will take you down with me,” I tease. No response. I shift to look up into his eyes, “Did you hear me?” 

His smile fades as he looks up at me. “What?” I ask. His hand comes to my cheek, brushing my hair back. I move away from him, letting the hair cover the bruise.

“Don’t look at it,” I beg him, grabbing his hand and resting my face against it. “Just look at me.” But his eyes tell me that his playful mood has left. He pulls his covers off, moving to stand. I watch as he pulls a deep blue tunic on, then shrugs on a matching velvet robe, adorned with gold embroidery and a thin collar of white fur. 

“I’ll call the maids to prepare you a bath,” he says as he pulls on his pants. My heart sinks. Without another word, he’s quickly making his way out the door. I panic. “Hal, wait, don’t leave so suddenly,” I call to him. He looks back at me with that pensive yet furious look. I stand from the bed, walking over to him. 

“Nothing happened,” I begin but he cuts me off. “Nothing?” he asks with disgust. “He violated you- he attacked you,” he begins. “Yes but—“

“But nothing (Y/N), this will not go unpunished,” he states. I recognize that the King is speaking now. I nod, turning my gaze back to the floor. Hal sighs above me, and I feel his fingers underneath my chin. 

“It’s not the first time I’ve punished someone who hurt you,” he says. I take his hand.

“No,” I admit. 

“Yet you’re still withholding something from me,” he says. I look up at him, shooting him a soft smile. He raises a brow.

“It’s just different… to have someone… care… this way,” I admit softly. A silent understanding lingers between us, and he leans down, placing a kiss on my lips. 

“As I said, you are the most precious person in this world to me, and I won’t let anything happen to you from this moment forward,” he promises. I half smile, not wanting to let his beautiful dream like words penetrate my heart too deeply. 

“I must go down now, the Witan will be expecting an answer,” he tells me, pressing a kiss to my head. 

“An answer to what?” I ask.

“Englands future,” he answers simply. And with that, he is out the door. 

—————

HAL’S POV

The voices of the old men around me had become an all too familiar sound. Before, when I’d been desperate to please the witan, I’d listen to each and every one. But now, I didn’t much care for what their opinions were. Instead, I looked up at the stained glass windows, counting the colors I could see pooling through the sunlight that shone through them. 

Purple was one. The color of royalty, or so I was told by my mother long ago. 

“Do colors really mean different things, mama?” I asked her one day when she’d gifted me a bag of glass marbles. 

“Indeed my love. Look here, this light blue resembles peace, and yellow is the symbol of the sun. Red symbolizes power and strength—“

“That’s why Papa wears red clothes all the time, right?” I asked her. She smiled down at me, “Yes,” she said.

“What about purple?” I ask, tugging at one of the long sleeves of her gown. 

“Purple is the color of royalty,” she said. “Is that why you’re the Queen?” I asked her, tugging on her purple sleeve. She laughs, pressing me close into a hug. “Well yes, but that’s not the only reason,” she said. 

“Then why?” I asked. She reached to the table, taking the red and rose marbles in her hand. “Your father, the red marble, and I, the rose, married. Once I married your father…” she switched the rose marble for the purple, “I became a Queen.”

I reached to the table, grabbing the rose marble, “and what does rose stand for?” I asked her. She looked at it fondly, staying silent for a moment. 

“Rose stands for… sweetness.”

I imagined (Y/N) in a purple gown and smiled. 

“Your Majesty, is this amusing to you?” Lord Paul jabs, pulling me from my thoughts. I look down at him, nodding. 

“You certainly are,” I tell them. 

“Well, would you care to tell us what exactly it is about the future of England that amuses you so?”

I look at the group of old men before me. “You,” I say, standing. “All of you. Old men. England isn’t yours anymore, it’s mine.”

“How dare yo—“

“No- how dare you. What future do you have a right to in England? Your day has passed. England is that of the young men who fought beside me in France. Who attained peace after a long and arduous war, started by the England of the past,” I tell them, unafraid. What would they do? What could they do? In truth, my victory had gained me the favor of the people. Of the soldiers whose families would be affected by their losses or victories. For the witan to strip me of the crown would be for the whole of England to fall into turmoil. The next heir to my throne would be the Dauphin, and there was no chance they would take to allow that to happen. So today, I declare to them my intentions. That I will marry (Y/N). That she will be the next Queen of England. And that I shall continue to rule our country, using our new victory as a period of peace in which we may finally strengthen our people, our communities and restore our nations sense of pride.

They are silent as I tell them this, and silent when I finish. Lord Byron bows, and soon is followed by the rest of them. Even Connelly, the stubborn ass, bows. And I know I have secured my countries future, and my own happiness. 

With that, I take my leave, making to my chamber, where I will follow through on my promise to (Y/N). 

“The prisoner is to be dealt with swiftly. I don’t want to see his face again.” I say as I walk out of the room. Before walking out I turn back to them,“this I decree for the safety of the future Queen.”

———————

The palace grounds were beautiful, and it felt better to be out here by nature than stuffed up inside the stone walls of the castle. I still wasn’t used to the feel of fine fabrics lining my skin. I was dressed in a fine outfit of lavender today, my hair brushed back into a braid. I wouldn’t argue that it felt nice to be attended to. It reminded me of when my mother used to dress me and do my hair. She always picked it up in elaborate chignons. Often times she would use me as her practice doll for the hair styles Madame B would tell the ladies to wear. So when the maids sat me down to begin arranging my hair back, I closed my eyes and pretended their hands were hers, and that I could still smell the citrusy vanilla scent of the perfume she wore.

“(Y/N),” Hal’s voice sounded from behind me. My heart beat quickly as I turned. How would he perceive me in this state? Suddenly I felt very silly and dressed up… like a performer in a traveling caravan. But his gaze fell upon me in a way that made my stomach flutter. I’d seen men look at my mother the same way.

“You look…” his voice fell soft. I could feel the heat rush to my face, and turned away. His footsteps sounded before me and soon his fingers raised my gaze to his. 

“The bruise…” he began. “Your maids covered it a bit with powder,” I explained. His finger lightly grazed the place where a soft lavender spot still colored my cheek. 

“Did... he?” I ask nervously. His stoic expression answers the question with a chill running down my spine.

“I wasn’t worth it...” I mumble, feeling utter worthlessness drip down my spine. 

Hal’s hands come to either side of my shoulders, pulling me to stand straight. There is anger in his eyes and I feel my stomach drop. 

“You’re right. You’re not worth that. You’re worth far more than one putrid man’s life,” he says. I stare up at him, feeling my eyes widen with shock and fear at the intensity of his words.

“That’s why I came back. Do you understand that? The thing that got me through that war... do you know how precious your existence is to me? How precious it is to England? I could only do what I did... I could only do it because I had something to fight for. And that was you. Don’t you know that? Didn’t I promise you when I got back... I... you’re the only reason I want to be King. Hell... I hated my father my entire life, and I nearly love the bastard now for allowing me to be someone who can protect you,” he says, his voice loud and trembling.  “No, (Y/N). I can’t simply let someone get away with trying to hurt the very reason I can even stand here as a King.”

His eyes are watering and I feel my heart drop. I press him into a tight hug, burying my face into his chest. 

“Hal... Hal... I hear you, I am right here. I am right here and I always will be.”

Before I know it, I suck in a sharp breath, feeling tears well at the corners of my eyes. Hal presses me against him firmly, and I begin to cry. It’s the kind of cry that feels bigger than me. It’s the kind of cry that I’ve been holding back for a long time… maybe even since my mother passed. 

Hal’s arms are tight around me, but my grip on him is tighter. If I could press myself inside him, I would. Everything starts to feel so real then. Standing here, the sun on my shoulders, Hal’s arms around me… loosing Carter, loosing John… loosing Scarlett… loosing my mother. Falling in love with Hal… the dinners at our home, the moment by the lake on the tree… waking up with him this morning. It’s all spinning through my mind at the same time. 

I sob, holding onto Hal as though he were the only thing anchoring me onto the earth. I feel him press kisses on the top of my head, and I look up at him. His fingers wipe away the wetness at my cheeks. 

“I’m a mess,” I say. Hal’s hands press on either side of my face as he kisses my forehead. 

“You’re not a mess, (Y/N). You never were. This country is a mess,” he says. I look up at him, amazed at the boldness of his statement.

“Don’t look so surprised, I haven’t exactly been defending my father’s work have I?” he asks with a smile. I wipe my eyes again.

“Lord, I shouldn’t even be the one crying! You’ve lost your men in battle,” I scold myself. Hal shakes his head, “Don’t for even one moment think what you’ve gone through is any easier,” he says. 

Instead of saying anything more, Hal moves me towards the flower beds in the beauty of the gardens. We walk in comfortable silence, a welcome distraction. The bees hum around us and I can’t stop staring at the beautiful multitude of colors in the petals around me. I’d never seen such a quantity of flowers before. I was grateful for this moment, and when I looked up at Hal, seeing he was already looking at me, I knew he felt the same way.

“I wish we could have moments like this always,” I look up at him. His crystal blue eyes glimmer at my words. 

——————

HAL’S POV

My heart raced as she stared up at me. This was the moment I’d waited for… the moment I’d thought about when we’d left for war and the only one on my mind on the way back. It was all her. 

“(Y/N),” I begin. She smiles softly and I swear the air is swept out of my lungs. I sigh, feeling the nervousness tense in my chest. I turn to the garden, noticing the verbena and iris’ surrounding us. My mother’s purple marble rolls around in my memory. “Hal?” her voice calls me back. I turn to her, smiling. My finger runs along the lavender fabric of her sleeve, trailing along the delicate bow tied just above her wrist. 

“I’m sorry… for a moment I felt surrounded by beauty,” I admit. Her hands cross in front of her, fingers entwined tightly. I reach for her hands, softening her tightly wound fingers with my own. On her finger is the silver ring I gave her. I twist it and slowly pull it off. 

“Hal?” she asks, but I fear my voice may fail me if I speak. Instead, I reach inside my pocket, pulling the small leather square out and onto my hand. I unfold the small wrap. In the middle lies my mothers ring. Two amethyst’s set alongside a diamond on a silver band. I hear her gasp, and her hands fly over her mouth. 

“(Y/N), would you do me the honor of walking by my side for the rest of our lives?” I ask her. Her face is full with shock and soon tears begin to well at the corners of her eyes. 

———————————

(Y/N)’S POV

My heart is beating a million times a second and I think I feel faint. The ring is impossibly beautiful… to beautiful for me.  “Hal… I… are you sure…?”

He don’t respond. Instead, he kneels down in front of me, taking my hand in his. He picks up the delicate ring, placing it on my left finger, where his silver one used to sit. He bends towards it, placing a kiss above the ring and my finger at once. 

“(Y/N), there is nothing more in the world that I have ever been more sure about than wanting to love you and protect you and cherish every moment on earth alongside you,” he says. 

I can feel tears pouring down my face, but my breath is somehow calm. I take hold of his hand and kneel down in front of him. “Hal I… I love you,” I say. And I mean it. I mean it more than anything I’ve ever meant before. And for some reason in saying it, feels like I can see everything for the first time. His blue eyes are even brighter than before, and I can feel every callous, every twitch of his fingers under mine. “I want to be beside you always,” I tell him.

And then he kisses me. And I swear I can taste the stars on his lips.

[youlltrytobreakmetoo]

I’ve been meaning to talk about this certain scene in act 2 of MGS4 for a while now; but I never truly had the chance.

In this scene, Drebin is talking about the B&Bs. And what he says about them, also applies to Snake. I do believe it’s obvious considering the camera focuses on Snake. There’s even melancholy music to match with the scene.

How do you kill something (or someone) that has gone through the same thing as you? The only reason they’ve stayed that way is maybe they didn’t have someone to rely on. Or pull them out of a hell they couldn’t get out of. Or simply, the trauma was too much for them to do anything but find peace in dying.

And Snake knows the above ^. This is sort of what a part of MGS’ lessons boils down to. Or at least what he see in our main character(s).

You have Big Boss who (after the events of Snake Eater) almost didn’t have much of a identity or a life outside of being a soldier. The closest thing he had to a family member was now dead, by his own hands.

So we see Big Boss’ fall in the previous game before this. And now we’re shown his son, who’s story we know already. He’s had to face the fact that at one point, all he was is a soldier. After Outer Heaven, Zanzibar, he didn’t know what else to do, what other purpose he had. But after experiencing the horrors of war, he didn’t want to partake in it no longer.

That’s the key difference between big boss and solid snake. One gave up war, and the other didn’t. Snake had realized sooner that he was affected by what he had experienced, and that he might be worse because of it. However, there still is a life outside of being a soldier. Also learning that you can heal, you can find a new purpose. Unfortunately big boss wasn’t able to learn this lesson, at least not until it was too late.

Big boss even tells Snake to live at the end. Telling him to not spend the rest of his life fighting. That he should see the world with his own eyes. If we go by the MGS4 novel, Snake does see the world. In fact, he no longer lives as snake.

David goes and travels with Hal and Sunny. He lives out the rest of his days as his own person, not a Solider, or a tool of war. But as a man.

Personally, if you ask me, he has lived his life as a person for the past few years. Traveling the world with his best friend. Only living off whatever money they had, but fighting for a purpose that they both believed in. That was David’s choice to do.

That was his fight. And even in MGS4 he’s willing to off himself to protect the paths of the people he cares about.

That’s what he fought for I think. Not a government, or a country, but humanity. 

[garak]

Hey I was recently going through all of your mgs analysis posts bc they're all so good but in the one where you go over otasunes relationship and how they fundamentally compliment/complete each other, you mention on a side note that you have a lot more thoughts on how Dave's self destruction habits affect not only his relationship with Hal but with almost all of his personal connections and I would really love to hear it.

On a side note I really do go insane over the bit where Snavid blatantly says that Hal helped him with his drinking problem after the events of msg1, it's given me so much severe brainrot, how could Hideo Kojima just drop that on us without any follow-up or elaboration and expect me to behave normally

literally literally kojima loves saying things about his characters offhandedly that make me cry and throw up and smash things. i care about metal gear solid

anyways for my thing on david's self destructive behaviors (beyond just the alchoholism and the smoking three packs a day). i think the main one that pops up is his self isolation which he and hal actually have in common. like him moving to alaska to do nothing but drink and smoke and have ptsd. we know that miller also ended up moving out there also and snake KNEW that but never thought to go visit the only other guy who could understand what he was going through even partially. like to be fair to him he was obviously going through it but still he did this TWICE (thrice?) like it did not work the first time after outer heaven why would it work after zanzibar land. why would it work after SHADOW MOSES! he keeps running away and getting pulled back in and running away again (campbell says hes known for disappearing without warning), pushing away the people that care about him (miller, meryl, holly), only engaging with others on a surface level so he doesn't get hurt (flirting over codec, all his snarky one liners) like sir this is not going to help you get better!!!! with otacon it's different, he does stick it out with otacon to the bitter end without trying to run away from any of it and that's really because he's not being used like a tool anymore, he's acting on what he thinks is right, and he's a part of an equal partnership where he's neither idolized nor controlled. still, no matter how much sunny or otacon deride him for it, he doesn't quit smoking or acting reckless or belittling his own accomplishments, not until the very end. i think its interesting how after snake dies otacon ends up in a similar position to snake before snake met him: isolating himself and unwilling to form genuine relationships with others for fear of getting hurt. bookending their relationship with a cute little throwback i guess

[princesslink25]

Otasune Week- Day 1

First

Hal must be losing his mind. That’s the only reason for doing- this.

He’s kissing Solid Snake. He’s kissing Snake. Almost immediately after Snake killed- his other crush. If that says anything about Hal, he’d rather not think about it.

Snake doesn’t seem upset- he’s actually kissing Hal back. That’s the scariest part, he thinks. He doesn’t even try to get away from Hal. Even if he likes guys, there’s no reason to believe he’d be into someone as pathetic as Hal. He’s just being nice.

He needs to get out of here. Away from Snake.

He pulls away from Snake, mumbles something leaving, and runs away, activating the Stealth Camo for good measure.

He doesn’t stop running until he reaches his room. He collapses onto his bed and tries to catch his breath. He deactivates the Stealth Camo, shoves his face into his pillow, and screams.

“Why?” he says aloud. “Why do I have to keep falling in love with- with-” Killers “-soldiers?”

He’s in love with Snake. He’d loved Sniper Wolf. Snake killed Sniper Wolf. He should hate Snake, but…

If Snake hadn’t killed Sniper Wolf, Sniper Wolf would’ve killed Snake. He knows that. Only one of them could’ve left that snowfield alive.

He’s getting a call on the Codec and sits up quickly.

“Otacon. It’s Snake.”

“Yeah? Uh, what’s up?”

“I just, uh- wanted to check on you,” Snake says. “I mean- I- are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” Hal says. “Physically, at least.”

“That’s good,” Snake says.

He’s silent for a moment.

“You probably hate me, huh?” he says finally.

“Wha- of course not!” Hal says. “I-” I’m in love with you “-I get it. You didn’t have a choice.”

“It’s not that simple,” Snake says.

“It was you or her,” Hal says. “And… I-I’m glad you’re okay.”

Snake laughs, startling Hal. He hadn’t even thought Snake was capable of any emotion other than annoyance.

“Even though you were in love with her?” he asks, and there’s a weird edge to his voice, almost like he’s… jealous. But that’s ridiculous.

“I know we’ve only known each other for a few hours, so this is gonna sound crazy,” Hal says. “But I l- I care about you.”

He hugs his knees to his chest and smacks his forehead against them. Why did he just say that?

“You care about me?” Snake asks blankly.

Hal’s face gets hot. “Um, yeah- I mean, um- you’re, like, probably the closest I’ve ever had to having a friend.

“Oh,” Snake says.

There’s a really awkward silence, until Hal, desperate to break it, blurts out, “That was my first kiss. Er, kind of.

He cringes. He hadn’t wanted to bring up the kiss, for fear of making things awkward.

“Kind of?” Snake echoes.

“It’s- it’s complicated,” Hal says.

Somehow, it’s different then when she would kiss him. He really wouldn’t mind if Snake was his first kiss. Honestly, he’d prefer it.

“So, uh, I’ve been wondering what happens after… uh, this?”

“After?” Snake asks.

“Yeah. I mean- will I see you again”

“If you want to, I guess,” Snake says. “Assuming we make it out, anyway.”

Hal frowns. “You shouldn’t talk like that.”

“Sorry. Not much of an optimist,” Snake says.

“If you die after all this, I’ll never forgive you,” Hal says severely. “So you’d better freakin’ hope you don’t die.”

Snake laughs again. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’m serious!” Hal says, but he likes the sound of Snake’s laugh.

“Yeah, okay,” Snake says. “Anyway, I should probably go.”

“Yeah. Okay,” Hal says.

“Otacon,” Snake says. “I haven’t really had many friends either.”

He ends the call. Hal sighs loudly and flops back down onto his bed.

“Why are you like this?” he asks himself.