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notgonnaedit · 5 months

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Healer's Heart

Cornered

Summary: When Order 66 ushers in a new era, Althea and the Batch must find their place

Pairing: Bad Batch x Teen!OFC (clones being good brothers/dads)

Chapter summary: Low on supplies, the Batch stop on a planet, but a mysterious woman has plans to take Omega

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, implied rape but nothing happens, protective Hunter, scared Althea, scared Omega, big brother Wrecker, Echo getting sold, Fennec being mysterious, Hunter comforts Althea (If I miss a tag LMK)

Master list

"Idaflor, that's where we'll go." Hunter pointed to the monitor, singling out a planet in the Outer Rim.

"But Idaflor's not even inhabited." Wrecker complained as he leaned on Omega's chair.

"Which makes it the perfect place to hide out." Hunter reasoned.

"Hide?" Omega asked, obvious displeasure in her voice. "But I've been stuck on Kamino my whole life. Can't we explore?"

Hunter shook his head. "Not right now. We have to wait for things to settle down."

"Feels like it never will." Althea muttered.

"Well, we won't be doing either." Said Tech. "We don't have enough fuel, and we are also entirely out of rations. Without the Republic to provide us with supplies, we'll have to acquire these necessities on our own."

Echo walked in from the cockpit. "Well, we've got a bigger problem." He held up his datapad. "Comm chatter has our ships signature on a wanted list."

"So we scramble it." Tech shrugged.

"You can do that?" Althea asked.

"Of course I can do it, but I need to land in order to perform those modifications." Tech pressed a few buttons on the controls. "By my calculations, the closest planet is... Pantora."

The star map changed to the mention planet, blinking with blue light.

"Well, Pantora it is." Hunter said. Everyone walked away to get ready to go, but Omega stayed behind. She rested her head on her arms, gazing up at the screen.

"Pantora is is." She sighed, a smile on her face.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

After Tech landed the ship, he and Wrecker went out to start repairs. "Why'd you tell me we're out of rations?" The demo man asked. "Now I'm starving."

"Our priority is scrambling the ship's signature key." Tech reminded him.

Wrecker grunted in frustration. "Your priority."

A coughing turned their attention to the building. A Sullustan stood in the door. "Are you fellas here for repairs?"

"Just a minor calibration and fuel." Tech said as the alien walked over.

"Have at it." He said. "Just need to scan your ship in."

The brothers shared a look. Wrecked rose to his full height, towering even more over the Sullustan. "Are you sure about that?"

"I suppose I could skip that step." He conceded.

Wrecker and Tech turned around to go about their business. "Ah, that was easy." The demo said with a grin.

"Aren't you, uh, forgetting something?" The Sullustan asked.

The two turned around. "You...you said you'd skip the step." Wrecker said.

"I could."

"Great!" Wrecker's grin returned, but it faded once the man held out his hand.

"If I had some incentive...of the financial variety." He rubbed his fingers together greedily.

Wrecker leaned over to Tech. "I think he means credits." He whispered.

Tech rolled his eyes as he reached into his pouch, placing the credits in the Sullustan's hand. "Is that sufficient incentive?"

The alien stared at him, prompting Tech to add more. Once he finished, the Sullustan chuckled. "Pleasure doing business with you."

As he walked away, Wrecker punched Tech in the chest. "We're getting the hang of this civilian thing."

Tech rolled his eyes once again. He and Wrecker began to unload the ship with all the tools they would need for the scrambling. It wasn't long before, Echo, Hunter, Althea, and Omega came out, the soldiers dressed in the clothes Cut and Suu and lent them. Echo wore a mismatched outfit with lots of buttons and blinking lights.

(Here's Althea's civilian clothes in case anyone forgot)

Hunter held a detonator in his hand and a backpack in the other. Wrecker groaned when he saw it. "You can't sell that explosive. It's our last one."

"And it's the only thing we have worth any money." Hunter shoved it into his backpack before slipping it over his shoulders. "You wanna eat, don't you?"

"Why do Tech and I have to do all the repairs while you get to go sightseeing?" The demo man asked.

Omega perked up. "Sightseeing?"

"No, no, no." Hunter said quickly. "This is a supply run. In and out, quickly and quietly."

Althea bit her lip to keep from laughing. Hunter had never shut down an idea that fast. Not even when Tech and Wrecker made a bomb out of a box.

"Yeah." Echo added. "And you stick out too much."

"Oh, and you don't?" Wrecker snapped back.

Echo pulled down his mask. "Not dressed like this." It was true. The ARC passed convincingly as a droid with his costume.

"Alright. Let's get moving." Hunter ordered. "Omega, you're with us."

The blonde fist pumped. "Yes!"

As the four left the port, Wrecker shouted after them. "Hey! Bring back something good to eat."

"We will!" Althea called back. She turned back to the others and picked up her pace to keep up.

•°•°•°•

Walking through the city, Althea saw the people of Pantora were very lively. Speeder bikes zoomed over head, people traded in the markets. Omega was fascinated as well. She turned her head every which way, not having enough time to soak everything up. Hunter glanced down at her and Althea, a ghost of a smile appearing when he saw their interest. But he frowned when he saw a parade of clone troopers marching through the streets. People cheered as they walked by.

"What are they celebrating?" Omega asked.

"The end of the war." Echo told her.

Althea turned her head at a familiar voice. Not far from them was a hologram of an Imperial Admiral repeating a message. "Look. Chain code post like on Saleucami."

Hunter held his elbow in his hand, rubbing his chin with the other. "Things are changing quicker than I thought. Let's get what we came for and get out of here."

"But the war is over." Voiced Omega. "Isn't that good?"

"Depends on which side you're on." Echo remarked.

The four moved on to find a stall to sell to.

•°•°•°•°•

Meanwhile, Tech looked inside the Marauder with a flashlight. "The signature spiral key should be embedded below the rear parallax inverters."

Wrecker made incoherent grumbling noises. "Just tell me what to rip out."

Tech resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. He was sure if Althea was there she would remark, "If you roll your eyes any harder they're gonna roll outta your head." As she always did when he or Crosshair did such an action.

"Well, start with that." Tech pointed to a large part of the engine that Wrecker removed with ease.

•°•°•°•°•

The merchant inspected Hunter's explosive with interest. His many eyes large under his glasses. The Sergeant glanced behind him. Omega was looking at the various wares and Althea was examining them as well. "Hmm. No sale." The merchant decided.

Hunter took the detonater. "Look, this is a pyro denton worth at least 1,800 credits."

"Maybe in the black market, but I'm trying to run a reputable business here."

Black market? Althea was the one who told Hunter how much it was worth. How had she... The Sergeant's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clattering. Behind him, Omega had knocked over a cup.

"Hey, kid!" The merchant said harshly. "You break it, you buy it."

"Sorry." The blonde said as she began to pick up the wares. Among them was a doll. Echo looked at it with her, quietly telling the girl about how it looked like one of his old friends.

The merchant looked at him with interest. "Of you're looking to sell something, how about your droid?"

Echo's head snapped up. "Droid?"

Hunter fumbled for an excuse. "Uh, he's a....he's a military prototype."

The merchant rubbed his chin. "Military, eh? Hmm. I'll give you 2,000."

Hunter looked back at Echo. "Hmm. Give me a minute."

Echo shook his head. He could practically hear the gears turning in Hunter's head. "No, no, no. You can't be serious."

The Sergeant rested his arm over Echo's shoulder. "We need the credits. Once we get the supplies, I'll give you the signal and you can leave."

Echo folded his arm and a half. "Fine, but not at that price. I am worth more than 2,000."

Hunter nodded. "Right." He turned back to the merchant. "Make it 4,000."

"Three."

"Deal."

As Hunter led Echo over, Althea tried her best to keep from laughing. How, in a matter of seconds, had Hunter just sold him? He would never hear the end of it. The medic turned to talk to Omega about it, but the girl wasn't there. Althea's instincts kicked in. She needed to find the girl. The street couldn't go too far. Deciding she could handle herself, Althea ran down the street, weaving through the crowd to find Omega.

Hunter took the credits from the merchant. "Echo, go to your new owner."

The merchant pulled the ARC away. "Yes, whatever you require." He said robotically.

Hunter smiled to himself. He didn't need enhanced senses to catch the sarcasm Echo emitted. He counted the money in his hand before putting it away in his pouch. He turned back, but something was wrong. The girls were gone.

"Omega?" Hunter looked around the stall. "Althea?" Panic began to settle in. Where were they?! The Sergeant found their scent, but they went in separate directions. He clenched his fists. He wanted to find them both now, but he knew Althea would have a better chance than Omega on her own. The younger girl had literally been stuck on Kamino her whole life, at least Althea had some training.

No longer hesitating, Hunter took off down the street, following Omega's scent. He ran as fast as he could. How had she gotten so far so fast? He laid eyes on a doll, cast aside in the gutter. He ran to it and picked it up. It was Omega's. What had caused her to drop it? And someone else's scent mixed in with hers here. Clutching the doll, Hunter ran faster than ever, determined to find Omega.

•°•°•°•

Hunter ran until he saw the blonde girl in the crowd. She was next to a woman with concealed armor and long, twisted hair with orange ribbons through it. "Omega!"

The two turned. "Oh, there's one of my friends now." Omega said brightly. She waved to Hunter, but the Sergeant was put on guard.

"Omega, step away from her." Hunter reached for his knife, eyeing the woman.

"Why?" The girl asked. "She was helping me look for you."

The woman slipped her helmet on. "Yes, Omega and I were getting to know each other." She reached for her blaster.

Hunter gripped his blade, ready to use it. The woman shot first, but Hunter was able to roll over to some crates as Omega screamed. "Hunter!" She grabbed onto the woman in an attempt to stop her, but she was thrown aside.

The Sergeant whipped his blade, throwing it at the woman. She grabbed a top of a barrel and blocked the knife. The blade reverberated as it punctured the lid. The woman grabbed it and threw the lid away in one fluid motion, running to attack Hunter. The Sergeant stopped her, grabbing her wrists. He forced the weapons out if her hands, but she struck with a quick headbutt, and everything went dark.

•°•°•°•°•°•

Althea wandered the streets of Pantora. She looked around, trying to find her bearings. But every street looked the same. All lined with colorful stalls. Welp, she was lost. She figured she should contact Hunter, surely he was looking for her and Omega by now.

The medic brought up her comm device and tapped it. "Hunter? Are you there?"

No response.

"Hunter? Tech? Wrecker? Echo?" Still, nothing.

"No, no, no, no!" Althea tapped her comm again, banging it against her palm. It beeped once before going silent. It was dead. Althea remembered how she had asked Tech to repair it, since it was damaged on Saleucami. But of course, they had to repair the ship instead.

Althea put her comm back in her pocket. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. She was alone, on a strange planet with no one to help her. Despite all the possible dangers that could've happened, only one sprouted in the medic's mind.

Hunter was going to kill her.

She shook her head, pushing it to the back of her worries. Right now, she needed to find her way back to the hangar.

•°•°•°•°•°•

When Hunter awoke, his hands immediately went to his head. It throbbed, pounding with the rhythm of his pulse. What had happened? He was looking for Omega, and then there was a woman. Omega! A sharp gasped escaped him as he stood, mostly from pain. He took his comm. "Wrecker, Tech, Echo. I lost the girls. Somebody attacked us."

"Somebody who?" Asked Wrecker.

Hunter sighed in pain as he gripped a crate for support. "A woman. Highly trained. She's after Omega."

"Yeah, we'll see about that. I'll get the kid." Said Wrecker before clicking off.

"I'll tap into the central security network." Tech said. "There should be enough cameras in this city to find them."

"Listen," Hunter said. "I made a bit of noise out here. I'll find Althea, you get the ship ready to go."

"Well, it's not technically a ship at the moment. And unless you have a team of maintenance droids, it's going to be a while."

"I can help with that." Said Echo. He turned to all the other droids in the storage room. "Gear up, fellas, we're going into the field."

All the astromechs beeped in excitement, but the protocol droid huffed in protest. "I am afraid that is impossible. We are prohibited from leaving this post."

Echo was so sick of this. "Look, the sooner we do this, the sooner you're back in charge."

"Even so," She continued. "I'm no capable of removing our restraining bolts."

Echo spun his scomp. "That's why I'm the supervisor." He undid the bolts on each droid, then led them outside.

The merchant watched in confusion. "Hey! Where do you think you're all going? Get back inside." He faltered when he saw Echo without his mask. "Y-you're not a droid."

"You got me for a bargain." Was all Echo said before leaving.

•°•°•°•°•

Althea walked the streets quickly, her anxiety growing by the minute. It was starting to get dark, but it didn't seem to be because of the sun setting. The streets were less lit where she was, causing her to believe she had entered the underworld of Pantora. Shady figures darted into the shadows as she walked by.

Althea checked her knife in her boot. The last thing she needed was to be unarmed in the sketchy block. As she walked, the hairs on the back on her neck stood on end. She felt eyes on her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure begin to follow her.

(Okay, this is where it gets iffy)

The medic continued to walk, pretending not to notice an additional figure joining the first. Something was wrong. She didn't have any money, or even any food. Althea choked done a gasp when she realized what was happening. She quickened her pace.

But in her speed, she neglected to look far enough ahead. A third man came out in front of her. The girl slammed right into him, knocking herself on to the ground. She stood up as quickly as she could, reaching for her knife.

"Stay back!" She shouted, brandishing her blade.

One of the men chuckled. "Little girl thinks she tough."

Althea felt hand begin to shake. No, stop it, you stupid appendage! One of the men grabbed her wrist, but she twisted her blade into her other hand and sliced him in the chest. The second grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Aargh!" Althea grunted in defiance, kicking her legs aimlessly. The third man approached her, grabbing her by the neck. He wore a cruel smile, and for the first time since her home was destroyed, Althea felt true fear.

She closed her eyes, bracing for what was to come. But a low voice stopped her attackers.

"Hey!"

(Okay, it's safe now, just a fight scene)

Hunter wasted no time in punching one man in the face. That knocked him to the ground in one hit. A small trickle of blood ran down his temple. He was unconscious if he wasn't dead.

The man Althea had sliced moved to attack, along with the one holding her. Althea didn't get a good look, but Hunter fought with a force she had never seen before.

In no time, the three men were slumped on the ground, beaten within an inch of their lives. Althea picked herself up off the ground, running to the Sergeant.

Hunter didn't hesitate to wrap his arms and her, holding her to him protectively. "Are you okay?"

Althea didn't know how to respond. A soft whimper escaped her, prompting Hunter to hold her tighter. "Why didn't you contact me?" He asked. There was a hint of anger in his voice, but it was drowned by worry.

"I forgot it was broken when I brought it." She whimpered. Tears threatened to fall from her yellow eyes. She closed them shut, but one managed to escape in a hot streak down her cheek.

"I've got you now." Hunter said softly. Deep down, he knew he needed to help Wrecker find Omega. But Althea needed him. He pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Wrecker's looking for Omega. Are you up for it?"

Althea sniffed, wiping her nose. "Yeah, I'm okay now." Her eyes said otherwise, but neither of them pressed it.

Hunter kept his arm around her shoulders as they made their way back to the main square. Althea stared at her boots the entire time, not daring to make eye contact.

It wasn't until Tech's voice clicked over Hunter's comms that the duo sped up. "I have eyes on Omega. She went down into the maintenance tunnels. Head northwest, at 155."

"I'm with Omega." Wrecker said a few moments later. "We're on our way."

Hunter breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn't stop now. "Come on, kiddo." Him and Althea began to run, the older (not technically) of the two trying to contact Wrecker. "Wrecker, where are you?" Hunter asked into his comm. "Wrecker. Do you copy?"

"I do not see Wrecker," Said Tech. "But Omega is hanging from a maintenance tower in the skyway."

Hunter and Althea stopped in their tracks. "Hanging?!" They synced.

"For now, I suggest you hurry."

A speeder hit Althea in the shoulder. She glared at the man who hit her as he dismounted his bike. She looked up at Hunter and saw he was looking at it too.

They ran for it, Hunter driving it while Althea sat behind him. It was a bit difficult, since the Sergeant still wore his backpack, but she managed to hang on.

They zipped through the skyway until they found Omega. The woman was already there, catching her. But they dropped on to the bed of a transport speeder. Hunter tensed and sped up.

Althea couldn't see much from behind Hunter, but she could see Omega manage to dump the bed, right before the woman used her blaster to hit their speeder. They were flung away. Althea let out a scream as Hunter struggled to right the speeder. When he did, he went was fast as possible, grabbing his blaster.

He shot at the woman, who was now riding in her own two seated speeder. Omega was barely hanging on to a strap used to hold down cargo.

Hunter flew the speeder close just as she slipped, catching her just in time. He pulled her up in front of him. "Hold on, kid. We're not put out of this yet. Thea?"

"On it." Althea reached into his backpack and pulled out the pyro denton. She chucked it at the woman and Hunter flew them away as the explosion rang out behind them.

•°•°•°•

Hunter skidded the speeder to a halt in the hangar. "We need to go. Now."

Echo was already in the ship. Tech grabbed his comm. "Wrecker, pick up the pace. We don't have all day." He said nonchalantly.

Just then, Wrecker ran into the hangar, his hands on his knees. "I'm here." He panted.

With everyone together and the ship repaired, the Bad Batch left Pantora.

Hunter let out a sigh as he set his backpack down. "She has to be a bounty hunter." He sat in a rear chair across from Omega.

"A what?" The girl asked.

"Someone hired to retrieve targets." Echo explained.

"And you appear to be the target." Tech added.

Omega's eyes widened. "Me?"

"Hey, don't scare the kid." Wrecker said.

"We have to find out who she's is and who who hired her." Hunter decided. It didn't matter whether Omega was new or not. She was one of them, and nobody messed with her without dealing with them.

Hunter's attention was brought back to Althea. She sat by herself on the floor by one of the consoles, staring blankly at her boots. It had been an overwhelming day, so he decided to give her some space.

•°•°•°•°•°•

Hunter sat by one of the consoles, checking the Republic's old database for bounty hunters. So far, none of them matched the was description. He let out a sigh. How was he supposed to do this?

A soft shuffling noise turned his attention to behind him. Althea stood there, her elbows in her hands. "Sorry." She mumbled. "I should've known better than to sneak past you."

Hunter's gaze softened. "It's okay, kiddo." He knew what she was feeling from her nervous stance. "Do you want to talk about it?" He offered.

"No. Yes?" She slid on to the floor, hiding her face in her knees. "I don't know."

Without a second thought, Hunter sat down next to her. He rested his hand on her shoulder, saying nothing, but speaking volumes.

Althea leaned into his embrace, a soft sniffle only Hunter could hear escaping her. The Sergeant squeezed her shoulder gently, pulling her as close as he could. "You're safe."

"I was so scared." She said tearfully. "If you hadn't shown up–"

"I know." Hunter didn't want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't save her.

"I just wanted to find Omega." The medic sniffled.

"I know." Hunter spoke softly. "Your heart was in the right place. Just don't run off on me again, okay?"

"I'm sorry I worried you." She said.

"It's alright. It's my job to worry." As the leader of their squad, Hunter was constantly responsible for his brothers. It was because of this that Crosshair's.... betrayal hit him so much harder. He shoved those thoughts away. Althea needed him now. "You girls are going to be the death of me."

Althea hummed lightly. Her head was leaning on Hunter's chest. He could feel her heartbeat softly. Probably because they were still both in their civilian clothes. Hunter wondered if she could hear his. Sometimes when he focused, he could hear the heartbeats of his squad.

"I've never seen Echo so surprised." Althea said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.

Her lips curled up in a smile. "The way he spoke when you sold him."

Hunter felt himself smile. "Yeah, I doubt I'll ever hear the end of that."

"What do you think he did while he was a "droid"?" She asked.

"I dunno." Hunter said. He heaved a sigh. "But I bet he..."

The two of them went into a long discussion of Echo's time as a droid. Occasionally, Althea would do her best impression of the ARC, earning a chuckle from both of them.

Hunter stayed with her for a long time, waiting until she fell asleep. Her face was relaxed and she was completely still. The only tell that she was alive was her soft breathing. She had a funny way of doing it too. In through the mouth and out through the nose.

Hunter managed to shift her so he could carry her to her bunk. He set her down on the blanket, the only thing separating her from the cold metal. The Marauder wasn't very cold in temperature, but it's beds could have been better.

Althea hummed softly in her sleep, earning a soft smile from Hunter. He brushed a stray strand of hair off her face. "Goodnight, kiddo."

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#tbb #bad batch #star wars #the bad batch #oc #fanfiction #tbb fanfiction #tbb hunter #tbb omega #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #Healer's Family series

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jacquelinemerritt · 2 years

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Dragon Ball Z: Abridged - Christmas Tree of Might Review

Originally posted on December 25th, 2015

Goku starring in a Christmas special somehow makes perfect sense.

It is incredibly strange to me the ease with which Team Four Star blends the themes characteristic of a Christmas special with the universe of Dragonball Z. The idea that Goku would be the most stalwart defender of Christmas in the universe works surprisingly well, and making it so the Tree of Might sucks the Joy of ChristmasTM from the earth instead of its energy is a change that I didn’t question for a second.

I’m also reminded of Princess Snake, and I see this film as a good indicator of the growth experienced by Team Four Star between then and now. Back then, they wrote an entire episode based on the (unfunny) joke that Princess Snake and Solid Snake share the same name, so why not have her voice be a (albeit decent) David Hayter impression? With this film though, Team Four Star has taken the strange concept of a Dragonball Z Christmas film and built upon that in every possible aspect.

Part of the success of this is that they go out of their way to imbue every aspect of the film with signifiers of the Christmas season; the inclusion of Christmas music at every opportunity is one of the tricks they use most often, and their use of a metal rendition of “Deck the Halls” as the theme for the destruction of the earth is particularly clever.

All of the villains being “misfit minions” of Christmas is a great touch as well, and though the casual mentions of animal rape and child molestation tip slightly over the line of good taste, it’s still made very clear that these villains are just the type of despicable who would wish to destroy Christmas.

Except for Turle, that is. His story of the injustice of Freeza Day is just unfortunate enough to raise the question of whether or not we have a right to celebrate joy and peace when many around us are suffering, and Team Four Star wisely leaves that question unanswered. Even the reveal that Santa didn’t visit planet Vegeta out of fear for his own safety calls into question our willingness to actually spread the love we preach during this holiday.

Another significant moral question is raised when Gohan passingly mentions the rise of depression and suicides during the holidays, as he makes fun of Yamcha for his obsession with material possession causing him to feel destitute. Who’d have thought that a comedic adaptation of a silly Japanese anime would raise such significant questions about our holiday?

Rating: 4.5/5

If you enjoyed this review, consider supporting me on Patreon.

Stray Observations

I love that Krillin’s wish for a kickass Christmas tree is the reason for Turle and his gang’s arrival.

King Kai: “Are we laughing at Yamcha, ‘cause I’m always up for that.”

Gohan: “Santa’s just gonna bring me books again.”

Chi Chi: “He brings you what you like, and what do you like?”

Gohan: “I like books!”

Gohan: “Don’t talk s*** about Santa!”

Jinga: “Jinga!”

Beru: “And Beru!”

Tien: “F***ING WEABOOS!”

“This is so non-canon it hurts.”

Goku: “What’d you get for Freeza Day?”

Turle: “He blew our planet up!”

Merry Christmas, everyone!

#dragon ball z abridged #dragon ball z #team four star #dbza #film criticism #dbza christmas #am i jumping ahead a little?#absolutely #but i couldn't resist posting this one on Christmas :)#I think this review is solid #and I love Christmas Tree of Might so much #it was actually my introduction to Dragon Ball Z: Abridged #so thanks to you friend who showed me this great episode of a fantastic series #also!#happy Chanukah #merry christmas #happy holidays #and a very wonderful time to all of you!

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thepete · 2 years

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We Humans are in Trouble and it’s Not How You Think (or Maybe it is?)

If you think about the truly massive massiveness of the insanely vast universe we live in, it's pretty hard to make the argument that we are the only intelligent lifeforms in said universe. Stephen Hawking famously said that we shouldn't want aliens to visit Earth because they might think just like humans do and do what we did when we started "exploring" our universe (also known as "genocide"). But this assumes that all "intelligent" life is selfish, supremacist, and violent toward things they don't (bother) to understand.

I've often heard the reasoning that "intelligent" life learns how to manipulate their environment so that it better suits the needs of the "intelligent" life. Not long after I first learned that theory, I came up with my own: What if truly intelligent life is life that is smart enough to live its life without manipulating its environment? Dolphins, bonobos and octopuses are all very intelligent beings and even have somewhat human characteristics. The smarts to open a jar (octopuses), the social organization to travel in groups and work together on tasks (dolphins), or even negotiation skills that include homosexual behavior (bonobos). What if the aliens that are out there are just like dolphins or bonobos, or octopuses and might be floating by our planet right now? Maybe they've built a space ship in a way that didn't pollute their home world or strip mine it to its core? What if they didn't even do it by exploiting lesser beings or even members of their own species that were less fortunate? Perhaps they learned to live harmoniously with the other lifeforms and themselves and the natural systems on their planet and only wanted to explore space to see what was out there.

What do you think those aliens would think of us?

Would they be impressed with our thriving economy? Would they think our leaders in government and business were doing everything right? Would they marvel at the plastics and other miscellaneous chemicals that have found their way into every animal on the planet? Would their jaws (assuming they have them) drop at the sight of our incredible weapons of war in action? Would they pat us on the back for how we treat our people of color, our women, or less fortunate?

I suspect that they wouldn't feel very positively about us after gazing upon the humanity that we are.

They'd look at the centuries of war, slavery, and human exploitation, and wonder why it is still happening.

The homelessness, famine and poverty that humans still suffer in the 21st century would be equally challenging for them to understand.

The rich living in mansions would seem to them like their equivalent to medieval castles.

The destruction wrought on the physical bodies and culture of black and brown peoples that continues to this day would probably repulse them.

The way we ignore education and under value not just intelligent people, but the teachers who taught them (and the rest of us), would inspire deep shame and pity from these aliens.

We spend trillions of dollars on invading countries and waging war on those weaker than us, while health threats to all human life, like cancer, heart disease, failing water systems, and more are all but ignored.

They'd squint in disbelief when recognizing what we're afraid of: terrorists, gangs, trans people, homosexual people, people using the wrong gender bathroom, discussion of history, discussion of truth, discussion of the clitoris, discussions of rape, guns, financial/gender/racial inequality, infrastructure, hell, there was a President of the United States who banned broccoli from the White House. It's highly probable that they would find us a petty, shallow, base species.

They'd shake their head (if they have something like a head) at the fact that after 200,000 years of humanity existing in its current biological form and this is still where we are at?

These aliens would likely conclude that not only should they not visit us, but they should stay the hell away from us and make sure we don't ever leave our planet. Of course, they know we're too shallow, and fearful to actually leave our planet without a really, really good reason. We're too focused on our own petty squabbles, truly ancient rules, absurd biases and fears, and overly adaptive bigotry (we'll find any reason to hate or discriminate) to actually make a serious attempt to explore space.

And if they're aliens like Stephen Hawking predicted? They'll kill us anyway, so why not at least try to not seem like shitty space neighbors?

#Earth #trouble #aliens #commentary #essay #what are we doing?!?#humans #humanity #culture

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black-rose-writings · 2 years

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I posted 612 times in 2022

That's 265 more posts than 2021!

165 posts created (27%)

447 posts reblogged (73%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@stromuprisahat

@rist-ix

@kasamira

@tired-demonspawn

I tagged 553 of my posts in 2022

Only 10% of my posts had no tags

#grishaverse - 235 posts

#grishaverse meta - 209 posts

#irl stuff - 71 posts

#anti leigh bardugo - 58 posts

#book review - 52 posts

#twilight saga - 52 posts

#anti alina starkov - 47 posts

#grishaverse worldbuilding - 46 posts

#winx - 40 posts

#čumblr - 36 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#surely someone would have told her that her personal routine was not something she was allowed to share with people outside of the palace

My Top Posts in 2022:

Fate rant part 1 - Winx was already dark enough

Theme-wise. There’s no excuse for whitewashing Flora and Musa.

No, really, it’s not that hard to make the story of Winx more mature, you just have to look at it differently:

Season 1 - Though it is generally pretty tame, the plot involves a girl from Earth discovering she carries in her the power of this universe’s version of God, having that power ripped out of her violently and against her will and having to go on a soul-searching journey to recover it, while the villain is wreaking havoc using it.

She also finds out that she’s adopted and that her birthfamily was killed by a coven of Witches in search of that power, and that she’s the only known survivor of a planet-wide genocide. And she’s a princess of said dead world, whci has been made uninhabitable by the attack. Oh, yeah, and the descendants of those witches are also trying to hunt her down for that same power - and succeed.

FFS, in like the 5th episode, Stella is almost murdered on screen by the Trix, because they wanted her ring.

Darcy mind-controls Riven to date her and spy on the Winx. If they had sex (which 17-18 couple probably would), that’s straight-up rape, right there.

Sky had to switch identities with his bodyguard/squire in for his own safety as a crown prince. He’s in an arranged political engagement with another girl while he pursues Bloom. You could easily dive into political consequences of breaking this engagement that has lasted since they were both children for a “peasant” girl if you wanted to show a more mature side of that. (But like, maybe demonizing Diaspro for being upset about it isn’t a good idea).

The scenes in Magix city after the attack of the Trix are fucking haunting me to this day.

Oh, yeah, and Bloom’s spiritual guide in the season is literally the ghost of her sister, who died at a very young age so that Bloom could live. (I’m sure there’s more dark stuff in season 1, but that’s just what I remembered, so feel free to add).

Season 2 - Oh, boy, season 2.

Our primary antagonist is quite literally the devil, and he was quite directly responsible for the destruction of Domino

We start out the season with the Pixie being captured by him and then tortured and killed one by one as he’s searching for an item they are guarding. Layla/Aisha is almost murdered when she’s trying to save them, managing to barely escape with her life and her bonded pixie.

During the rescue mission, Stella almost dies from lack of sunlight and her boyfriend is held hostage and almost forced to marry someone else, under the threat that if he refuses, she will be locked up underground until it kills her. He is later saved from this at the last minute through the use of a love pspell that makes his would-be wife fall in love with another man(I’m not gonna get into love potions/spells being basically date rape drugs).

A man is replaced by a doppleganger, gets the underage-or-just-fresh-adult Bloom to trust him and then kidnaps her, so his master can subject her to what is a not-even-really-veiled rape allegory and subsequent mind control.

And, once again, Bloom is still the only known survivor of a genocide and her personal story during the show focuses on her finding out more about her home and family.

There’s other things, too, like Sky being murdered and resurected by Bloom, that one episode that deals with Musa’s dead mother and how her dad became abusive out of grief.

Season 3 - it’s not any better.

The Trix are sentenced to a icy hellhole prison, that they manage to break out of with the help of another person tied to Bloom’s past - this time, a man who is effectively her dark reflection. He’s driven by revenge against his captors and quest for power that he believes is rightfully his (I’ve seen some fics suggesting that he in fact had/had learned those powers before, but they were stripped from him once he was captured and playing with this idea would be a sure-fire way to get into some dark moral corners).

This time, we have two people who were mind controlled into a relationship - Stella’s dad and Sky. Rapey much?

Like, season 3 in general is really good and really dark without even really hiding it. Everyone gets a near-death experience and Bloom and Valtor’s relationship as reflections of one another/two sides of the same coin could be something incredible to explore (and a lot of fics do).

Also Faragonda and the rest of the Company of Light are really fucking shady in all of this.

And there is Layla/Aisha’s arranged marriage to Nabu.

Movies 1 and 2 - again, not even really hiding their darkness. Mind control is ever-present, as is mass-murders and destruction, dead family members and court intrigue.

Season 4 - surprise, more genocide.

This time of the Earth fairies. - I mean, they don’t end up being dead, but... they seemed to be and a lot of them probably were.

And also the subsequent revenge against the Wizards of the Black Curcle and humanity as a whole. Give us the full story of the war between the Wizards and Fairies and you’re already really fucking dark and complicated.

Also, Nabu literally dies on-screen - some dubs say he falls into a coma, but IIRC, he dies in the original. Flat out perma-dead. Right after he and Layla/Aisha got engaged. Causing her to seek revenge.

Season 5 - good news, no genocide... except when Tritanus tries to murder everyone on the surface of Andros at the end. So... attempted genocide only. Improvement!

And there’s torture, turning people into monsters against their will, repeated attempted fratricide, a curse that tore a young woman’s spirit out of her body, forcing her to exist as a disembodied spirit for what is most likely at least 20 years.

See the full post

91 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

Best way to describe my feelings after finishing Twilight:

97 notes - Posted June 5, 2022

I’m starting to think that what’s actually the problem of the Grishaverse, especially the TGT, is that there is a disconnect between the universe, the story and the marketing.

The Grishaverse is a grimdark fantasy world, filled with discrimination, inequality, slavery, war and violence, with political power held by absolutist monarchs and unscrupulous capitalists, where law serves to those with power and fucks over everyone else and where often, the only way to achieve justice is by taking it into your hands.

The story is marketed as a Young Adult fantasy adventure.

And the author wants to tell a fairytale romance story.

And it just doesn’t work.

There are three common ways to incorporate grimdark elements into media - glorification (aka “we’re totally not pandering to incels and psychopaths, pinky promise”), shock value and commentary, with most stories blending all three to some extent.

And the Grishaverse firmly falls into the “shock value” category, whether we’re talking about Zoya’s backstory or the horrors of the Ice Court.

But despite being a grimdark universe, the author still tries to force fairytale morality onto it, causing her protagonists to look like short-sighted, naive idiots and forcing her to bend the rules of the universe to the breaking point to make them win.

104 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

Let me introduce you to two characters:

The first is an immortal man. He’s ancient from human perspective, but he’s considered to be young and idealistic by other immortals. His life’s mission is to protect a wolrdwide opressed minority, that he belongs to. This ahs been his mission since he was 13 and he’s at least 500 now. He’s their guardian, their patron saint in many ways. He was almost killed for his power by his first friend and vowed to build a world where nobody ever needs to be desperate enough to do that. He’s a character driven by empathy, a strong sense of justice and a wish for world peace, the end of wars and discrimination, and he’ll stop at nothing to achieve that.

The second is an immortal woman. She’s still young, even by human standarts, but she has the potential to live forever. She’s an orphan, who fell in love with her foster brother. She’s a member of an opressed minority, but she’s revered for her powers instead of despised, through no action of her own. She doesn’t care for the opression of the rest of her kind, as it doesn’t affect her. She’s willing to do anything, even kill innocent people, to protect her brother/love interest. She’s immature, self-centered and short-sighted. She has a love-hate relationship with her powers, her desires, her social status and even her life itself. She likes having power and doesn’t think twice about using it for personal gain and satisfaction, but she despises having responsibility and the expectations her position gives her. She’s driven by her paranoia, her codependant and toxic relationship with her brother/love interest and by her internalized prejudice.

Tell me, which of these two characters sounds like the hero of the story and which like the villain?

156 notes - Posted June 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Character motivations - Why so many people side with the Darkling

Character motivations are a big part of them - why they are liked, how their actions come across, so on and so forth. How motivation is written can make or break a character - and TGT fails at this spectacularly.

The motivations of the “good guys” are unclear at best and plot-dependant at worst, while the “bad guys” - the three that we’re introduced to - have extremely understandable and valid ones.

Motivations of the Darkling and his supporters:

Darkling: Wants to stop wars and persecution of the Grisha everywhere in the world.

Ivan: Wants to stop the endless wars that killed his entire family.

Genya: Wants to take revenge against her rapist and probably the people and system that enabled and furthered that abuse, for herself and all the man’s other victims.

Everyone else: Presumably either want end of the wars or Grisha persecution as well.

Motivations of Alina and her side:

Alina: Wants to live a quiet and peaceful life with Mal, sometimes, maybe. Or rule over Ravka as a Living Saint. Maybe. Possibly. Or die. It varies.

Mal: Want to bang Alina and have her undivided attention - preferably while she gets none herself, I guess. And maybe kill the Darkling because... he liked Alina? Is Grisha? Kills people? Unclear.

Zoya: The Darkling killed her only decent family members, so now she wants revenge (established retroactively).

Nikolai: Wants to rule Ravka, because the current monarch and the actual heir are incompetent assholes and he decided that the "Living Saint” is better ally than the “scary and evil Darkling”.

David: Doesn’t like killing people and feels bad for being part of a mass slaughter that included civilians.

Genya: ? Probably because the Darkling is the Black Heretic and therefore deserves a worse fate than her rapist, I guess.

Everyone else: “Darkling evil”? “Monarchy good”? Are Sun cultists? Who knows, certainly not the reader.

Motivations of miscelaneous other characters:

The royal family: Wants to keep their position of power.

The Apparat: Wants more power, which he plans to gain by controlling the Sun cult in Alina’s name.

Baghra: Wants to “redeem” her son, whatever that means. “Making sure he only cares about her, himself and nobody else” being a strong possibility for the meaning of it.

To be fair, I might be a bit hyperbolic with the lack of motivation on Alina’s side, but their motivations are really the muddiest.

And that’s an issue when they’re the ones who we’re supposed to root for.

Especially when the villain not only have much clearer motives, but they’re actually really fucking good ones.

The system is broken, the world is fucked up and full of prejudice and violence. The “villains” want to fix the system and have a concrete plan how, the “heroes” either want to keep it the same, don’t care about the issues or want to fix them, but their idea of how to do it is “ask the people commiting literal genocide to pretty please stop”.

I don’t know what else to call this but Boomer logic. In a book whose target audience is teenagers.

It’s no wonder so many people like the Darkling and his side better than Alina and hers.

288 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #irl stuff #i guess #long post

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theestervashti · 1 month

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"The Pretend." From Esther 2: 10-11.

Change is often greeted with bitterness. Even if the changes are for the best, like women's voting rights, abolition, marriage equality, abortion rights, superstitious persons will always find ways to stir up trouble.

Stirring up trouble in favor of greater increments of human equity however, has always been a Jewish specialty. Early in the Torah, Abraham resolves political issues using his heart instead of his head, later God steps in and uses bombs against Sodom and Gomorrah, later a flood, also called the Beersheba to do it. The story of Moses challenging the Pharaoh needs no explanation. The God of Israel and His Arabic Self, Allah, are deeply ingrained against corruption and oppression and everyone knows it, but man will not oppose them. They are perhaps just too much fun for the oppressors.

I think of my own troubles with the Mormons and Republicans, who just want to use crystal meth all day, hang out in slings and use sexy machines on each other and their victims, many of whom are not old enough to even shave their pubes yet. They have resisted human equality, modernization, civilization, urbanization, all the signs of enlightenment are nowhere to be found, because they do not want to stop doing the things they do. They protect their interests to the death and have extorted members of nearly every governmnet on the planet, including every member of the Trump Cabinet, Republican Party, and Supreme Court.

They say the Bible gives them permission to do whatever they want. They think Jesus will atone for them if they claim they believe. Nowhere in any scripture does it state God atones for anyone. The Book of Mormon says God will atone for persons if they deliver others from suffering, there is an entire chapter in the Book that lists the conditions that can be exchanged for the unconditional: The verses even say atonement= meeting the demands of justice.

From 2 Nephi 9:

26 For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel. 27 But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!

All of 2 Nephi is easy to understand. It says not a thing about excusing behaviors related to raping little boys or adults or making illegal porn movies all day.

Nonetheless, if we threaten such a way of life, the enemy will mount a defense and holocaust will result. This is the point where our story in Esther continues. We are facing now what is called a Mordecai, "a conflict between the law and its opposition" It has been a bitter fight. one that began long ago when we failed to recognize separation of Church and State, failed to send to those stinking six SCOTUS Justices that overturned RVW to prison, failed to arrest Donald Trump after it was discovered he and the Family Research Council cheated in the 2016 election, etc.

We are allowing the fight to continue because our vociferous opponents are willing to for their way of life with more emphasis than we are for ours.

Even though our stance is the more law abiding, the Mordecai comes about because of a little soft spot towards religious weirdoes we have taught ourselves to protect. Even if it means harming our own interests, we are too well trained.

The Book of Esther says therefore, the motivations behind religious sentiments banning oppression and violence must be kept a secret; they are however to be enforced. It doesn't matter if the sentiment to protect refugees is sacred or secular, the law says it must be done in order to keep society hinged.

When it appears that society is becoming unhinged, as in the sudden appearance of World War 3, the onset of heavy weather that lasts and lasts, and movements of large numbers of homeless people, we need to wonder about the laws we are supposed to respect and what is happening to them. Such questions, Esther states are resolved within the nationality.

Nations respect the rights of others and value peaceful relations which they know are essential for their survival and happiness. Nations like America, Russia, China, India, etc. which are run like dictatorships by unelected officials, those that prefer anarchy do not survive and do not die because they experienced too much happiness:

10 Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so.

11 Every day he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.

The script says the path to law and order as a custom, as a way of life is a zig zag path, the one the Israelites followed on their way out of Egypt. Humanity was supposed to make this journey once- but we have decided to do it multiple times. Three World Wars is two too many. But now we know, right?

No we do not. Because we do not know our lineage or why the raving lunatics running this world do not resemble human beings and should not be here plaguing the rest of us. Mankind is supposed to be transmitting the knowledge of the mistakes of the past by reading the Torah, not recreating the mistakes themselves.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 10: The Number is 4220, ד‎בבאֶפֶס, "Because of the hatred of the font."

In our story, the mission of Nebuchadnezzar to the Persian Court was to establish order, but he used Jews to do it. Nebuchadnezzar means "to force the society to struggle with its leadership using the javelin of the law." Most government leaders do not welcome this. This is why Mordecai told Esther to keep her intentions secret.

Still like Ruth, she refused to join the working girls. Why?

v. 11: The Number is 9617, טואז‎ ‎, tuaz, "pretend". Esther was a goddess, a princess, she refused to pretend she needed to work. She was what is called a pack, a realized being.

When there is a happening in the courtyard, those indoors are expected to come outside. One cannot become the sovereign of the realm by living in a harem, hidden from the world, completely oblivious.

As the Book of Mormon says, Esther pacing in the courtyard is a cry for justice, one that should upon utterance should bring everyone running to see what is the matter.

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elwynnwest · 3 months

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Reincarnated Christian

This is not my first lifetime as a human on this planet. I have lived many lives here. None of them glamorous. In fact, this lifetime, however anonymous and insignificant though it has been, has been probably the “best,” in terms of my safety and comfort.

Most of my lives involved a continuation of suffering, either my own or someone else’s. I was raped, and I killed. I was jailed, and I stole. I cried, and I neglected.

There were two lives that deserve to be described in more detail, however.

My first lifetime on this planet was one of great honor and power. I was a military leader in a region of what we now call Eastern China. This was millennia ago. I built and led a fierce group of warriors in battle against others. We had the attention of the empire. I was feared, respected, and given every reward our society could provide.

By the time I was twenty I had killed hundred and taken so many women I could no longer discern one from the next. At my death, my name was cursed from so many corners of Asia, my soul awoke in the fires of damnation.

I punished myself there after several lives, in the land we often call “hell.”

Because of my masterful descent into cruelty during that first life, I then spent about a dozen experiencing various forms of victimhood. Karma is, unfortunately, essential. Empathy cannot be forged in the human soul without experiencing suffering. Once gained, it remains life after life, eventually becoming what we often call “brotherly love.”

Agape.

It is only now, in this present life, that I find myself able to live in an acceptably small karmic cycle. The pain I cause others, and the pain I allow others to cause to me (something we take a long time to realize we are doing) is reaching its lowest point.

The second life that I wanted to mention was as a peasant living in Rome about two thousand years ago. In that life, I saw the one we call “Jesus” pinned to the tree with iron spikes. Having witnessed some of his miracles, and his rage in the temple, I wept bitterly to see him die. I did not fully understand what he claimed to be. I was not a Jew. I was not anything, a mutt of various races, as so many living in the alleys and back roads of the Roman Empire were. I had no religion myself.

I only knew that the man glowed. He radiated. He swept people up like a tide sweeps fish to the shore. I was never close enough to be touched by him, but I listened carefully to those who had been. A poverty-embittered skeptic in most ways, I believed many of the tales.

And when he collapsed on the cross, I collapsed, along with many others.

A few weeks later, crossing through a field to work, I was distracted by the sight of others pointing to the sky. Following their hands, I gazed too, and what I saw filled me with awe and fear. It was the Christ, being pulled into the sky.

I spent many lives, after that, trying and failing to follow his teaching. I followed our collective path from one flavor of worship to the next, as mankind journeyed from listening to priests chant in Latin, to reading the Book ourselves.

Never could I be “perfect, as your Father is perfect.” In fact it often seemed that the harder I tried, the more I hurt myself or others.

This was the first life that I have been born to atheists, called myself atheist, lived among atheists. But even in this life I have journeyed back to the cross, been baptized, and born witness.

Now, there is nothing in the Bible about reincarnation.

There is very little in the Bible about heaven, hell or what happens in the time between your death and the time of Judgment.

Personally I consider the religion a beautiful form of torture, a litmus test we will never pass. Jesus is the kind of role model the human soul needs until it no longer needs a role model because it is finally ready to be itself.

I can’t call myself a Christian. I no longer dabble in the “New Age” either. I am simply one who has seen the Christ. I am simply one who has pledged devotion before a golden cross, on display in my master’s castle, plundered in the Mid East on a crusade. I am simply one who has wept before a carved wood angel, before being taken to prison, somewhere in rural 19th century Italy.

I am simply one who has been baptized a dozen times, in a dozen centuries, a dozen lives.

I am proof that it is all true, and that none of it is true.

I understand exactly why people make fun of the religion. I’m not sure how any of us could ever believe it, it is such a mess.

Still, I wish folks would be just a little more respectful. The beauty of the gift is real.

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black-quartz-sphinx-judge-my-vow · 2 years

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The Sandman Audio Book Chapter #16 Lost Hearts

And then she woke up.

What a powerful episode, and what hard work done to earn that line. “I suppose there are worse endings.” There truly are, Rose could have died! But beyond that despite being cheated out of an entire life Unity did get to wake up, and find her family, and be around people who cared for her at the very end. Plus she got to save one of those people. How sweet.

Gilbert going to save save rose!!!! I die! “I don’t think I can save her, but I can hope and pray.” RIP Fiddler’s Green. A beautiful display of love him teller her to sleep under his trees. I hope we get more of Gilbert, but I really liked this beautiful location appearing in the Dreaming.

I also like that the Raven was like “okay I’m in.” And went with Gilbert to help.

Morpheus got some good play in this episode. The VA really got to play around with his regret for what he has to do. Last episode I wasn’t so much mad with Morpheus as I was with Neil, but he clearly regrets fucking up and losing an entire planet once. So him killing Rose is duty, and we get it. Everyone in the scene gets it, no one really tries to stop him…

Except Unity Kinkaid!

May I just say, what a ass pull. Is there any foreshadowing at all that Unity was supposed to be the vortex? Did the witches say something about it, did Desire in his castle? I can’t think of anything. Which is not to say I hate it, I like Unity saving Rose, being young in her dream, and saving the day. It was a bit anticlimactic. “Ah…wut happen!”

“You died, everything is saved.”

“Dope.”

I love her just saying. “This is a dream, it doesn’t have to make sense.” So true.

I’m sure when I read this issue in a few minutes it’ll be visually satisfying, but the audio of the moment was a little weak, and this is a review of the audio book. At least put a little music in there.

Rose her mother and her brother move into a house. She decides to write her own happy ending to her story rather than wallow in the strife of the universe, I love that… we’ll see how long that lasts. Rose doesn’t know she’s a comic book character. Gwen Stacy has been dead for like forty years and still hasn’t found any rest.

We also get to hear Dream’s philosophy on himself and his family. Which is that they serve humanity. Eh, we’ll see.

We get this insight because he too thinks Unity being the vortex came out of nowhere and he accuses desire of being the person who raped sleeping Unity, and that Rose is their blood. The melodrama is in full swing now!

Ken and Barbie split. The spider ladies buy the house from Hal who moves out west. Probably good for the drag queen to escape Florida while the gettings good. At least he found someone!

Barbie goes weird? Read as: Barbie will return in the future.

Random Thoughts:

I just want to say how good the voice acting is in this ep. Especially the exchanges between Gilbert and Dream. It’s a tense exchange and everyone is great.

Rose’s mom was born in England, raised in Seattle, lives in Boston, has a Jersey accent. A woman of the world.

Rose is friends with the freaking girl from the dinner, I want to die. As if that chapter wasn’t traumatic enough, now we get to see how it’s traumatized the loved ones of the event as well. What fun. That is my favorite chapter of the story so far, and I’ve really been wanting some kind of closure to it. Hoping that this is a hint of some kind of healing.

My big swing for the fences prediction:

Desire mentions a lost sibling, and an abandoned domain. Rose is now revealed to be on the endless family tree. I suspect she becomes an endless at some point and becomes the ruler of that real. Discipline? Duty? Diaries?

Only time will tell.

In the end great, touching chapter. Well worth the anguish I felt over the last one. In the end our lives change just as much as our dreams. These pains and nightmares are out of our control, but we can choose how we deal with the pains, and how we decide to think about our stories. And if we’re lucky we get to wake up from them, even if it’s only long enough to make a single connection.

#the sandman

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grailfinders · 2 years

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Fate and Phantasms #12P: Gilgamesh

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re once again building that big gold jerk (affectionate I swear) Gilgamesh. He’s a… Champion? Dammit, we just got out of the sabers! Ugh… well, despite his opinion on gods his power probably comes from being 2/3s one, so I guess it fits. We have to hop into Sorcerer for his godly blood, and we also dip our toes into being an Oracle so we can get his Clairvoyance.

Ngl, Gil Gamesh was a toughy to figure out. Guy's pretty good at everything, and is rich enough to buy the planet. Still, I think we did a good job here.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: robin from the rich

Ancestry and Background

Sadly, there isn’t really an Aasimar equivalent in Pathfinder (or at least not one in Wanderer’s Guide) so we’ll have to settle for Human for now. This gives you a boost in Charisma and Strength, and since you’re a skilled human, you’re trained in Intimidation, and will automatically become an expert at level 5. Beyond that, your Haughty Obstinacy makes it a lot harder to control you. If you’d be controlled and succeed on a mental save to stop it, you critically succeed instead. Similarly, creatures that fail to coerce you critically fail instead, so you’re immune to their attempts for a week.

At level 5 your protagonist power makes you a Clever Improviser, so even if you’re not trained you can add half your level (or all of it past level 7) to your skill checks. You can even make actions that normally require training to do! The perks of owning literally everything, I guess.

At level 9 we take it one step further with some Incredible Improvisation. You can take a free action while making an untrained skill check to get a +4 bonus to the roll because of course you’re good at literally everything. Should’ve made you a bard, tbh.

At level 13 you can Bounce Back pretty damn well, preventing yourself from being wounded once per day when you recover from dying. Gilgamesh has literally never died not standing up, the guy’s kind of a tank.

Finally at level 17 Your Heroic Presence lets you boss around some mongrels once a day by casting the zealous conviction spell, though it straight-up doesn’t work if they’d hate to follow your commands normally.

Finally, your background. Hey, Royalty is actually an option in Pathfinder, neat! It gives you a boost to Charisma and Constitution, training in Society, and the Courtly Graces skill feat so you can use your society skill to make an impression on nobles. You sure do make an impression on nobles, if that dinner you had with Iskandar was anything to go by. It’ll also give you a boost to your Connections later, automatically giving you connections within your territory and noble connections outside of it.

Class Levels

1. You are trained in Perception, Religion, Reflex, your Class DC, all weapons and armor, Arcana, Athletics, and as your intelligence increases, Occultism, Performance, and Crafting.

Your Strength is your Key Ability, so you get a boost in that, as well as an Ability Boost in Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma.

Your Champion’s Code basically informs how you’ll be playing your game- good or evil. For the first time we’re going against a character’s listed morality because the man rapes people. Like this is still the asshole Gil from the start of the epic. I don’t care what his profile says, he ain’t chaotic good. The man’s a Tyrant, and I’m not just talking about his ruling style. As a lawful evil champion, you have the following rules:

You can’t commit a purely good act, i.e. acting out of charity or casting good spells.

You also can’t put another person’s need before your own. (you also can’t put your needs before your deity, but… like, that rule would get broken no matter what.)

You won’t follow the lead of someone lesser than you.

You must enforce established hierarchies, and take over illegitimate ones.

You must bind the weak to serve you, as long as you have a use for them and can be relatively certain they won’t betray you.

Call me crazy, but I doubt most of those will be an issue for you.

Your Iron Command lets you teach whatever mongrel just hit you exactly where they stand, commanding them to kneel in obedience. Either they do and drop prone, or they take mental damage, which increases every couple levels. Also, all your strikes deal extra damage the next turn, also getting bigger as you level up.

You get the Touch of Corruption devotion spell which hurts living things and heals undead. You can use this by spending a focus point, which you get back fully on a long rest, or one at a time by spending ten minutes per point.

You also get another focus point (up to a max of 3) every time you get a new focus spell, like the one from Deity’s Domain. I’d love to pick wealth, but if we want a gate of Babylon, we’ll have to go for Earth instead. This gives you the focus spell Hurtling Stone, spending one action to hurl a big chunk of rock at something. I know you have swords and stuff, but you’re just throwing them at people. Bludgeoning damage is fine for now. By the time you hit level 19 this is dealing a solid 10d6 damage, which almost makes up for the fact that you can only use this twice per short rest.

You also get a Deific Weapon which doesn’t do much since we’re grabbing a sword, and a Shield Block which does absolutely nothing since we don’t have a shield. Blocking is for people who are worried.

2. At second level your Conceited Mindset gives you a +2 bonus against mental effects, and if you succeed it’s always critical. In return, your failures are always critical as well. This is kind of covered already with your ancestral bonus, but you’re really conceited, so it’s fine.

You can also use Group Coercion to coerce… a group! Right now it’s just 2 people, but that’ll get bigger as you get better at intimidation.

On top of that your two-thirds god side awakens when you pick the Sorcerer Dedication, giving you a Divine Bloodline as well as training in Nature and Diplomacy. You also learn two cantrips from the divine spell list. Grab Shield to protect yourself with projected swords and Divine Lance to unprotect other people with projected swords. By “unprotect” I mean you hit them. Now you’ve got a gate you can spam all day! This one’s alignment-dependent though, so if you need to fight another lawful evil creature, make sure you stock up on rocks.

3. Your third level isn’t quite as wild, though picking up a Divine Ally in your Blade is nothing to sneeze at. Now you can make your sword Fearsome, making a creature frightened when you critically hit, or Shifting, turning your sword from a sword into any other weapon that uses the same number of hands. Obviously you’re not using Ea, so having a hand-held Gate of Babylon ready to go could be useful.

You’re also used to bossing people around, which is why you’re a Hireling Manager, giving any hireling you get a +2 bonus to all skill checks.

Speaking of skills, you’re an expert at Athletics. That armor is heavy, and you’ve got to be able to move.

4. At fourth level you can become a Sacral Lord, giving you rulership over a land. Within your borders you can cast detect magic, guidance, and sigil as cantrips, and you have a +1 bonus to make an impression on extraplanar beings. Your mood will also affect the area and vice-versa, though that’s not a mechanical thing.

You’re strong enough that your Intimidating Prowess speaks for you, giving you a +1 bonus to coerce or demoralize creatures, and you don’t need to share a language for the full effect. Vaporizing people with magical swords is a universal language, after all.

Finally, you gain Basic Sorcerer Spellcasting, giving you a 1st level spell and slot. Then at sixth level you’ll get a second level slot and make one spell a signature, and at 8th you’ll get a third level slot and spell. For our first level spell, pick up Bless for some Charismatic power, giving you and all allies within 5 feet a +1 bonus on attack rolls. It’s a first level spell, they’ll get better.

5. Fifth level! Weapon Expertise is self-explanatory, as is your expertise in Occultism and Intimidation (from your ancestry). Also, your Ability Boost in Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma? Doesn’t really need too much info to grasp. This job’s easy!

6. Sixth level is a little more complicated. You can issue Iron Repercussions against people who don’t kneel from your Iron Command, dealing persistent damage instead of a single hit.

You also get more comfortable in your seat of power with Terrain Expertise. If you’re playing to Gil’s character, you’ll get a +1 bonus to survival checks in either a desert or plains. If you’re making your own I’d pick whatever area your sacral land is in.

Finally, your Basic Blood Potency lets you use Dangerous Sorcery, adding extra damage to blasty spells. You admittedly don’t have any yet, but you do have Spiritual Weapon, which works pretty much how the DND one does. Make a floaty weapon, hit people with it. Flavor it as just making a new one to throw around every turn and you’re good!

7. At seventh level your Armor Expertise and Weapon Specialization helps you deal more damage and take less, while being a master at Intimidation makes it a lot easier for you to cow crowds by coercing up to 10 people at a time. Your Treasury contains more than just weapons though, making you a Prescient Planner. Once after each shopping trip, you can simply summon up whatever you need when you need it. You still need to be able to afford the item, but that’s not exactly a problem.

8. At eighth level your focus pool maxes out when you learn the Sun Blade spell, letting you Ea it up a bit with a giant blast of fire from your sword. Okay, it’s not exactly giant yet, but somewhere between 4-12d4 is still a solid hit.

You can also issue a Battle Cry at the start of each fight, demoralizing a foe as a free action.

Finally, your Bloodline Breadth gives you an extra spell and slot for each spell level at least 2 below your highest. In other words, you get an extra 1st level spell this time around along with your 3rd level spell. Your first spell is Bone Spray, which despite the creepy name could just as easily be a bunch of swords shooting out in a cone dealing piercing and bleed damage.

Your third level spell is Behold the Weave, giving you a little futuresight as a treat. If a target doesn’t critically succeed on their will save, you’ll learn what they’re doing in the future, forcing them to commit their actions ahead of time or lose them in a paradox. You learn one on a success, two on a failure, and all of them on a critical failure.

9. Nine’s another easy one. You’re an expert in Champion dcs and attacks as well as reflex saves. You’re also a master at Fortitude saves and you make critical successes instead of regular ones. You’re also an expert in Society, and you can add a Divine Smite to your Iron Command, dealing persistent evil damage if they don’t kneel.

10. at tenth level you get another Ability Boost, giving you enhanced Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma. You also gain Devoted Focus- if you used at least two focus points, you can regain two focus points per Refocus.

Your Skeptic’s Defense means you don’t believe in gods so hard you can counteract mental effects using your intimidation. If you succeed, you can ignore the effect entirely, and the source of the effect becomes stupefied for one round if they can understand how weird that is.

Your Advanced Blood Potency gives you access to a Split Shot, spending an action before making a single target spell attack to make it a double target spell attack. Each shot deals half damage, but it’s still all one attack. Now you get focus back twice as fast, and you can fire off twice as many earth shots. That’s like, eight times as many swords I think.

11. Proficiency bonuses: expert in Perception, master in Will and Athletics. You can also Exalt your iron command, forcing all enemies within 15’ of the original to make the kneel or hurt choice too, though the extras only take the minimum amount of damage and they don’t get the extra goodies from Smite or Iron Repercussions.

Finally, your treasury finally gets Prescient Consumables in stock, so you can also summon consumable items as well as your regular gear.

12. At level twelve you can issue a Litany of Self-Interest, enticing a target creature to work for their own goals instead of that of the gods. It gives a creature +2 to attacks, perception checks, saves, and skill checks, but it can’t do anything that positively affects other creatures, even if it helps them too.

You can Quick Climb too. It’s not a giant flying platform, but at least it’s vertical mobility. Your armor is made of gold, it’s really hard to drag around.

You can even make Detonating Spells now, throwing a sword with so much power behind it to deal splash damage to adjacent creatures. This works with your split shot too, so now you can hit a lot of people with a “single-target” spell.

13. You’re a master in armor and weapons, and an expert in Religion. You can’t piss gods off without knowing what makes them tick, after all.

14. At fourteenth level your Radiant Blade Spirit gives you extra rune options for your sword- flaming, axiomatic, or unholy. The alignment runes deal extra damage against the opposite alignments, and flaming is just cool. Ea looks kind of flaming, doesn’t it?

You’re also good at Exhorting the Faithful, giving you a bonus to request things from your own religion, and letting you use religion instead of diplomacy to do so. Why give those gems to Ishtar when they could go to you?

Finally, we get our other archetype, the Oracle. You become trained in Medicine and Acrobatics, and you pick up the Battle Mystery- you also gain two more divine cantripslike Create Water and Quick Sort for more treasury shenanigans.

15. Your next ability boost helps your Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma, and your Incredible Investiture helps your drip. Nothing special, just the ability to invest up to 12 items instead of 10.

Your Greater Weapon Specialization helps you deal even more damage, and you’re also a master in Religion. You might not like the gods, but you do have to live with them.

16. Good news! You’re now an Instrument of Slaughter! If you’re dealing extra damage with your Iron Command and you score a critical hit, the enemy also takes persistent bleed damage! Kind of situational, but Ea’s a really cool sword, it needs a lot of dice to roll.

You’re so terrifying you can force enemies to make a Terrified Retreat. When you critically succeed at demoralizing someone, they flee for one round.

I know it’s a little late, but your Expert Sorcerer Spellcasting gives you more spell slots, and thanks to your breadth that means you get 1 2nd level spell, 1 3rd level spell, two 4th level spells, a 5th level spell, and a 6th level spell, all from one feature!

To start, you can Enhance Victuals, which is just a fancy way of saying you make food better. Whether you’re replacing trash food with something from your treasury or you’re just so fucking rich water turns to wine to impress you, you’ll be able to live the good life.

For even more anti-godliness, a Crisis of Faith not only messes with someone’s mind it also does more damage if they use divine spells and depending on how badly they fail they can become stupefied and can’t cast those divine spells for one round.

Ea’s so cool it can become an Implement of Destruction, meaning you target a specific enemy- if they fail a will save they’ll take extra mental damage from it for up to a minute, and can even become doomed, reducing their number of death saving throws by 1. You can also use Spell Immunity to make yourself immune to anime nonsense using even more anime nonsense. Gil’s got an exact copy of every noble phantasm in his treasury; it’s going to take a lot to surprise him. Now you can name a specific spell and Spell Immunity will attempt to counteract that spell whenever you get hit with it. Thank goodness you can see the future.

For a proper Ea-ing, use a Flame Strike to call down a ten-foot radius of divine fire. It cuts fire resistance in half, and even immunity doesn’t quite work on it.

Of course for our sixth level spell I had to make a Blade Barrier. Throw down a bunch of swords, hurt anything that passes through the area.

17. Woof, that was almost as long as level 1. Let’s have a nice and easy level this time, huh?

Your Champion Master makes you a master with your class DC, as well as divine spells. You’re also legendary in all armor now, plus Religion.

18. At level 18 you can make a Gruesome Strike, doubling the damage from your Champion’s reaction and forcing a fortitude save or they become drained.

You also finally make some Connection, letting you make a society check in areas you’ve spent time in to pull a favor with important figures.

Finally, you gain your first and only Basic Mystery, letting you Widen Spells you cast, spending an action before casting to add some extra space to your area of effect spells.

19. On your penultimate level you become legendary in Intimidation, letting you Scare to Death an unfortunate enemy if they fail a fortitude save. It also becomes a lot harder to kill you thanks to your Hero’s Defiance, healing you up if you would drop to 0 HP. You can still get instakilled, but you’ll stay up a lot longer.

20. Your final level comes with a final ability boost for Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. You become a Radiant Blade Master, giving you even more options to customize your sword.

Your Terrifying Resistance makes it even easier for you to cut through most saves once you demoralize a creature, giving you a +1 bonus against all their spells.

We also pick up an Advanced Mystery from your Oracle training, letting you make an Oracular Warning as a free action upon rolling initiative. This lets you or another ally have advantage on your initiative roll, and since you’re legendary in religion you can give this to two people. However, this means you get disadvantage on yours. Still, you should let the dogs fight it out first, makes things easier for you.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

You’ve got some pretty good saves, with two masteries, critical successes even from early levels, and a bunch of bonuses on top of that against anyone trying to control you. I’d be willing to bet that even gods can’t keep you down!

You also have some solid swordplay, which plenty of big hits to go around and a bunch of runes available to customize your blade further. Being able to tell the future is also a big bonus against melee fighters- if you can get an ally out of harms way after they call an attack, that’s one less action you have to worry about in the fight! Action economy saves lives, people.

Despite technically being a melee class, we also picked up plenty of powerful spells, and thanks to your quick-charging focus and your spell list being twice its usual size you’re good at spamming them like a true Gilgamesh would. On top of that, your ostensibly single-target spells can even become two area of effect projectiles, so not only can you spam, but your spam is supersized.

Cons:

You have bad Wisdom. Most of your will save comes from your proficiency, but it also effects your initiative roll, and with your futuresight also eating into that, odds are you’ll be going last more often than not. That’s especially bad since you’re the one with the futuresight to begin with!

Speaking of wisdom saves, your conceited mindset doesn’t really do much for you in the lategame. In fact, it’s almost entirely a hindrance. A +2 bonus is nice, but your regular bonus is already a +20ish by late-game, and this whole time it forces you to critically fail any mental save you wiff, which gets a lot worse at high levels!

While you’re better at spamming focus spells, they’re still not good for spamming since you only get three per short rest, roughly. After that you’re stuck relying on your giant sword and regular spells like some kind of… commoner. The horror.

#fgo #fate grand order #pathfinder #PF2E #Gilgamesh #Champion #Sorcerer #Oracle

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olderthannetfic · 3 years

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Hi! I know you're one of the older fans on Tumblr & I wanted to ask you about the anti movement. I'm 19 & when I see people talking about the ages of anti fans, they're often within the 14-25 age range & I have no idea why. I also feel it's a little unfair to say that younger fans tend to be antis, though it is understandable since I've also made mistakes when I didn't know things. Why do you think most antis are younger fans? What should younger fans who aren't antis do to be more involved?

Hee! I’m 40, which, tbh, actually isn’t that old for Tumblr (though it’s certainly old compared to the common perception of tumblr), so sure, I can probably answer this. I guess there are two questions here: 1. Is it true and 2. why, if so?

1. Experience suggests that antis do tend to be young... but it does not follow that young people tend to be antis. (You’d have to know the proportion of antis relative to the overall population of fandom, which we don’t. I think the majority of people of any age tend to want to read fic in peace and not be roped into endless wank.) I definitely see some ringleaders who are older and good at manipulating fandom trends for their own ends too.

2. Why would this be the case?

When I was in college, we used to joke about all the freshman year Marxists. It’s an eternal phenomenon: people who don’t have much experience learn a new thing and are on fire to change the world using the one tool in their toolbox. (To a man with a hammer, yadda yadda.) There’s no passion like the passion of the newly converted, and young people tend to have a lot more energy and often a lot more free time to yell on social media. Antis may be one expression of this among people currently in that age bracket. It’s not like people my age didn’t do other annoying-ass things when we were that age. You just don’t see it because it was 20 years ago, a lot of it was never online, and all the websites/platforms from then have been systematically destroyed. (Often by yahoo. Fuck yahoo.)

The other half of the reason, in my opinion, is that there have been concerted efforts to sway lefty/socially liberal people in specific--often TERFy--ways. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the right wing radicalization of gamer guys.

People are susceptible to it because their lives suck and because they don’t know enough history or have enough confidence to form their own opinions and stand up for them. Sure, some people are going to go hardcore for anti views no matter how much they know, but a lot of people are just being swept along with the tide because something sounds superficially pro-gay or pro-protecting kids or whatever.

I cannot emphasize enough that the things that make someone ripe for the alt right are the same things that make them ripe for cults and for various kinds of toxic fandom shit: it’s usually the smart, sensitive overthinkers who don’t have enough close actual friends and who aren’t in a good place in their lives.

---

So what can you do?

You can try to make fewer more significant friendships and make sure your support system isn’t people you only know because you currently share a fandom. Most of my offline friends are people I found through fandom meetups, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for making fandom your life and only hanging out with fandom people, but we’re just regular friends who have dinner parties and shit (well, when it’s not the plaguetimes). Most of the time, we don’t share specific ships or fandoms. It’s vitally important to have a real support network that can’t be ripped away by social media wank.

The next thing we can all do is publicly stand up for what we believe in and not cave to pressure just because someone yelled “think of the children”. It’s important to be clear about the real history and logic behind these things, whether it’s the history of censorship that inspires people to support AO3′s extremely permissive policies or the fact that ‘queer’ was a fully reclaimed umbrella term in the 90s.

It’s okay if we don’t all agree. What’s not okay is appeals to emotion and ignoring science. A lot of anti bullshit is like “Rape fantasies are an abnormal red flag”, and this goes against every damn thing we know about human sexuality.

Part of this is examining our own stances for illogic and hypocrisy. If thought crimes aren’t real, then all of them aren’t real. I see way too many “Okay, but that one gross kink though!” comments from people who claim to be on my side, and this is very silly.

Possibly the biggest thing, though, is that we as a planet need to start being savvier about shitty social media and how it’s destroying our mental health. I don’t have a good overall solution, and obviously, I’m still on tumblr, but we all really need to cut down the amount of time we’re on sites like Facebook and Twitter and probably tumblr too. The more it has an algorithm and the less it has moderation, the more it’s a problem. Individual discords and spaces that can have moderation are better. It’s fine if some of them are 100% antis. The point is to have multiple spaces with rules that suit different groups.

A thing you can do is make your own spaces: be the owner of a discord for your ship, not just a passive participant at the mercy of shitty mods in an existing one. Run a fic exchange with rules you think are sensible and be firm when people try to scream about problematique things you don’t agree are a problem. One of the most pernicious anti problems is mods breaking the rules of their own spaces (usually a “no kinkshaming” one) to cave to social pressure from the loudest, most assholish set of people in the server. They don’t know how many people quietly disapprove and quietly leave their fandoms because they only fear the loud harassers, not the silent toll of caving to them.

Honestly, the climate of fear is the big issue more than a bit of yelling: I routinely meet 20-somethings who live in fear of being canceled and shunned. You can help this by... not being like that with your friends. If they’re friends with a canceled person, don’t ask them to drop the canceled person or face the same fate. If you disagree about some fandom hot take, talk about it calmly and don’t act like the friendship will be over in 5 seconds and you’ll use all your knowledge of them against them in a public callout because they didn’t instantly agree.

Basically, have some self confidence and don’t be fucking terrified all the time... which can be a tall order and probably explains the age thing also.

#fandom meta #loganelfreeces

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zodiacrant · 4 years

Text

🍩My experiences with each Moon sign🍩

(Cause yall are messy)

I have done this a few times before but for Sun signs and did rank placements but never shared my thoughts and experiences with the Moon signs.

Now I know how this goes, so if you get mad or sad then go off I guess. Aint the first time I get cursed out or attacked in this bitch. Plus, I am a Cap moon so naturally I won’t do well with some Moons and I will be nitpicking everything about everyone.

🍩Aries Moon🍩

My dad’s moon. Yup, that tells you alot without me even starting. Having our Moons in Square shit was hard to say the least. It took a long time for us to be on middle grounds and because I don’t feel comfortable talking about my problems here I will continue on. The Aries Moon that I really like and can think of is Rihanna, so I would say it’s unfair to make a whole judgment but from what I saw and heard they’re not exactly the best to be around. So I give them a 3/10 for being bold and having nerve.

🍩Taurus Moon🍩

Now this Moon right here I know people from ( a close friend and my sister, plus some others) and I don’t have many strong opinions about it. As a Taurus Sun, it can be a challenge to work with a Taurus Moon. I am stubborn at my core and they’re stubborn with their heart, so everytime we disagree it’s like a rope pulling contest. Way too stagnant for me but I think that’s because of my other placements and they don’t take any advice or open up no matter what. On to the good, I never disliked someone with this placement. No matter how much of an asshole they can be, to me it is difficult to hate them or stay mad at them. They’re warm, kind, and sweet but a bit aloof and naive, also they don’t like to touch and hug as some people might think. I will give them a 8/10

🍩Gemini Moon🍩

(⚠️TW⚠️ mention of rape and erratic behavior)

I only had one best friend with this placement and I don’t I want to meet any more, and I am at peace with that if they resemble her in any way. She was a maniac. She loved to lie, create drama, blow shit up, act crazy and basically be shocking. I do find similarities with Gemini Sun where they do shit for reactions but with her, she will take it to the next level. Lie about being raped, act possessed, or pretend that she is being followed. It’s not fair to associate her with people who share the same Moon as her but that was y’all’s representation in my life. She was erratic so it’s difficult to see where her Moon was in effect and where she was just off. I’ll give them a 1/10, would not recommend until proven otherwise.

🍩Cancer Moon🍩

The first that comes to my mind is Taylor Swift and to me she is the ultimate Cancer Moon. It juat makes sense how fast she takes it to the next level with people. Whether getting serious quickly with someone or throwing down and feuding. She just always at a 100. Personally, I never got close with someone who has this placement, maybe it’s because I am a Capricorn Moon myself, but I would say the ones that I have met were nice. I’ll give them a 5/10

🍩Leo Moon🍩

I only had one best friend with this placement but the people I have met with this Moon I still remember. They all had one thing in common and that was being emotionally traumatized and have lost one parent. My best friend was super loyal, very confident in what they believed in and represented, were always there for me and had an amazing ability in motivating others. But they were also super prideful and there’s no coming back with them. Fight once and it’s over. (Yes I am looking at you Jonnie). One of the other people was with me in uni and always had the to urge won up me and my friend. He had scars all over and he doesn’t remember how he got them. But he was super proud of himself and his home country, which I respect and admire. I’ll give them a 6/10

🍩Virgo Moon🍩

I know two people with this placement, my mom and a professor at uni, and oh boy it makes sense that they’re a Virgo Moon. Me and my mom are too alike that we clash strongly at times. She thinks she can do it better and I think I can do it better and we just have like a competition on who done it better basically. From cooking, to how you light the stove, to how you put on clothes, to how you lay down on bed. Both my mom and my professor are super critical and precise, althogh my professor is a double Virgo (Sun and Moon) so she will go even further. They have to do everything as it arises and act like there’s no time and everything is about to go wrong. Like damn sis chill the fuck out for a sec and this is coming from a Cap moon so you know it’s bad. But I really like Virgo Moon, even though people might hate such a personality but I can relate to them in some ways. I’ll give them 7/10

🍩Libra Moon🍩

My only online friend that I talk to all the time got this Moon. Other than her I met only two people and they were something. Okay so for my friend, because I never actually have seen her physically with my own eyes I can’t say how she acts all the time, but she is one of the best listeners I had in my life. She likes to hear me ramble for an hour about a dumb encounter that lasted a second, talking about astrology and some nerdy things and then not so nerdy things. I believe that it’s a Libra Moon quality to be emotionally versatile and attentive. I think because she is a Leo dominant she acts much fiery and fiercely than a Libra would. As for the other people I just thought they were fake. One acted as a friend but then would just disappear so I was over it quickly and the other was super passive and pretentious that I think she shits out plastic. All in all I think it’s a great Moon. I’ll give them a 7/10

🍩Scorpio Moon🍩

One of the hardest Moons I ever delt with but I find that I love them too. My oldest sister had this Moon and she is such a mystery. Because I am a Taurus Sun, it is only natural for me to have a hard time with a Scorpio Moon. Even though she is an extrovert, she rarely talks about herself and her feelings, you will never catch her slipping or show vulnerability. I can see how difficult it may be for her being a Cancer with a Scorpio Moon and have Gemini dominance. But she’s a bitch at heart and I am cool with it. I’ll give them 5/10 cause I am not a big fan of paradoxical people

🍩Sagittarius Moon🍩

A moon that I always babysat. I had two best friends with this Moon and if I was born a second earlier, it would mine too. I don’t know if it’s because of my Gemini Venus or my 0 degree Capricorn Moon but I love Sagittarius Moons. I was fortunate to see some of their weaknesses and for them to trust me enough to be vulnerable. But boy do they get themselves into the dumbest situation because they wanted to see what would happen. I had to babysit them and help them do everything like shopping, cooking, cleaning, assembling furniture, be their body guard when buying weed. (Shhhh it’s a secret). They’re in many ways immature cause they run from things and everytime you try to be real with them, they say “stop being negative”. I’ll give them a 9/10

🍩Capricorn Moon🍩

The grande dame of the Moon signs, sitting at it’s opposite planet. I have met many Cap Moons and honestly we are bitches 😂. The energy of sitting next to a Capricorn Moon is too fucking much like I never knew it’s like that. I noticed the way they stare, talk, walk and sit can be so aggressive and intimidating. I see why people might label us as bullies, cause the energy is definitely there and I myself was such a cunt (still a little but I am more aware of myself now) that I get where both are coming from. Life as a Capricorn Moon is emotionally flat. If wasn’t for my other placements you will never see me even flinch. I think we just take everything and let it process in our head before we let it into our hearts. So to me, we’re not mean, we just don’t see how something might be hurtful. But also that tone and that blank face, goddam! That’s why I try to smile cause bitch no, I didn’t know I was walking with a death stare this whole time. Anyways, I will give us 10/10 cause I am self appreciative like that 😂✌️

🍩Aquarius Moon🍩

I have always tried to understand Aquarius Moon and it was only a month ago that I have realized they themselves are not sure of who they’re. I had one best friend with this placement and three cousins (all siblings). First, my cousins are super competitive with each other on who gets to do what and if it happens that they’re similar in something they will get pissed. The person that was my best friend was like that as well. Only he would drop a an entire hobby, interest, something close to his heart, shit even a personality trait. I find them to be constantly changing and trying, so they shift between one end of extreme to the other until they center themselves. I’ll give them a 4/10

🍩Pisces Moon🍩

Now let’s talk about a depressing placement, in my opinion of course 😅. I don’t know if it’s the influence of Neptune on the Moon or is it the just the demeanor of Pisces, but good god girl get a grip (they call this the five G’s). My youngest sister is a Pisces Moon, and as creative as she is, she is pessimistic and overly cynical. I mean I am all for being critical and real but looking at everything with jacked up black sprayed glasses is just too much for me. Other than my sister I don’t know any Pisces Moon very well but I had a few acquaintances. I noticed that they talked about a specific thing and that’s it. I have found them to be amazing at drawing, painting and have an incredible artistic sense. At times twisted and dark, but I love the art that comes with it. I’ll give them a 5/10

Here’s the tea. It’s Pisces season so remember I am sensitive right now, and also it’s my life and I wish I met someone as amazing as you might think you’re. (Maybe that was a little too aggressive)

Okay love you ❤️

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simsadventures · 4 years

Text

Gilded: Chapter 2: Our House (The Mess We’ve Made)

Mobster! Steve x Reader

Summary: Steve doesn’t like to be questioned, and you learn that the hard way. When he wants something, he gets it, and now he wants to have everything over with as quickly as possible. But there are a few bumps on the road.

Warnings: mafia au, swearing, violence, blood, threats, violence on women, slight mention of a rape, fluff, I mean, Steve is very demanding here, but it’s a theme so…

Word Count: 6087

A/N: I’m beyond excited that you guys liked the first chapter so much and are giddy for the next one. So, here we have it. More of our arranged couple and more mafia stuff. Let me know what you thought, and again, thank you for reading! xx

Series Masterlist __ Masterlist

< Previous Chapter

“You did what? Are you fucking kidding me right now? Y/N, I love you, but you must have hit your head real hard because this is not like you, at all,” Caroline reasoned, but you could see she was close to losing it completely.

They were both waiting for you to come home that night, and you first had to make sure neither of them would talk about anything you were about to reveal. You trusted both of them with your life, that wasn’t the issue, but you were afraid that if they talked outside of your apartment, Steve might know and the things he could do to them would be the core of your future nightmares, you were sure of it. When they finally agreed, you got to explaining. But you didn’t even get a full sentence out before they started jumping in it, asking questions and wildly swatting their hands, trying to make you see just how stupid of an idea it actually was.

“Do you think I don’t know it sounds insane? I do, but also like, it’s gonna take care of so many issues, and, I mean, all he needs from me, as far as I understood it, is to go to a few events with him, go to some vacations with him and that would be all. I mean, I can still have the job I actually enjoy and don’t have to slave in that fucking pub with all those weirdos, and I won’t have to worry about money,” you tried to sound reasonable and sensible, but from the looks on your best friends’ faces, you weren’t doing too good of a job.

“Right, right, cool. So, you wanna tell me that the most notorious fucking mobster in America will let you live here, with us, while he parades you around the city at night? Or that he doesn’t have enemies you should worry about? Or what about the fucking police, Y/N, huh? Have you thought of that? You will be affiliated with a known criminal, and they will start to notice you and your life won’t be as easy as you picture it,” Aidan sighed and massaged his temples, the stress of it all getting the best of him.

You sat down next to them and smiled at them fondly. It was sweet that they worried so much about you, and just the mere thought that there were people on this planet who gave a shit about you, even to the point of yelling at you at 11 PM on Wednesday night was heartwarming. You understood their reservations, you really did, but you also knew this all before you said yes to Steve. You knew it wouldn’t be as easy, and while you weren’t sure whether you would have to live with Steve in Manhattan or somewhere else, or if he let you just be on your own, you knew you could take it. The police didn’t scare you, you’ve had enough training in diverting the police from yourself, so the police was the last thing on your mind. Besides, you were signing petitions left and right to defund them, so… You were pretty sure they already knew your name from the demonstrations in front of their precincts.

Enemies were a bit more challenging to handle, but you were sure Steve wouldn’t want his new wife to die on his watch. How would that look for him? So really, all that was at stake was your sanity and your integrity, and thinking about it, Steve didn’t ask you to do something illegal. The only thing he wanted from you was to be a good girl, marry him and be by his side. And you could do that. And you were only human, Steve was a sight to behold, so you didn’t mind being connected to him, even though he specifically told you he wasn’t attracted to you.

That one still stung, but maybe it was for the better. You wouldn’t have to worry about doing something stupid when the other party was completely uninterested, and knowing it, you could just never let your body have even a minor crush on him, so the situation really resolved itself even before anything could have happened.

“I really think I can gain more than I can lose, you guys. I didn’t imagine my life being like this, far from it, and maybe Steve and his money can help me get where I want. And I won’t even have to sleep with him or anybody else. He even talked about putting a no-sex clause in our contract so that I would be safe even on paper. You always tell me that I’m not taking enough risks and that I stay rooted in my comfort zone. Well, this is quite the improvement, isn’t it?” You laughed, and they both just shook their heads but chuckled nevertheless.

“You are a psychopath, babe,” Aidan muttered but gave you a side hug, and Caroline soon joined.

“We love you and worry about you, that’s all. But if you feel good about this, then so do we. I just hope he’s ready for our wrath if anything even remotely bad happens to you,” Caroline said, and the three of you started to laugh. You would bet somebody like Steve would be scared shitless from two 20-something-year-olds who, one who was scared of wasps so much she almost fainted every time she saw one, and the other having a hard time peeling a grapefruit. Yup, they were the combat duo you would bet your money on in a fight, for sure.

Waking up, you had a good feeling about the decision, even more so than the night before. You had mulled it over and over in your head, seeing that this was the way out of everything and also your way to a lot of those things you wanted to have by now. You even thought of the saying, sometimes, the only way out is through, and this was your through. There was no foreseeable way of getting out of debt, of getting out of the depression caused by your hectic and unsatisfying life. Your way through it was accepting Steve’s money and his help for a year, freeing you from the shackles of your current life, in a sense.

That it would come with a different kind of shackled you were sure of, but everything was better than your life now because you really couldn’t even call it a life. You wanted so many things, see so many places, but the world wasn’t made for the people playing by the rules, slaving in their ordinary jobs. No, this capitalist world was made for sharks, and you had been disguised as a sheep for too long.

When you got to the gallery, you were welcomed by a sight that surprised you, and not in a good way. Where you were used to sitting every day for the past two years was another girl. She was pretty, and you bet she was wonderful, but at that very moment, all you saw was that somebody replaced you.

You swiftly unlocked the door and walked in, the girl standing up immediately to greet you with a shy smile and a wave. You couldn’t be a complete bitch to her, after all, this was way above her pay grade. So, you just nodded and strode towards the offices where the director sat.

“Good morning, Ms Y/L/N. I see you have met Laura, our new receptionist. And before you say anything, I just wanted to tell you that we appreciate everything you had done for this gallery for so long and that we thought it was time for you to learn some other skills, as you are more than capable of that,” he smiled warmly, and you weren’t sure if it was a nice way of saying you were let go of, or if you were promoted.

“What does that mean, Mr Jones?” You asked incredulously, not really in the mood to search in between the lines.

“You have become my personal secretary, Ms Y/L/N. Congratulations! I know you have the aspiration of becoming a curator, so, this way, you could get a little closer to art even though there is still some way to go, naturally,” he winked and chuckled, and you let yourself relax with the news.

Wow! Your life was already taking a turn for the better, and all you had to was to go with your gut and risk a little. You wanted to laugh out loud at the universe and its mysterious ways of working. But, thinking of mysterious, your mind suddenly pictured Steve and his devilish smirk, and your smile faltered.

“And may I ask, why now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful for the chance, and I will do my best to succeed in expectations. I just wonder what happened that the chance has come now?”

Mr Jones scratched the back of his neck, and you gritted your teeth. You already knew that it wasn’t the universe praising you for your bravery. No, this had nothing to do with the universe.

“More things have come together, to be quite honest, Ms Y/L/N. First, my long-time secretary left for her maternity leave a few weeks ago, as you might remember, and I have been looking for her replacement ever since. And I forgot what an amazing student we had here, who is already established with the clients and with our partners, and that this will be a win-win situation for everybody. And your fiancée was quite adamant that your resumé is remarkable and that I should give you a chance,” he smiled and piled gathered in your throat.

How Steve managed to persuade Jones to do this was beyond you when you left him only a few hours ago, most of which were during the night, so there wasn’t much room for negotiation between the parties. You just hoped people wouldn’t start treating you differently when they realised your affiliation. That was the only thing you obviously didn’t think through: the opinion of the society. And since the New York society had been one of the most judging and selective ones even back in the 19th and 20th century, you knew not that much has changed since. People were afraid of Steve, with a good reason too, and now they might become frightened of you too. Fucking awesome.

“I want to assure you that my fiancée won’t be present in my work life, however notorious he is,” you tried to sound as confident in what you were saying as you could, but you weren’t sure if you were doing a good job. But Mr Jones just smiled and sat down, signalling for you to sit down opposite of him, and he started talking about business and about what the job actually was. And while you tried to give him your full attention, there was this angry voice in your head, ready to bite Rogers’ head off. He would meet your famous wrath sooner than you thought, but it was all his fault anyway.

The job was, actually, quite impressive. As your boss told you, you got to meet several artists already, you could sit in the meeting where they decided what kind of art the gallery was interested in, and you soaked all that in like a sponge. You were radiating by the end of the day, and the wrath subsided a little, but only till the moment, you saw a black SUV parked in front of the gallery and one of the turtlenecks standing beside it.

You decided that if Steve could do what he wanted, so could you and so you walked in the opposite direction than was the car, leaving the turtleneck yelling your name and running after you. But you ignored him completely, even when he reached you and patted your shoulder, slightly bewildered that you recognised him and still decided not to do as he said. Oh, these obnoxious mobsters needed to learn that they couldn’t get everything they wanted.

“Miss Y/L/N, please, you need to come with me. Mr Rogers is waiting for you in the car,” he said, and you finally stopped and looked him deep in the eyes while you folded your arms across your chest. You hoped you looked intimidating, but since the guy was wearing a pair of sunglasses you couldn’t be entirely sure whether it worked. But you didn’t relent and just stared him down, and when he shifted uncomfortably, you knew you were winning this contest.

“Would you please come with me? Mr Rogers hates to wait,” he mumbled the last thing, and you would have snickered if you weren’t so determined to be the tough guy there. It was only when you heard other footsteps somewhere behind you, and the guy in front of you actually flinched that you realised the big boss himself was there to get you.

“No, Mr Rogers really doesn’t like to wait, Y/N. Is this the way to treat your fiancée?” Steve asked when he reached you, and you shuddered from the poisonous undertone in his voice. Safe to say, it might not have been the best strategy to try and walk away from him, but you had decided for it once, and now you were gonna stand by your decision.

“Oh, I don’t know, darling,” you hissed but continued before he could comment on your behaviour, “is intimidating my boss to give me a promotion a way to treat me? You really think you have control over everything and everyone, Steve, but let me tell you something. This is my fucking life, and you have no fucking right to march in and do as you please!”

He just raised a brow, and his nostrils flared before you felt his hand on your upper arm, squeezing it so tightly you were sure your arm wasn’t getting any blood. But you didn’t want him to win, which would definitely happen if you pleaded with him, so you just gritted your teeth and stared him down. Steve nodded at the guys around him to leave you two, and they took a few steps back, sure enough to protect their boss but to give him at least some privacy with you.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to me in that tone, huh? I think you’ll understand soon enough that disobedience is punished greatly here, honey! So, stop acting like a brat who gets off from causing scenes in public and come with me. And, for your information, this is a fucking order, and I dare you to move from me again,” Steve spat in your ear, and you trained your eyes on the ground.

Well, not your best idea, you had to admit that, and you valued your own head enough to just shut up and follow him. And by following him, you meant walking beside him because Steve obviously didn’t trust you enough to let go of your arm, even if his grip loosened slightly.

He thrust you in the car with a force that could scare many, but it only just slightly surprised you. When he finally sat down next to you, he bid the driver to just go and stared out of the window, not addressing you in any shape or form, and you huffed in annoyance.

“Look, Steve, you brought me here for a reason, so what do you want? I thought we agreed to meet tomorrow and not today, in broad daylight in front of my job.”

“Show some respect!” He roared, and you saw the eyes of the bodyguards, or whatever they were, flick towards you in fear. It was funny how such huge men were clearly so afraid of one of them. You remained calm, however, and just remained looking at him. Then you realised something. He didn’t mind your mouth the night before that much when the two of you were alone, but he couldn’t stand it when people were around. He needed to be the man, his people needed to know that nobody treated him differently and that not even his future wife could disobey him, let alone publicly. You swallowed your pride and shifted your gaze elsewhere.

“I’m sorry, Steve, I’ve had a long day, and I’m taking it on you now. I just wished you spoke to me before you called my boss, but still, thank you for the opportunity,” you muttered meekly, and the triumphant look on Steve’s face spoke volumes. He just hummed and patted your shoulder, his own shoulders slacking and relaxing. These people were so easy to read, you were actually quite astounded that they weren’t played like violins by some secret agents or something like that. Well, you thought, at least you could play them, and it would make your life a little easier if you did it well enough.

“I came because we needed to discuss more things, honey. I had a pressing matter to attend to yesterday so I couldn’t stay longer, but I have the whole afternoon reserved just for you today, so we can go over all the parts of our agreement in great detail and that we can start planning our wedding,” he flashed you a smile, and it was your time to tense up because if you were to have a wedding soon, which was clearly something Steve wanted, you needed to get a move on and that stressed you out. The arrangement might have been just for a year, but you knew that Steve’s wedding was supposed to be magnificent, showing all that he obtained and all that the mere mortals couldn’t have. You included.

But then you realised something.

“Sure, but I need to take care of something first if you don’t mind,” you added quickly seeing the mobster next to you tensing up again. “As I no longer work at Joey’s pub, I need to get my things from there. My boss called me this morning telling me that I still had my work shoes and other stuff there and that I should pick it up or they’ll throw it away.”

“Just give the address to the driver, we’ll get it, and then we’ll go to my place- oh, excuse me- our place and discuss what we need,” he said simply, and you followed his orders.

The rest of the drive was silent, and you could unwind a little, reminisce about the 24 hours you have had. From taking the subway anywhere you needed to, to driving in an armoured SUV with the most prolific mafia boss of the USA, your life took quite the turn. You needed to set some boundaries with Steve, but you needed to do it tactfully and, most importantly, alone. You hadn’t known him at all, but you knew the type. There would be reasoning with him as long as he thought he had a free choice and knew that his position wasn’t neither threatened nor questioned.

This was a part of your agreement that you actually didn’t mind. Joey’s pub was not the fanciest of places in New York and while some of the customers were lovely and tipped well, the weekend sort was made of sleazy assholes who would touch you without your permission and not having to be around them would definitely be something you could get used to.

The boss who’s name wasn’t Joey, surprise, surprise, but Thomas, nodded your way when you came in. The pub was only half full, but the odour of mixed sweat, beer and vomit was ever the same. Gosh, how you couldn’t wait to be out of there.

Taking the places of the little box by the box with beer cans, you scanned the supply closet one last time and nodded as a goodbye. However, when you turned around, you bumped into somebody, and it sent you flying back a bit as you didn’t expect anybody to be there with you. You looked up to see Thomas standing there, looking pissed.

“Funny! I never knew you were on the market, pussycat. And now I find out you are newly engaged and to Mr Rogers no less? I thought you said you didn’t want a relationship,” he sneered as he neared you and you instinctively took a step back. That he had a crush on you, you knew, and you told him multiple times that you weren’t interested, that you weren’t looking for a boyfriend and that you just wanted to be left alone. You scoffed at his immature behaviour now and tried to push around him without saying a word because you knew there was no talking to people like him. But he wouldn’t let you go, of course.

“Maybe if I fucked you, you would see that I deserve you just as much, huh?” He hissed and took your already sore arm, yanking you towards him till you were pressed tight against his chance. You still remained calm, knowing that trashing and screaming would get you nowhere.

“Let me go, Thomas. Steve is outside, and he is waiting for me, so I suggest you take your disgusting hands off of me and just let me go,” you tried to reason, but, again, there was no such thing with dumbasses like him. What was more, he probably didn’t like your remark about his disgusting hands, and so, without warning, he slapped you right across your left cheek.

That made you gasp for the first time because till then, you really thought he was just playing and that he would let you go, but now seeing the bewildered look on his face, you suddenly realised that maybe you didn’t have the upper hand in the argument.

“Like fuck he is, what would Rogers do in these parts, huh? I bet it wasn’t even him who called me last night and that you were just trying to get the upper hand. But guess what, you fucking whore, you are not getting out of here until I fuck you unconscious,” he roared and you gulped, trying to think of possible escape routes. But you were in a fucking supply closet, so there was literally just the one door, and Thomas was occupying the whole space in front of it. So, you’d just have to fight your way through. You were a little rusty, but this big-bellied idiot would stand no chance.

But before you had the opportunity to execute your plan, the door behind him flew open and revealed one fo the turtlenecks (you made a mental note to actually learn their names because this was just awkward) and a very angry-looking Steve.

Thomas faltered in his movement towards you and checked who had the audacity to interrupt him. The shock and fear on his face were priceless.

Steve didn’t waste any more time as he lunged himself at the man and punched him straight in the nose, and the sickening crack you heard must have meant Steve broke it. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care enough to pity Thomas. You warned him, even though you didn’t expect Steve actually coming to your rescue. There were some advantages to being tied to him, it seemed.

The turtleneck then took Steve’s place by Thomas, probably so that he wouldn’t escape and Steve marched towards you, still looking too pissed for you to stand calmly under his searching gaze.

“Did he hurt you?” He sneered but didn’t wait for your reply as he checked your face, seeing your puffed left cheek which told him all he needed to know. The bruise already forming on your arm was both from him and from Thomas, so he didn’t comment on that, but Steve wiped the trickle of blood in the corner of your mouth before he turned around and now calmly walked towards Thomas.

“Next time that degenerated brain of yours even thinks of her, I will come and slice your throat. Am I clear?” Steve spat into Thomas’s face who just nodded, probably glad that he got out of it so easily. What he didn’t see coming (and to be honest, neither did you) was the turtleneck suddenly pulled out a big-ass knife out of somewhere and the air filled with the bone-chilling cries as he cut Thomas’ finger off as if it was the most normal thing to do before he wiped the knife on Thomas’s shirt and tucked it back in his pocket. The blood flowing from the wound was thick and almost purple, and you had to shut your eyes at the scene. But the image was already seared into your brain forever.

“Fucking rapist,” Steve said and kicked the already laying man, motioning to the turtleneck and you that you were to follow him. But your legs weren’t listening to your brain, as you were just watching Thomas writhing in pain, wailing and sobbing, and all that because he dared to touch you. An involuntary shudder shook your body, and it as only when you felt an arm around your torso, pulling you to the person’s side that you woke up. Steve didn’t say anything as he came back and wrapped his arm around you, walking you out of there, probably used to that people were dazed when they saw that much blood. And that was just a cut-off finger, how would it look if a person actually bled out there?

“Here, have a piece of chocolate, it should help you,” Steve whispered into your ear as he handed you a little piece when you finally made it to his car, and you took it without question, savouring the sweet taste on your tongue as it streamed into your system like the most delicious medicine. You took a deep breath, your brain recognising that it was a different environment and that the stench of the pub was long gone as was the blood.

“You didn’t have to do that,” you heard yourself saying meekly, but there was no reprimanding him, there was no anger in your voice and Steve heard that. He knew it was the shock of the scene talking because you weren’t one of them. You didn’t see blood on an almost daily basis as he did and you had the right to be surprised.

“I actually had to, Y/N. He touched you, he hurt you and nobody hurts what’s mine. And you are mine now or will be very soon, and I can’t have dickheads like him running around the city thinking they are invincible. You are under my protection, and the whole world has to realise that,” he tried to make you see his point, and when you nodded solemnly, he saw you understood it. You might not have been ok with it, but that was another thing, and that would take time. Steve hoped people wouldn’t be so dumb and try anything on you, but, the truth be told, inwardly he knew he would have to protect you more often than not because some people had a death wish.

“Are you up to discussing our marriage, or do you want me to drive you home?” He asked, and you looked at him for the first time since the pub scene. You shook your head and chuckled a little, not understanding where was this coming from. It was apparent that there were many layers to Steve Rogers, but his mood swings were giving you a headache already. One second he was the infamous mobster and the other he impersonated a caring boyfriend?

“I’m fine, Steve, thank you. I was just taken by surprise because I thought I would have to take him down myself, and I probably wouldn’t cut off his finger in the process, but we all do our things. I’m good for a discussion, if you are,” you gave him your best encouraging smile and Steve stared at you in disbelief for a moment before he averted his eyes towards the driver and gave him a signal that he was to take you two to Steve’s mansion.

Three hours later, you regretted your decision greatly. Steve and you had been talking the whole time, trying to reach a compromise that would be suitable for both of you considering your marriage and your wedding. You were quite surprised when Steve came up with things that were up for discussion because you really thought he would just come with a set of rules for you to follow, and that would be it. Well, the set of rules was there, but so were other things, like where you’d like to live (it was either the New York mansion which he called the apartment or some villa he had in Hamptons, apparently), what were the countries he could take you (which was actually a nice touch) and others. You didn’t give a damn about a lot of the stuff, but the countries were something that caught your attention.

“I would love to visit different places, that’s beyond doubt, but I do not wish to be taken to California, ever,” you insisted, and while Steve tried to inquire why it was that California was on your hard-no list, you wouldn’t budge. You just told him that you weren’t a fan of the hot weather and the swarm of people you heard was in LA and that it was the only place where you wouldn’t go with him, under no circumstances. After a while, he gave up and just jotted it down with a nod.

“Now, to the sex thing, do you want it on paper that I don’t want you in this way or are you good with my word?”

You felt your cheeks heating up, but you tossed your pride away again. This was a business meeting, and Steve was actually extremely honest with you, so the best you could do was to be frank with him as well.

“I’m good with your word, thank you for asking. What I’d like on paper is that you won’t trade me with information. I don’t wanna wake up one morning to be chained by some of your pistol-buddies who wanted to fuck Steve’s wife,” you raised a brow, and Steve chuckled and licked his lips, which was something that got your attention. You snapped at your brain to stop the thought flooding your brain, and a part of you considered putting licking his own lips around you on the hard-no’s list for a second.

“Alright, I will never do that, and I will put that in our contract. Now, have you decided where you want to live? And no, your own apartment isn’t an answer. I’m willing to pay the expenses so that your friends can stay there, but you are coming to live with me, either here or in Hamptons. So, which one is it?”

“Here,” you answered after a while, “I have my job here so I can’t be going back forth to Hamptons every day. Speaking of my job, will you require my presence at every meeting? I’m just asking if I even have a chance attaining my job as is, or if I should quit now because you will never let me go there again.”

“I would have let them fire you if I thought about not letting you work there anymore, now, wouldn’t I? Most of the meetings that I will need you are at night, so your work is fine. I hope your boss will give you enough vacation days because we will need those, but other than that, I think you will be fine at the gallery. Besides, I’ve assigned a personal bodyguard for you who will go everywhere with you, so you won’t have to worry about anybody attacking you,” he concluded, looking proud of himself. You, on the other hand, were bewildered.

“A personal what now? Steve, I can’t just show up at work with some huge guy in all black following me everywhere I move. I saw the looks from some of my coworkers, and they would never accept me if I had a bodyguard, c’mon,” you were desperate now because just the thought made you shudder.

“This is not negotiable, so just learn to live with it. Alright, I think that’s all from that, and we will both sign it before the wedding. Now, the wedding will be next week. I already hired planners, so that the only thing you need to care about is the wedding dress. It’s just for a show, and if it were up to me, we would just go to the city hall, but the world needs to see this wedding, so we’re doing it in the Weylin. Write down your favourite colours and flowers, the cake will be red velvet, and that’s not negotiable, but everything else you want, you write down, and the planners will do it. Also, write down all the guests you’d like to invite, family and all that, so we know how many guests we’re having,” Steve rambled on, but your mind wandered towards your family.

None of them would be attending the wedding, and your heart gave a painful tug at the thought. You had always wanted your dad to walk you down the aisle, and he was so excited to do so, but now that wasn’t possible. And your beautiful mother… The memories made your eyes water, but you blinked the tears away quickly enough so that Steve wouldn’t see them. But he was used to reading people, so he saw your reaction to him mentioning a family very clearly, he just decided against commenting on it. Yet.

“Alright, I’ll send you all the lists by Saturday, if that’s good enough, and I’m actually good with red velvet. It would be a problem if you said some cakes with loads of nuts because I’m extremely allergic to a majority of those, you should know about that, but red velvet is fine enough,” you nodded, and Steve did as well, glad he didn’t have to fight you on that one. Not that it would be a fruitful fight since the red velvet was his favourite type of cake on Earth.

“I want you to move in before the wedding, I’ll have a room set up for you tomorrow, and you can bring whatever you want from your home. You will have access to my credit card, but I’m warning you, excessive spending will not be tolerated, alright?”

You scoffed and rolled your eyes but bowed your head in mocked understanding. Steve had obviously spent his life with women only caring about the sum on his credit card, while you couldn’t care less. The card would be good for the wedding dress, but that was about it. You realised a long time ago that the fashion industry was one of the most dangerous ones for the environment, and while you still shopped from time to time, you tried to reduce it to a minimum. And if you did shop, you loved local stores and fair-trade manufacturers, who vowed to keep the well-being of the planet their number one priority.

“I’ll take it that you understood it. Fine, so, you’ll move in tomorrow, I think my people can manage it till that. So, they’ll pick you up, let’s say, around 8 PM? That enough time?”

You blinked and took the information in. He wanted you to move in tomorrow. Not in a week so you’d have time to actually pack and say goodbye to your friends, even if you still planned on meeting them every other day or so. You wanted a goodbye sleepover where you’d just laugh and drink and hope that the year would be a good one. Or, at least, not a disastrous one.

“That’s definitely not enough time, Steve. Can’t it wait till next week? I need to say goodbye to my friends, and it’s already late, so we can’t do it tonight and just… Give me at least till Saturday evening, Steve, please,” you tried to bargain, and while you saw he wasn’t the greatest of fans, he agreed eventually. That ended your discussion, and you were soon driven away from the house you would soon call yours.

/ Next Chapter >

Taglists in reblogs :) xx

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imagine-loki · 3 years

Text

Tear You To Pieces, Chapter 6

TITLE: Tear You To Pieces CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 6 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki was sent to make up for his deeds by helping out The Avengers at the tower. Everyone thinks he’s changed, but he is just biding his time. He manipulates and uses someone who works there, who has a crush on him, to get exactly what he wants. RATING: M

WARNINGS FOR THIS FIC: DARK LOKI, RAPE/NON-CON, MANIPULATION, MURDER, VIOLENCE, EMOTIONAL ABUSE, KIDNAPPING

One evening Loki and Cleo were out on a dinner date again. Cleo was completely head over heels for Loki, he was treating her like a Princess, something she had never experienced before.

He’d gotten her a lot of gifts over the last few months, beautiful jewellery, flowers and chocolates. She was giddy each and every time.

Loki slid a small box across the table towards her, making her heart flutter that he was giving her yet another gift.

‘Loki, you shouldn’t have got me another present.’ She blushed as she took the box and opened it to reveal a beautiful pair of emerald earrings.

‘Of course I should, darling. You’re my girl and I want to spoil you.’ He grinned across the table at her, making her smile.

‘Thank you, these are so beautiful.’ She took out the ones she was wearing and put in her new ones, Loki beamed happily.

‘Simply stunning.’ He purred at her.

She had quickly learned that Loki seemed to enjoy it when she wore his colours. So of course, she went out of her way to always try and wear green of some sort as much as possible. More so on dates, so the team wouldn’t get suspicious.

Loki reached over the table and gently placed his hand on top of hers and he stroked the back of her hand softly. ‘You know you mean a lot to me, pet.’

Kelly went a bit giddy and she couldn’t stop the big smile that spread across her face. ‘You mean a lot to me, too.’ She said shyly. She was still so shy and easily flustered around him.

‘But I uh… I feel I need to be honest with you.’ Loki said with a gentle sigh, still stroking the back of her hand.

Kelly felt her stomach drop, wondering what was wrong. What he was going to say. Did she do something wrong? Did she anger or disappoint him?

‘This upcoming mission on Tuesday… I’m really quite worried, nervous, about it.’ Loki said openly, making Kelly’s eyes widen. ‘It’s a big one, really big. Which is why we haven’t been allowed to tell anyone. Very high risk, even the others are pretty worried too.’

She felt her stomach sink. What if he got hurt? She couldn’t bear to think about it.

‘Do you have to go?’ She asked.

Loki nodded. ‘Unfortunately, yes. We all do.’ He sounded really worried, Kelly felt bad for him. Her heart was hurting.

‘I wish there was something I could do to help you.’ She said sadly.

Loki nodded and gave her a small smile. ‘I know you do, pet. That’s what’s so wonderful about you.’

She smiled back at him. Then a look of realisation crossed Loki’s face.

‘Actually… There might be something… No, no. I couldn’t ask such a thing of you.’ He dismissed swiftly.

‘What is it? You know I’ll do anything I can for you, Loki.’ Kelly said urgently.

‘No, darling. Never mind, it’s ok.’ Loki said softly and brought her hand up so he could kiss the back of it, making her skin tingle even more.

‘At least let me hear your suggestion.’ She pleaded him.

Loki looked reluctant, but she gave him her best puppy dog pleading eyes. With a sigh, he leaned forward more and spoke quietly. ‘There is one way I could guarantee my safety and the others, too. If I had all my powers, it would make the mission extremely easy. But they are locked away in Starks private vault, in a box. They were pulled from me by Odin before I came down here. I know you are very skilled and magnificent with your security tech work, I did think perhaps you could help me to get it back… But I could never ask you to do such a thing.’

He could see Kelly’s mind racing for a moment as she took in what he said.

‘I… I could try. I mean, it’s not like you’re going to do anything bad. I trust you, the others must to an extent too. Since you’re going on a big mission with them, and you’ve been living with us all for a long time now. I don’t really get why they won’t give them back to you anyway.’ Kelly blurted out.

Loki’s eyebrows raised up.

‘Really? You would do such a thing, for me?’ He asked, sounding surprised.

‘Of course I would. I know you’d do the same for me. And I don’t want you to get hurt.’

Loki smiled widely. ‘Thank you, pet. It means a lot, it really does. But I don’t want you getting into trouble.’ He said, concerned.

‘They’ll never know.’ She shrugged. ‘I can get in and out without them even realising, since I helped to build the security system. You don’t need to tell them that you’ve got it all back, do you?’

‘No, I don’t. They would never need to know.’ Loki agreed.

Kelly was a little nervous, but the thought of helping Loki out big time was too much to turn down. It wasn’t like he was pressuring her into it, anyway. She was going to help him, willingly.

‘I’ll do it. When do you need it? How do I get it to you, is the box safe for me to touch?’ She asked eagerly.

‘We can work out the details later, let’s just enjoy our date. I can’t thank you enough for wanting to do this for me. Truly, you are incredible and I don’t know how I got so lucky with you.’ He smiled at her fondly, making her heart melt.

That was far too easy. Loki thought wickedly, supressing a grin.

That night, after discussing some details for the plan, Loki gave Kelly an innocent kiss on the lips. He had hoped it would finally be the night he got to take her, but no. She just said goodnight to him and left to go to her own room.

So he decided to pay her another visit. Like he had been doing every now and then, pleasuring her in her dreams.

He had managed to work on his power and get it to be more stable while he tried fingering her again. She was still uncertain with it, even in her sleep. Always became squirmier when he did insert a long finger into her warmth.

But tonight, with his thumb working overtime on her clit, he finally managed to get her to cum all over his finger. She felt exquisite clenching around him. Her cries of pleasure made him rock hard, he wanted nothing more than to sink his cock into her, fuck her hard and deep. To rip her innocence from her, something she could never get back. Something that would always be his.

But he knew it wasn’t going to happen soon with her willingly.

So he not only had a planet to claim once he got his power back, but he had a mortal to claim too.

#Loki #God of Mischief #Submitted fic #submission #tear you to pieces #chapter 6 #fanficshiddles

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salty-ironstrange-shipper · 4 years

Note

Could you maybe post a long-ass list of good ironstrange fics because at this point, there's nothing else to do and you seem like you have great taste

puppets on a string

Summary: Stephen Strange is a villain. But a hot one.

Words: 103,206 (incomplete)

This fic is courtesy of our very own @funkylittlebidiot, so definitely give it a read!

Find a Way (to break the fall)

Summary: Stephen didn't think about it anymore. It had been buried deep beneath all the other shit he'd had to live through in the last couple of years and it didn't impact his day to day life in any way whatsoever. Until the day it does.

Words: 2,170

This one is short, but emotional and impactful. Warning for discussions of past rape/non-con.

The Brands We Carry

Summary: Tony Stark is almost thirteen years old when he gets ready to settle down to bed one early-early-morning and happens to look in the mirror on his childhood wall and catches sight of a circular brand on the skin above his heart.

“About fucking time,” Tony mutters, and goes to sleep without bothering to tell anybody he just cussed out a baby that’s only just crying its way into its new life somewhere on the planet.

The date is February 17, 1983. Happy birthday, whoever you are. Took you long enough.

Or: Tony Stark and Stephen Strange are soulmates. You'd think that would mean they would be perfect for each other right from the start, but it turns out that their soulbond is a long path of mutual distrust, dislike, and miscommunication. Just their luck.

Words: 10,497

I love a good soulmate au, and this is a good soulmate au. Very interesting look at both characters and also what happens if someone’s soulmate has a not insignificant age gap (though they only meet in person for the first time as adults)

A Crown of Thorn and Shadows

Summary: Anthony Stark, King of Blood and Darkness, ruler of the Unseelie court, did not expect to find Prince Stephen Strange of the Seelie chained up in his torture chamber, cold iron being driven into his hands. Stephen Strange, a Seelie healer, never dreamed of finding himself in the court of nightmares, being cared for by the king that the Seelie called a monster. They must work together to find the traitors in two Faerie courts that have not spoken in over six hundred years and reclaim Stephen's memories before the courts descend into war once more.

Words: 58,465

Wonderful fantasy au, great worldbuilding and relationship buildup. Lots of fun.

Villain Stephen Strange and His Obsession with Tony Stark

Summary: Just a bunch of prompty oneshots that are partially based but 100% inspired by Tumblr IronStrange Posts. Rated T-M

Words: 1,029

Do I even have to explain it? This is just fun.

Ten times outta nine, I’m a hand grenade

Summary: Though neither remembered that night, it turns out that Tony Stark and Stephen Strange had first encountered each other years earlier. Unfortunately, that might end up destroying the universe.

Words: 419,141

This is a loooooooooong boi. But oh, it’s a good one. Stephen and Tony basically go back in time, change the universe, and fall in love. It’s everything you could want from them. Complete with romance, angst, drama, and humor.

Where Severus Snape is hot, not a stalker, and somehow gets the girl

Summary: And then, as if he wasn’t already the most embarrassing estranged biological dad ever, Tony stopped in his tracks, raised his sunglasses (because of course he would wear sunglasses inside a lecture hall in April), and gave Professor Strange the most blatant, sustained once-over in the history of fuckboyness.

Then he put down his glasses, shot a winning smile at the teacher, and said, “Well, I’m Tony Stark, of course.”Or: Peter Parker is sick and wants to cut his Neuroscience class. Tony just wants to help (and maybe date his son's hot teacher). Stephen Strange just wants to give his lecture in peace.

Words: 2,387

Stephen is a college professor. Peter is his student. Tony is having too much fun with this.

You Remind Me of a Man

Summary: Tony Stark cannot stand the overly opinionated and egotistical Dr. Strange and the feeling is extremely mutual.

Words: 44,788

Perfect no-powers au for them. They’re assholes who fall in love and see another side to each other. It’s amazing, 10/10 would recommend.

I am here

Summary: There’s a technical reason Stephen must surrender the Time Stone to save Tony’s life. It has to be done, and that’s enough for him to do it. But just in case, the universe decides to give him a personal reason as well.

Words: 11,708

This one is so soft. Basically, while looking through time, Stephen keeps showing up in the past at various points throughout Tony’s life. And then they fall in love! Good for them.

T For Tony

Summary: Your soul mark is the first letter of your soulmate's name. Stephen has an 'A'. But he's in love with Tony. Cue anxiety, jealousy, angst.

Words: 2,794

They’re so stupid in this fic. It’s great. It took them so much effort to remember Anthony starts with an A. (I still think this fic should’ve been titled A For Tony, but I didn’t write it, so)

something taken, something new

Summary: The ChronicConnection implement and app allows a person that lives with chronic or illness-induced pain to transfer their burden temporarily to a willing loved one. Tony and Stephen sign up as beta testers.

Words: 14,541.

I must’ve recced this a thousand times ..... AND I’LL DO IT AGAIN. THIS FIC IS THE PERFECT MIXTURE OF SOFT AND ANGST AND IF YOU DON’T READ IT, YOU’RE WRONG.

15 Million

Summary: For every alternate reality there were ten thousand alternate realities from that. And from those ten thousand more. And then ten thousand more off each of those. And so it goes.

The Avengers win once. There’s ten thousand versions of it.

Stephen Strange doesn’t know what to make of the fact that Tony Stark seems to be *his* victory.

Words: 2,755

Obligatory “Stephen looks through 15 million possible futures and falls in love with Tony in the process fic”. Can’t have a fic rec list without it.

Hero Swap AU

Summary: It's a boring day for the Avengers until Tony Stark attacks.

Words: 17,391.

Just pure, fun crack.

Only a Matter of Time

Summary: Captured by aliens, mistaken for a mating pair, Tony and Stephen find themselves having the universe’s most awkward honeymoon.

Words: 6,056.

Smut. Good smut, though.

Sunrise in Exile

Summary: Tony does the math and realizes their best chance to save the universe is by... not confronting Thanos on his own turf.

So he steals a wizard and a spider and a space ship. And he runs.

(Three humans and an A.I in space, the alien friendships they make along the way, and discovering how science and magic might coexist in a universe where they can be one and the same.)

Words: 352,079 (incomplete, has not been updated in a while)

A long fic set during Infinity War where they just ... run away to space. And it’s great.

Rewriting Icarus

Summary: Stephen and Tony, from the beginning to the end and beyond.

Words: 23,504

Pre-powers AU, except they fall in love then get powers. Sad, angsty, beautiful.

variations on a theme

Summary: Stephen sees into millions of possibilities and finds only one where they win, but he never expected to end up falling in love with Tony Stark in almost every single one of them.

Words: 5,134

Another Stephen looks through the possible futures and falls in love with Tony? ... Guess you can’t have just one.

Five’s A Party

Summary: It's an orgy fic, I'm not sure what else to say

Words: 2,639

... Not much I can add to that. Magic smut.

A Lapse in Judgement

Summary: Stephen, the newly minted Sorcerer Supreme, is strong, powerful, and in control of his life in every micromanaged detail, because failure to do so could result in (another) cataclysmic event within the universe. He is. But then Stephen accepts an off-handed offer to spar from Tony Stark – a man who is Stephen’s non-magical equal, a man who Stephen barely sees outside of bi-weekly meetings and the few and far between fight against a villain – and Stark discovers Stephen’s biggest weakness, his most hateful secret that is a deeply fundamental part of Stephen’s psyche.

Except instead of judgement, and horror, and disgust, Stark meets him halfway, and a lapse in judgement turns into a possibility that could change their lives forever.

Words: 22,694

This is the first of a series which was just updated (haven’t finished reading the new part yet, looking forward to it) and is just a really good, surprisingly soft and emotional BDSM series/fic.

Ironstrange Fics and Ironstrange Cinematic Universe

Oh, how did these get here?

Yes, I’m reccing my own work. I’ve written 29 fics and 377,132 words for this ship, I think I’m entitled.

Ironstrange Fics is a collection of every ironstrange fic I’ve written, short, long, sweet, angst, and everything in between. Ironstrange Cinematic Universe (itself responsible for 49% of those 377k words) is my ironstrange rewrite of the MCU specifically. Please read, enjoy, and leave comments, I’m not updating any fics for a couple of weeks and I need the validation.

#long post #very long post #asks #incorrect-ironstrange #ironstrange #fic recs #fanfiction #ironstrange fanfiction #my fanfiction #Anonymous

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