#the takes some people on this site force upon me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

specialagentlokitty · 2 months

Text

Carol Danvers x teen!reader - be yourself

Hi! Can I ask for familial figure Carol Danvers story please where Reader is non-binary, and their family is very phobic to queer stuff, and so R runs away and Carol takes them in? - Anon💜

TW: mentions of unaccepting family

Standing in your living room, you took a look at your parents and you took a small breath.

“I uh.. I just wanted to tell you guys something…” you said quietly.

You mom smiled at you.

“Of course, what is it?”

Taking a deeper breath, you glanced away, running a hand up and down your arm nervously.

“I’m non binary…”

“Huh?” Your dad said.

Both of them sat up, looking at you sternly, and you subconsciously took a step back from them.

“I’m non binary… I Uhm… I don’t really feel like I identify as male or female… like they just don’t feel right…”

“Get that shit out of your head.” Your dad snapped.

You snapped your gaze to him in pure shock.

“There is no such thing! You were born as what you are so that’s what you are! You can’t change that!” Your mom yelled.

You felt tears burning your eyes as you listened to them go on and on about how it wasn’t right, how none of it was right and that you needed to see a doctor.

You stood for what felt like forever listening to them until you turned around, just leaving the room.

You slammed your door shut, and sank down against it as you cried.

You weren’t sure what kind of reaction you were hoping for, but it definitely wasn’t that. Maybe some confusion, but you never expected to hear such harsh things from your own parents.

When you came down for dinner they kept going on and on about it, glaring at you and making sure to use the wrong pronouns when talking about you.

You thought maybe it would get better but it never did, and after nearly a week of this, being forced to see a doctor, and the constant harsh things they would say, you couldn’t take it anymore.

You packed a bag and you left in the dead of night, running down the street, running as far as you could until you could find a bus out of town.

Then you got on that, not thinking anything through, where to go or what to do.

It was how you found yourself in an unknown city, living on the streets.

It wasn’t easy, but at least this way you didn’t have to listen to them anymore.

You could get by enough from helpful strangers who gave you money, and sometimes you would join with local homeless teenagers who would meet up in the park just to play games or talk.

You were making your way down to the homeless shelter for something to eat when you all but walked into somebody.

“Oh I’m really sorry!” You rushed out.

“That’s alright, are you okay?” She asked.

Looking up, you took a step back, nodding your head.

Of course you would recognise such a hero as soon as you saw her, Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, everybody knew who she was.

“Yes, thank you? Are you? I swear I didn’t take anything from you, I’ll wait here while you check.”

Carol frowned a little bit.

“Why would I think you’d take something?”

You gave a small shrug.

“Most people do. I’m really sorry I’ve got to go, the kitchen at the shelter closes soon!”

With a small smile you ran past her, and Carol watched as you left.

You didn’t think you’d ever see her again until one evening she wondered upon you camping in a construction site, and she walked over.

“Hey, it’s dangerous you know.”

“Huh?”

You turned around.

“Sorry, I’ll go. I just thought it would be safer here.”

“Hey, hey wait a minute kid.”

You stopped walking, letting her jog over.

“I saw you come in here last night too, are you sleeping here?”

You shrugged a little bit.

“It’s cold, and it’s not safe for you to be out in the streets. I can take you home.”

“No! Don’t take me home!” You pleaded.

Carol raised her hands, quickly nodding her head.

“Alright, okay. We won’t go there, but I don’t feel right leaving you here, can I at least take you somewhere else for the night?”

You shook your head.

“All the shelters are full up, I gave my spot to a boy a little younger than me…”

“Okay, maybe a hotel or something?”

“No money and they won’t take me cause I’m all covered in dirt and stuff…”

“Alright, how about we just go for a walk, yeah? You know who I am right? You know I wouldn’t hurt you?”

You nodded your head, trailing after her as she led you back to the street, and you began to slowly walk around.

“What’s your name?” She asked.

“(Y/N).”

“How old are you?”

“(Y/A).”

She looked at you.

“You’re so young… why are you out here (Y/N)? Where’s your family?”

You frowned, turning away from her.

“Don’t know, don’t care… disowned me…”

“What? Why? You don’t seem like the kind of kid who would do anything so bad to be disowned.”

“Non binary…”

“Oh wow really? I know loads of non binary people! They’re all so friendly and always so happy! You know on some other planets that how they’re raised, as non binary, and they can decide later if they want to stay as non binary, or change that.”

You looked up at her.

“Woah, really? And nobody cares?”

Carol smiled, shaking her head.

“Nope, totally normal. I’m sorry that your parents can’t accept that.”

You shrugged a little bit, looking back down at your feet as you clutched the straps on your bag.

“That’s life…”

“Yeah but it shouldn’t have to be, there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s more normal than people think.”

Carol took you to get some proper food, and she spent the whole night searching for somewhere for you to stay until she came across a small motel who thankfully had a spare room.

She snuck you in, and handed you the key to the room.

“Here, I’ll come back with some clean clothes and stuff for you, don’t open the door unless you know it’s me okay?”

You nodded your head, locking the door after her.

You didn’t know why this big time superhero was looking after you, but you were thankful for it.

When she came back, you managed to get a shower, and you sat in front of her as she brushed and cut your hair for you.

“What’s it like travelling space?” You asked.

Carol smiled, telling you about it, what she did and things she had seen, and you sat there fascinated.

She kept coming back, bringing you more and more things for the next two weeks until finally she stood in front of you.

“I’m sorry I have to go.” She sighed.

“It’s okay, it was really nice to meet you, I hope you stay safe.”

“Will you stay safe?” She asked.

You gave a small shrug, giving her a little grin.

“The best I can.”

She nodded her head, heading towards the door, but she didn’t walk out, instead she turned around to look at you.

“Ever thought about travelling space?”

“Ever since I watched doctor who, they made it look so cool!”

This made her laugh, and she opened the door, holding her arm out to you.

“Come on then.”

“Seriously? You don’t even know me.”

“Yeah I do, come on, I could use the company and Fury is always telling me to get a friend to travel with me.”

You grinned from ear to ear, grabbing your bags as you ran over to her.

You were practically bursting with excitement and Carol just watched you with a gentle smile.

In a way you reminded her of when she was younger, people telling her who she could and couldn’t be, and you had chose to be who you were, and she found that amazing.

She was proud of that, she was proud of everybody who chose to be themselves despite what people said, and she was going to take you from the streets and give you the love and respect you should’ve had in the first place, be the parent you should’ve had in the first place

#marvel #marvel x y/n #marvel x you #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #Carol Danvers #carol danvers x reader #carol danvers x y/n #carol danvers x you #Carol Danvers imagine #captain marvel #captain marvel x reader #captain marvel x you #captain marvel imagine

41 notes · View notes

littlemisslipbalm · 10 months

Text

Demonology: Me & My Dog

Series Summary: A new demon has come to Nashville. Josh and Jake's ways of life have been thrown off by her arrival. The angel and demon have lived with an understanding of one another, but with Y/N stirring up trouble and asking questions, they're forced to work out a new normal. And why is she so powerful for a human turned demon anyway, that's unusual, right?

Jake Kiszka x f!reader and Josh Kiszka x f!reader

A/N: This will be at least three parts! This first part is more about Josh and the reader, the second will be more Jake and then we will see with part 3 what is to happen. Please let me know what you think with comments and reblogs and messages to my inbox!! I want to talk about this bc I have been so excited to share it!!

Word Count: 5.4k | Warnings: alcohol consumption, strong language, allusions to sex - minor descriptions of sex but not descriptive smut (still 18+!!), dubious comprehension of angel/demon mythology, like this is fiction fr so if it does not make sense i am sorry but idc (but am also open to suggestions thx)

Join Taglist

Part 1: My & My Dog

When being told to stir up some trouble on Earth, Y/N was more annoyed that she had to go back at all than excited that she was moving up in the ranks. Afterall, she’d only died 50 years ago. It was already time to go back? She thought she had eternity down here.

From what she’d heard from other members of the underworld, it’d just gotten worse since she’d left. Prior to 1976 had been a riot for her (1976 was not her favorite, but dying usually wasn’t in people’s top ten greatest moments), but now it sounds worse than Hell itself.

Still, like a good little demon soldier, she trudged through the dim back rooms to find the dull office that would provide her with the necessary documents to take a corporeal form and inhabit the physical sphere for an extended period of time.

“Can I bring my dog?” She asks, kicking at a piece of garbage on the floor. It littered the entire ground around her feet.

“Dog?” The servant of hell inquired.

“Chupacabra,” She corrects.

“Sure,” Their eyes raise from filling out the paperwork to the little animal beside her. “Extra form you need to both sign. Says he’ll suck the blood of at least five animals per earthly week while he’s there. We don’t do ESAs here.”

“Fab,” She sighed in relief and scratched behind the ears of her dog that she had re-encountered shortly after arriving in Hell.

The chupacabra placed his paw in some mysterious blood that had formed in the pewter catch-all dish sitting beside the papers and then pushed it onto the form. Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered. They were getting out of Hell.

When she materialized on Earth, she wasn’t sure where she was exactly. The home office didn’t give that information, you just had to figure it out yourself. She had been hoping for her hometown of Los Angeles or another major city center she’d never been to before. Maybe London or Tokyo would be a fun change of pace.

After walking what felt like 20 miles, but was probably half of that given that she wasn’t used to physical legs anymore, she came upon a sign as to where she was. A mural to be exact.

It had only been woods and fields for the first half, but then there were more buildings. Coffee shops, bagel shops and something that was called a ‘Vape’ shops. Everything advertised themselves as historic music sites. But it wasn’t until 1504 Demonbreun St. that she fully ascertained she was in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee.

“Welcome to Nashville”

“Fuck yeah,” She smiled. A friend back in the day had been from here and told her about it a few times. It wasn’t a major capital city or home, but it was a city alright. And where there was nightlife, she was sure there could be trouble.

She spent the rest of the day checking around her surroundings. Finding the place Hell had given her to lodge in. It wasn’t much but she remembered earthly delights and planned to spruce it up, give it a vibe. She wrote a note on the wall with a deep red pen she had brought with her a list of items she needed. Couch, rug, bed, posters, an electric guitar and lots of wine and clothes. The ink dripped down the wall and she smiled, swiping at it and placing it to her lips.

She passed the rest of the daylight hours with great displeasure for the living people around her who barely seemed to notice her. Not that she looked any different than them, but it just bothered her that no one was as friendly as when she’d last been here. No one bothered to say ‘hello’, all they did was stare or talk into their rectangular devices she had realized were portable telephones half way through the day.

Broadway St. seemed to be the place Y/N thought she’d find the most possible trouble. It was lit up like the Sunset and if it weren’t for all the horribly dressed people surrounding her, she would’ve felt right at home.

At one of the bars, she got free shots from the bartender with a flash of her eyes. From the regular dark brown iris, they flashed an entire eternal glassy black. He smiled dreamily in the abyss and walked away after she winked at him. She swung back the shots and made her way to the dance floor.

Raising her hands above her head, she began to dance. Her black lace dress hugged her curves and shifted with her. Her silver jewelry glinted dangerously as she moved. The lights in the bar shifted to stay red instead of the flashing multi-colors that had bothered her when she entered. She moved her hips to the music and slowly it transformed from a poppy song she didn’t know to Led Zeppelin.

Robert Plant’s voice got everyone dancing the way they should and the vapes transformed into cigarettes and she smiled to herself feeling alive for the first time in a long time. Maybe being back wasn’t so bad. She drank more and danced more and saw people getting drunk and making out in corners and thought debauchery worked as trouble. Job done for the day.

She relaxed into the sway of the music, writhing around like a snake as her skin grew dewey with perspiration. A tug at her arm brought her out of her euphoric state. All night she had made sure no one would bother her, but whoever this was didn’t seem to follow her rules.

She opened her eyes, fully black once more as she stared at who was holding her wrist. She tugged back but his hold was secure. He pulled her to the side of the dancefloor, a space conveniently opening up.

“Get your hands off me! What the fuck, man?”

“You can’t be here,” He spoke calmly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. He had on a white plain t-shirt and light wash jeans, with opalescent beads hanging around his neck. His eyes were an oddly familiar light brown. His hair was shaved on the sides, creating a sort of mullet that she mildly appreciated if he hadn’t been so rude as to pull her away from her fun. That mullet exposed the golden earrings in his pointy ears.

There was something different about him. None of it was in his physical form but she felt it, vibrating and extending around him. As if he had invisible light passing around and through him even in the dark dingy bar lighting.

“Says who?” She finally tugged her arm free from his hold and crossed her arms across her chest, pressing her breasts up in the process.

His eyes flicker to the movement before pressing his lips into a thin line “Says me.”

She rolled her eyes, unimpressed. “And you are?”

“Joshua. I protect this town," he says. He wrings his hands around the gold bracelets on his wrists. “You can’t come into these bars and just mess with everything about them. It’s wrong.”

“Yes I can, Josh,” She smirks. “I’m a demon as you clearly already can tell. I can do whatever I want.”

“Oh my God,” Josh sighs, exasperated already. “There’s already a demon here.” He knew the other one quite well and was at least able to keep him in check. A newcomer would mean more work.

She shrugged. “Not my problem, angel. Hell sent me up here, guess they’re not happy with the other one’s performance.”

She moved to go back to the bar for another drink when Josh looked like he was a million miles away. He’d really killed her buzz. Josh’s mentioning of another demon made her stop and ask as an afterthought: “What’s this other demon’s name?”

“Jacob–er, uh, Jake,” Josh corrects himself. He hadn’t gone by Jacob since, well, since before, even if Josh wished he could just call him Jacob.

“Groovy.” Her smile is wicked, her lips painted a red so deep it resembled dried blood. “Displeasure meeting you, angel. Come find me if you ever want to have a real good time.” She kissed his cheek before disappearing behind a group of people.

Two weeks later, Y/N was seated on a bench in the park with her legs kicked up. She looked like she was a dead body–which more or less, she was, but the way she was sitting was unusual for someone who was supposedly alive. Her dog was perched unnaturally along the backrest, soaking in the sun he had missed. They looked out of place.

She had come out in the midday to see if she could start any fights in the park. She’d quickly learned that malfunctions with their little handheld phones really upset the modern humans so she liked to mess with wifi and electrical connections every odd day or so just to keep up the no-good work.

Her black RayBans covered her eyes as they surveyed the green grass for potential targets for a bit of a row. She sat as far away from the people as possible, so she had enhanced her vision as if using a zoom function. But soon something white blocked her vision.

“Angel,” She practically growled. Her dog actually growled, sitting up.

“Mind if I sit,” Josh asks pleasantly, eyeing the dog with caution. It looked like a normal dog, but a clip in his right ear and a strange red shimmer in his eyes made Josh think there might be something hellish about him.

She took her feet off the bench and pushed her sunglasses up off of her face. “Finally want a taste of what you’re missing?”

“No,” he states flatly. His eyes were still wandering between the creature and the demon. She was dressed in all black, typical. The dog was between cream and the lightest brown he’d ever seen, atypical. “Is this your dog?”

“Yeah.” She smiles softly for the first time. Her hand goes to pet him between his ears and down his small snout. “He was waiting for me in Hell back’n the day. They made him a chupacabra for me as a ‘Welcome to Hell’ present.”

Josh’s eyes widened in surprise. What had she done in life to receive a present in Hell? “They like you down there?”

“Eh…I think I’m just a descendant of many a troublemaker. They knew I’d be an asset, especially when I arrived so early.”

Her dog slipped into her lap. For a moment, he shifted as he stared at Josh. Big ruby eyes glowered at him, all his hair was gone, leaving something more resembling a pale soft dog-rat. Disturbing and wretched, nonetheless. He wrinkled his nose at Josh.

Josh tried to smile, feeling awkward. Jake had insisted he find this demon Josh had encountered, needing more information about whether he was really in trouble or if it was procedural. Why Jake wouldn’t do it himself, Josh never got as many answers as questions he asked.

“Do either of you have names?”

She grinned. “Is this twenty questions? Why so interested in me?”

“Just want to get to know my opposition,” Josh says lightly, praying for her to feel extra kind today. Afterall, she was a demon who was originally human and it was only a little while ago from what she seemed to like. He was pretty sure she’d only been down in Hell for 50-60 years, that was barely a human lifetime—and yet it was longer than hers. Far less than Jake. Maybe he could neutralize her, get her to see the bright side.

“His name is Rune, now, but it used to be Rori.” She rubs over the dog’s hair, happy that he was softer on Earth. “He responds to both–for me. Not sure what he should be called now we’re back.”

Josh waited patiently. The breeze was cooler than usual and looking at her, he had to assume it was her as well. She seemed far too powerful for a run-of-the-mill demon who used to be human. But she also seemed extremely unlikely to answer his questions if he got too personal.

With her eyes uncovered, Josh watched them move around as she thought about something. It was almost like she was tracking something or doing some long form math equation in her head. Like she didn’t know what her name was and was looking for the answer.

“Mine…well, now you can call me Sal.” She winks and Josh straightens in his seat, feeling strange. “Gonna write about me in your diary now, Joshua?”

Josh pretends to laugh with a clipped “ha ha.” She smirked again, sliding closer to Josh on the bench. Rori grew annoyed and hopped off her lap, slinking off to climb a tree in hopes of finding a squirrel. Sal extended a delicate hand to Josh’s shoulder, beginning to play with the fabric of his shirt. He smiled tightly, not having anywhere to go if he wanted more answers.

“You said you arrived early?” Josh’s voice is high as he feels her touch moving down his arm. Thankfully, being an angel kept him from feeling her entire influence, but her physical touch was enough to feel something…unholy. He didn’t want to imagine her abilities on mortals. “What did you mean?”

“You’re fun,” She beamed. “If I show you some tricks I picked up in Hell, will you show me something?”

“It depends what you want to see,” Josh tries to be diplomatic.

Her head throws back in laughter. “Not that. No, I want you to want me to see that.” Her hand wanders to his wrist and toys with the bracelet before slinking to his thigh. Her voice was low and sultry, lips pressed to his ear. “Desperately.”

Josh was starting to feel like he might have to leave. His breathing had turned shallow and he couldn’t stop staring at the carnelian stone hanging between her breasts. Her hand’s touch left him and she laughed again bringing him out of his reverie.

“Hell, you’re pretty cute…I was a 27 club member.” She shrugged, turning away from Josh to stare out at the people again. “Had my heyday in the late 60s/early 70s and went out the same way I lived. Fast.”

Josh thought about the 60s and the 70s. He’d admit those decades were a bit of a guilty pleasure for him. Nashville had been fun, not as crowded. He watched her again, seeing her eyes narrow looking at the couples and the groups of friends.

“You weren’t from here?”

“LA. Broadway’s kinda like the Sunset Strip, just a bit more loser-y…NashVegas, just like Liv said.”

Josh was about to protest, but refrained, letting her reminisce. She did miss her friends from back then. They’d gotten up to so much trouble. Sometimes too much.

“Best of times, worst of times kind of thing y’a dig?” She tapped the heel of her boot like she was trying to shake off something unpleasant. “Just glad I had my dog for most of the time. He followed me everywhere and everyone’d let ‘im in because he was such a doll. Died ‘bout three years ‘fore me.”

The more she spoke the more her accent of a bygone era of California popped up. Josh couldn’t deny how sweet she sounded when she spoke about that thing, demonic as the pair of them were.

“How long’ve you’ve been up–er, down here?” She asked, barely realizing she had to correct for him.

Josh cast his eyes to the sky, thinking. “Since the beginning. That’s like, 8000 human years, I believe.”

“Get the fuck outta town!” She exclaimed, jumping in her seat to face him. Her eyes were alight with hellfire. “You’re a proper angel then?”

Josh chuckled. “They don’t really take new hires upstairs, I’m afraid. Only very special occasions. It doesn’t happen much these days.”

She regarded him for a moment, inventorizing him again now that she deemed him far more interesting than before. “Yeah, I was on a special list when I came down. Only a few others in my line, everyone else had to wait in this huge waiting room. It was…repulsive and I’ve been in the alley behind the Whisky.”

Josh tilted his head, looking over her once more. He felt like he should know her, but he couldn’t understand from where. She looked so familiar. Her hair seemed to shift every so often and he couldn’t be sure if it was the light or mood dependent. He didn’t prod at her mentioning the special treatment in Hell, didn’t want to alert her to the fact, that from what he knew, that was extremely rare.

“Have you told your demon friend about me yet?” She asked.

“He’s not my friend,” Josh responds automatically.

Her eyebrows raise as she turns her head back to him, scanning him for understanding. A killer upon its prey.

“Secret lover?” She guesses.

Josh can’t hide his face of disgust. “Jesus! No!”

“Homophobic?” She asks with a look of distaste. Not being for the gays was so not groovy. Half the musicians she hung out with back in the day were gay. And she wasn’t one for choosing when it came to sexuality.

“No!” Josh cries. “I am more than an ally to that cause, not that angels really have sexualities…it’s just.” He sighs, rubbing at his neck confusion. “He was, is–I don’t know, my twin.”

“Oh!” She beams, eyes once again lighting up in intrigue. She enjoyed learning things, it helped for using it against people at the end of the day. “So he’s also a proper demon. Fell and all that.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me.” He sounded pained, as if he was reliving the entire thing.

“Wow…” She blows out a breath. “That must be funky.”

She continued when Josh said nothing. “Y’know ‘cause he’s your brother but also he’s–” She finished her statement by sticking her pointer fingers through her hair and wiggling them around.

“Yes, I am aware.” Josh shakes his head.

She stood up and stretched her arms over her head, revealing her stomach below the flowy lace top she was wearing. “Great catch up, I guess, angel. Wanna trade tricks later? I’ve already worked through most of the main bars here and I’m getting bored.” Nothing was keeping her interest, since every place she had to transform into her liking.

“You want to hang out with me? You want to hang out with an angel?”

She grinned, turning around herself once before dropping her arms and stalking back towards Josh, standing directly in front of him. She leaned over him, watching him straighten his neck and swallow thickly. His eyes flickered from her face to the carnelian again.

“Everyone else is too easy around here. I need a challenge.” Her lips were right in front of his. “You seem like the perfect remedy for a wayward soul like me.”

Josh wasn’t exactly sure why he agreed to meet the demon at some speakeasy she said she needed to try. He wasn’t fully sold on calling her ‘Sal’, something about it felt off to him. She didn’t even really seem to care for it either. Jake, he knew, was vehement that he wished to be called Jake.

Jake was probably why he had come to the back door of a pizza joint that was actually the door to the underground speakeasy. He’d asked for more information on her. When Josh had inquired why Jake couldn’t just do it himself, his twin finally fessed up that he was actually not currently in Nashville at all. Leaving the heavy lifting to Josh, like always.

Begrudgingly, Josh entered another bar with plans to meet a demon. Heaven forgive him. It was smokey inside the brick-walled cavern. Small candles lit the tabletops and narrow bar top. A small dance floor was packed as people danced slowly to a jazz band. In the corner of the room, he saw her hair almost glowing in the dark and he made his way over.

She was dressed in a black pantsuit, with no undershirt, just a black lace bra and her same necklace. Rori wasn’t present, from what Josh could see, but based on their conversation earlier he had a feeling the demon dog was around, lurking.

She groaned when she saw what Josh was wearing.

“Angel, man, do you have any other clothes besides that?” She shook her head in disappointment.

“Of course I do,” Josh huffed, looking down at his clothes not understanding what was wrong with them.

“Change.”

“I can’t perform miracles just to change my outfit. That’s wrong.”

“That’s wrong, it’s wrong,” She parrots what she thought was becoming Josh’s mantra. “God, Heaven sounds so stifling.” She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers with impatience.

In an instant, Josh was dressed in a red velvet jumpsuit with sequins around the neckline. His arms were on full display, muscles bulging while the velvet hugged his torso and lengthened his height. He smooths at his hair and feels something come off his skin. On his hand, he sees glitter. He looks at her again and then down at his new clothes. She was eyeing the bulge veering to his right thigh.

“Much better.” She grins.

Josh rolls his hand in front of him quickly, almost like a benediction, and once again his outfit has changed. Now, he was in a cream and grey jumpsuit that was far less flashy of his own with his favorite sigil emblazoned on the chest. He left the glitter and sat down.

Her unamused look makes Josh feel a little hot with shame.

“A little miracle to make sure I don’t look like a demon can be forgiven.”

“You looked foxy but whatever.” She rolls her eyes and flicks a hand at the table, producing a bottle of red wine for both of them. “You drink, surely. C’mon, don’t act like your demon brother hasn’t corrupted a few of those precious angel feathers.”

Josh can’t help the smile that falls over his face. Not sure what was so endearing about her at this moment. The romantic jazz might have something to do with it. He loved jazz. He takes the drink gratefully and they sip in companionable silence. She was subdued.

With one bottle down, they start a second and this is when she offers to show Josh a trick if he’ll show her something again. He shrugs in compliance, feeling well on his way to drunk.

“But won’t the other people in here see?” He adds.

“No, they all know to mind their own business. Plus, it’s dark in here.” She winks and suddenly Josh is staring at only her head.

He can seriously only see her head and neck. She moves closer to him and now Josh is certain, she’s made her body disappear. She was a dishonest-to-god floating head. Her head glowed gold for a moment as she twirled in a complete 360 to really show herself off. Josh’s eyes were as wide as possible trying not to cry out in amazement. Then the rest of her body reappeared, straddling Josh’s lap. With her arms draped over his shoulder, her all black soulless eyes gazed into Josh’s, practically paralyzing him with her fiery warmth and intensity.

“So what do you think, angel?”

“I, uh,” Josh stuttered. He placed his hands firmly on her hips and moved her off of him. “That’s impressive. What’s it good for?”

“S just fun,” She shrugged, undetered by Josh removing her from his lap. “Let’s dance and then you can show me your wings or something.”

Josh didn’t have time to protest, as she grabbed his wrist with one hand and their second bottle of pinot noir in the other.

She took a swig before letting it float in the air beside them. Her body swiveled around the dance floor, placing herself in Josh’s arms as he swayed respectfully. She sighed and sunk into the movement, drinking from the bottle every so often. When the song changed, she turned to face Josh, handing the wine to him. He drank obediently, which she felt was a triumph.

Hands draped over his shoulders again, she pressed her body against his. He was strong, she could feel his toned stomach. Her regular eyes met his and she tipped her nose against his. He looked stoicly back at her, determined to be friendly but not fall into the trap she was so clearly laying for him.

“You’ve got so many defenses up,” She whispers. “Why not do what you want for once? Loosen up. Indulge.”

Josh smiles down at her and moves his lips to her ear. Polite as ever, he speaks soothingly. “I am having a lovely time with you, Sal.”

She groans, pressing his hands to her hips again, where the curve of her ass was. “I can gaurantee you’ve never had what I’m offering you…”

Josh smiles knowingly, unconvinced. “I’m afraid I’m above your temptations. Is seduction your main area of expertise?”

She glares at him, but there’s a glint in her eye. She loved the chase. The difficulty.

“Debauchery in general, but with how many people wanted to have sex with me in my first life I have a specialization in seduction and desire.”

He shrugs, moving his hands to a respectful place on her waist. His touch is light, but she feels the pressure of his thumbs pushing at the exposed skin. She smirks and snakes her lips up to his ear.

The gold hoop glints and she flicks her tongue over it. “I could just show you what you’re missing. If you’d allow me to put it in your mind, we wouldn’t actually do it. You’d be in complete control. Halo intact. C’mon just a few images…it’ll be informative.”

Josh sighs as the tug of her teeth on his earring. She was bad. Terribly good at her job. He understood why she was here. Jake wasn’t even in town. Damn him. If he did his job a little better, Josh wouldn’t be contemplating allowing a demon into even a small recess of his mind. But, Jesus, did he want to just see it. If it wasn’t real, it wasn’t really a sin to indulge.

She stares at him, waiting for his response. Her hands run over his shoulders and chest. The music swells and Josh’s hands tighten on her waist as he looks up to the ceiling, praying for forgiveness.

“For educational purposes,” He starts and she grins. “I will allow you to show me how you do your job. So that I may be able to thwart your wrongdoings better.”

“It’s just a little sex,” She licks her lips. “Igniting passion in people makes more babies for you to teach heavenly values or whatever. God likes sex, Josh.” Her voice is sickening, it was like she was dripping in a delicious scent that Josh can’t get out of his head. Twisting his values and her intentions into something evil that somehow made wicked sense.

He’s been careful to only open up a small piece he knows he can close, but he almost loses his footing when he finally feels her stinging lips on his. She licks into his mouth and he’s about to protest before the images begin to flow through his mind.

‘Good thing your brother doesn’t have to transfer information like this, huh?’ Sal says within Josh’s mind.

Guiltily, he feels himself laughing. Though his physical body is still locking lips with her.

The room she brings him to in his mind is dark, a red lamp in the corner where two bodies are rolling around. Sighs of ecstasy filling his ears. The smell of sex hanging in his nose.

‘You’re really missing out, angel. Could show you the best thing life, and death, has to offer.’ Her voice is softer in his mind.

The scene changes. He’s staring up at her above him. Her hips are working over him steadily as her naked breasts bounce in front of him, her necklace is the glowing light now. Her voice is sinful as she moans praises for Josh. How good he feels, how big he is, how strong he is. The scene changes and he’s driving into her with her legs over his shoulders, she’s smiling sweetly up at him with her mouth open, repeating his name like a prayer. It shifts and she’s pressed face down in the grey silk pillows, her body spread out for him as he grunts and growls, thrusting ceremoniously into her as she screams for him to keep going. It’s melodic, every bodily sound and the scene of their physical bodies uniting is hypnotic. Like it was pre-ordained that he would fit so well inside her. He feels euphoric as it shifts once more. She is back on top, his hips press up into her as she grinds down. Their faces are pressed together as Josh holds her body close to him. Arms enveloping her fragile frame. The room is quiet as they are pressed skin to skin, her lips meeting his gently. Sharp gasps escape their trembling lips.

‘Okay, enough,’ Josh pushes away from the scene, feeling both aroused and confused.

In the speakeasy, she pulls back from the kiss with a wipe of her lips. She runs her hands through her hair as she watches Josh. She had shown him every one of his fantasies, placing herself at the center of them. They weren’t particularly raunchy, it was all about connection to him and for once she didn’t tease.

“I like you, Joshua,” She says, truthfully, allowing him to pull their bodies a little apart.

He was flustered and confused and embarrassed, but he also didn’t want to run. She had kept her word, shown him a few things and left. He didn’t fully understand the words she had just spoken.

He shakes his head, an awkward smile on his lips there on accident, and she stares at him wistfully.

“I haven’t had someone in my mind in a very long time.”

“It’s okay,” She soothes. “You really are an angel. Maybe on this earthly plane for too long since you clearly have carnal desires, but they were sweet. Every man’s mind I’ve looked into had vile and cruel desires…” She paused, looking past Josh. “Even in my first life, all the men I knew wanted to hurt the women they supposedly loved.”

Josh’s eyebrows shot up in shock.

“The closest you got to dirty was having me in do–”

“Okay!” Josh cut her off. “I think it’s time to call it a night.” He turned and walked swiftly through the crowd, parting easily for him–definitely not a misuse of his miracles.

“Fine,” She grinned wickedly and whistled for Rori, sauntering after Josh.

Back on the street, it could’ve been daytime with all the lights compared to the speakeasy. She squinted her eyes in distaste, thriving in the dark and wishing she had brought her sunglasses.

Josh was turned away from her so she tapped on his shoulder, wanting his attention. Wanting to see him again. He turned slowly and the look on his cherubic face was troubled. She frowned, about to ask what got his wings in a twist.

A shadow stepped into Josh’s light. His hair was long and messy, in need of a wash. His silver jewelry shined heavy on his tanned chest. His black button up was almost completely open exposing his torso and he held a wide-brimmed black hat loosely in one hand and a guitar case more carefully in the other. His eyes flashed yellow when he spotted Y/N.

She straightened her posture under his gaze and gave him a defiant look. Rori growled, but stayed behind her legs.

Jake ran his tongue over his bottom lip, taking in the woman shaped devil before him. “You must be the new demon in town.”

She tilted her head at him and looked between Josh and Jake. “And you must be your brother’s keeper.”

He took a menacing step closer, narrowing his eyes at his angel of a brother before returning his gaze to her. “Something like that. Now, farewell…or don’t, I don’t care.”

She opened her mouth to speak again but no sound came out.

His eyes flashed again as he turned on his heel and said tersely, a command, “Josh.”

The pair disappeared into fog that had appeared as suddenly as the older demon along the nighttime sidewalk and then she watched it dissipate moments later, leaving no trace of the creatures. The men. The angel and the demon.

to be continued... join the taglist

131 notes · View notes

reorientation · 9 months

Note

hey, no pressure to answer this obv, but could you elaborate on how you as a cis man came to enjoy this kink? as a trans person i feel pretty lukewarm about it but can understand why other trans people would be into it, but it’s harder for me to understand how it would appeal to a cis person.

Sure, happy to get into it!

First off, the simple chronological answer: breeding is my biggest kink, and trans guys / transmasc NBs are a force on breeding kink Tumblr + the other site. (Seriously: before getting into this kink scene, I did not appreciate what T does to a mf-er.) There's a ton of blogs and they often have a lot of intense, personal, original content - so I started following a bunch of them and things developed from there.

In terms of what I like about it:

I like need and desperation, and it's hard to find anyone needier or more desperate than a trans guy taking T shots. Inexperience also lends itself to dark fantasy - like taking someone's virginity by raping them, or getting them pregnant the first time they have sex - and lots of trans guys on the site are virgins, or single and very inexperienced, for easy-to-understand reasons.

I really enjoy sexual desire as an almost coercive force - people losing control of themselves and doing things that they thought they would never do and liking it - and that's an incredibly potent element of orientation play. Voluntarily giving up your whole identity that you fought so hard for, just because you come so hard when you think about it, is fucking hot. As is it being forced upon you, but you liking it against your will.

I'm also immensely into the physically coercive aspect of breeding: the way that it makes AFAB people's bodies change whether they like it or not, and whether they consented or not. In the case of orientation play, this is amplified by the idea that it's forcing you into being a woman, taking away your identity. Plus, as before, the idea of you liking being pregnant, discovering that what your body did against your will was what you really wanted, is delicious - especially since I've seen some cases where it actually happened.

Bioessentialism is a really hot form of objectification - "I don't care what's in your head, you've still got a pussy and a womb" - and it couples well with fantasies about free use (e.g. "fakeboys should be public fucktoys for straight men until they get over their delusions") and also the extreme horniness induced by T. ("Aww, you tried so hard to be a man and it just made your pussy get wetter?")

Transmasc people are very vocal and enthusiastic participants in the kink scene - this blog gets way more asks, DMs, reblogs with horny tags, etc. than my other one, even though it has fewer followers. Interaction is the most fun part of running a kink blog, so that's a big incentive to keep being active.

Probably more than you were asking for, but I think a lot about what psychological factors power various kinks, so it was fun to dive into discussing it a bit. :)

#reor: reality #reor: blog meta #more sexy stuff to come over the next couple of days

82 notes · View notes

transingthoseformers · 1 month

Note

Something wholesome to wake up too :D. I remember stumbling upon your post about both Megatronus and Orion being clerks/librarians/archivist thanks to the TF One movie making them both miners sooo have like my spin on it/headcanons based on the idea? -Megatronus and Orion met when Megs was still D-16 aka a miner. When Terminus managed to get a break from the mines, which was so rare, he would sneak Megs with him so the young miner could experience more. He took him to the Iacon Hall of Records since D-16 mentioned being curious about the history of Cybertron, there he met a young Orion.

-Orion and him would bond over data pads Orion managed to smuggle to the mine site, lots of them being old poetry and history that excited D-16. It is also how D-16 gets his name of Megatronus

-At some point, Alpha Trion catches on, and instead of being anger, decides "Eh fuck it, Orion needs someone around his age to talk to" //proceeds to yoink the young miner and giving him a better life

-Now a proper clerk for the Hall of Records with Orion, it is kind of chaos. It's basically "An introvert and ambivert become friends and they have to play rock, paper, scissors on who deals with people". Megs always loses, he hates it.

-Orion has def snuck Meg's poetry and writings into the records because he is so proud of Meg's work. Megs gets flustered.

-I lowkey just picture this AU being more chill. Yeah, Megs still wants the caste system gone, but is less violent about it, trying to use his words and peaceful protests first before being forced to go to more extremes. Orion maybe backing it up too because maybe the council just straight up ignored Megs because they see him as low-caste still and he's just "Ayo wtf".

-When maybe Orion becomes Optimus, Megs backs him up, helping archive everything while helping him connect with the low-castes who are wary of OP. Also def acts as OP's scary dog without realizing it lol

-Honestly i cant see clerk!Megs becoming the con tyrant warlord we know him as, I feel like he would be more calm and chill, preferring to spread his message while also like keeping OP in check so he doesn't become a tyrannt

-Would still call OP "Orion", and no one can stop him. Not even OP. As revenge OP scatters Megs poetry. In summary: Megs helps break the "serious and cold" prime act alot and helps a lot of the team connect with Optimus on a personal level

Sorry that this is long, but these ideas plagued me i hope that is okay!

YES

Ooo on Terminus and Megatron sneaking to the surface, and that being how Orion met him

Yes on the smuggling of datapads to D-16, and makes sense he'd get his new name from them

Alpha Trion just... Taking Megatronus has to have consequences, significant consequences

Sfsgd yes, "you do it" "no you do it" "you lost, you do it" "🤬🤬🤬"

Yes on Orion and Megs sneaking the poetry into the records, preserve it yes

100% this is a more chill au idea, always was meant to be a more chill au idea

Interesting way it changes Megatronus

We really "the power of friendship"-ed this up, it's v cool. Megatronus has grown into himself in a different direction, and I bet their friendship being earlier and arguably closer effects Orion in an interesting way

I am a SUCKER for characters calling Optimus "Orion" as a sign of closeness, oh it's gotta have fun moments

OO on the team part? Does the war still happen and Op and Megs are on the same side, or does the team unite in a different different way?

31 notes · View notes

rick-rayson · 1 year

Note

Okay so weirdly specific, but could you do imagines for Yara Flor x Reader where reader is a villain who’s not evil, they’re just a Megamind type villain: a harmless theater kid who’s a good person. Also they’re a magic-themed villain and the Circe to Yara’s Diana

DRAMATICS

A/N: I put this into the same formatting as my Jonathan Crane post because the normal storytelling format just wasn't doing it for me (Don't ask how that works it just does) Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy and sorry for the long wait ORZ THIS IS KINDA LAME- BUT ALSO YARA IS DEF THE PERSON TO HATE THE MEGAMIND TYPES LOWKEY-

"Reader is a villain who’s not evil, they’re just a Megamind type villain: a harmless theater kid who’s a good person. Also they’re a magic-themed villain and the Circe to Yara’s Diana."

➯ Despite her many clashes with society, humanity and spectacles alike, Yara is a virtuous and giving woman who prides herself in her ability to stick up for others who cannot do it for themselves. She protects the people of São Paulo and speaks where they cannot be heard, to her core that is who Yara is. A protector. A warrior.

➯ It was an uneventful day, Yara took to helping civilians with the common thief and the occasional crook, picking up debris three times her height and mass as if it was akin to lifting a lone pebble. So, not very eventful for Yara but most definitely perplexing for the average citizen. It was, all things considered, calming.

➯ That was until Yara's ears pick up the sound of familiar and loud music that hurts her ears to even listen to. And with a groan of annoyance, she stands tall, already knowing what is to come.. or more like who.

➯ "Greetings, people of São Paulo! Your greatest nightmare has arrived!" You gloat, arms raised as you conjure up what Yara can comprehend to be coloured illusions of animals and fireworks. Usually, such a sight would enlighten Yara, it reminds her of the carnivals she's attended. But right now she's over this ploy of yours.

➯ You and Yara have been doing this game for far too long. (A month) A millennium, truly. You come in with an elaborate display and an evil plan that she easily thwarts with the flick of her wrist and the painful end of her golden Bolas. you somehow disappear and she's annoyed all over again.

➯ "We're doing this again? Have you no hobbies?" She grimaces at you, in the action of whirling a Bola. ➯ "This is the hobby, actually, so-"

➯ She throws a Bola at you, forcing you to construct a forcefield. "You know you are very volatile."

➯ "And you are very annoying." She mutters before she's leaping towards you, her fist barely missing your jaw.

➯ "It's been a while since I've been villain-ing so you could-" A poor construct of a pig takes the damning punch that was meant for you. It shatters like glass. "-make this less of a bad experience for me-"

➯ "I aim to make it worse." Yara smiles before sending a hearty punch to your nose.

➯ "And you're-" you wince as you hold your nose that was now sputtering with blood, "supposed to be the good guy-" Yara ties you up using her lasso.

➯ "Speak now or I throw you off this building, why do you do this?" She grits her teeth yet all you can think about is the small gap between you two.

➯ You make an attempt to shrug, "show....biz?"

➯ There's a pause, a beat, Yara's angered expression has now gone blank at the sound of your answer. And the silence is so long that not even the nosy civilians who've arrived are confident in breaking it. "Theatrics? You use your powers for theatrics?"

➯ "Mostly, yeah."

By the police arrive Yara leaves your legs tied together, the officers are quick to expect some manner of resistance but upon arriving at the site, all they see is you writing on the floor with a Sharpie. An officer slowly treads to make sense of what you're writing: "I am dramatic and I love Wonder Woman."

#dc x reader #dc comics #dc x y/n #dc x you #dc future state #future state wonder woman #future state justice league #yara flor x reader #yara flor x you #yara flor x y/n #yara flor #wonder woman x reader #wonderwoman #dcu comics #dc fanfic

65 notes · View notes

anantaru · 5 months

Note

Hi! Long time lurker here with some words of wisdom if you will. Gonna apologize in advance if it's too cutthroat, but know it's not directed at you with malice.

It's not your responsibility to cater to every person on the internet. It's not your responsibility to curate an image that makes other people accept you. All you can do is be yourself (whether that be actually you or your internet persona if you have one) to the best of your abilities. At the end of the day, who gives a fuck if someone is triggered by some offhanded comment? You kinda just have to think, "Sorry you experienced some unpleasant things, but I don't know you or your history."

Not your monkey, not your circus.

The issue with the internet today is that too many people are so fucking sensitive about context and self-imposed perceptions. Too many people have a victim complex with a snowflake mentality and it makes me want to blow my brains out everytime someone has a freaking melt down over something so little and once again self-perceived. To be honest, you shouldn't even have to apologize, but it's kind that you did.

From this moment onwards, I want you and anyone else who may read this to remember that it's literally not your responsibility to make anyone comfortable on your little corner of the internet. It's yours, post whatever the fuck you want. Anyone who attacks you is just a fuckin loser who can't cope with navigating life like an adult, or staying in a kids place if they're a minor.

I'm tired of seeing all this unnecessary discourse like we're a bunch of highschoolers or even worse, middle schoolers, jesus fucking christ. On that note, I hope you feel better, I'll be rooting for you from now until you decide to leave. Thanks for all of your hard work, and try not to let the bullshit bother you so much.

hello! 💕 i wasn't planning on answering any asks regarding this situation anymore but this ask really woke me up. i for one, totally agree with you and i have always had this mindset as well, like there's been plenty of times where i would scroll through social media and something would catch me off guard or even trigger me (which happens so rarely), but honestly guys, i don't care when this happens lmao, i just kept scrolling and forget about it in two minutes like i have so much on my mind in real life with my profession, i do not need something online to force itself into my peace and it's the internet, you will stumble upon something that might upset you.

I believe if you are on any social media site, you cannot expect everything to go according to plan, even considering you take the necessary steps and block certain tags (for example on tumblr) it can very much happen that you will still be exposed to it. at some point you have to realize that this world is not accustomed to you, nothing is, wether in real life nor online, you have to accept that there will always be different views and opinions that will piss you off or not align with you, make you mad or sad, but what you should never do in this situation is send hate or make it seem like a person is this awful individual.

you are not a good person if you bully people, and even if you show us all the awful things you had to go through in your real life, it is not an apology to bully people and you can attempt to make us feel bad, but i don't have sympathy for bullies, even if you were bullied yourself, especially then you should know how it feels like.

again anon, thank you so much! 💕 i was really questioning on how to behave on this blog anymore, it's a huge blog and i have found it to be a little overwhelming, but then I remember that my readers are the sweetest people out there and I know I have the best little corner on the internet here, with them by my side 💕 you really brought me back to reality, thank you nonnie.

#˚✩彡 anon'#꒰୨ 𖤐 ୧꒱ answered'

20 notes · View notes

dreamii-krybaby · 5 months

Note

what made u like Yeva so much?? honestly i like Yeva too but idk why lmao

I actually had a draft explaining why I love Yeva so much NENEJWBSJEBEH

Buckle the fuck up, its long

Honestly I can’t remember exactly what it was that specifically made me appreciate her more, I think it was in EP4 where I started paying more attention to her. I think it was mostly her hidden lore that drew me. Tho upon EP3 I thought she was a very interesting character

Honestly every appearance she makes made me think more of how she is connected to the lore and made me start to slowly connecting some dots, like her being behind the Site-48 “incident”

And honestly every appearance also makes me wanna give her a hug, poor woman looked traumatized

Idk they are lot of interesting details regarding her, like how she still kept the exact same CFL outfit, the site-48 incident, her eye possibly getting blown off by the AS in EP6, giving an explanation to Doll’s eyepatch. Her eye and Doll’s eyes going from red to orange bc of the AS. And hatever the hell she saw with her now-husband in EP4.

My Roman empire is religious symbolism, so when I figured out that Yeva = Eve in russian I was in love

Also am sucker for character who have “illegal traumatized subject experiment” and “I may or may have gotten possessed by evil forces” plot

We gotta love possibly questionable, unstable, cannibalistic women with god powers

And also, am just naturally drawn to mysterious characters, they are fun. Even if people can consider bland characters or characters with very little info boring, to me it can be fun. Like tbh you rlly need a few small details regarding their personality and the rest can be up to you.

Also even if we have very info regarding her personality, the fandom and me where still able to get an idea on how she was and the different directions her personality can take

Bonus points for her being heavily implied to be Russian (am half-Russian, tho ironically I know very little Russian 💀)

Maybe you’re drawn to her visual designs or mysterious character or her lore or maybe some characteristic of her

Like one of the things that I think Yeva is known is apart from being close to Nori, is her “(0-0)” expressions she makes just like Doll does

So I live that despite the lack of screen time and no voice lines, she has a lot of lore hidden and connected. You are still able to pick up some details about her, like her personality and let’s not forget her death was a massive butterfly/Domino effect on the series.

#murder drones #murder drones yeva #yeva murder drones #md yeva #yeva md

22 notes · View notes

knightlyrose · 11 days

Text

Rating: 4/5

A very good book, falling just shy of greatness.

Becky Chambers comes highly recommended to me on all fronts, and I will definitely pass on that recommendation, at least for this book. To Be Taught is a tender-hearted and fresh look at the concept of exoplanet exploration, forsaking the highly colonialist concept of terraforming in favour of "somaforming": the manipulation of astronauts' physiologies to suit the planets they explore, rather than bending alien nature to human will.

While the book features some plot and narrative elements that always appeal to me, such as a small cast of characters stuck in a confined space for extended periods of time, and speculative taxonomy, the book's main appeal to me was this unique take on Change in the face of the New.

Full Review [spoilers]:

I did quite enjoy the small cast locked in their little pod lightyears from home - one of the most lasting images from the book to me is the sheer misery of the crew when they're stuck, surrounded by shrieking slug-like alien animals on a wet and rainy planet for months on end, all slowly breaking down in unique ways.

But more importantly to me, To Be Taught addresses the all-too-common colonialist trope of terraforming, explicitly tackling its cruel implications and - crucially - imagining an alternative. Terraforming is the logical conclusion of colonialism, and its inescapability in fiction drives real world ecological disasters such as the destruction of deserts. Somaforming is, in my opinion, the ideal framework of approaching any kind of journey into the unknown - from personal trips to seeking new habitats for mankind. One must always expect to change and be changed. One must never presume to force or shape the change of the other. Change upon the other will occur, but we must be willing for it to emerge naturally, and potentially at pains to ourselves.

The book could have used more depictions of this change for the exoplanets - one of the more memorable scenes is when a crewmember is forced to kill an alien animal for the safety of both the mission and the broader ecosystem, and it deeply affects him, but I wish the book delved into more of how their mere presence will alter these worlds forever.

The aforementioned crewmember, Chikondi, is the site of the most engaging of the character work and his bond with the narrator, Ariadne, is both tender and narratively satisfying. His reaching out to her with the same rhetorical techniques she used to try and breach his depression forms one of the most impactful scenes of the book, where Ariadne is coaxed back from the brink of unfeeling suicide with the reminder of the inextricable links between herself and others.

This book is very focused on the reciprocal nature of the relationship between the astronauts and the people they've left behind. The politics of the book are occasionally tenuous (with the only named country of the 23rd century seemingly a seceded Cascadia), and the depiction of the crowdfunded stateless space program often verges on the breathless and gushing. It does fit the character of the narrator, but I would have appreciated more subtextual question-raising of the nature of this organisation.

Nonetheless, the emotional bond between the astronauts and Earth carries the entirety of the story, and saves its ending from seeming non-committal or weak. The ambiguity of whether they will return or continue onwards could seem like the failure of the author to make a call one way or the other in a lesser book, but here it's the logical conclusion of the values the characters all hold, and the system that has brought them this far at all. Despite my hesitancy at the politics of the book (though I do concede the light touch is preferable to a screed, which novellas are always prone to becoming due to their short length), the ultimate message of unity, collaborative decision-making, and foregrounding the well-being of mankind over exploration for exploration's sake is one I can get behind.

Prose was unremarkable in a good way. Ocasionally breathless, but never to an immersion breaking extent (indeed, while a little passé, it suits the narrator). No lines jumped out to me as spectacular or anything, but genuinely interesting vistas of exoplanets were depicted in engaging and evoking ways, and the most emotional moments weren't bogged down with overt sentimentality, allowing the actual impact of the scenes to shine through.

It's a good book, and one that has me eager to read the rest of her stuff.

Recommended for: Star Trek fans, anyone looking to get into sci-fi but are put off by long ass books, eveyone sick of terraforming, readers disappointed by The Deep Sky, people who still have faith in kickstarter, and evolutionary biologists.

#to be taught if fortunate #becky chambers #sci fi #science fiction #book review #knightly dispatch #book rec

9 notes · View notes

gsirvitor · 8 months

Note

I'm a slut for some 40k lore, tell me about the funny gas mask men with the shovles

Ah yes, the Death Korps of Krieg.

Krieg is a toxic, radioactive Death World within the Imperium of Man, and it is the homeworld of the Astra Militarum's Militarum Regimentum known as the Death Korps of Krieg.

Known for their common deployment in the war zones of the Segmentum Tempestus and Segmentum Solar, the Death Korps are particularly skilled at attritional trench warfare, sieges of and assaults upon heavily fortified static positions and warfare in extreme environments known for their biological, chemical and radioactive hazards.

Why are they like this? It's simple, nuclear armageddon.

Krieg was the site of a rebellion against the Imperium over 1500 years ago, in response to the rebellion the Loyalists bombarded the surface of the world with nuclear weapons, which was then followed by 500 years of grinding trench and tunnel based warfare between the Loyalists and Traitors.

After those centuries of nuclear destruction and tunnel warfare, Krieg was reduced to a radioactive husk, and its people were forced to live Metro 2033 style in underground hive cities to survive the toxic environment.

This forged them the people of Krieg into grim, fatalistic and dour individuals, and the soldiers of the Death Korps are even more so, they selflessly wade into the most abhorrent war zones satuarated with radiation and other toxins.

The military engagement they're involved are often decades long sieges with astronomically high casualty rates, and only those of Catachan stock are comparable to the men and women of Krieg.

Almost all Imperial Guardsmen from Krieg, save vehicle crews, wear their distinctive and highly advanced respirator units that filter out toxic and radioactive particles.

These gasmasks are a relic of their world, and act as a legacy and reminder of Krieg's eternal service to the needs of the Imperium.

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention, the nuclear armageddon was not a one off thing, the Loyalists didn't just fire the nukes once, they had kept firing nukes for the 500 years they were fighting the Traitors.

Now I don't need to tell you this as it is fairly obvious, the Death Korps of Krieg are modeled after WWI German soldiers, the trench warfare of WWI, while their name means War in German.

The helmet top shares a profile with the French Adrian helmet while the bottom part is clearly inspired by the German Stalhelm.

The iconic gasmask is extremely similar to the British SBR gasmask used during the war.

The bayonet is modeled after the American M1917 Bayonet.

The Lasgun Model 98 is named after the German Gewehr 98.

The breastplate worn by Krieg Officers and Death Riders is inspired by the French Cuirassier breastplate.

The Krieg soldiers retreat when an objective proves too much, is a waste of men and materiel or is a tactical decision to ensure victory.

While this all make sense, have you actually heard of them running in fear? Became they have, on page 72 of Imperial Armor Volume 5, the 158th Regiment of the 12th Line Korps routed due to heavy heretic resistance on the second Vraksian defense line.

They retreated and even fragged their own commissars who tried to stop the retreat.

Aside from that, there are multiple instances of Krieg engineers screaming in fear as they faced Khornate Beserkers, proving that they are not unfeeling soldiers bred for war, their grim outlook is a byproduct of their environment, they aren't soldier who will march endlessly to their deaths, it just takes longer for them to break in comparison to other Imperial Guard units.

That said, I think it's important to consider that the Siege of Vraks, fall of Orpheus, and Dead Men Walking portrayals of Krieg all vary considerably, as each is an interpretation by a different author.

It is hard to picture the automatons of Dead Men Walking or the other short stories by Steve Lyons acting in the same manner as the Krieg soldiers in the routs described in Siege of Vraks.

Outside of those sources there are also occasional examples of Krieg soldiers who are pretty much indistinguishable from cadians in gasmasks.

Unfortunately Krieg soldiers caving in heretic skulls with their entrenching tool is a meme the community came up with and is not canon.

26 notes · View notes

karizard-ao3 · 29 days

Note

Aaaaah. Coffee shop au but make it post EoE

Oooh, post-apocalyptic coffee shop! I don't read a lot of coffee shop aus, so please forgive me if I miss any tropes I'm supposed to hit upon.

So I'm thinking post-third impact, everything in the blast area must be a wasteland like the antarctic, even if an appreciable amount of people did decide to come back from goop (which, by the way, is the ocean meant to be all the consciousnesses now? Where did they go? Did they disappear to the quantum plane or whatever like Shinji did that one time?), there is no way they can survive that close to the wrecked ocean. Maybe not even in that hemisphere. Not without subsisting on canned foods and finding other ways to farm and stuff, because I'll bet the land is absolutely barren at this point. So if Asuka and Shinji were to stay there, they would have to be part of the resettlement efforts. Maybe other countries who were outside the damage zone are sending aid and stuff. I'm not sure how the city's infrastructure fared, especially with part of it being underground, but I'm going to go with they have electricity, but it's spotty, and you can't always trust the water, maybe?

Anyway, Asuka and Shinji need money and there are tourists and stuff that want to see the site of the third impact- wait. Can they both work at the coffee shop in a coffee shop au, or does one have to be the customer? Whatever. They both work there. Shinji is the barista and baker, Asuka is the waitress and acts as security, since I'm sure the government is a shadow of its former self.

Anyway, they build the coffee shop themselves from the wreckage of NERV HQ, where they holed up for a while during the early days, because I am indeed assuming NERV would have had supply stores in the case that they had to lock down for an unknown period of time.

Anyway, using what they filched from there and then the humanitarian aid crates and whatnot, they are able to set up a coffee shop. Asuka thinks Shinji's idea is absolute ass at first because who wants to go to a coffee shop when they're struggling to survive? But it turns out that a lot of people crave the normalcy, just like Shinji does. So he's happily bustling around, boiling contaminated water and finding ways to make treats out of the supplies they get. Not sure if people have money or if they trade other things, but they're getting by. Shinji becomes more confident in himself because everyone praises his culinary skills and Asuka doesn't have to compete with Shinji anymore because they have different jobs, which allows her to start to appreciate what a rare and precious blossom he is.

Maybe a customer can show up and throw a wrench in their love story until eventually Asuka takes them out. But who could this vile person be? Gendo wouldn't come back. He wants to be slime with Yui. Maybe Ritsuko? She's kind of mean-spirited and bitter. Maybe she wants to carry on the work with the Evas, as some kind of desperate bid to find meaning in life again? She's really fucking with Shinji's head, trying to force him into it. Maybe she decides the only way is to get the coffee shop shut down!!! So they have to save the coffee shop!

I don't know! I feel like there are a lot of possibilities!

#ask me things #my asks #answered asks #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #coffee shop au #shinji ikari #asuka langley soryu #ritsuko akagi #post-apocalyptic coffee shop

9 notes · View notes

tipsygnostalgy · 1 year

Text

On Grandpa/Jake Harley

you know shits about to be long as fuck when i add the keep reading line like four lines in lol

anyway anon all this is 4 u!! feel free to talk ab this by just tagging instead of rb i dont want 2k words to be posted over n over again

Grandpa Harley being some kind of pseudo-omnipotent deity figure who somehow figures out/guesses (my money's on guesses) extremely intricate details about the game and does everything he can to make things go right is something that we don't talk about enough. It's one of the only plans in Homestuck made that are orchestrated entirely by one person then ends up going right. It's that pattern of hoping that the cards fall into place in the right way (unless we're taking the Grandpa is practically God perspective, which is interesting in its own right)—but notably, he makes a lot of preparations beforehand. He's so... active. It fascinates me. I'll have to talk about this on the Jake English as Jesus Christ trope post (it's coming, I swear, brainrot's a bitch) but the sheer amount of things he does is astounding. But, lo and behold, he wasn't always like this. Cue: the Skaianet Systems Incorporated texts.

Quick note about all that. A very large portion of the things Hussie wrote for SSI is 1) dubiously canon, and 2) a bunch of anti-semitic bullshit that he probably never should have fucking released to the public, at least not like that. Like, holy shit, keep that and your weird comments about sexual slavery in your Notes app dude, we don't need to hear it. For this reason I suggest reading the actual material with extreme caution. Cool? Cool. On with it. Here's a lil' review of Jake Harley before the session.

Funny enough, Jake had always been kind of pathetic in the Beta session as well.

So Skaianet was actually established by HIC as a front for laundering technology from Alternia and Sburbian ruins. The key of SN was not to actually develop tech, but make it look like it so that people will believe you when your company just re-defined gravity for the hundredth time. Jake has to play the "famous genius shtick," but he doesn't do so well. When he fully inherits SN at 21 he runs it hands-on, and "believes" his success is due to hard work and diligence. He also "believes SN is now a considerably more distinct entity from Crocker Corp, and his leadership of the company is a result of his hard work and competence. Neither is true." He's manipulated by his at-the-time boyfriend (Charlie Chaplin, somehow) into letting a rebel force into the Crocker manor, though the effort is ultimately thwarted by HIC.

He also has a disastrous love life. His relationship at sixteen with Chaplin consists of Chaplin finding him "obnoxious and thoughtless" though he "can't seem to quit him," and Jake ultimately "[toys] with his heart, and [abandons] him." This later (much later, think decades) manifests into something way worse when Chaplin appears in an outing Jake has with one of his families (he's had many, though not at once) and tries to kill Jake for not just his involvement with SN/HIC, but for breaking his heart as well. Notably, in this scene, upon having a gun aimed at him Jake reflexively hides behind his wife, who ends up being shot in his stead. He's out-strifed so badly that he'd have died in the jungle (oh yeah he takes his wife and 5yo son to a jungle btw) if Chaplin didn't have a divine intervention moment afterwards.

At 32 he also abandons his post at SN for fucking around Europe. "[H]e's out exploring and adventuring, completely oblivious to whatever's going on in Europe. He hops from site to site, looking for Sburbian ruins to plunder." One, the "whatever's going on" is WW2, again, somehow. Two, he has a daughter there that he "takes custody of, apprentices as an adventurer, and takes all over the place on his adventures." When he takes her to Hawaii she ditches him because she's sick of her "douchebag dad." And there's that Jude family too, obviously.

Oh, and all the Beta guardians are also meteor babies. It's how Jake ends up finding Dirk and Roxy to begin with—he sets them up with trust funds in Texas and New York so that they can be of use to SN later, though whether he knew their importance in the larger context of SBURB is unclear.

All caught up? Great.

The exact details of how every event goes down aren't as important as the lessons you can draw from it, namely: Jake Harley is an absolute fucking mess of a human being. He continuously creates families—notice how he keeps having children with his wive—then is bereaved of them. A few times he abandons them, a few times they abandon him, and sometimes they get killed by your ex-boyfriend. It's a neat little insight into just how neck-deep these commitment issues lie, but it's also fun to consider that he seeks it so desperately. This man has on record has had:

one wife be shot dead in front of him

a son who was technically kidnapped from him by the man who almost beat him to death (his ex-boyfriend)

a daughter ditch him in the middle of hawaii for being a shitty dad

a daughter (joey claire) be teleported by portal to alternia, who hated jake so much she took her dead mom's last name

said dead mom/wife whom upon her death leaves her children "Semi Orphans" because he just straight up ditches his kids to go work on hellmurder island

probably more

And he still considers himself a grandfather to Jade. TBF, I guess the easier way of explaining it is that it's simply the natural explanation—they are sort of related after all. But considering that he once sired an illegitimate daughter and not only took her into custody but tried to raise her as his liege, I still find it the fact that he tries over and over again to the point of rending the family meaningless interesting. I think it's viable that Jake wanted a family—not one where he and Jane were raised by HIC and poorly—but a real one. His attempt to raise that first daughter to mirror his habits reflects the way HIC raised Beta Jane to mirror her. Yet after relationship after relationship goes horribly wrong, this desire fades into a kind of apathetic unsureness to the point where this is what he says about his last "full" family, the Harley-Claires:

He's been making good headway on his quest for the mysterious island in the pacific. Once everything is taken care of here, he'll leave this family behind and set up shop on that island permanently. That's when the real work begins. The discoveries on that island will finally unite him with the destiny he's been in search of his whole life.

Two things of note. One, his first recorded instance of permanently setting up jackshit anywhere is at first with SkaiaNet then at Hellmurder island. Both locations share that theme of "destiny" in common—notice how he considers SN divorced from Crockercorp because of his efforts and tries to make the place overall less HIC-controlled, but ultimately fails. And sure, he later achieves this kind of destiny by having his Sburb plan go "right" but before this not a single "plan" he established went correctly. Jake in either timeline isn't a guy who regularly makes plans for multiple efforts—they zero in on one goal that appears as part of their calling and makes it happen, damn it. To him, that's a success. Whether he "actually does" is up for interpretation.

See, HIC actually wanted the Beta kids to play the game. She'd been using the Beta session as a "testing" timeline, knowing which events and people to avoid and keep in mind so that she can play everything out exactly the way she wants it to. Part of the reason why Crockertier Jane was so firmly for marrying Jake and having children was because that had been HIC's idea of what Beta Jake's purpose was once he landed on a Meteor (after B!Jane). So he saw the "big picture" in a bigger way than quite literally anyone else, but it still isn't enough, at least not in the way he thought it might be at first.

Prior to his discoveries on the island, Jake has no idea this will result in some kids using the software he's unearthing, which will destroy all life on Earth. Nor does he have any idea that those kids will be using this same software to reboot the universe with different starting conditions, thus ending this "trial run" timeline for HIC, and giving her a fresh start. Exactly as she planned.

This implies there is some moment that Grandpa Harley realized that everything he was doing would end up playing into the HIC's hands anyway. This also implies that he carried out those actions regardless, Hoping that Jade would someday win the game in the process. Are you seeing the parallel for my interpretation of Ult. Jake yet? Fuck.

What was the moment he realized? Did he power through anyway, hoping there was a bright light for Jade at the end of this all?

He's also a hoarder. He keeps items and objects instead of people. He hangs onto the past to the point where he's seemingly unable to let go of it—trophies, guns, artifacts—but throughout the entire Harley Manor there is not a single picture of his families. And that's where his dolls come in—dolls are just human enough but not too human, you can control them however you'd like yet delude yourself they are company. I'm not saying all doll-enjoyers are this way, but the specifics in which Grandpa (and Bro to an extent, for that matter) interacts with his dolls makes me believe he's turning them into pseudo-human entities because at the end of the day he again craves company. But, unlike Jake, Grandpa Harley's had a lifetime of experience reinforcing over and over again that this will never happen with a real person. And fuck, don't even get me started on the taxidermy—it's the very act of taking something, bereaving it of life and subjectivity, then keeping it for yourself. You can see how this has even affected Jade in the sense that she thinks about her taxidermied dead Grandpa (who she taxidermied himself, by the way) like a living, breathing person. And Jadebot? A robotic, perfect replica of his granddaughter, designed to monitor her at all times instead of him? And the parallels that has to Brobot. Ughghgh.

Also, quick digression. You know how Beta Dad & Mom were on the Battlefield? And how Grandpa landed just to recover Jade's dead dream body, then left Dad and Mom behind. Sorry, I'm just not normal about that at all. How did we collectively miss the sheer tragedy of that situation, God, I wonder what Roxy was thinking. Digression over.

All in all, what these files tell me is that the way Jake was written was no way accidental. Yeah he got fucked over in the Alpha session, yeah he's tragic, but he's tragic for a reason that I ultimately appreciate even as I clutch my heart and dramatically fall over from pain. He knows just enough about the meta-reality to cause feelings of absurdity but powers through it; he's supposed to be put in seemingly insurmountable situations and emerge, through one way or the other, victorious. He's supposed to have the strangest relationship known to man regarding other people and, as a result, try to find compromise between the two halves of "complete fuck-all isolation" and "the company of any developed adult human ever." He's goal-oriented only when it presents a clear-cut destiny to him, when he can see the significance of it, and otherwise floats around doing fuck-all in this world. This goal is, most of the time, people: Dirk for LE Jake, and Jade for Harley. It's also fun insight into where Jake could potentially end up going—as this post by Cooper already pointed out, Ult. Dirk's actions mirror Bro's need to micromanage and control everything in his life to the point where he, much alike Bro, secludes himself in an apartment while running his inner machinations unknown to most others. I wouldn't be surprised if Jake ends up in a similar way to Grandpa, giving his all to a dreary situation and maintaining Hope through it with the desire that it'll eventually succeed.

It would also be fun if his Hopes only came true after his death.

Alright, analysis over, everyone clock out. Good work, people. [Vaguely gestures to the reader.]

#tgtakes #jake english #grandpa harley #homestuck #ultimate jake #ask

34 notes · View notes

malwary · 1 year

Text

a little while ago @neuro-typical sent me this post by @bye2k of a popup that appeared when trying to right-click images on a shadow the hedgehog fan forum, known as Wishes are Eternal (after the SA2 line). this version of the site appears to be an archived snapshot on the wayback machine, and I'm happy to confirm that it is indeed real. though i couldn't get the popup to work in my own browser, the javascript does exist in the source code of the site, so it's very real and very cool.

i had a lot of things to say about this, but i didn't want to blast the notes of the OG post into oblivion with my big funny wall of text, so I've made my own post. below the readmore I'll explain javascript popups on the internet, some malware that has utilized this, and some very interesting sonic fan community history.

first of all: what is this? how did the webmaster manage to create a popup window in your computer to stop you from downloading images?

well, that would be javascript. because JS is just a normal script language that can do whatever you want, creating a popup is no exception. now, whoever ran the site did not write this script themself, this much is evident by the credit you can see in the source code for the site.

this script is offered by a site called dynamicdrive.com, specifically for disabling right-clicks. you see how simple this is? javascript makes it possible to bother users in all sorts of creative ways. plenty of malware on the web utilizes javascript, and you're probably already aware of most good examples.

you're most likely familiar with offiz, better known by the colloquial name "You Are An Idiot". though its status as malware is somewhat debated, most people can agree that the sites it was on abused a javascript function that allowed it to create hundreds upon hundreds of bouncing windows, slowing the user computer to a crawl and forcing the user to restart their machine, meaning any unsaved work they had open was now lost. in that way it was destructive, though indirectly.

offiz is an example of javascript malware that is harmless on its own, but not all JS malware is that friendly. javascript can be used to force your machine to download software, steal user data, serve you all manner of popups, employ many kinds of malicious code through xss, and more. although these cases are rarer than they were, say, a decade ago, that doesn't mean they don't still happen. here is a fascinating little instance of javascript being used maliciously very recently. it's hard to suggest ways to avoid these without just telling you to use common sense, but there's no other way to put it. as is the case with all malware, your best bet when it comes to not getting it is thinking before you click.

browser malware is extremely common. you may have encountered it going to a suspicious website. there is certainly a necessary aspect of social engineering to this type of malware, you have to be paying less attention to where you're going and what you're doing to stumble upon a site so unsecured that it could infect you. users who get themselves into these situations are typically looking for either p_rn or pirated stuff, so they're more likely to act in irrational or desperate ways to get to their content. don't be a fool online and you won't get played for one.

so, why? why does this old, obscure sonic fan forum have javascript that prevents you from right clicking images? prevents you from downloading images?

this forum is very, very old. the last posts on the entire site were about 10 years ago, even to this day. it's no surprise to me that a lot of this site is a relic of its time. the photobucket watermark on the header image, the collecton of midis of shadow themes playable on the site, the use of the term "ripped off" (as opposed to ripped) to describe the action of taking sprites from a game. it's all there on the very first page, the only one in this archive. despite what youtube video slideshows with a single text scroll that says "no copyright intended, pictures found on google" may imply, reposting images was indeed taken seriously at this time. this was a time when it wasn't too uncommon to see a credit to the person who made an anime girl image transparent (a render, for those unaware) in a forum signature. this was a time when someone got caught tracing every 5 days.

that's not to say there were no issues, but people were still very defensive over what they deemed to be theirs. this was especially prevalent in fanart. fan works are hard and are always a labor of love, so it's no surprise nobody wanted their work reposted, especially not without credit. this was especially clear when looking into some parts of the sprite ripping community. making spritesheets was much harder then than it is now, and it was especially impressive if sprites were hand-edited or even made from scratch. this incredibly painstaking work combined with sonic fans reputation for... unwavering passion... could often culminate in a very serious attitude towards doing something as simple as saving an image. in fact, for some people, this mindset has never truly left.

in 2014, fangame creator Leemena Dan published Sonic Gather Battle on SAGE (the Sonic Amateur Games Expo) to mostly positive reception but ultimately little attention outside of sonic fans online. that is, until 2017, when after a seemingly inconspicuous update, players discovered what appeared to be an audaciously malicious form of DRM present in the game.

this malware had everything. all the bells and whistles. when a player would do any number of things from opening software made to decompile games to simply typing "sonic gather battle cheat" into their internet browser search bar, the payload would activate. (which, of course, means it tracks your keystrokes!)

it's difficult to find good footage of both layers of this DRM (or, rather, both payloads of this malware) that doesn't include a facecam of some gamer dude gawking and screaming at his computer screen. even so, I've found two decent ones. layer 1, and layer 2. this DRM also sends your IP address to a privately owned server, presumably so that the DRM would activate even when the game is uninstalled, and when trying to play it, a splash screen would show telling you to abide by the rules.

unsurprisingly, people did not consider this a proportionate way to respond to the threat of people ripping the sprites from a fangame, and the creator has since been banned from SAGE. to this very day, some people are simply so protective of their work that they'd be willing to go to any length to prevent you from saving it. as obnoxious as that can sometimes seem, it does make for some very interesting history.

#trojan #spyware #scareware #Offiz #Sonic Gather Battle #sonic

30 notes · View notes