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robinsegghead · 5 months ago

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Danny's Daycare Part 1

[Master List]

Danny liked to believe he was a good person, with a good heart, but even he knew he’d decided to do this more out of boredom than anything else. There were a lot of places and people he could help with his powers and wealth but there were only two reasons he’d agreed to help Lady Gotham. The first being; she’d asked. Who was he to turn down a city spirit who’d come to ask his help? What reason could he have for turning her down? Well, he was busy with his kingly duties, but that was exactly why he had to do it. He was bored.

Having graduated with his bachelor’s in the previous semester and the realms being completely calm and peaceful for the first time in a few thousand years, he’d grown bored. He’d honestly been considering finally dealing with the GIW on a more official basis (though he wasn’t sure he would be able to without overturning the Anti-Ecto Acts) but had ruled it out. He’d banned ghosts from Amity Park years ago and had discovered the GIW wasn’t doing too well for itself anymore.

So….

He’d agreed.

Of course Lady Gotham had been entirely ambiguous with her request and thus he’d decided to take certain liberties in the way he chose to help. If he was being honest he thought his ideas were much more helpful than what she may have been expecting. He’d hung up his metaphorical cape and retired Phantom shortly after high school. As king, he was still Phantom, but he didn’t plan on ever flying around as a vigilante again.

He wouldn’t have agreed to help if it meant he’d have to pick up his old mantle again.

Teen hero Phantom had died on a dissection table and there was no amount of Ectoplasm strong enough to bring him back.

Only a bit of research told Danny all he needed to know about Gotham and how he could best help. The birds and bats had rogues covered, they didn’t need Phantom anyways. But the thing that led to so many people becoming goons? To dealing drugs? To taking up crime? That was something neither the birds nor the bats were handling.

So using an infinitesimal amount of his disgustingly vast wealth, Danny bought a decent sized building in the middle of the Bowery, bought and apartment building nearby, and packed his things. Moving wasn’t difficult considering his handle on opening portals to the infinite realms and the fact that he was currently living in his keep.

Jazz had been… confused. She thought he was throwing away his freedom, shunning her hopes that he’d go for his PhD, but after he’d explained what he was doing she was more than happy to help in any way she could. After all, she was interning as a psychologist at Arkham Asylum while finishing her PhD at Gotham U. Anything that got her little brother to spend more time with her was a win in her books.

Getting the building ready for Danny’s plan was the most time-consuming part, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He took all the necessary precautions, had the building inspected and fumigated, installed heating and air conditioning, replaced the worn-out plumbing, and had Tucker create the best security system known to man- or ghost. He did all the same in the apartment building he’d bought (he also lowered the rent a fair bit without telling any of the current tenants).

Once the building wasn’t literally collapsing, he had the carpeted floors replaced (there was no saving the blood crusted carpets) with hard wood floors and colorful area rugs. At this point people had begun to notice all of the work going into the building, they didn’t ask questions though, that would be very Gothamite of them. Danny had spent every waking moment working on the building, hadn’t stepped outside more than a handful of times, and certainly hadn’t met any of the neighbors.

That was kind of the opposite of his intentions.

So he’d looked around for soup kitchens in the area, found one that served dinner at a time that fit in his schedule, and started volunteering. A few days after contacting them about volunteering he got a call that he was cleared to start whenever, and he agreed to come the next evening.

He arrived a bit earlier than they’d suggested but the woman in charge didn’t seem to mind too much.

“I’m Molly, you’re early.” A woman much taller than Danny with broad shoulders and biceps thicker than his head, crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. “I assume you want to work?”

He nodded, dumbstruck.

“Good. This way.” He followed her without a second thought. He found himself in a large kitchen filled with the sounds of chatter, chopping, and music. A couple of the volunteers were singing to the music while cooking. It was overall, really pleasant. “You know how to chop vegetables?” Molly asked.

He felt… condescended a bit but brushed it off. “Yeah I can chop.”

“Good, Les! You’ve got a new chopping buddy. Lanky, take a break.” Molly shouted orders to the rest of the staff while Danny took over chopping from Lanky, apparently.

A young woman -he assumed she was Les?- handed him the knife Lanky had been holding and pointed to a large sack of potatoes. “Chop all of those, then put them into the pot to your right.” She brushed a strand of light brown hair behind her ear and continued chopping carrots.

The two chopped in relative silence, the sounds of the kitchen washing over them, until he finished the sack of potatoes he’d been working on. Danny was a lot slower than Les but she had more carrots than he had potatoes, so he finished first. “Done.”

She looked up, finished what she was doing, and wiped her hands on her apron. “Good. Can you finish these carrots while I move the potatoes and see what else we need done?” He got to work on the carrots while Les ran around making sure everything was running smoothly. By the time she returned he had finished the carrots as well.

“Good,” There was approval in her voice, and he fought off a blush. “Dinner is starting soon. We’ve plenty of people working on the food, you up for serving?” He nodded, wiping his hands on his own apron before following her away from the kitchen.

“Wash up here.” She gestured to a sink beside the door leading to the eating area. While he washed his hands she explained what he’d be doing. “You’re just serving one dish, so it’s not complicated. One ladle-full per tray, no seconds, there won’t be leftovers as it is. Be kind and respectful, we have people if anybody gets rowdy so don’t try to be a hero.” It was a strange warning but… well, it was Gotham.

He nodded obediently and followed her to the pot of stew that was already made which he’d be serving from tonight.

“Service starts in ten minutes; we’ve already got quite a line. Someone will come to relieve you for a break in two hours. Dinner last four hours- I assume you’re here for the whole night?” He nodded again. “Good, you’ll get a twenty-minute break to eat and rest before going back to give someone else their break, understand?”

It was a relatively easy job- though he tried not to think too deeply about some of the people he served. You can’t save everybody, Danny. Jazz’s voice echoed in his mind as he watched two young boys get food, refusing to make eye contact with any of the volunteers. The older boy muttered a quiet ‘thanks’ before dragging the younger boy away and finding a spot in the corner away from everybody else.

He tried to put them out of his mind as he continued to serve the everybody else. He couldn’t. Danny found himself glancing towards the corner every few minutes to watch out for the boys, something about them reminded him of Jazz and himself- though he wasn’t sure why. Other than the overprotective older sibling thing, there wasn’t much to compare. Still, he felt a sort of… pull towards the boys.

It wasn’t ectoplasmic, they just… clearly they needed help- two kids wouldn’t be in a soup kitchen if they didn’t but- You can’t save everybody, Danny. And you’ll kill yourself fully trying to. Jazz was right, like usual- of course he’d never tell her that but-

“-nny? Hello?” Someone tapped his shoulder, his head whipped to the side, startling the newcomer. “Sorry man, just trying to send you on your break. You good?”

Danny nodded, setting down the ladle and moving aside for the other man. He needed to clear his mind.

~~~

He painted the walls. Pale colors that complimented the even more colorful posters he hung over top and went nicely with the rugs. He considered tuning it down a bit when it came to the furniture, but what was the point? Colors were fun- kids liked colors, right? So the plastic tables and chairs were yellow and red and green and blue and purple and any other color you could think of.

And once the furniture was moved in he was able to buy toys. Toy boxes were filled with various brand new and colorful toys, shelves were packed with unread books in perfect condition, and crayon boxes with coloring books were laid neatly on each table. The cabinets were stocked with Sam-approved snacks, the first aid kit was over-stocked, and the closet was filled with a wide range of clothing for kids who might not have hats, gloves, coats, or anything else they might need. He'd buy more when he finally had kids to buy for.

Lady Gotham hadn’t said a word about his plan, but she’d nodded resolutely, thanked him, and went on her way, and that was enough encouragement to continue.

On one of the last days of constructions, Danny received a visitor.

“So this is where you’ve been, eh babypop?”

Looking up from the paperwork Danny had been poring over, he smirked. “I guess I missed living in a haunted town.”

She rolled her eyes and sauntered closer. “So you’ve- what? Traded your throne for a plastic rainbow chair?”

“I didn’t trade anything. Lady Gotham asked for help, and I had time. It’s not like I’ll be here forever. Just until Gotham is faring a bit better. Maybe I’ll find someone I trust to give this place to sometime down the line.”

Ember leaned her hip against his desk and crossed her arms. “And you’re doing this alone?”

He shrugged. “Jazz is in school and interning at Arkham, Sam’s in San Francisco with Val and Tucker, and who knows where Dani is.” He frowned at something on the paperwork before shrugging again and writing something down.

“That wasn’t what I meant, kid.”

“I’ve gotten really good at the whole duplication thing recently so, yeah, I was going to do this alone. Who else would help me? I mean, maybe I’ll hire some help down the line, but I’ve got to be established first.” Danny knew full well that his current plan would have him exhausting himself on a daily basis. Working long days, by himself, while duplicating himself enough to take care of an unknown number of kids would drain him.

A hand grabbed his pen away before he could keep working on his paperwork and he looked up to try and snatch it back. Ember was leaning into his space, holding the pen away from him. “I was offering to help, Babypop. Actually, I’ve talked to a few people who are offering to help.”

Frowning, Danny searched the desk for another pen. “You do realize this isn’t like the Infinite Realms, right? You can’t duel a kid, you can’t mind control children, you aren’t allowed to fuck shit up here.”

“Wow, is that all you think I’m capable of?” The hurt in her voice was feigned but he wondered if there was a tiny bit of truth behind it.

“That’s not what I meant, Ember. I- just- who wants to help?”

She smirked.

That was how Danny found himself surrounded by ghosts, going over rules and expectations if they wanted to help. Lunch Lady, Ember, Dora, and a few others he didn’t know as well, listened as he laid down the law. The safety of the kids came before all else. It came before their own safety, it came before Danny’s identity, it came before everything. If they were going to do this, they would be doing it the right way.

“There is also the matter of the birds and the bats.” Danny sighed, leaning against his desk and facing his friends? Subjects? Fellow ghosts.

Ember scoffed. “I don’t need that talk from you, babypop.”

“No no- not the birds and the bees. The birds and the bats. Gotham vigilantes.” The ghosts nodded in understanding. “They are not to be messed with, understood? The Anti-Ecto Acts are still very much in play, and I cannot tell you what side the birds and bats will be on but presumably, the governments. Batman founded the Justice League so not only does he work for the government, but they failed Amity multiple times, I do not trust them.

“First and foremost; Batman. He’s the leader of the birds and bats as far as I can tell. He’s been around for over twenty years, the world’s greatest detective, and keeps up with heroes like superman, avoid at all costs. His sidekick is Robin, a kid in green, red, and yellow, he has swords, and we all know that despite his age, he is probably pretty dangerous.”

“Okay we get it; you beat all of us while you were a scrawny fourteen-year-old.” Ember scoffed.

“Everyone else is listening quietly, Em.” He glared pointedly. “Anyway, next is Nightwing- he’s technically Bludhaven’s vigilante but he helps around Gotham on the regular. Wears black and blue, my understanding is he’s generally pretty friendly, but I don’t want to take any chances. Then there’s Red Robin, he’s said to be a tech genius and considering Tucker’s obsessed with him, I’d say that’s probably true. Despite that, he’s not chump, I’ve seen some videos, he can fight, and he fights dirty. He wears black and red.

“Red Hood wears the bat emblem, but he works mostly on his own in Crime Alley. He wears a red helmet- I know, he should be wearing a hood, but whatever. Hood is the only one that I’ve heard a good deal about, I’ve heard whispers of him in the realms, spirits who are grateful to him for avenging them like to call him the avenger of the dead. I have a great deal of respect for him. That being said; Red Hood kills, he is the only vigilante in Gotham that carries guns- not dangerous to you, but still, avoid him at all costs.”

“I don’t see the importance of such a warning, we cannot die.” Dora frowned.

Danny nodded in agreement. “No, you’re right, you probably don’t need to be all that concerned. However, if they find out about us and what we are, there’s no telling if they’ll get their hands on ghost tech from my- from the Fentons.” Ember gave him a sympathetic look at his slip. “I don’t want them learning anything about us or the Realms for all of our safety.

“Signal is the daytime hero, he wears bright yellow and my understanding is he’s also super friendly. I found a video of him teaching street kids how to do a backflip. I’ve also seen him punch goons into next week so again, dangerous. Spoiler wears purple, she’s a badass any way you look at it. She’s quippy, flippy, and intense. More intense though is black bat, who wears all black and doesn’t speak.” He took a deep breath and made sure he’d said everything already. “I think that’s everyone. Questions?”

~~~

The daycare was almost entirely finished, Danny had been spending more time there than at his apartment, and he’d had Tucker craft fake identities for everybody who wanted to help out. With how stressful things had been Danny felt the need for an extra-large, extra caffeinated, heart attack inducing coffee. There was one coffee shop he loved in the Upper East Side that knew him well. He’d come by for a coffee every morning since moving to Gotham five weeks ago and the barista’s had quickly began recognizing the man who got a black coffee with seven shots of espresso and a disgusting amount of syrup. He imagined not many people got that kind of drink. (He hoped).

Jesse smiled when Danny approached the counter and began typing his order from memory. “How’s the construction going, Danny?” They asked.

Offering his own tired smile, Danny nodded. “Construction’s done, just finishing up some stuff on the inside and paperwork.”

“That’s great!” Jesse accepted Danny’s card, swiping it through their register. “My uncle lives in the Bowery and he has a little girl. The daycare could really help a lot of people.” Their voice was warm and slightly sad at the same time. “I hope it works out.”

Taking his card back and their words as a dismissal, Danny gave a nod and moved towards the hand-off plane to wait for his drink. He checked his phone; Jazz had been blowing it up with more ideas for his egregious wealth could benefit the people of Gotham. She’d mentioned a lot of ideas that were… well they weren’t bad per se, but Danny already had a lot on his plate with the Daycare opening in just under a week.

He wrote each suggestion down in his notes app anyways. A lot of them were things Gotham already had; food banks, homeless shelters, etc. but some of them were more interesting. A mechanic who fixed up cars for free, a tutoring program for kids who weren’t in school but wanted to go back, classes on how to combat different kinds of gasses and poisons (specifically fear gas, Poison Ivy’s different toxins, and Joker Venom), first aid programs, and a whole lot more. Danny hoped to implement a lot of Jazz’s ideas at some point, but for now, he was just one guy.

One guy who barely saved himself.

Jesse handed Danny his drink and waved as they turned to help another customer. Moving towards the exit, Danny narrowly avoided crashing into a bigger man who clearly didn’t have special awareness but in turn crashed into a much smaller man.

“Oh shit!” Danny’s drink spilled all along his front and onto his shoes and he cringed at the painful heat coming into contact with his sensitive scars. “I’m really sorry.” He sighed, looking over the other man to see he hadn’t actually spilled any of his drink on the other man. Thank Ancients.

The other man, who was only slightly shorter than Danny, was pressing napkins into Danny’s shirt. “Don’t worry about it. Are you okay? That looked really hot.”

Danny nodded, taking the napkins from the other man and wiping away what he could without rubbing his scars. “Yeah… it was. I’m just glad I didn’t spill it on you.” He froze. “I didn’t, right?”

The other man shook his head. “I’m fine, thanks. Let me buy you another one- it was kind of my fault anyways.”

“We both know I crashed into you.” Danny raised an eyebrow. He didn’t need anyone to buy his coffee, he was disgustingly wealthy, if anything, he should be buying the stranger his coffee as an apology for crashing into him.

“Whatever, let me buy your coffee as an apology anyways.” Danny shrugged, following the man up to the counter. He was going to buy a replacement anyways; he might as well let this stranger buy it for him.

Jesse raised an eyebrow at the duo. “Oh god. I was hoping you two would never meet.”

Danny and the man looked at each other strangely before looking back at Jesse. “Why?” They asked in unison.

“Two large hot coffees with seven shots of espresso and fifteen pumps of vanilla?” They raised their eyebrow, looking between the two men judgmentally.

Danny turned to the stranger, who in turn did the same, both looked at each other before promptly bursting into laughter. “Oh my Ancients, you too, huh?” Danny pretended to wipe away a tear as the other man ran a hand through his hair.

“A man of taste.”

Jesse swiped the man’s card. “I’ll have them in a minute, Tim, Danny.” They nodded to each of the men dismissively and they took their cue.

They took a seat near the hand-off plane and Danny realized he’d never introduced himself properly. “I’m Danny, sorry about almost dropping my coffee on your very expensive looking suit.”

The man -Tim apparently- waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m Tim, sorry about making you dump boiling hot coffee all over yourself.”

“Better my t shirt and jeans than your Armani suit.”

“I save the Armani for special occasions.” Tim smirked. “So what could you possibly be doing that requires a level of caffeine that could kill an elephant?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Jeez, you sound like my sister. I’ve spent the last five weeks renovating a place in the Bowery and turning it into a daycare. Only a few days before it opens, and I’ve already got a couple of kids signed up, so I imagine I’ll be drinking this every day for the rest of my life. How about yourself? You must have a crazy job to be drinking that much coffee.”

Tim looked surprised briefly before masking it. “I’ve got some business meetings today I’ve been putting off for a while. I usually drink a few coffees a day to get through all the bullshit the board likes to pull.”

“You must be pretty high up to be dealing with a board. I know how much those meetings suck. I usually just fake an emergency- of course they start to catch on when you do it every single time- but you know- I don’t really care.” He chuckled thinking about the last council meeting in the realms when Frighty’d almost had an aneurysm from Danny’s antics.

Tim’s head tilted. “Where do you work?”

He hadn’t anticipated this question which was stupid because he was the one who’d brought up dealing with his own board, Danny was saved by Jesse. “Tim!” They called from the bar. Two identical coffees sat on the hand-off plane and the men moved in unison.

Drink in hand, Danny turned to Tim. “Well thanks for the coffee, Tim. I’ve gotta get back to the daycare but it was nice meeting you!” He smiled, offering a hand to shake.

Tim took it, holding his own coffee in his other hand. “You too, Danny. I’ll see you around?”

“Unfortunately!” Jesse called from behind the bar.

~~~

This is a fic on AO3 but thought I'd post the parts here separately for anyone who wanted to read them on Tumblr

AO3 Link

Original Prompt from @glow-in-the-dark-death

#fanfiction #danny phantom #danny phantom/jason todd #danny's daycare #dp x dc #ao3 fanfic

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flowerandblood · 1 year ago

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The Man with the Bloody Sword

[ Amor • Aemond x Psyche • female ]

[ warnings: sex content, bloody sex, fingering, profanation, smut, angst, violence, beheading, trauma, mourning ]

[ description: After she is attacked in a fair by a strange man and narrowly avoids death, her father the king decides that from now on she will be watched over by one of his ‘ghosts’, a assassin acting on his orders, wearing a black mask. The man follows her like a shadow, accompanied by their past, which keeps her awake at night. Gothic horror love story, angst, sexual tension, very dark Aemond. ]

This story is several requests combined into one: sworn protector x female; Amor x Psyche; Phantom of the Opera! Aemond x female. I took the liberty of creating a completely new story from this, having only elements of each of these requests.

Series & Characters Moodboard Lady Walford Moodboard Gothic & Horror Sensual Moodboard

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Next chapters: Masterlist

_____

He remembered little of the moment of their nuptials and coronation itself, hearing only the loud thumping of his heart, a host of doubts running through his mind. He had waited so many years for this moment that he decided it couldn't be real, that something had to happen to shatter it all.

He thought that her younger brother would not bend the knee, that he would have to kill him and then she would hate him, that he would have to take her as his wife by force and watch her wither and fade before his eyes for the rest of his days.

He could not describe the relief he felt when he heard the loud words from outside the temple of young Lord Walford announcing that he was relinquishing his claim to the crown, only to see his sister a moment later in the gown he had gifted her, red and black, the colours of his house.

He lifted his chin higher, looking at her with a kind of pride − she looked beautiful and dignified, not a trace of fear or doubt on her face. She was looking only at him − he could see in her eyes that she was doing this of her own free will and he allowed himself to be enveloped at last by the peace he so much desired.

The crown that Criston had placed on his head appeared heavy and uncomfortable, but he thought that was what it was meant to be, to remind him that nothing was certain and given forever, that he had to be vigilant, that he could not afford to put his mind to sleep like his father.

Riding his horse towards the fortress amidst the cheers, he imagined with a tightened throat that his mother was already waiting for him there, ready to throw herself into his arms and embrace him, telling him how proud she was of him. He pressed his lips together and swallowed loudly, lowering his gaze, knowing it would never happen.

That night her body and her closeness blurred in his mind the weight of his crown, the grief of feeling lonely and empty, her warm hands clenched on the skin of his back as he rooted into her again and again, his lips joined with hers in lazy, hot, sticky kisses, her soft, firm breasts pressed against his chest in the tight embrace of their arms.

His restless nights were filled with silence and warmth; he was finally able to sleep again, and although he was sometimes awakened by nightmares, seeing and feeling her body snuggled into his, he only sighed with a sense of relief, pressing his face into her hair, thinking only of her scent and the softness of her body until his eyelids closed again.

To him, his wife was like a lit candle in the dark, cool chamber of his heart, emanating a warm, pleasant light that did not blind him, but showed him the way, made him regain his sight.

Watching the helpless efforts of the ladies of the court to catch his attention, he felt amused − their desperation made him grin ironically, causing them to blush in embarrassment, their cheeks rosy with shame.

They did not comprehend his nature, the darkness that lurked in the corners of his mind, his coldness and distance, his bottomless desire to remain in the shadows, to hide even as he remained king.

His wife understood him, his need for solitude, allowing him to spend his days on his duties, patiently waiting each day for the evening when they were reunited.

Although he would never admit it openly, he adored missing her, adored suffering at the thought that, however much he wanted to, she would not come to him without a reason, would not interrupt his training or council, would not seek his attention, focusing on her own affairs.

A few hours of anguish without her presence each day was enough that when he saw her lying in his bed, bare, waiting for him, he would simply sink into the pleasure and relief of her body.

Being deep inside her, he felt safe.

She was his refuge − inside her he would hide when the heavy crown he carried on his head overwhelmed him.

Apart from her, he had nobody and trusted no one.

It seemed to him that she was a lost part of him, that years ago something inside him had shattered into pieces and it appeared that what was left of her fitted into his parts, creating something entirely new and satisfyingly certain.

He appreciated the strength of her character, her maturity and her wisdom, the fact that she knew when to be silent and when to speak, that she never undermined his authority, that she always listened to him with concentration, advising him as best she could.

"All Lord Marrey wants is gold coins. He flaunts his wealth and his position at court. However, that is not what worries me, but what will happen if someone dares to offer him a better price."

She said wrinkling her eyebrows, her face turned to him in profile − she gazed thoughtfully out of the window into the night, stroking her arm involuntarily, her body clad in a richly decorated gown of blacks and reds, her beautiful shoulders bare, her sleeves reaching almost to the ground.

He lifted his gaze to her face, stirring with his hand in his goblet the remnant of wine that was left there, only to lift it to his lips and tilt it, drinking all that was in it, setting it down with a loud clink of steel on the table.

"What do you propose, wife? Should I, in your opinion, kill or lock up anyone who might betray me in the future?" He asked coolly, leaning against the back of his chair with a loud creak of wood, stretching out on it comfortably, the wine he had drunk so far making him feel warm.

Although he tried for a moment to focus on what she was saying, his gaze stopped on her bare back, emphasised beautifully by the bold line of her gown, wondering if she had been walking around the fortress like this all day, letting the guards shamelessly stare at such a large part of her exposed flesh.

He licked his lower lip at the thought, running his hand over his chin musingly.

"Aemond." He heard her impatient voice and felt himself shudder, lifting his gaze quickly to her face − it was extremely rare for her to speak to him like this − she only did it in private and only when he frustrated her with something. "His case really worries me. If you wish, I'll speak with him myself."

He pondered her words in silence for a moment, tapping his fingertips against his armrest.

"And what are you going to do? Ambush him?" He asked impassively, crossing his legs with a loud creak of his chair, leaning to the side with a loud sigh of fatigue, looking at her back again.

Just like when he had the mask on, he could watch her all day from hiding, look at her expression, her profile, her long eyelashes, her eyes and mouth, her agile, light movements full of dignity and serenity.

While he was like an aggressive flame burning everything, she was like the surface of a lake, letting him extinguish himself in the coolness of her reason, in the tenderness of her heart, making him manage not to cross the thin line that separated him from madness.

"I can propose that his daughter become my lady in waiting, and also suggest that I help him find a suitable candidate for her husband." She said calmly, playing with the three ruby teardrop necklace that adorned her beautiful long neck, his gift to her after their wedding night.

He loved fucking her when she was wearing nothing but this, the colour of their red combined with the black of her hair and the light of her body beneath him made them glow with fire in his eyes, the same kind he felt when their bodies connected in a tight, sticky, hot embrace.

He hummed under his breath, lowering his head, looking away, staring at his hand, playing with his fingers.

"Do as you see fit, wife. I will not interfere with your choice of ladies in waiting or the reasons that guided you." He said lowly, rising from his chair with a loud creak of wood and approached her with a confident, lazy step − her eyes grew large, a warmth and trust in her gaze, something that invariably surprised him.

He grasped her chin in his palm and lifted it slightly, stroking her skin with his thumb.

"Let's go to bed. There are a few things I want to convey to you. Among them, what I think of your bare back."

The next day there was to be, as there was every month, a gathering in the throne room, the lords and the townspeople could bring their issues and problems before him.

His Queen, to his satisfaction, willingly attended these meetings, at first standing by his side.

Later, however, he found it undignified that his Queen was not allowed to sit for so many hours, so he ordered a smaller throne to be created and placed next to his, on which she took her place from then on.

She never interjected without being asked, only speaking up when he requested her opinion in public, which was often when the matter was delicate, involved someone's hurt and misfortune and required a more understanding, compassionate approach.

He was pleased each time to hear that the words coming from her mouth were thoughtful, filled with wisdom but also with empathy and concern, without sounding hysterical or despairing, maintaining the solemnity of the situation.

He knew that outside the walls of the fortress, despite the fact that many lords were hostile to her, the people of the kingdom feared and respected him, but it was her they loved, seeing in her gestures of mercy and her support for the poor her value, which he also recognised.

He raised an eyebrow when a woman was brought before them, surprised that from afar he could see how unnaturally green her eyes were, her gaze sharp and assured, her black hair loose, her dress, though the garb of a typical bourgeois woman, perfectly accentuated her mature, feminine shapes.

"Your Grace. This woman I present before you is Alys Rivers, better known to some as the Witch of the East. She is known to foretell the future. I have brought her here because I thought the skills of someone like her might be of use to our King." Said Lord Ronwell, the same one who expected him to marry his daughter.

He refrained a grimace of amusement with the last of his strength, finding it difficult to restrain himself from glancing at his wife, knowing that a fire that could burn cities down probably shone in her eyes.

His words seemed to him a poor excuse for what he had been trying to do for a long time, which was to lessen her influence over him as Queen, to divert his attention towards another woman.

He hummed under his breath, crossing his legs, stretching comfortably on the throne, deciding he would take his time with the situation − the thought of his wife, whom his guards were surely thinking of at night, being jealous of him pleasantly tickled his ego.

"Speak, Alys, Witch of the East. Foretell me my future." He said with a sneer, cocking his head − he heard his wife let out a quiet breath of air with impatience.

She knew why he was doing this, that it wasn't even about this woman, that he was teasing her.

Alys Rivers walked boldly forward, climbing step by step higher, startling him and his wife, a brazen look on his face. He pressed his lips together, feeling discomfort and rage, wondering whether to stop it or not, and then the woman spoke.

"Your Queen will bear you a son with dark hair, a future King, beloved by the kingdom. You will have six children, but only two with your wife." She said softly, looking at him with a slight smile. He felt a squeeze in his throat, involuntarily glancing sideways − his wife was pale, her eyes open wide, her lips clenched into a tight line.

He laughed, running his hand over his face, unable to believe that she had allowed herself to say such a thing in her presence.

"And the daughter of which lord will experience the pleasure of carrying my children inside her?" He asked with a sneer, guessing that she had surely been ordered to say such a thing.

"I shall receive that honour, my King." She said with a sensual smile and he froze, lifting his gaze to her in disbelief, looking at his wife again, regretting that he had allowed her to speak at all. He licked his lower lip, feeling discomfort in his lower abdomen, looking away with rage.

"Hold her." He said dispassionately to his guards, rising from his throne − they immediately grabbed the woman by the shoulders and forced her to kneel, her gaze changed, her confidence gone from her face, her breathing loud and ragged.

"− my King − I −"

"− give me your sword −" He ordered dryly, extending his hand to Criston, who looked at him horrified, but reached for his blade without a word and slid out his weapon with a loud clatter of steel.

"− please, my King, have mercy − I have been ordered to say so −" She mumbled out, seeing the determination and coldness painted on his face.

The most important thing he had learnt over the years of observing people was when they lie.

When she stood in front of him she was not at all frightened, what she said was not uncomfortable for her − she truly believed that with her words he would destroy his wife's trust in him and eventually become his lover.

He was not going to rely on fate in this matter.

However, it was not his opinion or her plea that mattered to him. He looked over his shoulder at his wife's face − she was staring at him, pale, her eyes red, full of tears, full of pain caused by this cruel humiliation she had suffered because of him, her breasts rose and fell quickly in a shuddering breath, her nostrils twitching restlessly.

I will kill with my own hands anyone who dares to offend my Queen.

He had never lied to her.

"Who ordered you to say such things, woman?" He asked impatiently, leaning the tip of his sword against the stone floor, placing his hands on the hilt, towering over her, complete silence reigned around them.

The woman swallowed loudly, no longer daring to look at him, feeling that he stood over her like an executioner.

"− Lord − Lord Ronwell −" She mumbled quietly, all around them he heard sounds of disbelief and argument − someone shouted that Lord Ronwell was a traitor, the man however shook his head.

"This woman lies, my King!" He said enraged and horrified, clearly not suspecting that the situation would take such a turn.

Loud arguing and shouting echoed around him, which quietened immediately as his blade swished through the air and the woman's head tumbled down the stone steps to the floor below, several ladies of the court squealed loudly, horrified by the sight.

"Her every breath would be an insult to my Queen. Let this be a lesson to anyone who tries to plot against her. Guards, lock Lord Ronwell in the dungeons until she decides what to do with him." He said extending his hand with a sword towards Criston, surprised and horrified, his tunic all dirty with blood.

He turned to look at his wife's reaction − she was staring at him with her eyes wide open, her lips parted in disbelief, the heat in her gaze from which his cock throbbed hard.

She wasn't disgusted or afraid of him.

She understood that he had defended her honour.

That he had done it for her.

"My Queen. Forgive me that you had to listen to those disgusting words. Take her body and let us move on." He said indifferently, sitting down on his throne again, expecting them to continue as if nothing had happened.

His wife surprised him as soon as they were alone in his chamber, clinging greedily to his lips, grasping his cheeks in her hands − he groaned low, feeling the throbbing in his breeches, reciprocating her kiss with a loud click.

"− let me wash my hands − they're filthy −" He breathed out into her mouth, but she shook her head, grasping his hand in hers and pressing it to her face, in her eyes heat, longing, gratitude and desire from which he felt himself get completely hard.

His thumb, all slick with the blood of this brazen woman ran over her lower lip − he shuddered when he felt her run her moist tongue over his skin.

"− fuck −" He growled, grabbing her jaw with his hand, clinging aggressively to her lips. She bit him and he groaned low, surprised, lifting her gown, hitting her bare buttock with all his strength. "− how dare you − how fucking dare you treat your King like this −"

He hissed, turning her violently to face the table, clamping his hand in her hair, forcing her to bend over, her cheek pressed against the table top. She panted loudly along with him as he lifted the fabric of her gown with a swift movement, revealing her naked hips before him, her womanhood all pink and swollen, glistening from her moisture.

"− fucking knew it − my little wife is bloodthirsty, hm? − isn't she? − so jealous −" He gasped feeling his heart pounding like mad − he slid his finger deep inside her without warning and groaned weakly, feeling how her walls clenched around him, how aroused she was, her thighs trembling whole before him.

"− please, husband − please, I need it −" She mewled sweetly, innocently, her face and buttock dirty from the blood from his hand − there was something frightening and at the same time so arousing about the sight that he felt like his cock was about to explode.

"− what do you need? − speak, sweet wife, your King listens to you intently −" He said mockingly, sliding his finger in and out of her, once in a while pressing and massaging the spot hidden between her folds, each time bringing out of her a loud, pathetic cry, her body trembling all over, her lips parted wide in pleasure.

"− g-gods, take me − fuck me − please −" She begged desperately. He gasped low at her words, unable to deny her, sliding his finger out of her, quickly untying and lowering his breeches − she whimpered loudly when his swollen manhood slapped against her buttocks.

"− quiet − lay still and let me in −" He growled, with a sure, deep thrust of his hips pushing the head of his cock into her hot interior. He clamped his hands on her buttocks and began to slam into her with a loud moan of relief − she whined loudly in pleasure, clenching her fingers on the table top, her eyes squeezed shut, her eyebrows arched as if in worry.

"− gods, you're leaking − the sight of me beheading that whore made you so fucking wet? − hm? −" He gasped, rooting into her even faster, squeezing her soft buttock with his hands, watching with delight how his fat, swollen manhood stretched her tight, fleshy core with his every thrust.

"− p-please, don't stop, keep going −" She mewled, responding with her body to the movements of his hips, her wet, hot muscles sucking on him greedily, wanting to keep him inside − he was horrified at how sacrilegious and intense this experience was.

"− I'll kill anyone − anyone, gods, just say the word − I'll give you everything −" He burst out and she sobbed loudly. He felt a wave of pleasure shake her body, her walls were clenching around him so tightly he was running out of breath − he slammed into her like mad, his thighs slapping against her buttocks with a loud clicks of her moisture.

"− my beloved King −" She whimpered with difficulty quivering all over, his heart pounded so hard he felt like it was going to rip his chest open, a convulsion shook his body.

"− just like that − oh, fuckkk −" He exhaled, clenching his eyes and tilting his head back, panting hard, feeling a wonderful, overpowering relief, his seed spilling deep inside her at last.

They were both breathing loudly and shaking, unable to believe how strong their fulfilment was − he put his hands on either side of her head, trying to calm himself, his cock twitching all over deep inside her.

"− good gods − are you all right? −" He asked horrified, breathing heavily, reminding himself that they had fucked each other so hard that they could barely get the words out.

He sighed in relief sliding out of her when she nodded, he heard her hiss quietly. He stared for a moment wordlessly at the trail of his spend that trickled down her thighs, his hand reached up to her hot buttock and squeezed it tentatively.

"Let's take a bath."

____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @randomdragonfires @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes

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colezy · 4 months ago

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Some lackluster Cyberpunk 2077 screenshots taken by me 💜

Finished the game (and Phantom Liberty) with my female streetkid V who is very near and dear to my heart, then instantly started a new save as male nomad V (not very far into it yet, but so far I'm really enjoying the male VA!).

The initial issues at launch deterred me from buying it until earlier this year where I basically went in blind. Literally didn't know (or somehow forgot??) that Keanu Reeves was in it so I was going CRAZY during act 1 lmao (also I loooove Johnny 😭)

The first night I played it I think I played for around 8 hours straight until like 5am and it was the most fun I've had gaming in SO LONG. I wish I could go back and experience that feeling again; not having watched any trailers or delving into ANYTHING about the game I was truly just spit out into the world and it was just an incredible experience. I was so immersed in the world that I basically forgot I existed irl that night and it felt so so good.

Would love to delve into some mods (at least cosmetic because I eat that shit up lol) but I'm too scared to corrupt my saves, so who knows if I'll ever do that lmao

Oh also EDGERUNNERS??? Jesus christ I did NOT expect to get so invested in that fucking anime so quickly and now I understand why everyone gets triggered hearing I Really Want to Stay at Your House as they're walking down the street in game or whatever lmao. I'm so glad I waited to watch it until after I had played the game a considerable amount because everything about it hit so hard and I loved recognizing the locations/tech/lore/etc. ahhhhh I need to rewatch it tbh

#personal #cyberpunk 2077 #female v #fem v #streetkid v #phantom liberty #cyberpunk #night city #my screenshots

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void-ink-studios · 7 months ago

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It is not often that I am called upon for a research mission, much less one for the Crown. It seems my writing from a year prior has attracted attention from high places. And it seems someone has found something intriguing that requires my expertise. So, I am to make my way to the Capital.

Luckily I am not needed urgently. Bones are unlikely to wander away if I delay, so I have some liberty to explore, observe, and catalog as I please, which I will happily do so. There have been other observations I have made prior commitments towards, and no matter now great the Crown sees their new acquisition, their time is no more important to me than any of my other colleagues.

My friend, Dr. Branston, has made her thoughts clear. She has warned me to be warry of whatever the crown may wish to show me, for they tend to not understand the ethics scientists like us take into consideration. While I appreciate the warning, I am disappointed she declined my invitation to come with me. Apparently she is not in good standings with the Crown. Regardless, I look forward to our time together on our vacation along the coast.

In any case, I welcome the public to read my thoughts and observations as I fulfill my commitments, and when I arrive to the Crown. Merms are creatures to behold, and the response I received prior was both humbling and cherished.

1. Man O' War

2. Orca

3. Mola Mola

4. Narwhal

5. Mahi Mahi

6. Whale Shark

7. Flying Fish

8. Giant Isopod

9. Lantern Fish

10. Greenland Shark

11. Sperm Whale

12. Barreleye

13. Giant Phantom Jellyfish

14. Sea Angel

15. Fancy Guppy

16. Koi Fish

17. Platypus

18. Arapaima

19. Sturgeon

20. Snapping Turtle

21. Pink River Dolphin

22. Sea Snake

23. Clownfish

24. Pistol Shrimp

25. Seahorse

26. Horseshoe Crab

27. Walrus

28. Barracuda

29. Dunkleosteus

30. Helicoprion

31. Anomalocaris

#my art #digital art #mermay #mermay 2024 #mermay prompt list #mermay prompts #prompt list #monthly challenge #fantasy art #worldbuilding #fantasy worldbuilding #completed challenge #complete prompt list

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nesaluvstherecoms · 9 months ago

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𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱.

ᴍᴀɪɴ ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍ ᴄᴏʟᴏɴᴇʟ ᴍɪʟᴇꜱ Qᴜᴀʀɪᴛᴄʜ x ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍ ᴍᴀᴊᴏʀ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ ꜰᴇᴍ. ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ ʟɪɴᴋ

。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。

𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐀 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭

MSpOT11 (Pronounced: M spot eleven) (Marine Special Operations Team 11) - Previous unit name. Colonel L/N’s Special Operations unit, composing of 10 main highly trained operators and 4 additional spots for other operators who were replaced regularly depending on the mission. These four spots were reserved for allies, mission-specific specialists, and operators assigned by higher up commanding officers. All operators were often divided into two sub teams of 7, where the commanding officer (Y/N) would choose which one to lead depending on the task.

ALPHA - Recom unit name, given officially by General Frances Ardmore. Regarded as the RDA’s muscle alongside Colonel Quaritch’s Deja Blu unit, ALPHA is Major General L/N’s special forces team. Since the very top of command remain only the Generals, ALPHA takes orders from them only, and are to assist them in any circumstances. The unit composes of the Recombinants of the 10 main operators, along with the Recombinant of F/N L/N who has the authority of commanding officer.

This data sheet displays detailed information about the operators before Project Phoenix was launched. However, in some sentences the Recoms are also mentioned.

Commanding Officer: Colonel (As a Recom: Major General) F/N L/N

Operators:

1. Captain John Keller (Callsign: Phantom)

2. Master Sergeant Oscar Bailey (Callsign: Coma)

3. First Sergeant Scott McCaskill (Callsign: Pyro)

4. Second Lieutenant Riley Jones (Callsign: Phoenix)

5. First Lieutenant Fernando Álvarez (Callsign: Alpino)

6. Sergeant Major Diego Silva (Callsign: Fuego)

7. Sergeant Major Maria Herrera (Callsign: El caos)

8. Master Gunnery Sergeant Henry Davis (Callsign: Ranger)

9. Gunnery Sergeant Khalida Fadel (Callsign: Liberty)

10. Artillery Officer Stefan Kessler (Callsign: Berlin)

1. John Keller

Mental age: 38 years

Nationality: British

Place of birth: UK

Rank: Captain

Callsign: Phantom (Has a talent for moving silently and versatilely, materializing anywhere in the front line during combat like he just came out of thin air, like a phantom.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Hostage rescue

- Kill - capture missions

- Sniper techniques

- Close quarter combat

- Counterterrorism

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

- Versatile in multiple environments

- Expert in interrogation techniques

- Seek-and-strike expert

- Shock-trooper

- Long-range reconnaissance operator

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The “dad” of the group.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Pushes the unit to stay clean of alcohol and smoking because it’s bad for their health and then after everyone has fallen asleep pours himself a cold glass of whiskey and lights a cigar. (He thinks no one knows but everyone knows. Whenever this is brought up within the squadron, Riley says: “Let the old man dream.”.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The first person he met in the unit was Oscar Bailey. Oscar was 23 years old then and was making a name for himself as one of the most talented young operators, rising in career. They met in a track-and-kill mission when Oscar and his teammates got ambushed by a terrorist group and John with his unit came to the rescue. Since then John feels a fatherly love towards Oscar and has been watching over him ever since.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ You can hear him clearing his throat and sinuses in the bathroom sink with the volume of a thousand mountain banshees in the early hours of the morning after he has just woken up. (Yes, he bolts the whole house awake, and their PTSD doesn’t make it better. Oscar has gotten more used to it than the rest but the first time it happened the whole squadron rushed to the bathroom armed to their teeth, thinking that someone stabbed him in the throat and he was choking on his own blood. What they found was a sleepy but startled John, standing in front of the bathroom sink with his thick ass black socks, and his pajama pants holding onto the curve of his half exposed ass for dear life, looking back at them with wide eyes and fists balled up ready to throw punches. Not a fun morning. Later at the breakfast table he cracked a “Who pissed in the cereal?” joke to lift up the mood. No one laughed.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Doesn’t give a fuck who is in front of him. If someone is being disrespectful or purely showing ignorance, he doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind and put them in their place, even if they are higher in rank than him and hold more authority. (He used to get in trouble because of this before he met Y/N, but now she covers his back.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Snores. Loudly. And when he’s tired; very, very loudly. (Y/N personally made sure that the rooms in their dorm were soundproofed. Her reasoning was “to give all of us privacy” but everyone knew it was because of John’s 60 decibel, chainsaw sounding snore (and some others who also snore obnoxiously loudly, ahem… Fernando). The whole unit prays that they do not get sent on missions where they have to spend the night in a foreign base, sleeping in the same room. When he’s on open air missions, he doesn’t sleep, afraid that he’ll be loud and lead the enemy to them. Once, he spent six days without sleep because of this and started to hallucinate, until Y/N intervened and forced him to go back to base.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He's been shot, captured, blown up, locked up, tortured, and left for dead, multiple times.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His preferred weapon of choice is a HK433.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He taught Oscar how to fish, and they go fishing together if the weather is good and they have the day off.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Workaholic. Puts his job before anyone and anything.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He used to have severe insomnia, but slowly got better until it was gone. Before his insomnia he didn’t use to snore.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s constantly feeling nauseous and sometimes dizzy but no one can figure out why, not even the medics.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ For some reason his feet are always cold and he tends to wear thick socks when he’s at home.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Always reads for a little bit before going to sleep, and he has reading glasses too.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s a well known name among the military world.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ An excellent and harsh trainer. Often times, units and new talented recruits are put under his supervision and guidance.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He nearly has an aneurysm every time he hears Americans say “soccer” when referring to football. (When this happens he gives them the biggest side eye. This happens a lot with Henry, the only American in the unit.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Once, Oscar referred to him as “grandpa” and he was genuinely hurt.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Oscar convinced him once to go to a concert and they left 20 minutes in, because the man has PTSD and you can guess yourself what the flashing lights, screams and loud sounds of the CO2 jets were doing to him.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Women hit on him a lot and he doesn’t understand why. He also politely declines each time because he is a loner. (When this was brought up one day and he said he doesn’t get why, Maria and Scott turned to him with the biggest shit eating grins on their faces and started to explain it to him with the sentence: “Because you’re daddy material.” Y/N had never seen the fearsome Captain John Keller widen his eyes so much before, not even in the middle of battle.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His voice is naturally deep (not entirely considering the cigars but I digress) and it gets even deeper in the morning. This happens with the other male operators too but everyone teases John when it happens to him because he’s the eldest in the unit and they love teasing him. (Y/N always jokes that he sounds like he’s narrating a “Ford” commercial in the morning.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He is one of the few people that General Ardmore genuinely trusts.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Always praises the team and tells them that they did good even if the mission failed. He does this because he doesn’t know when he might lose them. Throughout his career he has lost a considerable number of people dear to him and he regrets the last words he has said to some of them, without knowing that the next time he’d see them they’d be laying dead. John now tries to show his team how much he appreciates them as often as he can.

2. Oscar Bailey

Mental age: 26 years

Nationality: British

Place of birth: UK

Rank: Master Sergeant

Callsign: Coma (Has a tendency for shooting enemies in the stomach before bashing the butt of his weapon into their skulls, either killing or sending them into a coma.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Target elimination

- Covert surveillance

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

- High tolerance and tactical awareness

- Demolitions

- VIP protection

- Counterterrorism

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Oscar was the only one in his class to pass the RTI (Resistance To Interrogation) testing, and pass selection with the highest possible scores on all courses, at 20 years old.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has spent most of his career hunting terrorists.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has been routinely subjected to physically and mentally harsh scenarios.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The first person he met in the unit was John Keller.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Loves spicy food and any type of tea.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He firstly joined the British Army and then got transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps where he met John and the rest of the unit.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Before he enlisted for the British Army, he used to frequently go to concerts and music festivals.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Once during a mission, he got heavily injured, resulting in a concussion, a broken collarbone, a broken femur and multiple stab wounds. The person who carried him all the way to safety was John, while yelling at him to stay conscious. It took Oscar some time to recover. He had to undergo some surgeries and have a metal rod and plate placed on his femur. During the weeks he was in bed rest, the unit would take turns visiting him so he wouldn’t be alone. (During one group visitation, Fernando made a joke and started laughing, and forgetting that Oscar was still injured, before the unit could reach out and stop him, slapped Oscar’s thigh with his damn gorilla strength. Let’s just say the medics forbid anyone from visiting Oscar for a few days….)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Once fell out of a speeding JLTV while trying to shoot an enemy vehicle mid-confrontation. It’s a miracle that he dropped flat in time and did not get run over by the other vehicles behind the JLTV but rather let them drive over him before rolling off the track and running to a safe zone.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He sucks at fishing. The only reason he goes to fish in the first place is because it makes John happy.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He secretly judges every decision that the people in command make, but unlike John and Riley, he doesn’t voice it out. He only tells John what he’s thinking once they’re alone together.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The only reason why he doesn’t complain about John and Fernando’s snoring is because he falls asleep with his earphones in, even though Y/N advises the squadron to keep their doors and ears open at night for cautious reasons.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Sometimes when he’s very tired he will snore softly.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His preferred weapon of choice is a SIG MCX.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He lowkey believes that Riley secretly likes cuddles. He doesn’t know why. That’s just the vibe he gets from him.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Whenever someone takes a picture, he looks like he doesn’t want to be there.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He is insanely good at carjacking. (The first time he did this in a mission, the whole team stared, not having expected it, while John was standing a few feet away, smiling proudly.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Out of all the operators in the unit, he is the one who is the most careful in missions. While the others sometimes act out of instinct, Oscar has the ability to control even his instincts almost entirely. This has led to him saving his fellow troopers individually or in groups, multiple times during altercations.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He tried weed once and hated it. Now he huffs in annoyance every time he smells it one someone.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Has crashed a helicopter before. Why was he flying a helicopter in the first place, when he’s not a pilot? Interesting question. (They were in a rush to get away from an ambush and he thought he could pull it off. The most careful operator of the unit, ladies and gentlemen.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He loves diavola pizza to a concerning level.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When the unit was first assembled, Fernando asked him if he speaks Spanish and he said he didn’t. Fernando grinned and told him that he’d teach him all the curse words. He did in fact do that. So now Oscar walks around with a Spanish curse words vocabulary that could send a Drill Sergeant into a coma.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He once saw Henry make tea with “Lipton” teabags and forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. I’m not even exaggerating, he genuinely stopped breathing, and stared at Henry in horror. (A few moments later he taught him how to make loose leaf tea. When he told John and Riley about it later they also stared in horror. Everyone in that dorm was banned from using teabags ever again.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a scar on his left eyebrow. When he was born, the doctor who performed a c-section on his mother accidentally cut the corner of his left eyebrow and he has had that scar ever since. (He does not have this scar as a Recom.)

3. Scott McCaskill

Mental age: 29 years

Nationality: Scottish

Place of birth: Scotland

Rank: First Sergeant

Callsign: Pyro (During his early years as a trainee, he once accidentally triggered a few flares while getting his demolitions equipment ready and set fire to a MTVR.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Sniper techniques

- Demolitions expert

- Exceptional proficiency

- Remarkable speed and accuracy in room clearance and urban warfare

- Specialized in covert reconnaissance

- Counterterrorism operator

- Hostage rescue

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Scott set the record for youngest trainee passing selection and RTI testing with the highest possible marks on all phases of the course, at the age of 22. This record was then later on broken by Oscar Bailey.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The first person he met in the unit was Riley Jones. For his first mission he joined Riley’s team in securing a building that inhabited WMDs. During the mission, the unit was ambushed and Scott would have lost his life in bomb droppings from enemy aircrafts, if it wasn’t for Riley pulling him to safety. Since then, they have remained close friends.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He used to be a smoker, before he met John Keller who slapped the cigarette out of his mouth as Scott went for a handshake the first time they met. (Riley secretly grinned like a Cheshire cat.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Drinks coffee with strictly two teaspoons of sugar. Anything over or lower than that amount and he will not drink it.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Chatty…. Very chatty…. (Riley tends to zone him out anytime he talks.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Secretly frowns at how John smokes at night and mutters “hypocrite’ bastard” in his Scottish accent, under his breath.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he sleeps, he rolls himself into the covers like a cocoon.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Once, after him, Fernando, Maria, Henry and Stefan returned from a mission, they found Riley sleeping on the living room floor. Scott got a not so brilliant idea and somehow convinced the others to join (it wasn’t hard, all four of them are as idiotic as he is, except maybe Stefan). The five of them turned off the lights and formed a circle around Riley. They started spinning while holding hands and chanting satanic verses. (Riley woke up and started swinging at everyone. Y/N had never seen five grown adults run so fast for their lives while their comrade chased them around the dorm with a combat knife.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His alarm sound is the Scottish national anthem. (Don’t ask.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He spends his off-duty days chilling in the living room, watching sports and drinking cold beer.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Once went fishing with John and Oscar but did not have the patience to wait for the fish to catch the bait so he fell asleep while still holding the fishing rod.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He enjoys wearing war paint on his face during missions.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Once got drunk out of his fucking mind, went to the rail of the living room balcony, before lowering his pants and boxers. He held his cock between the metal bars of the rail and started pissing with concernedly high pressure while screaming “SCOTLAND FOREVAAAAAAAA” while holding a fist up in the air. (Luckily their balcony faced the forest and no one got contaminated in the process. He also got two weeks of cleaning duty for that, and no one allowed him to drink that much alcohol ever again.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His preferred weapon of choice is an AR-57.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He gives the biggest side eyes to John and Riley when they question their authority figures, even if he agrees with them.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ One time he walked in on Y/N changing and didn’t say anything but wiggled his eyebrows seductively. (Y/N put him in a headlock and didn’t let him go until he started begging.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Constantly uses Scottish slang (Riley sighs each time he does this before asking him to “Speak English, you arsehole.”)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Masks his emotions with humor, but Riley can always tell what he’s truly feeling.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Gives the biggest bear hugs.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Every time Riley, John or Oscar do something remotely British he rolls his eyes and huffs out a “Fuckin’ brits.”

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He doesn’t have tattoos but he has been thinking of getting some of Riley’s drawings tattooed on him for some time.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Has a habit of patting people firmly on their chest or on their shoulders as a greeting. (First time he did this Riley found it extremely annoying. But now it’s comforting to him.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he was a kid he was very close to his older sister. They did everything together, and were each other’s best friend. They grew apart after he joined the military and now he sees her and his mother only once a year.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He absolutely loves making Molotov cocktails and smoke bombs.

4. Riley Jones

Mental age: 32 years

Nationality: British

Place of birth: UK

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Callsign: Phoenix (He survived a helicopter crash where all of the people in that helicopter with him died instantly, including the pilot. When rescue forces rushed to the scene, they saw him rising among the flames and wreckage, like a Phoenix rising out of ashes after death.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Sniper techniques

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

- Sabotage

- Infiltrations

- Master in clandestine tradecraft

- Ambush execution

- High Intelligence

- Torture Expertise

- Master Combatant

- Knife Mastery

- Counterterrorism

- Extremely high pain tolerance

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Has spent most of his career executing covert assignments in classified locations.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His most frequent injury have been stab wounds.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Extremely organized. Has an agenda which he plans and follows strictly. This includes timetables, meetings, medical check ups, cleaning schedules etc.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His arms are covered in tattoos.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His favorite type of alcohol is bourbon.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He drinks a specific tea blend that is flavored with bee balm oil.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Before the crash, his callsign used to be Rico because he’s always armed to the teeth.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Sarcasm king.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Just like John, he doesn’t hesitate to point out flaws in orders or missions given by higher ups. The people in authority often get annoyed at this because they see it as him complaining about everything, but to Y/N this is extremely valuable as he provides the other perspective and helps her eliminate loopholes.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a little sketchbook that he keeps with him at all times, where he doodles or draws concepts for new tattoos he wants to get.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Has a resting bitch face.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Loves to scare the living shit out of new recruits.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a feared reputation among the military world because of his brutal executions and high kill count.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He really likes knives and has a large collection of them. He’s always fidgeting with a combat knife and you’ll always find one on his person. (Yes, he keeps one under his pillow.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Even though he zones out when Scott gets too chatty, it gives him comfort when listening to his voice.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He did not believe that Y/N would be a good commanding officer for their squadron when she was assigned as such. It didn’t matter if she had grown up in a military facility or if she was a so-called prodigy, she was too young and did not have a lot of experience. The fact that she had been ranked Colonel at such a young age was, in his opinion, a huge mistake that would cost them. He also expected her to argue his opinion every step of the way just like the rest of the authority figures did. He was however proven wrong when they came out victorious in some of the most harsh and difficult missions they had ever been in, missions which she led by also listening to his insights. Riley eventually gave her his respect.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He knows that he comes across as threatening and that boosts his ego.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He used to be a Christian since he was a child but after serving for some time and seeing the horrors he has seen, he lost faith in God.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Rolls his eyes at people so much that John once joked that his eyes would get stuck like that one day.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Actively calls John “old man”.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He was the first to witness drunk Scott pissing from the balcony while screaming “SCOTLAND FOREVAAAAAAAA”, and that was the first and last time that Riley Jones malfunctioned.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He really enjoys cooking and often listens to corny music while doing so. (Scott never fails to poke fun at him for this.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His preferred weapon of choice is an ArmaLite AR-18.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s very cold and sometimes rude to people he doesn’t know personally.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He tends to be competitive.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Since the crash, he has had some levels of anxiety whenever he has to board a helicopter. (Of course he doesn’t show it.)

5. Fernando Álvarez

Mental age: 37 years

Nationality: Mexican

Place of birth: Mexico

Rank: First Lieutenant

Callsign: Alpino (From Spanish; Alpine. The environment he thrives in are mountainous terrains. Enemies stand no chance against him in such environments.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Counterterrorism

- Stealth expertise

- Sniper techniques

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

- Target elimination

- Master combatant

- Sabotage

- Clandestine tradecraft

- Ambush execution

- Infiltrations

- Specializes in reconnaissance by fire

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he was a kid, his dream was to be in the army and would often skip school to watch the soldiers of his hometown do their daily drills.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a very loud voice and almost always soldiers jump startled when he starts yelling at them.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He grew up with Diego and they have been best friends since childhood.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Diego would often scold him for skipping school.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Later on, after they both had enlisted for the military, they met Maria.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His weapon of choice is a SIG MPX but his favorite weapon is his CheyTac Intervention which he calls “mami”.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Fernando and Maria have a “that annoying sibling” relationship.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Once said: “It’s not gay if it’s the homies.”

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Snores obnoxiously loud, to the point that people dread having to sleep next to him. The worst part is that his snore adds on top of John’s during the night and sometimes they leave their doors open, making it sound like someone has switched on two MS 881 Petrol Chainsaws all night.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He once got shot in his right asscheek. Luckily, it wasn’t a deep injury and it didn’t reach anything that shouldn’t be reached. (He quite literally ran around the battlefield with a bullet up his ass.) (He couldn’t sit on the toilet for three weeks.) (He cursed “puta madre” out loud approximately 400 times while trying to sit during his entire time of recovery.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Has an insane amount of tolerance for spicy food. Has eaten Carolina Reaper peppers before and looked like he was eating candy. (He suffered on the toilet a few days later.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Very good cook. But ironically enough, he’s too lazy to cook.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Constantly goes to Maria’s room for the sole reason of making eye contact with her and staring her down judgmentally for 45 seconds, and then leaving the door to her room open, because he knows that it annoys her carnally.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Uh… very hairy. But he shaves regularly and keeps it neatly trimmed. Once tried waxing but the hair was so strong that the waxing tissue stuck to it. (On the bright side, as a Recom he has no body hair.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He once unintentionally decked a stripper square in the face because she tried to choke him unexpectedly while straddling his lap, thinking that he’d get turned on, but he got startled, causing his reflexes to kick in. (She got knocked out, suffered a broken nose, a fractured maxilla and nasal bone, and a few of her front teeth got knocked out. It took her months to recover fully. She sued him but he won the case, and out of spite sued her back for emotional distress. Ironically enough, he won the case and she had to pay him a mighty sum of money.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He really cares about Diego. He’s always watching over him even when he’s unaware of it. To Fernando, Diego is his brother and he will protect him with his life if he has to.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s especially deadly in mountainous terrains.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s insanely good at what he does, to the point that even John Keller had his jaw drop the first time he saw him in action. He knows the battlefield like the back of his hand and he’s extremely lethal in action.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He had an eyebrow piercing on his right eyebrow throughout high school, but had to take it out when he joined the military and it closed entirely. (His mom grounded him for three months when he got it.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he turned fourteen years old, he spent three months building a training field on his uncle’s farm. It was a piece of his land that wasn’t nutritious enough to grow produce or good grass for herds, so he let Fernando do whatever he wanted with it. With help from Diego, a few other friends and friendly neighbors, Fernando ended up building multiple tiny buildings to resemble houses, spread junkyard cars, old shipping containers and stacks of sacks filled with gravel, all over the place to practice open-air gunfight, and even made multiple dummies for target practice. He used that training field 24/7 religiously for four years until time came when he and Diego signed up for the military.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He loved Diego’s grandmother dearly and he would often go to spend afternoons at their house. At one point, she and Diego cleared out the old storage room in her house and let him have it. Fernando was deeply touched by this, and he did not take it for granted at all. He cherished that tiny room deeply and his mother even joked that it had become his favorite bedroom. (His mother always shared her cooking with Diego and his grandmother to show her gratitude for them making her son happy, and would pack some carefully in Fernando’s backpack before he would go over to their house.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ During his rookie years he would get into a lot of fights with other recruits for Diego’s sake, and he’d always win. He almost got kicked out of the military because at one point he beat up a dude so badly that his face looked like it had been shoved inside a meat grinder.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He likes going to watch rodeos, and always invites Diego to come with him.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He makes the most delicious Enchiladas.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Has a bullish devotion to Y/N and his fellow troopers. He’s always looking out for his squadron.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He can be very overprotective and possessive over the people he cares about.

6. Diego Silva

Mental age: 37 years

Nationality: Mexican

Place of birth: Mexico

Rank: Sergeant Major

Callsign: Fuego (From Spanish; Fire. He almost lost his life during a mission where C4 explosives were placed in the enemy-filled building he was clearing. He realized this moments before the explosives were about to go off. He decided to sacrifice himself for the mission and doused as much of the building as he could with gasoline so he could take out every enemy with him. When the explosives went off, not only did the building start to crumble but what was left caught entirely on fire. John was about to pronounce him KIA but then Diego was pulled out of the fire and rubble by Fernando who had rushed to the scene the second he heard that something had gone wrong.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Counterterrorism

- Stealth expertise

- Sniper techniques

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

- Target elimination

- Master combatant

- Ambush execution

- Infiltrations

- Covert surveillance

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He is very friendly. Almost everyone eases up to him quickly. (Even Riley.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He would always scold Fernando for skipping school to watch soldiers train.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His parents were drug dealers and traffickers, and were never home.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he was young, he had a very close bond with his grandmother, who raised him. He would always spend his afternoons after school cooking and helping her around the house. After dinner, they would sit together by the fireplace and she’d tell him stories while teaching him how to knit and do embroidery. When she passed away, Diego took it very harshly and it took him years to recover. He still misses her dearly every single day, and keeps a small handkerchief that she embroidered with his initials, on him at all times.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a very strong brotherly bond with Fernando, and would sacrifice his own life for him if he had to.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The girls of his hometown all had a crush on him because he was soft, caring, kind and overall just a great guy. Often times friends of his grandmother’s would try to convince her to set him up for marriage with their daughters or nieces but she’d always politely decline. She’d tell him everyday that he had to let his own heart choose the person he wanted to be with.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Diego never wanted to join the military but he did so for Fernando’s sake.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His preferred weapon of choice is a SIG MCX.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Unlike Fernando, he has an easygoing friendship with Maria.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He, Riley and Henry do most of the cooking in the house.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a talent for zoning out Fernando’s snore.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he and Fernando first started as recruits, others would often pick on him because he was the least aggressive out of all of them. They tried breaking him because he was the only one who didn’t want to be there, and if you know you know that that’s no mentality to have in the military. Key word there: tried. Fernando beat them all up so bad that some of them dropped out and were never seen on the training ground again.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He doesn’t drink or smoke, and never has. He believes that those are poison to one’s body.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When Fernando was building his training field, he was the one who made the target practice dummies using his sewing skills.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His favorite dishes to cook are soups and stews. He also really enjoys baking.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He was always on top of his class since elementary. Even in military training, he always had the highest scores in written tests.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Do not be fooled by his friendly personality and soft looking features. Despite the fact that he does not really like his job and that compared to the others he seems somewhat non-threatening, Diego Silva has the rank of Sergeant Major for a reason. His skills, knowledge and specializations are right behind Riley’s and he places second along with Fernando on experience.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He uses handguns more than the rest of the unit.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s an excellent driver. Whether that be during a chase, a getaway, an open gunfire fight on the road, or just a plain simple change of location, Diego will always be behind the steering wheel. (Fun fact; Diego has never gotten a speeding ticket. Even with the corrupt police force in his hometown, he never got stopped.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he and Fernando visit their hometown, grandmas will still try to set him up with their nieces. (They gather around him like a flock of those seagulls in “Finding Nemo”. One time he even lost Fernando in the herd of abuelas, and found him half an hour later, sitting near their hometown’s small church while shoving pistachio ice cream in his mouth with a tiny plastic spoon.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He and Fernando have a secret hang-out place in an abandoned school in the forest near their hometown. It has been their secret place since they were five year old niños and before they signed up for the military they would always go there to watch the sunset or just to talk and quiet their minds. Whenever one couldn’t find the other, they always knew where to look. They still visit that place when they get the chance.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Whenever he is faced with something that is troubling him, he looks up to the sky and asks his grandmother for guidance.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ In the same chain where his Dog Tag is, he keeps a locket that has two pictures that are especially precious to him because they capture two of his core memories. The right one is a picture of his grandmother smiling at the camera while knitting in her rocking chair. She had saved up a lot of money to buy him that camera as a present for his birthday and Diego cried that day, because it had been a very expensive camera, especially for an old lady living on her pension. Her picture was the first one he ever took with it. The other picture in the left side of the locket is a picture of him and Fernando together, laughing as Fernando drapes an arm over his shoulders and hugs him close. That day, the both of them had volunteered in the soup kitchen of their hometown, and at the end of the day, the staff had thanked them and the rest of the few volunteers by offering them a meal. Before sitting at the dining table, Fernando pulled him aside. He told him his plans to sign up for the military in a month, the day of his birthday. Diego listened carefully as Fernando told him the plans he had made for his life and that the decision was final. Even though it did not come as a surprise to him, Diego still had felt a pang of dread in his heart. That moment he decided that he would never separate lives from Fernando, and told him he would sign up with him too. Fernando was caught back and asked him to reconsider but Diego’s mind was made up. The words he then said will forever be in Fernando’s heart, for he told him: “Aquí no hay nada para mí sin ti, hermano mío. Nunca me perdonaré si dejo que nuestras vidas se separen. Te seguiré hasta la tumba, Fernando Álvarez.” (There is nothing for me here without you, my brother. I will never forgive myself if I let our lives separate. I will follow you to the grave, Fernando Álvarez.). They later went to the dining table with tears in their eyes and sat down. The rest raised a toast while laughing happily and Fernando wrapped his arm around Diego’s shoulder before hugging him close. That’s the moment a friend of theirs pulled out his camera and snapped the picture.

7. Maria Herrera

Mental age: 37 years

Nationality: Mexican

Place of birth: Mexico

Rank: Sergeant Major

Callsign: El caos (From Spanish; Chaos. Has the ability to cause havoc everywhere she goes, if she wants to. Moreover, has often unpredictable and erratic behavior when she’s irritated.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Counterterrorism

- Stealth expertise

- Sniper techniques

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

- Target elimination

- Ambush execution

- Infiltrations

- Covert surveillance

- Track-and-kill missions

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Most of her career has been spent hunting down cartel leaders and narcos.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She prefers being the undercover operator during missions because she gets to display how good she is at having a poker face. (Plus she loves the thrill.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Flirts with Y/N more than she should.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She once got kidnapped by the enemy and they gave her back after 14 hours of captivity because she had objectified the men so much that they felt violated. When Oscar, Diego and a small team of operators arrived at the warehouse she was being held in, they found her in the middle of the building, tied to a chair with a note stapled to the front of her shirt that wrote: “In my 15 years of crime, I have never had a hostage make my guys so uncomfortable. They’re not objects.”. (Maria still keeps that note as a souvenir.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Most of her time in the gym is spent on working on her arms and thighs, providing her with a nice set of firm thighs and muscled biceps that she loves flexing. (She was devastated to see that her recom body had average looking arms and thin thighs. That was her only concern waking up for the first time.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She once started a cult because she was bored. (It was awfully successful and Y/N had to intervene and shut it down.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Her parents were cartel members. When she turned eighteen, she was expected to join said cartel with them. When she refused, her parents attempted to kill her, saying that she was a disgrace to their blood. No one knows what happened that night. But Maria joined the military a week after, and no one has seen her parents ever since.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She has multiple tattoos. The biggest one stretches from her shoulder to the elbow of her left arm.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ After she had been in the military for a while, Fernando gifted her a golden chain because she was a good friend to Diego. She wears that chain everyday.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She grew up in the same town as Fernando and Diego but they never met before the military. However, Diego’s parents worked for Maria’s parents.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When she was young she wanted to be a tattoo artist.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She loves dogs. She was the one who always wanted to take care of the K9s and no one bothered to stop her.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Has a pretty high alcohol tolerance. (She also loves beer.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She was a bully and a class clown in school. (The teachers despised her.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When her, Diego and Fernando first started as recruits, she would get into a lot of trouble for talking back to the Drill Sergeant. She despised that man so much that she slept with his wife out of spite.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Her preferred weapon of choice is a Heckler & Koch HK43.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Despite the fact at how carnally annoying she finds Fernando, she does indeed care about him and Diego.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When she got heavily drunk in a bar one night when the team were celebrating a recent victory, she made scissoring gestures with her fingers at Y/N who sighed and told Khalida to keep an eye on her. (She ended up fighting a random dude at the bar and Khalida helped her.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She can be extremely jealous and possessive over the people she cares about.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She has a cross necklace that she wears along with her gold chain. Her family were Christian so she kinda stuck to it. She doesn’t really agree with Riley’s view on God but she understands and respects his opinion.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She really likes Riley’s drawings, especially the doodles, and she got one of them tattooed. (It’s a doodle of a Heckler & Koch HK43. Riley has multiple full pages in his sketchbook with doodles of every type of gun and combat knife he knows.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She once took a picture of Y/N working out and dripping in sweat and when Khalida and Henry looked at her questionably she cleared her throat and said: “For research purposes.”

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She enjoys beating the shit out of new recruits during training. (She unironically refers to them as “fresh meat”.)

8. Henry Davis

Mental age: 35 years

Nationality: American

Place of birth: U.S.A

Rank: Master Gunnery Sergeant

Callsign: Ranger (He spends a lot of time making presentations to explain the plans and strategies he proposes for upcoming missions. The unit started calling him PowerPoint Ranger because of this, so his callsign became Ranger.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Advanced sniper techniques

- Weapon handling and proficiency

- Counter-insurgency

- Special reconnaissance

- Information warfare

- Tactical planning and coordination

- Anti-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

- Counterterrorism

- Sabotage

- Ambush executions

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s very positive. You’ll always find a smile on his face.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Cracks the most horrendous dad jokes.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Just like Diego and Riley, he’s a very good cook and does most of the cooking in the house with them.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He is arguably the most skilled sniper in the unit.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His intelligence and mission planning tactics are of the highest level and he is one of Y/N’s most valuable assets.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s a family man. Moreover, he absolutely loves kids, and they stick to him like glue whenever he’s around.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He is the one who bakes the birthday cakes for teammates’ birthdays.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Before the team decided to give him the callsign “Ranger” they called him “Stars n Stripes”. (Because he’s American, badum tss.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He can be as friendly as Diego. Arguably, even more.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Both of his arms are covered in sleeve tattoos.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He had to babysit his nieces during duty hours once. They wanted to play dress up and forced him to participate. The problem was that he had a very important meeting with the team and the General at the time, to discuss an upcoming classified mission. He showed up to that meeting with green eyeshadow, smudged mascara, smeared red lipstick and hot pink blush, because his nieces would start crying when he’d attempt to take it off. Needless to say, the whole unit was horrified and Y/N avoided eye contact with the General at all costs. Henry kept his head down and avoided drawing attention to himself as much as he could. (The whole unit was secretly dying inside from laughter.) (When the General asked who would be planning the infiltration tactics for the operation, Y/N hesitantly pointed to Henry, who gave the General the most awkward half smile. Y/N wished the ground would just open below her feet and swallow her whole.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His preferred weapon of choice is a M4A1 carbine.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ As mentioned in his specializations, his most important missions included counter-insurgency, special reconnaissance, counterterrorism, information warfare and anti-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Henry has played key roles in ensuring definitive victories against emerging terrorist networks.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Before he joined the unit, he was an operator for the Special Activities Division of the CIA.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His favorite equipment are laptops, sat-phones, and rocket-equipped combat drones.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Since the SAD is permitted to execute missions against enemies of the state, without consulting the Pentagon or White House, Henry has been involved in multiple actions to assassinate enemy leadership.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He really likes the doodle that Maria got tattooed from Riley’s sketchbook. He brought it up one day and he said that he also was thinking of asking Riley to get one tattooed on him. That day the team talked about it and joked that they each would get one tattooed.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He is Y/N’s right hand in planning tactics. He is the first to come up with a plan, then if Y/N approves they are to present it to the rest of the team and the higher ups.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Before Y/N became their commanding officer, he and Riley would argue every single day. Henry absolutely despised the way Riley would shit on his mission tactics proposals and that became the reason why they would be at each other’s throats every minute of every day. He still hates the way Riley finds something wrong with every single plan he makes but since Y/N finds it useful he doesn’t argue that much anymore.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He joins Fernando in watching rodeos when he has time because he genuinely enjoys it.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He had a mustache and a beard which he had had for years, so when he woke up as a Recom he was devastated to learn that Recombinants can’t grow facial hair.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He and Y/N were the only ones who actually researched about Pandora and the Na’vi before they signed their Project Phoenix contracts.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He nearly got half of his body blown to pieces in a mission in Russia and he still gets shivers thinking about it.

9. Khalida Fadel

Mental age: 34 years

Nationality: ???

Place of birth: ???

Rank: Gunnery Sergeant

Callsign: Liberty (No one knows why. This was the callsign she had when she first joined the unit and she demanded that she kept it because it was dear to her.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Counterterrorism

- Stealth expertise

- Sniper techniques

- Expertise in weapon handling and proficiency

- Target elimination

- Ambush execution

- Covert surveillance

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She showed up one day and Y/N introduced her to the unit as the new member. She left no room for questions, so everyone has went along with it since then.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Not much is known about her past before she joined the squadron, except that she has a brother who lives in the Middle East. The only people who know the whole story are Y/N and John Keller.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She’s a master combatant and one of the best operators in weapon handling and proficiency.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She’s one of the best motorcycle riders that Y/N has ever seen and she prefers to ride one during missions rather than joining them in their military cars.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ You’ll almost never see her without an army headband on.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When she’s irritated, she cusses people out in Arabic.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She doesn’t usually initiate outside-of-work conversations, it has to be someone to talk to her first. But she’s very good at indulging in a conversation and it’s actually really nice to talk to her.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She’s very quiet in her combat. Has a talent for taking people out almost silently.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She has led all-women teams multiple times into battle and each time has resulted in victory.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Her preferred weapon of choice is an AK-47.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She can be excellent at motivating soldiers during battle, reminding them of why they’re there and that she’s right there with them.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Her tactic-planning skills are also quite impressive but unlike Riley she doesn’t prefer to intervene in Henry’s plans.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ For some reason, her and Riley cannot maintain a conversation for the life of them. Put them in a room together and they’ll make the most awkward chitchat before staying in the most uncomfortable silence that humanity has ever experienced.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She likes Henry quite a bit and she spends a lot of time talking with him. (Maria often jokes that they have a crush on each other.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Like John and Riley, she tends to call out on bullshit whenever it happens. She does tone it down a bit more than them, but still doesn’t hesitate to point it out, no matter of who it comes from.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Even though not much is known about her past, Y/N and John have dropped hints here and there that she has had a very hard life since childhood.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She has a locket necklace with a picture of a middle aged man inside but doesn’t tell people who he is.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Khalida doesn’t see war as just liberation of land but also as freedom from the old ways.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She introduced Henry to Arabic food and that man ate that day like he was never going to see food ever again.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ She has a talent for being able to use anything around her to her advantage during battle. Oil filters of a random vehicle? She’ll use it as a suppressor. Wax and random container of bleach? She’ll make a smoke bomb out of it. Broken glass on the street? Perfect for a Shiv.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Despite everything, Y/N doesn’t trust her very much. Except for John, no one else knows why.

10. Stefan Kessler (Keßler)

Mental age: 32 years

Nationality: German

Place of birth: Germany

Rank: Artillery Officer

Callsign: Berlin (He’s massive, and the tallest operator in the unit. He was the largest soldier in the entire Marine division. Because of this and because he’s German, he was given the callsign “Berlin” to compare him to the Berlin Wall.)

Skills and Specializations:

- Sniper techniques

- Expert in weapon handling and proficiency

- Sabotage

- Infiltrations

- Clandestine tradecraft

- Ambush execution

- High Intelligence

- Torture Expertise

- Master Combatant

- Counterterrorism

More about the character:

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Very quiet. He’s usually in his own world. He won’t really talk to people unless he knows them.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The first person he spoke to within the unit was Diego.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He spends most of his free time taking care of their guns and equipment.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He used to dislike Riley, since his behavior reminded Stephan of how much he hates people. Then one day, during a mission where it was the two of them, Oscar and Scott, he walked out to find a place to be by himself. He found a quiet place and when he walked a bit further, he saw Riley sitting by a tree, drawing in his sketchbook. He was about to turn back but Riley called him over. They ended up bonding over their shared talent for drawing, and talked for hours. Since then, they have had a good friendly relationship.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His favorite people within the squadron are Diego and Oscar.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He prefers to stay home when the unit goes out to celebrate victories. He just enjoys alone time. Sometimes he does go out with them but doesn’t do much, just stays at a table, slowly sipping from a pint glass of cold beer while watching whatever is going on around him.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ The smell of gun oil calms him down because his safe space is when he’s taking care of their guns and equipment.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ To keep his body mass he has to eat very large quantities of food, and he feels bad when one of his teammates says they’re gonna cook for the day. This has been brought up multiple times and everyone assures him that he’s really not the problem, because they’re all bulky built soldiers and they all eat a lot. (Diego, while tying his apron, also told him that he shouldn’t be feeling guilty about this when Fernando Álvarez exists.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Back when he was a recruit, when Drill Sergeants would see him for the first time, they would look at him like basketball coaches look at a very tall kid who has just stepped foot in the school for the first time.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He doesn’t curse much, only when something goes wrong in a mission or when he drops something while oiling their guns, and even then he curses under his breath and in German.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Even as a Recom, he is the largest Na’vi among both Recombinants and Avatars. He has it the hardest to move around in human-sized spaces and since he ends up tipping everything over, even people, Y/N mostly keeps him at their living quarters. And he doesn’t mind one bit.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a talent for crafting gadgets with very few materials. Give him a couple of batteries and some wire and he’ll make something very useful with it.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ When he was a kid he wanted to be a veterinarian.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s very intimidating and he knows it. But unlike Riley, he doesn’t enjoy it too much. He does like it that he’s able to intimidate the enemy with his size however.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He loves cats. He always feeds the strays when he sees them.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s a good babysitter. He minds his business. The kids mind their own and at the same time they don’t get into trouble because they’re lowkey scared of him. Who wouldn’t be, the man is huge. Boom. Babysitting 101.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s a smoker. John tried to get him to stop but to no avail. He smokes Marlboro religiously and will not have any other brands.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has a very good understanding of his body. From what foods are best for him to what exercises strain his muscles more. He knows his strengths and his limits perfectly.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His preferred weapon of choice is a M249 SAW.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He’s a master at grilling. Whenever the team decides to have a barbecue night, he’s the one slaying above the grill. (Scott has gifted him an apron that reads “Grill Daddy.” Yes, he had a lot of questions when he received said gift.)

⋆☠︎︎⋆ His father was a butcher so he basically grew up in a butcher shop. His mother was a drug addict so he never really saw her unless she came at their doorstep to beg for drug money.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ He has multiple tattoos on his arms and body and some of them he designed himself.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Just like Oscar, he is very calm and calculated during combat. Since he’s older, that makes up for Oscar’s lack of experience.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ If Riley or John are busy, then he is usually the guy who’s gets put in charge of the interrogations.

⋆☠︎︎⋆ Sometimes the team refers to him as the “Gun Bunny” because he’s the artilleryman.

#avatar the way of water #atwow #atwow oc #atwow oc recoms #avatar oc #avatar rda #oc #oc recoms #atwow fanfiction #atwow recoms #avatar #avatar fanfiction #avatar recoms

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danthepest · 1 year ago

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So with the Metal Gear Collection out now (of debatable quality), I figured I'd make a short, handy list of the chronological order of these games, and a short summary of what they're about. I'll try to be as vague and spoiler free as possible.

1 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Takes place in 1964 during the Cold War. CIA operative and FOX unit member Naked Snake is sent to Russia and has to survive the jungle (don't ask, just roll with it) to stop the development and deployment of a new kind of ultimate weapon, the Shagohod. Things are not what they seem and the political machinations of both the United States of America and Russia will have severe repercussions for the rest of the series. Most of all, it will affect Naked Snake and his legacy.

2 - Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - Takes place in 1970. FOX has seemingly gone rogue and started a revolt in San Hieronymo. Naked Snake begins to build his own resistance with the help of Roy Campbell. (The game is only available for PSP and while it was touted as a "missing link" between Snake Eater and Metal Gear 1, it hasn't been mentioned or referenced since. Easily skippable.)

3 - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Takes place in 1974 in Costa Rica. Naked Snake and Kazuhira Miller begin building their private military company Militaires Sans Frontières. As they uncover the truth behind the strife in Costa Rica, Snake's past during the Snake Eater incident comes back to haunt him. (Originally a PSP game, it was included in the PS3 HD collection. This was also billed as a "missing link". Up to you if agree. Definitely need to play this to understand the next game.)

4 - Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - Takes place in 1975. After the Peace Walker Incident, one of MSF's own people goes to Cuba on a failed rescue mission and Naked Snake goes in alone to retrieve his man and the person he came to rescue. Serves as an epilogue to Peace Walker and a prologue to the next game.

5 - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - Takes place in 1984, primarily in Afghanistan. Ten years after what happens in Ground Zeroes, Naked Snake is rechristened Venom Snake and is rebuilding his forces with Miller, naming themselves Diamond Dogs. They prepare to strike back at the organization that has been targeting them for the last 10 years. A startling truth is revealed and strong alliances shatter.

6 - Metal Gear - Takes place in 1995. FOXHOUND unit rookie, Solid Snake is sent into the fortified state, Outer Heaven, to rescue FOXHOUND veteran Gray Fox and discover the secret behind Outer Heaven's nuclear weapon, the Metal Gear, and the identity of its leader.

7 - Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - Takes place in 1999. Dr. Kio Marv has bio-engineered a new fuel and energy source that would reduce the consumption of oil. Military forces belonging to Zanzibar Land kidnap the doctor, intending to control the world's oil supply and hold the world hostage as well as stockpiling nuclear weapons. New FOXHOUND commander Roy Campbell forces Solid Snake out of retirement to infiltrate Zanzibar Land and rescue Dr. Kio Marv. Solid Snake is forced to face those he once considered friends and mentors.

8 - Metal Gear Solid - Takes place in 2005. FOXHOUND rebels against the US government and takes over the Alaskan island Shadow Moses, which contains a nuclear weapons disposal facility. Among their demands is the body of Big Boss who is considered the greatest soldier that ever lived. They wish to use his genes to create an army of super soldiers. At the behest of the Secretary of Defense, Roy Campbell once again has to ask Solid Snake out of retirement for one last solo mission. Solid Snake is forced to confront who he is, where he came from and what it is he's fighting for.

9 - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Takes place in 2007 and 2009. In 2007, the anti-terrorist organization Philanthropy learns that a new Metal Gear is being transported through the Hudson river and attempt to stop it. They are thwarted by Russian mercenaries and the tanker is blown up as they get away with said Metal Gear.

In 2009, FOXHOUND operative Raiden is sent to infiltrate the Big Shell, a large decontamination facility that has been taken over by a terrorist faction calling themselves the Sons of Liberty. Raiden must neutralize the threat and save the hostages. However, Raiden will soon learn of a conspiracy that dates back to even before the Cold War and begin to question his own existence.

10 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Takes place in 2014. War has changed. War has become a commodity and has created what is known as the War Economy. Old Snake is tasked with putting a stop to the madness as well as put an end to a personal war that started as far back as 1964. (So far, this is exclusively a PS3 title, but there is hope that it will be released for PC in a further Metal Gear Collection)

11 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Takes place in 2018. Raiden has made peace with his lot in life and is trying to support his family by working as a military trainer and VIP bodyguard among other things. While protecting a VIP, Raiden is ambushed and utterly defeated by a cyborg that is part of a larger organization. Raiden begins his quest of vengeance and will finally see if he can put his past behind him.

And there you have it! Dunno really what prompted me to do this, but hey, maybe someone out there will find this helpful or interesting or intriguing or whatever.

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annakie · 5 months ago

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Never Fade Away

THIS IS A VERY LONG POST with big spoilers in both words and pictures for Cyberpunk 2077!

But it's also all my feels about a playthrough that's taken me many months and almost 300 hours to complete.

----

I played Cyberpunk 2077 on release. As I said in this "Games I played in 2021" post, which is a thing I wish I'd remembered to do every year, I loved it. That said, it probably wouldn't have cracked my top 10 or maybe even 20 favorite games ever, but I thought it was amazing, right out of the box. I ran into a couple of bugs, like couldn't complete the Delamain questline, and definitely agreed with some popular opinions about the game that parts of it didn't seem quite done, I had a couple of crashes and times I had to reload from something weird happening, but playing on PC I didn't have a lot of the problems console players did apparently.

It very much felt to me like another Andromeda situation -- another game that needed another couple of months to finish ironing a couple of bugs out but was mostly a victim of its own over-anticipaiton and overhyped-edness by the fanboys (and girls.)

That said, when I finished it I set it aside to wait for major updates before I'd pick it up again.

So last fall when it's one and only DLC, Phantom Liberty finally released, it was right around when the BG3 hype was happening so BG3 came first. But I kept having to wait for mods to update after patches dropped, so during one of these breaks I went and started playthrough #2 of Cyberpunk 2077.

My first time through I was a Nomad, so to mix it up this time I went Corpo. I really enjoyed Corpo a lot more and thought it had some much cooler interactions than Nomad ever gave me. Although, I thought the introduction and subsequent friendship with Jackie felt more natural with Nomad.

There were several goals I had going in to this playthrough.

Different origin - check.

Send Jackie's body to Mama Welles -- with no spoilers from my first run, I thought sending the body to Vik to work on first would be the most logical choice and either he could help Jackie or at least get him interred properly so Jackie's mom WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE TRAUMATIZED by her son's body just showing up. Guess that was the wrong choice and it was way too late to change once I found that out. So yeah, start things off right with Mama.

Complete the Delamain quest now that the showstopper bug a LOT of people ran into was fixed. (Didn't mention it later, but check!)

Find all the Hidden Gems

Pick a different ending.

Install cool mods to enhance things without breaking the game.

Generally, just do everything. Except maybe the Sinnerman questline. (I aborted halfway through and didn't regret it.)

Understand the main storyline in ways that had confused the hell out of me the first time around.

High quality Screenshots screenshots screenshots screenshots screenshots.

So with 1 checked off, I decided before advancing the main storyline much, I'd try to raise my fame level a bit and also just let Jackie live for awhile.

I did some research and landed on installing the Welcome to Night City mod collection. It's well researched, well maintained, the creator is really responsive, and has a Discord with a well supported community. Importantly for me, it also didn't have any "sexy" mods, just great gameplay tweaks, fixes, customizable on how much harder/easier it made the game, and added a lot of flavor and experience but felt like everything just worked in the background. Also since I have a Premium Nexus Mods experience, the install and upgrades were very, very easy. I didn't do the upgraded CyberpunkTHING experience, since it makes the game harder. I was here for a good time.

(And yes, I endorsed every mod in the collection!)

Honestly it added so many things that I'm sure there was a ton of stuff I just experienced thinking that that's just how the game was now, but it was a part of a seamlessly integrated mod collection.

I'll definitely use this mod pack again the next time I play. But also I didn't install ANY other mods really for a very long time, and I now really wish that I had. But we'll get to that.

I also installed several other graphics mods on my own, like a high-res skin for River (and the... shall we say... anti-Kendoll mod for him lol) and like, this mod (and several others from that author) that tones down the hypersexuality of the ads in the game. I realized early on that they don't bother me in-game -- it totally fits the aesthetic and tone of the game! But also I didn't want all that in screenshots that I will have rotating on my desktop for years (shoutout to DisplayFusion) and would have the possibility of like, my AC guy or my neighbors kids having to see as my Office is my living room (and my living room is the smallest bedroom of my house).

I did a lot of the gigs in Watson before advancing the main storyline so I'd have an OK character for storming stuff this time. I recently found a list of places Johnny talks in early Watson jobs to avoid doing early next time:

Side Job: Losing My Religion (where you have to free the monk from Maelstrom)

Fixer Gig: Backs Against the Wall (recover stolen medicine from veteran)

Fixer Gig: Scrolls before Swine (get the CCTV footage for the cop, only if you watch before downloading)

So you can do all NCPD hustles, the first 10 Fixer gigs and and all side jobs except Losing My Religion without losing out on any of the Johnny experience.

Leaving that there for next time. Anyway, it feels like it makes more sense to get this chance at the big gig when you have some experience, and can pretend you and Jackie were living life together a little while longer. Next playthrough -- use AMM to take some hanging out with Jackie screenshots early on.

---

Eventually I advanced the main storyline enough and finished the Heist, and was able to check #2 off my list. Loved not getting yelled at by Mama Welles this time. And felt with the added time that I had a right to be doing this -- still extremely stupid in retrospect -- gig. But it was more fun have tools to deal with the hotel guards this time.

Knowing who Takemora was and meeting Johnny again were really enhanced by knowing what the fuck was going on the second time around. Keanu really knocks it out of the park when you finally really understand the character.

Though I hate the early adversarial feeling between him and V, I get it a lot more now. Watching the relationship grow is really worth it.

---

I wasn't invited to Jackie's memorial the first time. So getting to go the second time and help repair Misty and Mama Wells' relationship was great, and I really loved getting to know Jackie better by picking out something for the funeral at his garage, and the added time with Misty.

---

I told myself I'd do a different spec than stealth-hacker. I was wrong. I still did that. I love using Contagion and Overheat to take enemies out non-lethally while crouched behind something nearby. The ones that really deserve it get a shot from Skippy later.

Yeah, as soon as lockdown was over I hightailed it down to Valentino's territory and then headed back to Watson / Japantown. I gave Skippy up as late as possible, when he was outliving his usefulness. I got him back as fast as I could, but I miss his voice. I miss his quips.

After that when I needed a weapon I mostly used the Arasaka experimental smart SMG. IDK, I just liked the feeling of stealing shit from Arasaka and using it to fuck up their own people whenever possible. But again, I didn't shoot weapons much anyway.

---

I spent so, so much time just driving around taking pictures of my cars and the amazing ways the light looked while driving through the city. I absolutely fell in love with the aesthetics of the city, every part of it, over and over again. I posted a few photosets. There are more in the queue. There are so many screenshots I didn't use.

Like, honestly out of everything I love about this game just... looking at it is maybe my favorite thing. There's so much to see, all of the time, everywhere. Your eyes can never take it all in. I'll be in a place I've been a dozen times and still find new awesome things to look at. I just can't describe how much I enjoy just... looking at this game.

I never fast travel anywhere -- except out of the Megabuilding 10 apartment. I took the metro a few times just to sit back and relax watching the scenery go by but normally I just drive everywhere.

Jackie's Arch and the Porche 911 (and its variant in the bottom screenshot) are my favorite vehicles. Bikes for maneuverability, but also likewise the Porche has better handling than a bike while still being really easy to weave through traffic in.

Night City is one of the few locations in any video game I've ever played that TRULY feels like it could be a real place. Every neighborhood is distinct. Though there are some familiar things, one Captain Caliente doesn't look like every other one. You'll see a few of the same signs around, there are some generic small building structures but where it makes sense. Yeah there's a few monolithic Arasaka buildings but of course they would be. How efficient. The megabuildings are similar, but different enough. It feels like every detail of the world was crafted so carefully. There's so much beauty even in the ugly bits.

I never want to stop looking at it, or screenshotting it. I just love the city so much.

I'm going to run out of screenshot space on this post.

---

I romanced River again. Look, I'm a basic primarily het romancer in video games. I love Judy, she's amazing, but River ticks my boxes -- the Paladin archetype who gives it all up to do the right thing even when it costs him.

I hate that he's the most undercooked of all the companions plot and time-wise. But there were some huge improvements this time. All the companions had gotten extra text message interactions. A fun little quest that added a bit more content in PL. They Really Want To Stay at Your House! And along with that, amazing mods are now available to make those things even better. (River Romanced Enhanced, the Really Want To Stay At Your House and Romance Interactions Enhanced mods)

Around the mid-point in game after seeing some amazing photosets on my desktop, I got brave and installed Appearance Mod Menu and a bunch of other pose and photomode mods that go along with it. Also some outfit mods for River. And then things really got cooking screenshot wise.

Even though it took a lot of effort to set this stuff up and to get poses to work right sometimes, I got to feel like River and my V went out and had real dates on the town.

Also sometimes... we just uh... stayed in.

There's so many photos that won't ever make it to tumblr. And so many more sets I want to take.

Well, that's what reloading old saves is for.

You'll see some of these screenshots again, or have before. I have a lot of things queued that will pop up... sometime. I like to surprise myself with my own photosets. :D

---

I finally installed the Virtual Atleir and started modding in outfits a little while after doing AMM, was trying to install things in waves as to not break too much. I got a few crashes here and there, but not as many as I was worried about, after installing stuff on top of Welcome to Night City.

I kind of regret waiting so long to do Virtual Atlier and clothing mods but also not. I think I manually collected like 95% or more of all the ingame clothing. I still stop by clothing stores but they usually have nothing new for me, or just things like... masks that I never use. There's such a huge variety of clothes already in the game that I didn't get to build a lot of outfits around pieces that I love. I made a whole post of ingame-outfits I made and love!

And there's one in the queue somewhere of modded-in outfits, too. Not even all of them.

Cyberpunk 2077 is the ultimate Dress-up my dolls and make them kiss game, and I may never stop playing that aspect of it.

---

Hey speaking of Kerry Eurodyne, I love him. And Panam. And Judy. And Vik. and Claire. And Misty. And Rogue. And the rest of Samurai (Well, I chose Denny and always will.) The only thing I don't love is how it feels like you still don't get enough time with any of them, except MAYBE Panam.

I would love to be able to space out all of their missions even more. I try to put as much space in between the companion missions as possible, but this time it backfired on me a little because i crammed Judy's stuff in way later in the game than I should have, around when I was doing Kerry's stuff. When all of the main quest and most of the side quest stuff was done. And we all know that we don't get Kerry until way too late anyway. But doing Panam's stuff happened so long ago that sometimes I'd just drive out to see the Aldecados and hang out for a day because I missed them. (And, as you can see in the River screenshot above, I "brought him along" to introduce him tot he family once or twice.)

I have a great photoset in the queue of all the main characters hanging out at the Corpo apartment together I can't wait to come up someday. Not posting a preview screenshot here.

Except I forgot Claire. It took me like an hour to set that scene up and now I'm thinking about doing it all again to include Claire.

Anyway, mostly I just want to say that aside from just loving River, I love them all and don't want to leave them behind either.

Or the Fixers. Or Reed. But we'll get to Phantom Liberty.

---

Just one more quick stop here to talk about the music.

I installed the Improved Radio Continued mod and wow it really enhanced the music experience for me.

I am a 98.7 Body Heat gal, with a flip to Pacific Dreams when Ponpon Shit or History would play, but loved about half the new music on Growl FM. It took some finagling, but Improved Radio let me make my own custom radio station with JUST the songs I wanted. So it's a mash of those three stations, without the songs I disliked. (There's one on Pacific Dreams, the REALLY long one that has the interlude of someone saying the same word over and over really slowly? That one... ughghgh) and that was amazing. There's a handful of songs from other stations I liked too, that got added in. And, I'm sorry, no Us Cracks allowed. I love them as characters, still hate their music.

What I didn't expect was to really fall in love with the music of Samurai this time around. Like, I knew I should have the first time but I didn't put effort into listening to them since metal isn't my usual vibe. But it IS my brother's, at least when we were in High School and College, so I listened to it a lot back then and there are still metal songs I do like.

So this time I put all the Samaurai songs in my playlist and holy shit I fell in love with them.

A couple of weeks ago I was driving to visit my parents IRL and the entire way up there I just listened to the Samurai songs on repeat. I'm a big fan now, thanks second playthrough.

----

So, Phantom Liberty was the big reason for the new playthrough. Let's talk about it.

I absolutely LOVE Dogtown. oh, Pacifica, but worse? Amazing. So much new stuff to see, and do. I loved exploring every nook and cranny.

It added SO MUCH to the game, I can't imagine playing the game without it. I didn't even go to there until I was like 2/3rds of the way through the rest of the content and I wish I'd spread it out EVEN MORE.

I will say that I thought some of the main quests were a bit long. I felt myself itching to get out and go do something else throughout some of the long sessions like basically having to do most of the stuff with the President in one big long chain, though it made sense. I loved those quests, though! And I think I'll like them even more on a subsequent playthrough some day.

The only part I really did not like at all in Phantom Liberty was -- ok look I made the choice to side with Reed the entire way. It's Idris fucking Elba okay, I have loved him since The Wire. And I absolutely understand why Songbird did what she did, and what she would have done if I'd have sided with her. And maybe I will next time. But this time, I was all in on Reed -- though I didn't become an Agent for the NUSA, fuck that. And I gave Songbird her final wish. Because again, fuck the NUSA.

But oh man, that last quest? With that FUCKING ROBOT following you around the base at the end, that is an instakill if it finds you? FUUUUUUCK that. It was so frustrating that I stopped playing for over a month because every time I thought about going back into the game to finish that my head wanted to explode.

Eventually I watched a couple of Youtube videos and read a couple of articles about exactly where to go and how to hide from it.

Look, I love exploring, I love taking my time, I love making sure I explore everything and miss nothing. That fucking robot harshed my gaming style so much. No regrets about cheating my way through that part. Zero. I made it through with only dying to it one more time and got the fuck out of there. I was also glad to see in the comments of the video I watched and articles I read that I was very much not alone in that opinion. I might side with Songbird at least most of the way to the end in future playthroughs JUST to never have to do that base again.

Otherwise, though, Phantom Liberty was a triumph. I want a mod that makes the Dogtown apartment not shit but also not luxury, and then I want to just stay there a long time.

----

So, I'm almost done with the game.

I installed two Hidden Gems mods that turn the easy-to-miss stuff into Fixer (and Ronald in Dogtown) quests and LOVED THEM. I wanted to see and do it all. And I did. I'm done with that. It took me many more hours of gameplay to get through all of that. Worth it.

In my playthrogh, River is waiting for me at my Megabuilding apartment to spend one more night together.

And then I'm calling Panam and having the Aldecados come help me storm Arasaka.

Last time I had Rogue help, and to be honest, I feel like that's still the right choice. Rogue helped start this. She should help end it.

But one of my goals was to do more things different. And to be honest, I hate the endings, so much.

It's not that I necessarily think there should be a happy ending for V. But I think that the game should let us help make sure other people have happier endings.

So here's the thing. V is richer than like 95% of Night City by the end of the game. She's got like six apartments, at least a dozen cars even if you don't buy many at the car store, My V still has like 8 million eddies.

I don't care what the game says.

In my game, V went to a financial lawyer.

V set up trusts with each of the Fixers, or maybe one for all of them, where they can access funds to hire mercs to help people who couldn't afford a Fixer but needs one. I'd trust most of them to use this wisely, or maybe Regina, or Rogue, or Dakota or Padre would help oversee it. At least a million eddies out there, to help those who get fucked by the system most.

V sets up a trust for Judy, so she's always got enough to get by. She sends her the best tech she's gotten her hands on to ply her trade with. Maybe a new van. Set aside some to help the Dolls.

V sends her heavy duty vehicles and Scorpion's bike to the Aldecados, along with a huge stash of weaponry and half a million or so eddies to help them stay solvent.

Misty's and Vik's rents paid up for at least a year. A vehicle each. Another 250k or so for each of them. They have room to breathe. Whatever Cyberware is laying around goes to Vik -- but if River wants a couple of pieces installed, he gets them (within reason. No cyberpsychosis for my man.)

Same for Claire. Set her up with her shop's rent paid up, and a trust, give her The Beast back, and another car of her choosing.

Kerry doesn't need much, but she gives him Johnny's outfit to remember him by. Or maybe to Rogue. What do these two giants want? Whatever it is, they can have. Split the memorabilia.

And then River.

First of all, a trust for Joss and the kids. 250k each, the kids get theirs in small chunks as they age. If there's a note on either of the trailers, it's paid off. If Joss wants to move into the city, done. Set the kids up with scholarships to the best schools they want to go to. A decent, reliable car for each of the four of them. Maybe Randy wants the Megabuilding apartment for when he's ready to live on his own again.

River gets most of what's left after all that. The Glen apartment specifically, that's where they made their best memories. There's still going to be like 4 million and a bunch of cars and property left. If V dies, it's his.

This is the closest thing to happily ever after that they can get, and in my mind it absolutely happens, at some point.

Honestly, if it were me, if I didn't know the "two years later" of it, then V would have taken the President's offer and gotten Johnny out of her head surgically and lived. The will probably would have triggered. Or knowing that the surgery could be risky she'd at least have put in a provision that a percent of it triggered so Joss, the kids, River, Judy, Claire and Panam would be taken care of.

She'd never have left River destitute and desperate to take care of the family. I can't accept it.

V would wake up maybe with less money, but her assets protected enough that even without being a Merc she'd be OK. The people she loved would be OK. River would have taken care of things, and would love her without her implants.

It'll never be happily ever after in Night City, but the people that matter most will be OK.

---

But I'm going to finish today, maybe tomorrow. I planned on it today but then I spent 4 hours writing this post and have a PF2E game tonight to DM that I need to prep for.

I installed the River's Epilogue Enhanced - Nomad Star Ending mod and.... so I'm bringing the Aldecados to Arasaka, and am going to have the happiest ending possible modded into the game. With my headcanon that a trust is waiting for him and the family. They'll be fine.

I love this game. I loved it before, I love it so much more now.

I can't wait to play it again someday.

#cyberpunk 2077 #river ward #kerry eurodyne #panam palmer #judy alvarez #johnny silverhand #rogue amendiares #cp2077 #long post #pptt

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cinnamokittykat · 1 year ago

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Inspired by @puff0o0 's artwork pt2!

Wait, he isn't going to get mad at me, or worse?

You stare in amazement as he pulls a plastic chair out for you to sit. Tentatively you take a seat as they begin to play a song you had yet to hear of. It was rather slow, and the person who was singing sounded rather sad.

The drums in the background were prominent and quite well-played from what you could gather. You rested your face in your hand, watching the drummer boy at work, his hair flinging around and arms flexing. Upon closer inspection, he was wearing leather pants and a tee with a skeleton print on it, and it fit him very well if you did say.

After several minutes, the melancholy melody came to a halt and they transitioned to a more lively, fire-y song talking about "obeying your master" or something rather. It had a pretty impressive guitar part, so you quite enjoyed that. (yes im sorry i only know it from stranger things im so sorry i'm a goth girlie, not a metalhead)

The man gets up from his seat and walks- more like strides- over to where you're sitting. You feel even smaller in front of the Goliath of a man in front of you.

"So, what did you think?" He inquires in accented monotone.

"That's what... metal is?" You tilt your head to the side, still half-expecting to be decked.

"Ja, the second song. We also do more gothic stuff, which was the first one."

"I see. It sounds..."

"Dark?" He finishes your sentence for you.

"Yes."

He looks off to the side, then back at you.

"Your name is?" You ask hesitantly.

"Me or the band?"

"You... b-but also the band!"

"Well, I am König, they-" He points to the other boys in the garage "call me Kilgore though, the guitar player is 'Phantom', and the singer is 'Leshy'. And we're all part of a group called 'Feral Woods'. And may I ask your name?"

"Oh, well... it's (y/n)."

König cocks his head to the side ever so slightly, before finally smiling for the first time.

"You are welcome to watch me practice whenever you want to, (y/n)."

You forget to thank him out of pure, unadulterated shock. The last thing you expected out of a broody, all black wearing teen was kindness. After a few more songs, your mother calls you home for dinner. You wave goodbye to the boys and tell them how nice it was to meet them before rushing home down the street.

‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵

As you sit in your fluffy bed with a mug of tea, you think about how strange it all felt. You more or less interrupted practice for a Gothic giant twice and he showed you nothing but kindness.

Well, it doesn't matter now. I'm sure we'll both forget about each other soon, school starts tomorrow and I need to focus on my studies.

You think to yourself, looking at your pristine bookbag all packed up for the following day, and your girlish pastel outfit laid out on a chair.

I can't believe they would make my schedule like that!

You recall the email sent to you a few days ago with your attached schedule, and how you called all your friends to compare them, only to find out that you only shared 1 class with 1 of your closest friends. To make all matters worse, it was your senior year. Hell is a teenage girl, isn't that the saying?

Foreshadowing, anyone? I decided to take some liberties and make him a silly goth boy as well as a metalhead, mainly because I've never seen goth guys in media that aren't vampires tbh.

#konig #cod konig #konig mw2 #konig cod #konig modern warfare #konig fanfiction #cod x you

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blackrevell · 11 months ago

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WIP WHENEVER (and in my case — forever)

Decided to pile up the things I've been working on lately to guilt-trip my brain into working harder, heheh Digital Art | 3D | VP

// Art bear hugs with evil step-mom

Can't wrap my head around the fact that Phantom Liberty got me by the throat so hard that I got over my fear of painting people. Even the character studies done so far were a huge step out of the comfort zone, yet here I am. I thought it is high time to remember the good ol' times and go for a full-rendered illustration (feat. So Mi again, but she is just so nice to paint!). I still feel a bit heavy-handed after my >1 year hiatus, but I'm getting back to my senses. Also cooking some more character studies, currently trying to draw Jago, because holy shit this man serves every angle (also eyelashes, also eye color, also everything). // 3D As I got curious about modding too, I decided to start with clothing since there are more tutorials about this type of mods and they sufficiently cover how to work with Wolvenkit and mod implementation overall. I didn't want to pick up anything too difficult for the first thing; something just enough to recall sculpting, texturing and vertex tinkering. My friend suggested to roughly reference Beyoncé's look from I'm That Girl video, so the plan is dress + shoes + sunglasses. Right now working on weight painting for the dress, then I'm onto higher-detailed mesh for normals and textures, but that's gotta be easy.

Also plan on doing some extra props for photos, but I haven't yet learned how to implement it into the game and AMM, so this one is for later.

// Virtual Photography Still waiting for CDPR to get back from holidays and release a patch, because the performance I got after the last one dropped and photo mode seems to stop render at 80%. There are a few ideas I have floating in my mind, but I have to wait first. At least I got time to get used to working with lighting mods. Just dropping a couple of throwaways not to leave this part empty.

UPD: OKAY BORO MADE ME POST KURT ONE, let's count this one out pfhdjsksnjs

#my wips #cyberpunk 2077 #phantom liberty

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happyocelot · 2 years ago

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The Same Sky and Moon and Stars

Happy Inukag Week!

I didn't realize it was InuKag week until now 😅

Not sure if this fits exactly with the prompts as it's more focused on Kagome's friends and family dealing with her returning to the past to be with Inuyasha, but I think it goes well with Day 1: Love Languages.

If it doesn't fit the prompts too well, please forgive me and ignore this 🙈 (Too nervous about tagging haha, what if it doesn't match the prompts well?)

I always wondered what Kagome's friends and family thought of her vanishing into the well, and how they dealt with her absence after years and years. This is my interpretation of how that might have been. I haven't seen more than a few clips of the sequel series yet and I am not too familiar with the storyline, but I saw a clip of Moroha hugging grandpa and maxing out Sota's credit card and I thought that was so cute. Please tell me what you think! :)

Summary:

"His family had gotten on well enough, knowing that his sweet, beautiful granddaughter was safe and happy in her new home, but even so, he could detect longing and anguish for her phantom presence. He knew better, though. She hadn't gone anywhere. She was right there with him, under the same blue sky."

Kagome, and the world she left behind. Post-series.

FFN / AO3

Be sure to come to Wac's at noon! Eri had told Kagome, beaming brilliantly. Then we can go to the arcade, and then we can watch a movie.

Finally.

After months and months of cram school and late nights studying, entrance exam torture and nervous breakdowns.

Finally.

They'd graduated.

Yuka would move all the way down south to Kyushu for college in a few months, and Ayumi would go straight north, north, north, right into the depths of the snowiest mountains. Eri would remain in Tokyo.

Kagome still hadn't said what she was planning to do after high school, but as her grades had somehow drastically improved three years ago soon after starting high school, Eri was certain that Kagome, too, had gotten into a prestigious institution.

She hadn't said where that was, but Eri was sure that she would spill the beans after a couple of burgers and milkshakes.

Truthfully, she was hoping that at least Kagome would stay in Tokyo with her. It would be lonely with Ayumi all the way in Aomori, and Yuka in Fukuoka. Notwithstanding her strange illnesses and absences back in the ninth grade, Kagome had been dependably the next desk over in class, sharing notes and lunches and smiles for years and years and years. Eri didn't want her to go too soon.

Noon became 12:15, and 12:15 became 12:25.

Eri ordered a heaping of fries, and Ayumi an extra-large milkshake.

Yuka had taken the liberty of ordering for Kagome the extra extra extra large burger that she liked, and tapped her foot impatiently. By 12:45, she had crinkled her brow in a blend of irritation and concern.

"You don't think she suddenly got sick again, do you?" Ayumi asked. "Hang on, I'll call her house."

She pulled out her brand-new Nokia flip that Ayumi's parents had gotten her as a graduation gift. (They would all color-coordinate their phones soon. Ayumi had insisted.)

"Yes, ojii-san, this is Ayumi. I'm calling to ask about...oh, really? He's back so suddenly? She's gone to meet him?...Well, tell her to come to Wac's soon, please, her burger is getting soggy."

She hung up, her face clearing, her brow smoothing, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"It's her delinquent boyfriend again! He's back from that three-year trip and he's gone to meet Kagome!"

Their table erupted in squeals and applause.

"So Kagome isn't in a long-distance relationship anymore!"

"Ooooh, this is way more interesting than college plans!"

"Think he's still not as good a match as Hojo-kun?"

"You think she's gonna bring him here? We need to check him out!"

"She better!"

One o'clock came and went.

Kagome still didn't come.

They shrugged their shoulders, not all that concerned. She and her boyfriend were all lovey-dovey. She was constantly getting piggyback rides from him and all. They had probably lost track of time after three years in a long-distance relationship.

Eri wrapped up the burger and dropped it off at the Higurashi house with a friendly, teasing note that Kagome would never read.

***

Five years had passed since high school graduation, and honestly, Ayumi was still a bit miffed at Kagome.

You would think that Kagome's best friends would be invited to her wedding. You would think that they wouldn't suddenly elope out of nowhere right after the last day of high school. Really, what were they thinking?

She'd been meaning to call for years now, hoping to give Kagome a piece of her mind. Kagome's mother had given her a phone number, but whenever Ayumi rang, there would only ever be a beep and a polite, robotic voice, telling her that the number was invalid and to please dial again.

***

"Mama, who's that?" her daughter asked one evening, pointing to a gaggle of smiling schoolgirls in Yuka's old, yellowing photo album.

"Hmm? Those are Eri-san and Ayumi-san. They settled down in Tokyo last year. You met them at that party, dear."

"No, mama, I mean this person."

Yuka rubbed her aging eyes and blinked.

Ah.

It had been decades, but something in her heart lurched even so.

"Well, that's Kagome-san. She was a good friend of mine in high school. Don't know what she's up to now. I haven't been in touch with her for years."

Every once in a while, she would call the Higurashi shrine and ask about Kagome, if she was busy, and if Eri and Ayumi were in town, if she might want to stop by at Wac's and take a selfie and a burger for nostalgia's sake.

Kagome never was home. Her mother would always sigh softly and say that Kagome was "abroad." Whichever country she was in now, the Higurashi family definitely didn't seem keen on telling her.

It was life, she supposed. You moved on.

Still, a part of her would close her eyes and drift back to sleepy, golden afternoons and biking back home, happy smiles, and rapid-fire discussions of Kagome's strange, delinquent boyfriend.

***

There used to be a girl he liked, back in high school. Higurashi, wasn't it?

She was quite beautiful, and though he had been happily married for thirty years now, her bright, smiling face crossed Hojo's mind sometimes.

She had fallen quite sick in the ninth grade. All sorts of strange illnesses. Economy class syndrome and swine flu and chicken pox and even a bite from a potentially rabid dog.

Yet through those bizarre and alarming-sounding ailments, Higurashi's face always seemed to glow. She certainly didn't have the look of a sick person. Hojo hoped that meant all the get-well cards and medicines he gave her had worked.

He'd gone to an all-boys school after that and didn't get to see her as much, but every few weeks, he would run into her on the street and she would always greet him with a nod and a smile. They'd even gone to the movies once or twice, but soon enough, Hojo could tell she never saw him as anything other than a classmate. He was dejected for a while, but soon enough recovered his good cheer, and was happy that she still enjoyed his friendship.

She'd vanished after that.

Just one day, out of the blue, he stopped seeing her around on the street. He supposed she had moved away for college and a job.

Was she doing all right now? Hojo hoped that, approaching late middle age as their generation was, that Higurashi was taking care of her fragile health.

He touched the missing button of his shirt and smiled.

It was true, he had been happily married for years and whatever romantic feelings he had for her had long since faded into the breeze. But he hoped that Higurashi would always have a bright, smiling face, wherever she was, enjoying good health long into old age.

She did say that they could be friends forever, and surely it wasn't wrong to wish his friend well.

***

Her scent faded from the house slowly and steadily.

First downstairs, then upstairs, from the kitchen and living room and eventually from the shrine grounds. Her room stopped smelling like her long, long ago.

She used to give him good ear scratches and let him lie on her chest. She filled his food bowl much more copiously than did her brother, and she was always ready with treats from the supermarket for him.

The memory of her face was fading at the edges. Buyo was getting on in years.

He'd never forget her scent, though. Fading though it was, it lingered at the well and at the foot of the huge, old tree.

Lately he would venture down there, down that well, hoping to catch a whiff of her distinctive scent. He'd always get stuck, and her brother would pull him out.

***

It didn't hurt when she wasn't at his high school graduation. It didn't even hurt when she wasn't at his wedding. Once she went into that well, she couldn't come back out.

He knew that. And he knew that nee-chan was happy over there with her new family and friends. He couldn't begrudge her happiness. It wasn't like she was walking home after school one day and vanished without a trace, in potential danger. He knew exactly where she was, on the other side of the well.

Sota knew that she loved him all the same, whether she was here in the present or in the Sengoku Jidai with his new brother-in-law.

But –

He turned to his left and caught a wrinkle on his mother's forehead, and he turned to the right and caught the slow shuffle of his grandfather's feet –

And suddenly his eyes blurred with crystal tears.

New family.

New friends.

They were all getting older and older, and she was already gone, new and ancient all at once, somewhere in the distant past, before any of them were even born.

***

The day she became a mother was the happiest day in her life.

The day she learned she was a grandmother was yet happier.

Her tears wet the earth and soaked into the roots of the Goshinboku, all the way to her daughter.

Thank you, Kagome.

***

Some of Kagome's friends were sad. Others were mad. His family had gotten on well enough, knowing that his sweet, beautiful granddaughter was safe and happy in her new home, but even so, he could detect longing and anguish for her phantom presence at the kitchen table, at the hospital, at the shrine entrance greeting visitors.

He knew better, though.

He rested his aching back against the tree and breathed deeply, sensing her peculiar power.

He wasn't worried. He didn't miss her. Why would he? She hadn't gone anywhere.

She was right there with him, under the same blue sky.

***

Kagome stilled, her palm against the tree.

A light night wind made the branches sway and rustle under the starry sky.

She could feel it.

Feel them.

Old family and new, all at once.

The tree always did have a special power.

She wrapped an arm around her sleeping husband and daughter and smiled.

#inukag #inuyasha #inukag week #inuyasha x kagome

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tarmac-rat · 1 month ago

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THE NIGHT CITY GLOSSARY

Seta; 27 years old; Wayward NJ Daughter; ♐️ ; Italian-American/Ukrainian-American; Been playing the game since 2020; Platonic SilverV Truther; #1 Johnny Silverhand Bullier; Temperance Ending Conspiracy Theorist; Reader of many books and haver of many opinions

This tagged post indexing this blog is honestly long overdue. Back in my day, people used to go onto blog pages and look at tag lists there. Oh well.

Below, you'll find a list of all the things I've tagged over this blog, including personal tags, character tags, linked works, and the like. I'm not putting this under a Read More-- frankly with the amount of time it took to create, you all get to stare at it. Seta's got LOTS of content, baby!

____________________________________________

Tag List:

SETA CORNER:

Aldi speaks - Main posting tag for anything I create: text, image, and beyond Aldi memes - Main posting tag for jokes, shitposts, memes, and image edits Aldi writes - Main posting tag for writing and WIP-posting

SETTING:

Cyberpunk 2077 - Main tag for the game itself Phantom Liberty* - Items tagged specifically for the DLC* *Spoilers for PL are no longer tagged, so please proceed at your own risk

OTHER V'S AND ORIGINAL CHARACTERS:

V (general) - Tag for any Vs that are base-game Male or Female V, and not specific to any user. Other People’s V’s- Tag for any individual, unique Vs posted to Tumblr. This is a massive catch-all tag for all OCs tagged with V-tags, so there's a lot in here; I don't organize my M! or F!, specific names, whatever. We are all equal under my tag, baby.

MY V:

Riley Aldana DOB: December 10th, 2052 || Birthplace: Flagstaff, AZ || Lifepath: Nomad || Height: 5'9 / 175 cm || Hair: Electric Blue || Eyes: Neon Green || Sidearm: Malorian Overture || Vehicle: Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X || Status: Still alive, very tired

- A tag featuring photos, writings, drawings, memes, and info about my own V, whom I love and adore and would rub in everyone's faces if I had the time for it.

CHARACTER TAGS:

Johnny Silverhand

Jackie Welles

Judy Alvarez

River Ward

Panam Palmer

Kerry Eurodyne

Alt Cunningham

Rogue Amendiares

Hanako Arasaka

Evelyn Parker

Viktor Vector

Goro Takemura

Nibbles

Songbird

Solomon Reed

____________________________________________

Fics*: *All my Cyberpunk fics range from T-M ratings, are Gen, focus on platonic relationships, and don't feature sexually explicit content. Please read the tags on each fic for more information specific to that particular work.

Rain in the Desert - My work-in-progress longfic that I started planning before the game came out, started writing 5 hours into gameplay, and published 1 month after the game's release. This fic is my ultimate baby, and while some of the writing doesn't hold up as well as I'd like (it is three years old, after all) I'm still relatively happy with it. Despite appearances to the contrary, I AM still working on it. I'm just slow and my writing/editing process is a nightmare.

The Last Lost Continent - A spur-of-the-moment rewrite of Boat Drinks but with some plot adjustments more befitting of my specific V. Namely-- she can't swim.

The Wheel of Fortune and the Hanged Man - A rewrite-turned-character study of the Hellman interrogation to more align with my V's canon.

____________________________________________

Playlists:

SilverV Playlist but it's just Vibes and Vague Associations - My ultimate Johnny and V playlist, chock-full of songs that I think fit their general arc over the game (not specific to my own V and Johnny's relationship arc). There are songs here for romantic SilverV, platonic SilverV, and whatever labels are found in-between. This is the playlist that gets updated the most, generally.

Rain in the Desert - A companion playlist of sorts to my longfic. This is my oldest CP2077-centered playlist and the only one where the songs are in a specific order.

The Wheel of Fortune - My playlist for Riley specifically, and the twin playlist to The Hanged Man. Leans more EDM/techno.

The Hanged Man - My playlist for Johnny specifically, and the twin playlist to The Wheel of Fortune. Leans more rock 'n roll/punk.

____________________________________________

Additional Information:

Been Good to Queue Ya - My queue tag. This baby runs on varying intervals and is chock full of all that good Cyberpunk-related stuff. I generally reblog based on a queue system these days save for special occasions, and I give this queue a good shuffle every now and then, so posts at the bottom probably won't stay there.

[[FAQ FOR "NIGHT SKY" POST]]

Also:

Please don't use my photos, memes, etc. without at least asking me. I'm generally pretty amiable to letting people use my stuff with a shoutout, but I will be pissed if I find my stuff being paraded around without a heads up.

Please don't tag any of my writing or photos featuring my specific V and Johnny as 'SilverV'. They aren't a couple. I am very vocal about this.

I'm in a few Discords but I'm not entirely active there. If you tag me specifically, though, I'll usually come running.

Feel free to follow my main blog @setaflow for more general posting. Followbacks will generally come from there. I also have some ancient Cyberpunk posts on that blog if you dig deep enough.

#Aldi speaks #This was long overdue #and now it's here! All neatly lined up and proudly pinned on my dash #The J key is going to be your friends desktop folks. Moblie homies I'm sorry

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flowerandblood · 1 year ago

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The Man with the Deep Scar

[ Amor • Aemond x Psyche • female ]

[ warnings: mention and description of the murder of multiple people, descriptions of wounds, virgnity loss, smut, angst, violence, suicide attempt, trauma, mourning ]

Series & Characters Moodboard Lady Walford Moodboard Gothic & Horror Sensual Moodboard

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Next chapters: Masterlist

_____

For as long as he could remember, their father had taken no interest in them, preferring his first-born daughter to his second wife's children. He hated her with all his heart, jealous that although he read extensively and was so skilled in hand-to-hand combat, the King only focused his attention on her.

He lived in a constant conviction of defeat − his grandfather incited his mother against his father by saying that if it went on like this it would be Rheanyra who would be chosen by him as heir to the throne, not Aegon, her first-born son.

The tension inside the fortress and their internal strife meant that they failed to see the threat that lurked outside. Discontent among their people was growing due to poor crops and famine − although the King showed concern about the whole situation, his grandfather, Otto reassured him that he had everything under control.

He only recognised how serious the situation was when it became apparent that an army was gathering near the city walls − the lords on whom gigantic taxes had been imposed demanded that the King abdicate and a new ruler be chosen from among the nobles.

House Targaryen had ruled the kingdom for centuries and his father had no intention of giving up the crown to anyone just because they willed it; he called all the lords rising against him traitors, demanding their heads.

However, when it became apparent that the most powerful of the lords, his father's former ally and friend, Lord Walford had risen against them at the head of a rebellion, taking their stronghold by storm, all was lost.

Hearing the sounds of battle and screams he ran to his mother's chamber wanting to make sure she was safe − she was packing up in a hurry and when she saw him she grabbed him by his arms and shook him.

"There is a passage under my bed to an underground shelter. You must press with your little finger the mechanism which is hidden in a small hole under the wooden panels. You and Daeron are to hide there, go get him at once." She ordered in a trembling voice, sweat droplets on her face.

He wanted to defy her, horrified by her condition, feeling that even though he was only twelve years old he was already a man, that he would not hide like a coward but would fight to defend her.

However, he decided that it was indeed necessary to hide Daeron somewhere and was already about to leave her chamber when Lord Walfrod's soldiers suddenly rushed in, their armour and swords all filthy with blood.

He only had time to scream when the blade of one of them swung and drove into his face − he fell to the floor with a loud whine, catching himself on his cheek, completely losing sight of his left eye.

He began to waddle across the floor in front of him towards the bed − he heard his mother screaming but didn't turn to look at her, terrified, thinking only of the fact that he didn't want to die, that he was scared, that he wanted to hide, his heart pounding like mad.

He managed with a shaking hand to find the hole she was saying about − when he slipped his little finger into it something clicked and the flap lifted. He crawled quickly down and closed it behind him, breathing loudly, panting all over, the voices above him muffled and indistinct.

The corridor he was in was very cramped, consisting only of a steep staircase leading down and walls all around him − with one hand he clutched at the painfully burning wound, feeling the warm blood run down his fingers, and with his other hand he began to slide down into complete darkness. He finally reached a sort of enclosed, stone-cold room.

He fell to his knees and wept loudly, his nose all stuffed up from tears − he felt sticky from his own wetness and blood. He was terrified, but most of all he could not forgive himself for running away like a coward, for leaving his beloved mother to die, Daeron and everyone else, for hiding instead of dying with them with honour.

He lay down on the stone floor and stayed like that, listening to the sounds of battle and screams, until there was complete, empty silence. The pain he felt on his left cheek was unbearable and he thought that although he had avoided a quick death, he would die here slowly, forgotten and abandoned.

He decided that he would rather bleed out or die of thirst and hunger than go out and give himself up to these traitors.

Staying in that dark, cold pit, he lost track of time − he didn't know if days or hours had passed. All he could think about was that the ache in his skull was unbearable, his wound oozed and smelled bad, his stomach twisted with pain, his lips dried with thirst.

He felt that he had fallen asleep only to wake up and cry loudly, wishing for nothing more than to find that his mother had survived, to return with his father and brother at the head of a great army and come to his aid.

He imagined that the wooden flap opened and his queen-mother appeared in it like an angel in a pillar of blinding light, that he threw himself into her arms with relief, hearing her tender reassurances that all was well now.

He shuddered when he heard the screech of wood and the sound of a trapdoor opening, the pillar of light coming from the side of the room almost blinding him and he had to take a few steps backwards, pushing against the wall, his heart pounding like mad.

"Is someone there? I can hear you crying. Let me help you, please, speak up." He heard a soft, feminine whisper echoing through the room − he felt a tightness in his throat recognising instantly that it wasn't his mother's voice.

What if it was a trick?

If there were guards with her, if they were about to come down and kill him?

"I will spend tonight with the King in his chamber. I will order my guards to rest and not watch over my rooms. I will leave the flap open for you to leave, on my bed you will find a hooded cloak, a sack of food and coins. Leave the keep through the kitchen rooms in the cellars. My servant will be waiting for you and lead you out. She will hand you over to your mother's friend, Ser Criston."

She said quickly and closed the trapdoor with a quiet creak of wood, the room again surrounded by complete darkness. He breathed loudly, hearing only the rapid beating of his own heart.

Should he believe her or not?

What if she was lying?

What if they were going to torture him?

He clamped his eyelids shut, feeling a terrible pain in his skull and decided that he couldn't take it any longer, that he wanted it all to be over.

He walked back and forth across the dark room, feeling a sudden rush of energy and adrenaline, the blood bubbling strongly in his veins. He jumped back when he heard the creak of wood, followed by someone's footsteps and the sound of a door closing.

There was complete silence.

He swallowed loudly; over these few days his eyesight had completely adapted to the darkness, so he confidently found the steps of the stairs with his hands and slowly began to climb up. He slid out from under the bed and listened for any sounds, however, there seemed to be no one in the room.

He crawled out from under the bed and stood up on trembling legs, looking around quickly but saw no one − on the bedding in fact lay a small cloak, a pouch of coins and a little bag of apples and bread. He took it all, quickly putting the cloak on, pulling the hood over his head and left the chamber, looking around in a panic, his wound hurt more than usual, all swollen and throbbing.

He knew the map of the fortress by heart and indeed had not encountered any guards on his way, so he ran towards the kitchen rooms and stopped, frightened, when he came across a woman. She looked at him horrified and almost screamed seeing his face, turning her head quickly, disgust and disbelief in her gaze − he stood in front of her wondering if she was going to start shouting.

"− gods, so it's true − poor child − come, we don't have much time −" She whispered looking around and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the servants' passage − they walked through the cramped, dark corridors, he could hear rats running past them, his heart pounding like mad.

After a while they reached a small wooden door, apparently intended for deliveries from merchants − the woman opened it and waved to a man dressed in a cloak, a hood over his head, he was standing next to a large cart harnessed to two horses, covered with a large sheet.

"− I got him − quickly −" She whispered to him, the man stepped forward to meet her, a sigh of disbelief escaping his lips when he recognised in him Ser Criston Cole, her mother's sworn protector.

"− thanks be to the gods − your merits will not be forgotten, woman − come, my Prince, we have no time −" He said impatiently, and he moved swiftly after him, jumping on the cart. Criston covered him with a sheet and after a moment he felt a tug − they moved off and he drew a loud breath, laying down on the wood beneath his feet.

He had escaped.

This woman had really helped him.

When his emotions wore off he immediately devoured the piece of bread and apple that the woman had bagged for him, feeling immensely relieved, no longer even thinking about the pain, just that he had survived.

He hoped Criston would take him back to his family, to those who had survived the massacre, that he would see his mother again soon.

As they stopped he heard Criston's voice speaking to someone, and then the sheet lifted, Cole and a man who looked like a monk stared at him in disbelief.

"− good gods −" Muttered a plump priest in a grey habit girded with a simple rope. "− what have they done to him? −"

First they bathed him and changed him into new robes, and then they took him to the medic despite his pleas that he wanted to see his mother and siblings first. Cole stood over him as they waited for the monk to attend to his wound, his face pale.

"− I'm so sorry, my Prince −" He said low, his voice trembling slightly, but he didn't need to say anything more. He felt a squeeze in his stomach, a burning wetness gathered under the eyelid of his healthy eye. He wept like a child even though he wanted to act like a man.

He thought that he had only survived because he was a coward.

When the medic arrived and saw the state he was in, he prayed first and said that it was a miracle that the infection had not killed him, that the wound needed to be decontaminated immediately and the eye had to be taken out.

A stick was placed in his mouth on which he was told to bite his teeth, having previously been given a huge amount of poppy milk and spirit to ease the pain, however, what he felt when his blade penetrated his skin and began to burn and cut away the dead, rotting tissue seemed like pure hell to him.

He fainted after a few minutes of writhing like an animal and muffled screaming, Criston was unable to look at it and walked out. He was left alone and thought that this was his punishment that was waiting for him from now on, punishment for his cowardice, punishment for not being able to behave like a man.

Darkness and loneliness.

He would not allow anyone to light the candles in his cell, which had previously belonged to some other monk, feeling wonderfully invisible there.

When he covered the small window at night with a thick black cloth he was once again in complete darkness, just as he had been when he had spent those few days that seemed to last indefinitely under his mother's chamber.

Criston had told him that his mother had died after several swords had repeatedly pierced her body, his father old and infirm to the point that he, like Aegon, Helaena and Daeron, had had their throats cut in their beds.

The whole attack had been premeditated − Lord Walford had pretended to be a friend of his father-king to the end, and now, from what he understood, he had been chosen from among these fucking traitors to be King and take his place on the throne.

Cole assured him that there were still individuals in the realm and lords who remained loyal to him, who wanted justice and the return of House Targaryen to the throne, who would support him if he wished to regain the crown.

He practised hand-to-hand combat with him every day in the great vaults of the men's monastery. Even though the new king's soldiers repeatedly searched the entire building, thinking rightly that they might have been hiding the prince out of sheer compassion, each time the monks warned them off and gave them time to find another refuge quickly.

He lived only for the thought of doing to the family of the new king what he had done to him.

He knew that he had time, that he could not rush, that this matter had to be carefully considered.

They met in secret in one of the strongholds of his father's former vassal, Lord Malet, who received him with great honours, gathering all his supporters there.

They discussed what to do, having an army smaller and less well supplied than the royal one, unable to act openly, treating the news that the prince was alive as something that could not come to light.

"I have my man in the King's closest guard; he is one of his ghosts. I pay him fairly for any information, he could bring someone else in there. Some spy. We would set up an ambush on one of the already existing ones, similar in size and weight − they wear the same clothes, if his behaviour did not arouse anyone's suspicion, no one would know." He said with conviction, and he licked his lower lip at the thought that popped into his head.

"I'll take his place." He said coolly, looking at the map of the fortress spread out before him on the large table, the lords looked at each other in surprise.

"What do you mean, my Prince? It's dangerous, it puts our whole plan in danger!" Exclaimed one of them, clearly horrified by his proposal − he chuckled under his breath, several of the men swallowing loudly, apparently wondering if he was still remaining in his senses.

"I am very familiar with this fortress and its customs, I will be able to keep up with what is going on there. When what we're speaking about becomes a reality, I need to be on the ground, taking charge and the throne right away." Said matter-of-factly, Criston grunted, looking at him uncertainly.

"This plan has some chance of success, but it would be best if you were not in front of the King himself, as he might order you to remove your mask in his presence. We cannot allow that to happen. It would be best if you served his son or daughter." He said looking around at the assembled crowd, the men looked at each other.

"We can arrange to ambush her at the fair. My ghost told me that she often sneaks past her guards without their knowledge. If someone attacks her, the King will reinforce her guard, perhaps appointing one of his ghosts to the task. When we find out whom, my man will kill him, and you, my Prince, will take his place."

He recognised that, although it was madness, it had a chance of success, and nothing pleased his heart more than the thought that he would be able to take the life of the man who had destroyed his family with his own hands when the time was right.

To his delight, it turned out that the lord's plan had worked and he had indeed appointed one of his closest guards as her protector. The man was killed later that evening, and he and Criston, under cover of darkness, made their way to the fortress from the side of a forgotten passageway that led out into the woods which had once been used to return from hunting.

One of the ghosts, with the help of a servant who was also involved in their conspiracy, dragged the murdered man out of the castle, and he immediately changed into his clothes.

Although they were a tad too tight, when he put on his mask he felt wonderfully peaceful − the darkness and silence that enveloped him made him feel again as he did when only blackness surrounded him.

Solitude.

The ghost explained the exact rules to him again and informed him where there was a place where he could sleep and rest, although, he said, he didn't think he would ever have the opportunity to use it − they only ate at night and usually slept standing or sitting up.

They parted in one of the passageways, and he moved with a confident stride down the corridor he knew well towards the chamber that had once belonged to his sister, and in which now slept this little whore. He saw the disturbed looks of the guards from afar and smiled at the thought that he would soon kill them all.

They needed to smuggle as many of their men and as many weapons into the fortress as possible.

"You may leave. From now on, the Princess is under my protection." He said coldly, one of the men snorted loudly, angry, he could smell the strong odour of alcohol from him.

"You are not a King, by what right do you command us?" He asked resentfully and he chuckled with amusement − he saw that the man looked at him uncertainly, with fear from which he felt pleasure and heat in his chest.

"Shall I inform the King that not only are you incapable of guarding his daughter, but you refuse to obey his orders?"

The man growled something under his breath, speaking of his insolence, walking away with his companion with a loud clang of their armour.

He hummed under his breath as he stepped against the wall facing her door, the door to his sister's chamber, and thought of Helaena, of how gentle and sensitive a person she was, of how she despaired even when one of them accidentally trampled a spider or a slug.

He thought of how she lay alone, terrified, dying slowly, coughing up her own blood, and felt a pain in his heart, swallowing loudly, his heart pounding hard.

He was comforted when the torches around him burned out and he was left at last in complete darkness − he closed his eyes and decided to rest, work out his plan in his head and wait patiently.

He shuddered and opened his eyelids, startled when he heard the loud creak of a door − a figure appeared in it illuminated only by the soft light of a candle, her large eyes looking at him with uncertainty and terror.

His jaw clenched in rage when he involuntarily thought she was beautiful, though he wished she would turn out to be a disgusting, ugly girl that no one would ever want.

However, he could not say anything about her appearance other than that her face was pleasantly fair, smooth and slender, her nose shapely and slightly rounded, her eyes sparkling, surrounded by a veil of long lashes, her long, slightly wavy hair and eyebrows seemed to him as dark as the night itself.

They stared at each other for a long moment without speaking.

"What's your name?" She asked suddenly, uncertainly, softly, with a kind of innocent curiosity from which he felt like laughing.

He didn't answer.

You are a mere whore, he thought with amusement, who wallows in riches filthy from my sister's blood.

"How am I supposed to address you if I don't know what your name is?" She asked, surprised by his lack of answer, but he just looked at her, wondering how she was going to force him to speak to her at all.

Ghosts could only speak with the King.

"Should I complain to the King about you not answering my questions?" She asked with a note of threat in her voice from which he clenched his teeth, letting the air out loudly through his nose, trying to calm himself, thinking only of the fact that meeting the King was the last thing he wanted.

He couldn't allow himself to order him to take off his mask.

"Call me any name you see fit." He answered her coolly, tired of her refusing to leave him alone. She shook her head as if she didn't understand the meaning of the words he spoke to her.

"Shall I name you?" She muttered in disbelief and he turned his head to the side, rolling his eyes, feeling that he was losing patience.

"Yes. My Princess." He said roughly and coolly, adding the last two words quickly, reminding himself that he had to title her in that disgusting way.

For now.

She stared at him for a long moment with those big eyes of hers and swallowed loudly, something on her face that looked like she had made her decision.

"Vhagar."

He felt a shudder when she said this − he remembered a book he had read when he was a small child about a great, terrible dragon that devoured people and burned entire cities.

Could it be that she had read it too?

"I will always treat you with respect and I will never make you do anything to humiliate you or offend your good name." She said with some kind of pain and regret, as if she sympathised with him − he felt his jaw clench tightly, felt for some reason a tightness in his throat at her words.

After a moment, the door closed behind her and he let out a loud breath, swallowing hard, wondering how he was going to stand it all.

However, it turned out that his suffering was rewarded, because already at supper the next day he heard some interesting information about where they were looking for his body, that the case had still not been abandoned.

He wrote a letter to Criston later that night informing him to leave some false trail in the city's vaults, his old child's robes or anything that would help them think they were on the right trail, which he passed on to a trusted servant aware of everything.

Everything was going according to plan until that little whore took him to see her mother.

As soon as he crossed the threshold of her chamber and heard her voice he recognised her and felt a squeeze in his throat, standing at the door, not knowing where to look, his heart pounding like mad.

The new King had locked his wife in the tower like some kind of animal.

He shuddered when he felt her gaze on him, her lips slightly parted, as if she really had seen a ghost.

"The gods are gracious." She whispered in a trembling voice − he felt a sting in his heart at the thought that he was only alive because of her.

"What?" Her daughter asked quietly, as if she didn't understand what her mother had just said, but she wasn't listening, staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and relief.

"You came for me like a death? Have you come to relieve my suffering at last?" She asked in a trembling voice shivering all over, pale and thin − he felt his lips involuntarily clench, his eyebrows twisted in pain, his heart pounding like mad.

"Mother, he is a guardian, he will not hurt you. He will protect us."

"Don't take her away. Have mercy on her and my son, they didn't know." She whispered pleadingly and he clenched his eyelids, thinking with rage and despair that Daeron and Helaena were innocent too.

"Stop, please. Please. You need to rest, mother. You need to eat and rest. I'll bring you some new books next time, all right?"

As they walked back downstairs he was completely immersed in his thoughts and wondered how it was possible that she recognised him. He shuddered, coming back down to earth when he heard her daughter's voice − she was leaning against a pillar with no strength, as if she was about to collapse to the ground.

"Kill me."

His healthy eye looked at her open wide in complete shock, he couldn't believe she had said that out loud.

Did she really mean it?

Involuntarily, his hand slid down to the dagger he had hidden under his cloak, he tightened his fingers on its hilt.

"Please, kill me." She whispered − he could feel his hand clamped on the weapon trembling all over, his jaw clenched so tight he thought his bones would break, his heart pounding like mad.

Don't take her away.

Have mercy on her and my son.

He swallowed loudly, thinking with pain that he would be just.

One mercy for one mercy.

His hand let go of the hilt, and she moved abruptly ahead, as if awakened from sleep, and spoke no more to him.

As soon as the door to his sister's chamber closed behind her, one of the ghosts came up to him and told him that he would replace him because the King wanted to speak to him. He nodded his head, tense, praying to the gods not to make him take off his mask.

He would have to kill him then, and he wanted to wait a little while, until they were better prepared.

He repeated to himself that he had to be patient.

That since he had endured so many years, he would endure a few more weeks as well.

He entered the chamber that had belonged to his father, originally in Targaryen red, now all in shades of blue − Lord Walford looked up at him from the book he had just read.

"Come closer." He said coldly, and he wordlessly obeyed his order, looking ahead indifferently with his hands clasped behind him.

"Did my daughter visit her mother today?" He asked, flipping the page with an aggressive, quick gesture that he noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes."

The king hummed under his breath, stretching out comfortably in his richly decorated wooden chair.

"What did they discuss?" She asked lowly, and he licked his lips, wondering what he should say.

There were guards all around them, they could overhear their conversation, he couldn't come off as a liar in front of him.

He had to stick to his role.

"The Queen expressed disappointment that the young Prince was not visiting her. She also raised concerns that I was the personification of death, had come to bring her relief and take her life. She told me to spare her daughter and son because they did not know anything." He recited in a cold, dispassionate tone − the King sighed heavily, running his hand over his face.

"She has completely lost her mind. She keeps poisoning my poor daughter's head." He muttered, looking ahead with indifferent, enraged gaze.

"Take care of her."

He looked at him in disbelief, unsure if he had understood correctly what he expected of him.

"What do you mean, my King?" He asked lowly, uttering the last words with great difficulty. The man looked at him and licked his lower lip with impatience.

"It should look like she took her own life. Preferably a hanging. That will look the most natural. As long as she lives, our family will never move on."

Walking down the corridor towards the staircase to the chamber in which the Queen was being held, he took two vessels from his pocket, which he had kept for himself in case of need.

He walked all the way up, noticing that there were no guards or servants around, the door to her chamber open − she was sitting on her bed with her hands in her lap and looking towards him smiling, as if waiting for him.

"At last." She said softly, her skinny face as if it had taken on a flush. "I was hoping to see you one day. Believe me, there has not been a day in which I have not prayed for you."

He looked at her impassively feeling a tightness in his gut, playing between his fingers with the glass little bottle he held in his hand.

"You know what I came for." He said matter-of-factly, and she nodded and laughed lightly.

"I've waited a long time for this. For freedom." She replied − suddenly it seemed to him that she was completely sober and awake, that she had known perfectly well all this time what was happening to her.

She was waiting for him to come back and kill her.

He thought with surprise that something moved him at that thought.

"I have a proposition for you, my Lady." He said finally − she looked at him sleepily, wrinkling her brows.

"I will spare your daughter and your son if I gain your family's support in taking the throne." He said lowly, raising a hand with a small vial in front of him, waving it in front of her.

"Black Tears. That is the name of what I now hold in my hands. A few drops are enough to fall into a deep sleep − a person's heart beats slower, their pulse cannot be felt. However, if one drinks too much, one may not wake up again. Do you understand?" He asked coldly − she looked at the liquid and then at him, disbelief in her gaze.

"I'll help you escape."

When it was all over he informed the King that according to his will his spouse was dead. He came to her in his own person and sat down beside her on the bed, touching her cheek.

"Did she suffer?" He asked as if in pain, thought for a moment that he regretted his decision.

"No. She just fell asleep."

The King ordered that her body be prepared respectfully for burial and that he contact the prior of the monastery on his behalf to conduct the ceremony.

This is what he had been waiting for.

"She is alive. Move her to the monastery and inform her family what her king-husband wanted to do. Criston will give her an infusion that will wake her up. It is best if she vomits a few times, she may also have a fever and be weakened." He said to the man who had been like a second father to him during his years of solitude.

The monk looked at him in horror, both of them standing over her body in the small castle chapel that had once belonged to his mother.

"− you risk a lot −" He said, afraid to use his title aloud − he hummed under his breath, looking at her indifferently.

"− I am paying my debt − you always told me that a just King must be merciful − did you not? −" He asked coldly, the man swallowed loudly and looked again at the body of the sleeping Queen.

"We must change the body and put it in the coffin at once. Tell the King that there are nasty marks on the Queen's body, probably indicative of the injection of poison. He will then not allow the lid to be opened and will order a burial as soon as possible." He said indifferently and walked away, leaving the monk with his words.

When he returned he headed for the King's chamber and announced to him that everything was ready for a quick, trouble-free burial. The King showed satisfaction at the speed of his work and praised his organisational skills, glad that his face was obscured by a mask so that he could not see how wide his smile was.

Your end is coming, he thought with amusement.

"Summon my daughter." He said, putting a bite of roast into his mouth.

He wasn't surprised by the Princess's reaction to what her father had said, he wasn't surprised that she didn't believe it, that she ran towards the chamber where she had spoken to her mother only hours before.

He moved quickly after her, seeing that she was in complete hysterics, and thought that she looked just like he had when her father's soldiers had entered his mother's chamber.

"You fucking bastard!" She shouted wrestling with him desperately, trying to hit him with a candlestick, but he caught her easily, her wrists slender and petite − he thought if he put any more strength into his grip he would break her bones.

"− tell me where she is − please −" She mumbled looking at him pleadingly, the candlestick fell out of her hand with a loud clink of steel against the stone floor.

She was despairing, her face all red from tears, her lips puffed up and glistening − he thought there was something beautiful, noble in her suffering.

"− please − please, Vhagar, I don't want her to be alone −" She whined, and he swallowed loudly at the thought that her father hadn't told her everything, that she thought her mother was still alive.

"It's too late. She didn’t suffer."

She spilled into his hands, what he had told her was too much for her mind and heart − she fainted from grief and pain and he caught her in his arms at the last moment.

He picked her up and started down the stairs with her, her head resting against his chest − he thought she was incredibly light and soft, her pleasant scent filling his entire lungs.

He carried her to her chamber and laid her limp body on her bed. He sat down in the chair beside her, spreading himself out comfortably, taking satisfaction for some reason that he could shamelessly look at her from so close.

Her shoulders were bare − the sleeve of her gown slipped off one of them, exposing her naked skin in a way that was inappropriate to say the least.

He had spent eight years of his life within the walls of a men's monastery, devoting himself to training, reading and prayer − the last thing he thought about when dreaming of reclaiming his rightful throne were women and the frailties of the human body.

He shuddered when her body moved − her eyelids parted suddenly, her vision hazy and dreamy, the darkness clearly startling her and it took her a moment to realise where she was and what had happened.

Her face finally turned towards him and she froze, her eyes opened wide in horror, her lips began to tremble − he felt like he saw a flash of a tear run down her cheeks.

"You were supposed to protect her." She uttered in pain. He looked at her with an indifferent expression on his face wondering if she would have thrown herself at his neck if she had found out he had helped her mother escape.

"I did." He saw that she furrowed her brow, furious, so he continued, wanting her to understand exactly what order her father had given him.

"I showed her mercy. Your father the king wanted me to make it look like she took her own life. I gave her poison, after which she just fell asleep, although he suggested hanging. He thought it would look more...natural."

He saw that her eyebrows arched in pain and regret − she pressed her lips together and closed her eyelids, turning on her side, curling up like a small child and huddling in her furs, seeking refuge in the warm fabric.

"When will it be made official?" She asked trying to feign calm, her voice trembling however, betraying her pain and suffering.

"Tomorrow morning the kKng will convene a gathering and announce the sorrowful news."

She raised her gaze to him, he felt something change in the expression on her face − she was thinking hard about something.

"Do you still have that poison?" She whispered and he felt his heart begin to pump the blood faster through his veins − he pressed his lips together and swallowed loudly, wondering if she was really planning to do what he suspected her of doing.

"…yes."

He looked at her in disbelief as she held out her slim, smooth hand to him, trembling slightly, hanging in the air.

"Have mercy on me too." She said softly, pleadingly, warmly − he hesitated, unsure of what he should do.

He had promised her mother he wouldn't kill her with his own hands, but he hadn't said he would stop her from committing suicide.

He got up slowly from his seat with a loud creak of the old wood and pulled out a small vial of leftover poison, enough to kill her. He walked over to her and handed it to her, looking at her with some kind of wide-eyed excitement, wondering what she would do.

He thought she was only pretending, that she wanted to arouse his pity, that she hoped he would stop her at the last moment.

"Is it going to be painful?" She asked in a trembling voice, looking at him helplessly, his heart pounding like mad − he could feel the cold sweat running down the back of his neck.

"No. You'll just fall asleep." He replied softly, and she sighed quietly, as if relieved, startling him when she opened the vial in a perfectly confident motion and immediately tilted its entire contents down her throat.

She swallowed loudly and looked at him with big eyes, horrified as he was by what she had done, by the knowledge that she was going to die, and lay back, tears of sadness, grief and fear running down the sides of her face.

She looked like a small child.

"Will you stay with me?" She asked in a trembling voice filled with despair and sorrow − he felt his heart sting, only realising a moment later that he was breathing heavily through his mouth.

"Yes." He whispered, noticed how involuntarily her head slowly slid to the side, her eyelids closed, her lips slightly parted.

She did it.

She couldn't take it and took her own life.

He went to her, pulling the black leather glove from his hand and touched her neck. He pressed his lips together, still sensing her pulse, wondering strenuously whether to let her die.

If it turned out that the King's daughter on his watch had died, he would have to kill him outright.

They weren't ready yet, they needed the support of her mother's family.

He clamped his eyelids shut and sighed heavily, taking her hair from her face with his fingers and swallowed loudly at the thought that her skin was incredibly warm and soft − he ran his fingertips over it for a moment as if it were a sheet of water before he reached into his coat pocket and took out a second vial.

He took the cork out of it, caught her cheeks in his hand and poured its contents down her throat, lifting her so that she didn't suffocate, her body began to shake.

She snorted loudly and squeezed him tightly − he reached quickly for the bowl of fruit standing next to her bed and dumped it on the stone floor, placing it under her mouth before her body shook with convulsions.

"Come on, you have to get it out of your body. Yes, there we go." He whispered as she began to vomit − he looked at her and thought with surprise that for some reason he felt relieved.

She was merely a tool in her father's hands, just like him, surrounded only by a terrifying, cruel, cold darkness.

He thought with some kind of pain, watching her as she fell asleep, shivering with fever and fatigue, that she was as alone as he was. He covered her with thick furs and lasted by her side all night without a wink, wanting to be sure she was still alive.

He was shocked to see that the next day, despite her fever, she got up as if nothing had happened, ordered her servants to help her dress in a black gown even though her father had not yet declared mourning.

Her expression of defiance, her expression of strength.

She was so pale that when he saw her walking in a small procession behind the coffin, he thought she really did look like a ghost − he had the feeling she was about to collapse, yet she walked ahead, her gaze distant, cool and empty.

He watched as she smiled at her father, as she pretended in front of him only to see complete emptiness appear on her face when he disappeared from her sight, a coldness in her gaze from which for some reason he felt a pleasant tickle in his fingertips.

"It's time to go back." He said finally snapping her out of her lethargy. She walked over to the grave where she believed her mother rested and placed her hand on it, tired and filled with pain.

"No. I won't leave her alone this time."

He looked at her impassively, for some reason feeling that he understood her, that like him she blamed herself for not protecting her mother.

They had both lost them at the hands of the same man.

"She's free now." He said calmly.

It wasn't a lie.

He had never lied to her.

She looked at him in a way that made him lift his chin higher, challenging her. She approached him slowly, her face enveloped in a black veil seemed even more mysterious and disturbingly beautiful to him, as if she were not human, her shape seemed slightly blurred to him, as if she did not really exist.

He drew in a loud breath when he felt her hand on his chest, her lips placing a kiss on the cold mask that covered his face in the place below where his cheek had been. He looked at her in disbelief as her hand stroked his mask, smelling the pleasant scent of her skin, a mixture of lavender and chamomile.

"This is my expression of gratitude for your dedication to the affairs of our family." She said with feigned tenderness, her puffy lips slightly parted, her gaze indifferent, sharp, dark. He felt a throbbing inside his breeches and swallowed loudly, embarrassed and horrified by his body's reaction.

He thought, following her back towards the keep, that they were the same.

That as King he would need a Queen, a woman who would give him offspring and extend his line.

What would unite the realm more than the marriage of two conflicted sides, bringing peace and order at last?

He thought about it watching her while she was bathing, when she let him stay, saying he could watch − he was completely hard at the thought that when it was all over he would take her for himself, that this warm, soft body with pleasant, girlish shapes that peered through from under her wet chemise would be his alone.

He thought of this only to clench his hands around her neck a moment later, watching her terrified face trying helplessly to catch its breath after thinking horrified that she had ruined everything.

She had found the passage.

Why, why couldn't she just leave it all?

Why was she forcing him to do this when only he could give her freedom of life or death?

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead against hers − he let out a growl of rage and let her go, heard her draw in the air loudly as she looked at him with a gaze full of terror and disbelief, her lips swollen and red from the blood that, through the adrenaline, flowed quickly through her veins.

She was beautiful.

He sighed heavily, involuntarily clinging to her − she trembled all over trying to push him away, but he was stronger than her. He began to rub against her body with his swollen cock and parted his lips, feeling his manhood respond with a strong pulsing, wave after wave of hot, tickling pleasure flowed through his lower abdomen.

"You are my curse. My ruin." He exhaled, looking closely at her face, her dark, wonderfully long eyelashes surrounded her eyes, staring at him with disbelief, fear and something that made him hot, her eyebrows arched in indecision, her full, moist lips parted slightly − he thought he would have killed for the chance to taste them. "My doom."

He shuddered and lost his breath for a moment when he felt her hands let go of his chest and slide down to his hips, her thighs spread out in front of him, her fingers tightening on his flesh, pressing him tighter against her − she sighed quietly beneath him, breathing louder and louder.

"− destroy me − leave me with nothing −" She whispered; he felt a powerful shudder run through him and he thought it was over, that he had to do it, that he had to feel her.

He didn't believe it when he felt her own hands help him untie and slide down his breeches, he didn't care if she changed her mind − he wanted her and took her. He forced his way inside her with difficulty, her fleshy walls clenching against him, resisting him, a whimper of discomfort escaping her lips.

He was panting and moaning along with her, sliding into her with effort all the way in, with a natural, subconscious movement beginning to root into her, delighted at how tight and warm she was, how with each thrust of his hips he slid into her with increasing ease, his movements accompanied by the loud click of her moisture.

She was wet.

"− good gods, you are fucking enjoying this −" He muttered with a sneer and groaned low, feeling her clench tightly around his manhood − he began to slam into her harder and faster, feeling that something was happening to him, some kind of tension was rising and rising, he felt like his cock was about to explode.

And then it happened.

He came inside her, for the first time in his life he experienced fulfilment and it was so stupefying and pleasurable that for a moment he was just panting with his eyes closed, rooting into her again and again, trying to prolong it, listening to her mewling of pleasure, her cheeks wonderfully pink, her gaze misty, her lips parted sweetly.

He stared at her thinking about the fact that he had filled her to the brim with his seed, that he felt fulfilled as a man, as a lover, as a husband, as a King, as anyone he wanted to be.

He had taken for himself the woman he desired and filled her with himself.

Was there anything more natural?

However, he quickly regained his sobriety of mind as did she − they pulled away from each other, terrified. He slid out of her and she moved away quickly, covering her thighs, panting loudly, looking at him in horror, clearly thinking he was still going to try to kill her.

He reached up quickly and tied his breeches, looking at her in disbelief, his manhood still all wet from her juices, from what had flowed out of her after she had reached her peak with him deep inside her.

He looked at her and thought only of the fact that he had never experienced something so pleasurable before in his life.

That through his seed she could soon carry his child in her womb.

That she would become his Queen.

_____

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