#'apocalyptic' being the bare minimum here) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anyotherwriter · 3 years

Text

Split Decision [2]

I'm uploading early because for once I'm a few chapters ahead of the game? Usually means bad things will happen. Anyway, this is probably garbage, but I'm committed now. I did outline this entire series and chapter 2 and 3 were definitely the worst two out of the whole thing so struggle through with me. Also thank you so much for the feedback on the first chapter! It was greatly appreciated.

I included the a link for the playlist I started for when I write anything Daryl related. It's still in its infancy but I feel like it's gonna get out of control real quick.

Again, continue reading at your own risk. I don't include warnings on my work. TWD is a whole warning in itself lmao. GIF doesn't belong to me, but props to whomever it does.

\\\\\\\\\////////////

A few weeks in Alexandria was like a few weeks in a fever dream. Well...not a dream per say, but more like an apocalyptic, ultimate survival fantasy. The food, running hot water, people that didn't want to kill you every five seconds? Incredible.

She wasn't too well versed in social skills anymore, so as the Alexandrians began to warm up to her being there, they'd started to approach her. It only took a few seconds for them to promptly regret their decision, though, as any attempt at conversation with her would be met with a lot of hesitancy and a sharp tongue. She appreciated that she wasn't dead yet and that they served hot meals when possible, but she still didn't trust them much. More times than not, she felt the need to leave. The walls seemed too tall, the nights too quiet. The constant hum and growl of survival was missing and it made her feel weak, like she lost her ability to do the bare minimum for herself anymore. But she was also thankful for a bed and food and a door lock that actually kept people out. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

"Coming to grab dinner?" A voice called to her, a familiar feeling of annoyance building up in her throat. She wanted to tell him to stop trying so hard, she'd come around on her own. But she wouldn't, not without a little nudge. Aaron could easily tell that was her case.

As he slowed to a stop in the middle of the street, patiently waiting for her answer, she felt exposed. She was sitting there in a pair of baggy jeans that someone had leant her when she came in, the late summer evening breeze blowing around her, reminding her that her hair smelled like "waterfalls" rather than body odor and iron. She was barefoot and she hated that she loved it so much. She couldn't remember the last time she took off her boots longer than to change out her socks or to bandage up blisters. She changed her mind; it was a dream.

"Probably not. I didn't finish my breakfast, I can just finish that later." She responded quietly with a small smile she knew didn't deserve a place on her face.

"No," Aaron shook his head, still not moving from his place. "Let's go get some hot food, mingle, make some friends…"

"Me? Mingle?" She cackled, reminders of the chatterbox she truly used to be before flashing through her memory at lightning speed. The more she remembered, the smile on her face became sad. "I don't think I should."

"How can I get you to leave that stoop?" He asked curiously, now taking a few steps towards her. She was still fidgeting with that plastic tape case in her hands the way she did in every solitary silent moment she had here, which was all the time apparently. The corners were rounding from the friction and a few new spider cracks started. Aaron and Gabriel have both been trying to coax her down towards the center of town with the promise of food and a tape player. She hadn't yet taken them up on either. Apparently the food was non-negotiable; someone always stopped by, typically an unfamiliar face trying to make small talk, would drop it by for her. She'd eat in the silence of her basement room and stuff any packaged non-perishables in the large bag under her bed. Just in case.

She didn't say anything, instead gently holding up the tape so he could see it. It was time to hear it again. And with a gentle nod of Aaron's head, she slid on her boots, tucking the laces quickly into the sides, and grabbed her backpack off the porch behind her. She followed him closely and silently. A few people had taken notice that she was heading the same direction they were, which made her anxious. It wasn't critical for her that people liked her, she would just like it if they did. Although, her general demeanor has made that rather difficult.

Aaron led her into the church, a place she definitely felt was very misplaced in a world like this, and into a back room. It's where the radio system lived that helped them communicate with the other communities. And the first time she'd heard that there were other communities, her head nearly rolled off her shoulders in disbelief, let alone the fact that they could talk to each other on a regular basis.

He reached into the bottom drawer of an old, dented filing cabinet and pulled out a familiar brick. It looked similar to the model she had, maybe a little older.

"Safe assumption you know how this works?" He asked quietly, his tone matching the overall quiet, serene feel of the church. She only nodded her head. He turned to leave her to it with a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

And once the door closed and she was completely alone, she took a seat. The chair squeaked and squealed under her as she tried to get comfortable. She slipped the old, corded headphones over her ears, the foam on the ear pieces threatening to tear. She then sat in silence for a long time. She had a feeling of dread in her chest at the idea of hearing it again. She wasn't sure if she was ready to relive the memories that came with it, and the people, and herself. But even as the intrusive thoughts tried to drive her out of there, she found her fingers fumbling with the case anyway. She was alone, which meant she could feel alone.

Pressing play and hearing the first few drum beats from the all too familiar song immediately had her hurting and crying.

***

When she woke up in that cramped room, daylight was beginning to spill over the treetops beyond the walls outside. The small window showed her the people that were already out and about, doing their chores and trying to be normal. Her eyes were heavy and swollen. She had lost track of how many times she'd listened to and rewinded that tape, but with each time, a different wave of grief slammed into her. Eventually the heaviness made her tired enough to pass out right there on the table, the headphones still clinging to her ears. She tried to take a moment to gather herself but the heavier foot falls and conversation on the other side of the door had other plans. Then it opened.

She recognized the woman that takes a lot of watch shifts at the gate, though she couldn't remember her name. She had only seen the taller, burly man a few times from a distance. They were bickering about something trivial and hushed quickly when they spotted her still sitting there trying to collect herself.

"Sorry," she started as she took the headphones off her head and neatly wrapped up the cord. The buttons on the tape player were the only sounds in the room as she ejected the tape and stuffed it in the case. "I'm heading out."

"We sincerely apologize for interrupting. I presumed this room to be vacant." The man said to her rather quickly. She only offered a small smile to him as she grabbed her bag off the floor and crammed her arms through the straps.

"You're Y/N, right?" The woman asked as she stepped out of the doorway.

"Suppose so. I hope the gossip has been good." Y/N offered lightly, knowing full well that if they knew her name that there was talk.

"Nothing too exciting, I must say to my dismay." The man retorted with a serious look on his face. "I'm Eugene."

"Rosita."

"Nice to meet you both." Y/N said quietly as she turned to leave. Her footsteps seemed exponentially louder since she was trying to slip out unnoticed. A scarce few people that sat in the church pews allowed her exit to distract them from their own thoughts. The door seemed much too loud as she shut it behind her.

The morning air was chilly and there was a small blanket of fog settling over the pond in the center of town. She hadn't expected to live past the blistering heat of this summer. She frequently experienced severe dehydration and hunger and lack of shelter and accepted her fate. The camp she'd been at before she was brought here was built from a flimsy tarp and the bastard had caught fire and took nearly everything she had with it. The woman that gave her her jeans when she first arrived promised to get her whatever she needed whenever she needed them. With the upcoming winter, she knew she'd have to cave and ask for warmer clothes. The only part that was a problem was the asking part.

There were several gray streams of smoke rising into the air from fires and the smell of burning wet leaves swirled around. The whole situation made her want to curl under a big blanket and watch old halloween movies and go to the pumpkin patch and bust out her heavy winter socks. It was a surreal thought, and a memory, that she hadn't thought about in so long. The safety and security and domesticity of Alexandria allowed that feeling to come back to her. She figured that she could quite literally go back to her bedroom and do exactly that. But she didn't have halloween movies or heavy winter socks or access to a pumpkin patch. But dammit if she couldn't go curl up in a bed under blankets and keep warm. And that's where she planned to go. But the smell of stew redirected her to the kitchens where people were beginning to gather for breakfast. Her stomach growled loudly, screaming at her for not eating since breakfast yesterday.

"You got a coat?" She heard a deep grumble off to the side as she approached the small building. Looking off to her right, tucked back a bit, was Daryl. He was elbows deep in cleaning and skinning a deer, his hands caked in blood and his hair falling into his eyes. His focus seemed to be fully enveloped in the innards, but he spoke to her again. "'s cold out here. Got a coat?"

She shook her head, watching as he dropped the lungs into a crusty bucket off to the side.

"You saw what I came in with. Where would I have been hiding a coat?" Daryl stopped his hands for a moment. He searched her face briefly, silently acknowledging that she looked skinnier than he remembered, or maybe he just hadn't seen her as much as he thought. Which didn't check out, because on his late nights - or early mornings, whatever you want to call them - when he'd head out to go hunting, he'd usually see her sitting on the front porch of the place she stayed at. He asked Aaron about it one time, and when Aaron told him she rarely left the stoop or slept, he grew frustrated. Not at her, because he fully understood how she was feeling. He couldn't exactly determine why he felt that way. Looking at her now, finally braving her attempt at a public meeting space, and also stumbling across him at the same time, brought him a strange sort of comfort. But seeing her without something so basic, something he could easily provide her with, he became uncomfortable again. And he hated the feeling of being responsible for her. But here he was, claiming responsibility.

"You alrigh'?" He asked, dipping his hands into a separate bucket full of water to rinse off the blood. He wiped them on a dirty rag and squinted his eyes at her.

"Fine." She said too quickly, tucking her thumbs under the straps of her backpack. "Long night." Daryl simply grunted, noticing her eyes were a bit puffy, not believing her at all. And she noticed that he noticed. And the part she hated most about crying was when other people found out she'd been crying. So she turned quickly and headed towards the smell of food and the low mumble of the growing crowd. Daryl simply watched her go and waited there, rag still in his hands, and waited to go back to the deer until he saw her start eating from a bowl as she disappeared between the houses.

***

A week passed by and the weather played a fake out on everyone. Although... every summer season seemed to do that. She decided she wanted to actually walk around a bit, explore, have people stare at her like a zoo exhibit. Maybe the more time she'd spend out and about, the less they would do that. She sat on the chair on the porch and began lacing up her boots. The basement was beginning to feel like a cage. One of her own making, sure, but she was growing anxious. She wanted to be outside before the cold stole the opportunity away from her.

She'd been putting off asking for a coat or a sweatshirt or even a long sleeved shirt. The break in the cold weather afforded her some more time not in somebody's debt. Granted, she already sort of was, but clothing seemed different. It wasn't like there was an abundance of new clothes coming back in through those gates. Whatever was inside the walls was all they had and she didn't want to take it.

"'ere." A mumble came from the bottom of the porch steps as an old plastic crate slapped the wood. She noticed Daryl standing there, chewing on a fingernail, as a young girl walked up the steps and gently put down another crate.

"Don't want it." Y/N said easily, turning her attention back to her left boot. Daryl was the last person she wanted to be indebted to. He huffed.

"I helped pick it all out for you." The small voice came from the top of the steps. Y/N turned and stared at the girl with the sheriff's hat that didn't quite fit as she toed the crates at her feet. "Uncle Daryl told me you didn't have any clothes."

"Well how can that be when I have these bad boys on." She challenged the girl as she motioned to her jeans and tshirt that was a couple sizes too big.

"Those won't keep you warm." The girl shook her head with a grimace. And with a sigh, Y/N sat up straight and contemplated. She could see the fabrics in the bins and knew they would definitely hold her over for the winter. She stood, made her way over, and crouched beside them. Her hand ran over a pair of gloves right on top.

"You know," she started, glancing at the girl and then to Daryl, "the last person that I asked for clothes from gave me a concussion." She began to laugh, remembering the cranky bastard. Daryl shifted his weight back and forth, the curiosity peaking in his chest almost as much as he felt the need to know who the person was; name, number, address, height, and weight.

"What was his name?" The girl asked curiously. This made Y/N laugh again.

"Rob. He was a cranky middle-aged bastard, mad at the world and starving… so like the rest of us. He carried around these three huge bags of clothes and they weighed him down horribly. Nearly got killed several times because of it. He wouldn't let anyone touch the bags or help carry them. He'd just sulk with them day and night. One night we were sitting around a fire and I saw a sweater fall out of it. It was meant for a woman, two sizes too big for me at the time, but I foolishly asked if I could borrow it. I mean… What was he gonna do with a ladies' sweater, right? But it set him off. He grabbed me by the arms so tight and yelled until his face turned bright red. Left bruises. My dad had jumped in, tried to get him off. Instead of just letting me go, he shoved me to the ground super hard and the back of my head smacked a rock just right.”

Y/N looked back up at the girl, as she watched her intently. She could tell the girl wanted to ask so many questions. Y/N sat down on the top step right next to where she stood.

“What’s your name?” Y/N asked her.

“Judith.”

Y/N smiled her way, barely remembering what it was like to be her age anymore. She seemed so strong and confident and Y/N could only recall being incredibly annoying with strangers and simultaneously mad about her mom. Adolescence for Y/N was weird.

“Well, Judith,” she started, “thank you for picking things out for me. That was very kind of you.”

And Judith smiled at her. Daryl stood there and watched the two interact, wondering how Judith had such an ability to get people to talk. He figured the fact that she was a kid was mainly why, but he’d come across enough kids in his lifetime to know that Judith was something special. He hadn’t heard Y/N speak so much to anyone since they’d found her crowded up in that tree. Since then, she’d gone quiet and he’d almost forgotten what her voice sounded like. Aaron would often joke that she was like Daryl, in a way. He described it as ‘fiercely independent and doesn’t want to look helpless’; Aaron wasn’t wrong.

“Was it recent?” Daryl’s gruff voice interrupted the two as they started sifting through the clothes together. Judith and Y/N somehow ended up with winter hats on their heads, each having a single glove from the pair on one hand and Y/N slid off the boots she’d just laced up to slip on a pair of worn, white tube socks that were now a cloudy gray. She looked up at him briefly and then back down to her toes, her pinky toe finding a wear hole.

“Nah, that was at the beginning.” She shrugged as she slipped the hat off her head and put it in the loose pile beside her.

Daryl felt relieved. But the longer he stood there, watching her try on the things they’d brought her, the more questions he had. He wanted to ask her what happened after she’d hit her head. He wanted to know what happened to that guy. If she ate breakfast this morning. If she wanted to trade socks with him because his didn’t have any holes. But he didn’t ask anything of them.

“You be good.” He offered to Judith instead as he started to back away from the pair. As he turned to leave, he heard the two start to laugh a little, presumably at Y/N offering ‘no promises’.

\\\\\\\\\\\///////////

Again, feedback is always welcome! If you would like to be added to the taglist, just let me know.

@captain-tch @wateroffmahwings

#daryl dixion imagine #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl x reader #daryl dixon #trash day #the walking dead fanfiction

74 notes · View notes

lokitvsource · 3 years

Photo

You came into the show with the idea of Loki clashing with the TVA already in place. How exactly does this kind of arrangement work at Marvel? Michael Waldron: There was a creative brief that was 20 pages or so that basically said: “We want to do something about Loki running up against the TVA. Here’s some different avenues that might be cool to explore.” It was really serving it up for writers as a jumping off point for us to put together our pitches. Then I went off and really worked on the idea of Loki being brought in to hunt another Loki, and that becoming the heart of the show, and the Loki/Sylvie relationship. The big thing that I did in my pitch — even as early as pitching it to Kevin [Feige] — I really walked through the six episodes, kind of similar to what they were. I knew I wanted Episode 3, for instance, to be a little bit of a Before Sunrise, with Loki and this character walking across this apocalyptic moon. But Marvel had the initial, probably the most important spark of genius, which was just Loki and the TVA.

Where did the idea of the variant being a female Loki come from? That was one of my ideas, that we then confirmed in the writers room. Yeah, we knew from the get-go that it was going to be Loki falling for another version of himself.

Why was that appealing to you? I love writing any romance; it’s fun. Especially, it hasn’t been done a ton in the MCU. There’s an obviously self-reflective quality to it. And a show that’s quite literally about self-love; it is Loki getting to see parts of himself. At the start of the show, he kind of hates himself. He assesses himself to Mobius as a villain. And then he meets Sylvie, and he sees her as someone on a heroic crusade. He sees the good in her, and is able to see the good in himself.

Mobius suggests that, of course, Loki fell in love with his own variant, because he’s a narcissist. Do you think he’d be capable of falling in love with someone who is not a version of himself? [Laughs] I don’t know if he didn’t fall in love with himself first. Maybe after that, but the first time he falls, maybe this is what it had to be.

What’s the key to telling a time travel story that takes advantage of the concept without confusing the audience? I think it’s doing a lot of work that the audience never sees. It’s really understanding the logic of this thing, building out the TVA as a real organization that actually exists in our minds. Our writers room, we had a TVA handbook, encyclopedia, what they do and why they do it, a glossary of terms. And then you want to only give the audience the absolute bare minimum to understand the story, and to just get swept up in the emotional stakes of everything. If the sci-fi of it all, if the time travel logic of this show did not hold up week to week, then that would have distracted from the emotional journeys of the characters. So I’m glad that even though everyone had to take their medicine a little bit, along with Loki, in episode one, I’m glad it didn’t distract from the story we were telling. And we had the benefit of Loki being the audience’s eyes in. The audience is learning as he is.

There’s a funny scene in Avengers: Endgame where the Avengers start arguing about exactly how time travel works in the MCU. How much did you have to study what other Marvel movies had done with the idea to make sure your rules were consistent? Fortunately, Endgame was the main one, and that’s how they understand it. The TVA is an organization that understands time travel on a deeper level, probably more comprehensively than the Avengers do in Endgame. We wanted to make sure we were staying true to any rules that they laid out, but sort of establishing our own rules. It’s a time travel show. What was I thinking? A movie’s one thing, but a show is hard.

How many Loki variants did you have on the writers room whiteboard at various points? Hundreds. So many different Lokis. There was one Loki, actually maybe it was a version of Mobius that took off his glasses, and he just had really tiny eagle eyes, like he could see everything. There was stuff like that all over the white board. Tom Kauffman, who wrote that fifth episode, he’s an amazing comedy writer, and was on the first three seasons of Rick and Morty. His first draft of that episode was just bananas.

Was there a variant, or a crazy idea in general, that you really loved but couldn’t ultimately do? There was so much different stuff that we wanted to do in the Void. But the truth is, I don’t want to say any of it, because you never know. The ideas that I want to do the most may pop up elsewhere.

Okay, so let’s stick with a variant we did see. Was Alligator Loki actually a Loki, or just an alligator that happened to be wearing a Loki’s crown? A magician can’t reveal his tricks, man. That’s the great debate. Let it rage.

What was Alligator Loki‘s origin story on your side of things? Who pitched him and how was that initially received? That was maybe my very first meeting with the producers at Marvel, Kevin Wright and Stephen Broussard, talking about the show, and me saying, “When we’re doing this, you can encounter lots of different Lokis. You could have an alligator Loki. Why? Cause he’s green.” And us all laughing about how stupid that was. I think I made the point that it’s that energy of what we can do with the show. We can have something like that, but let’s play it straight. Alligator Loki, you get a laugh out of it, but by and large you try and play it straight. That was the fun tonal balance that we tried to strike in the show.

There’s been some conflicting information out there about whether the big bad was originally just going to be He Who Remains, who’s a different comics character altogether from Kang, and whether the casting of Jonathan Majors changed the plan. From your point of view, what happened? The character was always written as a version of Kang, as early as the first draft of the script, we knew in the writers room, relatively early on. He Who Remains, that’s the guy behind the curtain with the TVA, and we saw an opportunity to fuse that mythology with the Immortus mythology. And that was just really compelling. It was a way to elevate, it just felt right for Loki, because Loki was there in the first Avengers, he’s the one who brought the Avengers together, and here is directly related to the exploding of the multiverse, this event that will drive the events of Phase Four. Certainly, when Jonathan came in, it allowed us to step on the gas of just how eccentric and charismatic this character could be. I was inspired in the writing of He Who Remains by Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia, trying to give it that Frank TJ Mackey energy a little bit. He captures that and then elevates it to something else that’s different and weird.

You just said how important the multiverse is going to be to Phase Four of the MCU. How challenging is it to have to set up this big thing for the larger Marvel endeavor while also serving the needs of the particular story you’re telling on this show? It’s a challenge in the sense that it’s all a relay race, and you’ve got the baton on this thing, and you want to do a great job. The name of the game over at Marvel is with each movie or TV show, make it the best it can possibly be. And they’re really supportive of that, and trust that it will organically fit into the larger blueprint of everything. We were excited about introducing a version of Kang, because yeah, to introduce this new big bad was cool for our show. I was aware, and cautious, of the thing I read in your review, that it might not be the most sound storytelling to introduce a new character at the very end that we’ve never seen before as the big bad of this thing. Obviously, we had the benefit that people know who Kang is, and there’s a meta thing where a portion of the audience knows Jonathan Majors is going to be playing Kang in Phase Four. But the finale was only ever going to work if He Who Remains, in a compelling way, serviced the Loki and Sylvie emotional story. That was the most important job that that character did in the finale: he laid out a very compelling conflict that ultimately drove the two of them apart.

There has also been some confusion as to exactly when you knew that there would be a second season, as opposed to you just making a limited series. Initially, in the writers room, we were not operating as though there would be a second season. And the whole way through was, this should be a story that should stand on its own. I referenced The Leftovers and Mad Men all the time. I think about those seasons, they pushed the overall stories forward, but you can pull any one of those seasons and look at it on its own as an individual story. I wanted that to be the case here, whether we did a second season or not. I think we always felt that we would want to propel Loki forward into the MCU after the conclusion of our season. The only question was, would that be in an appearance in a movie, or would that be in a second season. And it was only over the course of development that the stars aligned to make a second season.

But that end scene, where Mobius no longer recognizes Loki and the TVA is filled with Kang statues, wouldn’t have been a satisfying conclusion to a limited series. That is an ending that only works if there’s going to be a second season. So there is another conclusion to the story that I wrote that exists out there, that I guess is just for me. My own little play, that I perform with my action figures.

What was Sylvie’s original plan, before Loki hijacked her to that dying moon? It was to empty out the TVA. The entire bombing of the Sacred Timeline was to create a diversion. She’s not going to be able to create a multiverse from doing that. Ultimately, the TVA has the manpower to get out and take care of these events, but they’re going to have to scramble a lot of their minutemen teams, and it leaves the Time-Keepers significantly less guarded than they would have been otherwise. That was her plan.

You didn’t come into this as a big comic book nerd. So was there someone on staff who could tell you, “Well, there’s this giant cloud called Alioth that eats time,” or, “Well, one time Thanos had a helicopter,” or maybe someone assigned to you by Marvel? I’m constantly reading the comics but trying to not be so beholden to the and do our own thing. I charged our writers assistant, Ryan Kohler, with, “You’ve got to become the authority on all things TVA, all things Kang, and all that.” So he and my assistant, Sophie Miller, became a support staff who read a ton of these comics and became a wealth of knowledge for the writers to turn to. And then the Marvel producers, obviously are very well versed in the comics. It was Kevin Wright who came in one day and was like somebody throwing down a blueprint in an asteroid movie, going, “Alioth! Look at this!” And we were like, “Ohmigod, this is perfect!” The best thing about working on these comic book shows is that if it’s from the comics, it doesn’t matter how much of a deus ex machina it is, it’s just cool, like, “I can’t believe you pulled that from the comics.” Alioth, that was a big breakthrough that unlocked the last two episodes for us.

That is not a famous comic book that introduces Alioth. It’s an obscure Nineties miniseries, with really ugly art. But you look at it and see what it could be. You say, “If we do this, and it feels like Twister, it’s going to be really cool.”

Was Mobius’ love of jet skis there simply to illustrate his character, or did you have a grander idea in mind? I will come clean: I’m a jet ski guy. I’ve spent a good amount of time on jet skis in my day. I used to tow a jet ski to a lake and ride it in college. So it probably was me. Loki, I was just becoming a steward of that character. Mobius was a character I really felt I got to create from nothing. There’s not really anything to that character in the comics. So bits and pieces of me found their way in. I just think there’s something so poignant — here Mobius is, a guy who is literally fighting to preserve all of time in the multiverse, and yet his interests are maybe the most humble, human, terrestrial, unremarkable thing you can think of. Just a jet ski. And when you’ve got Owen Wilson playing him and it’s just that much better.

Will you be back in some capacity for Season Two? [long pause] Time will tell.

‘Loki’ Head Writer Michael Waldron — and ‘Rick and Morty’ Alum — on MCU, ‘Heels’ and More

#loki tv #loki series #michael waldron #interview

70 notes · View notes

justagirlsearchingforamuse · 2 years

Text

I’m just realizing now that Micheal said he draws the line at cannibalism but he can gloss over the fact Trevor r*ped people? Also like I said Trevor is the only character I know to canonically r*pe and eat peple and still have so many fans. Like I don’t hate Trevor as a character but as a person, ugh. Also, people can like Trevor Phillips a canonical r*pist, cannibal, and whatever the fuck but people were so up in arms over fucking Abby Anderson from The Last Of Us. The fact that as long as you are a yt man who appeals to the male fantasy, you can be as crazy and morally fucked as you want to be but when a woman gets revenge in an apocalyptic world where there are people out here eating people all day everyday she’s the one in the wrong? Another character, North from Detroit Become Human, she’s literally a s*x slave to humans and has every right to be angry but because she’s violent and prefers more harsh and brutal ways she’s a bitch and doesn’t deserve Markus. Like Trevor is an amazing character, he’s a great antagonist but should we just ignore or pass over the fact that he r*pes and s*xually people? Imo people take the fact that he was rounded out as a person and given good traits and bad traits, he’s incredibly human but still someone who imo doesn’t deserve a lot of the love and praise he gets. I will complain about this all day every day, Trevor has sooo much privilege especially in how he’s received vs female characters and people of color especially when they do violence or have similar views to Trevor. Not to mention, Trevor and Micheal both in a way glamorize the crime lifestyle, Micheal more than Trevor does and he gets a rush out of being in these dangerous situations with rarely any regard for his family. Not to mention, it’s this lifestyle that has gotten him connections into being a movie star and producer whilst Lamar and Franklin probably would have to work harder or not be presented with the same opportunity. Also, I pray people don’t see or think that Franklin’s missions are ghetto or see it in a different light than Micheal and Trevor’s heists and missions.

Not to mention, female characters especially fight to be seen as flawed beings and same with poc and some people have higher expectations of poc whilst yt characters especially men get praised for doing the bare fucking minimum. Abby was expected to apologize and realize she was “wrong” for murdering a man who murdered her father and a hospital of people and they even expected her to die at the end. I heard someone once say that death was the best option for floyd and that some of Trevor’s treatment towards him was justified. Floyd literally got r*ped I assume multiple times by Trevor and had his life taken and fucked over because of him. I don’t hate Trikey or even Trevor himself as a character but I hate how poc and female characters are ignored or even held to high standards and criticized whilst Trevor Phillips is a cannibal, racist (condescending one), and a r*pist but people can hate Abby Anderson, North, and a lot of other female characters and people of color in video games. I will always criticize Trevor and how a lot of the fandom let a lot of shitty things he did slide but will fix their fingers to type criticisms about any other character.

#my thoughts #gta v #gta 5 #grand theft auto #grand theft auto v

12 notes · View notes

samedmunds · 3 years

Text

My litany thoughts on 1999 cult classic strategy video game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Alpha Centauri is a game of the early Civilization variety from the EA golden age and ranks very highly in my top ten. While you probably heard of it if you were playing video games around the turn of the century, I've found members of my age cohort to be tragically unfamiliar with this masterpiece.

Alpha Centauri is an unofficial sequel to Civilization II, a game where the only way to way to win is either completely eliminate all competitors to the last city or, rather more easily, send a spaceship loaded with colonists to the title star system. Shortly after leaving home, the ship loses contact with Earth, which would make sense to a player of Civilization II where the bonuses to science and trade from democracies evaporate when technology ends, upon which point all the AIs revolt and become militant fundamentalist theocracies and climate change rapidly destroys the planet, leaving the player with an endgame that is literally 1984. Either way, when the already strained ship arrives at the Alpha Centauri system an unknown partisan assassinates the captain of the UNS Unity and the population fractures into seven opposing factions before firing the colony pods and exploring an inconveniently hostile planet.

The player starts here, in typical Civ fashion: a scout, settler, and absolutely no technology to speak of. That isn't to say you are a bunch of primitives, all your units start out with some approximation to modern guns and judging by the amazing quotes and wonder videos your society is well beyond the 21st century--more on the story later. The gameplay is incredibly well-balanced in spite of its age and quirks (with the exception of the freight-train progression of Yang). Rapid early expansion as the bountiful Peacekeepers may leave you at serious risk to the relentlessly martial Spartans, who are in turn threatened by the uber-specialized technocratic University--but be careful to underestimate the backwards Lord's Believers, their probe teams will just as quickly rob you of your gains. The Morganites can afford to sparsely defend their home if they're willing to pay off their aggressors, but they'll struggle expand over great swaths of territory without irking civil unrest drone riots from corruption. Meanwhile the Gaian Acolytes can harness the permanently-dangerous mindworms to great effect from the beginning of the game. Yang just... builds. And keeps building, and next thing you know he's conquered the Peacekeepers and turned Miriam into nothing more than a puppet and where are all these cruise missiles are coming from?

In short, the strategic design of this game is nothing less than a work of art, but that isn't to say it doesn't have its anachronisms. The User Interface has taken its inspiration from early versions of Microsoft Word and it rapidly pays off to know the hotkeys. The wonder videos are resolution locked and can sometimes cause problems depending on your display configuration. The unit creation system is simultaneously wonderful and horrendous. It allows me to create special long-range nerve gas bombers that eradicate cities shortly before orbitally-dropping specially-trained garrisons to quash all resistance. On the other hand, if you do not accept the cumbersome slew of computer-generated options, keeping your new weapons systems up to date with your latest technology (especially when playing as Zakharov) rapidly becomes a chore.

That said, there are a variety of features in the game that I think deserve to make a reappearance in the Civ Games. The pick-your-government system is incredibly balanced and fun to roleplay. You can't get away with crimes against humanity when solar storms hit in Civilization VI, nor can you weaponise climate change to flood your rivals cities, or strategically terraform to alter weather patterns and deny your neighbors arable land. At the bare minimum, we should be given the option to nerve staple rebelling cities when our control runs out!

All that said, there is also the story to contend with. One is at first tempted to think that a 4x strategy game with a marked emphasis on replayability would necessarily have a tacked-on story, if one at all. After all, the point is for the player to create it through their actions, not have it spoonfed to them. The majority of what you learn about your world that isn't printed in numbers and small pictures on the mapscreen is through blurbs that accompany each discovered technology or new building. The aforementioned wonders even have their adorable early-CG renderings, sometimes mixed in with some experimental film footage. There are occasional interludes that describe the mindworms and machinations of Planet, but the bulk of the wordage comes from epigrams of the faction leaders and the occasional bit of Nietzsche or Plato. It's so good that I can't help but stop and listen to CEO Nbwadibuke Morgan ramble on about supply chain economics or Sister Miriam's apocalyptic warnings every single time. Take some examples.

Proper care and education for our children remains a cornerstone of our entire colonization effort. Children not only shape our future; they determine in many ways our present. Men and women work harder knowing their children are safe and close at hand, and never forget that, with children present, parents will defend their home to the death!

--Col. Corazon Santiago, "Planet: A Survivalist's Guide"

Or perhaps, a more on the nose one:

"The Academician's private residences shall remain off-limits to the Genetic Inspectors. We possess no retroviral capability, we are not researching retroviral engineering, and we shall not allow this Council to violate faction privileges in the name of this ridiculous witch hunt!

--Fedor Petrov, Vice Provost for University Affairs Accompanies the Retroviral Engineering technology

The game often doesn't directly tell you what Retroviral engineering is, nor does it labor to explain just what having someone nerve stapled means, or the precise function of the Recycling Tanks, but through its quotation it beautifully circumlocutes the world you are shaping--and being shaped by. It really never pulls any of its punches, even if its just on Organic Superlube--great stuff--and I still catch muself quoting it regularly.

Ursula LeGuin once wrote

"Science fiction is often described, and even defined, as extrapolative. The science fiction writer is supposed to take a trend or phenomenon of the here-and-now, purify and intensify it for dramatic effect, and extend it into the future. 'If this goes on, this is what will happen.' [...] This may explain why many people who read science fiction describe it as 'escapist,' but when questioned further, admit they do not read it because 'it's so depressing.'"

Alpha Centauri is absolutely extrapolative fiction and very firmly rooted in the 1990s and I love it. It was released in the Aaron Sorkin TV, pre-9/11 days where the word Internet was more often than not followed by the words, "is like an information superhighway" and it absolutely no efforts are made to cover it up. The main factions are a cross-section of the New Millenium's hopes and anxieties. A New Russia that went a very different path before Putin took over, a cheerful clan of ruthless Western capitalists hellbent on putting Morganvision on every network set, a group of vaguely Scottish free-love peaceniks hellbent on defending the most-of-the-time incredibly hostile environment. There's the Second-Amendment preaching Spartans or the optimistically-influential UN which, judging by its naming scheme for its bases, seems to dedicate entire cities to bureaucratic agencies. The All-American Christian fundamentalists don't entirely butt heads with the frighteningly powerful Human-Hive (if your country calls their cities names like "Huddling of the People" and "Paradise Swarming" you might not be the good guys). The expansion also brings in more dynamic characters like the Information Wants to be Free! data angels Brian Reynolds very clearly came up with after watching Swordfish and Hackers back to back or the Nautilus Pirates who have no right to be as fun as they are.

The visions of the future are at once both anachronistic and prophetic; while elements may come off as cheese, I see it as a sort of window to the past, a way to examine what was once (and sometimes still is) on our mind. All in all, I give Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri 4 out of 5 stars and a definite all-time favorite, warts and all. You can pick it and its expansion up for $6 on Gog.com and play it through a built-in emulator that works for most systems. If you're willing to brave a dated interface and an older-fashioned gameplay style, I would definitely recommend it.

#pc gaming #video games #gaming #civilization #writing #ursula leguin #alpha centauri #sid meier's alpha centauri #sid meier's civilization #the drones need you #they look up to you #game retro #game recs #game review

15 notes · View notes

centrally-unplanned · 3 years

Text

Reading “Trends of Fiction in 2000s Japanese Pop Culture”, an article that I have seen referenced multiple times by prestigious public weeb thinkers (Like Aelkus and Brett Fujioka), and I am let down. Its weak in a way so much academic cultural studies are; making proclamations about what media means to society-at-large with no data from society-at-large, or even sanity checks around its ideas

Like okay, so it posits different “phases” of what Japan wanted from anime at different times, and it uses Saikano as its example of the Sekaikei genre, which is when an apocalyptic, big-picture events are made mechanically dependent on the resolution of the main characters inner struggles, often romantic struggles. It posit this genre fell from favor starting in the “post-9/11″ era, and was replaced by Sabaibukei or “Death Game” genre, which it typifies with Death Note by the mid-2000′s. But those examples are really telling; Saikano the anime - the only thing that was successful, the manga was quite niche - came out in 2002; while Death Note, the manga, came out in 2003 and was immediately successful. I don’t think the era shifted at all in that one year time period! These are just products marketed at very different audiences - Saikano is niche Moe romance, Death Note is mainstream Shonen. I think the anime release date (2006) for Death note tripped up the author here, but if you understand the products in question they aren’t separated by much time. So the events you posit for causation seem pretty tenuous, the market doesn’t reflect it.

This extends down to the products in question. To continue with Saikano, the author describes it as reflecting a specific male fantasy:

By being loved by the competent heroine, the passive protagonist indirectly gains the power to control the world.

Which they then draw conclusions from, and also make the requisite Žižek reference as mandated by Section 3.2.11b of the Geneva Convention for Pompous Cultural Criticism.

‘Cept the idea of a “competent” or “empowered” heroine in Saikano is nowhere to be found in the eyes of the typical viewer. Saikano is an anime about a regular guy and a girl who is secretly a government superweapon/mecha, except she has no consent or agency in that process; she is entirely a victim of and at the whims of the government using her. And that is how Japanese audiences saw it; I went through Anikore (as close as Japan has to a MAL) reviews of the show, and everyone mentions what I remember from the show - it being essentially emotional torture porn of a girl being slowly murdered via mecha transformation. The ‘fantasy’ is that you get maximum soap opera tragedy without the guy, aka the audience self-insert, having to suffer personally, instead the girl and the world do. Empowerment is nowhere to be found as a theme here.

It wasn’t hard to find this fact - I, for one, watched the show back in the day, but seriously just check any discussion forum or interview any self-described fan. Why wouldn’t that be...expected in an article like this, to have citations to forums or polls or something? Its virtually absent due to essentially prestige, but to me is like the bare minimum for this kind of analysis. There are good ideas in this article for sure, but the inability to pick the low-hanging fruit is real.

#quest for tab zero #returns! Wednesdays at 11 #Culture of Anime Analysis

14 notes · View notes

victorluvsalice · 3 years

Text

Sims Challenge Wednesday: Fallout 4

And for my second challenge -- one themed around the settlement-building mechanics of Fallout 4! Because that felt like a better fit than trying to do the main plot. . . here we go!

Fallout 4 Sims 4 Challenge

Premise: It was all going – fine, you suppose. Sure, you were living in an embarrassing imperialistic and xenophobic nation, which was fighting a terrible war with the other superpower over the last of the oil reserves in the world, but you yourself were doing good. You had a nice home in a little suburb, you could take advantage of personal domestic robots, you were getting enough to eat despite the food shortages – all in all, your life was pretty okay!

And then some asshole had to go and drop the bombs. By sheer luck, you’d been admitted to nearby Vault 111 mere minutes before the alarm sounded, and you made it there just in time. The staff there was very friendly too, telling you that your new life underground could start just as soon as you were decontaminated in these weirdly-cold pods. . .

210 years later, you wake to discover that:

a) you were totally lied to and you’ve been frozen for the past two centuries as part of some mad experiment

b) you are the only survivor of that experiment – everyone else’s pod failed, and a revolt by the security staff six months into your freezing means they all either died or skedaddled long before you woke up

c) oh, and the revolt was over dwindling food supplies, so you can’t even stay in the vault, you’ll starve

So out you venture into the world, to find – hmmm. People seem to be surviving, but they could probably use some help. Good thing you’ve got nothing but time on your hands. Time and the desire to make proper homes for the new friends you’re finding. Time to build a settlement and make it something this post-War world can be proud of!

Now if only you could shake the feeling you ought to be looking for someone. . .

This is a challenge loosely based around being the Sole Survivor of Fallout 4, specifically being the General of the Minutemen and building settlements. The goals are to build up the world of Brindleton bay from some ramshackle farms into a bunch of thriving settlements, create and manage a club for helping others and improving the world, and defeat the nasties that are making life harder for everyone else.

Packs required: Get Together, Get To Work, Cats & Dogs, City Living, Eco Lifestyle, Cottage Living, Island Living, Discover University, StrangerVille

Your Sim: Create your “Sole Survivor” in CAS. They can be a Young Adult or Adult, and have any traits. However, they are only allowed to have two outfits – a set of everyday wear (for everyday, formal, athletic, party, hot weather, and cold weather), and a set of underwear (for sleeping and swimwear). They will get more clothing as they survive out in the world.

Optional: Rather than start right out of the vault, you may play a brief one-week “pre-War” period with your Sole Survivor to gain some skills and whatnot. The Military or Law career is recommended if you want to follow the actual given backstories of the Fallout 4 Sole Survivors (Nate and Nora respectively), but you’re welcome to give them whatever pre-War occupation you like.

Their World: Set up the rest of the save file as per these guidelines:

Go to Brindleton Bay and wipe out all the existing architecture – you can keep the pre-made families, but not their houses. The apocalypse has happened, and the world has got to look the part! (If you really want, you can keep the lighthouse on Deadgrass Isle, but give a makeover to look wrecked.)

Pick one lot in either Sable Square, Whiskerman’s Wharf, or Cavalier’s Cove to serve as your “Diamond City” marketplace. This should include a small bar, a small clothing store, a grocery stall, a food stall, and whatever other stalls and vending machines you think your Sole Survivor could use to survive out in the wasteland.

In a different neighborhood to “Diamond City,” pick another lot to serve as your “Goodneighbor.” Build a lounge there (The Third Rail) with a bar, microphone for a singer, and plenty of seating. If you want, you can double up and have your lounge in the basement and put a little spa-type building (The Memory Den) up top. Feel free to throw in a goodies stall too.

All remaining mainland lots should be residential, and need to have the “Off The Grid” and “Simple Living” lot challenges enabled. You may enable other lot challenges or traits at your discretion (“Filthy” is recommended, given the state of post-nuke Boston in Fallout 4).

Pick two residential lots on the mainland (in different neighborhoods) to serve as “raider outposts.” Build up these lots to have three or four beds under minimal shelter, and off-the-grid compatible appliances. Each of these lots should have three or four Sims on it, all with either the “Mean,” “Hot-Headed,” “Kleptomaniac,” and/or “Slob” traits. Put all these Sims into a “Raider” club (you may choose your own gang name) and set their club activities to encourage them to “Be Mean,” “Fight,” “Swipe Items,” and “Sabotage Items.”

Set up the remaining residential lots with the bare minimum for survival: If the lot has Sims living on it, make a small hut for them to sleep in, with just enough beds for everyone, and one outhouse with a toilet and sink. No working lights, and they must have only a small fridge or cooler. If the lot doesn’t have Sims living on it, you can only have two beds maximum, and no food source at all. You can build whatever structure you wish there. Regardless of whether or not it is occupied, each residential lot must have a woodworking table, and an outdoor cooking station of some description. Other crafting items (candle-making, juice-fizzing, fabrication machine, robotics station, etc) may be placed at your discretion.

Choose an uninhabited lot for your Sole Survivor to start on – once they are moved in, set their money to zero.

Goals: Your Sole Survivor is looking to complete the following:

Build up every empty residential lot in the world so it can support at least five Sims, one pet, and one robot helper

Improve the occupied residential lots so everyone has adequate food, water, and shelter

Complete the Master Maker aspiration

Complete the Leader of the Pack aspiration as the “General of the Minutemen” and build up the club to full strength by befriending the other “settlers” in the world

Defeat all of the raiders in fights and force their club to disband

Rules:

Your Sole Survivor cannot have a normal job, as those just plain don’t exist anymore. They must earn their “caps” via selling things they have found or made (or, with the right traits, swiped) to other Sims, or via doing Odd Jobs for the people already living in the post-War society.

Your Sole Survivor is only allowed to purchase basic build mode items (e.g., walls and wallpaper, floors and flooring, roofs, doors, windows, columns), animal sheds, chicken coops, and basic pet supplies (food bowls and beds) directly from the catalog. Everything else must either be obtained by scavenging (dumpster diving for items or harvesting wild plants), building it themselves (making furniture at the woodworking table or using the fabricator), or “purchasing” it at the DC marketplace (either by genuinely buying it from a stall or visiting the lot and spending money on SOMETHING to represent a shopping trip). This includes clothing – you may either visit the marketplace once every three days to buy a new outfit for any category, or “scavenge” one by finding something that could reasonably contain clothing from a dumpster.

In order to increase the variety of their scavenging, your Sole Survivor may visit the Bramblewood of Henford-on-Bagley, or go on brief vacations to Granite Falls. Other locations depend on if you can make them look suitably post-apocalyptic (for example, creating a post-apocalypse Newcrest or Forgotten Hollow shouldn’t be too hard, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to justify San Myshuno!).

Your Sole Survivor must build up every lot in their world to the standards of a good settlement – enough food, water, and sheltered beds for all residents, along with power for items that may need it: Food is produced by farming crops and owning livestock. A small crop counts as 0.5 units of food; a tree or over-sized crop counts as one unit of food; a chicken coop with at least four chickens, a cow, or a llama counts as two units of food. (Yes, you are strongly encouraged to regularly trade animals for meat – or, if you feel bad, ingredients and produce.) You must have enough units of food to cover all residents (so a minimum of six). Water is produced by setting up dew collectors or water generators. Each dew collector or water generator counts as one unit of water. You must have enough units of water to cover all residents (again, a minimum of six). Sheltered beds are beds in an enclosed area with a roof. There must be one bed per Sim – you may use double beds, but they only count as one bed for one Sim! (Think of it as making sure there’s “spare beds” for anyone passing through who may stay overnight – Fallout 4 has traveling traders, after all!) Power is generated by generators, solar panels, and wind turbines – each provides one unit of power. You don’t technically need any power on your lots, but it will make your settlements happier if you can actually power things like salvaged TVs and computers.

Once a settlement is set up with all the basics, if it is empty, your Sole Survivor should go out and find homeless Sims to populate it. You may move the Sims in normally, or ask them to be roommates – though given your Sole Survivor will be moving to each settlement in turn to “renovate” it, it’s recommended you move in at least one Sim normally to look after everyone. Once you have all the human Sims, your Sole Survivor should adopt a stray cat or dog, then build a helpful robot to help with gardening, repairs, or generally just keeping people happy. Optional: If you have the Dream Home Decorator game pack, you may, at your discretion, allow your Sole Survivor to join THAT career and make use of it to renovate the lots of settlers who already live in the world. Given how buggy the pack is reputed to be, though, I’m not sure how much I recommend this! (Though I guess if you’re just willing to go room by room, since those gigs seem to work relatively well. . .)

Your Sole Survivor needs to form the “Minutemen” club to help out others in the wastes, by befriending other Sims living in the world and inviting them to join. The club’s required activities should include any of the activities from the following list: Be Friendly Tend Animals Tend Garden Fish Woodwork Work Out Build Robots Fabricate Objects Fight (Raiders)

Related, your Sole Survivor needs to get rid of the Raiders making life harder for the people just trying to survive in this world! Have regular fights between your Sole Survivor and their Minutemen versus the Raiders and keep track of the winners and losers – once each Raider has been bested in at least one battle, disband the club. Your Sole Survivor will then take over their outposts to turn them into functioning settlements. The Raiders themselves can either be moved out or rehabilitated and allowed to live in the new world so long as they don’t start too many fights.

Optional Hard Mode – Expand The Map: More space, more problems – rather than setting up in Brindleton Bay, set up in WINDENBURG. You are allowed two community lots to build up “Diamond City” and “Goodneighbor” in this instance, and a third of your choosing.

Optional Hard Mode – Join The Clubs: Your Minutemen are not the only faction out there in the Wasteland – there’s three others, and oh look, they all seem to hate each other. Set up three other clubs, one each for each of the mainland neighborhoods:

The Railroad – required activities “Debate,” “Hack,” “Be Mean (Institute),” “Be Mean (Brotherhood of Steel).”

The Brotherhood of Steel – required activities “Swipe Objects,” “Work Out,” “Be Mean (Railroad),” “Fight (Institute)”

The Institute – required activities “Build Robots,” “Use Science Objects,” “Fight (Railroad),” “Fight (Brotherhood of Steel)”

All members of these clubs should live and hangout on the same lot (The Old North Church and its basement for the Railroad; the Boston Airport for the Brotherhood (though if you think you can make the Prydwen, go for it); the CIT Ruins and the labs beneath it for the Institute). Make sure they all dislike each other, and make them all “invitation only” clubs. Your Sole Survivor needs to join all of these clubs, work toward becoming the leader of each other, then decide who stays and who goes based on your “ending:”

Railroad Ending – Disband the Institute and the Brotherhood of Steel once you’re the leader. Exile the members of each from the world.

Brotherhood of Steel Ending – Disband the Institute and the Railroad once you’re the leader. Exile the members of each from the world.

Institute Ending – Disband the Railroad and the Brotherhood of Steel once you’re the leader. Exile the members of each from the world.

Minuteman Ending – Disband the Institute once you’re the leader – at your discretion, the members may keep their lot, though they have to give up their basement labs and live in the ruins up top. The other two clubs may remain depending on how friendly their members are with your own Minutemen club. Check everyone’s relationships with each other – if the majority of either club hates the majority of the Minutemen, that club must be disbanded.

Given the size of this hard mode, I would recommend running it in tandem with “Expand the Map” above so you have more room to breathe with each club!

Optional Hard Mode – Automatron DLC: Create a placeholder Sim, get their Robotics up to ten, have them make a Servo, then kill the Sim and either let the Servo live on the lot alone or have them wander as a homeless NPC. In order to get access to the Robotics station, your Sole Survivor must find and befriend this Servo.

Optional Hard Mode – Vault-Tec DLC: One of your lots is not a traditional settlement, but an unfinished Vault-Tec vault! This settlement must be built entirely underground, and does not have any beds, water, or food when your Sole Survivor arrives. However, it does have at least three generators for power! Also, the first Sim you recruit to live there must have either the “Good” or the “Goofball” trait.

#fallout 4 #sims 4 #sims challenge #fallout 4 sims challenge #oh man this one took WAY longer to whip into shape #I KNEW what I wanted to do with it #but figuring out exactly what rules I wanted was tricky #but I'm decently happy with what resulted #again this is the 'rough draft'#feel free to tweak and adjust to your heart's content #this one's probably an especially hard challenge given the rules but #well hopefully if you like settlement building in Sims 4 #queued

13 notes · View notes

thursdaysdove · 3 years

Text

Random Portal Writing Prompts (or Art, if you prefer!)

Hello! I wanted to share some story ideas/prompts that I have had floating around for a while. I originally had these posted on my AO3 account, but I felt it might be more appropriate for these to be posted here.

I may or may not get around to writing these (most likely not), but if anyone is interested in writing them, I would LOVE to see these! Some maybe M-rated, maybe not, depends on how it's portrayed. Most are Chelley and Chelley babies (I need more fics with Chelley babies!), but there are some others as well. I may add more from time to time. Anyway, please feel free to use, comment, ignore, etc. And, of course, if you have tag suggestions, please do suggest them. Thank you for looking! :3

- Chell and Wheatley are friends/roommates. Chell wants to have a baby, but she has no partner nor does she desire to have one, so she is looking to accomplish this via sperm donor and insemination. Wheatley finds out about this somehow (maybe he sees a consent form on her table that she has signed or he hears about it from a mutual acquaintance, etc.) and becomes highly jealous and offended (for reasons beyond either of their understanding) that she didn't consider him. Chell is reluctant at first, but Wheatley manages to convince her to let him be the father of her child. This could also be portrayed in other ways - such as, if you would want this to be ChellDOS instead of Chelley, they could be looking to have a child and Wheatley volunteers to be the father, but of course GLaDOS/Caroline might have something to say about that. Could lead to some fun arguments. :P

- I may be missing some bit of knowledge on this, so please excuse me if this theory doesn’t hold out - but I noticed while playing the Portal games that you never see any remains of the people who were killed by GLaDOS with the neurotoxin. I would think there would be skeletons or something, some small bit of remains. This made me wonder what happened to them. Did GLaDOS have them cleaned up? What about the offices and parts where She can't reach? What if there was someone on the loose in the facility, someone in hiding, someone who might be in a desperate enough situation to view these bodies as a food source? What if this someone’s situation was exacerbated by both desperation and a mental condition, so they maybe didn't realize they were eating the corpses of their colleagues? What if this person was... Doug Rattman? GLaDOS would be taunting him the whole time, while his companion cube would be countering her remarks, making Doug question exactly what it is he’s eating. Would love to see this portrayed as a horror/psychological thriller.

- A fic where Chell and a humanized Wheatley (either he was that way to begin with, or he was put into a body, however you’d want to portray it) make it out to the surface. The betrayal and everything still happened, but Wheatley was never thrown out into space. The basic idea is that he and Chell end up sleeping together, Chell ends up pregnant, and Wheatley ends up having to take care of Chell during her late pregnancy and help with the delivery. Chell can either be verbal or non-verbal.

Here is a basic run-down of what I came up with, but you wouldn’t have to use this, of course (this would get an M rating, including dubious consent):

Wheatley is put into a human body and thrown out onto the surface with Chell. Wheatley is completely helpless. Chell waits around a while, watching him, and eventually feels guilty enough that she allows him to tag along, but though she allows this, she keeps him at an arm's length and only helps him with the bare minimum. Somewhere along the way, Chell goes through a level of frustration, one thing leads to another, and they end up sleeping together. Wheatley is very confused at first, like WTF are you doing?, although he finds himself enjoying what she is doing. Chell is satisfied, he feels somewhat satisfied, but he is left to wonder what exactly happened and how to approach her after that. Over time, Chell's feelings for Wheatley begin to soften more, Wheatley grows more bold, and before either of them can really gain an understanding on what exactly is taking place between them, Chell ends up pregnant. She does not know how to explain this to him. She doesn't feel well, is achy and whatnot, and Wheatley of course doesn't quite understand why she isn't wanting to "do it" with him anymore, so he feels hurt. Wheatley ends up being forced to be the one to take care of both of them in this post-apocalyptic world, seeking food, shelter, taking care of Chell when she is sick, and finally, helping with the delivery of the baby. I didn't have much going on after this, that's all I got.

- Something based off this Minecraft build video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q11J9ibl7zs . Could be a comic, a short fic, anything. The whole time watching this video I was laughing so hard, because all I could hear was Wheatley trying to fix the lift to get Chell out of Aperture. Instead of him going all evil, he decides to stay plugged in but still help Chell get out. An oversight on his part - he still punched potato GLaDOS down the elevator shaft, obliterating the elevator in the process. Determined to help Chell, he keeps trying to fix the lift, or build a new one, and it keeps breaking and failing in new and extraordinary ways. Chell is sitting there the whole time thinking maybe she will just stay - that seems a whole lot safer than using Wheatley's "fixed" lift, anyway.

- This was a crack fic idea I had, half inspired by a joke going around in a Discord group I used to be in, half inspired by a quote from George Carlin: "Somewhere out there is the world's worst doctor. The scariest part is that someone has an appointment with him tomorrow." Wheatley works at Aperture as one of their on-site doctors. He may have graduated at the bottom of his class, but hey, he DID graduate, after all, and Aperture really needed more doctors!

#portal #portal 2 #portal prompt #portal writing prompt #chelley #doug rattman #glados #portal art prompt #portal fic #portal fanfic #portal fanfiction #wheatley #chell

22 notes · View notes

marvelspookytoberprompts · 4 years

Text

Marvel Spookytober 2020 Prompts

Hello, everyone!

It’s almost that time of the year again, and Marvel Spookytober Prompts is back with prompts for you.

For those who aren’t familiar, Marvel Spookytober Prompts is a month long event—during the month of October—with different prompts for you to choose from. You are free to participate as much or as little as you wish, meaning there is no minimum word count, minimum images, or anything of the like. All forms (writing, art, gifsets, moodboards, etc.) will be accepted!

Here are some quick reminders of this event:

You don’t have to use every prompt that is given for each day, but you are more than welcome to if you want.

If you would like for us to reblog your work, then use the hashtags #marvelspookytober or #marvelspookytoberprompts. For an extra measure, since tracked tagging has been a bit wonky lately, then tag us in your post.

To make it easier for us Mods for when we reblog and tag your work, please state what day and prompt(s) you have filled. (If you would like for us to post an example of fic formatting on Tumblr as a refresher, then feel free to drop an ask!)

You can also include your work in our AO3 collection here. Please state what day and prompt(s) you have filled in the ‘Summary’ section.

These prompts are free for anyone to use; however, we will only be reblogging Marvel related content.

Without further ado, here, under the cut, are this year’s prompts!

If you have any questions, feel free to drop by our ask.

01 OCTOBER/DAY 1: “Did you really get us lost on Halloween night?” || Harvest/Festivals/Carnivals

02 OCTOBER/DAY 2: Haunted House || A magical supply store, a talking judgmental cat, a mixed up stock shipment

03 OCTOBER/DAY 3: “Come on, let me scare a few trick-or-treaters.” || Eternal Relationship

04 OCTOBER/DAY 4: Murder/Unsolved Mystery || A fortune teller, a thief, and a bank heist gone wrong

05 OCTOBER/DAY 5: “Did you seriously injure yourself carving a pumpkin?” || Supernatural Beings

06 OCTOBER/DAY 6: Final Girl || Character A and Character B wear costumes from the same fandom at a costume party.

07 OCTOBER/DAY 7: “We ran out of candy, and a mini horde is coming this way!” || Graveyard

08 OCTOBER/DAY 8: Pumpkin Carving Contest || Character A gets scared by Character B in a corn maze and lashes out to hit them.

09 OCTOBER/DAY 9: “Halloween is better, and if you disagree then you gotta forfeit all your candy.” || Abandoned House

10 OCTOBER/DAY 10: Costume Party || Picking out each other’s Halloween costumes

11 OCTOBER/DAY 11: “Have you ever heard about what happened in that house?” || Ghost Hunting

12 OCTOBER/DAY 12: Tricks and Traps || Apple cider, a scary movie marathon, and cuddling on a chilly night

13 OCTOBER/DAY 13: “You know you’re not alive, right?” || Positions and Propositions

14 OCTOBER/DAY 14: Creepypasta || Covering the house with Halloween decorations

15 OCTOBER/DAY 15: “If I hear pumpkin spice one more time, I’m going to scream.” || Slasher

16 OCTOBER/DAY 16: Nightmare Fuel || The haunting image of spindly, bare trees

17 OCTOBER/DAY 17: “Why are we raking up leaves?” “To jump into them.” || Apocalyptic Log

18 OCTOBER/DAY 18: Buried Alive || Characters wearing coordinating masks at a masquerade party

19 OCTOBER/DAY 19: “Did you just hiss at me?” “Duh, idiot. I’m a snake.” || Circus of Fear

20 OCTOBER/DAY 20: Creepy Attic/Basement || Character A reluctantly attends Character B’s murder mystery party

21 OCTOBER/DAY 21: “You’re too old to be going trick-or-treating.” || Death by Sex

22 OCTOBER/DAY 22: Distress Call || A candle, a broken promise, an engagement ring

23 OCTOBER/DAY 23: “I never thought I’d fall in love with a werewolf.” “You know it’s just a costume, right?” || Dolls

24 OCTOBER/DAY 24: Power Outage || Getting caught in an autumn rainstorm with only one umbrella

25 OCTOBER/DAY 25: “Can’t believe we got kidnapped by a clown tonight, of all nights. This is your fault.” || Ominous Knocking

26 OCTOBER/DAY 26: Sinister Car || The crunching of leaves, ever-growing chill, and lots and lots of soup

27 OCTOBER/DAY 27: “She’s six and dressed up as a little bunny. How can she scare you” || Wicked Witch

28 OCTOBER/DAY 28: Kidnapped || Making caramel apples

29 OCTOBER/DAY 29: “What was that noise?” || Let’s Split Up, Gang

30 OCTOBER/DAY 30: Spooky Paintings/Photographs || Chilly weather, bloody sweater and black feathers

31 OCTOBER/DAY 31: “Don’t you dare try selling your soul for me.” || Séance || An abandoned motel/hotel on the edge of town.

#marvelspookytoberprompts #marvelspookytober

76 notes · View notes

redhoodedwolf · 4 years

Text

A Week-ish of Sterek Fics

Hello all! So I recently accidentally fell back into my AO3 bookmarks and have fallen down a rabbit (fox? eh?) hole that leaves me entirely unproductive and sleep deprived but full of feels, so I thought I’d share all of the fics that I’ve rerereread thus far in the last week (it’s over 75 guys) (since friday 😬). Each has the fic name and description, length, and year pub/finished because it makes me feel old. Also all of these are complete because I am weak and cannot handle WIPs.

Note: I’m not adding any tags to the descriptions, so make sure to read the tags and ratings on each fic first before reading!!!

Teaching Derek How to Text (and Other Shenanigans) by neilwrites | 9K | 2018

yo derek Who’s dying

---

I see your 'Derek doesn't have a phone' line and raise you 'Derek has a phone, he and Stiles text all the fucking time.'

The Hoodie by ladiekatie | 1.7K | 2017

“You shouldn’t be able to see me. What are you?” The guy in the hoodie says, the ball of energy grows hotter under Derek’s chin.

or the one where Derek is just trying to talk to the guy at the back of the subway.

Nothing You Could Say by SylvieW | 13K | 2016

Stiles’ second year of college is not working out as he planned. He rarely sees Scott, his job is exhausting, and to get home after his shift, he has to walk at three in the morning. Nearly getting mugged is the icing on the cake, but luckily a gruff stranger is there to rescue him. But now Stiles can’t seem to shake the feeling that he’s not alone in the dark.

Old Traditions, Werewolf Edition by Footloose | 3.6K | 2014

Stiles does not work his Omega ass off to attract frat boy Alphas. Absolutely not. He's at college to get his degree. If he's crushing on an Alpha who never crosses the lines of propriety, well, no one needs to know, right?

Stiles Stilinski, Boyfriend Extraordinaire by MereLoup | 14K | 2016

“Beacon County Sheriff's Department, this is deputy Mahealani speaking.”

“Oh thank god!”

“Stiles?”

“I, uh, I need some advice.”

“Advice?”

“Yeah. So, hypothetically, say you met your boyfriend’s mother and sister for the first time ever. Completely by accident. In the grocery store. And they convinced you to help them make a dinner to surprise aforementioned boyfriend when he got home after work. What would you do?”

Danny paused, and then, “Stiles, you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“That’s not the point! And I said hypothetically.”

“Stiles...what are you doing right now?”

***

Stiles never imagined he’d be in Derek’s kitchen cooking a surprise dinner with Derek’s family while they waited for Derek to get home from work.

Partly because their visit was a complete surprise.

But mostly because Stiles didn’t have a boyfriend.

Or even know who Derek was.

But he’d already come this far and Papa didn’t raise no quitter!

third time's the charm by stilinski | 4.9K | 2016

Sure, Stiles has a mark on his chest that belies the depth of his feelings, but it's not something anyone can see unless he decides to show it, or unless werewolves suddenly have x-ray vision.

Which—worrying. And probably-definitely-likely a possibility – if it was to manifest anywhere, Beacon Hills would be top of the list.

Stiles almost turns around there and then to ask Scott how his visual acuity is but is stopped by the teenager at the register finally looking up long enough to spot Derek. Stiles watches her mouth fall open and her expression—studiously blank but with a faint flush rising in her cheeks—is one Stiles knows far too well, particularly when faced with Derek in all his snug-fitting-jeans, v-neck-wearing, canvas-jacketed glory.

Stiles is pretty sure he invented that expression.

Ukochany by VincentMeoblinn| 34K | 2016

Derek comes home to find a mail order husband and two amused betas waiting for him. When he realizes their prank was far from harmless he ends up saddled with a husband who barely speaks English but insists Derek is the love of his life. He's also determined to win him over.

only if for a night by stilinskisparkles | 3.2K | 2016

“I’m Stiles,” he says breathlessly.

“Derek.”

“Derek, hi, do you—”

Derek doesn’t let him finish, kisses the words right out of his mouth.

Hypothetically by alisvolatpropiis | 6.6K | 2015

Stiles holds his hand up to shield his eyes from the sinking sun, its orange-yellow light reflected infinitely across the vast, calm ocean. As utterly stunning as the sunset over the Pacific is, especially while floating leisurely on a surfboard a few hundred feet from shore, it’s a mere backdrop that pales in comparison to who he’s looking at.

Derek Hale, whose eyes are their own oceans that Stiles feels like he’s been floating on since the first time they met. The older man’s eyes are as ever-changing and colorful as the sea they’ve spent the day on, a palette of greens and blues filigreed with gold around the pupils. And if that weren’t enough, the rest of Derek is also transcendentally exquisite: high, arching cheekbones and a chiseled jaw, although that particular perfection is a bit obscured these days by his ever-thickening beard, night-black like his hair, nearly shoulder-length but almost always knotted in a messy bun at the crown of his head.

sincerely, derek by stilinskisparkles | 8.1K | 2016

September, 2009

Hi Stiles, it’s Derek. Derek Hale, from space camp. I’m writing this in English because my teacher Ms Grady said I had to write about my summer, but I spent my summer with you, so I decided to write to you, instead.

Please write back. Love from Derek.

Pancakes and Murder by Amethyst Shard (AmethystShard) | 14K | 2012

Stiles' life has been a roller-coaster filled with awesome highs and terrifying drops ever since his best friend Scott got bit by a werewolf. The ride hits a bump when a dead body turns up at the Hale house (again) and Derek's only alibi is Stiles. Which would be fine, except that Stiles' dad is the sheriff and has no idea his son has been hanging out with the former fugitive. Awkward.

The Witching Hour by MellytheHun | 8.2K | 2016

The radio host AU no one ever asked for but I have written anyway because sometimes when DJ’s play several sad songs in a row, I worry about their mental health and then this AU was born

Derek Hale, The Hero Beacon Hills Needs (Series) by MellytheHun | 11K | 4 Works | 2016

This series started with this Tumblr prompt, "it’s the middle of the night and i’m walking home alone in the dark and there’s this guy following me and he’s starting to gain on me and i found this phone booth with a lock on the door and i tried to call my best friend but my hands were shaking so badly i accidentally dialed the wrong number and i don’t even know you but help me” au

Stiles is walking home when he's stalked by a dangerous stranger and an even more dangerous stranger comes to his rescue.

Fly a Little Faster by mirrorkill | 32K | 2013

Everyone knows when you go back in time, you shouldn't step on an ant, just in case you accidentally kill your own grandparent or something. But what happens when you go back in time and, uh, accidentally interrupt the one event that apparently made the Grumpiest Alpha in Town into a ball of mindless manpain?

Well, if Marty McFly can do it, so can Stiles Stilinski. All he has to do is get Derek and Paige to fall in love before he gets pulled back to his own time. And before he makes anything worse. That's easy as pie, right? Right?

You are the Moon by skoosiepants | 10K | 2012

Stuff Stiles doesn’t like to deal with first thing: hot, moist dog breath in his face, a cuddly werewolf creepifying his perfectly normal morning wood with shades of bestiality, and his dad holding his service revolver up against the skull of his bedmate, never mind the fact that his bedmate could possibly be a vicious unhinged rogue omega.

Baby, you should stick around by ElisAttack | 9.5K | 2016

Derek's driving along a stretch of highway when an unusual sight makes him slow down, the engine of his old pickup rattling in protest.

There's a kid standing by the side of the road.

It's the middle of nowhere, the goddamn apocalypse, and this kid is standing by the side of the road with his thumb pointed skyward. Like he's playing at being a hitchhiker.

Or the one where Stiles thinks he's all alone in a post-apocalyptic world, until he meets Derek.

Don’t Be Anything But Okay by skoosiepants | 4.8K | 2016

“Oh my god.”

Ben pops open the car door and says, “Please don’t embarrass me, Dad.”

Stiles flaps a hand, still staring at the magnificent sight before him. There are glistening arm muscles and a sweaty tank top and then the vision bends over and holy god. He has to look away; it’s too much to take in all at once, he might swoon.

OR-

Stiles has a teenager and Derek has a plant nursery.

covalent bonds (Series) by HalfFizzbin | 9.2K | 3 Works | 2015

Derek's a hot nerd. Stiles is a nerdy jock. A LOVE STORY FOR THE AGES.

Disappear Here by AgnesBlue | 28K | 2016

Stiles was quiet. “What?” Derek said again. “My first heat is coming up soon,” Stiles said at last. Derek closed his eyes, disinterested. He knew where Stiles was going with this. “I was thinking…hoping, really,” Stiles said. “Maybe you could stay with me during that time.”

AU in which wounded in a fire that killed off his entire family, Derek wants nothing more than to be left alone as he finishes off his senior year in high school. That all changes when omega Stiles Stilinski asks him to help him through his first heat.

Money Isn't Everything by TroubleIWant | 6.3K | 2015

Stiles slurps at the dregs of his iced hazelnut latté, pretending he doesn’t need a refill just yet. Supporting your local business is great and all, but Isaac charging $5 for a coffee with syrup is highway robbery. He’s already cut his expenses down to the bare minimum, and splurging for foofy drinks is not in the budget. Except that he can’t really help himself: black coffee is plain gross. Maybe I should plan on marrying rich, he thinks darkly.

Or,

Stiles has a huge crush on the super-hot guy he always sees at Isaac's coffee shop, but when he finds out that they guy's an unemployed orphan he has to decide if the difference in their financial situations is a deal-breaker, or just a bump on the path to true love.

So Shed Your Skin and Lets Get Started by halfhardtorock | 21K | 2014

He's sixteen and in the woods on the wrong side of the town-line and he's so fucking fucked.

He knows he's not supposed to run, they teach that to you in preschool (don't run from a Were, back away slowly and walk with care), but they never told you how it would feel, standing alone in the dark with your heart beating in your throat as those glowing eyes tracked you from the shadows.

you and me (and my best friend) by trilliastra | 1.5K | 2016

“Come on, I shouldn’t be the only one having orgasms. Let me help you out.”

“Uh –” someone clears their throat and Derek jumps, startled, hits his elbow on the wall and curses, “am I interrupting something?” Stiles asks, cheeks red.

Derek looks up, sighing. Of all the people working in this damn school, Stiles had to be the one to catch him and Erica talking about sex. It’s just Derek’s luck. He spills juice on his pants? Stiles walks into the classroom; Laura starts yelling at him about something that happened when they were kids? Stiles is right behind them, waiting for his coffee; Boyd accidentally throws a ball at his face? Stiles is at the E.R. when Derek gets there with a swollen face and a broken nose.

The universe hates him.

Easy Alpha by interropunct | 4.6K | 2012

Easy A/Teen Wolf AU. Wherein, Derek Hale is the high school hussy, Jackson and Scott really need to learn to use their inside voices. And, contrary to popular belief, everyone is still a virgin.

Body Language by LadyMerlin | 2.3K | 2016

In an alternate universe, soulmates exist, and they can communicate with each other by writing on their own skin.

The catch? No one knows their soulmates' name. It could literally be anyone under the sun, and Stiles just doesn't have that kind of patience.

chantes une nouvelle chanson pour moi by pr1nc3ssp34ch (dallisons) | 13K | 2013

Stiles Stilinski has been at Hogwarts since his first year, okay. That's six years of experience. He knows how Hogwarts works, how it operates. He's not quite an expert or anything, but he's pretty damn sure he knows this school.

So why the hell have they waited like a million years to start taking transfer students?

And why is he the only one who can't get a French date?

C’était Salement Romantique by Swing Set in December (swing_set13) | 2.2K | 2015

The Triwizard tournament is really about fostering wizarding relations. Ask anyone. Just not Stiles, he’s busy French kissing Derek.

Hogwarts really should teach some linguistic classes.

The Long Way Home by MyChemicalRachel | 19K | 2016

Stiles didn’t plan to sleep with his best friend’s dad. It just kind of happened. And then it happened again. And again. And again…

All that once was, remains. by countrygirlsfun | 8.8K | 2016

Life is only a long list of constants.

Being a part of a royal family, being a prince, has been a constant in Derek Hale’s life since he was born and swaddled in silk cloths.

Wherein Derek finds himself in love with a stable boy who is more than he seems.

Driver's Education by arrowofcarnations | 9.2K | 2014

This is the moment he realizes he can never have Derek Hale – that he was stupid to ever think he could. Maybe their moms made them hang out when they were little and maybe they’ve managed to get along these past few weeks, but they’re too different. Derek’s cool, he plays a million sports, he drives a Camaro, he’s friends with Jackson. Stiles doesn’t fit into the equation and he never will.

Letters by ericaismeg | 8.9K | 2014

“Stiles, this is getting ridiculous. Can you please do something about it?” Lydia demands. “Do anything. I don’t care. Go up and kiss him, ask him to prom this year, write him secret admirer love letters, whatever. Just do something.”

***

OR: The one where Lydia sets up an email account for Stiles to "confess his love" for Derek. And as fate would have it, they also end up becoming friends in person at the same time.

We're One of a Kind (Like Dip Da Dip Da Dip Do Whap De Dobby Do) by orphan_account | 3.5K | 2012

Derek is your classic greaser—with a leather jacket, a hot rod, a hot bike, and a duck butt. Genim “Stiles” Stilinski a total fream—he’s too cool to be a poindexter but he’s so far from a cat that Derek almost feels bad for him. All that’s missing in this love story is some oddly perfectly timed musical numbers.

do it for our country by HalfFizzbin | 936 | 2012

In which Derek tries to play it cool but Stiles is totally hep to his jive.

Fast Times At Clairemont High by MonsieurBlueSky (MyChemicalRachel) | 6.9K | 2016

Stiles is stoked when he's chosen for an undercover operation to take down a drug ring. He's less stoked when he discovers that he'll be posing as a seventeen year old student at the High School where Derek teaches.

It's Too Early For This by thepsychicclam | 4.9K | 2016

Derek loves his job at the coffee shop, especially because Stiles comes in for coffee before early Saturday morning lacrosse practices. The problem is that Derek is too shy to do anything about his crush, and the situation is not helped by the rivalry between the basketball and lacrosse teams.

A Tentative Truce by Inell | 8.5K | 2016

Stiles and Derek have a long standing rivalry that has extended beyond the Beacon Hills High School theater department to every other area of their high school lives. With the announcement of the winter production, their competitiveness has to be set to the side so the musical can be successful. With a tentative truce in place, Stiles unable to ignore his growing infatuation for his co-star.

we keep living anyway by bistiles (alis) | 10K | 2015

“Oh, damn, my manners. What an example I’m setting, am I right? I’m Stiles Stilinski, but call me Stiles, please,” Stilinski extended his hand for Derek to shake, and Derek took it, feeling the solid grip and the long fingers around his own hand. For some reason, he blushed on the spot.

“Derek. Derek Hale. Call me just Derek,” He answered, still holding Stiles’ hand in his.

By the look on Stiles’ face, he felt much the same as what Derek was feeling, whatever that unnamed reaction was.

“And this little barnacle attached to me,” Stiles continued, letting go of Derek and flushing pink, “is Leigh.”

Stiles is struggling to raise his only child all alone, while dealing with financial problems, a new job, and Adrian Harris, the worst boss in the world.

But then he meets Derek Hale, a dreamy co-workers, and what is a terrible situation becomes considerably less grim, when he has Derek by his side.

Don't Judge a Derek By His Cover by captaintinymite (augopher) | 4.5K | 2015

Stiles doesn't care about the rumors surrounding Beacon Hills High School's resident bad boy, Derek Hale. In fact, he thinks the rumors are total crap. Of course, being secretly in love with someone has a way of clouding one's judgment.

However, he knew for a fact that Derek liked books. So when the two paired up for a final English project, he was excited (but also a little terrified).

But you know what they say...never judge a book by its cover. The same goes for people.

sometimes fate is like a small snowstorm by thepsychicclam | 8.1K | 2014

In a coffee shop two days before Christmas, Derek meets Stiles. Despite neither of them being interested in relationships, they spend an unforgettable evening together, but then part ways. During the following years, Stiles competes in the Olympics, Derek tours the world - and neither of them forget. Then twelve years later, two days before Christmas, Derek finds Stiles in that same coffee shop.

aka a kinda sorta serendipity au

should the pillars of memory topple out of my reach by bleep0bleep | 4.3K | 2015

If Stiles didn’t know any better he’d say that look in Derek's eyes is adoring, but he does know better, and also amnesiac Derek thinks they’re married. Which is the only fact he hasn’t questioned so far, which is the weirdest thing.

Just High School by Dexterous_Sinistrous | 4.5K | 2015

Derek and Stiles have been dating for some time.

The only thing is, nobody else really knows.

Tis The Season Baristas Fear The Most by stilinskisparkles | 5.4K | 2012

Scott is hands down the worst barista Derek has ever hired. But it's Christmas and apparently that means something to some people.

Mind Reading Can Be Such a Pain in the A** (Series) by Fanhag102 | 21K | 2 Works | 2015

Derek Hale can read minds. If he could have chosen a mutant power for himself instead of being given one by random, genetic happenstance it's safe to say mind-reading would not have been his 1st, 2nd, or even 96th choice.

Maybe if he'd gotten the power of invisibility he wouldn't be sitting in a senior Economics class next to a hyperactive kid with a buzz cut who won’t stop thinking about dicks.

A Criminal and His Lucky Charm by Dexterous_Sinistrous | 5.9K | 2015

Please forgive yourself.

For what?

For allowing yourself to let someone in. For letting me love you. I didn’t deserve it, but that wasn’t your fault. Derek, please, just do it. Please— please don’t drag this out.

Derek Hale valued Stiles above everyone—everything. And Stiles betrayed that. In the end, he figured if he had to die, dying in Derek’s arms wasn’t so bad. He could at least have that.

the things you said when we were the happiest we’ve ever been by foxerica (ericaismeg) | 4.8K | 2015

Derek and Stiles meet again at their high school reunion.

From Dirty Paws by Surreal | 9.9K | 2014

Stiles finds a wolf in the woods. Well, it's more like the wolf finds him. Either way, he's happy to have a new friend in his otherwise boring social circle.

flawless by bibliosexual | 4.9K | 2015

“I know you and I are, like, werewolf-married, but dude, if I ever met Lydia Martin in person . . . All bets are off, is all I'm saying."

It's not like Stiles really means it (does he?), but it still makes Derek’s hands clench into claws on the steering wheel.

"Yeah, if," he says, and keeps his eyes on the road.

Those Hidden Places by Mimiminaj | 18K | 2015

He doesn’t belong here.

It’s the first thought that crosses Derek’s mind as he watches the new inmates spill into the cafeteria. The kid stays close to the wall, eyes scanning all the exits and skimming over the tables. If he’s trying to get a barring for his surroundings he’s doing a shit job of it, something made completely evident as Lewis shoulders him from behind and the kid almost jumps to flatten himself against the wall.

Stiles is the new inmate at Derek's prison. He really didn't expect to fall in love with the mouthy little brat.

Baseball Pants by thatfamoushappyending (betsytheoven) | 2.8K | 2015

Scott shows Stiles a picture of the new pitcher for the Dodgers, and Stiles is suddenly an avid Dodgers fan.

While You Were(n't Quite) Sleeping by mikkimouse | 13K | 2015

Scott’s mom, Melissa, had given Stiles the basics on Derek’s condition when he’d first come over here a month ago. Derek had been here six years, the only survivor of a horrific house fire that had killed the rest of his family. It had left him burned, half his face puckered with scars, and he’d been in a catatonic state the entire time. Stiles couldn’t even begin to imagine how awful that would be, being trapped in your own body for years on end, all alone.

Stiles had an inkling of how much being alone sucked, anyway.

(An AU in which Derek is the one who was trapped in the fire, and then in the hospital, based on a set of pictures from littlecofiegirl.)

dhale25 by ericaismeg | 8.1K | 2014

Derek Hale is an actor in Los Angeles, Stiles is a fanboy in Toronto. When Derek posts his Snap Chat username on Twitter, inviting people to add him, Stiles gets brave and adds him.

They develop a snapping relationship, and it gets intense.

I Settle for Long Distance Calls by iamursforevrmre | 4.3K | 2014

Derek is the guy who Stiles met on some random band page on MySpace because Derek made a ridiculously hilarious comment and with a spurt of confidence, Stiles had messaged him to tell him just how hilarious it was and they got to talking. Derek is the guy that made a FaceBook account just to talk to Stiles on the messenger so they could talk more when MySpace was slowly dying out. Derek is the guy that changed his text message plan to unlimited when he finally sent Stiles his cell phone number. Derek is the guy that has been on the phone with Stiles at any and all hours through the day.

And Derek is the guy that Stiles is in love with.

You look like my next mistake by Vendelin | 15K | 2015

“So, are you dating someone new? Someone who doesn’t mind that you’re frigid?” Kate cocks her head to the side, smiling as though she just asked him about where he bought his shoes.

His entire body sighs in defeat as his shoulders grow square. Just as he opens his mouth, someone comes up to stand beside him, snaking an arm around his shoulders. When he glances to his side, expecting to see Isaac, his brain seems to malfunction. Because it isn’t Isaac. It’s Stiles Stilinski, the lacrosse talent of the year, a senior who Derek has seen multiple times from far away, but never ever talked to.

In which Derek is a nerd jock, and Stiles is a frat guy, and Derek falls for him even though he knows he shouldn't.

Coaches Cupcake Coffee House by ChildOfTheRevolution | 4.8K | 2013

Danny looked at him as if he were crazy, ‘It means he wants to ride the dick Stiles.’ He said slowly, as if talking to the mentally insane.

‘Ride the dick, my dick?’ Stiles asked weakly.

‘Figuratively speaking of course, Derek looks more like a topper to me. And you, my friend, are a twink of the most twinkiest standards, but I’m not one to judge.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Stiles admitted, finding himself in a weird crouch-like stance that he apparently now adopts when he’s overwhelmed about finding out Derek Hotcakes wants to bone him three ways to Sunday.

Gladiator AU ( Series) by HaleHole (SweetFanfics) | 9.9K | 2 Works | 2013

He looks up at the door and waits. He hopes that whoever it is, they will be go easy on him. Werewolf he might be, with superhuman healing, but that does not mean that he will not be sore the next day. And he is scheduled for a fight.

Let it be someone easy to please, Derek hopes. Someone who will be quick to take their pleasure and even quicker to leave. He keeps hoping this as the door is pushed open. A voice murmurs a quick set of instructions to whoever has hired him for this session. It is cut off half way through by a familiar, impatient voice that makes Derek strain against his bonds. -- Rome based, Gladiator AU

Stilinski's Home for Wayward Wolves by owlpostagain | 35K | 2013

“At least your puppies knock first,” Stiles snorts. “Here I thought their alpha raised them to be well-mannered.”

“There’s a sign,” Derek responds stiffly.

Stiles, whose curiosity outweighs even his hardest of grudges, abandons his chilly façade of nonchalance in a heartbeat. He jumps right up and all but pushes Derek out of the way in his effort to get to the window, and sure enough when he leans outside there’s a laminated strip of cardstock duct taped to the vinyl siding:

DON’T FORGET TO KNOCK Stiles gets cranky when we scare him

---

Or, in which Stiles Stilinski moves to Beacon Hills for his junior year of high school and accidentally adopts a pack of teenage werewolves.

Theory of Overprotective Canines by rosepetals42 | 11K | 2015

Stiles is totally looking forward to living alone in his super cool apartment off-campus. He is. He is also very excited to bike to school every day, ready to set up an awesome game room, and definitely over his crush on Derek Hale. Completely over it.

Or at least he is until Derek decides he's moving in with him. And then turns out to be the perfect roommate. And then starts attending all his classes. As a wolf.

This is not going according to plan.

Hot for Teacher('s Aide) by linksofmemories_archive | 8K | 2013

“He invited you to his apartment.”

“To do a lesson plan.”

“Yeah and to probably lesson your plan while you’re there,” Scott said, waggling his eyebrows.

“That made no sense, but you still managed to make it sound dirty,” Stiles said. “I’m impressed.”

The healing touch by devilscut | 96K | 2015

Stiles loses his temper with the rest of the pack when they all make excuses not to volunteer to help their Alpha. Deaton has instructed that for the next 24 hours Derek can't use his hands after he seriously injures them in a magical entrapment. Seeing the emotional hurt that Derek's selfish pack has inflicted on him when they argue and try to get out of it, Stiles volunteers to stay and then proceeds to give the rest of them a verbal ass-kicking. He then takes care of his friend, the Alpha, Derek Hale, while trying to work out what his feelings are towards the werewolf.

Quit Dragon Me Around (Seies) by WonderWolf | 17K | 3 Works | 2015

Stiles makes the mistake of taking Derek’s sword and now the grumpy werewolf seems determined to stop him from stealing and landing himself in jail.

Stiles is not pleased. He’s also starving.

(Or the one in which Derek has good intentions, but little understanding of how Dragon biology works. He just wants the cute mole-speckled kid to be safe). -----

“Five meals, Scott. Derek Hale has stopped me from eating five meals. I can’t believe he’s really trying to kill me over stealing his sword. That’s so petty of him. It isn’t like I meant to steal it,” Stiles complains.

“You kind of did mean to, dude,” Scott adds unhelpfully.

“But you don’t understand, Scott. It-”

“Just smelled so good? I know, you’ve said that like fifty times over the past two weeks,” Scott says.

“This is the equivalent of him stealing my lunch money, right? Thanks to him, I didn’t have a meal this week. Or last week! He’s a bully, is what he is. A nice smelling, douchebag of a bully.”

You'll See Me Again by matildajones | 10K | 2015

Stiles is standing there in his uniform, hair long and hands behind his back. There’s a blush on his cheeks and he can barely look Derek in the eye.

“Hey,” he whispers. He’s wearing the medal Derek had presented to him.

Derek stares. He doesn’t think he’s breathing anymore.

Stiles is the soldier who saved Derek and brought him back home. He doesn't seem to care that Derek's a prince or that he's a little bit broken. Derek falls, quick and sure, but it's not easy knowing that Stiles will soon have to return to the war.

Thousand by ericaismeg | 4.2K | 2014

“Seriously, Erica, I could tell him a thousand times in a thousand ways and he's never going to understand what I mean.”

“I thought I told you to spell it out to him,” Erica says. “Derek's has trust issues. I told you this would be difficult.”

Stop Crossing Oceans by greenleaf | 11K | 2015

“There are no absolutes, Scott! No hard rights or hard wrongs! The world doesn’t fucking work that way and we can’t afford to think like that, because people are going to die! We signed up for that the moment we got involved with all this!”

“We? We?” Scott hisses. “Don’t you think you? Don’t forget that you’re the one who dragged us into that forest the night it all started, Stiles. So if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s yours.”

Something inside Stiles cracks, so strong and so deep that he practically hears it.

The Wolf that whispered into Stiles' Heart by ElStark | 9.9K | 2015

Basically the Union of the prompts:

Mute!Stiles + Wolf!Derek + Soulmates/Mates AU

“Don’t you have a pack?” Stiles asks him –by then he had discovered that the wolf was in fact a male wolf –“I mean, wolves move in packs, right? Lone wolves don’t make it on their own. I read it yesterday.” He says while they’re both sprawled on the fallen leaves in Stiles’ secret-thinking spot in the woods. Derek licks his face, and Stiles laughs. “Is that your way to tell me that I’m your pack?” Derek licks him again on the nose, making the boy’s face scrunch up, “Ugh. Gross, dude!” he wipes his drool covered face with his sleeve and then gives the wolf a pointed look, “I’m not a wolf, you should have noticed, you know, I don’t exactly have fur and I don’t growl and I don’t have glowing eyes…” He says leaning in to look them closer, “Are you even supposed to have those kind of eyes? I couldn’t find anything about wolves and glowing eyes on the internet..” The wolf snorts.

Aftermath by GhostwithShotgun | 11K | 2015

Stiles suffers from PTSD and insomnia after the events with the nogitsune. He has nightmares, gets at most one hour of sleep every night and has daily panic attacks. He tries his best to hide it because they all have their own troubles and he doesn't want to burden his friends further.

Meanwhile, Derek has made a habit out of checking all pack members every night to make sure they're alright.

Cross a Canyon (with a broken limb) by theroguesgambit | 18K | 2015

“You never graduated,” Stiles says, just to say it. To test it out in the open air. That's... huh.

Stiles spends his senior year battling troll-gremlins, taking on an unexpected tutoring job, and definitely not falling for a certain sourwolf (even though everyone else seems to think he is).

It's a Schlong Story by floatingstark | 33K | 2015

"Do you like him?"

"Of course I do, he’s great!"

"Then what is the fucking problem?"

"My dick!"

-or-

Ex-Porn Star Derek Hale has a lot of issues but Ice Cream Parlor Owner Stiles Stilinski is not one of them.

Bad Dog Bakery and Café by Boom | 27K | 2015

Stiles saves an Omega from wolfsbane poisoning. Said Omega now won't leave Stiles alone. Stiles doesn't really have a problem with this.

Beat The Blues by lilpeas | 2.9K | 2015

Derek and Stiles have been childhood friends since the sandpit. When Talia realises Stiles is in love with Derek, she knows Derek has to stop seeing him: Derek’s a werewolf and Stiles is human. It can’t be.

But things never go according to plan.

Red Light's Already Off by orphan_account | 3.3K | 2015

Stiles isn't a hooker. He just plays one on TV.

Noteworthy Observations by LadyDrace | 3.7K | 2015

In which Derek recieves complimentary notes in his locker from a secret admirer, and though it turns out they weren't actually for him, things turn out pretty well in the end.

One Hale of a Sandwich by whatthehale | 10K | 2014

Stiles in bed isn’t really something Derek should be thinking about.

Ever.

Because the person who normally picks Lily up from school? Is Scott.

Lily’s other parent. And Stiles’s partner.

Not to mention the entire source of Derek’s current misery.

AKA, the one in which Derek thinks Scott and Stiles are in a relationship and that they want to threesome with Derek. Spoiler Alert? They aren't and they don't.

Choice by Omni | 8.6K | 2015

Derek knows what it feels like to not really have a choice, what it's like to be manipulated. He'd never take away someone's right to choose freely. The fear of even accidentally doing so is enough to hold him back from acting on his own feelings.

Stiles has never had a problem making his own choices, and fuck anyone who would try to tell him he can't.

(Or: Stiles gets bitten by a different alpha, but of course would prefer to have Derek as his alpha. And also just, you know, have Derek.)

Emergency Love by Kedreeva | 13K | 2012

Wherein Derek is a firefighter and Stiles is a paramedic, and they just keep meeting.

gave your smile to me by Sarageek16 | 4.7K | 2013

In which Stiles is a hooker (but not really), Derek wants to feed his skinny little body, and there is soup. Not necessarily in that order.

#sterek #eternalsterek #sterek fic #stiles stilinski #derek hale #fic rec list

103 notes · View notes

trashyp · 4 years

Text

okay. okay

I know it’s already been done

but I haven’t seen this yet.

breath of the wild, but instead of link being the one sent to sleep for a hundred years, Zelda was.

And not a role reversal. She’s still the princess.

Zelda is the ONLY heir to Hyrule. Her father was killed in the initial attack that put Link in the slumber, and she had no siblings— she was Hyrule a ONLY hope at continuing the royal lineage, which made her invaluable. She is priority #1 at that point. So Purah, Link, and Impa decided to put her in the sleep chamber so that, hopefully, when she awakens, she can a. Use her powers properly and b. Use her princess status to help Hyrule.

When she awakens, she of course has no memory of who she was, but literally every old person knows who she is, and the little kids, since they were shown pictures in storybooks about her. She has to get her memories back, but she must also help Hyrule just like Link did— her getting her memories back is a first priority though. She must have them back before she is able to fight vah nabooris and vah medoh, as her powers would greatly help staying in the air and fighting lightning blight Ganon. After she gets her memories she is able to go to Hyrule castle.

Now here is the problem. If they switched, what happened to Link?

As we all know, Hyrule castle is engulfed by calamity Ganon. It’s in a stasis. I’m not sure if it was in a staid because of Zelda, but it’s in a stasis. Link would have been fighting Ganon for a hundred years just like Zelda, but not in a magical stasis. He would be physically fighting it. Every day. Imagine how movies and books portray a post apocalyptic city where the main character is wrapped in old clothes, ragged, with longer hair, dirty, and tired. Every day is an obstacle to overcome. Link would have been sleeping with one eye open, scared that in the night he would be found by calamity Ganon, struggling to find scraps of old food and water, and attacking at this amorphous blob of evil, for one hundred years. That is 36,500 times Link would have woken up, and had to survive. There’s a difference between living and surviving— and surviving is doing, struggling to achieve the bare minimum, to stay alive. And the poor boy probably didn’t even realize how long it had been. The castle stayed the same. The food and water, although old, stayed the same. He stayed the same. The calamity stayed the same.

And then Zelda one day walks into his secret grove in the dungeons, where he sealed himself off so no one could find him. Where he sleeps. And he runs up to her and hugs her.

She’s the first human he’s seen in 100 years.

She is, literally, the only light he’s seen for a century.

#long post #trash #trash talks #headcannons #botw #loz #botw zelda #botw link #sorry I just got this idea

27 notes · View notes

kindafooey · 4 years

Text

Foopdate

(aka why Foo has been hella absent and inactive and just kinda not there for the past half a year)

Heyyyyy!! So uh. I was supposed to write a post like this right when the heckery began (especially since it was something I'd known to expect), but in the end it took me this long to actually get down to it. This blog has always been somewhat inconsistent, but I feel like I owe y'all an explanation for the exceptionally passive past half a year or so. I'll try to keep it short and put it in bullet points for readability. ^^;

Simply put, one could say that I'm going through some sort of a depressive episode without the whole sadness and pain part. Been sleeping a lot, appetite kind of so-and-so, zero energy or motivation for anything more than the bare minimum, inspiration gone, creativity hibernating, total social isolation, that sorta thing. But like, it's not so bad? It's just incredibly dull, and I don't exactly feel like myself, either.

I wanna say "no thoughts head empty" like the cool kids do, but... it's more like all my thoughts are wagons on square wheels. They're just sort of there, stuck in mud, unmoving regardless of whether I push or pull. Same with emotions. I do have them, they just don't seem to get me anywhere? It's hard to explain, but it's like I'm experiencing emotions like memories. Not something that emerge from the present, but something that I'm, uh, just sort of used to feeling out of a habit. Which is weird.

To the followers who have been around a little longer, the reason for all this is probably so obvious it's a little embarrassing for me. So yeah, the reason I've been this slumped since the end of May is because I finished writing my stupid longfic. And yes, of course I'm ashamed of how much it's still affecting me. But I can't deny it, either. Blood Chains kept me firmly in the creative zone for four entire years and I miss it so fucking much. All I want is to get back in the zone. (And I'm not saying the near-apocalyptic zeitgeist of 2020 hasn't played a side role in all this, but yeah, completed fic is definitely the main culprit here.)

However!! I think I'm making veeerrry slow and tedious progress to the right direction. I've actually had a few tiny sparks of inspiration here and there over the past two weeks, and I started writing something (for another fandom) that I might actually finish, you know, just as a warm-up of sorts? Everything Gravity Falls-related is on a bit of a hiatus right now but still going strong in the back of my mind, I promise.

I'm also slowly getting the hang of my new iPad and Procreate! I've done a few practice things that'll be posted here soon. Nothing super interesting yet, but I'll get there. *clenches fist*

I'm still employed, but my hours are reduced to a half thanks to the ongoing second wave of Covid-19. We'll just have to wait and see if our company survives this, but for now, I at least have some extra free time. I've been spending it mostly on video games, but even that's been getting a little boring lately, so... creative work for a change? spare creativity, sir? pls?

(...I just spent fifteen minutes trying to look for a gif of that blind beggar fox from Robin Hood but couldn't find it)

anyway

tl;dr: Foo is still depressed after finishing Blood Chains (and yes I know it's stupid), trynna work my way up to being a functional content creator and human being again, every WIP I've announced is still in the works, buuut it might take a while before there's new content from Foo. But there will be!!! So thank you for being patient and good and kind and awesome! 💖

(This was the only nice gif that'd load because the gif library is a nightmare on mobile)

4 notes · View notes

its-always-the-witching-hour · 4 years

Text

Hero vs Villain

(Let me know if I should continue this)

Hey guys. I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted something original on here, but I just had no motivation to write anything. Here’s a story I’ve been writing to make up for it. Just to let you know, I probably won’t continue the Apocalyptic AU, because I’ve run out of ideas.

Word count - 1707 words

Warnings - (Slight spoilers) Mentions of brainwashing, basically kidnapping, a mention of stabbing, someone being manipulated without their knowledge

---

“Why do you want to kill me so badly?” The Hero managed to ask as they struggled to free theirself from the Villain’s grasp. The Villain stopped, causing the Hero to trip and slam into them.

“What gave you that idea?” The Villain asked, sounding offended as they reached out to steady the Hero.

“W-well you’re always trying to attack me or my friends when you see us, and you’re literally kidnapping me right now!” The Villain hurriedly slapped their hand over the Hero’s mouth as their voice raised in volume. They dragged the Hero behind a building as another group of heroes ran past yelling instructions at each other.

The Villain sighed as they looked the Hero up and down as they struggled helplessly against their restraints. “For your information, this is not a kidnapping. I’m trying to help you.”

The Hero managed to shake the Villain’s hand from their mouth. “So you call attacking my group on patrol, grabbing me, tying me up and shoving me behind a building helping?”

The Villain looked away, almost guiltily. “This was the only way I could think of that didn’t involve me breaking into that top security base of yours. What’s the deal with that place anyway? It seems designed so nobody can get in or out.”

“None of your business.” The Hero started to struggle again, their hands sparking as they tried to summon a wind current to help them out. The Villain just stared at them in boredom.

“You do know that the ropes I used to tie you up are woven out of multiple shape memory alloys. If I touch this flame to it…” The Villain drew a lighter out of their pocket and flicked it on, “then the metal will return to it’s original form, which is much spiker then you’d like. So unless you would like to bleed out from various stab wounds, I’d suggest you keep your weather powers to a minimum.” The Hero growled in annoyance, but stopped attempting to form a storm overhead. “Good. Now, if you would please follow me inside, I may consider releasing you from your bounds.” With no other option, the Hero reluctantly followed the Villain into the building.

“So, why am I hear again? And is that amount of locks really necessary?” The Hero asked in bemusement as they watched the Villain slide various dead bolts into place and snap locks closed on all sides of the door.

“Can’t be too careful when dealing with the ‘hero’ community. I know you have someone who can open anything by just imagining the inside of the lock. Unlike you, I take notes on my opponents and their capabilities in battle. I bet you don’t even know my power.”

The Hero opened up their mouth to answer, seemed to think for a few seconds, then closed it again, glaring at the Villain.

“Finally, you start to see some sense. There might be hope for you yet.” The Villain grabbed the end of the Hero’s restraint and strode off again, pulling the Hero so that they had to jog to catch up.

“W-wait!” The Hero called out, stumbling as they turned a sharp corner. “You never even told me why I’m here? Why would you target me, out of all the other more powerful people?” The Villain entered a dark room and pulled the Hero inside, locking the door behind them. “Um, what is this place?” the Hero asked tentatively, trying to get a hold of their surroundings even though the entire room was pitch black.

“Sorry, I had to make sure that we weren’t being followed. The reason I bought you here is that I know you aren’t actually one of them.”

“What do you mean? One of who?”

“The so called ‘protectors of the city’, ‘defeaters of evil’, the self-proclaimed ‘saviors of the human race itself’.” The Villain punctuated every title with air quotes that the Hero could barely see. “Those are the people you work with, are they not?”

“Yes, but they would never-” The Hero trailed off as the Villain flicked on a projector. The slightly blurred image cast onto the back wall showed an image of one of the head heroes holding a case that was locked closed. The image was grainy as though it had been taken from far away then zoomed in greatly.

“This was taken a few days ago. Even though the quality is regrettably…” the Villain pulled a face as they searched for a good word to use, but gave up, “bad, you can clearly see that this so called ‘hero’ is doing something not very ‘hero like’.”

“That’s just one photo, and they could have been doing something completely different then what you think. You better have more of this so called ‘evidence’ if you want to convince me to join you.” The hero scoffed, slightly more confident now that they knew torture wasn’t on the Villain’s agenda.

“Well, when was the last time you got to choose where you did your daily patrols?”

“Um, I-”

“Did you design that suit yourself? Or did someone else tell you to wear it?”

The Hero pulled at the sleeves of their costume uncomfortably, looking uncertain.

“Have you ever had a holiday or day off?”

“Actually last week-”

“Do you even have a family to go home to?”

“Hey! That’s personal information that I would never dream of sharing with a villain!” The Hero glared daggers at the Villain, who just smirked.

“Touchy subject I see. It’s okay if you don’t have anyone. I didn’t either.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is have you heard of anyone ever leaving the Hero facility?”

“Why would anyone do that? It’s amazing there. We’re treated very well there, and choose to defend this city to repay them for helping us!”

“Helping, or brainwashing?”

“They wouldn’t do that to any of us! They saved us from our own families, who were afraid of us.”

“Saved is one word for it, but I prefer to use the term ‘kidnapping’,” the Villain paced around until they were standing directly in front of the Hero, “I too, was ‘saved’ by the Government. My family were also afraid of my power. They hid me away from everyone else in fear that people would start making rumors. I was usually left alone for hours while my parents went to work and my siblings to school. That’s when the heroes showed up. One of my neighbors had gotten a glimpse of me using my power, and had called the police. They took me away, promising big things such as honor for my family and fame for me. They promised me friends. So, as any young child would, I went with them. My first few years at the academy were great. I met people and honed my powers to almost perfection. My friends that I made at the academy were always behind me. Did they ever tell you what happens to the people who aren’t cut out for battle, who aren’t strong or brave or smart enough?” The Villain stalked around the Hero, watching them intently for a reaction. “They never told us either, but one by one, people started to disappear from class. People who were my friends. When I asked about it, they said that other parts of the country needed heroes, or that my friends were sent home because they didn’t have what it took. None of us had ever had a home before the academy. When people started disappearing after asking too many questions, we had nobody to turn to. You never knew who you could trust.

“I was one of the more curious people in my class, as I had lived a very sheltered life beforehand. So naturally, I decided to see what would happen if I vanished. Not being able to continue with becoming a hero wasn’t an issue to me. I had never really agreed with what they were offering anyway. Honestly, trying to be subtle enough to make it seem like I didn’t want to get caught in the act of spreading rumors was the most fun I’ve had in years. Eventually, they found me, of course. I was sent to a place similar to a mental prison, except for the fact that instead of being helped, you are tortured, and no one has ever left alive. Except for me, of course. I asked you earlier what my power is. The short answer? I can create illusions so authentic that they look more realistic than actual life. It wasn’t a strain to create a guard’s eyeball from memory for the retina scans, and confuse the security cameras. I then made my way back here and decided to lay low for a couple of years. I kept clinging to a small hope that someone else would realize how twisted this society has become, but I found nobody. Until you came. I saw it when you were on your first mission, to arrest a citizen who had shoplifted food in order to feed his family. When you were told to hit the man for resisting arrest, you hesitated. That’s when I knew you were different. Sure, they had managed to brainwash you into obedience, but there was a part of you that knew what you were doing was wrong. I managed to break that man out of jail a week later, by the way. Wanting to feed you family isn’t a jail-worthy crime.”

The Villain watched the Hero carefully, trying to gauge their reaction.

“Wait. You’re the one who broke out of Redemption institute? The person who managed to escape and left no evidence behind about yourself at all?” The Hero tried to turn around to face the Villain, but forgot that they were attached to a chair and nearly fell over.

The Villain caught the back of the chair and stood it upright so that the Hero faced the Villain. “That’s right. Glad to see you haven’t been learning only useless information at that academy. Now that you have seen my side of the argument,” the Villain extended one of their hands towards the Hero, “will you help me bring down this twisted society?”

#hero vs villain #short original story #writing #tw kidnapping #tw brainwashing #tw manipulation #tw implied gore

4 notes · View notes