#all bystanders HURT

[batarangsoundsdumb]

bruce wayne is the guy who'll sing wish you were here by pink floyd at karaoke and absolutely slaughter it

#all bystanders HURT #it would be fk funny if that was the one talent he DOESNT have #like sure he can hack into any government agency with 10 minutes and a nintendo DS but he is tone deaf as FUCK #dc #dcu #batman #bruce wayne

[dramarants]

i only want love triangles if it's whatever fucked up polygon junmo kicheol and euijeong have going on

#the worst of evil #ranting #idk how to articulate how juicy it is #junmo's fierce protectiveness of his wife - he trusts her but can't help his jealousy fear or frustration while trapped in the situation #euijeong hurting but putting her own life on the line worried for her husband while unpacking the memories of her first love #she can't help but sympathize with kicheol and what he's endured; haven't seen much of how she feels rn but it must be c o n f l i c t e d #(not necessarily even in a romantic way but wanting to root for a person chasing their goals who was once so important to you) #(all while grieving her mother without the support of her literal goddamn spouse by her side) #and kicheol. also grieving and trying to establish a place for himself and his crew yet drawn to junmo despite the red flags #his panic and desperation when jungmo bled out on him which must have triggered his own memories of losing taeho #junmo who has every reason to despise kicheol barely concealing his general rage but protects him like it's second nature at every turn #all while conflicted as a bystander to atrocities (and now willfully leaving another cop to die to protect himself his wife and the mission #getting mentally and physically pummeled left and right just bc his superiors demand it from him #all to please euijeong's family by using the promotions to prove himself and get rid of the stigma weighing him down #like !!! #and haven't even touched on kicheol wooing euijeong against his buddy's wishes and in such a pure heart fluttering way #accepting the risk for a second chance to bathe in the bright light she used to shine on his life #OMG AND BIBI'S ENTRANCE!! junmo realizing her interest gives him leverage and agency but struggling to use it to his advantage #it's soooo messy and i'm obsessed #that funeral arc is gonna haunt me for years #as is the tension during the pat down which def was supposed to be like a gang pride/dignity/lack of power against the jp folks thing #also testing their relationship and responsibilites as leader subordinate #but felt charged around whether kicheol would protest or junmo would accept the manhandling in totally different 👀 ways #goddamn i wrote an essay and this doesn't even scratch the surface of the meat of the show #tldr; i have many many feelings and for once the 'love triangle' isn't making me gauge out my own eyeballs #it's about power it's about raising the stakes and revealing things about the characters w/o dominating the plot

[theflowerofthecommonwealth]

Nick’s Disappointed Tired Dad Face when Jasmine/ Hancock/ Deacon/ One of his kids does something stupid that he knows he’ll have to clean up later.

#Look into his eyes. He is dead inside #But also someone is in for a scolding later. #He’s contemplating whether or not the person that he’s looking at is missing a brain or not. #He needs a “Worlds Best RoboDad” mug after this one. #Plz give him a hug. He suffers for all his kids stupidity because he loves them. #If it’s Jas being stupid he’ll just snatch her by the back of her jacket and haul her home kicking and screaming. #Take her away before she can do anything potentially dangerous and hurt herself. #Anyone else he’ll analyze the situation to be sure no innocent bystanders will be harmed during the stupidity. #Then he’ll let whoever is being mischievous learn the hard way while he scolds them in his Dad Tone. #Also why does this look like a meme? #Like you can put a though box or dialogue on the empty space besides him and it’ll be funny. #fallout #fallout 4 #fallout4 #fo4 #nick valentine #deacon fo4 #deacon #deacon fallout 4 #john hancock #fallout original character #fallout oc

[r-biter]

az for the character bingo. your relationship w him fascinates me

Put gently, i need him dead, but he IS like the most interestingly weird person in the IC likely.

#like him and rhys are neck and neck #i can graph his parental issues directly onto his issues with illyrians #smth smth its Really Weird that when describing his childhood they bring up his step mother specifically #when everything points to her likely not making any of the actual major decisions about his childhood #like resenting her makes sense dont get me wrong but azriels father not beinf their first thought in that scenario says smth #smth smth azriel projects his stepmother onto all illyrian women barring like a couple #and it has led to him resenting them and doing nothing to stop the system that hurt his mother #while also reviling the men for that exact system #and he cant really stop doing this without ultimately engaging with the fact that hes a bystander to their struggles despite his power #and therefore not much better then the men if at all #also his mommy issues manifest as him being really weird about the women hes attracted to #he projects the same vulnerability of his mother onto every women weve seen him be attracted to #and it results in him trying to stop them from doing reckless shit he doesnt stop others from doing #like ppl reduce his weirdness around elain as him being weird about her specifically but hes like that in acomaf towards mor too #which makes absolutely no sense because Mor has been Actively A Warrior the same amount of time #basically what im saying is this man needs therapy and also to be as far from every woman and illyrian possible #i do like cazriel but its specifically because its like. toxic x toxic #like okay cw for stealthing in the tags (insane sentence ik) #and the general lack of consent implied #there is a reason ive written like cazriel mpreg where they both keep poking condoms but dont tell each other #(i am aware that sentence is insane) #and its because i dont think either of these men are as they are currently capable of being normal #and are both specifically the way they are because they fear being abandoned in some way #cassian acts the way he does towards rhys because he fears some level of abandonment #azriel refuses to properly express his feelings in any romantic context because he fears abandonment #like im not gonna rawdog ppl who interpret him pleasantly cause like i see where theyre coming from #the bad just reallly outways the good #also im still mad he called elaine the third #i need him dead for that specifically

[pogasm]

.

#kinda chronically offline so idrk much ab what’s going on (too busy being homeless #but if anyone has some links to support gaza nd palestine pls dm or tag me? id like to do smth #also ive kinda kept myself away frm this bc i’m scared of c*n*ry m*ssion (i am a student) #and i’d like to not get kicked out of school? but like. isn’t it insane that speaking against genocide can cost you ur livelihood #anyways. idk i hate talking ab this ive seen the news and death tolls and it’s really depressing ive seen enough beheaded babies #my heart hurts sm for all these people being killed and it hurts feeling like i can’t do anything? #i havé so much rage at the injustice but i don’t have an outlet for it so. hi do what to do? i feel like a bystander and i hate that #anyways. idk why i made this ab me i just need some ways to support palestine so if u find any send them my way

[lil-vibes]

dazai and chuuya sharing a bed or a sleeping space is so dear and precious to me bro put it in a fic and im ON that shit like a house cat at 5am in the mornig climbing your legs for food

#bonus points if some poor ada bystander is watching this grumpy mafia executive climb over dazai and get all comfy under the covers #also chuuya always sleeps next to the wall bc i said so #(dazai tried it and got claustrophobic so they switched) #the they find comfort in eo trope is so SO SO - #over coms: bad news theres only one bed #skk climbing under the covers: ok??? #sskk are in shock and horror like do WE have to learn how to do this too?????!!! #dazai: yes AND yall gotta kiss goodmorning too ☺️☺️ #chuuya my love #skk #bsd #my hc #fic idea #sharing a bed #one bed trope #these two are my emotional support pillars of comfort no hurt #personal hc

[smolthealmighty]

I love these interpretations by @transhawks of the significance of Dagobah Beach as the newest battleground for Izuku and Tomura, so if I may add to that…

The beach also the one place where Tomura can't use decay since there is sand everywhere (as seen when he went up against that sand hero in the Overhaul Arc), which means it might be easier to talk with him if Izuku demonstrates that he won't attack while Tomura is in the weaker position.

I think it would be cool if Izuku tries talk about the significance of this place in his story and how he cleaned it (maybe trying to connect and bond over their origins of wanting to be heroes and having to fight impossible odds), but Tomura won’t have any of this crap and points out that cleaning the beach one single time didn’t do anything significant because it didn't stop the root issue of people continuing to litter and trash still floating from the sea to pile up here, so now it’s all junked up again and Izuku’s efforts were a waste.

​​It could the analogy Izuku needs to complete the train of thought he’s been following these past couple chapters, an analogy for how cleaning away the garbage (by either defeating or saving villains) doesn’t solve the real problems of the corrupt system that allows these people to fall through the cracks and become villains in the first place.

And then the fixing and understanding starts…

#bnha 379 #bnha spoilers #shigaraki tomura #midoriya izuku #it's the olive branch that lets the hurt party to fully express his thoughts and trauma without interruption #it's the kid who knows there's more going on behind the curtains but struggles to pull them back #it’s how the concept of origins is now becoming a through-line from bystander to villain to hero #it’s how these two sides of the coin are so close to realizing that they are two halves of a whole #as you can see ​this is all very exciting to me #of​ course before we get to fixing stuff we have to watch AFO roll up to ruin everything #smol’s stuff #smol likes #smol’s weird ass shit

[disneydatass]

Anne Lister comforting her sister Marian after completely demoralizing and crushing her dreams

#gentleman jack #I’m really starting to hate Anne lister tbh #your sister who supports you being a lesbian in a time where people are literally going to kill you for it and you won’t let her be happy!! #she has just been screaming NRA republican lately #like she just does not care about poor people at all #or anyone besides her circle zero empathy and is very money hungry #which idk I found acceptable s1 bc I’m like yas bad ass dyke destroying men #but now she is just hurting innocent bystanders #anygays… #Marian lister deserves better #ann sunshine angel walker deserves better

[sailingtheimaginarysea]

[Awoo got me thinking about Reika-]

Sometimes, Reika wonders why she keeps going.

She's been a magical girl for ten years now. Ten years of fighting for her life and others' lives almost every night. Ten years of watching her friends and allies fight and die at the hands of the monsters who try to invade the human world. Ten years of burning the candle at both ends, sacrificing herself at the altar of peace because she knows that, if she falters, people will die.

But that's just it, isn't it? If she stops, if she gives up, people will die. Families torn apart by tragedy, all because she decided to be selfish. She's tired, oh so very tired, but even so she still forces herself to keep going. Because, if by being there, by taking action, she can save even one soul who would otherwise have been lost?

Then that's all she really needs, isn't it?

#dollar store defender || reika #jaded she may be #but there is a reason she agreed to do this in the first place #she just can't be a bystander when people are getting hurt #and as much as she hates the puuchuu for exploiting her and other girls like her #she'll never regret her decision to become a love guardian #because that would mean regretting all the lives she's saved

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

I genuinely love it when a series goes on long enough that something that was a Huge Deal in the early days is just completely trivial later on

(I also love time travel/amnesia plotlines that let the early days versions of the characters see what’s coming for them/their friends)

#this ranges from 'travel was a huge problem but now we just teleport everywhere' #to 'okay heres the plan: we all die and break out of the afterlife again when were done' #to 'dont be silly monsters dont exist'/'theres only like three people i know who are still human' #to the more ruthless stuff like going from worrying when theres a chance of bystanders being hurt to bombing hospitals as distractions #(this is not necessarily a sign that the characters involved have gotten Better #Just more skilled) #i love character development i love gaining skills and resources over time i love the world getting bigger

[xamaxenta]

You knows what’s effed up and what fucks me up inside is the fact sometimes I miss my fucked up family

I miss having a fucking family actually

Just sucks that mine was awful

#and abusive and mean and fuck i hate this i just wanna say mom dad i wish you loved me for me not the idea of me #i want to say mom i did it and not get fucking belittled all the time #or gaslit or promised things and never happening #and my father was a fucking bystander who wanted me to behave in certain ways and threatened to hurt me if i didnt fuck you fuck you #tw abuse

[elympios]

Julius’ view of Ludger could have been so sinister if it weren’t for the fact he hates himself too much not to be self-aware about it. Especially when you think about how eerie it is for Ludger to look after Julius and cook for him when Julius loved Claudia for that exact same caring role in his childhood and that doesn’t even get into Julius using Ludger’s watch and keeping him in the dark about literally everything about their family.

If Ludger were even just less willing to mother Julius or if Julius was more overtly controlling I think Bisley would have discovered Ludger’s existence a LOT sooner after Ludger finally snapped at his overprotective paranoid older brother and ran off.

#v #x2 #striborg fd is weird and not very well explained HOWEVER i think i can make it work #if ludger siding with bisley was bc julius got too controlling #because nova not knowing ludger has a brother doesnt work unless ludger resenting julius since high school #nova doesnt even recognise julius meaning she never met him at all #which is really hard to reconcile unless ludger has been spitefully refusing to admit theyre related for the past three years #but that doesnt track with how ludger seems to have split from julius somewhat recently #since something big must have happened for julius to now decide to give up on convincing ludger to listen #and for julius to instead just murder them both (and a bunch of innocent bystanders) #SO MY HEADCANON IS that julius coached ludger never to tell anyone they were related #like in canon its extremely convenient that people know theyre brothers but no one ever makes a big deal out of it #which i also headcanon as julius telling ludger the same thing. dont say that we’re related. #but prime julius is like. nice about it. ‘dont say we’re related because i dont want you getting hurt’ #i like giving prime julius a bunch of red flags in how much hes deceiving ludger #i think its so fun to make him sympathetic and yet also be like *squint* #i also think julius would be very aware of it and thats where striborg julius and prime julius differ #i think striborg julius would unironically say something like ‘this is for your own good’ while doing something thats ultimately justselfish #i mean he literally tries murdering ludger and if he succeeds he basically says ‘i told you so’ #prime julius is constantly held back by being self aware tbh #to the point that his self deprecation becomes unreasonable #when hes (sort of) confronted about what hes hidden from ludger he only tries to explain that it was done with good intentions #and he readily accepts (ish. in his sidequest letter) that he cant excuse his actions #............... ANYWAY i dont have a point and i think these two are NEATO but i also wanna underline how horrific they could have been #but theyre literally so fucking sweet they didnt turn out that way

[2000snotebook]

Ace HSS hurts me because it's so obvious he bases his self-worth on what he means to others and what he can do for them. Do you know what character that reminds me of.

#the answer is more or less grace #they both have emotionally abusive parents too which explains why they are both Like That #(charismatic and manipulative and initially didn't care about who they hurt or stepped over) #until a particular person comes into their life and changes everything about what they knew #and they end up losing everything too #but it's ok because they have a chance to make things right #even if not everyone will forget or forgive their actions (which makes sense since they hurt a lot of people) #but yeah #addae.txt #but also what the fuck was that scene with Ace's parents. that fucking hurt to watch his dad essentially tear him down in front of other #people. like imagine what its like when no one else is around #both Grace and Ace's parents want them to be The Best they go about it in both similar and different ways #Grace's parents isolate her and barely pay attention to her #ace's parents (namely his dad) don't seem to acknowedge his achievements and instead aim to belittle and berate him #his dad and Grace's mom fucking suck so much #and honestly his mom and Grace's dad also suck because they're essentially bystanders to it all #like shit at least defend your kid?? hello?? #i love rambling about a game that ended years ago and a show that also ended years ago

[justporo]

Hear me out! Tav brought a statue of Astarion to the camp but Astarion does not recognize himself in it and does not understand why their leader spent 5000 gold on a random stone man. Meanwhile the party is betting on how long it will take Astarion to guess whose statue it is.

5000 Gold

"He's not... he's not gonna figure it out anytime soon, is he?"

"Sshhh!"

Shadowheart shushed Karlach with an angry frown and a single finger thrown to her lips.

The two of them - along with your other companions observed the scene unfolding on the other side of the camp. Right where a delivery had just been made - and quite an uncommon one.

A giant stone statue, depicting... Astarion - and almost fully nude at that.

You couldn't resist when the offer had been made to you at the carnival at the outskirts of Baldur’s Gate. 5000 gold had felt like nothing for the punchline you had been about to make with having a statue be made of the one companion that couldn't remember what he himself looked like.

And Astarion, upon discovering Tav's most recent purchase, had started to throw a temper tantrum immediately, almost fainting when he had heard the paid sum out of your mouth.

The vampire had worked himself into an outright frenzy, screaming, hissing, gesticulating towards the statue, then back to you, then to the skies. Meanwhile all you could do anymore was biting your lip to stop yourself from bursting into the biggest laughing fit of your life.

The rest of the group kept observing from a safe distance.

"Istik", Lae'zel mumbled under her breath. But even the sober githyanki could barely hide a smile.

Shadowheart shushed her as well. Wyll had just been silently shaking his head for the last couple of minutes. Shadowheart had started taking bets on how long it would take the oblivious vampire to realise the cruel trick that was being played on him. Karlach, being way too optimistic, had already lost some coin to the cleric with their estimate of a few minutes.

Only Gale who had been busy this far with some of his thousand books had missed the whole spectacle so far. Just now had the wizard realised that something was going down. He eyed the fighting trio of you Astarion and stone Astarion and then the group of bystanders, trying to decipher the situation. When he couldn't make any logical sense of any of it he went over to the small onlooking group. "I appear to have missed something? What is-"

Shadowheart hissed at him to shut up, causing Gale to flinch back with a hurt facial expression. Wyll though wasn't impressed by the cleric and enlightened his friend: "It looks like our clever leader Tav has taken up the offer of getting a stone statue of Astarion for a bargain of 5000 gold without telling anyone. And now we're betting how long it's going to take him to realise it's him."

Shadowheart stared the Blade of Frontiers down. Wyll merely shrugged his shoulders. He'd faced more fearsome creatures than the cleric aplenty.

Gale just blinked several times at him, letting the words settle. Then a grin spread on the wizard's face. "I bet 100 gold it's gonna take him at least until the end of the day."

Shadowheart's furious expression lightened noticeably and she stretched out her hand to Gale. They shook on the bet. Then everyone turned back to the two Astarion's and you to continue watching the scene.

"Why in the nine hells would you get a statue of some random guy - he isn't that... Well, he is quite handsome!" Astarion yelled at you while you had to hide your face in your hands desperately trying to pull yourself together.

The vampire didn't let up: "Well, if only it had been me, then I would have understood, darling, who wouldn't want that as a piece of decor, but-"

That was it, you broke. Hysterical laughter started shaking you, up to the point where you doubled over and could barely breathe between laughing and crying from laughing.

The vampire meanwhile went through the whole spectrum of emotions known under the sun in a matter of seconds. Angered, confused, flustered. And then finally something in the elf’s brain clicked together.

He stared at the statue then at you, back to the statue and suddenly his hands wandered over his own face as if to grasp it's lines and shapes.

"You...," he started and stopped. Through your tears you were sure you could see the vampire's pointy ears turn bright pink. "That IS me!"

You were barely able to nod as another fit of laughter shook you. Astarion’s mouth opened several times but no sound came out. A rare occasion to the see the sassy rogue so void of words.

Meanwhile, a bunch of moans could be heard from the other side of camp where Shadowheart collected her won gold from the others.)

"Why would you-", Astarion began and his expression was barely readable while your laughter slowly died down and you were able to kneel back on your feet.

"Didn't you say it yourself? He's quite handsome, isn't he? Now you get to see for yourself again."

Astarion pointed an angry finger at you about to throw another fit but then his eyes fell on the statue again. Now with knowing what it was and what it meant it shut him up immediately.

He took a few steps closer to get a better look. His anger at you momentarily forgotten as he gazed upon his own image for the first time in over 200 years.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion ancunin #fanfiction #bg3 spoilers #astarion x tav #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate #astarion x mc #astarion x oc #astarion x you #astarion #astarion x reader #shadowheart #wyll ravengard #gale dekarios #karlach #gale of waterdeep #lae'zel #drabble

[kleem-o]

Choose me her : Gojo x reader

a/n: ok i keep seeing gojo (basically jjk) everywhere and i noticed i haven't written any angst yet so here y'all go <;33

"oh come on Y/N, you're being ridiculous!!"

Were you though? Was it so wrong for you to feel jealous, upset, betrayed when his "girl best friend" was all over him? And he let her be? It has always been like this, way before you and Gojo started dating, he was already "close" with the woman you wished to be would go away. You tried so hard to stop the disgusting green envy, the feeling of your heart dropping to your stomach, the feeling of starless lonely nights. But you just can't. Several times Gojo would tell you it was nothing, several times he said he would always choose you over her. Why should he have to choose in the first place? Why was she an option? You finally had enough earlier this day when you saw her all over your man, hugging his chest while laughing at some stupid joke your boyfriend made, at a little get together you, Gojo, and some of his friends had. You always felt left out. As if you were just some bystander, watching him have the time of his life, without you. But you fought, you fought hard. You tried so many times to get along with everyone, to get along with her. And many times you failed. It was as if there was some barrier you couldn't cross, a special bond that "best friends" had. When you and Gojo finally arrived at your little apartment, you decided to confront him about it.

"Is it so hard to just tell her to know her boundaries- our boundaries?! You know damn well what you and her are doing!"

"What the hell are you talking about?? She's my best friend of course we're close, look baby I know you think there's something more, but there really isn't! You're just overthinkin-"

"Don't you dare Gojo Satoru... Don't turn this on me! Stop acting like I'm the crazy one when you guys are borderline cheating!!" Your vision was starting to blur with tears, years of frustration finally coming out. You felt small, a small voice in your head questioning you was this really something worth fighting about, what if you really are overreacting? But an even bigger voice tells you that enough is enough.

"Okay look, you're just tired okay? We can talk about this tomorro-"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS TOMORROW, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS NOW!! I spent YEARS putting up with this Satoru, YEARS!! And you can't even spend a bit of your time to talk about this right now!??"

"Look this isn't getting us anywhere, we're both tired. I'll listen to you tomorrow, let's just" you flinched away from his touch when he tried to pull you to go to the bedroom. He looked shock, only proving that he didn't know how hurt you were, how small you felt, how unimportant you felt. "Do you like her?" You were now crying, your voice shaking, though you try your best to hide how weak you felt right now, you tried your best to preserve what little pride you had. "What the fuck?? How many times do I have to tell you I DON'T. She's just a friend!"

"You're always with her!! And the way she's literally all over you??"

"That's how we've always been! Y/N, I knew her way before I knew you-"

"So what??? That gives her a pass to act like your girlfriend??"

"She's not acting like my girlfriend, god Y/N, we've been together for years, you still don't trust me??"

"Stop gaslighting me!!"

"I'M NOT!! I'm literally just telling you, this. is. insane. We've been through this a million fucking times, and maybe if you just listened, and trusted me, this fight wouldn't happen."

Your eyes widened as you couldn't believe what you were hearing. This is crazy. Every moment that goes by feels like daggers to your heart, every breath you take feels sharp, it feels like you could fall anytime now. "Is it that hard to just listen to me? Is it that hard to respect me?" You wiped the tears falling on your cheeks, you refuse to let him see you like this, you refused to bow, just like how you were doing all these time. Gojo brought his hand to his face as he let out a frustrated sigh.

"You're the one not listening. How am I supposed to avoid her when she's one of my best friends?? Aren't you asking for too much? I love you but I can't be friends with anyone else? Isn't this too much?"

"Friends don't act like that. I bet if someone was acting like that to me, you'd be upset too, but noo I wouldn't dare try to hurt you the way you hurt me." You were starting to shake with frustration? Anger? As your tears continued to fall. He took your arm to try and hug you "Come on Y/N, we can talk about this in the morning"

"friends don't act like that, why don't you choose her as your girlfriend instead"

"Yeah, WELL MAYBE I WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER OFF WITH HER THAN YOU"

Gojo shouted as his patience ran out, feeling nothing but frustration, why couldn't you get it? He loved you not her. Did you not trust him? But just as quickly as those words left his mouth, he realized how contradicting it was. Gojo felt nauseous as panic made his heart feel like it was running a marathon. Regret was evident in his eyes, while resolution was evident in yours. You had enough. The room was silent for what felt like an eternity, none of you moved, it felt like something was gonna swallow you both whole if you moved, like nothing could ever fix the damage done. You felt empty, relieved in a weird way, now you know how he really felt. The relief of your paranoia being justified outweighed the pain of being disregarded. But Gojo was the complete opposite, he's so scared. He couldn't lose you, he really did love you, so so much. He knew he fucked up but he'd do anything to fix it, he'd even stop talking to his girl best friend, even block any girl for you. He had to fix this. "Baby-"Just as he was about to reach out to you, you quickly left the apartment. Just like that. No words, no goodbyes, just shattered feelings but a head held high, you refuse to be stepped on any longer.

As you exited the apartment, Gojo was left all alone, and the apartment filled with loving memories of you and him felt suffocating. And maybe, for the first time in a poetic fucked up way, he knew how you felt, small.

Part 2 here

a/n: could y'all tell this was a bit from experience? lol

#gojo x reader #gojo x you #gojo x y/n #gojo satoru x y/n #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru #jjk x reader #jjk x you #jjk imagines #jjk gojo #jujutsu kaisen #jjk anime #gojo satoru angst #gojo angst #jjk angst #angst #drabble fic #drabbles #gojo drabbles #gojo imagine #x reader

[river-of-wine]

I know I’ve mentioned this plenty of times before but I’m still kind of annoyed by how the fanbase just kind of completely declawed the four lords and placed the entirety of the responsibility for their wrongdoings on Mother Miranda.

The Baker family are great, I love them, they’re an incredible unit of antagonists who are intended to be very sympathetic, at least for the most part. Jack and Marguerite in particular have lost all control over their minds and their bodies, turning into extremely violent murderers and cannibals who threaten and attack their own family, kill anyone unfortunate enough to come across them and, especially in Marguerite’s case, lose complete autonomy over their own bodies. Marguerite turns into a walking bug hive who’s only purpose is to feed her family and birth her new children. Jack is an unstoppable murderous force of patriarchal violence who has so much fun chasing down and harming his victims, which in the Daughters DLC includes even his own daughter. The exception to this is obviously Lucas, who has been cured of his infection and his acting of his own free will. All of this is caused by Eveline, everything Jack and Marguerite do controlled by her, and yet Eveline is just as sympathetic as the rest of them. She’s a ten year old girl. Even Jack, who has watched his family and their victims suffer because of her infection, doesn’t seem to hold any of it against her. She just wants a family of her own, after all. It’s a complex and tragic situation.

The four lords, while I suppose being similar in structure, are not the Baker family. Not in dynamic, not in character, not in the kind of tragedy that they embody. I could talk for a while about just how completely different they are, but I don’t know if I really need to.

The Baker family are so tragic because they were just innocent bystanders trying to help a woman and a little girl they found in a shipwreck out in a storm. That’s the only reason they ended up in the situation that they were in. While the lords have similar origins, being victims of Mother Miranda’s experiments to bring her daughter Eva back, an important distinction between them is that in the case of the lords, all four of them are still acting of their own free will. Yes, Mother Miranda has undeniable power over them. She leads the cult they are part of, she has control over the village, she is their superior. However, I really dislike when every negative action by the lords is pushed onto her, as if the lords are not all grown adults who are for the most part acting independently of her.

With Alcina, she is the head of her own extremely brutal crimes. I think a lot of people have forgotten quite how horrifying the situations of the maidens are, possibly due to the prevalence shipping between Alcina and the maidens, and though we have minimal information what we do know is very frightening. Alcina uses her work force like livestock, draining them for their blood in a cellar full of horrific torture devices, and leaves their corpses to shamble around, armed and ready to attack any unwanted guests that have slipped out of the daughter’s clutches so that Alcina still doesn’t have to do her own dirty work, given how highly above everyone but Mother Miranda she appears to view herself as. While yes, Alcina does need human blood to survive, her methods are brutal, and none of this has been enforced upon her by Mother Miranda. Similarly to Jack on occasion, she takes a great deal of pleasure in hurting and attacking Ethan as he runs from her. Additionally, everything she does to Ethan is against Mother Miranda’s request. While yes, it is retaliation after he killed Bela, the part I often see people leave out is that Alcina is equally as upset that he entered her property and was attempting to steal from her, and she isn’t just after him to kill him.

Alcina has also been an active participant in aiding Mother Miranda with at least one experiment, considering that I’d how she got her daughters. While I’m sure her strong admiration for Mother Miranda and Mother Miranda’s power over her has absolutely had an affect in this, that’s not something I’ll deny, Alcina is still a grown woman and in her written entries about this shows no qualms about her participation in this. Her general attitude towards others, using young women as a good source and turning men into scarecrows, also leads me to believe that she does not exactly care who gets hurt or taken advantage of when it comes to her and Mother Miranda’s personal endeavours.

Donna and Moreau are the two more sympathetic people within the four lords, but they are not innocent. To start with Moreau, he’s desperate for Mother Miranda’s approval, as well as the other lords. He’s insecure and lonely, and he’s doing what he has been instructed by Mother Miranda when it comes to protecting the flask. However, he does also take quite a bit of joy in trapping Ethan in the reservoir and swimming after him with the intention to eat and kill him. Moreau though, given his conditions and circumstances, is the one I think is the least to blame for what he does.

Donna is hard to discuss because we know so little about her. Her parents are dead, as well as whoever Claudia was to her, she communicates through Angie and she can cause those who enter her house to hallucinate. According to Mother Miranda, Donna is severely mentally ill and that is what has made her an unfit vessel. I think a lot of people took this to mean that Donna is unaware of what she is doing, that the hallucinations she is showing Ethan are frightening, but after having been a fan of this game for years I just can’t agree with that anymore. Donna intentionally lures Ethan into her house with visions of his supposedly dead wife. Donna is going after fears she likely knows Ethan has, making him relive Mia’s death, take apart a mannequin of her, listen to her voice panic over something being horribly wrong with Rose, all building towards the horrifying baby that chases him through the house. There is no way Donna doesn’t understand how what she is showing Ethan is distressing, especially when you consider that, given how she can make herself appear and disappear at will within Ethan’s vision and that Angie is sitting in the hallways stationary and unspeaking, Donna was likely close by Ethan at all times and could see and hear his frightened reactions to what she was intentionally showing him.

Donna’s death is upsetting, but Ethan was not just chasing her down and killing her. Donna was attacking him, or at least she was controlling her dolls to do so. It’s still a hallucination, but Ethan doesn’t know that. When faced with a threat that is keeping you trapped and trying to end your life, you will likely try to get away or try to fight back, as Donna is doing to Ethan after he starts to attack her and Ethan is doing to Donna when he thinks his life is still in danger. I would also like to remind everybody that Donna communicates through Angie. What Angie is saying, that’s Donna. Angie doesn’t talk or move once she’s dead, it is Donna who controls her.

Lastly, Heisenberg. I think Heisenberg is the one of the four most entrenched in headcanons. Headcanons are fine, I am never in this post trying to suggest they aren’t, but my issue comes in when people use them to try and change the canon of the game. For example, it’s fine to believe that Heisenberg was experimented on by Mother Miranda as a child, but that isn’t canon. It’s fine to believe that Heisenberg mourned the deaths of his siblings, but that isn’t canon. The opposite is, with Heisenberg not viewing the cult as an actual family and being very openly mean to all three other lords, even Donna and Moreau who seemingly haven’t done anything to slight him. While his goal of killing another Miranda is a very understandable and sympathetic one given what she has done to him, using a six month old baby as a weapon and trying to bring her father into the mix only to try to get him killed when he denies him is not. I cannot overstate quite how little Heisenberg actually cared for Ethan and Rose’s safety when it came to his goal, and given that we are playing as Ethan, Rose is the priority.

Heisenberg has built an army of corpses he has presumably stolen and desecrated. This is kind of fucked up actually, and done completely independently of Mother Miranda. He also puts Ethan through a very dangerous lycan gauntlet before he even reaches the factory, which makes it even stranger to me that people seem to interpret Heisenberg’s deal as something that would have benefitted both him and Ethan and as if he ever had Ethan’s safety in mind.

All four of the lords have tragic aspects to them and there are definitely reasons to sympathise with all four. They’re victims of Mother Miranda, who knows they will all be killed. She wants them to be, giving her less to deal with by the time she has Eva back. They never meant anything to her. Not Alcina or Moreau, who were desperate for her attention. Not Donna, suffering from her unspecified but apparently severe mental illness. Not Heisenberg, who was seemingly her favourite creation. However, all of them are grown adults who do their own bad things independently of her.

And it’s fine to still like them. It’s fine for them to be your favourite character. It’s fine to have happy or nice headcanons about them or want to kiss them or be their friend or to want them to have survived. It’s fine to like characters who do shitty things. It’s to be expected in a game series like Resident Evil. It’s a horror game series. People are going to do bad things.

I just find it so boring when people take away all their bite. What makes a character like Lady Dimitrescu so fun it’s that she’s completely over the top. She’s campy and ridiculous, her castle layout makes no sense, she’s got three kids made of swarms of flies dressed like a set of goth triplets, she’s a lesbian who’s castle is full of naked statues of women, she turns into a big dragon and laughs maniacally while flying around and trying to eat you. She’s evil and it’s fun. It’s the same with Heisenberg. He’s a campy show off with a fun voice and a massive hammer he never actually uses. He can control metal. He looks like a cowboy. He pronounced Miranda in a funny way. He talks to you over an intercom while trying to get you killed. They’re fun and evil and they fight over who gets to kill Ethan like they’re two little kids. It’s absurd.

What makes a character like Donna so scary is that she’s silently working in the shadows, unassuming at a first glance and unseen for most of the time in her house. She is the least threatening of the four upon first glance, and yet she has undeniably the most frightening part of the game. Pretending as if Donna is completely unaware of what she is doing and babying her like she is an incapable child waters her down completely and takes away from the effectiveness of her character.

Villain characters are great! They’re very often the highlight of the story they are in, and they aren’t real! The four lords especially are often so completely exaggerated in what they do as well. It’s fine to like villains! It doesn’t make you bad! Characters can be bad people and you can still like them!

It’s just frustrating seeing a group of very fun and exciting villains, all designed with different aspects of horror, all over the top and campy and stupid and fun, all doing their own set of fucked up things, watered down to a set of poor innocent victims who have never done any wrong ever. If you want Jack and Marguerite, take Jack and Marguerite. Lady Dimitrescu loves killing and eating women and Karl Heisenberg turns corpses into soldiers. They’re bad people and they do comically exaggerated bad things. If you can’t stomach liking a character like that, horror is probably not the genre for you. Unless it’s Resident Evil 7, I suppose, but apparently tall women aren’t hot when it’s Marguerite Baker crawling on the walls.

#I just wanted to ramble abouts the four lords they’re fun as villains and I’m really bored of how their edges keep getting rounded off #resident evil 8 #re8 #lady dimitrescu #donna beneviento #salvatore moreau #karl heisenberg #resident evil 7 #re7 #jack baker #marguerite baker #eveline baker