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kirishoshego · 3 years

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Moneypulated PT.2//Aizawa

!!!MINORS DNI!!! 18+ONLY!!!

Special thanks to Emmie for creating this awesome S&M event and letting me participate and those who requested a part two of my first Aizawa piece x

If you like Sadism and Masochism, BNHA; AOT and Haikyuu the event is definitely for you :)

Pairing: Sadist!Mob-Boss!Dom!Aizawa x Masochist!Sub!femreader Words:3.2+

Summary: When your life is threatened Aizawa realized just how important you are to him. A small fight leaves you bend over the couch, cross eyes and leads to him admitting his feelings for you.

TW: slight mention of torture (a bit more at the end), s&m, controlling Aizawa, calling him sir, knife play (no blood), slight ass and nipple play, orgasm denial, slight oral, biting, spanking, hair pulling, dirty talk, slight bit of degration and teasing

Three month, three weeks and three days. That’s how long it took you to develop positive feelings for him. He gave you everything, but privacy, something you had to learn rather quick because that man was strong and even though he doesn’t look like it, heavy. You told him no twice. The first time left you bruised for at least three days, fucked into oblivion. The second time left you sobbing from his impact play. You hated how little you could control your body, dripping wet before he slipped into you. Something he would love to taunt you with. „Always so quiet and modest. Yet here you are begging to be fucked by a criminal after he spanked you blue and green. Don’t tell me you like that. Tsk, dirty girl,“ he told you with a slight smirk on his face, one hand having a strong hold in your hair to hold you up so he could look at you. The other one pinched and played with clit, milking orgasm after orgasm.

He knew how to work his charm, knew how to impress you. Listened, remembered basically every detail about you. Aizawa wanted to know everything about you, from childhood memories to teenage drama to your goals and dreams. Of course he was genially interested in you, after all he wanted you at his side, but it was also helpful to know one or too secrets. Just in case. It was understandable that he was a bit shocked and also even more alarmed when Shota noticed how fast you adapted to the captive state of yours. There was no attempt of you running away, either because you knew it wouldn’t work with guards everywhere around you, or because you were afraid. So he tested it out. Gave you a car, told you to go enjoy yourself, get pampered for a surprise he had prepared.

First thing you did was getting new underwear because as much as you… appreciated him buying it for you you would like to have a few comfortable pieces that cover more than 3 inches of your skin. You stopped to get a nice drink at a small restaurant, got a small snack before you ended up buying four new plants. A smile creeped up on his face when his phone signaled him he got a new message from Shinso. Attached to it was a picture of you smiling while picking up the most sad looking flower he had ever seen.

It happened while driving back. You realized happiness started to form in your stomach at the thought of seeing him again. Excitement about showing him what you had bought. How could you be happy? After how he treated you in front of so many men, so many strangers. But then again he took care of a man who had sold you for his addiction. You knew he was in the hospital right now, after trying to enter the casino again. At first you thought he was there to get you, to show at least some sort of remorse. Even though their boss told them not to tell you those details Denki let it slip that Kirishima caught him gambling. With that your last string of attachment ripped apart. It wasn’t hard to choose between being left alone with nothing or a slightly questionable man who (as much as you would like to deny it) made you feel good, save and wanted.

That day was the first time he took you to the casino with him, introduced you to a part of his world. The one that was less brutal. He wouldn’t not let you see someone getting tortured. But he knew how gruesome it can get and even though he wouldn’t tell anyone, he threw up after his first time, felt sick the first five. It just made it so much easier to get people to talk. Or make them stop. Sometimes they need to be taught a lesson or too to not put their noses in his businesses.

Rumors started to spread around fast after your first appearance. Shota Aizawa has a trophy wife. Something that made him weak. A pretty one on top of that and she was supposed to be his little lucky charm. Every table you appeared at, the house would win. You didn’t play yourself, you only sat besides your... Well, besides the mob boss himself.

There was no explanation for it really, it wasn’t luck per se. It was math. Some liked math in school, some didn’t. What you liked more though was winning. And games like these were hard to predict, but not impossible. Another aspect were their faces. Everyone focused on their face and those of others, tried to keep cool while detecting a mistake of others that they forgot about other limbs. Some tapped their fingers against the table or cards, others would play with their drink, swirling the ice cubes around without touching it. Some bounced their legs, crossed them, scratched them. Once you caught their mistake it was over for them.

While some got scared because of it, others seemed to find a challenge in it. They wanted to beat you. How could you know that one night you will have the son of another mob boss on the table? He was supposed to be a spy, simply collect information about you and leave. But the opportunity to beat you and therefor Aizawa was too alluring. How could he know that he will lose almost 33 Million yen in one night? And with those 33 Million yen came a big target right on your back.

In less than 24 hours a collection of pictures and informations about you was delivered to Peony. In less than 24 hours your world was turned upside down yet again. The freedom you were given was taken away in order to protect you. His worry for you was understandable but when he decided to have Bakugo and Kirishima on your heels 24/7 you had enough.

--------------------------------------------

„I’m inside the house! The house has walls almost thrice as high as Kirishima’s 7 foot frame, a massive garden with six well trained guard dogs running around. You have the best alarm system there is on the market and still I’m not even allowed to use the bathroom in private. It’s humiliating,“ you explained to him angrily. „I would rather humiliate you than pick up your dead body limp by limp,“ he tried reasoning. „Do you even hear yourself? How can you say something like that? Do you not trust your men? I can defend myself! Eijiro has-„ suddenly you went quiet, realizing too late what gravitating mistake you just that you had just exposed yourself.

„Eijiro has what? Continue doll. I‘m all ears,“ he leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms over his in a black shirt clad chest. „We shouldn‘t be changing the subject now. I need-," „What you need is to tell me what Kirishima did,“ you wouldn‘t be so on edge if he yelled at you, screaming at the top of his lungs, slam his hand on the desk, anything. Instead he was dangerously calm, collected, ready for you to make the next step. Knowing you were trapped like a small mouse between a wall and an awaiting cat, only playing with its fear.

„I will tell you if you promise me he isn‘t going to suffer any consequences. He had no ill intentions,“ you started explaining, making a step forward and trying to look as timid as possible so he will show mercy. „You actually think you‘re in a position to negotiate? Oh darling, it is breaking my heart a tiny bit to see you’re underestimating me,“ he faked a pained expression before closing the gab between the two of you.

You knew better than to relax yourself into his touch as he caressed your cheek, planting a small kiss on your forehead.

„Now,“ Aizawa stood behind you within a second, your wrists in his hand behind your back, something cold against your neck. „Please continue before I lose the small amount of patience that is left inside of me,” he sounded threatening, his voice deep and raspy, mouth dangerously close to your ear lobe. The knife near your aorta send adrenaline through your whole body, your pussy pulsing as you caught sight of your current position in his window.

You noticed his eyes wandering over the curves of your body, as the sound heavy breathing hit your ear. It seems like he was holding back, but be the looks of it all he wanted to do was drag the knife along your clothes and watch it drop to the floor. It wasn’t on purpose, more or less, but your hand brushed against his crotch, hearing him hiss as you touched his hard length for a mere second. The grip on the red handle tightened, pulling your body into his and leading your hand back to his crotch.

Eyes met in the window as he licked his lips. He tilted your head back slightly with the tip of the sharp blade, kissing the spot behind your ear.

„Sorry kitten, but this isn’t the time to play,“ he whispered into your ear while you started massaging him through his suit pants. A smirk appeared on your face as you agreed with him ‚oh I know, sir‘ you basically purred. Within seconds you pulled yourself away from him with your whole strength, bowing as he went to grab your hair and kicking back into his stomach as you turned which send him to the floor as he stumbled. Grabbing the knife from his hand and dropping onto his hips as you held the knife to his throat.

„Eijiro taught me how to defend myself, so I don’t have creepy old men all over me,“ you told him, a sudden wisp of a moan leaving your throat as he grabbed your hips and ground his pelvis against yours. „I didn’t know I’m a creepy old man. Wasn’t it just yesterday that you begged me to stuff you? And wasn’t it you that screamed my name so the whole house could hear who fucks you ‚like a god‘? Hm… I must confuse you with someone else that came cross eyed all over me considering I don’t play with brats,“ as the last word left his mouth he flipped you around, turning you so your stomach was flat against the freshly cleaned floor, hand in between your shoulder blades to hold you down.

He thanked the sun for shining so brightly and the clouds for not appearing, considering it lead to you dressed in the shortest little sundress you could find in your closet. The color suited you so damn well and the dress made it so easy for him to uncover your ass. His hungry eyes starred at it in its full glory, feeling his rock hard cock to twitch in his pants.

The blade was dragged across your skin and he could have fucked you right then and there as he noticed how you tried to clench your legs, goose bumps appearing on your skin. „Don’t tell me you enjoy this, such a dirty girl,“ he stopped right at the hem of your underwear, dragging the flat side across your clit and earning another moan of yours. He chuckled, „I see.“

Suddenly the blade was back at your throat, his other hand massaging your ass. „If you try to move or forget to thank me I might have to use the sharp side next time and we don’t want that do we doll?“ Shota asked you, the tip slightly pressed onto your sweet spot as you took to long to reply for his liking. „No sir,“ your voice was slightly shaky as the anticipation inside of you grew. „Not so tough anymore, thought so,“ he loved your submissive state, every time he thought he went too far you were there dripping wet for him.

Without a warning his hand came down hard on your ass, massaging your cheek before disappearing again. „Thank you sir,“ you moaned, the next slap delivered right after. „Thank you sir,“ you said again, feeling our wetness slowly seeping through the thin fabric covering your cunt. Every once in a while he would dip his fingers between your folds, playing with your clit until you’re about to cum, only to stop and spank you again.

Once your ass was a bright red and noticeable handprints adorned your flesh he decided he had enough. The last few thank you’s gave away that you started crying softly, maybe slightly caused by the pain, but more at fault definitely were the denied orgasms.

„Had time to overthink your statement from earlier?“ Aizawa went down to your ass, pushing your panties to the side and dragging his tongue across your slit, dipping inside for a second to collect some of your juice. Kisses were plastered across your abused skin, bitting down onto it to hear you moan again.

„I give you ten seconds to go over to my couch, get undressed and bend over it,“ if you weren’t so incredibly needy right now you might even had begged for some more spanks.

You could hear him get undressed as you did the same, back turned to him to allow him a nice view on your behind.

You could feel his presence even before he touched you, the smell of his cologne mixed with his sweat hitting your nose. Rough hands collided with your ass once more, before wandering up your back, one finding its way into your hair, the other one holding his thick girth in his hand and dragging it from your clit to your hole. You whined as you noticed him going back down again with his tip, which lead to him plunging into your throbbing pussy all at once. Curses tumbled from the both of you, finally getting what you wanted.

Shota pulled you up by your hair, allowing his hand to play with chest. Cold metal came in contact with your nipples and only now did you realize that he had brought the knife with him. It took maybe a minute for your first orgasm to hit, considering the ones you were denied earlier had you on edge already. „Done already kitten? Does that mean you want me to stop?“ He knew it meant everything but. It’s just, having you beg for more gets him every time and he can’t deny how powerful it made him feel, which he needed now more than ever. „No, fuck. Please sir, need mo-oh, more,“ a moan cut through you as a single thrust hit your g-spot directly.

„Take it then,“ he pulled you down with him on the couch, his back against the backrest as you straddled his legs. Do to the new position his cock was even deeper than before and you were shaking with almost every bounce as you went up and down on him. Black eyes wandered from your face to your tits to your cunt, watching him disappear inside of you over and over again. Aizawa’s arms wandered from its resting place back to your body, one going to your back, the other one staying in the front.

You hissed, eyes growing wide as you felt rough fingers circling your puckering hole, while the other ones drew lazy patterns on your clit. Every now and then he would meet your movements, burying himself even deeper inside of you. By now you were a moaning mess, clenching around him as you could feel another knot building up in the pit of your stomach. „It’s alright, I got you. You can cum, I know you want to,“ Shota groaned, picking up the speed of his fingers and watching in pure bliss as you came undone once again, slowing down and pulling you into a deep kiss.

As you went to get up from him, your body now sensitive he grabbed your hips, pushing you down again. „Just because you’re on top doesn’t mean you get to control when we’re done,“ he said, delivering a harsh slip to the left side of your tits, before grabbing your throat and pushing you down into the mating press. „You have to remember your place doll. I get decide when we’re finished and I’m not done yet,“ he grunted, snapping his hips as the hand around you held you in place firmly. A warning slap heated up your tears stained cheek when you tried to wiggle away from him and he felt you clenching around his dick.

You looked so good with mascara running down your face, he thought, feeling himself getting closer and closer as you moaned his name like some sort of prayer. „Again, please,“ you said, feeling the third high coming. It took him a second to understand what you asked for, but when it finally clicked he cursed under his breath, telling you how perfect you are. As he slapped you again, holding your face in his hand and kissing your lips hotly you were holding onto his arm for dear life. Stars appeared in front your eyes as you came once again. You barely noticed anything but his thrusts turning sloppy before he released himself inside of you, buried deep and painting your insides white.

„I didn’t know pain turned you on so much,“ he said with a lazy smile on his face, looking down on your face, your embarrassed expression hardly hidden. „Me neither to be honest… You know how it went in the past,“ you hinted at your unsatisfied sex life with your ex husband, who thought doggy style was already pretty kinky. No shame to vanilla people, but now you knew it wasn’t what you wanted. „It’s good to know, we will test out more things in the future,“ the thought of it turned you on again already and you kissed his chest, letting him know you like the sound of that idea.

„I love you, you know?“ He mumbled as the two of you laid on the couch while drawing patterns on your back lazily. Your heart skipped a bit, this was the first time Aizawa mentioned his feelings for you. „You don’t gotta say it back, I know it’s all a bit messy,“ he said, kissing your forehead. „No, it’s just… After sex the mind is always bit-,“ „Yours might be after that but mine is as clear as ever,“ he cut you off, making you roll your eyes and laugh gently. „I love you too,“ it was mumbled, almost unnoticeable, but he heard you just fine which was all he needed.

————————————- Extra—————————————-

„I run this town. Piss me off again and your wife will find out about your little affair with your little lover boy. She’s pregnant, right? And you would like to be able to care for her don’t you? If so, I suggest you to never threaten my wife or my men ever again. It won’t just be your finger that I cut off, understood?“ He knew killing him off immediately will only cause war. He would win, of course, but it would be unnecessary and taking too much of his energy. „Yes Mister Aizawa,“ the hatred and fear in his eyes pleased him enough for the day, so he walked out of the room, ordering Bakugo to drop him off a few miles away from everyone. A nice nightly walk might clear his head he explained so the man bound to the chair could hear him just fine. „Don’t worry, I will let you keep your finger, but you should hurry, they turn bad fast,“ with that he went into the dark, ready to get home to you.

©kirishoshego//do not repost on any plattforms

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humanitysburrito · 4 years

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𖥸 - delirium

𑁤 SUMMARY; you and dabi reminisce on your friendship while you bleed out in his arms ᨟ PAIRING; f!reader x dabi ᨟ WARNINGS; 18+! smut, light bondage, angst, death, blood and wounds, language, outta char dabi? lol idc, dabi is toya todoroki ᨟ WC; 5k

authors note; this is the first fanfic I’ve ever written. I hope I wrote the whole y/n thing correctly. I debated on how to format the memories and reader quirk, and figured this looked and felt best. This originally was gonna be nothing but smut, but I do love me some sads. Comments are hella appreciated! Practice makes perfect and I will trust the process! (i put together the gif so you can pair it with the end uWu)

Wrong place, wrong time. There simply was no other way to put it. Seeking out Dabi while he was working had always been a dangerous game to play, but neither of you took the time to consider the possibility of friendly fire being your checkmate.

You found yourself stumbling through a vacant alleyway, praying to a higher power - if it existed - that Dabi was able to hear your pleas through the thick of the chaos. Your vision fuzzed into white cotton, prompting you to squeeze your eyes shut in an attempt to clear the fog.

When you opened your eyes again, you threw your arms out towards your scarred lover, who was desperately sprinting towards you.

This was the first moment the word ‘love’ ever crossed your mind. The feelings you’ve had for Dabi over the past few years, especially in the last couple of months, have been ambivalent, to say the least. But right now, all you knew was him. All you could see was him. The nearly angelic image of his blue flames fanning out behind him - his tattered coat swaying in the wind. His body language was your gospel, and you were his resolve.

Your best friend.

Damn, you thought.

“Shit! Dabi..” Your fading voice trailed off into a light whisper as your ankles cracked underneath your weight. “I’m sorry.”

You could do nothing but apply pressure around the gaping, shredded hole that tore clear through your stomach. A dumpster broke your fall, and your body slid down to rest in a pool of your own blood.

Your quirk did little to restrain the Nomu that had charged in your direction just minutes earlier. Instead, it absorbed your power and released it instantaneously - piercing it right through you.

Blood oozed from your wound as you erupted into a fit of strained laughter.

Oh, how stupid must I look?

“I’m going out because of my own quirk! How anticlimactic!” Your words came out in a pitiful squeak absolutely littered with sarcasm as the remaining adrenaline in your body faded away.

What felt like a lifetime for you were mere seconds for Dabi as he reached for you, tripping over his feet before sitting down to pull your back flush against his chest, wrapping his arms around your shoulders. One of his palms rested along the side of your neck while the other cupped the side of your face in a vice grip.

“Shut up, y/n. You’re gonna be fine, yeah? Just breathe, doll.”

His heart was hammering wildly through his system despite his attempts to calm down and cool his body off. He buried his face in the crook of your neck, gently rubbing circles on the back your scalp - his first instinct to do whatever he could to make you comfortable.

“Don’t put me in limbo,” you said through gritted teeth as blood seeped out of your mouth. Dabi brought his legs around to hook over yours - similar to the way you two just started to cuddle. “We both know how this is going to end.”

And the both of you did. You’d be stupid not to, and Dabi knew that. He would enjoy this much more if you were a pro hero he could sadistically taunt as your life swayed in the balance. But you weren’t.

It would be easier if you were a comrade who unfortunately took a hit, who would go down forgotten and quickly replaced among the ranks. But you weren’t.

Right now, he wished you were anyone else.

“Quit talking like you’re gonna die, y/n!” He yelled into your skin as he erupted into a vicious cycle of shakes.

How the fuck did it come to this, what the fuck! His turquoise eyes strained forward, pulsing, and burning due to the tears he was unable to produce.

Dabi’s voice was laced with sorrow and regret. You had only heard it one other time, and the realization was the tipping point for you to finally cry. Salty water poured down your face as your mind began to cycle through the memories you’ve made with him.

Sweat pooled on your forehead as you drew closer to the man that was hunched over on the curb of your dirt driveway.

Through the darkness, you could see that he was covered in blood - all the way down his face and chest. Shiny, sharp pieces of metal sticking out from his skin glistened under the moonlight, and although you were still at least twelve feet away, the heat radiating off of him was enough to instantly make your clothes stick to your flesh.

As quiet as you tried to be with your movements, you were careless enough to kick some rocks up under your feet, earning you an icy glare from the man before you.

With one quick movement of his hand, ethereal blue flames roared from his palm in your direction but quickly dissipated into steam as he groaned into a state of incoherence and irrationality - the effects of your quirk.

You rose your hand, beckoning rusty chains to come forth from the earth and bind around him. He looked at you through the bloody strands of his raven hair - his turquoise eyes meeting your (e/c) irises that matched the billowing smoke coming from your quirk. The image in his eyes caused your heart to race. Anger and sorrow were swirling into your soul as he stared at you, but it was overpowered by a desperate plea for help as his eyes became lidded.

“Hell, dollface, you got a second?”

These were the first words Dabi ever spoke to you.

“You should have left me alone, y/n!” Dabi sobbed, leaving light kisses and nips along your ear, gently urging you to keep talking - about anything and everything.

You struggled against him to find a more comfortable position in his arms, shooting a hand up into his scarred flesh. He silently berated himself for letting you help him as much as you did.

Maybe then, he could have lived in a world blissfully unaware of your existence.

He choked on his tongue, his body falling limp against the ground as his aura erupted in a swelling mass of dust as your chains dissolved into the gravel. He passed out - falling face-first into the dirt.

You towered over his unconscious body and reached down, hooking your arms underneath his as you dragged him up your driveway towards your house, keeping him delirious with your quirk just in case he woke up. You brought forth more chains to keep him restrained in the bathroom connected to your garage. The sound of the lights buzzing on was enough to wake him up - snapping his head upright.

You had no choice but to let up on the delirium in an attempt to speak to him. As you knelt down to be level headed, his eyes never stopped following you. “Who are you?”

“You’re the one who has me chained up like a dog! Who the fuck are you?” His voice was strained and horse, exhaustion overpowering his vocal cords.

You raised your (h/c) eyebrows at his question, licking your teeth behind your lips, shaking your head as you stood up and pushed the bathroom door wide open. There was a clear shot through the garage towards the street you just plucked him off of.

“I’ll let you go then. You can make a run from here.” You calmly said, uninterested at his display of aggression. “If you try anything stupid, I’ll gladly tie you right back up and keep you here.” You looked down at him, your (h/c), (h/type) falling from behind your ear to the side of your face. “But let’s not forget who asked for a second of my time, dollface.”

“I forgot about that,” Dabi chuckled behind you. “Always using my own words against me.” A warm shiver trickled up your body as his breath steadied in your ear. “You know, I was just going to use you for some free food and a piece of ass before I left?”

You whispered, panting for air as a smirk painted your lips. “Did you get more than you bargained for?”

Dabi didn’t respond to you. He only squeezed your face closer into his chest as you felt his body jitter around you.

“So, what’s your name?”

There was a brief moment of silence before he answered your question.

He finally responded when you reached up to lightly dapple the blood away from under his scarred eyes.

“Dabi.”

“Hello, Dabi. My name is y/n. Do you make it a habit of passing out in people's yards?”

“Only the yards of pretty dolls like you.” Even through the blood and dirt and the satire in his voice - you notice the smirk on his face brighter than any other smile you had ever seen before.

You scoffed, blinking your thoughts away. “I’m sure you do, dollface.” His pride took a small hit at your attempts to use his words against him. Before he could respond, you pushed his head back into the bathtub and doused his hair in ice-cold water with your shower head.

“Oh, baby, how’d you know?” He managed to whisper in a moan, his hands clutching at his sides.

You couldn’t deny that this was the most exciting thing to happen to you in quite a while. You made your living by side hustling for heroes and villains - you didn’t care the cause as long as there was something beneficial for you in the long run. This was a wanted, and much-needed change of activity for you - the possible danger in it giving you a euphoric feeling your quirk never could.

“All jokes aside, Dabi, I’m glad I met you. Just being your friend has given me the best few years of my life. My only regret-,” you paused in a scream, the soft motions in his hands begging you to stop talking and save it for later, “-is that it took me this long to realize,” you whispered into the air, gritting your teeth and turning around against him the best you could to look at him. “I love you, you know.” Dabi froze, his arms becoming limp around you as he cradled your body.

His mind raced with every memory he’s ever had of the way you looked at him. The way you touched him, the way you took care of him. The way your fingertips gently worked their magic, repairing his weak constitution when he needed it the most.

You had been friends for a few years, and your relationship took its sweet fucking time to grow. His occasional visits for first aid eventually led to him crashing on your couch, to moving in as your elusive ‘never-home’ roommate. He enjoyed being around you because you weren’t a complete nuisance, and you were someone who chose to stay oblivious of his criminal activities.

The day he found out about your own indictments was when Tomura Shigaraki tried to recruit you one day while he was sipping whiskey at the bar.

“I’m sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to come.” The sound of your sneering voice made his ears perk up, and he shot around his bar seat to lock eyes with you.

Even though you declined Tomura’s offer, you came with your own contribution of intel that had a price. That night, you and Dabi stayed up drinking, chain-smoking, and sharing your thoughts and feelings about Stain’s ideology and the hypocrisy of pro-heroes.

Dabi wasn’t sure when he started to develop strange feelings for you. The three years of your friendship had turned into an intense myriad of passionate, sexual frustration that neither of you wanted to cave on. All he knew is that it was a slow, agonizing burn that eventually reached its termination.

If only you two hadn’t taken so long. If only it hadn’t been just last night.

You both somehow arrived home unscathed during a prep mission you decided to join him on because it had been weeks since you last saw each other. It ended with a massive rush of adrenaline coursing through your bodies - the teasing of who was actually the sidekick in the rare villainous scenarios you involved yourself in in flew out the window, and all you could see were equals as you stared into each other's eyes.

“If we do this, I might not be able to stop.” Dabi’s forehead was pressed against yours, his lips hovering tantalizingly close to your own. His words were coated in a sugary lacquer that rolled off his tongue, seemingly into your own mouth. Tears pooled in the corners of you (e/c) eyes - your mind hazy in a rush of anticipation and fear.

At this moment, you two felt like entirely different people - the exhilaration of a strange encounter filling your bodies with lust and excitement.

You needed him.

He needed you.

Dabi’s hand came around the back of your head and grasped at your hair, finally pushing your lips together for the first time in a cry of passion. Serotonin flooded his brain, his eyes opening halfway at the feeling of being absolutely wasted against your lips.

His mouth was warm - conflicting with his cold personality, but he tasted like cigarettes and cheap-ass whiskey - oh, my, you needed more.

The two of you were completely lost. Unaware of what the next step was as you kissed each other like a couple of love-struck teenagers for what felt like a lifetime.

His other hand eventually snaked up your side and underneath your shirt before palming his hand against the small of your back and pushing your body against him. Your hands reached to cup his face, your tongues dancing in a messy rhythm. You pulled away, saliva stringing and popping against his bottom lip. Dabi softly tilted you backward to rest your body on your couch as he climbed on top of you, his lips trailing down your jaw and neck while the cold steel on his face did little to chill the heat rising in your body.

“Da-bi,” your breath hitched in a moan as he nipped at the skin on your throat, your hands fisting his hair in frustration.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say my name like that, doll.” Dabi purred along your throat. “I’m going to make you say it over and over and over again.” His body slithered up to give you one last kiss before he sat up and removed his white shirt, tossing it over the side of the couch.

Your hands trailed along his abdomen, relishing in the feeling of his defined muscles and the cold bars on his nipples. He felt just as you thought he would, and the smell of charcoal and cologne brought you to a drunk reality - an indicator that you were not dreaming.

Your hands messily tried to undo the buckle on his belt, but he slapped them away. He reached down to kiss you again, his hands grabbing at your shirt and pulling it over your head.

Dabi looked down, seeing your nipples hardening underneath your bra. He bowed his head, struggling to keep his balance as a strange wave of guilt rushed through him. There was only one thing about you that he absolutely couldn’t stand - that you could make him feel things he’s never felt before.

It had taken three years to get to this point. What the fuck were you doing? The way you looked splayed out underneath him was nearly a forbidden sight.

“Y/n..” His words were lost as his eyes trailed along with your frame - ravenous hunger evident in his glassy orbs.

“No take backs. I have you right where I want you, so let’s finish what we started.” You reached up and pushed him down against you, capturing his lips in another heated kiss, grinding your hips against the twitching bulge in his pants. He felt you smile along his lips, reassuring the nervousness quelling inside his body.

Within seconds he had picked you up and sat down so you could straddle him. His hands caressed your waist and trickled all the way up to your bra that he quickly disposed of. His pierced tongue swirled around your swollen nipples, nibbling and sucking each one as he pushed your hips down harder, encouraging you to grind a little faster.

Your breath became ragged at the friction between your legs - your pussy practically gushing through your clothes and onto his pants. He pushed you away, leaving one hand on your side while the other unzipped your pants and slid a palm inside to rub along your clothed cunt. Your body shuddered as you threw your head back, leaning backwards to continue to grind as he stroked you teasingly. When he could feel your clit begin to swell and bulge out from your lips, he took the opportunity to sneak two fingers past your underwear and push inside you to beckon you towards him at high speed.

The sounds of your wet sex drenching his skin were almost too erotic for him to handle, and he ripped his hand out to bring it up to your face.

“Lick them clean.”

You did as you were told, taking each one of his digits into your mouth, swirling your tongue in a euphoric trance as you tried to replace what was missing between your legs with your own hand. Dabi snatched your wrist and held it against your thigh. “You don’t touch yourself unless I say so, dollface.”

“Yes, Dabi.” You replied, struggling to catch your breath. Dabi’s display of aggression and dominance was something you only dreamed of, and you needed more.

“Now, be a good girl and get on your knees for me?” The way he said it almost made you pass the fuck out - the demanding yet sensitive tone playing with your ears. It was not a question.

Once again, you followed instructions and sat on the floor. You spread his legs and positioned yourself as you unbuttoned his pants, smiling at his struggling erection, trying to spring free.

A gasp escaped from above you as you pulled his cock out, your hand wrapping perfectly around him. He watched you lick your lips with half-lidded eyes and instantly threw his head back at the feeling of your tongue tracing his head, down the underside of his shaft before licking back up and taking him into the back of your throat. He balled his fists into your soft, shiny (h/c) hair at the feeling and pumped ever so slightly to the rhythm you were still trying to find.

“Fuck, y/n.” The affirmation made you suck him deeper into your throat. Your watery eyes and gagging sounds encouraged him to force your nose down into his stubble as he set the pace and fucked into your mouth.

A feeling of white, hot fuzz started to form in his toes and up to his legs at the sight before him, causing him to rip you away from his cock with a ‘pop.’ “Look at you, dollface,” he cooed, smearing your saliva down your chin as you coughed and struggled to catch your breath. “Is this what you think about at night, hmm? Sucking my dick until you can’t breathe?” He teased, pushing his thumb between your lips to hook around your bottom teeth and pull you up with his index finger tightly fastened underneath your chin.

“Among other things,” you whispered before pulling him into another fiery kiss. His hands squeezed your waist, drawing your jeans down to leave you in nothing but your panties.

“Oh, well, if that’s the case, show me what comes next, babydoll,” Dabi growled as he picked you up and carried you off into your bedroom. He threw you on the bed and ripped off the useless, drenched fabric in between your legs.

The gravity of your situation set in. You were now completely naked in front of your best friend, for the very first time. And you sucked his dick. Oh, my god, I sucked his dick! Your face turned bright red in an embarrassing blush, your arms and legs balling up in an attempt to cover yourself.

“Y/n,” Dabi gently stopped you by crawling on top of you and cupping your face in his hands. “Don’t be shy. You have no idea how beautiful I find you, so let me show you, yeah?” He kissed you, this time it lasted longer than any. It felt different. Your heart strummed with a barrage of hot butterflies as his tongue ran across your teeth and pulled away to slither his body down to your dripping wet core.

“Oh, baby, look at this pretty little pussy.” The sight of your dripping wet, swollen cunt made Dabi want to completely ravage you right then and there. He could see you pulsating with need - wetness pouring down your legs. “You want me to do something about this, doll?”

All you could manage to do was moan in agreement as you lifted your head to give him permission to do anything he desired.

Dabi kissed your hips, down your thighs, so very close to giving you what you wanted. Your spine arched, perfectly, he thought.

He took your clit in-between two fingers, squeezing the bundle of nerves before giving you a quick lap with the tip of his tongue. The sound that escaped your lips was honest and excited him to the point of insanity. After a few seconds he lapped you again, using his tongue to toy with your folds before closing his lips around to suck on your engorged clit. You cried out, writhing in a fit of euphoria.

“Dabi! Oh - fuck, right there!” Dabi switched motions and took your clit into his mouth, sucking on it before using the tip of his tongue to relentlessly nick your swollen bud as it pressurized in his mouth. You were so wet that the entire bottom of his face was soaked, dripping down his chin and neck.

“I could devour you all night long, dollface, look at me.” Dabi wrapped his arm around your waist to prevent you from grinding your pussy in his mouth, pushing your body down into the bed. The minute you made eye contact with him, your orgasm skipped a few steps in the building process.

“You lick my pussy so fucking good - Dabi!” He raised his eyebrows at your reaction, and before you could finish in more ways than one, he pulled away, knocking the wind right out of your body while a cold chill crept up your spine.

“You’re gonna what?” Dabi teased as he rid himself of the rest of his clothes and positioned himself in between your legs, using the head of his cock to toy with the wet folds of your pussy before tapping your throbbing clit. You closed your eyes and tensed up, focusing because the rhythm was totally just enough to-

He pulled away, sitting back in satisfaction. You were speechless, your legs trembling in frustration. “I’ll ask you this again, y/n. What comes next?”

You were a shuddering, whimpering, melting mess at his words. The tone of Dabi’s voice was so erotic to your ears - and the way he spoke to you, so demanding, so sexy, you thought, was a way no one had ever spoken to you before. And you wanted more. You needed more.

“Mm,” You moaned, feeling like you were losing yourself to a darkness, and you were going to let it happen. “Touch me - make me yours. Fuck me, kiss me, just don’t stop, please!” He could tell you couldn’t take it anymore but something inside of him wanted to make this so much worse for you, to drag it out as long as possible.

You threw your head back, losing your reflexes to resist touching yourself.

Dabi snickered, leaning down to purr in your ear, pinning your hands above your head. “Be a good doll and beg for it, then.”

His words caused your lascivious desire to take over, and he was pushed back against your headboard, his arms and legs wrapped in the chains of your quirk. The chains snaked around the supports of your bed, leaving his cock wide open to do as you pleased. The delirium accompanied filled Dabi’s head with ecstasy, leaving him fully vulnerable to your advances. You climbed on top of him and sank your pussy down agonizingly slow to get used to his size. He threw his head back, moaning in a way that sent jolts straight to your sopping wet sex. With a wave of your hand, you banished the chains, looking at Dabi, who was clear-minded and perplexed.

“Wow.” Was all he could say as he gripped your hips and rammed up into you. “You wanna tie me up, is that it?” He said through gritted teeth as he kept you still, vigorously pumping into you. “You wanna have it your way, baby? You want me to shut up so you can fuck me like you want it done? Is this how you want it? Ugh, fuck!” Your skin turned red as his cock continued to massage your velvet lining, your liquid splashing with every thrust.

Your arms rose up and twined in your hair, your breasts bouncing in just the right way to drive him absolutely crazy. The room was filled with the wet noises of this long awaited night - the moans coming from both of you fulfilling the carnal desires deep within.

“Dabi, please let me come!”

He sat up, snaking an arm around your waist to throw you backwards. You locked eyes, both of you struggling to breathe, heaving for dear life. “You feel so good, doll, you like that cock, yeah?”

Dabi sat up on his knees, pulling your waist off of the bed so you were flush against him - his cock bottoming out as far as it could go. He used one hand under your back to keep you raised, and his other one to push your chest into the mattress.

He leaned over you for a brief moment to collide in a kiss - the best one of his life. With you. Only you.

You cried out as he fucked you and gave you everything you needed - everything he could think of giving you. Your hands trailed along his chest to keep him against you, wrapping your arms around his scarred neck to beg for more.

Dabi growled at the sensation rising in his body and ripped away from you, using both hands on your hips to viciously fuck into you - giving you pure, relentless, unadulterated ecstasy.

“Come all over my cock, dollface, do it! You know you want to.” Dabi brought his thumb to your clit, softly rubbing in wide, fast circles. The stimulation inside was matching perfectly with what he was offering your clit, filling your body with something deep and intense.

Dabi’s eyes widened at the feeling of constant streams of wetness, coating his cock and running down his legs. He smirked. “That’s it, y/n, you have permission.” Dabi, nearing his own release, started to shake and bite his lip. “You’re making such a fucking mess!” He growled and threw his head backward, his vision becoming hazy as he rolled his head on his shoulders.

“Da-bi, Dabi!” You screamed out in a lustful moan that was like candy to his ears.

“Yes, that’s it, say my fucking name!”

“I’m gonna cum-ah! Dabi!”

The sight before him was absolutely gorgeous - you - body flushed, drenched in sweat, writhing in rapture as your body exploded into a blended orgasm, your squirting pussy gripping him as you tried to milk him of his own release. But he was so focused on you that he delayed his own orgasm until you were at your tail end. Your body shuddered as he came inside of you, squeaking at the feeling of your pussy being filled with his warmth.

“Y/n,” Dabi moaned, leaning down to pull you in a warm embrace. Your fingers ran through his hair as he salted your neck and cheek with wet kisses and whispers of praise in your ear. “I could get used to this,” he softly growled into your ear, laying on his side to spoon you into him.

The lust and euphoria began to fade, and you two were left to cope with the left over feelings of what transpired. You rolled over, Dabi softly brushing the hair out of your face. This soft side of him was something you never thought he had in him and you wanted to cherish every second of it - not ruin it with a slew of unspoken questions and feelings. Instead, the two of you softly, and passionately kissed yourselves into an accidental sleep.

Both of you wished that you had stayed home to live another night like it. To feel your body cradled close to him - for both of you to experience more of what you had been putting off for so long.

“Keep going, y/n.” He urged you when you hadn’t said anything else, squeezing your shoulder with his arm.

But you were unable to speak anymore. The only sounds escaping were cracked whimpers.

He reached his head down in front of your face, a soft smile forming in the corner of your lips as your beautiful life left your eyes - your arms dropping to your sides as he gave you his final kiss. “I love you, doll.”

Those were the last words Dabi said to you.

He picked your body up and ran towards the little secluded place in the woods that he had learned to call home, and he filled the gap of your conversation with dozens of memories as if you were merely asleep in his arms. When he couldn’t physically go any further, he laid your body on the ground, and set every tree in sight ablaze before getting back to his task at hand.

He had to push you into the back of his mind along with the people he chose to forget about. With you, he had no choice but to forget. Another page torn from the story he was living. He put the walls he let you tear down back up, this time, forever.

Ultimately, he would never forget you. You gave him the first happy experience he’ll ever have, and with every move he continues to make, you will always play a part in them. No matter how hard he tries to forget.

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yandere-wishes · 5 years

Text

Twisted Wonderland// Yandere! Heartslabyul//

Again, had lots of help from my lovely discord group. Please bear in mind that this post may be edited once the game is released.

Riddle Roseheart

Riddle is a very sadistic yandere with certain possessive qualities. He wants you at his beck and call, to please him in every way he that he desires. In Riddle's disturbed standpoint you are a pretty little rose, all alone and wilting in the big bad world. You need someone to protect you and care for you, who better than him?

The redhead has an untamable fixation with seeing you in pain. Round amaranth love bites littering your neck. Purple rings with yellow blotches scattered over your wrists and thighs. Seeing the hope shattering in agonizing pain in your exquisite glistening eyes, is nothing less than pure bliss for him.

"Do not anger me (Y/N)..."

Riddle will let go off on your own from time to time. He doesn't care where you go or who you go with. He knows that he's marked you well, surly nobody would dare and attempt to steal Night Raven's self-proclaimed "Queen of Heart's" darling? Further so would anyone be so utterly foolish as to even interact with his love? No one would ever interact with you, sunning you and isolating you.

At the end of the day no matter where you go, you'll have no choice but to return to the only person that acknowledges your existence. Sure Riddle is a cruel lover... but he's all you have.

Time won't change how rough Riddle is, yet he somehow learns to show his affection in other manners as well. Kissing you more slowly, passionately, lovingly even. He'll dress you each morning in lavish dresses finer than those of true royalty. Always in shades of royal red, white and black. Gold necklaces hang from your slender neck, aureate bracelets hug your scarred wrists. Practically everything is in heart patterns. non-broken, unlike your own.

"...Or it's OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

This is love, it's the only way Riddle know to show his unwavering affection for you. At first, you may not appreciate him, call him a monster, cold-hearted. But soon, very soon you shall cherish me as he does you.

Ace Trappola

Ace is an extremely obsessive yandere with some delusional tendencies sprinkled on top. He'll constantly follow you around, without your knowledge. Stalk you where ever you go. No, no stalking is such an ugly word for it, Ace is simply making sure no trouble will befall onto you.

He'll go to certain extream measures to learn all there is to know about you. Breaking into your room while you sleep, looking through your notebooks and journals. Lord forbid he ever find your diary or you'll never get it back.

Soon Ace will randomly pop up where ever you are, he'll start up conversations as if your long lost buddies, never noticing the frightened look in your eyes when he let's too much information slip. How on earth does he know these things? You've never recounted them to anybody.

"Oh (Y/N)..."

One vile night, It becomes deathly apparent how he's obtained such personal details about your life.

You wake to a chill running loose in your room, the window is wide open. You'd closed it before going to bed hadn't you? Reluctantly leaving the warmth of your bed, you marched up to the nuisance slamming it shut. "You're being a little hash there, darling, don't you think?"

You turn around shaking, petrified, who had broken into your room? Where they a robber, a rapist, a murderer. The voice let out a soft chuckle. "What's the matter Cheshire cat got your tongue?"

it was meant to be a simple joke, something to ease the morbid situation.

"Wh-who's there," you ask, hands grabbing your forearms, nails digging into your tender flesh. "Don't be so scared, it's just me." The stranger approached moonlight hitting his face, to reveal ahead of messy marmalade hair, vivid red eyes and a blood-red heart plastered over his left eye. "Ace..?" his name is nothing more than a breathless whimper. Your back hits the icy cold window, trapped you think to yourself, locked away with this psycho. Ace simply approached trapping you in between himself and the glass. His nose bumped against the skin of your neck, inhaling your musty scent.

His tongue ran a long strip over the sensitive patch of skin, mouth soon following in sloppy kisses and painful love bites. "Ace stop..please!" would begging get to him? make him see how uncomfortable and violated you where? It didn't, that was the first night Ace took you, leaving you shaking and whimpering. His seed covering your stomach as you laid there and cried. There were many more night like this, each ending in the oranged haired boys pleasure and your agony.

" I love you so much!"

Deuce Spade

Deuce is the sneaky kind of yandere. The boy who seems perfect, everything you could have ever dreamed of. He was sweet and caring always putting your desires in front of his own. Almost like a gift sent directly from heaven...you couldn't have been more wrong.

Deuce will give you the illusion of a "normal boyfriend." A perfect boyfriend even. However, the truth of the matter is, he's gaining your trust and devotion, attempting to rearrange your life to solely rely on him. He'll provide you with every little thing that you need. Showering you with lavish gifts.

He'll spoil you until you have devoted your life completely to him. When he finally has you, his loving darling in his grasp, his true nature will soon show.

"You belong to me.."

Deuce refuses to let you out of his sight. You can't leave the dorm without him. It's for your safety he'll reassure you relentlessly. You do desperately try to believe him, surely he must be aware of some form of danger lurking within the school corridors?

As time goes on do become wholly dependent on the blue-haired boy. You come to fear the outside world and all it's hidden "dangers". Never doing anything without Deuce being present. To him, this is exactly as it should be you are his utterly and completely.

"Your mind, your body, your soul it's all mine."

Trey Clover

Trey is a possessive obsessive mix. He doesn't like being parted from you. He constantly wants your attention. When your attention shifts for even a split second, Trey can become somewhat aggressive. You're his, why where you looking at someone else?

Trey has two affective methods of punishment; humiliation and pain. Standard humiliation consists of handcuffing you and making you walk around with him. Showing all who shall see you, how vulnerable and defenseless you truly are.

As for pain goes, Trey has nothing against physical torment. He might tie you up and carve images into your tender flesh. Or he might just toss you over his knee and give you a good spanking.

"Everything will be alright (y/n)..."

Much like Riddle, Trey will choose every outfit you were, every meal you eat and any place you go to.

Your outfit is always elaborate, yet display every wound Trey has ever marked you with. Tall elegant heals, flowy princess-like dresses, charming jewels and hair always done like that of a doll's.

Your meals are meant to keep you healthy and in shape - despite what minimal exercise you get- Trey tries to keep you in good health, just so there won't be any need to visit some pesky doctor. One who'll ask too many questions and won't be satisfied with the answers their given.

The greened haired man mostly tries to keep you indoors away from others who might distract you. When you are permitted to go outside, Trey normally tries to take you to places where only his friends and their darlings are kept. They understand him, they know what it feels like to love someone as much as he does.

"...I'm here now, I'm all that you need."

Additionally, Trey is very dominant in bed. He enjoys the sight of you begged and wiggling under him. However, if you have certain kinks or want to try something new, he'll gladly accept.

Cater Diamond

Cater is a difficult yandere, he fully believes that the two of you are thoroughly in love. This he uses as an excuse to keep you locked up. Yet in the rare occasions when you are permitted to leave the house. Cater will be on the lookout for anyone giving you unwanted attention.

He's extremely temperamental and will not hesitate to get into physical fights over someone staring at you. When these "events" occur, he'll go back to locking you in his dorm. It's a vicious cycle controlled by an emotionally unstable psycho.

"You love me..."

One night you accidentally walked in on him tormenting some guy who had smiled at you whilst you two took a stroll in the park. Cater held a red-stained knife to the man's jugular. He pushed the glistening alloy to steal deeper and deeper. Blood oozed out of the would dripping down onto his clothes.

An ear-piercing noise filled the quiet night. It's that poor man you thought as cold wet tears tumbled from your wide eyes. Yet when you looked closer the man's mouth was closed head dangling to the side in an unnatural position.

Your capture's head slowly turned in your direction, cruel smile being panted over by a shocked expression. "(Y/N)?" he muttered confused. How had he known you were standing there? Was it you who had screamed? It must have been...

"Whoops, doll you weren't supposed to know about this."

He seemed so casual about it, speaking of murder as simply as tea time chitchat. He didn't regret what he'd done, had he? No, he only regretted you catching him in the act.

"It's too late to be up (Y/N), let's go back to bed."

Stepping closer he tried to gently grab your limp hand. The second the warm liquid coating his palms came into contact with your flesh. You jerked your hand away, clutching it tightly to your chest. You felt violated and dirty, was there any of that vile substance on your hand? The mere thought made you shutter.

The orange-haired man didn't take that well. He gripped your shoulders, stubby nails digging into you skink through the light material of your sleepwear. He started shaking you like a snow globe. You shut your eyes, dizziness, and nausea creeping there way into your head and stomach. When he finally stopped you felt numb, if his hands were to leave their positions you'd surely fall onto the cold hard ground. "Let's go back to bed, we can erm talk in the morning okay?" You nod through the skull shattering pain in your head as you allow yourself to be carried back to his bedroom and laid on the plush mattress. You didn't want to talk about it tomorrow, you didn't want to wake up tomorrow at all, you simply wanted this hellish nightmare to end.

"....Right (Y/N)?"

#twisted wonderland #heartslabyul #disney #disney twisted wonderland #riddle roseheart #ace trappola #cater diamond #trey clover #deuce spade #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere twisted wonderland #yandere headcanons #twisted wonderland headcaonons #riddle roseheart x reader

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meowthatimclean · 4 years

Text

Write Off Wednesday: Stranger

A/N: Hi enjoy some shadow hunter fan fiction (this is based on the books not the tv show. If I ever base it on the tv show feel free to shoot me)

The boy with the blue hair grinned as he was allowed access to Pandemonium, the current hotspot for young adults surprising given most people only visited once. He smirked realising he had everything to do with that. It had been weeks since the Shadowhunters had turned up and tried to kill him and he’d been trying to lay low lest to not alert them to the fact he was still alive. Though looking out into the crowd it appeared he hadn’t been too successful: there, dressed in a fraying t-shirt and jeans stood the fiery red-head who’d inadvertently saved his life. She stood in the throng of sweaty people barely dressed and in some kind of monster getup, looking around widely. Before he could even think about it he was marching over, grabbing her arm and towing her gently into the storage cupboard where she’d witnessed him die. He expected her to struggle when she realised a demon was towing her into a private room but she didn’t, she just continued to look bewildered.

“What are you doing here again?” he asked and then took a large step backwards as he realised that she was friends with Shadowhunters and this very much could be a trap.

“Where is Simon? What have you done with him?” She demanded, glaring at him with her arms crossed sternly. He struggled to marry the image in front of him with the lost looking girl in the middle of the dance floor.

“What, because I’m a demon it had to be me? For your information, I don’t like my men unaware of what I am,” Clary’s eyes narrowed at his blatant disregard for her friend but she seemed to believe him as she unfolded her arms and threw them up in exasperation.

“I’ve been looking for him everywhere. He gets kicked out of the institute and just runs all over the city apparently”

“Would you like to take a walk with me?” he asked cutting her off, causing surprise to flicker behind her eyes. Guess it’s not everyday she gets asked to hang out with a demon.

“Just to see if he’s outside I mean,” he added quickly so as to not throw her off and to justify his actions to himself. “You’re clearly not a normal shadowhunter and I can assure you I’m not the only demon here so walking with me will have its benefits,”

“Fine,” she sighed “but only because I might come across Simon,” and with that she’d marched out the room and was weaving through the crowds to get to the exit. She confused him, she was most definitely a shadowhunter no one else could hold a room or incite the icy panic within his gut the way a shadowhunter could. This, however, wasn’t the confusing part. She also incited the warm pull of temptation in the way that a human would. How could a shadowhunter, the very being created to destroy him, tempt in such a way.

Strolling along the street outside the club they both kept their eyes on the masses crowing in the smoking area and queuing to get inside. The river stretched on to their left as they walked the path beside it. The silence between them was almost comfortable as he looked for a potential fight and she prayed she’d see the familiar face of her friend.

“So… Jace tells me you’re an Eidolon demon, what’s that like?” she asked awkwardly. He wondered why she felt the urge to fill the silence and then wondered if she wasn’t quite as comfortable as she was.

Thus, he explained to her how his shapeshifting worked and why he found himself at pandemonium night after night. He tried to leave out the details of his sadistic lifestyle but Clary read between the lines.

“so you come to pandemonium to eat people?” she asked sounding horrified.

“well when you put it like that I sound evil, I do have some redeeming qualities you know, for one I’m a vegetarian”

“Oh so you don’t eat people?”

“No no I eat people, I just don’t eat meat or anything that comes from an animal,” he explained almost laughing at the expression on her face.

“Look, I appreciate that as a human your mind is clouded and biased, but for me it’s simple. Humans are destroying themselves, I’m simply speeding up the process. My logic is simple: quadrupeds are simply better and I’d rather live amongst them,” he went on to explain. His answer seemed to have stunned her into silence as they didn’t speak again for the rest of their walk.

Drunk teenagers ran by and raised voices surrounded them as they finally completed their loop and arrived at Pandemonium again. She glanced around one last time and he took the opportunity to look over her once again. She really was pretty, not in the angelic way that Isabelle had lured him in with but in a human way. He didn’t have to be cautious around her, or at least he didn’t feel that he had to be but her fierceness squashed his urge to corrupt.

“What’s your name?” she asked him suddenly. He blinked in confusion as he realised no one had ever asked him that before and so he had no answer for her. Normally people were content to know he was an Eidolon demon and that was enough.

“You can just call me stranger,” he smirked and then winked at her as he walked off into the shadows leaving her standing with the streetlights highlighting her.

“Stranger” she repeated to herself as she tried to make sense of her jumbled thoughts. She was fairly certain the presence of a demon was supposed to make her cower in fear or trigger some sort of badass biological urge to murder him. Instead she just felt comfortable as if she could spend days in his presence trying to make sense of him.

****

Clary was awoken to scuffling and clanging outside her door. At quick glance at the clock as she through on a hoodie told her it was barely three in the morning but the dread that filled her provided her with more energy than she’d have liked. Following the commotion, she was led to a part of the institute she’d never ventured into before. Church sat outside the door where the noise seemed to be coming from and he mewled and wound himself around her legs as she approached, the softness of his fur doing little to comfort her. She had no way of knowing but she was certain she wasn’t going to like what lay in wait behind the door. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and took in the situation before her.

The cold stone walls rose high surrounded Clary in a circular room mocking her inability to avoid them. She shivered as a breeze touched her skin and she wished she’d gotten dressed properly before leaving the warmth of her bed. Jace stood in front of her, his golden hair stark against the grey backdrop. She couldn’t help but smile as he met her eyes, they still barely knew each other but he’d become a welcome comfort to her, she always knew he’d be there when she needed him. Tonight, he was dressed all in black: his shadowhunter gear, a sign that Clary should’ve taken as proof she wouldn’t like what happened next.

Behind clary in an iron wrought cage that loomed over the shadowhunters in the room stood, stood the boy with the electric blue hair. He was barely fighting back, just making snide remarks at the warrior guarding him and grinning devilishly when he was rewarded with a reaction from them. Ignoring Jace’s explanation or sounds of protest, Clary strode towards the cage and sat down in front of it.

“Hey stranger,” she joked as he followed suit and sat crossed legged in front of her. She expected him to at least attempt to manipulate her into fighting on his behalf but he didn’t, he simply sat staring.

“Why don’t you try to escape?” she tried again to make conversation and was again rewarded with nothing. Sighing she rose, annoyed with herself for thinking a demon could be different, that he could be more than a ruthless killer, that he could be trusted by a shadowhunter.

“Do you want me to die?” he asked as she was half way across the room. She turned and walked back over to him, mostly to provide herself with more time to think. Not wanting to answer but knowing she must she spoke quietly.

“How many innocent teenagers have you killed?”

Seeing stranger drop the eye contact Clary knew there were too many to count.

“Then I think it’s necessary” she stated. She was suddenly filled with a sense of confidence, as if she would be able to kill the boy herself. She was a shadowhunter after all; it was her duty.

“Clary! I haven’t killed anyone since our walk together two weeks ago. I swear I haven’t. I’ve wanted to but everyone I see has your face and I can’t kill you Clary, I could never kill you. You can trust me just please believe in me,” he begged. She was shocked by this revelation.

“Why are you saying this?” she begged starting to feel distressed now as if his life was entirely in her hands, and she supposed it was.

“Because I need you to understand that not all demons are the way these shadowhunters are going to present them. I have thoughts and convictions too remember, I’m not just a mindless killer. The tide is turning Clary and I need you to decide which side you’re going to be on,” his eyes stared up at her pleading and she realised they were a deep black, as if they were a body of water at night and she could just topple into them without realising.

“We’re different Clary”

She started to reach for him, to run her fingers through his electric blue hair and see if he was really electric. To see if this connection she felt to him would consume her and turn her to dust. She didn’t get there though, no, as she did a gasp left her mouth and she staggered away from the cage as quickly as she could.

Stranger stood, staring blankly at Clary as Jace’s seraph blade protruded through his abdomen. Black ichor poured from the wound and from his mouth as the eyes that bored into Clary gradually lost their focus. She heard herself screaming and felt strong arms pull her to them. She didn’t bother to pay attention to who held her she was too busy struggling to get to Stranger. He’d been nice to her, he’d shown her that Jace was wrong: demons could possess good in the way that warlock and downworlders could. That good didn’t necessarily come from humanity.

She collapsed as he disappeared, as if their stories were more intertwined than either of them knew. She couldn’t help but think as she drifted out of consciousness that his life hadn’t been in her hands after all.

#write off wednesdays #original work #the mortal instruments #shadowhunters #city of bones #fanfiction #cassandra clare

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lovely-suga · 5 years

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My attempt at talking about literary symbolism in The Wicked King (big oof)

With Queen of Nothing releasing in literally two days, I’ve taken to re-reading the other Folk of the Air books and when reading Wicked King I got to the part where Jude talks to Val Moren and he gives her “advice” and juggles for her, and because I now know that Holly Black encrypts a lot of symbolism into her books, I started paying attention to this scene and what exactly Val Moren is juggling and what it could represent for the story.

I couldn’t find any discussion on this topic so I wanted to try my hand at what I thought it could mean and maybe some kind souls could hmu and we could dissect this one scene all together like a bookclub 👀 or you could shout ideas at me through the ask box 👀 or IDK JUST SOME FORM OF IDEA PITCHING 👀

(I’m new to the fandom so if this was already mentioned I’M SORRY + pls link me !!)

(Long read ahead...)

So, in the text Val Moren juggles “a stone, three acorns, a piece of crystal, and what appears to be a wishbone.” and when I went digging online (to the best of my abilities at like 9.30pm on a Sunday night) to see what these objects usually mean in literature, I found:

a stone typically represents endurance, coldness, stubbornness, and stability

acorns = strength and potential, and also the Nordic and Celtic symbol of life, fertility, and immortality

crystals have a lot of meanings, but (from what I found) the meaning typically sways to ice, clarity, purity, and energy

and (unbroken) wishbones can mean luck and wishes, obvs lol

BUT, what does it all mean?!

In the book Val Moren then says “’Juggling, you see, is just tossing two things in the air at the same time.’” and “begins to toss the acorns back and forth, then adds the wishbone.” I believe (and this is where I want this sort of book club discussion to come in) that the three acorns represent Oak, Jude, and Cardan.

Oak, not just because of his name, but because he’s being raised to become king in the future and has the potential to be an amazing ruler for being raised outside of Faerie.

With Jude I think her potential is not only the romantic potential between her and Cardan, but also her potential to power, to feeling like she belongs in this world she so deeply believes she can’t survive in, her potential of being the Queen and literally just her overall character development.

Lastly, with Cardan, I think his potential is, like with Jude, the romance, and his character development, because we’ve seen the shift of him from Cruel Prince to Wicked King where he goes from being really sadistic and cruel (ha!) to openly caring and expressing maybe more than just sexual desire for Jude, and from hating being king to enjoying and being pretty good at ruling, and his development could work into how he always viewed the crown with disdain and kind of shirked his responsibilities as a member of the royal family, to actually stepping up and not being 100% awful.

Regarding the wishbone, I think that could be tied to multiple things, like Jude’s plans to make Oak king, her wish for power, maybe something to do with her and Cardan (I don’t like falling back on the prospect of “Jurdan”’s relationship but I’m drawing blanks in symbol meaning possibilities, currently in need of a discussion !) Maybe it could tie with Jude’s one year agreement with Cardan for him to obey her? Or her banishment?

The juggling scene continues on, with Val Moren saying “'No matter how many things you add, you’ve got only two hands, so you can only toss two things. You’ve just got to throw faster and faster, higher and higher.’ He adds the stone and the crystal, the things flying between his hands fast enough that it’s hard to see what he’s tossing. I suck in a breath. Then everything falls, crashing to the stone floor. The crystal shatters. One of the acorns rolls close to the fire.”

So in this part Black doesn’t write about what happened to any of the other objects, like the stone or whether or not the wishbone breaks, just that “everything falls, crashing to the stone floor” and only focuses on the crystal and the one acorn, which I have to believe implies that these two objects are the most important and should be what we focus on.

Since the crystal shatters, and crystals can be symbols of ice, clarity, purity, and energy blah blah, what could the crystal mean? Maybe, the crystal could symbolize the trust Cardan had with Jude and how it literally shatters when she confesses to having killed Balekin? Tbh I’m kind of stumped on that one...

Regarding the juggling scene, I think what it’s supposed to represent, as whole, is the future events of The Wicked King. Like the juggling and everything falling, plus the objects themselves, are prophesying what’s gonna go down in the next few chapters. Plus I believe that the actual juggling correlates with how Jude was feeling throughout the book with balancing her seneschal duties, monitoring Cardan, Balekin, Madoc, Locke, then her two sisters and Oak, and working with the Court of Shadows, the Undersea, her own emotions, etc etc. Basically, Jude’s got a lot on her plate and she’s juggling all of these things to keep them in order but she only has two hands = she can only do so much at the same time, and when everything falls it’s her losing control of all these elements she was keeping tabs on and it becomes a mess at the end of the book when she’s confronted by it all.

Now with he reference of the acorn rolling close to the fire, I feel it could either link with Jude being banished from Faerie or something that happens in Queen of Nothing maybe? Fire can mean a lot of things, like illumination, rage, anger, violence, destruction, renewal, literally anything depending on the context. Maybe the fire could mean the enlightenment/lightbulb moment Jude feels when she figures out how to get back to Faerie? After all didn’t someone say they talked to the author and she said that wording is always important in Faerie and that the wording of Cardan’s banishment for Jude is important? Maybe the fire symbolizes Faerie itself and how close the mortal realm is to it or how close Jude is? Or how close Jude came to being in that situation that she couldn’t escape from like how her banishment kind of saved her from being killed by the Undersea? Or, even though I said I don’t like falling back on Jurdan, how close she came to that sort of passionate emotion, the feeling of belonging and closeness and how close their relationship came to being... an actual relationship and not just constant tension?

I’m not sure why this one scene is taking control of my thoughts, I was literally ready to pour over it all by myself in my head, but I couldn’t stoping thinking about it and couldn’t not write it down you know? Just to sort of compile my ideas and have it all laid out, and I know Queen of Nothing comes out in two days (omg) and it might answer some of my questions, or raise more idk, but it’s always fun to theorize and throw ideas around!

If anyone actually read my two cent attempt at literary analysis, any form of acknowledgement is very much appreciated !!

#the wicked king #The Folk of the Air #holly black #the queen of nothing #the cruel prince #jude duarte #jude #cardan #cardan greenbriar #jurdan #ya books #ya #fantasy #i rlly hope someone reads this just so then I don't feel crazy about writing all this lololol

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justgotham · 6 years

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Gotham will premiere their fifth and final season in 2019. The show has been a journey for the creators and actors, as they humbly and thrillingly brought their fans along on the ride, through destiny and rebirth.

This year at the New York Comic Con, Dark Knight News was invited to interview cast members (Sean Pertwee, Camren Bicondova, Chris Chalk, Cory Michael Smith, and Robin Lord Taylor) and the executive producer of the Emmy-Award winning show, John Stephens.

Sean Pertwee/Alfred Pennyworth

Q: So this season, Alfred goes through some major emotional stuff?

A: Well yeah, less than prior seasons actually.

Q: Oh, yeah?

A: Yeah, because the things that we actually find out ourselves with young master Bruce and Alfred, it’s actually sort of developed into the relationship that people always expected it to be. They were horrified at my original iteration when I was sort of brusk with him. The fans went “Hey, that’s not Alfred!” But now they understand, I was right.

It’s a sort of combination of the prior seasons where their relationship is the one we know and love, which is Alfred is there for him. We did a scene very similar to that the other day where he doesn’t baulk and says “I’m here if you need me,” and master Bruce is horrified. I think he rather misses it, I think he’s a slight sadistic. So, there you go. It’s not as emotionally driven in that way, there’s much more coming together.

Q: Will we get to see Alfred kick some more (butt) in this season?

A: Well, I think it’s out there. I get my ass handed to me on a plate, but I give a good account of myself. You see some, but not as much. I mean, I’ve been fairly physical. I’ve ended up in the hospital quite a few times as well. I might be visiting it again. I’m not quite sure.

See, that’s something I’ve really enjoyed. The fact that you never really get to see an Alfred be physical. And also, who taught him how to fight, and cook, and dance, and throw knives? Basically, what I’m trying to say is Alfred is Batman.

Q: The OG Batman?

A: Yes, the OG.

Q: Does Alfred/do you believe in true altruism? And do you think the city of Gotham, with so much evil in there, can it have altruism?

A: I think every city… I think the enduring legacy of Batman is exactly that. Everything is applicable to society, even now. That’s why there’s a need for the Bat because he stands up for the little guy. He goes “Enough is enough.” So there is light and shade in everyone. That’s the thing throughout out journey in the past five years. Everyone has been good and bad, has a capacity to love, the capacity to be evil, to do things wrong. It’s the path that you choose. It’s been interesting watching, just like any city, yeah. It just needs guidance… it needs a bat.

Q: How does it feel to know you’re going to be such a big part of the Batman lore. Even a hundred years from now, people are going to refer back to Gotham.

A: Very good point. I mean, I really do appreciate that. It’s really just dawning on me now. The thing is, enduring legacy of Batman is that he’s been relevant to every generation for years, and every 10 years there’s been a relevant character. I used to watch Adam West, and everyone used to laugh at the time. When I was a kid, that was super cool!

You know, I think this what we’ve realized now is that people’s interest and the way they look at these characters has been peaked, and people now see that fallibility. You don’t just wake up with an evil hat on. Like how Penguin became Penguin. You know, he was pushed into a certain point. He was bullied into being that person. So, yeah, that’s the story we’re telling. So, what we’ve discovered is that we are right. We are right in what we’ve done.

Jeremy Irons is a remarkable actor and in the movies he’s SAS (Special Air Service), and that was a conversation I had with John Stephens and Bruno Heller. Because I trained in the SAS, was conscripted as a marine, but I liked the idea of him being able to do anything with a Swiss army knife. Of course that’s why Batman is Batman, because he can do it. So yeah, our stamp is there now.

I think people will reference it. People will use it at as reference point now. Or question elements, like why did these people become who they are? You know, we’re very proud of that.

Q: Were there any of the elements of the character that you wish you could have explored more on the show? For example, his love life?

A: Yup. Exactly. Thank you very much for noticing. I sort of met a girl I liked, she died about 3 pages later. That was really… I thought we were going to go down that path with the beautiful Leslie Thompkins and that didn’t work out, because… I don’t know. There was a bizarre moment, but it wasn’t really scripted, with Fish Moonie. There was this kind of threesome between the three of us, and even Jada went “What was that about? I think that could be interesting.” Something to explore. He [Alfred] didn’t do well on that front. Tinder.

Camren Bicondova/Selina Kyle

Q: How are you feeling about rapping up your romance with Bruce? Are going to see an end to that maybe with just in the finale with the flash-forward or is this something that you want to leave hanging?

A: I’m not sure we’ll see an end to it. Actually, it will leave off with a question. It will leave off with a kind of open-ended sentence. I like that. I would like to leave that topic with a cliff-hanger, only because their relationship, once the legacy moves forward, it’s so unpredictable I wouldn’t want there to be a definitive end of them at this point, in this show because it wouldn’t be them, you know? I don’t think it would give them justice if that would happen.

Q: What can we expect from your character in this very last season?

A: A lot of trauma. A lot of self-work. A lot of really working through things or attempting to. To really go through, you know we’ve really seen Selina fight these inner demons with herself in the past, but we’ve never seen them. This season you get to actually see them, and it’s been incredible going to work. It has been super draining after the days are done, but it’s completely worth it because we get to see Selina in this raw state that we’ve never seen her in before.

Q: How do you prepare before each episode of Gotham? Do you have acting methods that are different than from when you started?

A: Yeah. My method now is I don’t know what I’m doing and, I don’t look at my sides and I don’t look at the scenes until I am walking to rehearsal. Which actually, releases any pressure for me and just forces me to go with whatever comes naturally. So pretty much during my rehearsals are the cold reads and it just forces me to live in the moment. Do what she (Selina) would do first, while before I would prepare two-days in advance, and if I didn’t know my lines before I went to bed, I would get really bad anxiety, where just now it’s just “I don’t know my lines, I’ll figure it out!”

Q: Is there a lot of room to improvise organically?

A: I mean, not verbally, but given what Selina goes through after the way Bruce helps her after the first episode is a catalyst to the rest of what she goes through this season. Through that I was able to improvise a lot more physically with Selina, because I’ve been able to kind of foreshadow what she is to become.

Q: Did you have to receive any fight-moves training this season?

A: Training? No, I mean production has never really pressured me to do any of that anyways. They’ve only told me like Danny just told me: “Don’t stop dancing. Just don’t stop dancing. That is a gift you are blessed with, just don’t stop dancing.” Other than that, they’ve never really pressed me about my body image, or my physicality. They’ve just always really trusted me in what I bring to the table talent-wise. Which has been a super-huge blessing because as a young woman, I face certain insecurities just like everybody and they haven’t said a word to me, you know? And they’ve just been like “Listen, you do you. You do you, boo.”

Q: That’s fantastic! The fighting sequences though, they didn’t make you pose practice in any way for that?

A: We definitely have rehearsals for those. This season has been a lot different for me, give that, you know [gestures to her leg in a brace] my boot. I injured myself over hiatus and the doctor told me it was something way less major than what it actually was, so I’ve been in this boot all season. So I’ve been really able to focus on the emotionality of Selina, and allowed my stunt-double to actually do her job which has been really great! Because I get to see her kick-ass and I just kind of sit on the sidelines, so “You go, girl!”

Q: In the comics, Selina is bisexual. Is the something you’d like to see more brought out or done in the show?

A: I never thought of them (Gotham) bringing it up. I’ve loved that they touched based on it in the comic books, and I would love to see them tackle that. We don’t see that this season. I think it would be great to see on television or film, I would love to see that incorporated into Selina’s character.

As far as if I would have loved to see it in this show? I would say based on what we’ve seen Selina go through I feel like, I’m actually glad we focused on the different things we focused on before the second sexuality, because she has been so focused on surviving and so focused on herself that she’s not in a place to really question her sexuality, and really experience and experiment with certain things. I think even her being involved with Bruce is too much. So I think, even though I would love to see it, I think she’s dealing with too much. I’m glad that we’ve touched base on the things we’ve touched based on. Especially in season 5, we touch base on more of her mental health. She’s suicidal at the beginning of the season. I think I’m proud we talk about that because I think that’s an important topic.

Chris Chalk/Lucius Fox

What’s up? What do y’all want to talk about? I’ll tell you everything. All the secrets! Even in the promo, they pretty much told all the secrets. That was crazy!

Q: What’s a typical day of filming like?

A: It’s very organized. Actually, I’ve been in a lot of TV shows in my day, and the fastest, of course, was Law and Order because they’ve been on the air forever. Gotham was pretty efficient. We still have a lot of creative say. We come in, you eat breakfast, you get your make-up on, do your hair and make-up. You go rehearse, you change things around if necessary and then we film. And then we laugh probably too much, we would probably have more efficient days if we stopped acting like children. But for some reason, me and Cory, and me and Ben (McKenzie), man! We can’t keep a straight face to save our life!

Even though Ben is professional, I bring the goofy out of him. So like, I hope they show you the bloopers. It might just be me and him. Nonsense! A day working with me, is going to be awesome. Efficient, but you’re going to laugh a lot.

Q: Is that what you’ll miss the most, the camaraderie?

A: Yeah, the thing that will be most missed, easily, is the mandatory friendships that come with TV shows. You have to see the person, so you have to like them. We’ll see what everybody thinks when it’s over, ha. But like, these people have been such an integral part this last four years.

With my father passing, with different traumas in each of our lives. We’ve been each other’s support system, and that’s just nobody’s job. Nobody has to do that, nobody brings their problems in, but people who genuinely care. Our cast genuinely cares about each other and so it is a family. And that’s not every show. It’s not every show. I’ve been on some shows where it’s been like “I wanna go home,” I hate these people, I love the work but hate the work. It’s nice to come to a work where it’s like “Leave the computer in the bag.” Instead of pretending to type so I wouldn’t have to talk to people.

Q: Have you worked with anyone you despise?

A: I haven’t worked with anyone I despised. I’ve worked with people I don’t like at all, ha ha. We’re not there in service of my own ego, I’m there in service of the words provided and trying to add everything I can do the process. I don’t take people’s nonsense personally. It’s just when I’m home hanging out with my wife, I say “Let me tell you what this guy did today! UGH!”

Q: As we’ve seen over the course of the series, we see Lucius as the voice of reason. Does he get to cut loose at all during this season?

A: This season Lucius cuts loose for him… He unbuttons his top button. […]

But no, he [actually] doesn’t. But he gets to meet the love of his life!

Q: Is that part what’s most exciting for your character or is there another moment you think is more exciting for you?

A: Oh! You know what my favourite moment is? Oh, no, but I can’t tell you.

Q: Do it anyways!

A: We talk about it during the panel. It’s working with one of the actors we were working with and he’s so super-talented, so you know it’s a HE. He’s just so super talented and creative that we just had so much fun. He kind of re-created what we had written, which was nice because in season 5 people are still bringing their A-game to honor the script we would have been given.

Q: How are you doing to make this season very memorable for the fans?

A: Well I’m going to show up to work and do my job, but what the writers have done is taking everyone’s expectations, being “I don’t care about some of them because we have to create what we have to create,” but honoring some of the favorites. Giving each appreciator of canon, a morsel to leave with. In this “No Man’s Land” arc, you’re going to see so many villains that we won’t get to play with specifically because we’re only 12 episodes.

But it’s so nice to go “Ah! There’s that person.” “Wait, is that person going to become that person?” So when we go down in a sense, there’s some intrigue left. It won’t be a bow on the top, it’ll be “Aww, man, there’s no more??” I like that about the show.

Cory Michael Smith/Edward Nygma

Q: There is kind of a love Pentagon, between Riddler, Penguin, Jim, Sam, Lee, what is that dynamic like?

A: Aha! I’ve never thought of it quite like that. I loved that you called it that. It is an interesting season where we all crossed paths again, and at this point 5 years in, there’s a lot of history, there’s a lot of broken hearts, a lot of resentment. So there are wafts of it. It’s interesting that it does happen that all of us are all in the same space, at the same time, and it creates a tense environment. Ed is NOT looking for love this season. I think they’re all a little over it. They’re pretty cynical people at this point.

Q: Is much going to be made about how you are resurrected after the season 4 finale, or are we just kind of skipping past a lot of that? New powers?

A: At the top of season 5, the conflict I am stuck with is that everyone has their territory, and are arriving in their own way. I am blacking out, waking up in strange places, not knowing what I’m doing, who I’ve been with. I’m causing problems for other people, and I’m hiding out in my library, just like losing my mind trying to figure out what’s going on, finding a pattern.

Is this Ed Nygma as an alter-ego to the Riddler doing this, doing something, or am I messing with myself? Am I self-destructive, is something else controlling me? I have no recollection of what happened, and so I don’t know what’s going on. Eventually, I go on a quest to figure it out, traversing through the city and you know, my surroundings, I start crossing with other people. I spend a lot of time with Gordon and Penguin, A little with of Barbara, Stabby Babs. As I become aware of what is actually going on, it’s pretty alarming. There are some events that really rock Gotham, and it’s quite shocking when we realize who’s responsible, and who’s controlling things. It starts playing into this bigger conflict of man vs. state. Citizens vs. Government.

Q: Mental health is such an important topic in Gotham, do you think if Riddler got any help that he needed, he could have redemption.

A: I think if he lived in a more civil society, where you could potentially have a peaceful life, perhaps? I just don’t think Gotham is that place, you know? It breeds crazy and it requires crazy to survive. But I do think he has the capacity, I think one thing that is riveting about him is that he does have the capacity or had it, at least to lead a normal life, and to be a good guy/ To be on the right side of things. I’ve always tried to keep that relevant to the character.

Robin Lord Taylor/Penguin

Q: You recreated the Penguin pretty much. Everybody is always talking about the Joker, but you’ve really brought the Penguin back to life. What do you think?

A: Thank you. Well, I share credit with our amazing showrunner, our executive runners: John Stephens, Danny Cannon, Bruno Heller… the vision started with them, and I just, I am the vessel. I just showed up.

You know, when I auditioned, I didn’t know really know what I was auditioning for. They wrote a big scene. So everything I brought to that scene just instinctively happened to match their vision where they wanted to take the Penguin in this story. Again, sometimes lightning strikes, and sometimes you get the job, and sometimes it leads to amazing experiences like Gotham. It’s just incredible.

Q: It seems that every season, the Penguin transitions into something else. What can we expect from this final season?

A: The story that I feel Gotham is telling is how this city, Gotham city, corrupts and destroys love. When we start the show in Oswald, there is this shred of humanity. He’s still trying, he is Fish Moonie’s umbrella boy. He’s failing, he’s figuring it out. There’s something, I don’t know if identifiable is the word? Something sympathetic there. Like we know what he’s trying for and why he’s making these decisions.

By the end, I think that humanity, that gentleness, that if deep down underneath if everything had gone right for him, he would have been a good person I believe. But by the end of this story, they were telling me “I want all of that humanity squashed out, he is a monster. He is a monster, he is a super-villain.” Gotham city has taken this person and the people who love him, and they’ve beaten out every shred of humanity. So in the end, we see the super-villain we all grew up knowing. You see someone who could really challenge The Batman, and that’s where we’re going to be at the very end.

Q: Following on from that, throughout the season the Penguin had a specific person or group of people that he’s considered a targeting for revenge. After he got the revenge on the death of his mother, who’s going to be the target for the final season? Where is he going to go?

A: It’s actually really great, I think when that happened at the end of season four when he avenged his mother’s death, I feel that released him. Like that was really the last piece of vengeance that had not been spoken for, that last bit of revenge he hadn’t gotten yet. And then he got it! And in season 5, he’s taken over City Hall, he’s absolutely the most powerful he’s ever been, and he wants to rebuild the city, especially the crime syndicate in his image. In his design. He’s there to remake Gotham in his image, and so yeah, I think there will be revenge. I don’t know where he’s going exactly, I haven’t read the final episode yet, so I don’t know. But the way these alliances are changing so fast, we’ll have to see if Gordon is the friend he always thought he was. If Riddler was the ally he thought he could be… we have yet to see. So revenge could be coming for any one of them. I don’t know who it is.

Q: Is there any chance of a spin-off for you, after Gotham?

A: I mean, I haven’t heard anything. You know, if there is a talk about it, they should really let me know because when we wrap the final scene, I’m walking upstairs and shaving my head. I’m going back to blond! They better get what they need to get because this [gestures to his Penguin-like hair] is going away immediately. I tell people it’s an amazing time for television and entertainment in general because look at it! The fans, Comic Con, is such as phenomenon. The fans, through social media have a voice. They can choose to keep characters coming. You know, if there is a desire for it, this has been the most gratifying character I’ve ever played in my life, and I owe everything to this character and this job, so if they wanted me or needed me, or if the fans were into it. I would be there in a heartbeat.

Q: Speaking of fans, how do you think they’ll react to the finale?

A: I mean, I think they’re going to stoked! Absolutely thrilled! Because I’m thrilled because I get to show the traditional Penguin from the comics. And really having seen the designs, and taking in visually the character, I think it is one of the most closest, film version of the classic comic book Penguin that’s reached media. They’re all classic in their own way but this I feel is just so close to the original source material, that I’m so excited to play it. You know, it just gives that little bit of legitimacy, like being the actual older Penguin that’s overweight. Who, you know, is a monster. You know who, all of this stuff that’s happened to him, has lead up to that, and I think everyone is going to be really thrilled. I’m thrilled!

Thank you guys, bless you. Thank you guys for supporting our show, for writing about our show and reporting on it! It means so much to all of us! Thank you. Cheers!

John Stephens/Executive Producer

Q: So what and how much of you goes into these seasons, particularly season 5?

A: What goes into it? My son was looking at an old picture of me from season 1, and he said: “Dad, you had great hair then.” And I said “Uh…yeah.” It was a real before and after shot.

You know, a lot of people and ideas go into it. Ideas and people who devoted years of their work and lives into it. It’s not all mine, but it is a lot of work. Certainly feels that way. And I think also at the same time, people who become deeply invested are all the actors you see, in their characters and in their world. When I talk to them about what they’re doing, it’s always clear that they’ve been thinking about it a lot. They’ve been thinking about who their character is, what they going to to be doing.

Q: The theme of identity is just so important in GOTHAM. What inspired to make such a focus on it?

A: To me, it all springs from the books themselves. I mean, I think the idea of identity and duality is so integral to the Batman myth. It goes with Bruce being both Batman and Bruce Wayne to the point where you are saying is he Batman pretending to be Bruce Wayne or Bruce Wayne pretending to be Batman? Whether it’s Two-Face? The issue with the Jekyll/Hyde duality I feel is something we try to hold true to the centre of the show. The idea that you can actually create the person who you are going to become, and I guess the decision to tell the growing up story of Bruce Wayne, rather than skipping over than like how it has traditionally been done. If you see someone actually make the decisions of who they’re going to be when they grow up, he is making the decision from being a kid to being a superhero.

Q: Is there any chance we see baby Batgirl in this season?

A: No comment, ha ha.

Q: What is all that talk of not being able to officially name the Joker, where does that come from?

A: You know, I think a lot of it is frankly continuity. Because of the fact that Batman has to be present at the creation of Joker, and Batman doesn’t appear in our the show until the very, very, very end. Everybody called the Joker before that, or even for us to say he’s going to be the Joker I think would disrupt that continuity in a way, I also feel like we could say there are certain things like one day they want to do in the movies, which I want to protect. But I also believe in a case where there is a mystery around who that character is. What his real name is. You know, and I think saying that his name is, or knowing his as well as we might know him as well before his generation maybe is not something I want to do.

Q: This season is shortened. The shortest one so far. Did you struggle with that or was it relatively easy to wrap everything up in less time?

A: Definitely struggled with it. You know, there’s that old saying to a friend that goes something like “Apologies for the long letter, I didn’t have the time to write a short letter.” And I think that’s actually really true. To actually take a lot of material and condense it down is more difficult than just kind of telling the whole thing without a lot of room to breathe.

So it was really hard to get in everything we wanted to get in those last episodes. It was really stepping back for all the characters, and knowing which ones we wanted to hit and saying “these are what we absolutely need,” and building a story around that. But that took some time.

Q: And did you wrap everything up, or is there a lot left up to the imagination?

A: We’re leaving it to the imagination.

Q: How was it like working with two youths on the set, for something that was dark, and still is dark?

A: It was great. Sometimes you worry about having them, you know, stabbing or killing somebody… but they’re naturals at it!

Q: Is there anything you wished you did that you hadn’t?

A: That’s a really good question, but no. I believe we left no stones un-turned.

#selina kyle #Edward Nygma #Cory Michael Smith #Oswald Cobblepot #Robin Lord Taylor #Camren Bicondova #Alfred Pennyworth #Sean Pertwee #Lucius Fox #Chris Chalk

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ko2vo · 7 years

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THIS BLOG IS THREE YEARS OLD TODAY HOLY SHIT (edit: i started this post months ago and forgot about it, this blog was 3 years old on Sept. 7 pffffff-)

Anyway, its been a long time since i last did this, here are a bunch of OCs of mine and, below the read more, is some context for each of them. Probably gonna get long and rambly ‘cause i love them all. You dont have to read about them but please read about them i love them.

Guess the first thing to know is that these aren’t my only OCs. These are kinda the ones that I’ve had around the longest and kept coming back to. Plus, I have some for specific projects that I don’t really elaborate on cuz they exist in a game/writing/something self contained and to say anything would be to say too much, I guess?

Yeah. Overall, I guess these guys are either so developed or underdeveloped that it wouldn’t be spoiling for me to say things about their personalities/relationships! And some of the stories have changed so drastically over the years, I don’t even know what kinda canon will be canon when i get around to making it.

SO they’re categorized by their different worlds/purposes. ALSO if you want to see more pictures of a particular OC, I made their name clickable and it will bring up their tag (some.... won’t have a lot of drawings tho criesss).

CANDY HERO has been my dream comic project since I was 14 oh man. It’s a superhero story, about homeless kids that have to save the world. The reason for saving the world has changed a lot, from alien invasion to robot uprising to super virus subtly ruining everything. But the plan has always been like a grungy futuristic city setting and long term ideas where each chapter would be a self contained episode.

Soda is one of the main characters and the only person that has superpowers. However, his super powers are candy-based and wicked unstable. He could intend to create crystal rock candy to make a barrier of some kind but accidentally whip up a cotton candy tornado. His superhero origin story has changed a lot, but I usually stick to the idea that he swallowed some nuclear experimental bubblegum and it unexpectedly manifested inside him in a way that gave him these capabilities.

Why would he eat questionable chewing gum?? Well, he’s pretty young when he does so most likely he didn’t realize gum wasn’t for eating at that point. He’s also homeless and isn’t picky about what he eats. He probably ends up on the street when he’s around 7 or 8 and his story takes place when he’s 14 or 15. So, somewhere between there is when he acquires his powers.

His personality is basically relentless positivity and optimism. Always looks on the bright side and can be counted on as a morale booster. Super loyal and supportive of his friends. Believes in ideals and hopes to make the world a better place, believes the world can be changed for the better. It’s very difficult to upset him. However, his outlook often jars when he has to deal with an emotionally sensitive situation. His general response is “everything will be okay and I believe in you and support you” and, for a lot of people, it doesn’t work like that and it just makes them more upset, especially living among the homeless. Even though he can relate to suffering, his way of dealing things has always been to repress or move on since it couldn’t be helped and that’s usually what he subconsciously advocates.Depending on the person, it can be reassuring or it can feel like a rehearsed script.

All in all, he has a lot of issues he’s left unresolved and ignores in favour of smiling and focusing on the positive and he doesn’t really understand why people will fixate on the negative. So he’s not really good at handling any kinda negative emotions. ALSO his trusting nature makes him a victim in gullibility too. Even with someone that’s been a complete dick to him twenty times over, he’ll always give the benefit of a doubt and allow them second, third, fourth chances.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT SODA - His real name is Felix but he’s only ever gone by Soda. Rafter was the one that gave him the nickname cuz he’s bubbly and too sweet. - When he’s actually sad and can’t force himself to be happy, he isolates himself. - He’s always wanted to be a super hero! His earliest memory is running around with goggles on and a blanket tied around his shoulders like a cape, playing pretend. - He has an evil doppelganger named Seltzer; they look exactly alike, except Seltzer’s eyes are orange instead of blue. - He smells like a carnival’s trash can.

Rafter is Soda’s best friend. Both of them have been on the street for a similar amount of time, but Rafter’s circumstances for getting there are a lot more harsh. Soda ends up there almost by choice, but Rafter is forced onto the streets. He’s really mature as a result and pretty cautious. Generally, he prefers to be a lone wolf but Soda persisted in helping him cuz they were both kids and logically he understood that it was safer to have someone around. Most of the time, he appreciates Soda for his overabundant friendliness but it also makes him super nervous because jeezuz Soda, don’t talk to that shady dude behind the dumpster what if he harvests your kidneys or something plz exercise some self preservation.

Rafter is relatively quiet, thoughtful, and skeptical. He doesn’t trust people very easily and he tends to keep his circle of friends small. But when he does trust someone, he’s very dependable. Even though he doesn’t have superpowers, he’s got a keen eye for details and analysis. If he were older, he’d probably be a detective. More defensive than offensive, and a strategist.

He ends up in contention with Soda sometimes, because of Soda’s instinct to jump into things indiscriminately (where Rafter likes to plan and evaluate) and also because of his inability to deal with emotions. Rafter is pretty stable emotionally, but when he does feel upset he goes to Noyal or TOI for support rather than Soda. Rafter needs to work through his feelings with someone else and understand why he reacts the way he did in order to feel better.

Overall, Rafter is very level headed. He thinks realistically and practically. But his caution borders on paranoia sometimes and prevents him from making many meaningful connections for fear of being hurt. And, when in contrast with Soda’s positive outlooks, he worries that he comes off as less realistic and more negative and jaded by comparison. It’s a thought that eats away at him sometimes.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT RAFTER - He plays piano and its the best way for him to relax. - Rafter isn’t his real name but no one knows it. - His dream career is to be a psychologist and help kids like him when he gets older, in order to help them avoid being homeless. - Dogs make him nervous. Especially big dogs. - Even though he lives on the street, he’s very careful to stay as clean and hygienic as he can. Can’t stand feeling grimy or dirty.

TOI is an illegal android. She was a young boy as a human who was dying and her father was a scientist that transferred her consciousness to a robot. There is a law that states that any person under the age of consent cannot have their consciousness transferred because androids are not subject to the same laws as humans. It is completely legal for an adult to choose to become an android but there are really fucked up, blurred moral lines with the production of androids. Even if they have a living consciousness and not an AI installed, the only real law they’re required to follow is to be registered and have an owner.

Short of that, anything that happens to androids is damage against the owner, not the android. Because android parts are replaceable and, even if a consciousness is human or a highly developed AI, they are subject to selective memory wipes and can be transferred to other vessels. So androids are kind of resented by some people, able to forget their traumas with the push of a button and recover from damage that would be irreparable for something organic. There have been a lot of attempts at acquiring self ownership and more protection for robots in general, but overall it comes down to “if you can choose to forget, why are you remembering.” It’s a system that kind of works, but only for robots that have owners and owners who care about their well being (which logically they should, because an android costs about as much as a new car would and, if they are spending that much and the consciousness is someone they know, the assumption is that it’s an act of love).

ANYWAYS I could ramble about the messed up robot-human relations of this world all day, but essentially TOI is illegal for many reasons. For one, she was about nine when her consciousness was extracted. Though her mind does continue to age, it’s still morally grey because the public assumption is that all robots are considered consenting adults, even when they have a body that appears younger. It’s a means of avoiding fucked up shit that developers know would happen anyways by at least making it fucked up shit that only happens to adults??? If that makes sense??? im avoiding specific words, cuz its too dark for how PG i want the story to be and its not something i would really explore in canon, its just something i think about when considering TOI’s choices.

She’s also very illegal because, when she turned 15 her father died and her father was her ‘technical’ owner. She wasn’t registered but she had some protection with him around as his ‘scientific property’ but with him gone, no one faces any consequences for damaging her. It leaves her in a very vulnerable position should anyone find out she’s an android and unregistered. And she can’t advocate for robot rights because without an owner, she can just get wiped and no one could do anything about it.

Personality wise, TOI is very snarky. She likes to sass and tease and outsmart people. In canon, she’s about 32 years old, so she also takes a sadistic pleasure in making adults think they’ve been outwitted by a child. She is highly intelligent but operates under the radar because of her situation, usually relying on her human connections (Noyal) in order to save money or sign important documents.

In Candy Hero, she currently isn’t planned to appear for a handful of chapters. Soda and Rafter have a few adventures themselves, then they meet her when she is visiting Noyal. She trusts them as Noyal’s friends and sticks around, their antics amusing her. Plus, since they all look around the same age, TOI feels more secure moving around in public with them.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT TOI - TOI doesn’t need to eat or sleep as a robot, but she does need to recharge every other week depending on her exertion, and she needs regular maintenance. - She was a trans girl even before her consciousness was put into her robot body but socially closeted, except to her father and Noyal. - She loves cats and her favourite clothing items are cat themed. - Whenever she’s able to, she attends art galleries and musical events. - SHES GONE THROUGH THE MOST DESIGN CHANGES like, she used to be a super sexualized animu lady with big boobs and no pants (i want to fight 15 yr old me when i think about it honestly) then she was skinny dude with a gas mask and hood, then lost the mask but became purely a program, then a virus trapped inside a phone Soda had, and now she’s where she is and I’m happiest with her newest design

Noyal is a quiet guy that lives on a boat. He doesn’t say much but he’s empathetic toward Soda and Rafter as street kids. I haven’t really thought about how they meet but my guess is that Soda and Rafter are jumping around different places for food and shelter during the winter and Noyal notices them since he jumps around to the different places for his work. He doesn’t approach them though, it’s Soda that approaches him offering to help him with something (much to Rafter’s horror cuz holy shit Noyal is scary looking) and they all eventually begin to talk. Well, Noyal mostly listens but he talks more with them than he does almost anyone else (TOI being the exception).

Eventually, he offers them a place to stay for the worst nights. They can’t stay with him all the time cuz his boat’s pretty cramped as it is and Noyal likes his solitude. He can’t handle the idea of being a father figure to Soda and Rafter so he makes sure they understand that he views them as friends, not as children he needs to be responsible for. Even though Rafter was nervous about him at first, it turns out that he and Noyal have very compatible personalities and the equal ground he offers in defining that “I’m not an authority over you just because I’ve lived longer” ironically makes Rafter really look up to and respect him.

I’ve not really thought out Noyal’s history to the same extent I’ve thought out TOI’s. He’s always been quiet, somewhat mysterious, but willing to help a friend in need. I imagine he’s been helped through a lot of things when he was young and that’s what makes him willing to extend altruism and sanctuary when he encounters someone that needs help. However, unlike Soda, he doesn’t go out of his way or beyond what he’s comfortable with. If he wants to help and is capable of doing so, he will.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT NOYAL - He owns a dog; an elderly and blind Schnauzer affectionately called Old Russ, who sleeps on his bed with him. - I’ve always imagined him with a Newfoundlander accent. - He’s actually a year younger than TOI and she’ll never let him forget it. - He has a twin sister that he doesn’t like to talk about; she sends him a care package every few months. - He works at a million different jobs. One of the running gags I’ve established in my writing is that he’s just everywhere; Soda and Rafter go to a circus, he’s running the ticket booth; they go to a theatre, he’s a janitor; they head to the mall, he’s working security. HE IS A BUSY MAN. - Covered in scars not because he gets into fights but because he loves animals, regularly works at places with big animals, and would willingly get mangled by a bear if it meant he was able to help it.

PURE FLUFF isn’t the name of anything but I just have no other designation for these two OCs (I used to call their story Day by Day but I’ve abandoned that name). I made them with the intent of doing a really fluffy gay webcomic and I still want to! But it probably won’t be a linear storyline like i originally intended, more like random snippets of their time together. I also specifically wanted to focus not on falling in love, but staying in love. Like, usually the plot and conflict of romance ends with people becoming a couple. Yet, there are so many fun and ridiculous issues that pop up while being a couple??? LIKE COME ON??

Also, it’s a super pure and wholesome story overall so the issues aren’t anything really terrible (at least, between Evan and Love). Usually its like “i dont care how in the zone you are, you havent slept in over 72 hours and im forcing you to sleep” and “dude i know you wouldn’t cheat on me but your hot tutor is making me wicked jealous and possessive and i need attention plz” and “oh nooooo looks like they accidentally put pineapple on both sides of the pizza, guess you’re gonna have to eat pineapple too.” Y’know. Small issues.

Evan is the epitome of lethargy. He’s tired 24/7 and monotone in his speech patterns. Emotions are difficult for him. He experiences them but numbly and has trouble dealing with other’s displays of emotions, particularly in the extreme. He doesn’t really understand people with strong passions or hatreds but he tries to be supportive in his own way. And he really does try but when people don’t know him, they assume his muted reactions are out of disinterest. He can’t force himself to react the way people want so he struggles in a lot of social situations. A lot of the time, he ends up overwhelmed and exhausted if he spends too much time with a crowd.

He doesn’t have the best relationship with his parents and moved out the moment he turned 18 but he has younger siblings that love and adore him so he tries to keep in touch with them at least. Evan is in post secondary and is majoring in computer science and programming. Again, not exactly because it’s his passion but he understands it and it’s an independent activity that he can work on. He also is minoring in ancient history because he enjoys the mythology and guesswork of studying ancient civilizations.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT EVAN - He is probably trans. Honestly, for a lot of my characters, I tend to keep things flexible unless it’s important to their story or I’m being self indulgent so most of them are like ‘maby they are maby they aren’t it doesnt matter’ if i dont say anything. I mention it for Evan cuz its been something I’ve considered as the reason his relationships with his parents being tense. - He is about 23-24, which is two years older than Love. They met in high school because Evan had to take a lower level art class to complete his diploma. Often, people think he is younger than Love because of his baby face and being so much shorter. The assumption tends to annoy him. - Evan is colourblind! Protanopia, or red-green colourblindness. - He has a history of self harm that only Love knows about and he’s since found healthier coping mechanisms. - His favourite thing is spending a lazy afternoon at home, reading a book while Love draws beside him

Love is an artist and an asshole. He likes to tease and press buttons, but generally doesn’t overstep boundaries (and feels terrible when he accidentally does). He is a positive person, looks on the bright side but he has a lot of feelings and not all of them are happy. He’s sensitive, gets disheartened at the slightest off tone. Conversely, he’s extremely easy to please too, the slightest praise sending him buzzing. His mood jumps around a lot depending on where he is, but Evan tends to keep him balanced because he understands and appreciates Evan’s tranquillity.

As an artist, Love focuses on painting and sketching. He loves to use a lot of colour and tends to lean toward impressionism and abstraction in his work. He likes deep thinking but he tends to lean toward making work that’s pretty and aesthetically pleasing to look at (which he gets shit for as an art student). However, a lot of the worst of his habits are associated with painting. He’ll go for days without sleep and eating if he’s in a good painting mood, usually much to Evan’s concern. In high school before dating Evan, he experimented with some hallucinogenics for the sake of artistic venture. He also used to smoke somewhat heavily. Evan helped him ease away from those habits, just as he helped Evan ease away from his.

Also, Love is absolutely enamoured with Evan. Evan loves him back of course, he wouldn’t be with him if he didn’t feel anything, but Love is way more deeply attached. He hovers and will do his best to accommodate Evan, he worries about Evan and tends to talk about him as a common subject in conversation, and he’s happiest when spending his time with Evan. Evan is a lot more independent in the sense that he doesn’t fixate on Love like Love does him, but Love is still the most important person in his life. Love doesn’t really try to tone down his affection either, he’d probably yell in a public space “GOD MY BOYFRIEND IS WONDERFUL??? IM SO LUCKY???” and get kicked out. But it’d so be worth it. He loves making Evan embarrassed.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT LOVE - His name, Love Jaakola, is pronounced Low-vay Yak-oh-law. His father was Swedish and his mother is Chinese (she’s the only one he’s still in contact with). He is an only child. - His hair is naturally dark brown but he regularly dyes it blonde. The ‘streak’ in his hair is actually dried acrylic paint from pushing his hair out his face, the only way he’s able to get rid of it is to cut it off (but it comes back cuz he’s in the habit of running his paint coated hand through his hair at this point). - Love is Evan’s first date person, but Love has dated about 4 people before Evan. Two were girls, one was a boy, and one was nonbinary. However, most of those relationships only lasted a few months, he has been with Evan for about 4-5 years (they’ve known each other about 6-7 yrs). - Ironically, he’s a bit of a technophobe. Evan keeps telling him he should post his artwork online or that he should network with people more to expand his art career, but Love’s like ‘maby.... one day... not today.......’ - His favourite thing is to draw/paint on Evan’s skin. Nothing really planned or meant to impress, just lazing around in their underwear and doodling thoughtlessly.

BAD SEEDS oh god. this is... my sin comic. Sort of. Last year around this time, I was fucking ITCHING to make a webcomic. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and like, in the time frame of Aug-Nov, my urge to make gore art goes through the roof (like, most people dont get how gross i am cuz i only draw it around this time, i tend to quietly absorb other’s gore during the rest of the year). So the plans for this comic came around. Psychological horror, gore, plants and flowers, bones, I threw a lot of self indulgent shit into this comic.

Bad Seeds is about two terrible high school kids that cause one another to do awful things by encouraging each other’s violent impulses (i say “kids”, they’re both 17 and would experience their 18th birthdays in canon, i literally just wanted a high school setting cuz bullies weeeeps). I did a lot of sketched out comics in my small travel sketchbook of really climactic, messed up scenes, then I tried to do an actual story line so I could do a comic. I made the first 14 ish pages and they’re still floating around but.... wow i hate the beginning. And need to rewrite it. Cuz I still like a lot of the scenes I made for the middle of the story and the messed up dynamics please me but, unfortunately, the main characters need to meet somehow.

Daniel is a nervous, paranoid boy. He’s very jumpy and always feels like he’s going to be yelled at for doing something wrong. He feels like an outcast and kind of makes himself out to be one by thinking that way. Doesn’t go out of his way to make friends, isn’t interested by sports or clubs, and his grades in school are average or below average. However, people that do know him would say he was polite, quiet, and accommodating. Even though he looks awkward, they’d insist he was just shy and warms up to you.

In reality, he behaves that way because he’s almost been conditioned and guilted into being selfless by his dad (his only family). He takes up extra shifts at work if someone asks him, he’ll lend someone he doesn’t know money if they ask, and he will help with cleaning/organizing after school if he’s asked. He doesn’t volunteer and generally doesn’t want to do a lot of things he agrees to but he just can’t say no unless it clashes with other things he’s agreed to do (usually, his job).

Other than that though, a lot of his internalized guilt stems from his fascination with the morbid and a fear of people finding out. In my old draft of Bad Seeds, he became fascinated after being exposed to guro on the internet, but I want the time setting to be late 90s-early 2000s, so I’m compiling a lot of texts and paintings that would feed that interest and be more time appropriate. I’m also trying to figure out if that would make him more interested in art history and specific classical literature but honestly, I don’t think it would; he’d probably fixate only on the most gruesome things and skim over all else haaah.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT DANIEL - He is a masochist. Whenever he gets injured, it tends to take three times as long to heal as it should because he picks and scratches and makes things worse. He also self harms on his upper arms for this reason, to watch it bleed and heal (though, I’m certain a warped idea of atonement for his guilt also plays into the action). - Before meeting Poet, he’d been watching him from a far for two years. Not exactly stalking, he doesn’t go out of his way, but they’re in the same small town school; he stares at him from across the cafeteria at lunch and glances at him when they have classes together and listens extra hard when he hears people talk about Poet. - He works at a small cafe that doesn’t get a lot of traffic. - He sleepwalks and has really vivid dreams. Sometimes he self-induces insomnia to avoid them but that tends to have bad side effects. - He really enjoys his hair being played with/petted/pulled.

Poet is seemingly perfect. He’s one of the top students, with exceptional grades in all of his classes. He’s the president of the student council and he’s well liked by most of the student body because he’s humble and, though hard working and busy, he tries to treat everyone kindly and make good impressions. The only thing he could be considered average in is sports, but he stays active by gardening and hiking. He takes to positions of leadership well, he’s good at improvising, and speaks eloquently. All of his hard work is contributing to his career goal of becoming a medical doctor or surgeon.

However, he has the same morbid fascinations as Daniel. Though, while Daniel is exposed to creative sources like fiction and paintings depicting violence or gore, Poet is more grounded in reality. He uses medical textbooks and pays a lot of attention to real life surgery photos. There was a point where, with the mental excuse that he would need to be comfortable with the grotesque, that he would look for dead things in order to do mock autopsies. He’s killed animals before but always with his version of a justification; to end something’s suffering or in self defence. He rarely kills animals because of this need for a proper explanation. In the old draft of Bad Seeds, his and Daniel’s meeting is him trying to explain that he killed a wild dog that had backed him into an alley and struggling to come up with a reason for why Daniel found him elbow deep in its guts.

HE’S SUCH A BAD DUDE HONESTLY i hate him. Especially with Daniel, after they acknowledge one another’s fucked up impulses, Poet becomes really attached to Daniel but in a messed up abusive and jealous way. He begins to manipulate and gaslight Daniel, whose already isolated, to become even more isolated and only trust Poet and lets himself get talked into a lot by Poet. Well, they talk each other into things. Poet, at the beginning of their relationship, is still extremely preoccupied with appearances and knows what they’re doing is wrong as tempting as it is to have a willing participant and gives Daniel a lot of chances to say no to things. But the more Daniel says yes, the more of a power trip Poet goes on and god, they just make each other so much worse over time and it’s awful and unhealthy and i hate that I’m absolutely into this kinda psychological shit (ONLY FICTIONALLY THO i hate that i need to specify that; if this happened in real life, id fucking call the cops in a heartbeat).

But yea, if he and Daniel never met, they’d both be way better off in the long run honestly haha.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT POET - Probably goes without saying, but he is a sadist. Like, he likes to think he is clinically scientific about everything he does, but when he gets the chance to act out fantasies with Daniel, he starts paying a lot of attention to expression and reaction when he does things. - I mentioned he enjoys gardening but he really likes gardening! He does all the gardening and maintenance of his parent’s home during the warm months, and keeps a lot of plants inside too. - I usually draw him with black hair, but at some point he dies his hair silver/white. - He has a fluffy medium sized dog named Styx, not sure about the breed. Probably a mutt but lots of collie. - Poet existed before Bad Seeds, as a character in Love and Evan’s story! He was still kind of awful but more harmless. He wound up having a crush on Evan while tutoring him in English, but Evan wasn’t interested and also is dating Love. Love had a small crush on Poet cuz he’s lowkey poly and super into intellect/glasses/charisma, which he talked over with Evan. Evan accepts it as part of him but personally wouldn’t be comfortable dating him if he were dating others, so Love compromises because hot damn he loves Evan. ANYWAYS Poet is still awful because, even after Evan says no, he pines and obsesses and tries to monopolize his time as a “””friend”””” (thankfully tho, Evan is not susceptible to his bullshit - which sadly makes Poet like him that much more criesssss)

Ray is a bit of an enigma. He’s technically in his senior year with both Daniel and Poet, but he’s actually two years older and is only back at the school to complete his high school diploma. But no one really remembers him as attending their school? Despite this though, he settles into the school atmosphere well. Even though he’s 19, he’s generally mistaken for younger. He has classes he does well in and classes he skips, but his passion is for music. He’s a skilled, adaptable guitarist who gets called into a few bars and clubs when a band is short and was practically adopted by the school band the moment they found out his skill level. Thing is, he’s also very lazy and wants to avoid things that feel like work, usually causing them to send the drummer to kidnap him in order to get him to attend practice.

He gives off an air of being laid back and aloof, but he’s rather observant. Ray is probably the closest thing to a friend that Daniel has, because Ray noticed he was a bit of a black sheep and decided to keep him company. At first, out of concern that he was being bullied, but after some time it was a little more personal because he realized that Daniel had a crush on another boy (since this story is set in a small town during late 90s early 2000s, repression and institutionalized homophobia are a concern but not really the focus). Personal because he is actually gay and trans and he becomes a little protective over Daniel, having figured this out. Though, his protectiveness doesn’t stop him from teasing Daniel (about having a crush, not about being gay of course).

Ray is also a little eccentric. He refuses to sit in seats properly, he wanders around the streets at like 3am and during rainstorms, and always packs a lunch but never eats it, usually giving it away to Daniel or some first year. He comes off pretty confident and he’s decent at improvising but overall he has no shame and no idea what he’s doing.

SOME EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT RAY - He has an ex who I haven’t developed but he’s also important, he’s a coworker of Daniel’s. Ray’s ex is actually a decent and understanding dude, but Ray broke up with him because he wanted to get rid of things that reminded him about being “Rachel” (his deadname). - He shares a basement apartment with like, five other lgbt people, but he doesn’t spend much time there and has a tendency to fall asleep where ever. - He’s an orphan. Dad died when he was young, and his mom was a police officer who died in the line of duty during the time he had disappeared. He has an older sister who’s moved a fair distance away. - Daniel thinks of him as a weird mom. Ray considers himself something of a big brother, since he can be a bit of an asshole. - Ray is driven by spite. His hair at the beginning of Bad Seeds is the fluffy mullet he has, influenced by other guitarists cuz he’s a nerd, but when he meets his ex again and his ex tells him his hair looks cute, he gets an undercut immediately after.

STAINED is a project I used to be passionate about but honestly, it’s kind of abandoned. It had something to do with tattoos and corrupt hierarchical systems and someone unknowingly supporting the status quo before learning how fucked up and inhumane it is and trying to change the way the world works. I think I was reading a lot of dystopian things that influenced my ideas. Some of the characters from this project will probably be redesigned and put somewhere else but this project itself is kinda dead to me.

ALSO, ITS GONNA BE JARRING HOW SHORT THINGS GET FROM HERE ON like, the rest of these characters are not as developed/ I don’t care about them enough anymore to try to adapt their personalities elsewhere criessss

Marz was what I considered one of the most complex characters at one point. Bare bones, he goes from being sheltered but curious to really vindictive and dark following his best friend/lover being martyred. At the moment though, he’s very much a blank slate and, even though he was the main character, a lot of the initiative and plot was driven by his lover. I... literally have very little to say about Marz anymore IM SORRY MARZ, I LOVED YOU ONCE MABY ILL LOVE YOU AGAIN.

Stone is a happy dude. He was in the same universe as Marz, working on the outskirts of the city palace town, dealing black market potions and magic in a shop he inherited from Iris (who is dead in that universe - probably another reason i don’t like Marz’s story anymore). In his current canon, he still works at a shop dealing in occult things, but alongside Iris. Prior to their meeting, Stone was a very proper, uptight man, overly concerned with etiquette and very polite. However, he was also really tired of denying what he enjoys (he is bisexual and more feminine than his posh family find acceptable). One day, he decides to explore the grimier parts of the city and ends up cornered in an alley cuz pretty boy doesn’t think ahead that walking around looking clean and expensive in a sketchy part of town will get him into trouble.

Thankfully though, he’s saved by Iris and, to repay her, he works at her shop. Stone is a quick learner and finds his niche in the dark arts that Iris teaches him. He’s happiest when he can sneak over and help and, eventually, stops going home. He and Iris are in a relationship but they’re not exactly monogamous; Iris loves him but also knows that he’s bi and has been sheltered his entire life. She wants him to be able to explore his interests and not feel restricted by his attachment to her, especially since she’s had so much more time to love and be loved. So essentially, an open relationship.

Stone is laboured with a lot of learned prejudice and a concept of tradition that Iris helps him identify, understand, and either overcome or work on in the means of becoming less toxic. He finds Iris fascinating and loves to learn from her, both about the occult and about himself (because most of the time, he feels like she knows him more than he does himself).

EXTRA RANDOM FACTS ABOUT STONE - After a few years of working with and knowing Iris, Stone accidentally blinds himself trying to make a difficult potion. This is the version of him I draw the most. Before the accident, his eye colour was hazel. - Eventually, he and Iris get married. - Following the accident, he’s immortal. Nowadays, I focus on him during his days with Iris, but in the past I focused on his life after her death as he becomes slightly deranged. She grows quite old and dies of natural causes and he tends to pretend that she didn’t, keeping her skeleton around and lovingly talking about his wife with his customers.

Iris is a very ambitious woman. She doesn’t have much of a history at this moment, but she runs her own business, fends for herself, and has developed some very powerful connections. People that know about her but don’t know her personally tend to call her a witch and a sorceress and sometimes she plays it up to scare kids away from the dangerous area that she’s located. She’s intelligent and very down to earth, growing an indoor garden with plenty of plants that have magical properties.

She can be brash and spontaneous sometimes though. She’s had some close calls with death by picking the wrong fights and mixing the wrong ingredients while experimenting. She mellows out a bit when she has Stone to focus on, but she can disappear for weeks on end with only a last minute notice for him to take care of the shop while she runs her errand. There are a couple of times that she lets him tag along but he’s really not in his element with fast action and near death stunts so he stops asking and just wishes for her safety.

MISC is OCs that I’ve always had but have never really settled into their own world. I honestly have tons like this oh man. But these three are ones that show up a lot.

Cinnamon and Chowder are two gay gals I started drawing way back. They’re both alien pop stars who came to earth and no one knows they’re actually aliens. Cinnamon is much shyer than Chowder, self conscious of her height and general... everything, but Chowder is super supportive and smitten and protective. Cinnamon is an alien from a planet where her entire species “identifies” as male; its a toxic, hyper masculine planet and, when she met Chowder, her entire world kind of expanded and she decided to escape with her somewhere that they wouldn’t be found. They found earth and made their place in the fashion and music industry.

I drew a comic for class once, where Cinnamon tells Chowder that she feels ugly, but like, she knows she doesn’t look ugly, but she feels the anxiety like an itch and can’t get over it. And Chowder’s like “Oh! Like a Kiwi right? See, they’re all fuzzy and brown and probably feel ugly? But look at how nice and bright and lovely they are inside!” and then they eat a kiwi together PFFF yea that’s the extent of how much development I’ve put into them.

Liko is my baby. He is a chinchilla hybrid human and was created purely for self indulgent things. His personality for the most part is mischievous and absolutely hates clothing. For how much I draw him, he is embarrassingly underdeveloped as a character. I began to think of him as a splicing experiment that escapes from a lab somewhere but not super deeply... Honestly, his purpose is art trades, requests, and commissions. He’s the only oc I usually ask for art of because I like his design haaah

AND YEA THOSE ARE MY BELOVED OCS i honestly love you if you read through all this or even a little, please talk to me about your own ocs !!! I’m more than happy to do OC art trades and bounce world talks anytime !!

#korvo draws #oc #EVERYONE #i... wrote so much omfg you dont have to read if you dont want BUT ID APPRECIATE IT criesss #skip Bad Seeds if you arent about gore and psychological horror but maaan #i forgot how much i loved my ocs #PLEASE TALK TO ME ABOUT MY OCS and about your own ocs because fuck #i love ocs and i dont have any friends that consistently do oc shit aaaaaaaaaa

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thecorteztwins · 7 years

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“X-MEN MUTANT EMPIRE, BOOK THREE:(SALVATION)” PROLOGUE + CHAPTER ONE

@malakhvent @hexiva @muffiewrites @magnetician @superiorvengeance @actually-i-prefer-magneto @taintedhero @magnet-dad Hey there folks! For those new to being tagged in my Mutant Empire reading liveblogs, the “X-Men: Mutant Empire” books are a trilogy written by Christopher Golden in the 1990s. They are novels, not comic books, and the X-novels occupy a very shakey/debated place in canon. That said, they're excellent characterization sources (in my opinion), especially for characters that didn't get much in canon, such as Carmella Unuscione or the Kleinstock brothers. The reason I'm tagging you all, however, is because of the Magneto characterization. He is the main villain of this series, having used a reprogrammed Sentinels to take over Manhattan, along with the help of his Acolytes. He has rechristened Manhattan as “Haven” and invites all mutants to live there, while allowing humans to remain if they agree to live by his new rules under which they are second-class citizens. The X-Men are, of course, trying to intervene, both to stop Magneto himself but also to prevent the US military from deploying their own solutions. Magneto's characterized in these novels more similarly to how he's written today than how he was written in most of the 1990s. For a lot of the 90s, Magneto was, to put it simply, terrible. Like the worst he's been since the Silver Age. As in, literally killed THOUSANDS of innocent civilians. He's not movie fandom Magneto, who only ever hurts very bad people who definitely deserved it, and who usually has no other choice. The Magneto of the 90s is dark as fuck, much like everything else in comics was at the time. However, the Magneto of these books is far more complex, noble, and (by comparison) moderate...while also still not straying from the flaws that make him a villain. It's a little-known, under-rated series, and probably only of interest to Acolytes-loving nerds like me, but I think it's valuable for fans of Magneto who seek to balance his good and bad traits into the most accurate picture possible, so I think it will be of interest to you all even if most of you are writing a movie-based Magneto. So, that's why I tagged you all, I thought you'd find it interesting and enjoyable! This is the THIRD book, so if I haven't tagged you before and you want to catch up, the tag on this blog for it is “mutant empire”! Also, everything in here is opinion, you don’t need to agree with the characterization of Magneto in these books or my analysis thereof, it’s just my own thoughts as I was reading. With that preface out of the way, let's began!

PROLOGUE We begin with Manhattan, which is now called Haven. As a mun who writes the Marvel character called Haven, this keeps making me double-take when people say things like “let's go to Haven” or “you're of no use to Haven”. As a note, I don't think Magneto ever knew about the person Haven (though she is shown to know about him) since he was dead during her period of conflict with X-Factor. Anyway, as for THIS Haven, the subway is down and there's very little traffic, but lots of restaurants and small business are open because they have a fuck ton of new patrons coming in. Mutants are pouring in from across the country, across the world. On the good side, a lot of them doubtlessly need a sanctuary like this. On the bad side, Magneto sees their gathering here as a way to enlarge his Mutant Empire. This is typical of Magneto, if often forgotten by fandom: He wants to save mutantkind as a whole, but the individuals are still means to that end. He did the same thing on Genosha---using the population to form an army---and who can forget his “pawns go first” line in X3? Oh, wait, a lot of people, no one likes X3.

But anyway, this is on the first page and I already like the balance going between the aspects of Magneto as savior and villain. Also, I don't think this connection was intended by the text, but I can't help but see an analogue to Xavier here; he offered a home to mutants in need, then trussed up those same vulnerable teenagers as a private paramilitary group. Both these men have good intentions, but they will take advantage of the very people they're trying to save in order to reach that larger goal.

Also: “In less than a day, he had transformed one of the most important cities on Earth so that it conformed to his vision: a planet where mutants were the masters and humans were the servants. It was the only way for mutants to survive human prejudice.” A lot of people will note that Magneto doesn't want to kill all humans, and that's generally true, but the fact is he does frequently still want mutants to be the dominant species. In his early 2D Silver Age days, this was due to just straight-up thinking mutants superior, but in current times (again, this book was really ahead of its time in terms of Magneto) it's more like what he says here, it's to keep mutants safe. Because humans can't hurt them if THEY'RE the ones who are the underdogs instead. As a note, this is the mentality that I write Anne Marie Cortez as having. She looks at history, looks at the horrible things humans have done to each other, at the horrible things done to mutants now, and is like, humankind obviously cannot be trusted to be in charge. She believes that a mutant-dominated society will be better for mutants AND humans. And she doesn't think mutants will be as bad as humans either, because she believes God created mutants not just to be the physical improvement upon the flawed humanity, but a spiritual one as well. She believes that while some mutants are doing “bad things” now due to this imperfect world, they WILL be better than humans are, they CAN be better, once everything is put right (that is, mutants put on top with Magneto leading them) She, uh, she has religious delusions (with Magneto as the modern Christ in this paradigm, obviously >.< Anne Marie no!)

“From the observation platform at the top of the Empire State Building, Magneto looked down upon his Mutant Empire and his heart swelled with triumph, happiness, and pride. The sun forced his slate-grey eyes into a squint, the wind whipped his silver-white hair across his forehead, and Magneto smiled. It was a beginning.” AWWW I ALMOST WANT THE SERIES TO END HERE! Instead, we go to Wolverine and the Beast, whose exchange is irrelevant to the topic of this post (Magneto) and then to Amelia Voght of the Acolytes. Amelia Voght was a past lover of Charles Xavier, but split up with him when he formed the X-Men. She wanted to live a quiet life, and felt that Xavier's means would attract human attention to mutants. Years later, when she had, despite her attempts at a quiet life on her own, lost everything (including her family) to humans, she joined Fabian Cortez among his second-gen Acolytes recruits. Though Fabian is currently dead at the time of this novel, Amelia, like the other Acolytes, now follows Magneto in his stead (and much more happily) Unlike most of the Acolytes, Amelia receives far more complex characterization, and she's not the bloodthirsty sadistic bigot-for-fun that most of them are. She's actually a lot more like Magneto, which might explain why she follows him, despite having her doubts that his way is any more hopeful than that of Xavier. Anyway, now that you know who she is, here's what's going on. She's pretty pleased too, like Magneto. She's also surprised, not that he succeeded but that humans are still in the city. For those who weren't with me for the first two books, Magneto did NOT kick humans out. He said they could leave if they wanted, and stay so long as they accepted his new rules. A lot did leave, but some did stay (I imagine a lot COULDN'T leave, it takes money to be able to move and set up somewhere else ASAP, so there is definitely a class privilege thing going here, which overlaps with race and sexuality/gender. I don't think Magneto intended that, but the reality is that it's the people who are already the most oppressed that don't actually have a choice in whether they go or stay) Amelia is surprised by this, she thought that the island of Manhattan would be devoid of humans once Magneto took over, but reflects that, as I already noted earlier, “But Magneto's intention had always been for mutants to rule humanity, not destroy it. Voght had privately doubted it was possible. On this day, she changed her mind.” Anyway, Voght thinks about how the US government is still on the fence about what they're going to do, but Voght figures that save for a nuclear strike, Magneto and the Acolytes have it “all wrapped up”.

Amelia enters the reception area. There is one woman (the deputy mayor; the mayor himself “abandoned his city without a thought) and three men, one of whom is the police commissioner. Deputy Mayor Perkins is direct and no-nonsense. Amelia takes them all to meet with Mags, but before she does, warns the police commissioner that “As of this day, Magneto is the only law this island knows. He is not in favor of the death penalty, but that does not mean he does not see its uses.” Kinda like on Genosha, when he killed Fabian Cortez and all the good guys are like OMG YOU MURDERED HIM (come on guys, are you really THAT upset?) and Magneto was like “look, I run Genosha, consider this capital punishment, they have that in the USA you know” Magneto is of course “resplendent in his regal purple-and-crimson uniform. Without his helmet he wore during battle, his silver-white hair fell around his shoulders.” Ooooh, we got a long-hair Mags! He doesn't usually have long hair in 616, that's typically an AoA thing. Also RESPLENDENT I love it. Perkins gets right to it with “Why are we here?” and Magneto appreciates that she has little patience for small talk, but invites them to sit all the same, though he remains standing. He says they're here because they're the highest-ranking officials still remaining in the city and “You all need to know how I wish this city to be run, now that I am its sole authority.” So, a moment ago Amelia was surprised at how “amiable” Magneto is being to these people, how “benevolent” he looks, and I think I can say why---because he's won. He's the one giving orders. He can be nice because he's the top dog now. Admittedly, he was never nice to his underlings while running the Brotherhood, and not exactly friendly to the Acolytes either, but that's when, even though he had control of small group of people, he was still fighting against the larger world. Now that he has what he wants, he's willing to be nicer to those below him. Which isn't a compliment, btw; people who are only decent to others when everything is going their way are NOT good people. I think there's also the aspect of responsibility bringing out the best in him too. As cruel as he was to his followers, he was wonderful to the New Mutants when he was their teacher. Partly I think that's because they were children, but also because they were HIS children, tasked to HIM by Xavier. They were his responsibility in a way that the Brotherhood and Acolytes are not. His job wasn't to lead them, but to take care of them. Likewise, he's going to be taking care of this city, even if he'll also be taking some of its members for his own personal army. So I can see him being more benevolent here, even if only in the sense of a benevolent dictator (which he's very clear is the case, he says so himself he's the “sole authority” from now on) I guess I'm reading a lot into it, it's only two seconds of him being friendly and polite, but once my brain started going on it I couldn't stop.

Anyway, he restates that Haven/Manhattan is now “a class system, with all mutants as the nobility, or ruling class” and basically dictates Perkins as in charge of managing the remaining human population “answerable, of course, to me” and that she can appoint the others to any positions she sees fit to help her. He wants no more drugs, no more violent crime, no more corruption, that he wants all of the problems Manhattan had before his rule to be cleaned up. Perkins argues that corruption is inevitable in any system (I would say ESPECIALLY in this system, if the Acolytes are apparently gonna be “nobility”) Magneto counters that the corrupt are cowardly, thus they have already fled Haven, so logic dictates that there's no more corruption and he won't tolerate any. ...Magneto, your logic is not our Earth logic. Alas, this is pretty typical Magneto, he doesn't always, erm, make sense. Th police commissioner, Ramos, says he's not going to be Magneto's lapdog, that he's only going to enforce ACTUAL laws and that the police are NOT going to become Magneto's personal army. Mags smiles, tells him that he already has a private army, that he doesn't need the police “and I most certainly don't need you.” He then raises one hand in a gesture of “amusement and dismissal” and says, “Amelia, would you mind?” Amelia, for those who forgot or are just joining us, is a teleporter. She sends Ramos outside the building. She then thinks about how she could have teleported him high in the air outside and let him fall to his death, how she is “not a hardened killer, but she knew the value of an example. Still, Magneto would have been specific if he'd wanted the man dead. Her lord rarely sanctioned homicide. Much to the other Acolytes disappointment. A few things: 1) For those wondering about the “her lord” bit, that's not unique to her, all the Acolytes consider him to be their Lord. The big difference between the Acolytes and the Brotherhood is that the Acolytes revere Magneto in a RELIGIOUS sense (which I've built on especially with Anne Marie, while giving Chrome and Delgado different motives, I wanted some diversity of motivation in my crew) They even have a Book of Magnus (which I am pretty sure Fabian wrote, not Magneto) I shit you not 2) “Much to the other Acolytes disappointment” As I've said again and again, the Acolytes members that came after the first team are largely terrible people who just wanna kill all the “flatscans” they can. I wonder if they miss the days when Fabian let them go after hospices and school buses? Yes, really. Fabian did not keep a leash on those guys, he ENCOURAGED them to be bloodthirsty anti-human fucks. You could interpret that as anti-human bigotry on his part, I interpret it on using their rage and sadism to keep them happy and make them easier for him to control 3) Amelia, the hell do you mean you're not a hardened killer? You “made an example” EXACTLY like that in the previous books! Granted, said example was done because humans were threatening/attacking her, so it wasn't in cold blood like it would be here, but still, this is something she has JUST RECENTLY DONE

Magneto continues to those remaining that the Acolytes will enforce the law on the mutant population, the human police on the human. He wants Haven to be an example to the rest of the world---no drugs, full employment, a fair wage, no crime, no homelessness, no hunger. Oh Magneto, you're making Anne Marie's dreams come true. Or trying, anyway, but what's that quote about the road to hell? This is interesting though, because we're getting a glimpse of something we didn't with Genosha (at least in what I've read)---how Magneto would run things (or at least, his ideals/goals) when he's in charge. Oh, and the reason he wants Haven to be an example? “So society knows what to expect when we begin our expansion.” So, here's my question to that...Magneto is happy to let humans leave if they don't like his rules...but if he plans to expand...what happens if (as is probably his goal) he takes over the world? Where do they go then?

Magneto's last word to this lot are that “Bigotry will not be tolerated. Bigots are to be deal with most---harshly.” Amelia, like most people in the comics, knows Magneto's personal history as a Holocaust survivor (it's been presented on trial before) so she knows where this is coming from. But she wonders what would happen if she pointed out how a lot of the Acolytes are “rabid bigots” themselves, and she doubts he'll have them dealt with as harshly “but a woman could dream” (Amelia doesn't like Carmella or the Kleinstock brothers, the specific bigots she was thinking of) Now, I realize the kneejerk response here is to point out that hating the people who oppress you is not the same as bigotry, but trust me guys, she's RIGHT in this case. She is really, really right, like I cannot stress to you what a bunch of genocidal eugenicist assholes these people are. As in, they wanted to kill CHILDREN for being human. Carmella even wanted to kill a MUTANT child because he had Down Syndrome! Unlike real-life minorities, mutants not only have the power to be “reverse bigots” they actually even have a leg to stand on to “justify it” it in terms of “genetic superiority” and believe me, THE SECOND-GEN ACOLYTES USE THAT LEG. A LOT. ...also frankly, I don't think much of Amelia for being one of the “good Acolytes” because that means she's still fucking hanging out with these assholes even though she KNOWS better. You don't get points with me for being more moral than your teammates if that “morality” only amounts to “not joining in the worse stuff they do” rather than any actual opposition and/or leaving the team. And the same to Magneto for employing them, even if he tries to keep a tighter leash than Fabian did. So, the prologue ends there. The first chapter follows, and it doesn't feature Magneto at all, but it has some bits that are very, very relevant to current issues (sadly) so I thought I'd include it too since said bits are brief. CHAPTER ONE The X-Men are meeting with government liaisons Val Cooper (pro-mutant, ally, knows Xavier is their leader) and Henry Gyrich (anti-mutant, doesn't know Xavier secretly leads the X-Men but is the first villain I've seen with the sense to suspect it) discussing what to do about the Haven situation. We are told, as in last chapter, that mutants are pouring into Manhattan/Haven. We learn that the army is trying to keep them out, and that any mutants who enter are considered terrorists. So, we've got an oppressed population, many of which are likely refugees with no place better to go, coming to a place that has opened its doors to them...but the government has decided they're terrorists and is trying to keep them out. That sounds a little familiar. I understand the logic, that any mutant in Haven could potentially join Magneto's army, but “potentially” and “actually” are different things. After all, any refugee could “potentially” be a terrorist too, right? Anyway, blah blah blah, Gyrich is a bad guy, then he tells Gambit “You're in America, speak English” and COME ON I doubt I need to spell out the significance of that. And given that it's coming from Gyrich, there's no way it's not MEANT to be significant.

This was written in 1997, you guys.

Okay, so chapter ends, basically the X-Men have seven hours to go into Manhattan and fix this or else Gyrich is going to have the island nuked and the press will claim that it wasn't the President that did it but the result of Magneto's own terrorist plot backfiring on him with catastrophic results. Because Gyrich is a bastard despite having gotten some neat character insight in the previous books . The X-Men are fucking horrified and Rogue even says “Maybe Magneto has the right idea” but since it's now six hours and forty nine minutes everyone decides they'd better bet going instead of chewing him out, and the chapter ends there. I've got to hand it to Golden, he's doing a really good job with this. Not just with Magneto characterization, but this whole set-up in general. There's a lot wrong with what Magneto is doing, and yet the good aspects are such that it's hard not to just forget the bad and root for him, at least for me. Especially since the human government is, well, Gyrich. But also good folks like Val Cooper. And as linked, we get some depth even to Gyrich. In short, Golden is really, really good at making a multi-sided conflict with multi-sided characters and challenging the reader on who to root for. At least that's my opinion. Stay tuned, folks! ALSO ONE MORE THING! I have a big question---where is Exodus? We know he's here, the first book began with him and Magneto (and Magneto thinking about him as a big purple butterfly, which I loved) But he really hasn't been seen since then, and with no explanation given as to why. This is actually pretty common, Exodus just not being in the picture for whatever reason, because he's so stupid OP that when combined with Magneto, it's pretty much game over for anyone in their way. So writers are always having to find a way to either separate them or put on of them out of commission (it's usually a coma) But here, there's no REASON thus far given for Exy's absence, he's just...not there. Even though he was earlier. So I'm thinking/hoping that maybe in this book we get a good in-universe reason for that, rather than him just poofing because Golden realized that he'd just fucking wipe everybody out in the first book if he was around.

#xmen #x men #x-men #mutant empire #magneto #X men novels

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choupetit · 7 years

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GOT Recap: Eastwatch

Airdate: 8/14/17 ; Season 7, Episode 5

Watching tonight’s Game of Thrones was like watching an elaborate set of dominoes being lined up - so many pieces of pertinent information, so many players coming together, so much anticipation for the final two episodes of the season! Not my fave episode and at times it felt like some mighty convenient revelations were coming to light, but the season is coming to a close, so I guess they are trying to pack as much stuff into one episode as possible. That said, let’s do this! Grab your warmest furs and snuggle on in for the recap of “Eastwatch”:

When Queenie Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy

We pick things up shortly after where they ended last week. Bronn and Jaime Lannister emerge from a river and we see a smoke-filled sky in the distance - the aftermath of Dany’s dragon attack. I vaguely wonder how they managed to get this far from Dany, when it looks like they just took their first big gasp for air after plunging into the water to narrowly escape death by dragonfire. Bronn gives Jaime some flack of the “What the hell were you thinking with a stunt like that? The only one who gets to kill you is me!” variety. Jaime lays out that they are pretty much screwed, considering they just encountered what Dany can do with only one dragon - and she still has two more. Bronn tells him dragons are where his loyalty to the Lannisters ends and gives Jaime a “Good luck breaking the battle news to Cersei” quip.

Meanwhile Tyrion is gravely surveying the devastation of the battle his Queen just won - charred bodies and ashes are everywhere. All the surviving Lannister soldiers have been rounded up for a brief speech by Daenerys Targaryen. “I know Cersei has been trashing me as this sadistic, horrifying invader, who goes around burning people to a crisp when I don’t get my way, but I want you to know, I’m not like the other dragon moms. I’m a cool dragon mom. Seriously though, right now I need you to support me or be burnt to a crisp. So…who’s with me?” A handful of soldiers kneel before her. Randyll Tarly and his permafrown, however, are not game. He and son, Dickon, stand defiantly. Tyrion attempts to sway them, and whey they refuse, he tries to get Dany to lessen the punishment by taking them as prisoners instead. Denied. “Tyrion, my catchphrase is ‘Dracarys’, not ‘Hey, let’s handle everything reasonably on a case-by-case basis, filling up my entire week as I dole out fair and just verdicts against my enemies’. It just doesn’t roll off the tongue, damnit!” And so, Randyll and Dickon are flambéed in front of all their fellow soldiers, who quickly bend the knee to their new queen.

At the Red Keep, Jaime is once again conveying terrible news to Cersei, which seems to be the only other thing he does when he’s not banging his sister. He lays out Daenerys’ awesome and terrifying strength, what with her dragons and insane Dothraki posse. He concludes they are totally screwed and should just give up the Iron Throne. Oh and btw, Lady Olenna was responsible for killing Joffrey. Cersei’s all “I knew you should have let me make her suffer!!!!” You half-expect her to ask Qyburn to resurrect the old lady just so Cersei can kill her the right way.

As for Queen Dany, Cersei counters they have the money to hire new soldiers and they can either fight and die, or submit and die…and we all know Cersei subscribes to the “Take down as many enemies as you can on your way out” school of thought. She throws in a little barb at Jaime for good measure: “I know which decision a REAL soldier would make.” Zing! What’s it gonna be, Jaime?

Say Hello To My Little Friend

At Dragonstone, Jon Snow is taking a walk outside and looks like he’s about to break out into glorious song (“The hiiiiiiills are alive, with a stash of Dragonglass, la-la-la-LAAAA!”) when Drogon and Dany fly up and the dragon gracefully lands right in front of Jon. Warily, Dany watches as Drogon roars and bares his teeth at Jon…and lets him pet his snout. “Yup, yup, just a little to the right - ahhhh, that’s the sweet spot!” It seems clear that Drogon recognizes a Targaryen is standing before him.

While Dany engages Jon in some dragon appreciation chit chat, one of her Dothraki guards arrives and presents a man who claims he’s a friend of hers: It’s Ser Jorah! Daenerys’ face lights up and I expect her to run over to him and give him a huge hug, but no. She just gleefully introduces him to Jon Snow - who served his father, Lord Commander Mormont, at the Wall. When Dany asks Jorah if he found a cure to his greyscale, he’s all “Gurl, I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t.” At this point I totally want him to drop Samwell Tarly’s name - he doesn’t. Daenerys finally gives him a warm hug…now that she knows he doesn’t have cooties anymore - that’s right, we all noticed, Dany!

We cut to a great sequence of a flock of ravens as they fly near Eastwatch and cross North of the wall. Their eyes intermittently go white for the briefest of seconds as they continue to fly - Bran Stark is using his warging abilities to do a little Night King reconnaissance. As the birds continue to fly north, they suddenly come upon an enormous mass of snow zombies which are slowly advancing southward. The birds circle overhead and we catch a glimpse of some Whitewalkers below. The Night King is among them and he looks sharply at the flock as though he knows Bran is spying on him. The birds disperse and a very startled Bran is jerked back to consciousness. He tells the maester they need to send out some ravens, stat.

In Oldtown at the Citadel, upon receiving the news from Winterfell, a group of archmaesters are gathered to discuss the scroll they received about the Army of Dead. Samwell Tarly is in the room performing whatever menial duties he’s been assigned that day, but he listens in. The majority of the maesters scoff at the idea of Whitewalkers, while archmaester Marwyn concedes it could be true…or it could be a trick by Daenerys to get Queen Cersei to move resources to the Wall, leaving the realm defenseless against the foreign invader. Sam can’t bite his tongue and admonishes them for their cavalier attitude. He tells them he’s seen Whitewalkers in the (rotting) flesh and they are, in fact, a real and horrifying threat. He implores them to spread the word to the realm. Since everybody trusts the Citadel, it’s in their power to sound the alarms and get all of Westeros on board. But the men laugh him out of the room. One maester asks Marwyn if that’s the Tarly whose father and brother were killed by Daenerys Targaryen and Marwyn confirms it, but says he hasn’t had the heart to tell Sam of their deaths just yet. I mean, is there ever really a good time? RIP, Tarleys!

Back at Dragonstone, Tyrion and Varys are chatting. Tyrion is like, “Dude, it was really gnarly when Dany nonchalantly torched the Tarlys because of their loyalty to Cersei, but I couldn’t talk her out of it. She kinda freaked me out with that move.” Varys cautions him that he really needs to find a way to get through to Dany, because there’s a thin line between commanding respect and turning into a merciless ruler. Varys recalls, regretfully, the many times he simply wrung his hands and did nothing while serving the Mad King during his brutal regime. Tyrion changes the subject and points to the scroll Varys is holding - it’s the news from Winterfell, and of course Varys took a sneak peek. He tells Tyrion it’s not good.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

In the war room, Jon and Dany have gathered with their respective advisors and Jon tells them he has to head home since Whitewalkers are practically knocking on their door up North. Collectively everybody wonders what can be done to stop the Whitewalkers while they’re in the middle of a war with Cersei. They all agree that Cersei won’t simply believe the news - she’ll need living (dead) proof that the threat of the Army of Dead is real. So they decide they need to get her a soil sample, if you will - that is, they gotta bring a snow zombie to Cersei, no big deal.

But once they have the zombie, they still have to actually get it in front of Queen Cersei. Tyrion points out that the only person Cersei trusts or listens to is Jaime, and maybe Jaime will hear what Tyrion has to say. Ty will just need Ser Davos to smuggle him into King’s Landing for a meet-up.

Jorah steps up to go snow zombie poaching - probably because he knows that the only way to keep impressing Dany is by constantly putting his life in danger. Plus, distance makes the heart grow fonder…maybe.

Not to be outdone in the hero department, Jon says he’ll head to Eastwatch, too. He’s the only one familiar with Whitewalkers and their army, after all, and he can convince his Wildling pals to help in the snow zombie retrieval efforts. It all seems like a weird Ocean’s Eleven plot. Frankly, I’m baffled that nobody suggests they simply send a dragon out to airlift a snow zombie and drop it at the Red Keep during Cersei’s daily outdoor yoga sessions. But what do I know?

At Winterfell, the Northern Lords are getting cranky about their absentee King, hinting they should have chosen Sansa to lead them. Sansa gives a measured reply, “Jon’s our king and he’s doing what he thinks is best” while Arya watches on, glowering. Later, the two sisters are walking the hallways. Sansa vents that she knew the Lords would start to turn on Jon for abandoning them all. Arya is ticked that Sansa didn’t say more to defend their brother. Sansa counters she needs to make sure they keep their alliances strong by listening to what the other Northern houses have to say, but Arya thinks what’s really in play is that Sansa is preparing for a scenario where Jon doesn’t return. Her big sis denies it, but Arya creepily says “You’re thinking it right now, you don’t want to, but the thought just won’t go away.” You can tell Sansa is kinda wondering, “Did Arya pick up novice psychic skills now, too?” At this point, nothing about her siblings would surprise Sansa.

At the shores of Kings Landing, Ser Davos and Tyrion arrive to attend to their respective business - they sync their watches and agree to meet back at the boat in a few hours.

Bronn and Jaime are walking through the dragon skull basement of the Red Keep, where Bronn plans to train with Jaime - but guess what? Psych! It’s really a set-up for Tyrion to covertly chat with Jaime. Seems a bit unlikely, considering the last time Tyrion saw Bronn, the latter had unceremoniously betrayed him. Jaime meanwhile is kinda pissed, ya know, because Tyrion killed their pops. But Tywin was an a-hole trying to have his own son killed when he knew he was innocent…so really Tyrion can be forgiven, right? Considering Jaime always liked his little bro, and he’s stuck with the only other living Lannister who is kinda psycho, Jaime grants Tyrion a moment of his time. Tyrion tells him Dany will win the war, but there may be a way to put all the bloodshed on hold.

While Tyrion is busy convincing his bro of the existence of snow zombies, Ser Davos walks the alleys of Flea Bottom and he comes upon a blacksmith’s shop where lo and behold, Gendry is working! Davos is all “Yo, so I figured you’d come back here, because nobody would expect it. How do you feel about joining me on –” and “Gendry grabs his bugout bag and a big ol’ hammer staff and goes “Yup, let’s go!” I’m torn. I mean, I really like Gendry and all, but I don’t totally see where he fits in here or why Davos felt the need to recruit him for Team Jon, but I guess we just go with this? Yay, more Gendry!

Back at the boat, Davos and Gendry wait for Tyrion and there’s a little trouble with some King’s Landing guards, which just turns out to be an excuse to see Gendry in action with his hammer staff thing - turns out, it’s really great for bashing brains. Who knew? The three men hurry away into their boat to head back to Queen Dany.

Jaime, post-chat with Tyrion, visits Cersei’s chambers to tell her of his meeting: Dany wants a ceasefire on account of dead people heading towards Westeros. Cersei is amused at the suggestion of zombies, but is surprisingly open to a truce with Dany, because they need to regroup, rebuild their army and come up with a better winning strategy - oh, and also: she’s pregnant. And this time around, she DGAF about hiding the fact that Jaime is the dad. Ahhh, it’s so liberating to be Queen and do whatever you want without fear of judgment or consequences! Nobody even stops to consider what this might mean for the Lannister/Greyjoy alliance. I can’t imagine it’ll go over well with Euron.

The Short Goodbye

Moving right along, the next few scenes are all quite brief - man, a LOT is happening in this episode! Davos, Tyrion and Gendry have returned to Dragonstone, where Jon and team are on the beach, prepping to sail to Eastwatch.

Davos wants to keep Gendry’s identity under wraps when he introduces him to Jon Snow, and intends to send Gendry to Winterfell. But the first words from Gendry’s mouth are “Hey, I’m Robert Baratheon’s bastard. You’re Ned Starks bastard. Our dads were buddies. Let’s jam!” The two exchange some short “I met your dad this one time!” niceties and it appears Gendry is now coming along to catch a zombie with Team Jon.

Tyrion and Jorah have a pleasant farewell and Tyrion gives Jorah a talisman - the coin he was going to use to buy his and Jorah’s freedom, back when they were captured in Slaver’s Bay two seasons ago. He offers the words “Don’t die, Dude. I want that back.” Next Dany approaches to say goodbye to Jorah. They grasp each other’s hands and share a soulful look, but before Jorah can utter any unforgettable words of farewell, Jon pops up to say goodbye. Poor Jorah walks away, likely stewing in the boat screaming silently “Khaleesi, I love you soooo bad, please just LOVE ME BACK!!!!!“

In Oldtown, Samwell Tarly and Gilly are sitting at the table, and Sam is busy with clerical gruntwork, making copies of old books. Gilly is throwing out various trivia facts that from one of the tomes she's reading - it’s by a High Septon who meticulously documented every single thing in his life. Sam is still wound up from his earlier chat with the maesters that he barely even notices when Gilly drops some key info from the book she is reading: Apparently some Prince Rhaegar dude got an annulment from his wife and married another chick in a secret ceremony. Yah. Let that sink in. Pretty sure the other chick is Lyanna Stark, which makes Jon Snow the legit heir to the Targaryen throne. Ooh, move over, Auntie Daenerys!

Sam is fed up with the uppity maesters. His talents seem wasted at the Citadel, and the scholars, whom he admired so much, neither believe in nor care about the imminent Whitewalker threat. He breaks into the super secret Citadel library once again to swipe some scrolls (presumably containing pertinent info for defeating Whitewalkers). Next, he packs up Gilly and Little Sam and they peace out. He tells Gilly he’s tired of reading about the achievements of better men. I assume they are on their way to Winterfell, but who knows, really.

My Shadow and Me

Speaking of Winterfell, Arya has decided to pass the time by secretly following Littlefinger. I mean, what else are you gonna do as a highly skilled assassin at your childhood home? As she clandestinely stalks him around the grounds, snooping on all his interactions, I get the sense that Littlefinger must know he is being watched. At one point, the maester of Winterfell knocks on Littlefinger’s chamber door and Arya overhears him say he’s found a scroll from the archives - the only copy of its kind. Arya waits for Littlefinger to leave his room and then she goes a'snooping and finds the scroll. We don’t see the full text but "steal his throne” and “swear fealty to King Joffrey” stand out, and it’s signed “Your faithful sister Sansa.” As Arya leaves Littlefinger’s room, we see him lurking around the corner, watching her re-lock his door. Hmm, what’s he up to?

Snow Zombie Safari!

Jon and his team have arrived at Eastwatch. They sit down with Tormund Giantsbane and fill him in on their mission. Tormund thinks it’s crazy, and Jon tells him they need some help from Tormund and his men. Davos says he’ll stay behind so as not to be a liability. #survivalstrategies. Tormund informs them a few others have arrived at Eastwatch and want to go north of the wall as well.

He leads Team Snow to the prison cells at Eastwatch. Inside are Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr and the Hound. It’s like the Dream Team only where various members have a beef with one another: Gendry doesn’t trust the men of the Brotherhood, seeing how they sold him to Melisandre for some good old fashioned blood magic fun. Tormund hates Mormonts on account of the late Lord Commander who had the Night’s Watch hunt and kill Wildlings. And the Hound just likes to call everybody the C-word. But for better or worse, Jon points out they are all on the same side, because, ya know…they’re not snow zombies. Well, I mean…technically Dondarrion and Jon both sort of are zombies, but we probably don’t have time to get into that. The North-facing gates of Eastwatch open and the men head out into a blinding snowstorm. Roll credits.

For an episode called Eastwatch, there was surpisingly little Eastwatch action, I’m just sayin’. This episode sure was jam-packed with info and lots of set-ups, though. I feel like people were just teleporting back and forth between locations. I suppose this is what the showrunners meant when they said things move fast this season.

Time for my post-Game two cents:

Not entirely sure what is going on at Winterfell and what tricks Littlefinger is up to. Is he looking to pit the Stark sisters against each other?

The Cersei pregnancy seems all too convenient, which bugs me just a little. Suddenly she has a new Lannister baby to look forward to and a reason to work so hard for the Lannister dynasty? Ugh, please. But if we do have a preggers Cersei, I hope the next two episodes just show her taking naps and enduring all-day morning sickness.

I still don’t totally get why Gendry is back in the picture. I think he’s great and all, but it seems like a contrived “let’s please the fans” plot more than something that makes sense. Like, why did Davos want to initially send him to Winterfell in the first place? Just to be nice?

And I feel like nobody knows what to do with Jorah so they just keep sending him away. Poor Jorah.

Sam doesn’t know it yet, but with his dad and bro gone, I’m pretty sure this makes him the rightful heir to his family home. Unless his dad really screwed him in the will. So, nice to know that he and Gilly potentially have a nice manor to go to once/if all the Whitewalker madness dies down.

There have been so many “Jon is a Targaryen” references in this season, which after the big revelation of Season 6 kinda makes it a bit meh every time they allude to it. Please, let Bran finally get word to Jon to clue him in already! Seriously, Bran couldn’t have included that tidbit in his scroll about the Army of Dead? But it’s an interesting reveal that Jon’s not just Rhaegar’s bastard. Again, though, that info works out pretty nicely for Jon.

The disconnect between Jaime sinking into the abyss during last week’s cliffhanger only to see him and Bronn pop up a few miles from where they entered the water at the top of the show was disappointing. It totally cheapens the ending from the previous episode, imo. It would’ve been interesting for Jaime to go missing for a bit after the battle, and to see how Cersei would react to her twin possibly being dead. But hey, now he gets to focus on being a new dad again and practicing one-handed diaper changes.

I do enjoy the coming together of so many characters. Especially the group heading north of the wall. Oh, the adventures they’ve all had! I feel like everybody needs to sit down over a round of drinks so they can share their stories and see how many mutual acquaintances they have - everybody besides Tormund seems to know Arya!

All in all, this episode wasn’t terribly thrilling. It wasn’t bad, but more like a hurried data dump. It definitely paved the way for some big things, and knowing that the last two episodes are going to be super-sized, I’m pretty stoked to see what happens next. I’m a tad concerned that now that they are off of the books, the writers are hastily tying up loose ends willy-nilly in a way that doesn’t always feel like Game of Thrones. We haven’t had any big character deaths of consequence, which on the one hand is great, because who wants to lose a favorite? But it also lowers the stakes when you feel like your fave key players will always be safe. Maybe that will all change next week. We’ll just have to wait with baited breath.

#gotrecaps #game of thrones #gameofthrones #eastwatch #daenerys #jon #jon snow #arya #stark #tyrion #jorah #longclaw #samwell #gilly

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scripttorture · 7 years

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This isn't strictly torture, but one of your earlier posts said you may be able to help with interrogation. MC has been kidnapped and they are trying to get information out of her. She is questioned in two separate instances, by a LEO and a civilian. What would the differences be in the two? MC is kind of a smart-ass and doesn't have the information they want. Would the LEO have a specific way of dealing with this? Thanks for any help you can give.

Weeeell Ihad to google LEO cos I am old and can not internet.

It’s agood thing I did to because well it doesn’t mean what I thought it meant. Iassumed that you were referring to someone who might actually have expert training on interrogation. In reality most law enforcement officers do not.

I’veposted this quote before but it really is worth doing it again-

“-the average law enforcement officer in theUnited States in their career receives between eight and fifteen hours of[suspect] interview training. What fills in the rest? People use words and techniques from popular culture and what’strendy.”

JoeNavarro, retired FBI interrogator, emphasis mine.

Police inthe UK get a little bit more trainingbut it’s not huge. And the result is that theremight not be much difference between an officer and a civilian when it comes tointerrogation.

Both of them are likely to be acting based on whatthey’ve seen on TV.

So…..thisscenario largely depends on you.

I cangive you a really realistic worse casescenario, based on actual torture cases in the states by police officers.But it’s not any more realistic than thebest case scenario.

I thinkreally the deciding factors are the civilianand police characters themselves with perhaps a side in what you the author want to say about thepolice and treatment of suspects.

I mightbe wrong but the LEO acronym gave me a US vibe. I’m aware that there are a fairnumber of issues to do with US police departments at the moment and whileI’ve got opinions I don’t think it’s my place to tell you how to handle theseissues. That would be too much like telling you what your story should be.

As I seeit there are….four main possible combinations. Both interrogators are againstforceful tactics and torture, one or the other might think it’s a good idea, orthey could both be sadistic assholes.

Psychologyexperiments have repeatedly shownthat we tend to obey people in authority. So if your LEO is in favour of‘pushing hard’ whatever that entails, the civilian is statistically likely to go with that even if they disagree.However if the situation is reversed the LEO will probably be able to restrainthe civilian.

So thislargely comes down to your LEO as acharacter.

Eventheir experience and the amount of interrogations they’ve conducted are negligible factors compared to theirpersonal attitude to the process. Abuses aside the whole thing is likely to go better if the interrogator goes in to itwith an open mind. If the LEO goes in assuming your MC ‘knows something’the whole situation is more likely to go badly. Though not necessarily in aphysically abusive way.

The truthis interrogations are a pretty shit wayof getting information. Humans have terrible memories and we’re very proneto editing our own memories without consciously being aware of it.

A good police officer with a lot ofexperience would probably be aware of that. But a bad or inexperienced officer might not be.

There are some techniques that don’t so muchhelp with getting information but help spot inconsistencies in a story. I getthe impression that is what you’reafter over a history of police torture so-

Get the MC to tell their story backwards. That tends to make anyinconsistencies much more obvious when compared to the version they toldforwards. Lies are difficult to keep up when someone does this.

Get one of the interrogators to write down orrecord everything. They’llneed to go over it all later, something that should take several hours.

Try and build a repartee with the MC. Different people do this indifferent ways but the basic idea is to create a congenial and friendlyatmosphere, to put the suspect at ease. Thiswill be difficult or impossible if the ‘suspect’ has been kidnapped.

This movereeks of desperation on the part of the kidnappers. Because a good investigation relies primarily on people willingly volunteering information,then on forensic evidence and onlylastly on interrogations. This kidnapping has the potential to utterly ruin the trust between policeofficers and the public, crippling future investigations and cutting off a potential source of evidence for this one.

Additionallyit’s likely to cost the police officer their job, and because they’re unlikely to gain the MC’s trust by kidnap they’reunlikely to get any information even if the MC had it. Because the stress and fear from being kidnapped wouldaffect the MC’s memory the same way torture would (though to a lesserdegree).

I thinkyou should consider whether this scenario is something you really need for yourstory. It seems very unlikely to end well for either interrogator. The factthat they’re attempting it or considering it at all suggests to me that they’renot overly concerned with evidence, procedure and facts.

It makesit sound as if this LEO is a uselesspolice officer and that paired withthe desperation of the scenario does make me think ‘torturer’ is a real possibility.

Of coursewith a desperate and personal enough situation, something this particular LEO would risk everything even jail or death for,that doesn’t have to be the case. They’re your character, and at the momentfrom what you’ve sketched out everythingcomes down to the motives, experience and personality of the police officer.

With aninexperienced officer, someone who doesn’t necessarily know that interrogationsare rubbish, you have more range to play with. They could be well meaning andgenuinely mistaken- Whatever sort of motive or personality an inexperiencedofficer in this position has their interrogation skills probably won’t hugelydiffer from the civilian’s.

With anexperienced officer you end up with something more polarised: either a police officer who knows this is notgoing to actually work but tries to conduct it properly anyway, or a probable torturer who stopped doing real policework a long time ago in favour of beating ‘information’ out of anyone whosepath they cross.

In whichcase their style will really differfrom the civilian’s. Either by following some of the interrogation techniques Ioutlined above or by a lot of open-handed slaps and electric shocks (probablyfrom stun guns, Tasers or riot gear).

I….appreciatethat this answer is probably a bit more open than you were hoping for. I’mperfectly happy to take more questions, let me know if you need any more help.

Disclaimer

#tw torture #tw abuse #tw kidnap #interrogation #abuse of prisoners #information gathering #police officers #lack of interrogation training #literally come from novels and movies #retangis

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carafinn · 7 years

Text

We Were Emergencies (1/3)

pairing: Kyoutani Kentarou/ Yahaba Shigeru word count: ~4k summary: As if life as a superhero isn't hard enough already: there's a new vigilante in town going by the name of Mad Dog, and he seems to have a penchant for apprehending serial killers and sending Yahaba into ever deeper depths of work related despair. This does not bode well for anybody.

also on ao3.

“Fuck off,” the Mad Dog says, and spits a thick wad of blood onto the ground. Amidst the dim glow of moonlight Yahaba can briefly make out blond hair and dark, feral eyes. The corner of his mouth is still dripping blood. Yahaba realises, with no small measure of surprise, that the Mad Dog can’t be any older than he is.

Yahaba, through sheer force of stubbornness alone, refuses to back down or look afraid. Refuses.

So many dumb ways to die.

“You’re -” Yahaba struggles to think of a phrase to complete the sentence. The Mad Dog. The vigilante hero. The reason why I’ve been having the worst tension headache of my life for the past three weeks. “You’re injured.”

“I’ve got some pretty shit news for you,” Futakuchi tells Yahaba, by way of greeting, because obviously it being a Monday morning isn’t depressing enough in itself. Not that Yahaba has anything against Monday mornings; it just happens that the team always has their mortality meetings on Mondays and, shit, if there’s anything in the world that can make sitting around discussing what went wrong during rescue missions, and how many people died as a consequence, even more depressing, Yahaba cannot think of it. Not a single thing, and it isn’t even for the lack of trying. “Would you like me to break it to you right now or would you prefer to take the depressing news along with your morning coffee?”

“‘Good morning, Yahaba, how was your weekend?’” Yahaba says, in a long-suffering tone. ‘“Well it was pretty crappy, given the number of last minute clean-up missions that cropped up, but it’s very kind of you, Futakuchi, I appreciate your asking after my well-being.” “Of course, I actually have some bad news right now but I wouldn’t dream of blindsiding you after such a horrible weekend-”’

“Don’t bother, he did the same thing to me the moment I came to office,” comes Watari’s half-amused, half-bemused voice from the adjacent cubicle, and Yahaba almost lets out an indignant hey! at how Watari had cut off his Oscar-worthy monologue. “And it really is bad news. Apparently there’s a new vigilante on the loose in our area.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” What can be more depressing than a mortality meeting on Monday? he’d asked the heavens, naively. Well, at least Yahaba’s found an answer to his own question.

Vigilantes are a rescue team’s worst nightmare. The thing is, Yahaba doesn’t mind being in a team that specialises in cleaning up after other heroes, even if he has superpowers himself. He doesn’t care that his job ranks right at the bottom of the superhero hierarchy, that people call his team the clean-up crew. He doesn’t mind relinquishing the spotlight – and the accompanying fame and fortune – to others, or the fact that he’ll spend his whole career in the background, rescuing defeated heroes and dealing with the messy aftermaths of glorious fights. People often laud heroes for their bravery, cheer them on from the side lines and revere them from afar. What they often forget, and it is so easy to forget, is that it doesn’t just end there.

It isn’t enough that the criminal or rogue has been apprehended; it isn’t even enough that the victim has been saved. Somebody’s got to make sure that the (frequently injured, more frequently deeply traumatised) victim is well taken care of; that no other passer-by has been inadvertently harmed in the process; that there should be no rubble lying around that poses immediate danger to anybody. It’s utterly mundane; insipid, even, but no less important for that.

Most heroes are conscientious about keeping collateral damage to a minimum, although the more hot-headed ones tend to cause more carnage than is absolutely necessary. The amount of damage dealt is dependent on the nature of the power, too; there was a period of time when Yahaba spent a lot of time cleaning up, quite literally, after a hero whose primary ability consisted drawing up sewage from the drains and using them to power toxic explosions… it had been a truly dark period in his life.

In any case. Vigilante heroes (heroes not officially registered and regulated under the Central Bureau) are the worst, because if history is of any guide, everything they did tended to degenerate into a lot of senseless violence. Also, because they don’t report back to the Bureau, their activities are notoriously difficult to track and trace, which means that the clean-up crew will almost always arrive too late to the crime scene.

Yahaba makes his way to the kitchen pantry, scoops two heaping tablespoons of instant coffee into his cup, and hovers his hand in mid-air as he engages in a mental debate as to whether he should make his coffee extra strong today, because clearly he is going to need it. His poor heart, though.

“My intel tells me that guy’s real strong, too,” comes Futakuchi’s gleeful voice from outside the pantry. Is he getting a kick out of Yahaba’s misery? He’s definitely getting a kick out of Yahaba’s misery. “We’re talking Iwaizumi level strong. And he doesn’t give a shit about the petty criminals; goes exclusively after the serial murderers.”

Yahaba glares at his cup of coffee, thinks better of it, and then scoops in another two heaping tablespoons for good measure. Fuck his heart; here’s to hoping that the caffeine overdose will kill him before the overworking does.

While it’s true that Futakuchi might be given to occasional bouts of sadism, the fact remains that there is nobody better at gathering information in the most timely and efficient manner possible than he does. This is something that has, in the grand scheme of things, cut down on precious rescue time and prevented a lot of unnecessary injuries and death. The ability that is formally registered under his profile in the Bureau is “expert hacker”, but Yahaba knows that his genius lies not just in extracting information but also in processing them in the most logical and thorough manner possible. it’s hard to figure out where Futakuchi’s superpower ends and his natural, scary perceptiveness begins.

His information, while sometimes delivered in the most sadistic manner possible, is almost never inaccurate.

This, Yahaba will reflect later, is precisely the problem.

It’s Tuesday evening, and Yahaba is in the supermarket, picking out turnips for dinner. A very harmless, normal, civilian activity. He waits in the queue for 20 minutes because it’s Tuesday evening and everyone’s grabbing groceries on the way home from work, and of course his phone has to buzz right before he gets to check out his vegetables.

“There’s been a murder attempt, and the vigilante’s involved this time. Took out the murderer before anyone else got to intervene but there’s a lot of collateral damage,” comes Nametu’s voice from the other end of the line.

“Location?” Yahaba asks, deftly making his way through the crowd while thinking sadly about the turnip soup that he will never get to drink. Another voice in his head, sounding suspiciously like Watari, tells him that he’s being unnecessarily dramatic.

“I’ll get Futakuchi to send it to you, and the fastest route you can take.”

“Got it, boss.”

It’s an abandoned shopping mall that is, thankfully, only a five minute bike journey from Yahaba’s current location. Briefly, Yahaba wonders if the vigilante guy had chosen an abandoned building to prevent innocent civilians from getting involved, but retracts the thought almost instantly. There’s no way a vigilante hero would be that considerate, and besides, Futakuchi did say a lot of collateral damage.

Watari’s already at the scene by the time Yahaba makes it to the abandoned building, or what used to be a building, because the entire thing has been reduced to a rubble and torn brutally apart, down to every. Last. Brick.

Atop the mountain of rubble is the perpetrator, who is alive but who, by the looks of it, would much rather not be. Yahaba almost feels sorry for him before he realises that the guy in front of him is, in fact, a notorious serial killer whose penchant for killing his victims by slicing their necks open has made Yahaba violently ill on several depressing clean-up missions. If Futakuchi’s intel is to be trusted, they’ve even got a code name for him back in the underground world. The Slasher.

“Unbelievable,” Watari mumbles, mostly to himself. Yahaba doesn’t know if the statement is meant to address the pile of rubble, or the fact that the vigilante had managed to find and beat up someone who’d managed to elude capture for the past year. Watari turns to him. “The vigilante still nearby?”

Part of Yahaba’s superpower is the ability to sense if other superpowers are nearby; a hero’s (or criminal’s) presence is directly proportional to how strong he is. A guy capable of knocking out the Slasher and a whole building in the process, Yahaba would be able to pick him up from ten miles away. He shakes his head.

“There’s no way we’re gonna find him right now,” Yahaba says. He supposes it’s for the best; if they’d been caught in the crossfire they’d probably be soup by now. Yahaba scans the surroundings: there doesn’t seem to be any innocent civilians lurking around, but they’re going to have to check to make sure. And the Slasher definitely needs medical help. And the building.

“We’re gonna need backup,” Yahaba tells Nametsu grimly. “You’re not going to believe this…”

As it turns out, the vigilante guy actually has some sort of notorious, pseudo-celebrity status even in the underground world, and an equally ridiculous nickname to go with it. The Mad Dog.

“He’s fucking batshit insane,” says the Slasher, looking terrified and slightly crazed, voice cracking at the end for added emphasis. Yahaba thinks it’s really rich coming from someone who gets a kick from slashing open the necks of young women, but catches Nametsu’s forbidding glance and resists the urge to drive his fist into the guy’s face. Right. Yahaba has an unfortunate track record of ending interrogations prematurely because of the bad temper of his; according to Nametsu, he’s one more violent outburst away from getting barred from interrogations altogether. “He… he makes fissures and splits the ground like it’s made of cake.”

That explains the rubble. Across the table, Ennoshita looks thoughtful. And also disturbingly calm, given the context of this conversation, but that’s precisely why Ennoshita’s in charge of interrogations. Ennoshita’s a hypnotist, but he’s gotten so good at the job that he doesn’t even need to invoke his powers most of the time. It’s uncanny, really. All he does is slap on this dazed, mellow expression, and wala! - manages to wheedle out every last bit of information out of the most tight lipped of criminals, before they can realise that they’ve divulged everything ranging from their syndicate’s deepest darkest secrets to the horoscopes of their great-grandaunts.

Between Ennoshita and Futakuchi, Yahaba privately thinks that they’ve enough power to bring the whole country down to its knees. Not that Yahaba is ever going to admit it.

“So he attacks by manipulating the surroundings?”

The Slasher shakes his head. “Fucker uses the ground manipulating thing to trap you. Then he attacks you with his fists. And his teeth. Like a fucking animal.”

This explains a lot of things. For instance, the Mad Dog nickname. And also, the numerous, harrowing looking bite marks on the Slasher’s arms.

“Interesting,” Ennoshita says, eyes gleaming as he leans forward. “Do you happen to know anything more about his background?”

“Not a damn clue,” Slasher tells him. “He appeared a few weeks ago outta nowhere. Thought it was a joke when I got the news, but… fuck, shoulda ran away when I got the tip.”

The guy is giving the Slasher a run for his money. This cannot bode well for anybody.

“...or killed a few more women,” the Slasher continues, ugly features twisting into a perverted smile, and Yahaba’s just about to lunge forward, fuck the rules, but he’s too late to it. Nametsu, who was standing behind Yahaba, reaches out and knocks the guy cold in a single, clean blow with her bare fists.

“Yahaba,” Nametsu turns and addresses him in a chiding tone. “What did we say about resorting to violence in interrogations?”

This isn’t even in the realm of the pot calling the kettle black anymore. This is the pot calling the kettle a pot.

“You can continue the interrogation tomorrow,” Nametsu tells Ennoshita, before making her way out of the room serenely, leaving everyone to gape at her. The underground world might not be ready for the Mad Dog, but they sure as hell will never be ready for Mai Nametsu.

Yahaba gets exactly two and a half days of peace before the Mad Dog strikes again. Retirement cannot come fast enough.

This time it’s Minatoya Soetsu, the boss of one of the biggest syndicates in the city that deals with human trafficking, and he’s been tied against a random tree in one of the forest patches at the outskirts of the city. Or what used to be a forest; unfortunately, every other tree in the vicinity seems to have been uprooted, so it’s less forest and more barren wasteland.

Yahaba is starting to notice a trend.

When Minatoya finally comes to three days later, he gets sent for a gruelling round of interrogations with Ennoshita as per department protocol. It goes pretty smoothly, mostly because the guy recognises that he’s fucked and has nothing to lose, and if divulging more information about the syndicate means that it’ll lighten his sentence, then he’s happy to roll with it.

It goes smoothly, that is, until Ennoshita wraps up the conversation with, “So, about the circumstances of your capture.”

Minatoya freezes. He darts his eye around the room with an expression horribly reminiscent of a trapped animal, as if expecting someone to leap out from the ceiling and shout “Surprise!!!” before beating him into a pulp. Privately, Yahaba thinks it’s a rather befitting expression, given Minatoya’s track record of trafficking kidnapped children.

“We need you to tell us about the Mad Dog,” Ennoshita says, and that’s when Minatoya loses it. He starts to laugh.

He’s still laughing, ten minutes later, when he’s escorted out of the room by a disturbed looking Watari.

This continues for two months; not a single week passes where the Mad Dog won’t stir up some sort of trouble; by then, Yahaba’s already resigned to cleaning up after the guy forever with no hopes of capturing him. Not that there’s any real impetus to: the thing is, there’s a definite trend in the way the Mad Dog operates. He’s always by himself, never there at the crime scene, only deals with the shadiest of villains, and he never, ever gets innocent civilians involved.

The sheer amount of architectural damage, though. Yahaba's never known Nametsu to be anything but ridiculously self-possessed, but there had been a few moments where she'd almost, very narrowly, lost it, courtesy of her ever-growing budget-related despair.

“I don’t understand,” Futakuchi says despairingly, for the fifth time in a single hour, during which he’d tried and failed to retrieve any information regarding the Mad Dog. It drives him mad, it does, when Futakuchi doesn’t understand. “What’s he doing this for? Because it sure as hell isn’t fame or money. Why’d he appear now? Where’d he come from? It’s been two months, so why can’t we capture him?”

Yahaba’s only answer is to shrug and spoon ever-increasing amounts of shitty tasting instant coffee into his mug.

Because there is no god, Yahaba’s beeper goes off on Sunday, at four in the morning. The saddest part about the entire affair isn’t even that Yahaba has to drag himself out of bed; the saddest part is that Yahaba is already out of bed, and is, in fact, already in the midst of a clean-up mission. There’s been a fight between three heroes and a pyromaniac at one of the bars in the heart of the city, involving a lot of fire, explosion, and the general idiocy of drunken men.

The heroes are lying in a pool of their own blood, the pyromaniac is nowhere to be found, there are no fatalities but a lot of people have been injured, and the fire is still raging on.

“We’ve a report from a civilian,” Nametsu tells him wearily from the other end of the receiver. “Construction site three miles away from where you are. There’s been a fire and we need you to investigate it; I suspect the Mad Dog’s involved. Bring someone along with you.”

“Got it,” Yahaba tells him, and looks at the scene. Practically the whole team is there, minus Futakuchi who’s back in the base. Ennoshita’s using his hypnosis to help calm down hysterical civilians. Shirabu’s definitely needed at the scene; they need his power to help put out the fire, and he’s barely making progress because fuckers thought it was a good idea to set off a fire in the middle of a bar. Watari’s nowhere to be seen, probably tending to injuries or retrieving people who are still trapped in the fire.

Yahaba curses inwardly, hops onto his motorbike, and makes his way to the construction site alone. If Futakuchi’s intel is to be trusted – and Yahaba can count, on one hand, the number of times Futakuchi’s intel has actually failed them – then it’s probably the doing of the Mad Dog again. Which, given Mad Dog’s track record, means that there perpetrator will be knocked out cold and draped across the ground like an offering on the plate, there will be minimal civilian involvement, the Mad Dog will be gone, and he would’ve left the site annihilated in his wake.

Which means that Yahaba will probably be safe, even if he’s going over alone.

As it happens, he is deliciously wrong.

The first thing Yahaba sees when he reaches the construction site is the pyromaniac that’d been responsible for the fire at the bar, lying on the ground in a semi-conscious state while making pained, groaning noises. Yahaba doesn’t see the second thing so much as he senses it; it’s one of his abilities, after all. Another Super’s lurking nearby, his aura so overwhelming that Yahaba can only arrive at one conclusion.

Mad Dog’s at the scene; he’s hidden amongst the rubble a few hundred metres away from where Yahaba’s standing, to be exact.

Strange; it isn’t like the Mad Dog to lurk around after he nabs his prey and destroys whatever can be destroyed. And the construction site’s layout is complex enough that he’d probably be able to slip away without getting noticed, even if someone else were around (barring, of course, his knowledge of Yahaba’s sensing abilities.) That leaves two explanations: one, he’s injured and can’t run. Two, he’s lying in wait to ambush Yahaba.

The wisest course of action, Yahaba reflects, would be to grab the pyromaniac’s body, and run the hell for his life.

As it happens, Yahaba does not make the best life choices. If he did, he would be sleeping in bed, on a Sunday morning, because that was what normal people with regular nine-to-five jobs did. Not chasing after half-crazed lunatics with a penchant for destroying everything on sight and biting their enemies to death.

Slowly, Yahaba makes his way towards the general direction of the Mad Dog. He’s about twenty metres away from the other guy when the Mad Dog jumps up from behind a piece of rubble.

Yahaba, through sheer force of stubbornness alone, refuses to back down or look afraid. Refuses.

So many dumb ways to die.

Mad Dog’s hands are angled in a grotesque manner, there’s a cut across his left flank that’s still oozing blood, and a gaping wound on his thigh wide enough that Yahaba can see the tendons underneath it.

“Fuck off,” Mad Dog snarls, and scrunches his face up, as if bracing himself for something. Then he blinks, surprised. On his face the expression looks strange; it makes him look younger than he already is.

“You can’t use your power on me,” Yahaba tells him. Nullification is Yahaba’s trump card, the second ability of his, and probably an important contributing factor as to how he’s managed to stay alive so far despite his disastrous decision-making skills. (The other important factors include Watari, Futakuchi’s intel, and the fact that if he kicked his bucket prematurely the entire team will never forgive him, and will probably take turns to spit on his grave.) “I can stop people from using their powers within a certain radius.”

Mad Dog stares at him for an uncomfortably long time. Slowly, his expression gives way to a disturbing smile. “Then I’m just gonna have to do it the hard way.”

Mad Dog lunges forward, with a speed that should not be possible given the state of his grievous injuries. Luckily, Yahaba’s hand-to-hand combat is nothing to scoff at, and he narrowly dodges the punch by a hair’s breadth.

If the hit had landed, Yahaba would probably have ended up concussed into the next century.

“I’m not here to fight,” Yahaba says, desperately, which is the truth. “Or to capture you.” Which is less truthful, but sometimes Yahaba’s not beneath lying a little to save his ass from pissed-off vigilantes determined to pummel him to death.

Mad Dog glares at him suspiciously. Fair enough.

“Look, can we take care of your injuries first?” By the looks of the surroundings the guy must’ve lost a good litre or two of blood. Yahaba wonders if he’s still standing upright through sheer willpower alone.

Mad Dog’s look of suspicion morphs into flat-out disbelief. “You wanna nurse me? The fuck for?”

“Because you’re injured?” Yahaba wishes Ennoshita were here instead. Or Watari. Hell, anyone else in the team would be better at diplomacy than he. Expect maybe Futakuchi, who’d probably get his head bitten off three sentences into the conversation.

“You lured the guy out here,” Yahaba says, slowly, and he’s not even sure what he’s trying to prove, “So that you could deal with him alone, away from the civilians.”

Mad Dog studies Yahaba, expressionless, for a good ten seconds. Then he lets out a raspy laugh and lunges forward before Yahaba can react; it’s way too late for Yahaba to dodge, so he shuts his eyes and braces for the impact, but Mad Dog grabs his shoulder and flings him out of the way, out of line from a blast of fire.

Yahaba whips his head in time to see the pyromaniac spitting out another fireball from behind a scaffold a hundred metres away; he’s too far away for Yahaba to nullify his abilities. Yahaba curses inwardly. The guy must’ve come to while Yahaba was distracted, and now they’re going to burn into a crisp.

Getting roasted to death by a crazy pyromaniac because he got distracted arguing with a crazy dog-guy ranks pretty high up in Yahaba’s list of Dumb Ways To Die. The top five, in fact.

He is so going to have his grave spat at.

“Stop your nullification!” Mad Dog snaps at Yahaba. “I need my powers-”

“I already did,” Yahaba shoots back. No point keeping his cool now, what with the fact that they’re going to die and all.

With that, Mad Dog lets out a bloodcurdling howl, plants his palms onto the ground, and splits the ground between them and the pyromaniac cleanly. It doesn’t stop there; the sheer impact of the ground fissuring sends a shower of scaffolding onto the pyromaniac, who gets buried in ten seconds flat.

Yahaba’s poor head is still reeling from the aftershocks of the quake when he realises that he’s miraculously unscathed from the general chaos surrounding him. That’s when he realised: Mad Dog’s made sure that the ground directly around Yahaba - and the ground supporting the scaffold above his head - has remained intact, something that must’ve required a ridiculous degree of skill. Yahaba turns around, opens his mouth to speak to Mad Dog, but the other guy is already sprinting away at incredible speed. Even then, and even in the dark, Yahaba can tell that he’s favouring one leg over the other.

“Wait,” Yahaba yells, but of course Mad Dog doesn’t hear him. Or even if he does, like hell he’s going to stop for Yahaba.

As always: Yahaba’s left alone, amidst the dark of the night, in the aftermath.

#my fics #kyouhaba #haikyuu!!#kyoutani kentarou #yahaba shigeru

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thaliaanddestiny · 7 years

Text

Home Is In Your Eyes-”Forever Begins Today.”

“Forever Begins Today.”

DESTINY felt the hot August breeze blow on her face and she crossed her arms over her chest uncomfortably. She had been waiting for over an hour at this ridiculous train station for them to show up, and they had yet to prove themselves. She didn’t have all day, and her best friend was waiting for her at home, probably going stir crazy. Destiny had to leave Thalia for a while with Tonks and Andromeda, and she hoped that the half-witch they promised would help actually showed up today.

Destiny sneered at the thought; if full witches couldn’t help Thalia break the curse, she doubted these half-witches could. Of course, Tonks and Andromeda were half-witches themselves, and they’d gotten along for the most part. Albeit, it had been awkward for them to learn that there were different types of witches. Tonks’s kind relied on wands for magic, which is why they were referred to as half-witches in Destiny’s circles. Destiny was a full witch; more commonly known, though, as a Spellcaster. She had no need to rely on a wand for spells, instead used incantations and true magic from within. Half-witches had no knowledge that there were any other kind of magic users until Destiny had sought out the infamous Albus Dumbledore for help. Of course, when she finally found Hogwarts, she found that he was dead.

Thalia, her aforementioned best friend, was a Spellcaster as well. Or, at least she used to be. Her powers had been locked away, stirring in her chest and unreachable to her, after she was cursed by an Enchantress for something she didn’t do. Of course, the curse did much more than that, but that was hardly Destiny’s story to tell. It is what led her to a London train station this afternoon, though.

She eventually noticed four figures stalking towards her off in the distance, and her magic sensed that one of them was a full witch. She knew instantly it was them and started to stalk towards them impatiently.

“A Bennett witch,” Destiny commented when she finally approached the four--two boys and two girls--and gestured to the girl with dark skin. “My friend is very distantly related to the Bennett’s.”

“We did our research,” one of the boys, the attractive one with dark hair, interrupted. He held out a bag and Destiny took it instantly, inspecting its contents.

“Blood bags,” the Bennett explained, “And a Daylight ring.”

“Thank you,” Destiny directed to her. “She isn’t like you lot, though; she’s mortal. The Enchantress called her a Moroi--”

“Yes,” the Bennett witch nodded. “A Moroi can only be made if a curse is placed; it’s a normal vampire without the immortality and the normal magic of a witch. However, since she was a witch at the time she was cursed, she has retained some power, yes?”

“Well,” Destiny sighed, “Yes; but I was told she would specialize in an elemental power. She doesn’t use any water, fire, earth, or water. Instead, she--” Destiny hesitated, “Heals things. She can bring things back from the brink of death.”

“Spirit,” The light haired boy answered. “Spirit is a special element; does it take a toll on her?”

“Yes,” Destiny confirmed sadly. “It makes her very sick, and sometimes depressed. I’ve caught her...cutting herself to relieve the pain using Spirit has on her. Is that normal?”

“Until she breaks the curse? Yes,” the Bennett answers, “Spirit users often end up killing themselves if the curse is never broken; to become a spirit user, she must have been very depressed when the curse was placed.”

“Look, can you help us or not?” Destiny interrupted, shooting them all glares. “She can’t deal with the bloodlust, let alone the effects of Spirit. She deserves her magic back.”

“No one can get it back but her,” The attractive one cut in, “She needs to prove to herself that she can be a Moroi and have her magic. The Enchantress only made it harder; she didn’t take away her abilities.” Destiny raised an eyebrow at this man.

“And you are?” She hissed, not trusting this full, immortal vampire.

“Damon Salvatore.” He smirked, mimicking her crossed arms. “I’m the one who will be staying to help you and your friend.”

Destiny scoffed. “Absolutely not,” she argued, shaking her head. “A vampire can’t help us.”

“I beg to differ!” Damon laughed. “If anyone can teach her how to control her bloodlust, it’s me. Plus, you’ll need someone to restrain her when your witchy friends attempt to search her memories.”

“Half-witches,” The Bennett corrected with disgust. Destiny’s lip turned up into a smile, deciding she liked this witch. “Damon is the best man for the job, I promise.” Destiny was still wary; but it had been a year and the curse wasn’t any more tolerable. Thalia needed help, and she needed it now. Their was a war coming.

“Voldemort is fighting against these half-witches as we speak,” Destiny changed the subject, “It’s as much our war as theirs. He wants to be like us and more; we intend to fight with them.”

“As do we,” Damon answered.

“Good, we’re on the same page,” Destiny affirmed. She looked around at the rest of the crew. “Will you all be joining us?”

“No,” the Bennett answered, “I will be returning to check the progress and offer my efforts as much as I can. However, we do have other things that’s holding our attention. I’m afraid that while we are on your side, we will not be assisting the half-witches in their battle to end Voldemort.” Destiny set a glare on her at that, angered. She didn’t understand how you could sit back and watch while some sadistic serial killer enhanced his forces in order to gain control and power. It was just like Hitler, or other human dictators, except Voldemort seemed much more threatening to the witches race.

“If you aren’t with us when the time comes,” Destiny speaks up, shifting her weight in defiance, “Then you will be against us. The other girl shakes her head in disagreement, but no one says anything.

“Call me Bonnie,” the Bennett witch finally introduced.

“Destiny,” Destiny answered reluctantly. “And I need to get back to the safehouse. It’s dangerous to be out on these streets with Death-Eaters lurking all the time.”

“Well then, witchy girl, introduce me to your vampire friend,” Damon cut in. Destiny looked up at him through her eyelashes, appreciating that at least the most attractive one would be staying with them. If anything, that should brighten some spirits.

“She isn’t a full vampire,” Destiny argued annoyed, as Damon said his goodbyes. She noticed he awkwardly avoided the other girl with them, and shared a cold encounter with the other male. “She’s a witch who has been cursed. Our ultimate goal is to break that curse.”

“And in the very likely event that that doesn’t happen, I’m here to show her how to control her urge to kill normal people,” Damon responded. Destiny wondered if he always sounded so casual about everything. “Like yourself.”

“I’m hardly normal,” She seethed at his last comment, coming to a stop behind a lowly populated building. “I’m a--”

“Witch,” Damon finished for her, “I realize that; I also realize that a witches blood tastes just as good as a human’s. That’s all that matters when the bloodlust consumes her.”

Destiny huffed; Thalia would never feed on her. Sure, sometimes they’d had to keep her locked up when the lust hit with some blood bags, but Destiny knew that friendship would prevail.

Friendship is what got Thalia here in the first place.

“She isn’t particularly strong,” Destiny said instead, rubbing her hands against a pillar, and Damon eyed her curiously. He took in her mess of dark blonde curls and purple rimmed glasses with a smile. “If anything, she’s lost weight and gotten thinner,”

“That’s typical of her kind,” Damon clued in, still watching her. “Ours gets stronger and faster; but she’s mortal. It shouldn’t change her strength.”

“Right,” Destiny sighed, clearly having done her research. “It did change her speed, slightly. She gets pretty fast. If she had an elemental power, she would be more of a threat to us. The only person I’m worried about Thalia hurting, is herself.” Destiny pursed her lips and stood back, watching as the pillar begin to glow a faint green.

“So why does she do it?” Damon asked, examining the pillar with wide eyes. He shifted closer to Destiny and she moved a comfortable distance away. Damon smirked. “Why cut herself?”

“When she heals, she uses a piece of herself,” Destiny explained further, watching him suspiciously. “It hurts her mind to do it and makes her bloodlust stronger. She can’t take the psychological pain and the nagging in her mind, so she cuts herself.”

“So the obvious solution is,” Damon interrupted, drumming on the wall for effect, “Stop healing. Stop using the powers!” Destiny huffed, offended.

“She can’t do that,” Destiny argued, pressing her fingers to her temples. “Losing magic is like losing a limb; so first of all, it’s harder for her to not use any magic. This is why Tonks--you’ll meet her later--and her husband will be searching her memories. They think if Thalia can confront her past and the things that happened, she can release herself from Spirit and gain her magic back.”

“Secondly,” Destiny went on, “The urge to heal when something is hurt burns within her relentlessly. She hardly has control.”

“And what about you?” Damon prodded further, as if it was a natural addition to the conversation. Destiny recoiled, taken aback.

“I--excuse me?” She asked, her voice getting a pitch or two higher. Damon sauntered over to her, a smirk on his face.

“I want to know about you,” he repeated innocently, reaching out and twirling a strand of Destiny’s hair around his fingers. She slapped his hand away, shocked, and attempted to turn her attention back to the pillar which was stretching as they spoke.

“There’s nothing to know,” Destiny mumbled, her head a jumble of thoughts and anxiety. When the pillar was stretched to its maximum capacity, she turned back to Damon.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” he brushed off, staring into her eyes. They were pale, he noticed, and he’d never seen any like them before. “Everyone has a backstory. Baggage. Favorite color.” He winked and Destiny felt she might be blushing; but she’d be damned if she showed it.

“We need to get back, Thalia’s been alone for far too long,” She answered instead, taking Damon’s hand. He looked at her, confused, but didn’t pull away or respond negatively. Still, Destiny reasoned, “If you don’t hold onto me then you’ll get Splinched.”

“Splinched?” Damon scrunched up his nose. Destiny held on tighter, muttered something unintelligible, and then they disappeared, leaving behind a cobblestone street full of secrets and a cold wind.

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