#Child soldier comes back as angry heartbroken teenager

[jasontoddsno1simp]

#bruce changed his entire life because of the death of his parents #how could a murdered teenager not expect the same #< prev tags #yes! this!! #also in his time as robin jason literally saw bruce lock kgbeast underground with no feasible escape #personally held bruce back from killing the joker over Selina (he didn't even hurt her; just tempted her back into crime iirc) #and had to sit through that whole issue where garzonas' dad comes for revenge #and bruce just goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what do you expect a greiving father to do #like. #jason DID have reason to think Bruce would get revenge for him if he loved him enough #and then he comes back to find out he didn't #jason todd #bruce wayne critical

Tags from @disniq

This shit is why I can't take JT crits/antis seriously when they say he's being unreasonable. Like sure, the entire mob.boss plan probably wasn't the best idea, but neither is dressing up in an armored fursuit and punching crime?!

Like?!

But that's besides the point - Jason expected some kind of change and the only change he got was Bruce hardening his heart and doubling down on his beliefs. He no longer cared what was best for him or his children; all he cared about was the damn mission.

Not to be a brainrotted stan but actually yeah, I think it’s pretty reasonable to expect that if someone truly loves you then regardless of what their previous beliefs were, their mind would change if the thing they’ve been defending (or even were just neutral about) gravely hurt you.

[thebeesareback]

I would love to have a Hunger Games short story about, well, anything. I would especially like to have one which focuses on the families of the career tributes.

Because it must be so strange! Everyone we see in District 12 is aware of exactly how awful the Games are. They all hate them and know it's a slaughter and live in fear. But for districts 1, 2 and 4? Its an honour. Allegedly.

Imagine raising a child and watching them excel at killing and physical activities. You think this is an opportunity to bring wealth, prestige, honour to your family and your district. So perhaps you'd encourage them! You raise this perfect little killing machine, and try to reconcile them with the funny little baby you held and loved. Then you watch them die, on TV, and their killers come and visit your district. Would you feel angry? Ashamed? Heartbroken? If you've got other children, would you want them to volunteer to try and claw back pride?

Let's say that your child did win. They don't come back, not really. Think of Finnick. A 14 year old boy who's killed people and then been sexually exploited around the Capital. You might have raised a beautiful killer, but now he's haunted by nightmares and desperate to protect Annie. Your whole family is in danger if you don't comply with the Capital's requirements. That's not glory: it's horror.

There's an offhand line in the second book where a previous career tribute is reaped and has to return to the arena. The night before the games starts, he goes around to everyone, shakes their hands and apologises because he's going to try and kill them the next day.

I've heard soldiers talk about how they feel like frauds. In the UK we have a charity called "Help for Heros" which works with military and ex military personelle, and apparently it can be strange to have people thank and congratulate you for fighting, because you feel guilty for hurting people or upset because you couldn't protect other soldiers. I imagine Suzanne Collins would have lots of thoughts about this, given her personal history. She grew up with a father who served in Vietnam and witnessed his PTSD firsthand.

Back to the books. If you parented a teenager who came back a killer, would you be afraid of them? In denial about what they've done? Disillusioned? Ashamed? I think there's plenty which could fuel a fascinating character study or short story.

Also, if you're a fan of The Hunger Games, check out Girls Gone Canon's coverage. It's excellent

[silver-wield]

OK, hear me out.

Remake lifestream begins the same way OG does, with Tifa in the dark hearing her own voice throw accusations at her. She let Cloud down, she didn't trust him, believe in their memories and reassure him. It's all her fault.

The scene dissolves revealing the same as OG. We get several paths blocked by versions of Cloud. Only this time they're not all adult Cloud.

Tifa has to go to the youngest one first. To properly rebuild Cloud's mind, she must start at the beginning. This Cloud is smol and angry. He hates how the other kids pick on him because he doesn't have a dad and his mom is so young. He's not strong enough to stand up to them.

Tifa crouches down and comforts him. She apologises for her friends and says she wishes she knew how tough Cloud had things. She didn't know because her friends acted like they were the victims and she was too young to know better. But, she knew Cloud was good, deep down, and that's why she kept trying to be friends with him.

She offers her hand to smol Cloud, but before he can take it, Tifa's friends appear to bully Cloud. This is the starter boss battle of the section. Tifa's not going to beat these kids up, but she needs to encourage Cloud to stand up for himself. She reminds him he has self worth and bullies only have power if you let them.

Cloud grows brave, shouts at the kids and they morph into creepy monsters representing Cloud's fears and self loathing. Tifa can fight these. She protects Cloud and together they move along the path until they reach the next memory.

They move along the path together.

Tifa's mother dying and her grief. This surprises her and she asks why. A slightly older Cloud answers that he wanted to approach her, but didn't know what to say. The scenery morphs to become the twisting path to Mt nibel, then the ground drops from under them. Tifa calls for Cloud to be careful, and sees him trying to save her as a child before she lands back in her house. Her father is yelling at Cloud, who does nothing to defend himself. Tifa tries to argue on his behalf, but nobody but Cloud can hear her. She takes full responsibility for what happened and says Cloud saved her.

This makes her father morph into the next gateway monster blocking Cloud from becoming whole. Tifa doesn't want to fight it, but she will to protect Cloud. Once the fight is over she tries hard not to cry and smol Cloud thanks her for believing in him.

With Tifa feeling just as much from this as Cloud, she suggests they continue on.

Tifa stops at the well and smiles at the familiar scenery. She turns to look at Cloud, who's now a teenager. He reveals how long he waited for Tifa that night and how important their promise is to him. Tifa admits how disappointed she was when Cloud said he was leaving. We see her in the weeks after Cloud left, depressed and already looking through newspapers even though it's impossible he'd be in them yet.

There's no boss in this part, just two kids finally seeing how important they are to each other.

It's the moment Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud arrive at Nibelheim. Tifa admits she kept the truth from Cloud. She was scared she didn't know what to do for the best. She was worried about him and felt like pushing him before he was ready would hurt him. She says he wasn't in Nibelheim here. He made it up. She's sorry.

16yr old Cloud shakes his head, and we see he's standing where the infantry man did. Tifa's shocked. She realises Cloud was there. She asks why didn't he say anything and he pulls the helmet off to admit he was ashamed he wasn't good enough for her. He didn't keep his promise. Tifa says she didn't care about him becoming SOLDIER, she just wanted to see him again. Cloud looks pleased and takes the lead through the town. We see their trek up the mountain.

There's another boss battle here, which Cloud has to lose because Zack appears to save them. They go back to town and we get the CC chat between him and Cloud. Tifa tells Cloud how disappointed she was that Cloud didn't come. We then see the lengths he went to avoid her, all the while he's chased by spectres of self doubt that Tifa has to defeat, until we reach his house.

We see the conversation with Claudia, only it's what actually happened, with Cloud in his infantry uniform. His shame morphs her into the next boss, but he can't fight her until Tifa joins him. She says he's got nothing to fear and his mom would always be proud of him, and so would she.

With the boss defeated, flames erupt through the town. Cloud gets thrown through the window and Tifa goes after him. This is the link to the OG scene of Cloud injured by Sephiroth and trying to save his mom. Tifa arrives outside and freezes. She can't do anything. She sees Sephiroth heading towards Mt nibel. Her rage and grief overtake her and she runs after him.

Tifa merges with her younger self and tries to kill Sephiroth. She's defeated and separated from her younger self. She can't do anything besides watch as Zack is defeated and then Cloud arrives. She begs him to be careful and follows him as he confronts Sephiroth.

Final boss battle and it's Sephiroth. He taunts Cloud through the entire thing, while Tifa yells encouragement, which gives Cloud the strength to fight.

It ends when Cloud's impaled, but still drops Sephiroth off the catwalk.

Tifa is heartbroken watching Cloud come back to her. She says he kept his promise. He was her hero that day and she's sorry she didn't know sooner.

There's a series of fractured images from both that reveal Zangan took Tifa out, but before he could go back for Cloud and Zack, Shinra arrived.

Now alone and looking for Cloud, Tifa follows Shinra to the mansion, where she finds the lab with adult Cloud inside the chambers. Horrified, she busts the glass and pulls Cloud to safety. As she calls his name, Cloud wakes up and says they finally meet again.

A crying Tifa hugs Cloud and calls him a jerk like in OG and the background dissolves to a white screen. They wake up on the beach in Mideel.

[main-to-card-games-and-pain]

Hc where Peter and Tony are on some sort of mission and push comes to shove---Peter ends up kidnapped or separated, Tony is hurt and separated and they both think the other is dead. Queue the reunion where Peter busts out and finds Tony and how relieved and freaking happy they are (bonus points if they jsut launch at each other, basically falling to the ground and Peter is crying and Tony's crying and it's beautiful but angst y until that moment

This one got WAY out of hand but IT WAS SO G O O D I couldn’t resist!!! So yup please enjoy this pain. 

“Peter! Peter stay close to-!” The inventor was suddenly cut off as another explosion wracked the building, sending him flying. 

Steve was shouting something at him from the comms but Tony didn’t care, he couldn’t see Peter. 

He never should have brought him on this mission. This mission was never supposed to be this dangerous. They’d been told it was in-and-out, steal some information and leave, minimum security, fairly small building. It was perfect for the kid to come with, he was nimble and fast, small enough to crawl around the vents, and safe. 

Then alarms had started to blare and explosions had begun to detonate, sending the building shaking. 

“Peter!” He had been right there, where did he go? “Spider-Man, location, now!” Tony knew his voice was unnaturally tight, angry sounding even, even though the only emotion running through his blood was heart-stopping panic. “Peter!” 

A hand grabbed his own and Tony was suddenly able to breathe again.

“I’m right here, Mr.Stark,” the child yelled over the roar of the destruction, urging him further down their path to freedom.  

That’s all Tony needs to bolt down the steps, dragging his teenager behind him. Peter was suddenly pulled away from his grasp, hard enough that Iron Man lost his balance and tumbled down the last few stairs. The nanites in his suit recognized the damage and disengaged, for now. 

“Mr.Stark!” 

Tony looked up just in time to see the ceiling fall on top of his kid. He screamed. 

Peter felt himself be ripped away, saw Mr.Stark fall down the stairs. He tried to crawl towards him, only to be ripped backwards by a grip on his ankle. “Mr.Stark!” He struggled for freedom, meeting Mr.Stark’s eyes for just a moment before the grip ripped him backwards and the ceiling fell through. 

Something pricked his neck and Peter knew no more.

Tony woke up with the scent of grass surrounding him. There was a burn in his throat that he couldn’t place and a full-bodied ache radiating from his bones. The grass was nice though. It reminded him of when he and Peter had taken a picnic. 

The mechanic’s whole body jerked in panic. “Peter,” he gasped, “Peter, Peter, where’s Peter?” 

Rhodey was by his side in an instant, supporting his head as he tried to sit up and looking far too heartbroken for Tony’s liking. Steve and the rest of the team were leaning over him in the next few seconds, all looking worried and distraught in their own ways, none of them willing to meet his eye. 

“Steve,” it sounded like the inventor was begging, “where’s Peter?” 

“I’m sorry…” the super-soldier said, looking genuinely upset. “We didn’t-”

“No.” Tony remembered the ceiling coming down, seeing Peter’s terrified eyes. “No, you did not leave him there.” 

“It was the only way,” Natasha whispered, not meeting his eye. “You would have died too if we didn’t get you out.” 

“No!” Devastation ripped its way out of Tony’s throat. “No! You couldn’t have-! Tell me you’re lying! Tell me that you didn’t- You should have - you should have left me! He needed to live! Why didn’t you get him out!” 

“Tones, look at me,” Rhodey instructed, “we tried man, we really did. There was too much rubble and too little time, we didn’t want to… it wasn’t easy.” 

Tony tore himself off the ground, advancing on Steve and shoving him. “You told me it was safe,” he cried, “you told me it was safe and now my kid is gone! He was all I had left!” 

“Tony…” Steve tried. 

“Fuck you, Rogers!” Tony knew it wasn’t completely fair to yell at Steve but he needed to yell at something. “You should have fucking left me to burn with Peter! He was all I had left!”

Steve said nothing in reply. Tony realized dejectedly that tears were beginning to run down his cheeks.

The mechanic threw himself at Steve, he didn’t know if he would have truly come to blows with him, even if Rhodey hadn’t intercepted him, but he needed to believe that he was angry and not so utterly heartbroken. Rhodey clung to Tony’s back, forcing Tony to do the same. 

Tony’s sobs would haunt every person present for the rest of their lives. 

Peter woke up in a lab. Not the labs he was used to, that he enjoyed being in. No, this lab seemed sinister, cold, dangerous, sociopathic. 

And he was restrained. 

So it was probably all of those things. Lights shone into his face so he couldn’t see unless he moved. As soon as he tried to lift his head someone was gripping his hair and forcing his head back down onto the slab. “Stay there,” a gruff voice said from above him. 

A shadow blocked the light momentarily, leaning over his bedside eerily. Peter tugged on his restraints, they held true. 

“Don’t pull on those too hard,” the voice continued, “you’ll break your pretty wrists.” 

“Let me go,” Peter hissed, tugging on the handcuffs in contempt. “Iron Man will come for me.” 

The man laughed and slammed his hands on either side of Peter’s head, making him jump from the bang. 

“Tony Stark isn’t coming for you.” Peter opened his mouth to argue, only to be cruelly cut off. “Tony Stark isn’t doing anything anymore.” 

An icy tendril of fear began to whip through Peter’s stomach. “What do you mean…?” 

“Let me show you, Spider-Man.” 

A screen blared in front of his eyes, some kind of security footage. It was Tony, lying face up with no suit on, unconscious in the fire. He didn’t look like he was breathing but Peter wouldn’t believe that that was true. 

“No, you’re lying,” he whispered, turning his head away from the footage.

A hand dug into his hair and forced him to watch, this time a different camera. “Oh, am I? What is this then, if not grief?” 

Rhodey fought Steve at the entrance, trying to get into the building. They were both yelling, both desperate. Rhodey’s struggles eventually stopped, his limbs going limp against the Captain and his head dropping down into a sob. (How could Peter have known it was for him, not Tony?) 

“No…” 

“Yes, little spider, your mentor is buried under that building somewhere, dead.” 

“No!” He heaved his wrists up again, not caring that this time they drew blood. “No! You’re lying! You’re lying! He’s not dead! He isn’t!” 

“Scream yourself hoarse, I don’t care, it doesn’t change the facts.” The shadow moved away and the lights were in Peter’s eyes again. He heard the man start to walk away, only to stop and turn back towards him “He was waiting for you, wasn’t he?” 

The door slammed and Peter let himself cry. 

This information better have been worth it Rogers, Tony had hissed, because it cost me Peter. 

Nothing was worth what he’d lost though, Tony knew with absolute certainty that he could never truly be happy again. 

He’d broken a few ribs when a beam had fallen on top of him, had a slight concussion, but none of it equated the pain he felt at losing his son. He’d never told him that he loved him, more than anything in the world. And now he never could. 

So he was going to blow these fuckers to kingdom come. 

They found their little secondary base, some kind of experimentation lab they had going on, whatever security they had was no match for Iron Man’s wrath. 

No mercy. 

Tony knew the other Avengers agreed. The place burned, the carnage of a grieving father. 

He finished his rampage and was about to leave the place to burn when he felt something urge him to stay for just a few more minutes. He had already exited the building, just about to fly away, when that something pulled him back.

The inventor slowly turned his head, hesitant to see. 

It felt like his breath was torn from his lungs. 

Peter ran at him, tears streaming down his cheeks, wrists still bound in front of him, with utter relief and happiness written on his face. The suit disengaged from Tony’s body as he tore towards the kid himself. 

“Peter!” 

“Mr.Stark!” 

The pair crashed into each other, Peter threw his bound arms around the man and burrowed into his neck. He was sobbing, Tony thought he might be too. 

His clutched the kid’s head towards him, clung to him with the other hand. He didn’t care about the pain in his ribs, he pulled Peter as close as he could. 

“I thought you were dead,” the inventor whispered, eyes widened in shock. “I thought I lost you…” 

“They told me you were dead,” Peter cried. “I didn’t want to believe it but then they showed me- I didn’t want to believe it but they said you were dead.” 

Say it. 

“I love you more than anything else in the world, Pete, I’m never letting you go again.” 

[angclicals-blog]

⟨  𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  / /    CAITO, JASON.   ⟩

hello, everyone ! i’m admin fox, i’m twenty years old ( twenty one on the 30th woop woop ! ),  my pronouns are she/they but i go by any of them tbh & i’m from brazil so i’m in the brt timezone ! i currently have two muses, jace & rusty, and this post is all about my angry baby jace a.k.a. jason ! all of his info is below the cut, and if you’d like to plot pretty please message me or give this post a heart ! some trigger warnings for suicide, child abuse, death & alcohol abuse should be in place !

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ chris evans + cis male + he/him — have you seen jason ‘jace’ caito? they sure have been hanging out at the caito mansion a lot recently. they are a thirty-seven year old known as the wild card. they currently work for the savages as the leader, which they’ve been doing for two weeks. a bisexual gemini, they are adaptable + intelligent, as well as overly emotional + impulsive. all black suits. golden rings. expensive whiskey.  

⟨  𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  / /    early life.   ⟩

jason was born on a warm morning of july, in valdez. he has a twin brother, james, and a younger sister--- his mother died after she was born ( the woman had postpartum depression, and it made her very suicidal once it went untreated. ), and his father always blamed the young girl for it. he was a drunk, and would often mistreat all of his children, specially the baby. jason & james were always there for her, though, protecting the girl and keeping her alive when their father wouldn’t. 

his twin moved away from their home when the boys were nineteen, moving to australia & leaving jason & his younger sister alone with their father. it was absolute hell for a couple of months, and jason took up drinking at the local bars, using fake ids and bribing to get into them. it was in one of those bars that he met balthazar’s then second in command. they saw potential in him, saw his anger and his desperation, and took advantage of it, offering jace and his sister a safe home if he worked as a soldier for the savages. 

after that, despite of the blood in his hands and the horrible actions that kept him awake at night, jace and his sister were safe. their father turned up dead just a couple of months after jace’s initiation, and while no one ever spoke of it, he knew the man’s death had been ordered by balthazar. 

in the years jace worked as a soldier, he caught the man’s eyes--- it started with balthazar inviting him to dine in a separate room when most of the savages ate at the mansion’s dinning room, and then expensive gifts and parties and then the travels jason had always wanted to do. by the time jason was twenty-three, he had a ring on his finger & everyone knew not to fuck with him, even if he was known as caito’s boy toy behind his back. 

ever since they got married, jace stopped actively working at the gang--- he was always beside balthazar, giving him advice and helping him overlook and take care of things, but he wasn’t openly involved with it. in fact, for the past seventeen years, jace has been more of a trophy husband than anything else; he stays at home, takes care of the mansion and the savages that live there, and sometimes waltz in balthazar’s office and gives him his two cents about where to take the gang; he knows the savages’ in and out, but stays in his corner and acts as arm candy when he’s supposed to. 

he loves his husband more than anything, and despite how boring his life has been, balthazar is good for him & his sister and he wouldn’t have it any other way. as expected, he’s completely off his rockers since balthazar died. jace was given the savages almost as an inheritance, with him being one of the few people balthazar trusted enough to leave in charge, and a lot of people are unhappy with it, unsure of they can trust balthazar’s old boy toy to lead them. jace is more than ready to prove them all wrong, once he gets his much desired revenge on the gang that took away the love of his life.

⟨  𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  / /    personality.   ⟩

jason is very intelligent, but he hardly ever shows it. instead, he’d rather play dumb pretty boy all day long and leave people underestimating him than show who he really is. 

he’s always been a sweet, caring man. he took care of the savages as if they were his children, giving them anything they might need--- it often ended up with balthazar and him fighting over how jace was “spoiling his criminals”, and turning them soft. still, jace has always been out to do his damn best to make the savages a family. 

despite his momma bear nature, jace doesn’t shy away from violence when it’s necessary. he’s known for convincing balthazar into killing those who betray the savages, and has hardly ever shown mercy for anyone who fucks up, no matter how much he once cared about them. 

his violent side has been flourishing a lot since his husband’s death, and although he’s doing his best to stay clear headed, watching the love of his life die next to him broke jace on the inside, on a level much deeper than he’d ever expect, making him more of a loose cannon than he’s ever been.

⟨  𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  / /    appearances.   ⟩

he’s 6′1 in height, and usually clean shaven with a buzzcut; his looks are very important to him, and looking messy or unkept has always been a big no-no for jace--- he hasn’t really shaved since balthazar’s death, however, so right now he’s got the start of a bear going on, as well as longer hair than most people have seen him with. 

jace has a couple tattoos; the savages’ mandatory lion head on the back of his neck and the red roses on his left bicep are his favorites, though. he also has some text on him, the date of his marriage over his heart & a quote from his favorite book on a straight line over his spine. 

he almost always dresses in formal-ish clothes. before balthazar jace’s wardrobe consisted mostly of sweatpants and gym shorts, but once his bank account grew, so did jason’s love of high-end fashion. nowadays he mostly wears suits, but even when he’s in casual clothing, they’re always designer. same thing with jewelry--- before coming into money jace didn’t even understand why people wore them, though nowadays his fingers are always covered in bulky gold rings, and ever since his husband’s passing, balthazar’s favorite gold chain hasn’t left his neck; jace had intended on putting bal’s wedding band on the chain so he’d have it close to his chest at all times, but on the day the man was buried he just couldn’t deal with seeing balthazar in the casket without the ring. 

⟨  𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  / /    plots.   ⟩

a best friend — being balthazar’s husband was a very lonely shoe to fill--- apart from his husband & his family, most people were too afraid to be around him; not this person, however. they never cared about holding back on how they speak and act around jace, and have become his best friend over the years.

the ex --- this character would have to be on the older side; they were dating for a couple of months back when jason was in his early twenties, and he broke up with them to start a relationship with balthazar. 

the protegé --- this connection is open to multiple people, and they all must be savage members. basically, mama bear jace took them under his wing, and treated them as his kids ( no matter how much younger or older than him they are, tbh ) and has always gone above and beyond to make sure they are safe & content with their jobs, probably is always insisting for them to move into the mansion if they haven’t already.

the affair --- for thirteen years, jason was loyal to balthazar. about seven months ago, however, he found himself infatuated with this person. it hit him out of nowhere, and once he found out the feeling was mutual, jace panicked and, after a night together, he completely cut this person out. things are pretty awkward between them still, with jace barely being able to look them in the face--- specially now that his husband is dead. 

the childhood best friend — this two were attached by the hip all throughout their childhood and teenage years. they grew apart as jace devoted more time to the gang, and are now trying to light up that flame again; which creates several awkward hang out sessions and late nights of doing the weird stuff they used to do as kids.

the confidant — jason doesn’t trust a lot of people. never has, with his upbringing. this person has, somehow, broken through his walls, and is the only one he’s comfortable enough with to open up. 

the high school sweetheart --- jason has changed a lot over the years, and no one can attest more to that statement as this person. they were each other’s first real relationship, and although it’s been years since then, they still have a special place on each other’s heart. 

the enemy --- maybe jason had balthazar kill someone this person loved, maybe he just rubs them off the wrong way, maybe they don’t agree with him inheriting the savages. whatever the reason, they can’t along & are constantly at each other’s throats. 

the rebound --- jace is completely heartbroken over his husband. he also has a lot of anger & energy pent up, which leads him to this guy: they brawl, they fight, they have sex. anything to keep them from dealing with their demons. ( this connection must be a male, preferably late 20s or in his 30s ! )

the protective friend --- there’s nothing jace loves more than taking care of people. in return, no one really takes care of him. except for this person, who’s there for him when he breaks down, who kicks the mansion’s security guards in the balls and trespasses to bring him soup when he’s sick and just doesn’t fuck around when it comes to calling jace out on his bullshit. i think it would be sweet to have a cobra member fill this out, but it’s not necessary !