#His whole family got killed by Gears and he was a child soldier. He became a cop and was literally the only one doing anything- | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

weebsinstash · 2 years ago

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soooo what you're saying is yandere emperor & love sick concubine x empress au with bakugou as the emperor and izuku as his favourite concubine yeah??

oof those two would be an awful (read: amazing) duo for poor reader empress to go up against

Not going to lie I actually always meant to write more for Izuku??? I've actually had a decent amount of ideas for him because like, he already has habits that you can tweak ever so slightly and boom he's a lil yandere simp, drooling over you as he watches you from a distance and doodling into his lil notebook. He gives "hello mommy I love you so much and would die for you let's get married ❤️" energy but he's also feral enough that like. Could easily imagine him as one of those sweet tiny dudes who has a third leg and Fucks Severely. Like to be honest I'm a bottom as fuck and have always likes taller partners but certain personality types just deliver what is needed lmao. Like I've kinda unlocked a thing for having something smaller than you partner wise especially like that holds you down extremely easily, like the helplessness of it? Idk like in hentai where chicks get surrounded by like little tiny extremely strong but hugely dicked goblins, like not always that small obviously but you kind get the gist. Imagine an adult Izuku being shorter than you and younger than you and you think he's so passive and sweet or you think he's an annoying little boy and try to brush him off, and suddenly he's got you up against a wall hugging you so tight you can't shove him off and you're met with like the horror you can't overpower him by ANY means. And the whole time he's just like OuO sweet and smiling and just this secretly heinous little sex fiend who can easily fold you like a pretzel

But I will admit those two would work fairly well for this formula 😳 hm. The gears are turning. I dunno... hmm.....

Let's look at it from this angle. Bakugou is probably one of those Emperors that either killed all his brothers and took the throne by force, was his father's only child and usurped him, or maybe was a nobleman or high ranking soldier who became Emperor by wiping out the royal family. Just typical domination by overwhelming force kind of guy. Known as a somewhat of a savage albeit with amazing tactics skill and talented in warfare and combat. And then Midoriya is. Hm. Maybe a childhood friend or whatever but tbh I'm just kind of imagining him as this lil hippy thang that dresses in white and soft colors, I wouldn't say femboy per say but, maybe a little lmao. Katsuki sitting at his desk stamping documents and then here's Izuku bringing him tea and snack cakes and Bakugo is still like, a little rough, but nicer to him then he is to you lmao

But I just cannot imagine the like absolutely infuriating scenario of 1. Being stuck with Bakugo against your will in a political marriage 2. Having to perform duties you may not even be remotely interested in, for example tradtionally the Empress manages the other harem women who are often high ranking nobility but she's also not allowed to get involved in politics, so like, you influence but not much actual power of your own 3. He's not even a nice fucking person, like in this scenario you literally struggle to think of his good qualities that don't inevitably circle back to him being a brute 4. You're expected to have children with him and 5. On top of having to share him with other women, one of his concubines is a man who is essentially tries to guilt trip and pressure you into loving Bakugo

I remember in "I'm Divorcing My Tyrant Husband", which is kind of an infuriating read and idk if I would recommend it, the cruel tyrant Emperor doesn't respect his Empress because she's too nice and I imagine Bakugo, depending on what mood you're going for, would either be a condescending 'oh you're so weak and delicate, what use is there for you, worthless crybaby' OR 'you're so delicate therefore you must be kept like a precious caged animal where no harm can come to you like a beautiful rose encased in glass so it cannot wilt'

Bakugo would definitely be one of those characters who you constantly have massive 'misunderstandings' with, 'misunderstandings' translating to 'this guy is constantly a massive fucking asshole who doesn't properly communicate for shit' and Izuku is always trying to tell you how he "really" feels but since its never Katsuki himself you could care less. Like for example, an idea I can imagine for him is something like, Reader has a precious garden she takes care of day and night, while gardening you get bitten by a viper that was hiding in the brush, you get extremely ill, the next time you wake up and have recovered your entire garden is gone because he tore everything out and you're devastated because it feels like you've been punished for falling sick when his intention was to completely overturn your garden in case there were more vipers (which, to his credit there were, but you don't even care because you actively encouraged animals to take homes in your garden and now it's all ruined)

#yandere stuff #sinprompts #got another ask for this im about to do now

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eloquent-vowel · 3 years ago

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Hey! I have a request! Bucky x reader where the reader is from the red room. Maybe the avengers just got her out and Buckys helping her through the ptsd and stuff? Maybe she locks herself away to her room because she’s scared to do anything for herself? Also maybe some platonic nat? Sorry if that was too specific. Feel free to add your own ideas and change stuff or just ignore if you don’t like the idea! Thanks!

Hi! Thank you so much for the request, I'm sorry it took me so long, life has been evil to me and I may or may not have forgotten this blog actually had readers. I love me some good hurt/comfort. I hope what I have written works!

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When the Avengers had burst into the facility you had been kept in, with all the bravado of heroes you were shocked. You had heard whispers of these warriors that you were being trained eliminate. You had heard stories of the Black Widow who had betrayed the Red Room and while you didn't want to give yourself hope, a small part of you always longed to do the same. To be done with the endless list of missions and targets, to finally stop piling up the blood on your hands.

They had arrested you originally. You didn't blame them, you were one of the most active members of the programme, You had lost count of how many instructions you had followed, how many targets you had eliminated and you had no doubt that the Avengers had your face on their wall of targets.

That was why, when the Winter Soldier aimed a gun at your head you just knelt to the ground as you watched your seniors begin to fight the other Avengers. You didn't say a word in the carrier back to wherever they were taking you. It was easy to hide behind a bravado of stony silence, to pretend that your entire existence hadn't just been ripped away from you.

That was why, when the blank faces of the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier, stared at you from the other side of the interrogation table, you felt a panicked warmth creep up your neck. They begun to question you about the other facilities and to their surprise, you guessed by the way they looked at each other as you talked, you spoke truthfully and honestly to them. You told them everything you knew.

"If I can stop anymore becoming like me, I will. Everything I know is yours, I won't lie to protect something so hideous as the red room."

Because for as much as the red room tried to convince you otherwise, seeing young girl after young girl die by another girl was not right. Not right in the slightest. The more you saw of the world outside of the Room the more aware you became of this, so by the time it was to end, you promised to do anything to help the Avengers take down the remaining branches of the Black Widow Programme.

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Around 6 months after you had been captured, you were settled into the avengers compound, much to your surprise. You had been there personally to help the avengers gain access to some of the branches and during those mission you had begun a strong friendship with Nat and a... a something with Bucky.

There was something about the gruff man that was so gentle that drew you in. The way his smile lit up when a certain song came on and the little dances he would do while brewing coffee made your heart flutter- despite how much you tried to convince it not too.

It was a nice life, in the compound, you mostly stuck to your room until you were asked to help on a mission, or if Nat asked to spar with you. You still had not gotten rid of the memories, however. These vivid memories haunted you, if you weren't keeping busy your brain would wonder to times before. To victims of the red room, and your victims, the ones you had killed.

Their faces didn't hover as much as their voices, every plea they made would ring in your ears whenever there was a moment of silence. They whispered from the corner of your room at night, nothing would stop them from filling the void of silence. This meant that sleep did not come as easily to you.

It was one of those nights. When every time you closed your eyes there would be nothing but whispers and your brain seemed determined to run through every memory you regretted. There was only one solution to these nights, a good cup of tea (with a splash of whiskey in). So you pottered over to the kitchen, footfalls naturally silent as you boiled the kettle. Tony probably had some fancy gadget that would do the whole process more efficiently, but the sound of boiling water was rather grounding.

Perhaps your focus on the water was why you didn't hear the figure walking up behind you until you felt a slight breath on your neck. Training and years of being on the run kicked into gear and you immediately whipped around to punch her assailant around the jaw, and kicked a foot out to trip them. The figure fell with a very familiar oof, one recognisable from training.

It was Bucky.

Oh god, it was Bucky. Kind, thoughtful, gentle Bucky who had probably come out to check on you. The same Bucky who made you coffee in the morning, that was now lying on the floor clutching his eye as you looked down at him. And then his face, his figure, was all your other victims. A woman in hospital garb, a man in a suit, a wife, a sister, a child. It was too much, you had to run.

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

Bucky watched as they ran from the kitchen, he stood up from the floor as the sound of a door slamming echoed through the tower. He rubbed at his jaw, how could he have been so stupid. Sneaking up on someone who was struggling with PTSD and running on little sleep, he didn't think.

"You gonna get that?" Nat's voice was hushed as she offered him a hand up.

He took it, pulling himself up, pausing to think for a moment before walking hesitantly over to the door. He knocked as quietly as possible. He could hear the gasping sobs coming from the other side of the walls.

Nat hovered on his other side, staying within comfort radius in case she was needed.

"Heya Doll." Bucky started, as there was no sign of reply he continued. "You alright?" Still silence. "I'm sorry I snuck up on you like that, it was my fault, should've thought but as Steve would say, thinking ain't always my strong suit."

He caught the sound of movement, hesitant footsteps coming towards the door.

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

You managed to control your breathing enough to shuffle over to the door. You placed your hand over the door, where you imagined Bucky to be leaning. Guilt filled your conscious once more and the apology flew out of you before you could stop it.

"I'm so sorry, Bucky. God I am so sorry."

"It's fine, Doll."

"No, no its not!" You were practically yelling at the door now. "I hurt you. What if one day I kill you? You catch me with a knife in my hand and I jump, what then. For crying out loud I can't even make a cup of tea without hurting someone, I can't do anything. I'm sorry, I am so sorry that I'm so useless and I-"

"Hey, hey, hey breathe." Bucky's calm and even tone halted your rant. "Listen to me. Everyone of us has had moments like that, we all have our demons and those demons sometimes cause us to lash out. I've done worse than punch Steve many times, would you call me useless?"

You sniffed as you shook your head, forgetting he couldn't see you.

"Besides," He continued, "We all have our strengths, we all have our weaknesses but you know what's great? We are a team. Where one person can't make a cup of tea, another can make the best brew in the country. You don't have to face these things alone, Doll. We are all here for you, I am here for you, always will be."

You slowly began to open the door as he spoke, and looked up into the most sincere pair of blue eyes you had ever seen. There was a slight bruise coming up below his eye but he was smiling. He was doing that smile that meant his eyes crinkled, twinkling brightly- like stars.

"I'm sorry, Bucky."

"You don't have anything to apologise for, Doll, but you're forgiven."

You crept forward, reaching out for something, someone and the easy smile that filled your face as Bucky's arms wrapped around you in the most comforting hug you had ever had. You felt the faint echo of lips against your head and you gripped onto him tightly.

"You two are adorable."

The two of you separated slowly at Nat's voice. Not completely, there was still the comforting feeling of Bucky's hand against your back.

Nat's face was softer than you had ever seen it and there was nothing but understanding in her eyes as she spoke. "If you ever need someone to talk to come knock on my door. I know I would have loved to have someone there who knew."

Words caught in your throat as you nodded. You were soon wrapped in another comforting hug from Natasha, the scent of her perfume comforting and warm. The way forward would be hard but you knew that with these two by your side, your family, things would be a little easier than they had been.

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dear-yandere · 5 years ago

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succor.

yandere! jotaro kujo 3. major spoilers for stardust crusaders (part 3). word count: 2,600+. tw: bullying, implied depression, drowning, death, gore, and grief.

art credit: ロク.

He carries himself with poise, an assurity few could ever possess. He is the personification of perfect — alas, a man who appears perfect, like a statue which leaves many in awe, a statue whose marble insides have begun to slowly erode, a statue who’s already begun falling apart. There exists not a soul who can fix him, no sculptor skilled enough, no human kind enough to fix his flaws before anyone else can catch on; Jotaro Kujo is his own sculptor, and he’s forgotten how to mend his broken pieces.

For as long as he’s known, he’s been a soldier. A boy soldier, who bears the weight of the world atop shoulders of steel, shoulders which shake and tremble when no one is looking. He is a soldier without a commander, a soldier without a purpose, and he was content with that. But he is a soldier who’s fought a battle meant for ten thousand men, a battle which has long ended, a battle which still plagues him; he is a soldier who’s fought god and he is only seventeen.

When did it begin, he wonders? When did his marble bones and stone veins start to crack? Was it that day? Becaues he remembers being bullied. He remembers taking each insult, like poison-laced daggers, and thinking nothing of it. He remembers the wrinkles, the eye bags, the grey hairs which had started to pepper his mother’s face at around the same time. He remembers the questions, the sobbing, her desperate pleas, her hesitant knocks on his bedroom door. He remembers her somehow finding out, remembers her standing up for him, one day, in the school yards. And he remembers his bullies trying to hurt her, too.

He remembers nearly killing them.

It was like the flip of a switch, how quickly he changed. Mom became mother, bitch, nuisance. She can’t understand how he felt in those moments — she couldn’t — because until the day he dies, he won’t let her. Keep her at arm’s length, don’t let her in. No one can know, no one can get close — they’ll just get hurt, too. That’s the funny thing about love: it hurts. To feel loved is wonderful, to be loved is tragic, damning, dangerous. He is a catalyst for disaster, destruction, danger, and everything in between.

Death loves him, and love has never felt so lonely.

He lost a friend that day. Metal had bent around his body like silken sheets, water had sod his clothing without care; if his body hadn’t already run cold, the water would’ve made him sick. He would’ve smiled and laughed it off with his dear friend, would’ve said his injuries are no big deal. He can still see, can still move, can still dream.

If he’d lived.

He lost a friend that day, the only one he’d ever had.

And then there is you.

You are no different from the rest. Just another body to protect, another set of eyes he must keep from prying. Death loves him, and he’d been foolish enough to fall in love; funny how easily it happened, really. Because when you look at him, he feels as if he’s baring his all. All his insecurities and worries, all the times he’s wanted to break down and cry. It’s a feeling he hates, detests, but it’s something new, something unexpected, something needed. You are not those women who look at him with indignant curiosity. You are not his mother who looks at him with worry. You are not his grandfather nor his dead best friend; you are you, and somehow, you are everything he’s needed.

Love is a funny thing, he recalls, and that thought is enough to clear the darkness around him. It’s calming, at first. The nightmare is over and he must be waking up. Your soothing voice will greet him, as it always does; you’ll hug him, cradle him like a child, and he won’t push you away. But you don’t. You shine, so terribly bright that he has to look away for a moment. There’s warmth, comfort, safety in your direction, but he doesn’t walk forward. He doesn’t deserve it.

Not him. Not the man who let his friends die.

Jotaro, a dark, playful voice begins, echoing from the depths of nowhere. It’s familiar; far too knowing, far too cunning, far too demonic. Jotaro feels his mind start to unravel like loose threads, and the voice feeds off this, like a parasite. If you love your friends and family so much, why do you never tell them?

“What do you want?” Jotaro barks at nothing and turns toward the dark, turns away from you. Secretly, Jotaro has always been scared of the dark, but right now it was oddly welcoming. The dull beat of that voice, distorted and tinny, still seemed clear, pristine, ethereal. As if the voice had hands which he could not see, they wrapped around his neck like a noose and pulled. Gravity itself seemed to pull at his neck, pushing him further and further into the unforgiving abyss of the darkness as if swallowing him whole.

Why is he here?

Just as his back hits the waters, the sudden impact knocks the oxygen out of his lungs within a second, before he’s plunged right beneath the surface. His eyes are open, even as salt-water pierced and burned; he was certain before, but this is too real to be a dream. It it weren’t for the fact that he could’ve perished any moment now, the sight before him would’ve actually been beautiful. Nothing but a color palette of deep sea blue clouded his peripheral vision with colors that were excruciatingly breath-taking in real life.

But he isn’t deceived.

I want to wrap my brain around that head of yours, Jotaro. So, enlighten me... The disembodied voice mocks, feeling like blood rushing against his the insides of his head. It’s closer this time, over his shoulder, next to his ear, and there’s a familiarity to its tone — a familiarity he doesn’t want to acknowledge just yet. Surely telling them you care is easier than breaking your body over and over again.

Jotaro chews on the question with a hint of unmistakable disgust before spiting it out. He hears the voice laugh that mocking song once again, and the light shining from above almost feels like they’re mocking his every movement, too. They watch his arm shoot upwards, silently and slowly for their help — and they laughed. The gears in his brain start turning, willing his limbs to work as legs weakly kicked up in desperate search for air. Realization soon beats itself into his slowly-drowning lungs, and he’s left to face questions that no one but he knows the answers to.

How did he get here? Is he awake? Is he alive?

Answer me, little mortal. We haven’t got all night. The voice goads, and it feels like sharp needles have stuffed themselves into the canals of his ears. Jotaro hisses, and the voice seems content with the response, at the least. Or, perhaps you’d prefer to drown? What a peculiar way for a marine biologist to go, but humans never cease to amaze me.

Jotaro struggles to answer the voice which claims to be inhuman, but dark waters only drain into his mouth like rapids. Time wasn’t even on his mind at this point, but he couldn’t help but wonder how long he’s been underwater. The ocean seemed to pin his legs and arms into icicles, keeping them from thrashing everywhere. Soon, his attempts on fighting for oxygen were getting much more pathetic — much weaker with each kick.

‘Is this how I die?’ He thinks, chuckling at the irony. The feeling of agreeing with the voice is bitter, but its words are not wrong. To think he’d die in the embrace of something he’s spent his life researching. And even so, he wastes no time in reaching a conclusion: ‘Still not a bad way to go.’

Not that he'd been holding onto hope in the first place, but witnessing the light stray further from his grasp was anything but welcoming. It’s clear that his mind and body were slowly starting to lose motivation in fighting against fate. His fate.

And right now, he’s drawing nearer to the finish line.

His limbs had eventually stopped responding and allowed gravity to drag his body into the never ending abyss he’d always marveled at when he’d been alive. And despite condemning himself to his fate, the hopelessness seethed in gradually. Human nature, he concluded; to want what you cannot have is human nature. He knows that better than most.

Once his air supply ran tight, his mouth instinctively opened up once again, allowing water to flow in through his nostrils and throat. Every 'breath’ made him choke on the saltiness of the ocean waters, lungs struggling to hang on as the water slowly crushed its cage from inside and out. Barely even able to hear his own thoughts, he assumed his eardrums burst from the insane depths he was being pulled into. His eyelids grew heavy like boulders and finally drooped; he had already succumbed to the thought of death — he couldn’t even cry in anguish or relief, but perhaps the downpour above the waters was crying for him instead. The thought was comforting, to know that someone, some thing would mourn his death.

His back hits the ocean floor like a sunken ship, and he believes he’s dead until the voice speaks again: Have you had enough time to think, little mortal? Its words are scathing, and by far the last thing he wants to hear on his death bed, but with it, came air. It seemed an impossible feat at the bottom of an ocean no human has visited before, but the air is crisp and fresh. Jotaro drinks it up, gulping it down in excess, reveling at how it fills his lungs with life. The water he’d inhaled and drunk doesn’t even seem to exist, at the moment, but he hasn’t the state of mind to dwell on that.

“Where am I?” He chokes out, still tasting the bitter tang of salt against the back of his throat. The voice seems to echo around him, and he finally realizes that he is still on the ocean floor. Sea creatures he’s never seen flit around him, and despite the stark absence of any light, he can see them clear as day.

Only you know that. The voices hums, creating a vibrato in the seawaters, a sound that seems to manifest into arms and once again coil around Jotaro’s neck, like a noose. He wants to scream and thrash and fight, but the comforting presence of Star Platinum within his core is... vacant.

I shall repeat myself. If you love your friends and family so much, why do you never tell them? The question seems out of place at the bottom of an ocean filled with light and air, but the entity leaves no room for Jotaro to dwell. The heavy stench of iron is immediately recognizable, and Jotaro realizes there’s a gash in his chest. Pale fingers, topped with blackened fingernails which have grown awfully too long, held his intestines away from his torso, the flesh coiled tightly around the hands of a man he once knew.

A man who should be dead.

And yet, here he is. And yet, there is no pain.

“Because...” The words slip past his lips before he knows how to finish. Because what? Because he’s an asshole who can’t put his feelings into words? Because he’s a fool who deserves to suffer alone? Because...

“Because I’m afraid.”

The voice cackles, creating distortions in the sand bed and deep sea water, and yet he could recognize it as clear as day. DIO.

Oh? Is that so? DIO runs a tongue over his lips, deciding to humor his little plaything. Then, hypothetically, if you do tell them you love them, what are you so afraid will happen?

Jotaro doesn’t respond.

I’m waiting.

“...I don’t know.”

Liar. DIO bites and lightly pressing a claw-like fingernail into Jotaro’s jugular. It’s not polite to lie.

“I...” The pool of blood at his feet is disorienting, vivid and real despite the darkness around him. “It’s not that I don’t want to trust them, I...” He reaches out to cup the hand still jutting from his stomach. How odd it is to see such a horrific sight and feel no pain; and it all clicks into place. Jotaro chokes up for a brief moment, hoping a reply will make this all end. “...It’s dangerous to show you care. If they knew, and if my enemies knew how important they are to me, then...”

This isn’t real. None of this is real. How many times has he had this nightmare? And how many times has he imagined just that — the corpses of his loved ones plastered along the streets? The screams that won’t stop? The look of fear and hope on their faces?

That hasn’t happened, yet, and yet he faults himself: how can he be so weak?

There we go. DIO clicks his tongue and gently strokes his great grand-nephew’s hairs — something he no doubt imagines to be an affectionate pat. Not so hard, is it? Jotaro nods, too weak to stand up for himself. This nightmare never ends. You’re afraid of being too vulnerable. DIO coos and twists his blood-covered arm, deepending Jotaro’s unreal wound. You’re afraid of being too... weak.

The ghost’s words always sting, but this nightmare has become so commonplace, so normal — as easy as breathing, despite the waters around him — that Jotaro hasn’t the strength to feel anger. It’s not like DIO is wrong. He is afraid, he is weak, and above all, he’s afaraid of being weak.

But, how curious it is, little mortal. Hasn’t anyone ever told you— the voice begins to chastise, but is cut off; its words don’t reach his ears. Rather, there’s a soothing scent, with familiar aromas he can’t quite place. But the serenity is short lived. The air Jotaro seemed to be breathing dissipates, and he’s drowning again. His throat burns as if a thousand of needles were piercing it all at the same time, chest clenching itself suffocatingly tight; it’s hell all over again. He couldn’t help but feel pathetic for not acting sooner, especially when the exit was right in front of him, even if it wasn’t anywhere near his reach. Now that chance was thrown carelessly out the window, with no means on returning back to his grasp—

And his sinks.

As he struggled to keep himself afloat and conscious, black spots started to paint his vision one by one, and that’s when time was obviously running out. His eyelids give up —

And then he wakes up.

There’s a gentle, shaking motion, like a boat — as if he’s being cradled and soothed like he had been as a child. He can’t place it immediately, but you’re whispering soft little assurances into his ear, brushing strands of ebony hair which had plastered itself to wet skin. He realizes that the sweet scent from before is you. He can’t discern your words, not fully, not over the sound of blood rushing to his ears. If your arms weren’t wrapped around him a like a safety net, he’d still think he’s drowning, dying; but, the glimpses of words he’d catch every so often were enough to comfort him. You assure him that he’s still very much alive, that he’s awake, that nothing can hurt him, that it was all a nightmare.

It was just a nightmare.

Hasn’t anyone ever told you? The undead voice chimes, but your voice, clear as day, replaces its mocking tone, and Jotaro melts. He gazes upwards, into your eyes which hold the moon and all its stars and he suddenly remembers that wishes are made upon them.

“It’s okay to be weak, Jotaro.”

inspired by this.

#jotaro kujo x reader #kujo jotaro x reader #jotaro kujo #jojo's bizare adventure #jojo's bizarre adventure x reader #jjba x reader #jjba imagines #jjba scenario #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo no kimyō na bōken #diamond is unbreakable #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere #yandere scenario #yandere imagines #*oneshot #not yandere

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thingsandstuffyousee · 5 years ago

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It’s well known that Kojima makes his games partly autobiographical.

By his own admission, on the surface level the Metal Gear series is about soldiers trying to find meaning in constant, pointless war, but on a deeper level it’s about Kojima working out his feelings surrounding his father’s early death.

On the surface level Silent Hills is a horror story about a man who killed his family, but on a deeper level it’s Kojima telling us that he’s sick of working for Konami and wanting to leave. There’s a very good video on YouTube titled P.T.’s Hidden Meaning about that.

And the same seems to be true for Death Stranding. Surface level: Finding connection with other people. Deeper level: Kojima leaving Konami.

I’d really love to hear your input on this theory because it’s a work in progress that hasn’t been fully thought through and needs refining.

First off, Konami is a family business where everyone at the top are related to each other in some way, Kojima being the odd man out.

Kojima wanted to move on from Metal Gear but Konami kept demanding more games in the series so Kojima tried passing it on to a different team. It was still his baby though and he couldn’t quite let I go when he saw what the other team was doing.

While things were still going relatively well for him at Konami he met Guillermo del Toro and the two of them bonded over geeky stuff.

But then things started going downhill fast for Kojima. His games were getting too expensive for Konami and he refused to follow the rules. They started focusing on mobile games with micro transactions and had no use for Kojima any more. They demoted him, locked him in an office away from his team and cut off his internet access. Konami had become obsessed with surveillance and control. They installed cameras in the offices, hired people to keep taps on their colleagues and timed people’s breaks, shaming them publicly if they didn’t work enough.

It was at some point just before everything really went to hell Kojima met Nicolas Winding Refn and became fast friends with him.

Kojima started planning his next move and with the help of Guillermo made Silent Hills with Norman Reedus as a covert Konami diss track.

Finally Kojima got fired for real and was caught by Guillermo, Norman and Nicolas who helped him land on his feet.

It seems pretty easy to decode Death Stranding knowing all that.

Sam is Kojima, isolated, disillusioned and feeling like a failure because he destroyed a lot of people’s lives because he thought he knew better. Like Kojima who was the only person not related to anyone at Konami, Sam is the adopted child of Bridget. Amalie even wears red like the Konami logo.

Bridges, in some aspects, is Konami. They don’t allow the people working for them much privacy, puts Sam in a small room where he has little contact with other people and force him to do grueling, repetitive work. And a spiderweb is hardly an uplifting symbol for any organization. They’re not known for connecting, but for trapping.

People have said that it annoys them how many references are made to the real people who Sam, Deadman and Heartman are based on. That it breaks the immersion. But I think that’s the point. Kojima wants us to make a connection between the characters and the real people.

Sam/Kojima meets Deadman/Guillermo very early in the story and he stays a constant help and support for him throughout the game. He is the main factor in helping Sam/Kojima break free of Bridges/Konami and at the end Sam/Kojima puts his arms around him and thanks him for everything.

Lou seems to be a symbol either of Kojima’s wish to birth his own company or some other future project, and even though Deadman/Guillermo isn’t sure about it at first he eventually coparents her.

Heartman pops up halfway through the story the same way Nicolas popped up in Kojima’s life in the middle of the whole Konami mess. Heartman/Nicolas is almost embarrassingly honest about himself without expecting anything in return from Sam/Kojima. He just talks about his family, his love of movies and even his sex life, and to Sam/Kojima’s own surprise he opens up to Heartman/Nicolas within minutes of meeting him. Fast friends. Also, giving what we know about Kojima and Nicolas having a pseudo sexual relationship it’s definitely not a coincidence that Heartman starts dating a woman he nicknames Sam. He’s not actually dating Sam, but there is a fantasy/roleplay of dating him. Heartman will certainly be shouting Sam’s name during sex.

There are things that are a little more difficult to interpret. Is it symbolic of something that happened in real life or just part of the game’s surface story that Lou/the project is always out of commission around Heartman/Nicolas? Does it mean anything that Heartman/Nicolas is afraid to touch the pod? Why does Heartman/Nicolas pop up as a sort of replacement for a woman, Mama, who even have a lot in common with him? It’s really hard to tell if any of that is symbolism or just story.

But eventually Sam/Kojima breaks free of Bridges/Konami and frees Lou from the pod, giving birth to her so to speak, promising a new beginning.

Any thoughts? I’d really love to hear anything any of you might have to add. Do you think the other characters represent anything or anyone? What is timefall? Why all the dead sea creatures? Please give me anything you got to add to this theory.

#death stranding #sam porter bridges #deadman #heartman #metal gear solid #mgs #hideo kojima #guillermo del toro #nicolas winding refn #mads mikkelsen #norman reedus

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albionscastle · 5 years ago

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We’ll Meet Again - Chapter 12

It’s been a long time coming I know, but I’m feeling Collins again even though I’m working 60+ hours a week (soooooo tired).

For this chapter we have a reunion between husband and wife, a new friend made and a cute moment.

There are mentions of Holocaust themes such as camps and ghettos as well as missing families and the idea of impending extermination.

The book she is reading is The Time Machine by H. G. Wells.

MASTERLIST

WE’LL MEET AGAIN 12

HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN?

Christmas came and went, spent in a bomb shelter even though the bombs didn’t fall that day by some miracle. Jack was able to spend a few hours with you at the boarding house before returning to duty, all puffed up and chuffed at his impending fatherhood. You couldn’t have loved him more than in the moment you told him you were pregnant and his face had lit up. You’d been afraid to tell him, deep down you had thought he would run, he wouldn’t be the first. London was rife with young women, expecting, waiting for a lover who wasn’t coming back. Not every young soldier was a good man.

But yours was.

There were more letters than usual, often several arriving at once due to the mail delays. As the new year began and the conflict was no closer to finishing almost every one of Jack’s letters were imploring you to leave the city and go to his parents. You were tempted, London wasn’t safe you knew it, but it was close to Jack and you felt as though you couldn’t just leave the other girls. In the end you agreed to wait until the baby came and then you would go to Scotland. What little time you could spend with him until then you would make the most of, knowing that it could be some time before he got enough leave to go North.

There was no end in sight to the war, it was 1941, the second full year of conflict and it seemed like there was a new casualty list daily, the list of names endless. You remembered the talk about the Great War, how whole villages had their men wiped out and you could suddenly see how that had been possible. But even the old timers were spooked by this one, the rumors and stories coming out of Germany and Poland were terrifying. The last conflict had been war, this was something more, something else, something sinister and evil.

You sat on the corner eating your lunch after working for the Red Cross all morning. Another bombing, more injured, more dead. While not immune to the sight of it you were at least acclimated enough that you didn’t cry or vomit each time you carried off someone’s mangled body. Although you wanted to. There was a pile of rubble in the middle of the street, a group of young children who hadn’t been evacuated yet were playing on it while some older folk watched. It still amazed you how there were still pockets of hope and laughter in the city, normality in the face of so much destruction and death.

“This seat taken?”

You looked up into the face of an elderly man, one of the Jews who populated the East Side. His black jacket was worn in places and very old fashioned, but his smile was wide and his eyes kindly. You gestured for him to join you, offering him half your sandwich with a smile.

“Nice to see em playing about.” he remarked, declining the food politely.

“We see a pile of bricks, they see a castle.” you laughed softly. “You have to love the imaginations of children.”

“And the hope of them.”

For a moment you sat in silence, watching them, your mind wandering to your own child. In your thoughts you saw a blonde head of hair ducking in and out of the rubble, heard a higher pitched version of Jack’s laughter. The fact that you could picture your child in this place, in this condition terrified you. Would the war even be over by the time they were old enough to run around with other kids? Would there even be children left in London after all was said and done? So many had been evacuated into the countryside, their parents many times sadly victims that you and the others pulled out of the wreckage. You wondered if their children even knew they were dead. It broke your heart to think of it.

“They take the children in Germany too, don’t they?” you whispered, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

The old man nodded sadly, never taking his eyes off the kids in the street.

“My family is in Poland, the last I heard they were all rounded up and put into ghettos. It didn’t matter if they were babes or 100 years old. Jews are illegal to the Nazis.” he spat the last word in loathing.

“You’ve not heard anything since?”

“Not since November, no. I don’t expect to. I fear it will only get worse. Today its ghettos, yesterday it was encouraged emigration. My son thought it would pass, so they stayed. I am only here because I married an Englishwoman after my Sarah passed. We had talked about going to Poland before all this started.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to upset you. It’s just the rumors coming from over there…” you trailed off.

“Are all true, I’m afraid. We should talk about it, we all should so that the world knows what is happening to us. They have started putting us in camps, they call them work camps but I fear…” he swallowed hard. “What is left to do with people who are, in their words, not people but animals?”

The answer was left unspoken, the reality of what could happen to these people was too horrible to even contemplate. Others had talked about it, you had overheard some soldiers talking about how the Nazis were gearing up to “put them down”. Like animals. They had laughed, like it wasn’t anything big to think of but the idea had stuck in your head. These were people, human beings that were being treated like animals, worse than animals, because Hitler deemed them to be “illegal”. You couldn’t comprehend the kind of mindset it took to consider humans that way. And you also wondered what the rest of the world was going to do about it.

“I think it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.” You admitted sadly, not knowing what else to say.

“I fought in the last war, 37 years old and I was straight off to enlist, we fought for the Russians back then. Thought we were on a grand quest to make the world a better place. Took two bullets over four years and watched seven of my friends from home die in the trenches. I always believed we were doing it because we had to, because when we were done the world would see and not make the same mistakes again.”

“The war to end all wars.” you murmured. “My dad went on his 17th birthday, lied about his age to enlist. He and my mother were sweethearts since childhood. She said he was never the same.”

“No one came back the same, and no one will this time. Even you, you are changed by what you are experiencing here. You have lost people, yes?”

“Margot, she was my friend. A bomb landed right on her in the middle of the day, I saw the whole thing. And she had lost her fiance in France.”

“And your husband?” He looked at the ring on your finger. “Where is he?”

“He’s RAF, a fighter pilot. He was at Dunkirk.”

“This kind of evil, it touches everything, leaves nothing unstained. Your man, he kills and he does it because he has to. You try to save, because you have to but you would kill, for the same reason, yes?”

“Yes.”

“And I killed, many young men, many mother’s sons, because I had to and I never can forget it. I ask for forgiveness every day of my life. I was never a violent man, I am a botanist, but if you put a man in a German uniform in front of me now and gave me a gun, I would kill him. I wouldn’t hesitate. I wouldn’t ask for forgiveness. That is how it has changed me, this time.”

“I don’t think many would fault you for that, considering.”

“Except those many people the world over who also agree that Jews are not humans. The world sits and waits, watching to see what will happen, trust me they will not intervene until what happens to us affects their interests.”

“Even if they start killing?”

“Start? Young lady they have already begun killing us, for years they have. All that is happening now is that they are speeding up the process.”

Tears welled in your eyes at the thought of it. In the grand scheme of things you had it easy. This man’s whole family’s fate was unknown, a whole race of people were being imprisoned for their blood and for no other reason. Children too, locked in ghettos and cages, their whole lives stolen from them.

For what? What was it all for?

“I’m so sorry.”

“It is not your fault.”

His lined hand patted yours, squeezing your fingers.

“I had meant to simply say hello and sit for a minute, I did not mean to upset you.”

“Please,” you implored, wiping your eyes. “Don’t say that, you are entitled to be angry. I’m glad you sat down, no one else talks about it. Everyone wants to pretend it isn’t happening, that nothing exists outside this island. I don’t want to be that person.”

“What is your name?”

You told him your name, told him Jack’s and for a while you told him the story of how you met and fell in love. He laughed at stories from the boarding house, especially your landlady’s ability to turn any moment into a party. He told you in turn of his Sarah, their only son Samuel and his wife Elsa and their children. Samuel was or at least had been an attorney and the cantor at their temple, he was a good, kind man according to his father, but naive in his belief of the inherent goodness of man. It was something they had debated many times. It was that belief that had led him to stay in Poland long after they should have tried to escape.

You learned how, after Sarah’s death some ten years ago, your new friend Jacob had come to England for work and met Mary, a widow who became his close friend. Over the years the friendship had grown until they married finally three years previously, allowing him to stay in England. It was Mary who had procured visas for the rest of the family and her sadness at what had happened was acute.

As the sun went down and the chill sharpened in the air you walked Jacob to his street, promising to go straight home after and to come visit as soon as you were able. Your heart was heavy as you walked away, your mind in turmoil. The whole story made it onto the page as you wrote to Jack that night, including your soul wrenching sadness at what was happening on the Continent. For once you held nothing back, pouring onto the paper your conflicting hopelessness at the state of the world and your unrelenting joy with him and your unborn child. You felt so guilty stealing even a moment of happiness when Jacob’s whole family, and so many countless others were suffering so greatly.

Oddly it was Mary rather than Jack who was able to make you feel less so. Jack’s letters, while admitting that the stories were seemingly true and worsening, were full of love and hope, talk of your future, of a life after the war. You loved it, loved reading and imagining it, dreaming of the days when you would finally be together. The way he described his home you could see it so clearly, the mountains and the mist, the valleys, the stone houses. He was so ready for it to begin and so were you, but you couldn’t escape the black cloud that hung over you, the knowledge that you had the possibility of a future that so many people were being robbed of.

What you never told Jack in your letters was how that guilt and horror at what was happening made you cry yourself to sleep at night as much as his absence did.

As winter drew on, edging toward spring you found yourself at Jacob and Mary’s often, especially once she started brewing you her special tea for morning sickness. Mary swore up and down that it was the tea that had gotten her through five pregnancies without even a day in bed being sick. You weren’t one hundred percent sure of it, but it actually seemed to work and she did love fussing over you like a mother hen. It was Mary who had sternly told you one day, as you all sat in their basement, that it was right and proper to grieve the situation on the Continent, that to be horrified and aching for the Jewish people was the mark of a good and caring human. But she also said that the suffering of others shouldn’t make you lose hope and joy, because otherwise what was the point of fighting? What was the point of living if you couldn’t be happy, that each person on the earth was put there to live and that the ability to do so amidst so much suffering meant that humanity was worth fighting for. You saw her point and the guilt at least eased, if not the sadness.

As the months dragged on you saw the sadness in Jacob’s eyes too, each day without word from his family hurt him more and the moments of laughter that you had experienced when you first met were fewer now as the hope for their survival dimmed. Still, he told endless stories of them, and Mary of her children, two of whom hadn’t survived the Depression. Her three remaining daughters were all married with families of their own and each of them had asked for their mother to go to them. But Jacob wouldn’t leave the last place his son knew to look for him, and Mary wouldn’t leave Jacob.

In March Jack was transferred to RAF Feltwell, a newer Air Force base located in Norfolk almost two hours away. He was given three days leave before he was to report for his new duties and to say that you were devastated was an understatement.

“I wish you weren’t going.” you sighed as he hung his jacket in your wardrobe the first day.

“Aye love, me too, but I haf tae go where I’m ordered. They need me there.”

“Doing what?”

You saw the look on his face, even though he tried to hide it. Whatever it was he didn’t want to tell you. A wave of panic wafted over you leaving you dizzy and gasping for air.

“Ye need tae lay down love, come on now there’s naught tae be getting upset about.” Jack helped you to your bed, kicking off his shoes to lay beside you. “They need trained pilots fer the bombers, that’s all.”

He had mentioned this in his letters, or the prospect of one day bombers being sent over the channel. Nothing specific of course, but now it looked like that prospect was a reality. “So you are a bomber pilot now? No more Spitfires?” In your mind the fact that he wouldn’t be a fighter pilot anymore wasn’t exactly soothing.

“Aye, I’ll fly wi a crew o six an all we’ll do is fly over, drop the bombs and leave. Nothin tae it.”

“Nothing to flying over enemy airspace and being under attack constantly, it sounds unbelievably dangerous.”

He pulled you closer so you could rest your head on his shoulder, his hand rubbing your arm gently.

“I’ll no lie tae ye, it’s war lass, anythin I do is goin tae be dangerous, this is no exception.”

Pushing yourself up to sit facing him you looked down at your husband. Trying your hardest not to cry you took him in, from his soft, bright hair to the straight length of his nose every inch of him as precious to you as your own life.

“Promise me…” you sucked in a deep breath before continuing sternly. “Jack Andrew Collins you promise me that you will come back to us.”

Sitting up, Jack wrapped you up in his arms, holding you as the tears fell.

“I mean it Jack, you come back, don’t leave us alone. Don’t be a hero, please, just do your job and come home. Don’t make me live without you.”

He buried his face in your neck, his arms so tight that you almost couldn’t breathe.

“I’m comin back tae ye, love. I promise. I swear I’m comin home.”

Jack held you like that until after the sun went down, until you were forced downstairs to eat, him holding your hand and gently lecturing you about taking it easy with the baby on the way. He knew you well enough by now not to tell you to stop your Red Cross work, only to tell you to be extra careful. You had already scaled back your duties as you started showing so you were one step ahead of him there. Later he admitted that he felt a little useless, all things considered, you already had so much under control and you didn’t really need him.

“You’re right Jack.” you said from the bed as you watched him change. “I don’t need you, I’ve always been able to take care of myself. But I don’t want to. I want you and I want us, that’s a big difference.”

Jack chuckled, climbing under the covers to spoon you against him, rubbing his stubbly chin against your shoulder.

“Ye think ye will see tha way in twenty years? When I’m no the handsome, fit man I am today?”

Giggling, you snuggled closer to him, lacing your fingers with his.

“You’ll always be handsome to me, Jack. I’m the one who’s going to get all fat and out of shape.”

“Nay, lass yer pregnant no fat and besides well be goin walkin every day so as we donna let ourselves go.”

You could feel him snickering.

“What about in the winter? Are going to go walking in the snow?”

“I’m sure we can think o summan tae do tae stay active during all those long,” his mouth pressed against your shoulder, “dark,” your neck, “nights.” his teeth grazed your ear sending a familiar, warm tingle down your spine.

Turning in his arms you pushed Jack until he was on his back and you straddled him, leaning down to kiss him hungrily.

“I say we start going through ideas right now.” you murmured against his skin.

Three days wasn’t nearly enough time, but you and Collins made the most of it. Most of the time you spent alone, everyone understood why and you weren’t interrupted. You walked over to see Jacob and Mary, eager to have them meet the man you had told them so much about. Jack and Jacob were instant friends, the camaraderie between them apparent from the get go. You didn’t even mind that the two men spent the whole day chatting while you and Mary made dinner and looked at each of them fondly from across the room. When you left, Jack was full of admiration for the elderly man, expressing his hope of seeing a lot more of the couple in the future.

“I feel awful about his son,” he admitted.”I canna imagine knowin what’s happenin there and bein helpless to save them. Not knowin is the hardest part.”

You knew, from the sombre look on his face that he was thinking of Farrier, his friend who’s fate after Dunkirk had never been determined. You couldn’t imagine not knowing what had happened to someone and imagining the very worst.

The last day, he had to leave that night for Norfolk so that he could report the next morning, you spent in bed. Neither of you felt hungry enough to go get breakfast, even though Jack scolded you saying you needed to feed the baby at least. You managed to distract him from that train of thought. Later, after a bath and a sandwich or two you sat against the pillows on the bed, Jack’s head in your lap as he gazed up at you, his ear pressed against the small swell of your stomach.

“…The air was free from gnats, the earth from weeds or fungi; everywhere were fruits and sweet and delightful flowers; brilliant butterflies flew hither and thither. The ideal of preventive medicine was attained. Diseases had been stamped out…even the processes of putrefaction and decay had been profoundly affected by these changes.”

Your fingers threaded absentmindedly through his hair as you read, his fingers reaching up from time to time to brush your arm, or your face before returning to rest on his stomach.

“Social triumphs, too, had been effected. I saw mankind housed in splendid shelters, gloriously clothed, and as yet I had found them engaged in no toil. There were no signs of struggle, neither social nor economic struggle. The shop, the advertisement, traffic, all that commerce which constitutes the body of our world, was gone. It was natural on that golden evening that I should jump at the idea of a social paradise. The difficulty of increasing population had been met, I guessed, and population had ceased to increase.”

You read him the entire book, taking delight in his almost childlike enjoyment of such a simple pleasure. Time ceased to exist for those few hours and you saw your future clearly, a child lying between the two of you as you read until they both fell asleep. It was a future you wanted so badly that it almost hurt to think about it.

Before he left, you made love one last time, savoring the slow, gentle slide of his skin against yours, the feeling of his mouth against your lips and the overwhelming feeling of being held tightly in his arms. Jack kissed your tears away when you cried, let you help him dress when it was time and didn’t even try to tell you to buck up.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. And I’ll write every day, I promise.” he punctuated his words with kisses as he hugged you goodbye. “Jus stay safe an take care o yerself and our girl.”

“You’re sure the baby is a girl then?”

“Aye, an she’ll look like ye and I’ll be the most envied man in Ballachulish wi ma two princesses on ma arms.”

“What if it’s a boy?”

‘Same goes.” Jack shrugged, grinning down at you. “As long as I have ye, I’ll be the luckiest man in Scotland, and our bairn will be the luckiest kid tae haf ye as a mum.”

“And you as a Dad, Jack. It’s us who are lucky.”

Jack’s hands cradled the back of your head as he kissed you again and your arms wrapped around his waist, locking so that you wouldn’t have to let him go.

“Let’s say we are both lucky, shall we?”

“I love you Jack Collins.”

“And I love ye Y/N Collins.”

You had to watch him walk away, as much as it hurt you had to watch, waiting until he got to the corner and lifted his hand to wave goodbye. With tears streaming down your cheeks you waved back, even when he turned the corner and vanished out of sight. For the longest time you stood there, staring at the spot where you had last seen him, willing him to reappear.

When would you see him again?

#jack x reader #jack lowden #jack lowden fic #jack lowden imagine #jack lowden fanfiction #jack lowden x reader #jack lowden blurb #dunkirk collins #dunkirk fanfiction #dunkirk imagine

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years ago

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551-552: "The Battle Is On! At Conchchorde Plaza!" and "A Surprising Confession! The Truth Behind the Assassination of Otohime!"

I KNEW IT!!

I knew that scumbag Hordy was behind Otohime’s assassination! Oh, I only wish I’d been a fan while these chapters were being released so I could have made a bet with someone. Then again... everyone reading at that time probably knew too. I mean the flags were vast and red.

As soon as I saw the title for 552 flash up, I thought, “Yes. This is it. Hordy is gonna confess.”

Was not disappointed.

And that wasn’t all. The reveals kept coming. The circumstances of the assassination? Check. Madame Sharley’s family? Check. 30,000 hidden human slaves? Double check. Plus, I finally know what Noah is (yes, it is a “what” and not a “who”). And it is currently being controlled by Decken who has finally gone off the deep end.

Why Does Hordy Look Like He’s About to Judge Someone on a Talent Show?

Have to say, I forgot to mention something in the last post. Neptune brought up an inconvenient truth about the Fish Roids. Those rad pills that grant you super strength? They come packed with horrendous side-effects. Namely: they take years off your life.

Maybe that’s why Hordy has snow white hair now as well as a water shoot attack that can fell buildings and destroy royal army squadrons.

Episode 551 served pretty much to build Hordy’s threat potential as a villain. And boy it was done in quick time. By the end of 551, he had strung up Neptune, decimated the royal army, the royal ministers and had defeated all three princes.

I kind of hate Hordy’s guts right now, so it was nice to see the islanders so concerned for their beloved king, shielding children’s eyes as the execution convoy flew past. Neptune’s guard tried to take a stand, but Neptune told them to run, not to die a meaningless death. See, that’s the difference between a good king and Hordy (I refuse to call him a king. He ain’t crowned yet). Neptune cares for his people and they respect and care from him in turn.

At the plaza, Hordy’s Head Goons assembled. Brave islanders climbed the walls because they wanted to rescue Neptune. They had prime seats for the upcoming show.

By the time they had scaled the fence, Hordy had cleared out the royal guard and installed himself on a giant pink beanbag throne. Neptune was trussed up to a St Andrew’s style cross. No idea if there’s any symbolism there, but Andrew was called a “fisher of men”. Maybe it’s just the whole martyrdom thing. Being willing to die for the peaceful ideals of Otohime. Or maybe Oda just thought, “Yeah.... saltire crosses. That’ll do.”

One poor soldier tried to pull off a suicide attack. If he could just take out one of the Head Goons before the princes arrived, it would aid the rescue effort. But the merciless hype machine ground its gears and the solider became fodder for Hordy’s power up.

It was an impressive power up. Just the normal water shoot bullet but ramped up to eleven. BOOM! It blasted through walls, buildings, rock formations and only lost momentum miles away at Mermaid Cove. I thought, “This guy really is a scumbag. He’s just wreaking havoc and destroying things because, lel, this is fun and I have the power now.”

Then the princes arrived. I finally remember all of their names! Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi and Manboshi. Better late than never. The spectators on the wall cheered. The princes were here! King Neptune would be saved! Hurrah! The princes declared, “WE WILL SAVE YOU, FATHER!”

I felt like Madame Sharly. I could see what was coming a mile off.

Fukaboshi, because he’s going to become king someday and be fucking excellent, gave another good speech. “Why don’t you understand, Hordy Jones? You people are the weakest on this island [Hordy was triggered by this]. The other islanders were trying to ignore the history of discrimination by humans and to forgive the murder of their hero and their queen who died at the hands of a human [oh, Fukaboshi...]. They endured their pain to change their future and sign their names. Why can’t you appreciate the boldness and kindness of their decision?”

Because he’s Fishler, that’s why. You can’t reason with Fishler types. You could say, “Well, remember that chap Whitebeard? He was an alright human, wasn’t he?” and a Fishler would shriek, “NO, HE WAS JUST PRETENDING! WHITEBEARD WAS FAKE NEWS!” Or, “Have you ever been to the surface, Fishler?” and they would reply, “NO, BUT I DON’T NEED TO.” (I think Hordy has because he’s a pirate, but the attitude’s the same).

I don’t know why they talk in caps. But

Now, the annoying thing about Hordy’s goons beating down the princes was that those boys are actually no slouches. Were it not for the Roids, they could easily have kicked ass.

But Hordy claimed they would never lose, as the had been, and I quote, “given great power from above.” From above? As in the surface? Now that’s suspicious. Who has been supplying these Fishmen with Roids? I half expect Vegapunk to be involved somehow.

At any rate, the Head Goons showed their stuff. Roided up, they were faster, stronger and crushed the princes. And they were strung up alongside their dad.

And It Gets Worse

No, not just because of the crowd of Hordy’s followers baying for blood.

Back at the Sea Forest... the fight between Jimbei and Luffy had been off-panelled.

This, I think, is weird. We did not get to see Luffy in a mangled, defeated state. We never got to see Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Robin or Franky. All we heard was Jimbei saying, “Phew, he gave me a hard time,” before he escorted Shirahoshi back towards the palace.

Except that didn’t work out because they thought a balloon version of Neptune was the real thing and were netted and dragged off to the plaza. (I am suspicious of the lack of Luffy, so I kind of hope this is a roundabout scheme from Jimbei. Schemes wouldn’t work with Luffy but maybe Jimbei’s clever enough to steer him in the right direction and count on Luffy being Luffy to sort things out in the end).

Hordy was pleased at the special delivery of Jimbei, Shirahoshi and Megalo. Before that, he didn’t want to kill his hostages until Shirahoshi was lured to the plaza. It’s her power to call Sea Kings that he feared most and other than Neptune, she is the one he wants dead most. It was also the only reason he teamed up with Decken. (Now it makes sense! I thought Hordy only wanted a way into the palace.)

The poor audience of islanders on the walls, though... they were distraught. It was like a quadruple whammy of gut punches. First Neptune, then the princes, and now Jimbei and their beloved princess Shirahoshi. I mean, I’d wager Jimbei is almost as much of a legendary figure as Fisher Tiger nowadays. To see him brought so low must be truly shocking (still hoping it’s a ploy).

Now Hordy’s only concern is what the Strawhats will do. He guessed they’d return to the palace, free Zoro, Usopp and Brook. But he had some surprise guests waiting for them...

Yes, that’s right! 30,000 human slaves Hordy caught! Plus another 70,000 armed thugs (fodder for Strawhats). “One hundred thousand outlaws together!” he crowed. I guess this proves Hordy can perform basic addition.

I mean, there were a few female and child slaves along with the male ones, but they would be taken care of later. And I don’t think he means given a hot meal and a roof over their heads. :|

Madame Sharly Steps Up

This is when the episode got Extra Juicy.

Madame Sharly stepped up, spoke up and got Hordy so wound up he snapped and went completely off the rails in public.

“You fools are a dishonour. Horsing around in public. You kids have no class at all. Don’t push your luck. I just wanted to say one thing to you since you’re at the height of your glory: a man will destroy Fishman Island.”

“Wasn’t it me you saw?” Hordy said, modestly.

Bad news, Hordy. “No. The man who will destroy it is Strawhat Luffy. I can’t tell what he’ll do specifically. But it is not you. The one who will determine the fate of Fishman Island is not you, Hordy Jones.”

Well...

Let’s just say this news was not received positively.

As Madame Sharly is another legendary figure in Fishman Island, her not backing Hordy’s rise to power was disastrous PR. Even the goons were freaking out. “Omg, that means Hordy will never gain control of Fishman Island. Her predictions are accurate!”

The Hordy stepped up and slapped the crap out of Madame Sharly.

Forget what I said last post about not wanting Luffy to come and sort shit out.

Get down here now because this guy needs taken down a peg.

I was so enraged by Hordy’s obvious threatened response to Madame Sharly that when he revealed she was ARLONG’S SISTER (WTF??) I barely heard it and had to rewind and watch it again. He also bare face admitted to her he was only using the Arlong Pirates name to unite people under his banner.

Properly triggered by Sharly’s lack of support, he went on a mad, Roid-Rant, yelling that HE was the ONLY ONE who could take over Fishman Island. His scheme is ten years in the making! He had the power to do it. ONLY HIM. OH, AND BY THE WAY, YOU KNOW THAT QUEEN YOU ALL LOVED SO MUCH?

I think this is Hordy’s biggest mistake. Some of you guys in the comments for the last post talked about Luffy sorting out Fishman issues not being a problem because would Hordy really have many supporters to resent Luffy?

After this, I am convinced he won’t have any. Because those islanders on the wall? They were enraged.

While Hordy had his villainous, “YES, IT WAS ME!” moment, a flashback revealed he did pay a human to be involved in the assassination. At first, I thought Hordy just paid the human pirate to shoot her. Was shocked but no surprised to learn that he hated Otohime so much that he wanted to pull the trigger himself. The human accessory only set fire to the petitions.

Hordy has gone so far off the deep end with the lack of Sharly support that he forgot that triggering Shirahoshi has geological scale consequences.

“Don’t you think she was annoying?” he said straight to Shirahoshi’s face. “She begged everyone not to seek revenge against humans but to be friends with them instead. She was bugging me because she’d almost accomplished her goal. I wasn’t satisfied with just killing her. [No of course you weren’t...] To me, your mother was someone who deserved death. I came up with the idea to make the best of her death, that would allow me to stoke the fire of hatred towards humans, that Fishmen citizens once had, and destroy the islanders’ stupid dream once and for all! I’d frame a human for killing her. You were all fooled exactly as I hoped. She was worth killing, right, Shirahoshi? She wasn’t killed by a human. She was killed by me. I, a kinsman, did it.”

I thought the earthquakes would start and the Sea Kings would begin, slowly, to stretch it out over several episodes, to swim towards Fishman Island.

But no.

The twist was even better!

Shirahoshi turned to Hordy and said, “I already knew.”

WHAT THE---?

Honestly, I was as shocked as Jimbei. Even Hordy was dumbfounded.

I cannot wait to find out how Shirahoshi knew. I mean, if she knew and didn’t tell anyone, that’s a pretty big ball to drop, you know?

Oh, and I forgot to mention this guy...

Decken: King of the Incels

This is some next-level creepy madness, let me tell you. Especially when the news only a couple days ago reported that some incel just shot up a yoga studio because “women”.

I mean, Decken has a neckbeard and is even wearing a Fedora. It’s like Oda had a vision of the future and turned it into a pirate because the reality was just too weird.

Anyway, Decken has also gone off the deep end, and has adopted a: “If I Cannot Have Her, Everyone Will Die” mindset. To achieve this, he has brought to life an ship called Noah built by Fishmen “a while ago” (hmm.... seems older than that, but I’ll run with it.

I’m half thinking Noah could it be one of those Pluton-like weapons because the ship is half the size of Fishman Island, apparently. Great for ramming into a protective bubble and killing everyone in it, eh? Woo hoo! What a great guy!

*whistles innocently*

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #fishman island #monkey d. luffy #jimbei #hordy jones #princess shirahoshi #neptune #fukaboshi #queen otohime #fisher tiger #captain vander decken #madame sharly

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haruyuri · 7 years ago

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Attack On Titan // Manga Analysis

contains spoilers.

this post is focused mostly on the Marley Arc and Sasha’s death. read at your own risk.

Ah, I said I would do this, here I am.

I believe pretty much all of the Attack On Titan fandom is pissed right now. Whether you are a manga reader or not, I’m sure you’ve come across with the most recent spoilers.

Yes, Sasha Blouse is dead.

We shall start with some background on her, using the anime. She was rather irrelevant during season one, I think we all agree. She was simply the ‘potato girl’, or the girl who spoke in a ridiculously polite way, but, during season two, she gained some focus for her character. Truth is she was meant to die in chapter 40, more or less, when she fought that one titan with the arrows. (Titan that was confirmed (i think) to be Connie’s father.)

She was unharmed. She didn’t have her gear on, but she did save a small child from a titan and fought it with something she was good at, shooting arrows. But though, I think she isn’t given enough credit for this. She had this whole episode for herself and still, she was still ‘potato girl’.

Throughout the whole anime, Sasha is seen as a goofball who has an incredibly high appetite. Sure, she is a rather positive character, so is Connie, but both of them have their own demons as well.

Believe it or not, Sasha was rather important during the Uprising Arc. She was one of the chosen to be part of the new Squad Levi, as long as the other 104th soldiers and she had an important role in protecting Eren and Historia.

After she takes care of Levi’s wounds, she stays on guard all night as the squad is eating and drinking.

She then takes part in the rescuing of Eren and Historia, as they know their whereabouts and, shall we not forget, she saves Connie’s life.

And, later on, it’s Connie’s time to attend to her safety, in the Return to Shingashina Arc. Being hit by the debris upon fighting the Armored Titan, Connie takes her unconscious body to a roof and everyone begins thinking about the Titan Serum. Though, she’s not injured to that point and the debate is then between Armin and Erwin, Levi ending up deciding to give it to Armin.

Even more, as they return to Trost and she finally recovers, she is exhonerated with a damn medal. Sasha is a worthy soldier.

And finally, we get to the shitty Marley Arc. Personally, it has been my least favorite arc so far. Now, having read chapter 105, I feel like I’ve wasted all the time I’ve put into reading this manga. I used to love every bit of it, even with the death and all the angst, I still looked forward to the next chapter. Now, I don’t. Now I’ll think “Ah.. Another chapter. I’ll read it later.” and just go on with it.

Alright, let’s get this Arc straight, shall we.

We had a heck ton of chapters that made us though “Where the fuck is the Survey Corps” since only hobo looking Eren and mentally fucked up Reiner were on the show. Sure, we got to know some stuff about the Marley dudes, but they’re not that interesting.

It seems to me that Eren left to Marley on his own accord, that he probably even disobeyed his superiors orders (That’d be Commander Hange and Captain Levi) and even wrote them a letter.

Both Hange and Levi show their discontent with Eren’s development and behavior. Eren, who used to be Humanity’s Hope is now nothing but a suicidal soldier, who uses himself as bait and causes his comrades to die.

He was, for a long time, talking to Falco, bonding with him so that he could get to Reiner. I’m not sure how I feel about Falco though, because he seems to be a good person and he felt deceived by Eren, because he thought Eren was a good person and he was surely though that the people of Paradis were monsters.

Falco felt used by Eren and realizes he was lied to. The kid probably has trust issues, who knows.

Despite knowing that his name is Eren Jaeger, he still goes for Kruger. He’s upset, he understood Eren is a bad guy, I guess.

But anyway, Eren masters up to fuck Reiner in the head even more and bam- he goes batshit crazy and turns into a titan. Nothing we haven’t seen before, right?

Well he goes and kills the Thor look alike and ye, look it’s a new titan!!!

You are one creepy fucker, Tybur woman.

And, of course, the rest of Marley had to come, right? We get a better look at Pieck’s cart titan and Zeke’s beast titan as well. Let’s not forget what Levi promised Erwin before he died. He would take down the beast titan.

But, surprise surprise. Zeke is betraying Marley. Or.. You can’t be that surprised, c’mon, he betrayed his own parents.

Here’s how it starts:

Eren seems a bit unamused to me, I don’t know, woops.

On another note, both Levi and Jean talk about ‘time’. That’s another confirmation note to the fact Zeke is actually on Paradis’ side (apparently) and Levi killing him, for now, is an act.

Pieck knows that Zeke just betrayed him, so.. my question is. Why didn’t she do anything about it? She probably just realised that Levi did not kill him, that he acted as if he did. So why did she just carry on battling and didn’t do anything? Hm.. Fishy.

But moving on.

Let’s talk about another character. Gabi Braun. She’s just 12 and also an Eldian and Warrior Candidate. Her goal is to kill Eren Jaeger, who trampled over her home.

So here’s the thing about Gabi. First of all, she’s a brat. Second of all, she has a superiority complex. Third of all, she doesn’t listen to anyone. We all know Falco is more inteligent than Gabi and less impulsive than her.

Don’t talk back, you brat.

But here’s what pisses me off. She made it clear. Eren Jaeger is her target. Sure, she holds a grudge against all Survey Corps members, but mostly, Eren.

So why, why did she have to kill TWO soldiers before she got Eren?

She killed Lobov and, right after, she didn’t even aim. She grabbed the gun and shot. She had no idea if she’d get anyone or not. But she did, she killed Sasha with one shot.

What was the damn logic? She shot randomly. Did she even know if she’d get someone? As much as she knew, she could’ve shot against a wall. Her aim wasn’t defined, she didn’t know what she was doing.

But no. Poor innocent Sasha had to take the damn bullet. No one was expecting that, Jean and Connie are dumbfounded as Sasha falls backwards.

Some people are supporting Gabi in here, saying she’s protecting her home, but let’s get something straight. If Sasha hadn’t hesitated back then, Gabi would be dead. Sasha spared Gabi’s life and how did Gabi thank her? She didn’t. She killed her. She killed the one who granted her the miracle of life when she could’ve taken it away.

And of course, the Survey Corps flip. Sasha is obviously dear to everyone, we can tell that everyone sees Sasha as a close friend, or even a relative. While Jean and Connie, the closest people to Sasha, try to take care of her, the others are quick to pin Gabi and Falco down and hit them. They’re seriously pissed that a brat got in their ship and shot one of them.

We all know Jean is an emotional guy. But, seeing try to stay collected, giving orders as he sees Sasha slowly slip away from life.. Damn mate.

Also, Connie asks her to hold on until they go home. I still wonder why.

Also, y’all know what pisses me off? When I’m sad/upset and people still make fun of me. And this happened here. Everyone’s sad about Sasha’s death, some people are probably sad over Eren’s state and how the Survey Corps are treating him and Sasha’s last word is ‘meat’ ?

Seriously now, m e a t ?

At this point, I can’t help but believe Isayama is toying around with us. Sure, Sasha became known at the ‘potato girl’ and someone with high appetite, but is that what her whole character is about? Apparently.

And know what hurts the most?

This probably happened about five minutes before she was shot. Both Jean and Sasha are reflecting on their mission, on what they have to do and how they have to kill. And of course, Connie plays the positive guy. Sure he ain’t smiling, but he’s glad he’s alive. He’s glad his best friends are alive. Jean and Sasha are pretty much everything that Connie has. Sure, he might be a bit close to the others, but Jean and Sasha are definetly the closest people to him. He’s lost his family, he’s lost comrades and now.. Well, he lost Sasha.

We can see the closure between Sasha and Connie and I’m not saying this because I’m a Springles shipper, but I think that there was something more than friendship, but of course romance would never, in a million years, be relevant to Attack On Titan. (cue; Hannah and Franz died rather quickly)

Sasha was smiling after Connie said she was special and soon they were happily talking about dinner. They just wanted to hang out and relax now.

But no. Sasha had to be murdered.

Jean is stressing out. Sasha is dying in front of his eyes. He’s probably thinking that he couldn’t protect her, but deep down he blames Eren for this.

The other soldiers have beaten Gabi more than Falco, of course, Falco isn’t even bleeding, but they threaten to kill both.

Gabi’s speaking shit and how they’d let the commander know and Jean just tells her she can tell Zeke in person.

On another note, Pieck is talking about Yellena, and how she knew Zeke was betraying them with Yellena’s help. Once again, why didn’t she do anything or report Zeke’s intentions to the other warriors?

Zeke wasn’t expecting that. He probably wouldn’t expect Gabi to murder two soldiers either. He thinks that these kids ruined his plan. I’m still not sure what the plan is, but well, the Corps seem to know.

Well, seems like Gabi ruined things for ya, Beardie. But calling those kids miscalculations is almost the same as called them failed abortions. Yikes.

I’m still very confused about this page, about the conversation between Levi and Zeke. Of course Levi would want to kill the one who killed Mike, got other soldiers to die and was heavily involved in Erwin’s death, not to mention he promised Erwin he would take down the beast titan. And, no matter how much he has to team up with Zeke now, Levi keeps his word.

And well, this was it. I don’t have anything else to complain about. I hope y’all enjoyed this if you reached this line. Maybe if I read chapter 106, i’ll add more to this,

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #eren jaeger #levi ackerman #sasha blouse #mikasa ackerman #armin arlert #hange zoe #reiner braun #gabi braun #spoilers #manga #marley arc #analysis #manga analysis #theories #snk #aot

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tellmeyourbackstory · 6 years ago

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Paz of clan Ruhk

There’s always tales of lost lands full of riches but like all myths and legends there’s a origin point firmly embedded in truth and the isle of Shal ath Kuhn or, if we’re speaking in common, the isle of prophets, a place where it is said the original speakers and bearer of the wills of gods came from to enact their will on a land thriving in chaos and unlawfulness.

Because of the nature of what happened there it is said the very land was bless with a bounty of valuable minerals from which the prophets were able to take what they would have needed to travel, defend and establish the divine will. These stories have of course been floating around bars, scholars, guilds, clans, the old families and many a unscrupulous map seller longer than any remember. It had become such a common fable that it was common to joke about it to suggest someone’s recent endeavors are foolish.

This is where Bignal the Dwarf, Thruk the Orc, Casten the Human and Serkat the Elf enter our story, a group whose tenuous relationship was motivated by greed. They may not have liked each other but they recognized each others skills and usefulness for maximizing their potential haul. They had done well with it too, they were known by the darkest corners of the shadiest towns as a group that could get things done and that brings the start of the greatest adventure they ever had. They had been contracted to pull a job, the target was a magic ring for some pirate stored in the vault of some opulent lord, no one remembers their names, they are not important to this story beyond setting the group on their path. The reward was not a monetary one directly from the pirate (though he did offer some hearty rewards to motivate them to actually give the procured ring to him) the primary reward was the vault with the ring also had many other riches and they’d be able to fill their packs with enough items to happily live for a long time if they so wished to do so. Our dubiously dubbed hero’s of redistributing wealth had a solid plan, they had acquired an item that would open a portal for a period of time that would allow two way travel, they would set an anchor point in their hideout and just empty the vault into their hideout (or as much as they could before the portal collapsed) , they only had one shot with the spell as it was old and expensive magic and very hard to come by, they had it waiting for years and knew this was the perfect use for it, it was risky but there’s no rewards without risk and part of them were in it for the thrill anyway, the riches were just a bonus.

Everything was pretty smooth, they got in, disabled guards, cracked the magical locks on the vault, worked around the wards on the ring and secured it. Here’s where things weren’t so smooth, as they were setting up the portal the owner of the vault had for some random chance of fate, wanted to bask in the radiance of his wealth so insecure he was about so much else that his cold collection of magic and riches fulfilled him to a deluded degree, he had his personal guards, alarms were raised. They opted to flee with what items they had in their packs and the ring. They used the unethical redistribution of wealth to take one of the smaller boats in the lord’s personal dock and fled the scene.they had to make way for safe harbour and either disappear for a while or or at least get to their hideout to lay low, the plan became find land, use the portal spell and return to the hideout. Lucky for them the ring they had stolen, its purpose was to guide to safe harbour. Serkay slipped it on his index finger and a beam of light showed them the way. Now here’s the thing about magical items, they don’t have a lot of nuances around definitions that sentient beings have, the ring didn’t define safe in the same way the group did, the ring defined it by anywhere that someone may have ill will to the wearer would be unsafe and the possession of the ring increased that because anyone that learned of it and what it can do would likely take some sort of aggressive action against the owner. It sat in a vault for this reason, it was an oddity, not exactly useful but interesting nonetheless.

And with this and with a tense alliance building tension that they came to an island, it was all steep imposing cliffs like a wave had been changed to stone mid roll except for one small parting with a narrow waterway leading deep into the island through stone tunnels till it came out into a small bay. They beached their boat and found the land formed some natural steps climbing to the top of the island. One thing they all instantly noticed is that along the cliffs and the walls of the tunnel coming in there was clear and deep veins of minerals, of interest to them was the gold and iron, there was much more of things they didn’t recognize as well but the gold and iron was all that mattered to them. Gears turned, mutually agreed on but unspoken alliances with each other were being dropped, each knew that if they brought the location of this to their homelands they would be highly rewarded, dubbed heroes, maybe made lords and given land to rule. Each marked their location using the stars, they knew that they had to work together to get out through the portal, any outward betrayal would result in all the others turning and killing the individual betrayer and seeking allies to take the others down wouldn’t work. The portal was raised, each went through and with a level of individually earned respect, they parted ways to beat the others to claiming that land in the name of their people.

Each made their journey successfully and that is where we will leave off with Bignal, Thruk, Casten and Serkat. They’ve served their purpose for what we needed them, they do have other marks left in history like deep blemishes on skin but as far as the isle of prophets, they are catalysts and having fulfilled that purpose we refocus to the next on the settlement on the isle. It’s not clear who arrived first of the Orcs, Elves, Humans and Dwarves, all would contest to the last breath that it was them and all the others were invaders to their fairly claimed land. No matter though, whoever it was the outcome would be the same, all arrived, anger and misplaced and self-imposed righteousness led to many battles, battle lines shifted, land became more and more contested, years went on at a stalemate. The battles halted eventually not because of any overpowering force or lack of soldiers (for what are people to war but and easily renewable resource) but the cost was starting to outweigh the gain that the land would produce. It was also making trade and diplomacy more difficult on the mainland, borders were being closed, crafts weren’t being exported, Races outside of the conflict were feeling pressure to align with a side and often more than not, just withdrew. Diplomats met to find a resolution, a goblin diplomat was assigned to oversee the fair resolving of the whole event. A treaty was made dividing the land equally and in the center a city was founded as neutral ground as both a place for further diplomatic meetings and as a gesture of good faith to encourage their peoples to intermingle with each other and help bring down racial tension. The City of Tunfir Baash grew fast, there was industry and work to raise up, a new land to stake claims in and become wealthy from. Though the intention was the to promote friendly exchange between the races distinct districts rose up in a naturally forming segregation seeded from the bigotry founded from greed of the past.

That’s not to say there wasn’t any crossover, there were half elves born occasionally, humans and dwarves had a natural trade in industries. The Orcs were the biggest outliers though half breeds still happened there but there was little friendship shown towards any of the other races but they on occasion had use for half bred Orcs for they were often of much high guile and of sharper mind than their full blooded kin.

This is where we meet Kuhth of clan Ruhk, a strong and particularly proud Orc, she had proven herself in battle many times over until a particularly fierce battle had injured her leg meaning she was no longer mobile enough to engage in the grand art of war anymore. The leader of her tribe recognized her honor and offered her a chance to still gain great honor, they wanted her to Sire a child of mixed human and orc blood so that it might have her rage and prowess in battle and the mind to lead and train troops to great glory. She accepted the proposal as a great honor. Daleth was human, he was once a soldier, he was actually the one who crippled Kuth Ruhk’s leg, he was quick, fierce and had a reputation of someone you don’t take on lightly. That was in his prime, the fit in which he had injured Kuhth Ruhk did not leave him unscathed, he had taken a serious blow to the head which had made him blind in one eye making work as a soldier very difficult, he now did guard work around the city and spent his evening drinking to excess. It was in such an evening that an orcish figure hobbled into the tavern, came right up to him, grabbed him and advised he had taken honor from her and he must pay to return that to her. In the more outlying hordes of Orcs would not concern themselves with such ideas of proposals or consent. They would find who they need and take what they need but such actions within the city would be unlawful and create potential trouble for the orcs so they played at the games of other species to bolster themselves and their honor.

A deal was struck, Daleth would sire a child with Kuhth Ruhk for taking her out of the glory of battle and they would also pay him for his services and then he would go back and drown his life in whatever he wanted to do with the remainder of it. Through this, Pahz Ruhk was born and was presented to the leaders to deem if she would be worthy to lead and bring the desired honor to clan Ruhk. fate was cruel, through no fault of her own, through a random chance of genes mixing in certain ways, aside from her tusks, green skin and pointed ears, she lacked the much more pronounced facial features of the orcs, in fact, she looked almost human, there is no way a battle horde would follow a leader that didn’t look anything near a true Orc. She was born and the first thing she did was dishonor her name before she could even understand the concept of honor. They still weren’t a race to waste potential though, she grew, she learned to be quick and smart when dealing with her more physically bigger and powerful peers who tended to scorn her mixed blood. She gained a healthy amount of scars from these altercations though that was normal for maturing Orcs anyway, at one point one of her tusks was snapped in such an altercation. Being one of her few defining Orc traits she (through much gold) got a silver one fitted. This only got her targeted further as something a human would do for vanities sake.

Her mother took much pride in her daughter, raising her to not back down no matter the odds, raising her to be proud and fierce, to live to the standards of her ancestors. Honor was everything, Honor is her birth right, she wore the Ruhk braid and she will continually earn the right to keep wearing that braid. She was strict, she was firm but she was fair, she knew Paz could never punch as hard as the other orcs so she taught her to punch smart and that edict led her in all aspects of her life.

There was a point in her life where she did seek out Daleth, the man who sired her out of some level of curiosity. She was not impressed, she found him in the darkest corner of a tavern, he was bloated, one working eye yellowed from the years of drinking, a barely functional echo of someone who once commanded respect. She didn’t approach him, she didn’t speak to him, she observed and then left, closing a chapter in her life that wasn’t even worth starting.

As Paz grew she was put into service of a Shaman, she did have that sharper half blood mind and that would serve well for the magics, Khar of clan Tor became her master. He was brutal, the service to Shaman’s was hard, many didn’t survive the rise to become a full Shaman, Paz wasn’t the only apprentice to him but she was one of the smartest and charismatic which led her to generally being trusted with some of the more complex tasks. Kar Tor didn’t necessarily like Paz but he recognized talent and was very willing to use that to progress his own agenda. It was one such task that had led Paz to a section of woods near the edge of the Isle, she was to read a scroll and commune with the spirits to get direction on where to find a particular component for something Khar Tor was working on, she didn’t have the full picture of it as was typical of Khar Tor’s methods, he kept key details out to ensure full secrecy and avoid his projects being used against him.

She had come to the clearing she had been instructed and it was here she met a figure, it had stepped out of what appeared to be a seam in reality itself but the seam wasn’t there when she looked again. The figure itself looked like someone had cut a whole in the world and you could just see the stars in the outline of a person. It said nothing, Paz could only stand transfixed as the figure reached out, touched Paz’s forehead and engulfed her in a pillar of light. The light faded, Paz found herself in a hexagonal room with no exit or entrance, there was no windows only the oppressive weight of a world outside trying to break in but never getting through. There was no source of the light in the room but the room was lit. The figure of stars was not here but there was a new figure, one of light, it stepped forward to be directly in front of Paz, toes almost touching, Paz couldn’t move, she did her mother proud, she showed no fear. The figure stepped into her, walls opened up around her with light pouring in from all sides, she felt drawn back, she could see herself standing there from behind, she was pulled back further, she could see the room from outside floating in chaos of imagery, shifting too fast to focus on, she was pulled back further, she was herself, standing in the glade again, night had fallen and she knew, she knew she had to leave the Isle, she wasn’t sure why but she knew she had purpose out there. She returned to Khar Tor, task unfinished, he was angered, he went to strike her, hard. The light in her mind, the purpose she had gave her the knowledge she needed it, she channeled her focus and opened a portal to another realm, chains burst out of the ground and struck Kar Tor down. She left him on the ground. She went to her mother and told her that her daughter has been given divine purpose beyond the clan. To demonstrate her point she summoned water out of nothing and filled a wash basin with it, she then turned it to beer. Kuhth Ruhk told her daughter she would bring much honor by serving whatever divine force guided her and gave her blessing. With that Paz of clan Ruhk traveled to the mainland, the first oracle to be born of the isle of prophets in hundreds of years. She did not know for what reason or purpose or for who, but her drive was strong, she would show those warring full bloods that though she might be of mixed blood, her Orc blood runs as strong as theirs.

#dungeons and dragons #backstory #tellmeyourbackstory #dnd #d&d #pathfinder #original character #writing #rp #roleplay

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siderealxmelody · 3 years ago

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Galen & Hayla: A History

@xdarklingx

@thequillandthesword

Galen and Hayla were a product of their of circumstances, pushed to be things they never wanted to be.

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Galen's parents wished to ascend and they couldn't do that with a child to care for. So when he was born they gave him to Valentine to raise and ascended with his help (aka: they died believing in Valentine's teachings).

Galen never wanted a kingdom or lands, he was a quiet child. He liked to read, to put things back together, to observe the world around him.

He wasn't very close to his cousins but he loved them, he adored Lazai for his strength and Azariah for her intelligence. Next to them he didn't know what he offered anyone. But they were his only blood family and he desperately wanted to make them proud.

He had a few good friends, but one of them stood out to him like Estel. She was no one, her family were the help. She did the laundry and had been good friends with Galen since they were young. As they grew older that relationship deepened and Galen struggled with what to do. He loved his family but they'd never accept Estel into their ranks. Even if he tried to run - where could he go? Valentine controlled the land, he controlled the coastline.

So he did nothing, he watched as Estel allowed a soldier to court her, as she allowed herself to be happy without him. He couldn't truly blame her, he'd be a hypocrite not to. Wasn't he going to do the same when the opportunitypresented itself to him? She'd asked if she should wait for him, if there was a chance for anything - he'd turned her down.

He'd told her to not wait, to not give her whole heart to him - what good would that have done for either of them? She must have seen through his words because she asked him to take her before her wedding.

"I want to know full love Galen, I want to know what it's like to lay with someone who fully holds my heart. That is all I ask for my wedding gift, will you give me that?"

Who was he to deny her? Who was he to refuse the one and only wish she'd ever asked of him? So he did. He even blessed their union. He offered her husband lands in his court. Valentine was gearing up to coronate them soon, her husband could be comfortable in his court. To his relief her new husband politely declined, and asked to be allowed to move to the islands. Estel had always loved to sea he explained and now that they were reinstating the monarchy - perhaps that was where they could go.

Galen agreed and before he could get comfortable with his new life - Aleksander and Ludamilla came. They liberated them or so they said, they not only restored the powers of his throne - but pledged their support to him.

He supposed he was happy, he supposed he should be happy that the girl they gave him to marry was so easy to love. Hayla wasn't Estel, she filled any room she was in. She was loud and vibrant where Estel was a soft watercolor bleeding into the walls.

Still as Galen prepared for their wedding, he promised to be a man Estel would be proud of. He'd be loyal, he'd love Hayla as best as he could.

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Hayla had done whatever her brother had asked of her. The idea of marrying a prince had never filled her mind. But it's not like she was going to pass up such an opportunity.

Galen was sweet, kind even. He treated with respect but even as sheltered as she was - she knew she didn't hold his heart. That was fine, they could be friends couldn't they? Didn't all relationships start as friends?

So when Ulla took her aside and pressed her on if she truly wished for this - she didn't say no. She said yes, she said she definitely did.

Perhaps that's where the trouble first began.

Their parties were always lavish and beautiful. Lazai and Azariah always attended. It was there she met Orvin, he was Lazai's second in command.

He rarely spoke to anyone but she kept hearing of his jokes, of his wild stories from people. It became a game, a personal mission to get him to open up - to hear one of these legendary stories of his.

The first time she got through his defenses he laughed at one of her jokes. She had heard it echo in her head for days. A secret melody that permeated everything she touched for a week.

The second time she got through his defenses she only got a smile. But his eyes followed her around for the rest of the night.

The third time he had her pressed her against a wall, in some unused room. This time he wasn't laughing or smiling - he was kissing her.

"What story can I tell you that would befit a queen? What story can I tell you that you haven't lived Hayla?"

She asked him to tell her one of the skies, of the mountains in the north - of a world lost to myth and time. He had run his knuckles over her jaw and obliged.

She didn't truly understand what was happening, was it love? Was it lust? Did it matter? They found each other again and again over the years. Then Lazai had found a new God, a new thing to obsess over. She wouldn't have minded much except that meant Orvin was taken from her.

She wasn't sure if the isolation that followed was Galen's doing or her own. Ulla stopped trying to talk to her, even Genya stopped their weekly calls. Perhaps it was for the best, perhaps it would make everything easier.

She had children now to care for, to watch out for. Even if she mostly felt like they were draining her, taking bits of her soul everytime they demanded her time and attention.

So she did something she'd promised herself she wouldn't do - she gave them to another woman to raise. A governess to look after them and train them to be the good little children they were supposed to be.

She tried to put Orvin out of her mind, to find other things to occupy her time and attention. It worked well till the day it didn't.

She hadn't grown up in the Old Ways like Galen had so maybe she had forgotten. Maybe she wanted throw it in his face - that for all his self effecting he was just as miserable as she was. To share in the misery thar remained unspoken - they were both chained to this. This alliance needed to stay, it worked out too well for them both to leave it now. Her brother needed Galen's work to push his army and plans forward and Galen needed her to keep Aleksander at bay.

But Galen had decided without telling her to choose an heir. To mark their son with the rune of the Ahren line. When it didn't stick to theit son, he tried their daughter - but neither were able to bear the rune, in fact it burned them.

When he demanded an explanation, an answer to the question she knew he'd always wanted to ask her:

"Who was it you always got ready for Hayla? Who was it that you threw our parties for?"

She couldn't lie - she couldn't deny him this answer. What would he do to the children? To her? So she gave him the answer he wanted.

"Will you kill him Galen?"

Galen tilted his head, his hand loosening on his sword.

"What are you willing to give me for letting him live?"

She knew it was a trap, she knew she should do the smart thing and let Galen meet out his revenge. But she wasn't Aleksander or her sisters. She could never do the smart thing, not when it felt like she was dying simply contemplating it.

"What do you want?"

He had given her a grim smile and threw the sword to the floor. He'd walked to her and knelt in front of where she had sat on the bed. Self-effacing as always only now he got the joke - only now he gave her a false smile.

"A child, a true heir. Give me that and Orvin doesn't ever come to harm. Give me that and I will let you be with him again. Give me an heir and I will let you be free Hayla."

So she did, but she was never truly free of him. He kept his word, he didn't harm Orvin, he didn't demand anything else from her. Danatalion took the rune the moment he was born, and this time it stayed on him.

But in giving Galen this, in allowing Galen to dangle her freedom for it - she found she didn't want it. She found she cared for the boy. She still let the governess care for him but she wanted to make sure he had compassion, that he didn't end up like either of them.

Though when Alek heard of all of this and offered to kill Galen with Ulla's help she didn't stop them. As long as Galen lived she'd never truly be free. She would always be tied to him like a puppet.

#galen and hayla are such a sad couple 💔#they were such sweet kids and obligations to their families ruined them 😢#ooc post

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pricechecktranslations · 7 years ago

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DSoE: MotHY; Chapter 7-The End of the Capriccio

Master of the Heavenly Yard chapter content summary under the cut.

-Scene 1

Quotes a part of one of Irina's monologues in Pierrot where she expressed the desire to have a family and kids.

-Scene 2

The girl was a doll from the moment she was born. She had no mother, but she had Gallerian. He made sure she never felt lonely. He was her "father" and she was his "daughter". She couldn't walk, so he filled her room with various things. A red wineglass, a blue spoon--they all had hearts. She called the wineglass her "big sis" and called the spoon her "big brother" (affectionate terms).

Eventually the theater was built in the forest, and she was brought there, along with all the various articles. Then they added more. Wineglass, spoon, blade, mirrors, and scissors. Gallerian would come visit her, but one day he died in a fire from a war.

She had been with Gallerian when his house burned down, having been brought there quite suddenly. She used her hidden power of blue flames to burn his enemies, but in the end they set fire to the house and killed him. Then when she came to she was back in the theater. She thought it was a dream but she was covered in burns. The Sorceress of Time came to the theater.

The girl lived there for a while. Then some things changed. The woman in the wineglass got a new body that one of her underlings made. She arrived with Lich, Eater, and the twin servants Arte and Pollo. They spent a lot of time in the graveyard, so she called the woman the "Master of the Graveyard". Then the sorceress brought a girl named "Postman" to the theater. She never spoke, so the doll girl didn't like her much. Postman got along well with Arte, and spent a lot of time with her (the doll, for the record, still can't walk). One day, Postman was able to talk. Arte said that she'd lent her her body, as Postman's old one seemed broken. Lich made Arte a new body. Postman seemed to be waiting for someone, so the doll girl named her Waiter.

One day, the man in the spoon suddenly grew cold towards her, telling her she wasn't Eve. Which she is not. She decided to give him a present to make up for it. In the corner of her heart (mind?) she had a blueprint for a black box. She gave him the black box built using it (I think she built it but not sure). He seemed to realize something upon seeing it, and he left. She remembered him every time the clocktower's hands moved (chimed? idk). She thought that he must have become one of the "gears" in the clocktower.

The forest becomes a bit of a mess, because the sorceress wasn't doing her job as "gardener". They needed someone to control the forest, to protect the theater. One more strange thing happened. The doll got pregnant.

The cursed man was captured by Eater. The girl put him on trial, acting like her father as Master of the Court. But Waiter stopped her from sentencing him to death, and convinced her to make him into the new "gardener". They all lived together, and the girl came to be called the "doll director".

One day she gave birth to twins. Twins who would make a new era. She named them "Adam" and "Eve". And then immediately after, the world was destroyed.

-Scene 3

Riliane's not sure how to get into a theater that's floating. Venomania offers to carry them up and fly with his wings. That solves that, but there's also a regiment of Tasan soldiers under the theater. They're sure to shoot at them while they head up there. And there's too many of them for a direct attack. Venomania lists their number as 2 (him and Kayo) when talking about their odds, which leads to Riliane and him discussing her combat capabilities, which results in her getting so offended she inadvertently reveals their position to the soldiers.

Venomania grabs them and takes flight. He dodges the soldier's gunfire. He can't use his charms on them--they only work on the opposite sex and the soldiers are mostly men (and I just gotta add that Riliane seems to bicker with him a lot and it's funny). They manage to get out of range of the soldiers, but then Kayo points out in the distance men with (artillery cannons?). Kayo gets shot in the right shoulder.

Venomania notices that the soldiers on the ground are screaming about something, which becomes apparent as they all stop moving and completely freeze over (as in, ice). It's not Kayo's work, nor Venomania's, nor Riliane's. Venomania once again focuses on getting to the theater.

[There is a picture here of Venomania flying with Riliane and Kayo in each arm.]

Riliane realizes that it was her father, Hanma, who had always been looking out for her (her father as Lilith, that is).

-Scene 4

Riliane reflects on her nostalgia at having come back here, where she once lived. She explains to Kayo that she lived her before the world was destroyed, coming here as Postman, who had lost her own will. She had gotten that, and a new body, thanks to Arte. But she'd hidden that from Ma. She wonders if it was a mistake to kill Ma to save Nemesis. It ended up leading to the world ending. But then, Nemesis would have died otherwise. She's never known what was right in her lives, even after the fact.

She shakes it off. They run into the Sleep Princess as they're heading inside. Riliane declares her intention to seal her in the doll, but she is unfazed. Riliane has forgotten how she's supposed to do that. Riliane tries to bluff but the Sleep Princess explains she isn't looking for a fight. She just wants to get rid of the contractor souls from the world. It's not that she hates them--she actually doesn't want to do it. But she must to save the world. She says she'll show them the truth, and beckons for them to follow her into the hall.

Kayo and Venomania discuss whether it's a trap or not before Riliane decides that they all follow along. They're heading for the director's room, which is likely to have Gammon, Gallerian, and the "doll director" (also idk if this was established in Enbizaka, but Kayo can't read English).

-Scene 5

Gammon is in the chair the "doll director" once sat in. Gallerian is standing next to him. There's another door that leads further in from that room, and they can hear children's voices from inside. The Sleep Princess is nowhere to be seen--she might be in that interior room. Riliane greets Gammon, and he recognizes her as Waiter. She chides him for forgetting his debt to her, but he says he has his reasons. They say that the sleep princess has yet to tell them.

Gammon says that the sleep princess (Michelle) is indisposed at the moment, and offers the information he knows. Venomania interrupts to note how similar he looks--Gammon explains he's Venomania's descendent.

The theater is not an illusion, but the real thing. Gammon explains that Adam, who is a "Gear" in the clocktower, did something to recreate the theater after its destruction (it's vague on what he did). It's thought he did this to protect the Doll Director. He also made the theater float, though that's because he's a child.

When pressed on this, he clarifies that Adam has recently become a child. He was reborn as son of the doll director. Kayo asks where the doll director is, and Gammon points at the ceiling. He explains that the entire theater is her new body. Then they hear the sound of something from the entrance, and Gammon goes to see who it is, telling Gallerian to continue the conversation. He sits in Gammon's chair and takes over.

He points out that Riliane is holding the doll that the director dwelled in. Ma put her there. She tricked Gallerian into thinking it was his daughter, but in truth it's the "Red Cat Sorceress", Irina. Venomania realizes he's talking about IR. She spent the latter end of the millennium as part of Ma. But Ma wanted to get rid of her, as she sought to be a pure being and Irina got in the way of that. So she put her soul in the doll.

Riliane asks what their goals are. Gallerian says they want to remake the world. They already have everything they need; the theater, and the twins. At this point the inner door opens a little, and they can see the sleep princess (it seems she's really Michelle after all?) playing with the twins. The boy is Adam, and the girl is Eve (the "Demon of Sloth"). Michelle made a "contract" with her, and thus obtained power as the Sleep Princess.

They were incarnated the same way Levia became Nemesis. The doll director gave birth immediately before the world ended. As such, they became souls without an ego (will, personality). Apparently they obtained wills by fusing with new souls.

Kayo expresses incredulity at a doll giving birth. Gallerian points out that sometimes things outside the norm happen in this world. Children being born between a mud human and human woman, a virgin witch getting pregnant--people who are born this way are always called "Irregular", and have blonde hair. They are the "golden key" to remaking the world.

For future reference, it's clear that when these people (they're trying to get the Court Ending) say remaking the world, they mean reviving it as it was. They're not talking about making a new world with new people in it. Just to be clear.

Venomania suddenly goes to punch Gallerian, but Gallerian catches his fist. Venomania demands to know where he got this information--he was in hell the whole time. Gallerian says it was the Moon Goddess. In hell, Gallerian found a path to the "graveyard". With his blackbox he was able to read the mind of the Moon Goddess.

He punches Venomania in the stomach. He continues saying that when he left hell after the world was destroyed, he ran into Michelle. Gallerian raises his fist again, but Riliane stops him. She asks if it was after that that he ran into Gammon and the three of them started their evil conspiring. Gallerian says they're not being evil. They're doing everything to save the world. They're not erasing just their target contractors. Gallerian and Michelle will be disappearing too. He then says "they" (gender neutral pronoun aitsu) want all 7 chosen contractors. Just the demons alone won't be enough to become a "pure being".

At that moment, the door slams open, and Banica enters along with Lich and the servants. Venomania introduces himself to Banica when she asks about him, and she says he's her ancestor (Venomania's met quite a few descendants of his today. Kayo's one too). Banica explains that Gammon is currently fighting with two of her "subordinates" in the hall, and then signals to her servants.

-Scene 6

Gammon is fighting with Nemesis and Allen. Allen and Gammon are swordfighting. Gammon pulls a gun on him, and Allen dodges. Allen rebukes him using a gun, but Gammon is a soldier, not a swordsman. He also points out that it's two against one. Nemesis shoots at him and knocks his sword out of his hand. Allen lunges at him, but Gammon turns his gun on him. After a bit more fighting he grabs Allen by the bangs and shoves the gun against his head.

Nemesis fires on him again. She misses. They fight a little more before Nemesis points out that while Gammon is holding his own, he doesn't know what Banica is doing to his fellows further inside. He knows about Banica's power, but he's confident because they have Michelle on their side.

Then the twins run out of the room towards Gammon, crying. He tells them to go back, and they say that Michelle has disappeared. They say that her, Gallerian, and everyone else has disappeared. They say that the blonde haired girl did it. They point to the doorway, and Riliane is standing there.

Gammon fires at Riliane, but she grows scales on her left arm and deflects the blow. Gammon tries to attack her with his sword, but she fires lightning at him with her right hand. Gammon falls. Allen calls out to her, but Riliane tells him to bow to her.

#ec activity feed #evillious chronicles #()price speaks #sorry if there are formatting errors #having some problems with tumblr

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atstarlight · 7 years ago

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The Aviator part 2

words: 2055

>part 1

. . .

Henrik sipped on the canteen’s water in the dark. He had tucked the matches protectively into his own leather pilot jacket, and refused to use anymore. The aviator had slumped back down, as still and silent as a statue. It was unnerving to Henrik, who could not get the words written to stop echoing around violently in his head. WHAT IS YOUR SIN?

. . .

Days were passing, and the only reason Henrik knew was because he sat close to the mouth of the cave and watched the sun rise and set every day. He slept very little, and even less since he woke up to new words scratched into the wall across from him: I’M WAITING.

The aviator, though, did not seem to have moved an inch. He almost looked as though he himself were apart of the cave, to the point of Henrik thinking he had imagined everything that had happened. But he somehow knew he hadn’t, and it filled him with dread to look at the terrible words written in dust and rock.

It did not help that the aviator was sitting directly where the sunlight filled the cave, forcing Henrik to look upon the pilot gear for most of the day. He would have thought that the aviator moving would have been terrifying, but somehow the stillness of the man was so much worse.

Henrik was losing hope again, if he hadn’t already lost it. There was hardly any water in the canteen left, and with no food, he feared delusions would claim him soon. Old fear cut into him like a knife, and he became the scared child he had once been.

. . .

Truth be told, Henrik never wanted to be a sailor. In fact, he’d always been terrified of the ocean. His father, on the contrary, had always loved it, and would frequently take a boat out to sea. He would bring his family, including Henrik, with him when he could afford to.

But Henrik’s opinion never changed. When he was younger, he’d cling to whatever he could on the inside of the boat and refused to go near the railing until they had docked. That is, until someone told him he’d be more likely to drown if he got trapped in the room when the boat was sinking. From then on, he would cling to the railing and stare at the wide expanse of water, thinking of those terrible bedtime story creatures that lurked below: ancient megalodons that could devour you whole, mermaids and sirens that would sing to you until you fell into the dark water and drowned, krakens that could drag an entire fleet of ships to the bottom of the ocean. He even thought of the sea monster Leviathan, a creature that would come from the waters at the end of the world.

No, Henrik never wanted to be a sailor. He’d always felt that if he went out to sea on his own accord, he would never return.

And so, he became a soldier.

It wasn’t really what he wanted, not at all. But war arrived, and his country had looked at his blonde hair and blue eyes and said, “You are one of us, so fight for us.” If he had refused, he’d have probably ended up with a bullet labelled “traitor” shot through his head. And if there was something he was more terrified of than the ocean, it was his own death. He was the cowardly sort, after all.

So Henrik fought, and became another toy, another number. He hid the part of himself that felt what he was doing was wrong, because isn’t that what soldiers did when they needed to kill? Deep down, though, he knew that wasn’t the only problem.

For the most part, he travelled by foot or by vehicle, almost never fighting because there was little resistance. But somewhere he felt death as the cost of another city conquered.

And finally, they put Henrik on a ship. If he had known that he would end up on the water anyways, Henrik would have gladly taken the bullet, because death by drowning would be a lot slower. He knew he would be doomed either way, so he remained silent.

After an entire life filled with a fear of it, Henrik knew there was some truth to his fate at the hands of the ocean.

When the clocks proclaimed it was 3 a.m., the small world of the ship had erupted into disarray. Henrik had been crouched at the railing, his old instincts kicking in and keeping him from going inside. He hardly ate or slept. He would have hugged a life jacket to himself constantly if he could have.

A few people understood his fear, but few went out of their way to comfort him. He was a soldier, he should easily get over it. Except that he wasn’t a soldier, and he wasn’t a sailor. He was a fearful child who knew he was about to meet his fate.

No one had been with him when something had struck the side of the ship. There was a great lurch and an almost a sense of falling, but Henrik didn’t remember anything about getting into the water. The rest, he remembered more vividly than he wanted to.

Oil. It had spread in the water, and Henrik himself was coated in it. There was a cry somewhere behind him, and he realized that not only was the world made of water, but of flame. Everything was burning, except Henrik was not. His father had known of Henrik’s fear, and had accounted for it by teaching him to swim, even though at the time Henrik thought it was his father’s way of torturing him. He should have known his father would never do anything but try to help him.

When the early morning stars had turned to dark blue, Henrik had been struck with how cold he was when only hours ago he had been so close to burning. By midday, he had pulled a life jacket off of a corpse with scorch marks across its face. By that evening, he was lost, and knew there was almost no chance of a rescue. And so he was left to burn under the sun until he drowned.

Until he was pulled from the ocean days later, exhausted and dehydrated and hopeless, into the darkness of a cave.

. . .

Henrik jolted awake, accidentally knocking into his canteen as he moved. It clattered against the rocks, a reminder that it was now empty and completely useless to him.

Blinking at the darkness around him, he saw the stars through the mouth of the cave and realized he must have fallen asleep hours ago. As his foggy head cleared, he realized there was water seeping into his clothes.

The tide.

Water was rising quickly and pushing into the cave. Henrik stood, heart hammering in his chest as he furiously tried to find his life jacket, only to remember he hadn’t been wearing it when he had first woken up in the cave.

Swearing, he yanked the matches from his coat pocket and was relieved that they had not been soaked yet. He lit one and found the water was up to his ankles. He shivered, both from fear and from the coldness that had descended into the cave.

Suddenly recalling that he was not alone in the cave, Henrik hesitantly shifted the match in the direction of the aviator, only to find that he wasn’t there. On the wall where he had been sitting were new words scrawled into the wall, most in different languages that Henrik could not recognize. But somehow he knew exactly what it said before he found a translation in his own language: SIN.

“No,” Henrik whispered. He whirled to the front of the cave and was about ready to flee, but the vastness of the ocean startled him enough that he froze in place.

And, right where Henrik had been sitting before he had stood was the aviator, as unmoving and silent as ever. Even as the water crawled further up his slumped body, the aviator was motionless.

“What do you want from me?” Henrik asked, terror and panic lacing his voice.

The aviator did not move.

In a bout of fear and anger, Henrik stormed over to the man. With every step the water weighed him down, but Henrik did not slow. He was tired of being a soldier, tired of being afraid, and tired of the games the man was playing. With the same hand he was using to hold the box of matches, Henrik jerked the aviator’s goggles off, tugging his hat free along with them.

Henrik could not find enough of his voice to scream. All of his life of being afraid of the sea and the monsters within it, but this creature was not from the sea. And it was much, much more terrifying than any nightmares Henrik had had of the monsters swimming in the depths.

One gaping black eye met his, a giant black hole that would have devoured Henrik’s soul had he stared at it any longer. The aviator only had one, as the other half of its face was caved in and jutted out at odd angles. Gray skin was pulled tight over its skull, and for the first time in days, the aviator moved as Henrik slammed back against the wall.

With the same agonizingly slow movements it had used to write its first question, the aviator lifted up one of its gloved hands and removed the air mask. There was nothing left to consider a nose, as if it had rotted completely off the monster’s face. Sharp white teeth were left exposed as the lips were pulled back and stitched at the corners into a foul grimace. It stretched its mouth, as if yawning, before levelling its gaze with Henrik’s.

“Sin,” the aviator mumbled. It spoke in an inhuman voice, almost as if it were growling.

“Leave me alone,” Henrik whimpered, all of his anger having left him. “Please!”

“Sin,” the monster repeated, and latched onto Henrik’s throat.

Henrik struggled against the creature, clawing at the hand at his throat and accidentally dropping the box of matches in the process. The water was rushing in faster and faster, almost as high as Henrik’s knees, and it was all he could do but try and keep his panic from taking over.

“Sin,” the monster said yet again. Its grip tightened, and it began to push Henrik down, towards the water.

“Please,” Henrik begged. “Please.”

The monster paused, staring into Henrik’s eyes in the darkness. It tilted its head and then uttered, “Monster.”

“I’m not,” Henrik cried as he started to feel the water creeping up. But it dawned on him that he had not meant it, because he knew what he had done. He knew what he had fought for, whether he had really wanted to or not.

The creature must have seen the understanding in Henrik’s expression, because he dragged the man back up to his full height. However, it did not let him go.

“Sin,” it said again.

Henrik closed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he choked. “I let people die, because I was a coward. I’m sorry.”

The monster gave a snarl. In a rough voice, it said, “You think of me as a monster, and yet most of your kind pollute the world and kill each other. You are the real monsters.”

Henrik tasted salt, but it wasn’t from his tears. The water was at his waist now, and he now knew that he would still die, trapped in a cave and unable to escape from his fate.

And yet, the monster let go. Henrik sucked in a deep breath, and leaned against the rocks. As Henrik tried to gather as much air as he could into his lungs, the monster pulled away, wading into the water closest to the cave’s mouth. It stretched its limbs out, as if it were in pain, and suddenly gray, leathery wings burst free from its back, ripping the jacket to shreds.

The aviator let out one last snarl before snatching Henrik, and with a sound louder than the rushing of wind, Henrik left the cave, and was gone into the night.

. . .

END

#story #short story #writing #mine

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ohnohetaliasues · 7 years ago

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Ahkira Amor Jackson (AoT)

(Kat)

Yeah, so I have some fan frazzled nerves. I just rewatched season one with my sister, and now we’re gonna do season two. But I have a few mary sues I’ve found and would like to review. (Update: I finished the anime and am now reading the manga.)

Oh god her titan design is killing me.

Also, her hair is much too long, and no bows allowed. If she’s in the scouting legion, Levi would take one look and tell her to take it off.

Also, why does she have heterochromia in her titan form? Someone please tell me.

Name: Ahkira Amor Jackson

Meaning: Amor- love. Ahkira- bright, intelligent, or clear.

Okay, why is her name Asian? Asian people are almost extinct in the AoT universe.

Nickname(s): ki-ki, Love, shorty, short-stack. Age: 24 Gender: female Species: human (shifter)

I just started this review and I’m already tired of it.

Birthplace: wall sina, orvud district Current Residence: underground. (Explination in history)

This is going to be a Levi copy isn’t it?

Sexual Orientation: straight Relationship Status: single

Well, at least she isn’t shipped with Levi.

Language(s) spoken: english Life-Long Dream: to see the ocean

That is so cliche I can’t even.

Goal(s): save humanity, get married, family Like(s): drawing, dancing around, juice (prefers apple) hanging with friends, helping erwin, hangi, levi, riding her horse, exploring outside (HQ), loves animals.

This just comes off as bland...

Dislike(s): the MPs,

Oh come on, nobody likes them.

wall sina (the civilians) and the king, paperwork, being picked on b/c of her height, levi making her clean.

Levi does that to everyone. Don’t expect special treatment.

Bad Habit(s): twirling her hair in her fingers, falling asleep doing paperwork.

Only one of those habits is bad, and it isn’t even that bad.

Hobbies: drawing, helping out.

Helping out isn’t really a hobby.

Fear(s): losing her squad and friends, humanity losing

BLAND.

Personality: sweet, generous, short tempered, can be serious at times when necessary, silly, abit oblivious.

All of this is kind of irrelevant, and won’t matter as soon as we get to the tragic history.

Weight: 126 lbs Hair style: (mostly down) long soft volumious curls, bangs are side swept

No. In AoT, girls either have short hair of they wear their hair back. Think Sasha, Hanji and Annie.

Hair Color: dark brown Eye Color: sky blue Skin Tone: fairly tan Body Shape/Build: slim, think thighs

I’d imagine muscular or lean, seeing as she’s a soldier.

Birth Marks: none

Everyone has birthmarks. I have one on my toe, scalp (covered by my hair), and one on my inner thigh.

Scar(s): 2 down her shoulder blades, cut scars on wrists and thighs (barely visible)

Just... What are those scars from? And self-harm does not make your OC edgy or cool. It isn’t something to joke about, either.

Other: always wearing her blue bow

No. Hair accessories are a no in AoT. They get in the way.

Health- Memory (any issues with this?): none Sight (do you need glasses?): no Mental (Any problems? Example: depression): depression (comes back every once in awhile)

Yeah, depression isn’t something that makes you cool either. It ruins lives. I have experience, so I know firsthand how horrible depression is. It makes you miserable. Anyone else who has it will agree with me. Also, depression isn’t something that comes and goes. It can be suppressed by medicine though.

Physical (Do you take care of your body or harm it? Also include injuries): used to be self harmer in her underground days

Wow. I've run out of things to say about this.

Other than the fact that my point stands.

Sleep patterns (how you sleep and how much rest do you get?): enough, takes naps when able to Allergies/Other: none

Blandddddd.

Abilities/Statistics (1- lowly skilled, 10- highly skilled and tell why)-

3D Maneuvering Gear: 10 (father taught her)

That isn’t how that works. An ordinary person couldn’t just teach someone how to use the 3DMG. You have to recieve special military training.

Well, then there’s Levi, but he stole it in the No Regrets series. Another option is if her father stole it. I dunno, but I think the problem here is pretty clear.

Intelligence: 7 Martial Arts: 10 (father trained her)

Okay, was her father a soldier? Are are you trying to pull an Annie on me?

Battle Skill: 10

Tell me why?

Agility: 9 Strategy: 8 Teamwork: 9 Passion: 8

TELL ME WHY ALL OF THESE ARE UNREALISTICALLY HIGH? THEY ARE AS UNREALISTIC AS REICHERU’S BREAST SIZE.

Affiliation: survey corps

Of freaking course.

Rank: Lieutenant/squad leader

Do it for my sake.

Status: Alive

Titan Shifter- Title: crystal titan

I’m dying here.

Appearance (try to touch on everything included in Appearance): full body in skin, arms up to shoulder are covered in markings in flesh ( markings are actually her tattoos that are covered under her sleeves ) left eye is icy blue, right eye; white/sclera is black, her iris is red.

NO.

NO.NONONOJHJVUKJHDVFUKAEDGFUYEDGYFSFGEFWGEFEEFGFJGFJHGDGHGFSJHDGFJFSGDHJJHGDFSSHGFAJDHGFJSDNO

TITANS LOOK LIKE THIS:

NOT THE FREAK OF NATURE JUST DESCRIBED TO ME.

On her fore head is crystals (in this formation

www.google.com/search?q=head+j… ). Crystals ( shaped like thiswww.google.com/search?q=crysta…) or on top on shoulders and back of elbows. Long crystal claw like fingernails. The nape of her neck is protected by crystals. Mouth is closed shut (opens when she roars or rip other titans with apart with her mouth.) 2 long sharp k9’s are shown on lower jaw 2 smaller k9s shown on top jaw. Her hair is flowy

What class Titan (15m, etc.): 12m Transformation caused by….: when amulet is ripped off (www.google.com/search?q=amulet…) {still havent drawn it on her.}

Titan transformation is caused by pain.

Do your research.

Also, jewelry isn’t worn in AoT by soldiers.

Did you have previous knowledge of being able to change?: yes If yes, how did you find out?: she was helping her mother cut vegetables and she cut her finger, the cut crystalized then seconds later was healed. Started learning more and more later on as she grew older.

How... How does that tell her she can transform?

How well can you control it?: can transform at will. ( full control )

I am so freaking done.

Relationships- Parent(s): very close to mother, was close to father. Both dead

The E D G E

Sibling(s): none Love Interest: levi

ALWAYS

LEVI

STOP

I ACTUALLY GROANED OUT LOUD.

Best Friend(s): levi, erwin, hangi, eren, jean, mike

She’s best friends with Erwin, the commander?

Also, it’s either Hange or Hanji. Not a hodgepodge of the two.

Friend(s): isabel, farlan (underground days) mostly all of 104 trainee graduates,

Haha, no. Those were Levi’s friends. Not this Mary sue’s. End of story.

I have 0% patience left.

squad levi,

Only the soldiers who are handpicked by Levi himself get to join this squad. The soldiers in the Levi Squad are elite as they come. This OC is many things, but elite isn’t one of them.

(her squad -derek, lillian, thomas,

Thomas is dead.

james, christian.)

Quote(s): im not scared of anything in this world, except insanity.

History/Life: Ahkira had a fairly good childhood, until she lost her mom. When she was 5 her mother became very ill, after a few months her mother passed away and both her and her father were crushed. Her father was a former squad leader in the survey corps then soon left after his child was born (ahkira).

You... can’t just quit. Abandonment is punishable by death.

Her father became more cold and distant from her after the lost of her mother

The father is a jerk, then.

, he started drinking heavily and using drugs, after a month he became violent towards ahkira blaming her for Priscillas (mother) death.

How is this her fault?

This went on for 2 years, one night ahkira was crying in her room w bruises covering her arms and legs, she sat in the corner of her bed crying into her teddy bear her mom got her for her 3rd birthday.

CHILD ABUSE ISN’T EDGY EITHER!

Ahkira quietly came in dragging her fathers old 3dmg sword. At this point her right blue eye was crimson red.

She went up behind him and stabbed him straight in the back piercing through the front.

THAT ISN’T NORMAL THREE-YEAR-OLD BEHAVIOR.

After that she took the 3dmg packed a few clothes and left. She somehow ended up going into the underground, where she became known as ‘the little girl with blades’. As she became older she was known as the queen of the underground b/c of her 2 mismatched eyes

THIS IS NOT TOKYO GHOUL.

(was only like that in her underground days) and of her record of murders.

Why would the Survey Corps let a psychopathic murderer onto their team? The answer is: They wouldn’t.

At the age of 15 she met levi and farlan.

Use capital letters, dang it. It’s *Levi and *Farlan.

They became close friends after awhile and she soon became close to isabel when she joined.

Please tell me it’s almost over.

A year later ahkira left to join the survey corps. It wasnt easy, levi was hurt and pretty upset that she wanted to leave, after arguing and having a fist fight which was a draw he let her go.

Why... would Levi care?

She ran into erwin who was on a search looking for her, with out any resistance she willingly went with them to the survey corps, 2-3 years later she went up in ranks to lieutenant. Her whole personality changed back to the way it used to be when she was little and her right eye turned back to the original color.

This... Do your research for the AoT fandom. Do you even watch the anime? Read the Manga? Titans don’t have long hair, Heterochromia isn’t a thing in AoT. Just... No. I have nothing left to say.

~Kat

#bland #ohnohetaliasues #mod kat #attack on titan oc #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #mary sue reviews #mary sue #please no #hair #no #bad OC #not hetalia #3edgy5u #3edgy5me #EDGY #ow the edge

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xavierfiles-blog · 7 years ago

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Entry 088 - Bishop

Name: Lucas Bishop

Code Names: Bishop

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #282 (Nov ‘91)

Powers: Energy absorption and redirection

Teams Affiliation: XSE, X-Men, X-Force

About

When I was young I had a weird idea that I was just fixated on. I wanted the next Metal Gear Solid game to give Solid Snake a teen sidekick who could be his best friend and also do all the cool spy stuff. In retrospect, I can see why this was a worse idea than tricking your audience into playing an anticipated squeal staring a totally secret new bishōnen character instead of a gruff, Nick Fury looking dude they expected. The idea stuck with me because kids don’t always want to be their heroes, they want to hang out with them. They want to be Robin, not Batman. It’s a strange but understandable tic in fandom but it is why things like self-insert fan fiction is so big. More than anything else, Lucas Bishop was a fanboy who got to live the dream of being best friends with his heroes, and you know what? It kinda worked.

Portrayed by Omar Sy

Lucas Bishop was born of Australian Aboriginal parents in the late 21st century. Years ago a red-haired girl known as the mutant messiah had restored the X-Gene after the events of M-Day but lost control of her powers and accidentally killed over one million baseline humans. The world’s response was to round up all mutants, brand them with an “M”, and place them in relocation camps. These were the camps Bishop and his sister Shard grew up in. These were the camps where they watched their parents die. Raised by their grandmother, Lucas and Shard were raised on the stories of X-Men, mutant freedom fighters of the past. It was these stories that would drive him for the rest of his life.

Larry Stroman, Mark Farmer, and Matt Milla

Mutant freedom fighters known as “The Summers Rebellion” broke down the walls of the camps and freed those inside. In the chaos, Bishop was separated from his family and raised by a thief known as The Witness. He claimed to have been an X-Man in his past and told Bishop of the betrayer that destroyed the rest of the X-Men and the Son of Askani who protected the red-haired girl. Bishop found his way back to his sister and they were both recruited by a new mutant police squad known as the XSE, Xavier’s Security Enforcers. They trained hard and became the youngest officers in the program’s history. Bishop was consumed by his dedication to the job and chased the time traveling mutant Trevor Fitzroy back decades to the late 20th century where he finally came face to face with his heroes, the X-Men.

Whilce Portacio, Art Thibert, and Joe Rosas

The X-Men were displeased by Bishop’s militaristic attitude and willingness to kill but Bishop was simply in shock. These were the X-Men, his X-Men, and he would fall in line to learn from them. Bishop struggled to understand the customs of the time but desperately wanted to learn. He and Storm grew close and he quickly became a strong field commander. He was constantly on the lookout for a way to prevent his future and often battled with Gambit, who he believed to be the traitor to cause the fall of the X-Men.

Jim Lee, Art Thibert, and Joe Rosas

Bishop was among the X-Men to travel into the past and try to stop Legion from killing Magneto. Legion went to kill Magneto but his father, Charles Xavier, took the blow in his stead. This caused the world to rip into an apocalyptic splinter timeline and Bishop was the only one to remember the world as it was. He sought out the X-Men of that world and convinced them to make the world right again. Through great struggle and sacrifice, the X-Men of the Age of Apocalypse sent Bishop back to the moment Charles was killed. Bishop absorbed Legion’s blow and redirect it back at him, killing the young mutant and fixing the time stream.

Bishop returned to the X-Men, always on the lookout for the traitor. That traitor was revealed to be Charles Xavier himself as Onslaught. Bishop was key in his defeat but felt aimless when Xavier was gone. He traveled to Shi’ar space with the other X-Men but was separated from the team and paled around with Deathbird saving alternate realities. He was captured as one of The Twelve and returned to the X-Men after that event finished, looking for a new purpose in the past.

Kevin Lau

Bishop joined Storm’s X-Treme X-Men on the hunt for the Destiny Diaries and was essential in getting the squad legitimized as mutant law enforcement officers known as the XSE. He began working as a detective in a Manhattan neighborhood called Mutant Town on the Middle East Side. He investigated a mutant gang war and got to the bottom of a new, dangerous street drug called “Toad Juice” alongside his partner Izzy Ortega. It felt good to be a cop again but it all came crashing down when the Scarlet Witch depowered all but 198 of the world’s mutants.

Phil Jimenez

Bishop remembered the stories from his childhood, this is how it started. Soon the red-haired girl would be born and that could only lead to the camps. He kept this knowledge to himself, how could he tell his friends that their only hope would lead to the enslavement of the mutant race? Bishop was at the mansion when he heard of the first mutant born after M-Day, and he knew it was time to act. He chased down Cable, he remembered the stories of the Son of Askani fathering the girl and knew that is where she would be. He succeeded in incapacitating Cable and drawing his gun on the newborn, but he is attacked by a mutant hunting monster known as Predator X who bit off his right arm. He saw Cable and the child begin to teleport into the future and fired wildly at them. This was his last best chance before they escaped to the time stream and he intended to take it. The shots missed their target but one caught Charles Xavier. Bishop had spent his entire life idolizing the X-Men but now he had killed their leader and became their enemy.

Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend, and Brian Reber

He made his way to Forge’s workshop in Dallas, stole a cool new robot arm, and began blanketing the future on the search for Cable. After an unsuccessful ambush in 2043, Bishop realized that he had to fight this war smarter. Cable could be anywhere on the planet at any time in the future and Bishop had to restrict that. He became a destroyer of worlds, killing billions to make continents inhospitable over hundreds of years. He didn’t care about the lives he destroyed. If he could prevent his future from happening, if he could kill the baby Hope, all of this would go away, right? These weren’t real people he was killing, they were just some mistake of a reality. That’s what he told himself at least. As Bishop tried and failed to destroy her, Hope grew into a young woman and she defeated Bishop with her father’s help. They were not content to leave this shallow husk of a man somewhere he could find them again. They destroyed his time travel device and sent him to the shallow husk of the Earth of 6700 AD, he was forced to live and die on the world he had razed.

Denys Cowan, Sandu Florea, and Pete Pantazis

His entire life, Lucas Bishop was a fighter, and this was no different. He wandered the wasteland until he was found by the Brothers of the Order. They were a group dedicated to protecting humanity from their dark shadows known as Revenants, beings the Shi’ar called Mummundrai. Bishop became a hunter in their order, seeking penance for what he had done to hope. The Revenant Queen known as the Great White Owl learned of Bishop and enacted a plan to travel back to the 21st century and establish world domination. She succeeded in coming to the modern era with Bishop but was eventually defeated by the X-Men. Bishop experienced deep sorrow for what he had done in the future and his one-time friend Storm decided she would help him make amends.

Adrian Alphona and Christiana Strain

Hope Summer’s was not so quick to forgive the man who had tried to kill her since the day she was born. The villain Stryfe orchestrated a situation to place Hope in a locked room with a bound Bishop and a sharp Psimitar as some elaborate revenge plot against Cable. Bishop begged for forgiveness but he understood that he deserved to die. Hope chose not to kill him in cold blood and the two reluctantly worked together to stop Stryfe. Since that day, Bishop dedicated his time to understanding the present to see if he could prevent any horrible futures. When Psylocke sent out a psychic distress call, Bishop was one of the X-Men who received it, and he worked with her to prevent the Shadow King from taking over the world.

Must Read

I am just going to tell you that my favorite Bishop based property is incredibly self-serving. It is Bish & Jubez by my Battle of the Atom co-host Adam Reck. It is a delightful adventure about a tough soldier and a spunky teen looking for a piece of junk food. It is so worth your time so check it out. The first volume is complete (you can read the whole thing here) and the second titled Bish & Jubez: The Age of Stryfe is just about to wrap up.

Ranking

I think Bishop can be a fun character if a little stiff. His villainous turn was fantastic and understandable; however, it did serious damage to the long-term health of the character. His redemption in Uncanny X-Force wasn’t convincing and current writers seem content with acting as if he didn’t commit global genocide. Another character that was ranked based on uneven writing was Warlock, and I frankly like that little robot dude better. Under him is Domino, another character I like, but don’t love. I do think Bishop is more flexible in stories than Dom so he can slide in as the new number 44 in the Xavier Files.

Magneto was requested by Max Dweck on Patreon among others. Thank you for the request. If you have a request for how about you send it below? If you want to cut to the front of the two-year long line, we have a Patreon you can support Xavier Files for just $1 to get a line cutting reward.

Make sure you check out my brand new podcast BATTLE OF THE ATOM. It’s where Bish & Jubez creator Adam Reck and I talk about every single X-Men story that ever existed and rank them from best to worst. Episode 6 is up and talk about that time George RR Martin and Stephen King wrote an X-Men book together. Make sure you subscribe on any of the following platforms (or others, I’m not picky) Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS.

Click here if you want to see the full ranked list, with links to every entry in the Xavier Files so far.

If you liked what you read be sure to follow Xavier Files on twitter, Tumblr, Facebook!

Next week we got ourselves some Bishop! See you then!

#Bishop #cable #Days of Future Past #Hope #X-Men #xmen

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aion-rsa · 5 years ago

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NOS4A2: Joe Hill Explains How the Book Became a Series

http://bit.ly/2wuRMqn

Horror novelist and comics writer Joe Hill tells us how his third novel, NOS4A2, got adapted by AMC.

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Author Joe Hill’s third novel, NOS4A2, is the decades-spanning story of a battle of wills between a young woman named Vic McQueen and a supernatural being called Charlie Manx. Vic has psychic abilities that allow her to find lost things, while Manx is a psychic vampire who feeds off the children that he imprisons in a nightmarish netherworld known as Christmasland. Hill has also written a graphic novel called Wraith that acts as a prequel of sorts to the book.

Almost since he broke out in the publishing world with his first collection, 2005’s 20th Century Ghosts, Hill’s stories have attracted the interest of filmmakers and producers. While it didn’t hurt that his dad was Stephen King, Hill had already established himself as a top horror and dark fantasy writer before his family background came to light. His first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, was snapped up by Warner Bros. Pictures six months before it was published (although it’s been trapped in development hell for a while), and his second novel, Horns, was made into a 2014 film starring Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.

Read More: Exclusive First Look at NOS4A2

But NOS4A2 is the first of his books to get adapted on a larger scale, as a 10-episode series for AMC, home of The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and so many others. Showrunner Jami O’Brien has cast Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) as Manx and Australian actress Ashleigh Cummings as Vic, while the first two episodes are directed by Kari Skogland, whose next project is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for Marvel and Disney+.

In addition to NOS4A2 premiering this weekend, Hill himself has worked on a screenplay for his fourth novel, The Fireman, and will finally see an adaptation of his award-winning comic book series, Locke & Key, emerge on Netflix (with Lost’s Carlton Cuse as showrunner) after two previous attempts at Fox and Hulu didn’t make it. Den of Geek spoke about all this and more with Hill via phone earlier this week.

Den of Geek: When you write, do you see things in, for lack of a better word, cinematic terms?

Joe Hill: Yeah, I mean, I do think that the stories have a little bit of a televisual sort of feel to them. And that that might be one of the reasons why they catch attention from film and TV people. You also gotta remember that I was a comic writer before I was a novelist. And so the idea of trying to find that big, fat, juicy high concept and then present it in a way that's pacey and visually striking, sort of goes back to my roots in the comic business.

People who buy comics, buy comics to look, not to read. And they want something unbelievable in every issue, that's like this exciting concept to sort of run through their imagination for a little while. And so that carried over into the short stories and novels, and might be some of the reason why producers or whatever look at the stories and say, "Oh, this could be fun if we put it on a screen."