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nobodysdaydreams · 1 year ago
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✨My Unhinged Visions for the TMBS Kids’ Villain Arcs: ✨
Based on this poll, and this post by @kaslynspeaks and @sophieswundergarten. They activated the brain bees, and you can blame them for this.
Warning: Insanely long post. I go through each kid individually, discuss a premise for their fall to villainy, and then I give you a hastily written scene which I did not proofread, that probably contains typos and misspellings. Some are longer than others, some end abruptly, some are a lot darker than others, but they all have happy endings so you're welcome for that at least.
I also kept it vague whether I was talking about the book or show characters so while I draw on elements from both, you can imagine most of these with either character.
Please enjoy!
I'll start with Kate Wetherall.
The Premise:
I picture her as a teenager or young adult for this. Her villain arc is pretty brief tbh, but I think that fits Kate. She'd impulsive and emotional and maybe even the most likely to go dark the quickest for those reasons, but she also has strong morals, and I don't think she'd fall very far, and I also think she might be the most likely to turn around.
Here's the scenario. The society has won, and now they've started working together to take down bad guys.
Kate loves it, but she starts getting carried away sometimes. Seeing men that are willing to hurt children the way that she was hurt sets something off in her. Sometimes she takes things too far, or acts impulsively in the heat of the moment. The others protest this, insisting that Kate only needs to use enough force to stop other criminals, not harm them.
Kate feels frustrated, not only because she feels like her friends are criticizing her, but also because this is what she's good at. She's the one who fights. Why should she hold herself back when the others can use their intellect to their full potential?
The others don't realize how much of this is connected to Kate's inner turmoil, her feelings of frustration. They simply remind her that "that's not how they do things."
But maybe it should be, thinks Kate.
Maybe it would send a message. Not just to the criminals but to the children they hurt. To let those children know that someone cared to make sure that the people who hurt them paid for what they did. So that they wouldn't feel abandoned. So that they wouldn't feel how Kate always felt.
So she works in secret. She couldn't bear another condescending lecture from her father or the others. I picture her leading a sort of vigilante circus themed squad. They're all strong and athletic, obviously, but they're also incredibly creative. Whatever a bad guy's fear is, they can use illusions, contortion, and all sorts of creepy imagery to make it come to life. To make them pay for what they did. To break them, to reduce them to nothing.
And Kate as a leader finally feels respected, valuable. For once, she isn't told to hold back her impulsiveness, her emotions, her abilities, her creativity. In fact, she's praised for her lack of restraint. And she tells herself she doesn't need to feel bad either because after all, these are the bad guys. They deserve it.
But eventually the others find out. Kate tells them there's no point in another lecture, but this time, they don't lecture. They don't even know what to say.
Because they're horrified. They're horrified that Kate could ever think that punishing people like this, criminals or not, is a suitable use of her talents. Kate reminds them that they always got to use their intelligence to their full potential whenever it suited them.
And now, the scene (picture this occurring in a circus themed lair. Idk just role with it. Brain tired):
"I was the one who was too much," Kate reminded him.
"You three were the brilliant ones. The psychic, the scholar, the genius. But me? I was just the muscle. The "creative" one. The impulsive one. The liability," she scoffed.
"My talents were only useful when they were directed by my intellectual superiors. What you wanted. What you planned. But here? Here I'm a leader, Reynie. I get results and I get justice my own way. And I'm not interested in hearing another lecture about acting impulsively, or going too far, or about how all of your know so much better than I do. So save it."
"Fine!" snapped Constance. "Then we'll spare you the lecture, if you want to skip straight to the fighting."
Kate paused, and the look of betrayal in her eyes was evident.
She thought they might be here to lecture or disapprove of her methods, but had they...had they really come here to...to...
Kate shook her head.
"I don't want to fight you. And even three against one, was all know that would hardly be a fair fight."
Sticky winced and held himself back from the overwhelming urge to nervously polish his spectacles, remembering how many times he'd watched his friend take down men (grown trained men) like it was nothing.
Constance, still bitter from Kate's deception, raised her fists.
"I'd still take those odds."
"Constance-" cautioned Reynie, but it was already too late.
"Very well," said Kate.
Her followers stepped forward to assist her, but Kate motioned for them to step back.
"Trust me," she said to them. "I appreciate the offer, but I can take handle this one on my own."
The others knew that wasn't a lie.
Kate raised her own fists and addressed the trio.
"You always thought your minds made you so much better than me, so let's see how well you can actually do without me. Good luck. You'll need it. Even if I do intend to go easy on you."
"Katie-Cat?"
Kate groaned.
"This is none of your concern."
"I should say that it is," her father replied, stepping out from the shadows to confront his daughter. "Considering I raised you better than this."
"Raised me?"
Milligan immediately realized his mistake.
"Katie-Cat, I-"
"Didn't mean to leave me?" Kate snapped. "I know Dad. I know you didn't mean to. No, you just chose a dangerous job working for a dangerous man and put your own life at risk, when you knew your child had no one else but you."
The hurt in her father's eyes made Kate regret her words, but only for a moment.
After all, it's not as if what she said wasn't true.
"I'm sorry," said Milligan earnestly, realizing perhaps for the first time how much his child was still hurting.
How much she'd been lying every time she said that she was fine. How much she'd been hiding her pain from him, from everyone.
"It wasn't fair to you. I promise, I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you."
"Really?" said Kate. "Well then. I suppose there is something you can do for me."
"Anything Katie-Cat," said Milligan softly, his eyes brimming with tears.
"Stay out of my way," Kate ordered, looking her father directly in the eyes, doing her best to look tall, strong, and intimidating.
Milligan's face hardened slightly. He knew that look. It was a look he'd seen in his daughter's eyes before, her fearsome determination, her resolve not to back down.
It was normally one of the traits that he admired most about her.
"I can't do that Katie-Cat," he replied, seriously but still with a tone of affection in his voice.
"I love you too much to let you waste your talents and potential like this."
Kate laughed.
"Of course you do," she replied, gesturing for her followers to step forward.
"It looks like I might need some help after all. But try to go easy on them," she advised her followers. "Most of them aren't trained fighters and their biggest crime is shortsightedness. Hardly worth our best or most painful efforts."
"Don't fight them," interrupted Milligan. "They don't need to fight this. Just you and me."
Kate eyed him suspiciously.
"You hurt your leg last month," she reminded him. "You're not in peak fighting condition. If this is some kind of trick-"
"It isn't," replied Milligan. "You and me. If you win, we'll let you keep your operation and leave the decision up to you. If I win, you end this."
Kate's face became thoughtful, carefully considering his offer.
"Uh Milligan," interjected Sticky. "I know that you're pretty well trained, but you were just injured, most doctors wouldn't recommend-"
"Deal," said Kate, charging forward without warning, as Milligan side stepped.
It was hard to tell who had the upper hand. Milligan was stronger and had a clear height advantage, but he was still recovering from his injury and Kate was faster, and more flexible.
They held nothing back, but still neither of them succeeded in doing much damage, mostly because the skill with which they dodged the other’s attacks was just as impressive as the fighting techniques they employed.
"Tired old man?" she asked.
"Oh believe me," said Milligan. "I haven't even started yet."
They fought for hours, until at last Kate found something else that gave her the upper hand.
Environmental knowledge.
One of the circus' tricks was a series of platforms that were triggered to fall when you stood on them for a certain amount of time. They sent the performers falling to either be caught by a fellow trapeze artist or (worst case scenario) fall into one of the safety nets.
It was simply a matter of cornering her father onto one of the platforms, and removing the bridge.
"The fall is too far, and we haven't put the net out," Kate reminded him.
"You lost. Surrender."
Milligan looked down for a moment, judging the distance, then he looked back up at his daughter.
"No," he replied.
Kate was confused.
"What do you mean no?" she asked.
"I mean no," Milligan replied. "The fight's not over until it's over. I don't surrender."
"I'm not putting the bridge back," Kate reminded him. "Whatever trick this is, I'm not falling for it. Don't be stupid."
Milligan stood firm.
So did Kate. They were both stubborn. Like father, like daughter.
The seconds ticked by.
"20 seconds," Kate reminded him.
"Milligan we'll find another way!" Sticky yelled. "Just surrender, it's not worth it."
"This is my daughter," Milligan replied. "She'll always be worth it."
Kate scoffed.
"15 seconds," she announced.
Milligan didn't respond.
Kate still waited. Her father was fast. He only needed a few seconds to make it back in time, and would no doubt run out the clock.
10 seconds.
9 seconds.
8 seconds.
Kate groaned. Of course he would play it like this.
She walked over to the bridges control panel and pressed the emergency stop button.
It wasn't working.
Kate felt as if her heart had stopped.
"It's not working," she whispered.
"Kate it's your dad!" yelled Reynie. "You won! You won okay? Just press the button, put the bridge back!"
"It's not working," she yelled, the panic rising in her voice.
4 seconds.
"DAD-" she yelled, turning to her father, the father she'd missed for so long, the father she loved, the father she didn't want to lose again.
2 seconds.
"I love you Katie-Cat."
0 seconds.
The platform dropped.
And so did Milligan.
And so did Kate, diving after her father, clinging to him tightly as if that could somehow save him.
The others surrounded them as soon as they landed.
Kate was mostly undamaged, Milligan had broken her fall.
But he wasn't moving, wasn't responding.
"Dad?" Kate whispered, tears in her eyes.
"Dad I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I-please don't go. Please. I can't lose you again."
Kate reached down and hugged her father.
"You won," she whispered. "You won okay? Just please come back. I love you."
At once, Kate felt her father sit up and wrap his arms around her, wrapping her in an embrace that even she could not escape from.
"Victory," he announced, looking down at his daughter.
"And I love you too Katie-Cat. I'm sorry for the dramatics. I assumed you'd be able to put the bridge back in time, but it's always nice to have a plan B."
"What-" said Kate, who was too relieved to see her father alive and well to be upset that she had been tricked.
"But, but the fall-"
"I've fallen before," Milligan reminded her. "From greater heights than this. You get better at falling the more you practice. Just uh...don't tell Mr. Benedict. Or Number Two. Or Rhonda...perhaps it would also be wise not to mention this to Miss. Perumal."
Kate sighed.
"I'm sorry. I guess I just got tired of your criticisms."
"We didn't mean to sound critical" said Reynie. "I'm sorry you felt that way. But you were never a liability. You're our friend, and we need you."
The others nodded.
Kate sighed again and smiled.
"I need you guys too," she admitted, as her friends joined in hugging her.
------------
And now for Constance Contraire.
The Premise:
I picture her being pretty young in this, but not too young, teen years at the most. The story here is that Constance succeeds in destroying the Whisperer and saving the day.
But this time, it leaves her mind damaged, seriously damaged. So damaged that her powers become uncontrollable and scary. Some government researchers offer to help Constance, but Mr. Benedict, suspicious of their intentions, turns them away. Nicholas vows to protect Constance, insists that they will figure out what's wrong, that they will help her, but then one day Constance ends up hurting him on accident, basically incapacitating and nearly killing him. At this point, there isn't much left to do, accepting outside help is the only option. The others promise to visit Constance and make sure she's taken care of and happy until Mr. Benedict recovers.
They never get the chance. Something goes wrong, and the story is that Constance is on the loose and dangerous, causing out of control destruction and physical harm. The police and government agents try to bring her in several times, but all end up hospitalized from the encounter. The society seeks Constance out, and they eventually find her hideout.
The Scene:
"Why are you here?" demanded Constance.
"What do you mean "why are we here?"" asked Kate.
"We're here to bring you home Connie girl."
Constance scoffed.
"Connie Girl."
They always acted like this. Like she was still a tiny defenseless child. Even though she was now older than the others had been when she'd first met them, they still acted as if they were her older siblings.
Or at least, they did with their words. But their body language sent an entirely different message. They stayed on the other side of the room, not daring to approach her, not daring to put their arms around her like they would have done before.
"You're afraid of me," she observed.
"Constance, we care about you!" Reynie protested.
"That doesn't mean you're not afraid."
Reynie didn't answer. There wasn't much he could say.
They'd all seen what she could do. And Reynie had never been a good liar.
"We just want to talk to you."
"We're talking now," observed Constance.
"Not here," said Kate. "Not in some secret lair or hideout where you've hidden yourself away."
"Where then?"
"Home. Your home."
For a moment, they can see it. The longing in Constance's eyes.
Home.
She quickly puts that aside.
"Right," she responds. "Home. Where the government will no doubt be waiting to take me away again."
"What? No!" Sticky exclaimed. "Constance, we would never let that happen! Mr. Benedict would never let that happen!"
Mr. Benedict.
She disregards the name and the emotions that come with it.
"And yet, it's happened before," she replied.
"You even let them take me.”
Her friends hung their heads and looked away at the reminder of their guilt, the unbearable weight that they would forever carry with them.
“They told you what I did to them. But do you have any idea what they did to me?” asked Constance.
“What they put me through? The things they made me do?"
"We thought they could help you Constance," said Reynie. "You were scared and in pain, and they offered help, and we wanted to help you. We didn't know...if we had known-"
"You would have stopped them?" asked Constance. "How? By asking nicely? And would you really have let me stay with you? After knowing what I could do to you?"
"We would have figured it out," Reynie insisted. "We're a family."
Constance laughed.
"Family? Gosh Reynard, you always were so childishly sentimental. It's a terrible weakness of yours"
Sticky and Kate briefly glared at Constance on their friend's behalf, but Reynie could hear the pain behind his little sister's insult.
He took a small step forward.
"Constance please-"
"Get away!" Constance barked, a hint of panic in her voice as she took a step backward.
"You know what will happen. Don't be stupid. Just leave. It's what's best for everyone. I'm a monster now. I'm only going to hurt you. And deep down, you all know it."
"Constance?"
The voice came from behind her. Constance didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
The others were immediately horrified. They'd told him not to come; he'd promised not to come, for his own safety.
But they should have known better. Nicholas would not be kept from his daughter.
"Dad?" Constance whispered weakly, then silently chastised herself for having spoken aloud.
She refused to turn around.
Nicholas still hobbled towards her. Constance could feel his mind. Still split, shattered from what she'd done to him, but slowly healing. And his emotions towards her...pain, lots of emotional pain, but no anger. No, there was something else, something far more powerful.
Love.
The others warned Mr. Benedict back, but he ignored their warnings. He wouldn't be deterred. His daughter needed him.
He limped over and knelt down, as best he could for an injured man so that he could address his child.
"Constance," he whispered. "Look at me please."
Constance turned away and shook her head.
"Please," her father whispered.
"I-I can't," she responded, a tiny tear rolling down her cheek as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Nicholas looked at her sadly, but affectionately, as if she was the most precious thing in the entire world.
And to him, she was.
"Oh...oh my dear Constance-"
"You should go," she ordered, pushing her father away.
"Go now. Or I'll hurt you again. I'll hurt them too," she threatened, but there was no malice behind her words. Only fear, fear that her threats might not be empty promises.
Nicholas ignored his daughter’s threats.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
He could feel her emotions in his mind. His daughter's power, too great and uncontrollable for her tiny body, made so much worse and so much stronger by what she'd been subjected to. Her power radiated from her mind, seeping outward and infecting every mind it came in contact with.
Nicholas let it come. In fact, he embraced it fully. The pain didn't matter. If that was the price he had to pay to keep his child safe and let her know that she was loved and forgiven, then that was a price he would gladly pay.
"Oh Constance," he whispered, as the tiny girl collapsed into a puddle of tears. "There's nothing you could do that would stop me from loving you."
--------------
Now for Sticky Washington.
This is largely inspired by @sophieswundergarten's amazing fics and posts about Sticky and his anxiety. I can't possibly link all of them, so if you're not following her and reading her fics, that's your own personal problem, and I pity you.
Sadly, I didn't write a reunion scene between him and his aunt or the Washingtons for this, because I wanted it to kind of work for the book or show versions of the character, but please know that in the full version of the fic that exists only in my brain, Sticky does reconcile with his family.
The Premise:
Sticky is older in this, an adult, maybe 20s or 30s. The story is that even after the Whisperer, after Curtain, the nightmares, the anxiety, it still haunts him. He can't get over it, but at the same time, he doesn't want to burden his friends, he can't burden them.
So he distances himself. He doesn't want to, but the voice inside him tells him that this is for the best. He would only burden them; he would only weigh them down. The others aren't sure why he's doing this, but assume it's because he wants his space and they try to respect that.
The anxiety, the fear, the flashbacks, it all gets worse. Finally, Sticky can bear it no more. So he does the unthinkable.
He builds his own version of the Whisperer. Not to control people. Just to calm his anxiety. And maybe, as the show version of Sticky says "[...] put good thoughts into people's heads. Make them feel happy." Nothing intrusive, nothing exploitive, nothing selfish. Just things like advising people to wear a seatbelt when they drive, and use dangerous equipment properly, and basically anything else that's unsafe or would make Sticky nervous. After all, what's the harm in that? He's making the world safer. And it's not like his old friends would care enough to bother with him.
But that's where he's wrong. The society detects the machine's influence, and they know it's not Curtain. They don't want to believe that it's Sticky, even when the evidence points to him. But eventually, they have no choice but to accept the truth and confront him.
The Scene:
Sticky looked up at his visitors from behind his desk. His office was nice, not extravagant or expensive, that wasn't his style, but it was neat, clean, and organized. As for Sticky himself, he was hardly the boy he was when he'd first met his friends. He was older, taller, stronger. Handsome. Confident.
Reynie told himself that he had nothing to fear. Appearances might change, but underneath it all was his friend.
"Sticky-" he began, but Sticky cut him off.
"It's Mr. Washington now," he corrected in a professional tone, trying his best not to reveal how much he'd been hurting. "Though I suppose I could allow you to call me George, for old times sake."
"Okay Mr. George," said Constance. "Having fun playing supervillain?"
Sticky frowned.
"If you came here just to criticize me, then I'll have my secretary show you out. Better her than my security," he added, glancing at Kate, who had her hand on her bucket.
"That's not why we're here," said Reynie quickly.
"Oh?" said Sticky, raising an eyebrow.
"Your family misses you," clarified Reynie, hoping to appeal to his friends' sentimentality.
"Well they have no reason to miss me. I brought them some lovely property, send plenty of checks, and cover all their medical expenses, which is all they ever wanted me for anyway," said Sticky.
"Would you ever go to visit them?" asked Reynie. "I um...I don't want to get involved in your family's personal lives. But I think they might want more than money. I think they...I think they really miss you."
And then he sees it. A sense of longing, and a yearning in Sticky's eyes.
But it vanishes almost instantly.
"I'm a busy man," Sticky reminded his friends. "I have businesses to run."
"Honest businesses?" asked Kate suspiciously.
"Yes," said Sticky, glaring at her. "You might disagree with my personal hobbies, but I assure you, I make my money fairly."
"You call brainwashing the world a hobby? Really Mr. George?" asked Constance.
Sticky sighed.
"I'm fixing the world," he lectured them. "Crime is down, addiction is down, people's rates of anxiety and depression are down-"
"Including your own no doubt," muttered Constance, but Sticky ignored her.
"-and it's all thanks to me," he finished.
Reynie looked horrified. Kate looked disgusted.
"But you're doing it without their consent!" Reynie protested. "And you don't know what the side effects could be."
"And the way you're justifying it," said Kate, "you sound exactly like-"
And then she stopped, realizing that what she was about to say would have gone too far, way too far.
But it was too late. Sticky knew what she'd been implying, and his faced morphed from a look of uncomfortable and false politeness to sudden rage.
"Like who?" Sticky snapped, and his friends jumped at the sound of his voice. It was so much louder and deeper than it had been when he was a child. It was a man's voice now, but it wasn't just the maturity or the confidence of his voice, but the anger it possessed. The harshness that had been so absent from him as a child.
Constance was the first to recover.
"You know who "Mr. George,"" she answered, glaring at her former friend.
The other two glanced at each other. What Constance was saying was cruel, especially after all that man had put Sticky through, but it was also undeniably true.
"How dare you?" whispered Sticky, the anger rising in his voice.
"How dare you compare me to him? AFTER EVERYTHING HE DID TO ME!"
Sticky rose from his desk.
His friends had never seen him look so furious.
"Sticky-" began Reynie nervously.
The others took a step backward.
Sticky's self-consciousness and compassion suddenly returned to him when he saw the fear in their eyes.
That’s the thing about anger. If you are someone who is small, short, nervous, mild mannered, someone who is perceived as “weak”, then your anger, no matter how justified, is often belittled, patronized, or dismissed as "cute", unless you can find a way to be taken seriously, to yell louder, to make yourself more threatening. Of course, the other side of this is that if you are someone who is tall, strong, loud, powerful, and intimidating, then it doesn’t take much anger to make others afraid of you, even if that’s not your intention, unless you learn to moderate your emotions and remember how threatening you look from their perspective.
For most of this life, Sticky had been on one end of this spectrum, always needing to yell louder and be more insistent to make his voice heard. Now he found himself on the other side of the spectrum. But although his height, physical appearance, and position in the world had changed, the emotion felt the same to him as it always had, and he often forgot just how frighting he could seem.
Even to those who had once called him friend.
Sticky sighed and took a deep breath.
"I'm not like him," he insisted.
"I'm not giving myself fame, money, power, or anything like that. That's the difference. When I say I'm doing this to help people, to make them feel happy, I mean it."
He looked at his friends, glancing over their faces, trying one last effort to get them to understand.
"You know me," he reminded them. "You know I wouldn't do that. I'm not doing this for power. I'm doing this for peace."
There was silence for a few moments.
"We know," said Reynie.
"We know you are Sticky. And we know you've been hurting. We should have noticed earlier, and we should have offered to help sooner. I'm sorry. But whatever your intentions are, that doesn't make this right."
Sticky didn't reply. He knew that Reynie was right; he always was.
"What do I do?" he asked, his voice suddenly sounding softer.
"Stop this," said Kate. "Turn yourself in. We'll help you, we'll- we'll get you the help you need. So you don't have to feel this way anymore."
Sticky was surprised.
His anxiety...his fears...he tried to act like it didn't bother him anymore. He didn't want to be a burden. He didn't want to drag his friends down with him.
And yet they were here, right next to him, not as adversaries, but as friends.
They didn't have to come. They didn't have to forgive him.
"You've needed help for a while," said Constance, her voice suddenly gentler and far more compassionate then even her friends were used to hearing from her.
"Haven't you George?"
Sticky didn't answer. He could feel Constance tentatively poking her way into his mind. But he didn't fight it. He sat back down and nodded silently, feeling weak and exposed, the reality of his pain revealed at last.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I thought I could deal with it on my own but I...I can't. I'm not- I'm not strong enough. That's why I needed to do this. I thought I could help not just me, but others, because the truth is I...I'm just not enough. I'm not strong enough."
His friends ran forward to hug him.
"You don't have to be dummy," said Constance.
"None of us are. That's why we have each other."
--------------
And finally, Reynie Muldoon.
Ngl, I went pretty dark for this one. He's the only one I actually gave a body count to (I know I'm sorry don't blame me blame the bees and I apologize if you think any of these are OOC I'm trying my best here. Also Reynie is older in this and there are darker themes mentioned so consider this your warning). This is based on @kaslynspeaks amazing post here and her awesome comments on my poll where she talks about the whole book conversation where Reynie can "only see snakes" so he lets himself be bitten and becomes a snake himself? Genius. 10/10. Set off the bees for sure, so thank you for that.
The Premise:
This one blends a lot of elements from the others. Like in Kate's situation, the society has won, they're fighting crime, but Reynie becomes disillusioned, though for different reasons. He's older than Kate was in her version, he's late 20s, 30s, maybe even pushing 40. It took a long time for him to get to this point.
You see, at first, Reynie is fighting for what he believes in: bringing bad guys to justice, keeping his friends on the straight and narrow, and doing what's right. But being a leader has a cost. He's always the one emotionally supporting the team, he gives more than he gets back, and that starts to take a toll. As he gets older, he encounters more bad guys, ones that make him sick to his stomach, but what's worse is the lack of people who seem to care. The politicians with empty promises, the corrupt police, the ordinary citizens who look the other way instead of helping. Nothing changes. There's always another crisis, another bad guy, another problem that needs the society, and the society needs him. So Reynie drains himself until at last he can give no more. Finally pushed to the brink by what he's seen and the sense of hopelessness and isolation he feels, he makes the decision.
He starts by cutting himself off from the society, at least professionally. They respect his decision, but are surprised by it. Once he's free of that obligation, Reynie tells his mother he's getting a new job and needs some space right now to figure himself out.
What he actually does is get involved in the criminal underworld. He tells no one of course, they'd never approve. But Reynie has learned that there is one thing that can control a snake: a bigger snake (or as the expression goes "there's always a bigger fish").
And his intelligence, knowledge of others, leadership skills, and experience with criminals quickly leads to Reynie becoming the boss of the criminal underworld (how did he do that so quickly? What is this "criminal underworld" I keep mentioning? Like. Is it a gang? The mafia? The ten men? Some random group of thieves? Idk, don't question it, just use your imagination).
Anyway, now that Reynie has control he determines what crimes happen, when they happen, and how many people get hurt. Which he views as damage control. He keeps his real occupation hidden from his mother, telling her he's involved in important government work, and it's better that she didn't ask questions. Eventually he completely cuts off ties with the rest of the society, knowing it's only a matter of time before they put together what he's done.
They do figure it out, eventually, and they're heartbroken of course. They can't believe it. Especially that Reynie, out of all of them, would ever do something so terrible. They want to confront him, but they can't find him.
Until one day they receive an anonymous coded message, tipping them off to his location.
Reynie's security team laughs when they tell them they're his friends. Their boss doesn't have any friends, and no one shows up to see him without an appointment unless they either have news that can't wait, or some kind of death wish. And he certainly never takes social calls.
Still, they let Reynie know about them. And of course he recognizes their description. Turning them away unharmed shows weakness, which his team would never accept from their leader, but Reynie doesn't want to harm his friends either.
Which gives him only one other option: to confront them. He has his security bring them to his office.
The Scene:
The men roughly shoved them into the room.
"These people came to see you boss. They said they were friends of yours."
Reynie looked up at his friends, who had just been pushed unceremoniously into his office.
"Thank you," he nodded, waving his hands to dismiss his security team.
Then he sighed.
"How did you find me?"
His friends didn't answer at first.
"That's what you want to know?" said Kate. "You're running the criminal underworld, and that's the first question you have for us? The route we used to get here?"
"Not the route. My location. How did you find me?" asked Reynie.
"Anonymous tip off. A coded message," said Constance. "Seems some of your men aren't as loyal as you thought."
Reynie looked disappointed, but shrugged.
"That's not all that uncommon in this line of work," he clarified. "Whoever it was will be dealt with accordingly. Snakes will be snakes"
"But since when are you one of them?" asked Kate.
Reynie sighed.
"I don't expect any of you to understand."
"You're right Reynie," said Sticky. "We don't understand. You were always the best of us. The one who reminded us who we were, what we stood for. How could you ever think something like this was right?"
"The best of us?" Reynie repeated disbelief.
"I was the average one, the one who wasn't special. I wasn't a genius, or a psychic, or some sort of super athlete. I was just me. I'm not special."
"So that's why you're doing this?" asked Constance. "To feel special?"
"No," said Reynie. "I'm doing this because it's inevitable. The cycle just repeats itself. We fight another bad guy, we almost fall apart, I hold us together, it takes everything out of me, I finally recover, and then we go around again. The only way to end the cycle is to become a part of it."
"Takes everything out of you?" repeated Sticky. "Reynie, we had no idea-"
"It's fine," dismissed Reynie. "Like I said, this is for the best."
"You really believe that?" asked Kate, shocked her friend could ever really think something like this was right. "You...your men...you're criminals! The worst criminals!"
"We are," agreed Reynie. "I won't deny that. But when you make yourself the king of the snakes, you decide how poisonous they are. These men follow me because they know I'm intelligent and powerful enough to let them get away with the crimes they want and have all the money and power they desire. That's a better deal than most other bosses could give them. But they also know that comes at a price, that certain things are off limits. If I hear any rumors of human trafficking or exploiting or harming children, well, then I'm sure to make an example of them. To remind them that I'm in control and that I have my standards."
"Make a example of them?" said Kate, her eyes widening.
"That...that doesn't mean what I think it means...right Reynie?" asked Sticky.
Reynie couldn't help but feel a little ashamed as he watched Constance, who had always looked up to him as her protector, her big brother, take a step away from him when she saw from his face that his words meant exactly what Sticky thought they meant.
But he didn't back down.
"They were human traffickers and people who abused children," Reynie said simply, trying his best to remain logical. "You can't say they didn't deserve it. If I wasn't running the criminal underworld, someone else would, someone who would be just as cruel, maybe worse, and would likely choose less deserving targets. It's no different than carrying out justice."
"And who made you the judge, jury and executioner?" asked Constance, crossing her arms.
"We're going to stop you," said Kate, raising her fists.
"Really?" said Reynie, his expression turning dark at his friend's declaration.
"I think you'll find that harder than you expect. You three might have been the talented ones, but I was the one who kept you together. I know you. I know how to build you up, and I know how to bring you down."
His friends looked horrified by the threat. Even worse, they looked hurt.
"I don't want it to come to that," Reynie clarified. "But it will if you stand against me. I don't want to hurt you, but trust me, I can. Worse than you can imagine. And I will. I know how it sounds, but believe me when I tell you that this is the only way."
The others were shocked by his words. Reynie cared for them; Reynie protected them.
How could he threaten them so easily? How could he have become so misguided?
Sticky thought a bit about what his friend had said, and tried one last time to reach him.
"We understand where you're coming from, really Reynie, we do," said Sticky. "But this isn't the way to do things. You're still hurting people in other ways, and I agree that people need to be brought to justice but this...this isn't the way to do it."
"We didn't know it was so hard for you," added Kate. "You were our leader Reynie. And you're right. You held us together, you kept us strong, and you were always there when we needed you. To remind us who we are. I'm sorry we didn't appreciate that more. But now it's our turn to be there for you. To remind you who you are."
Reynie didn't answer for a moment.
"And who do you think that is?"
"Our friend," said Kate.
"Some who is kind, gentle, intelligent, wonderful, and anything but average," added Sticky.
"Someone who knows deep down that this is wrong," said Constance, poking her way around the edges of Reynie's mind.
"Someone who's better than this."
Reynie couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You...you really think that?" he asked. "After everything I've done... you really think that's who I am?"
"We do," said Sticky.
"We all do," agreed Kate.
"I know it," said Constance, as Reynie felt her enter his mind, unearthing the guilt, shame, exhaustion, and pain that he'd kept buried for so long, as well as the love, compassion, and the values he'd put aside and tried to forget about.
They were still a part of him. An unused and forgotten part, but nevertheless, they were still there.
"Your friends are right Reynie."
Reynie turned to see his mother enter his office.
"Amma?" he asked in a small voice.
"But, but I don't understand- how...how did you-"
"For the leader of the criminal underworld, you have pretty bad security. They're easy enough to knock out with a few blow darts and they are much too unsuspecting of a simple old woman," his mother replied with a sad smile.
Reynie's heart dropped. She knew?
One look in her eyes told him everything. Of course she knew. She knew when he started staying out late and never telling her where he was going, when he came back with scars and a haunted look in his eyes that he couldn't explain, when he begged her for the millionth time to stop asking questions, when he moved her into a bigger fancier private house and had the property constantly surrounded by security guards because of a "promotion" that he refused to explain.
His mother was kind, but she certainly wasn't stupid.
And then Reynie realized.
"The coded message. You brought them here."
Dipika nodded.
"You needed them Reynie. You needed to be reminded of who you are."
Reynie hung his head.
"Amma-" he began, but his voice trailed off.
What could he say? What words could ever make it up to the woman who'd taken him in, who'd given everything to him? There was nothing he could say, not when she knew what he'd done, what he'd become.
"Oh Reynie," said Dipika, walking forward to hug her son, who trembled at the affection he knew he didn't deserve.
"I know," she whispered. "I know you're sorry. And I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I wasn't enough. I'm sorry I couldn't reach you. But it's not too late. I promise Reynie. It's never too late."
At last, Reynie broke down, returning his mother's embrace as the three people who refused to give up on him even when he'd given up on himself stepped forward to hug their friend.
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I apologize for nothing, or maybe I will if enough people tell me this was disturbing and that they didn't like it, which honestly? Fair enough. Anyway, have a lovely evening! 🥰
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spiritualinstinct · 2 years ago
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STOP FUCKING THROWING SHIT AT ME!!!!
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macdenlover · 6 months ago
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it came to my realization that 99% of my fandom related headaches would be cured if everyone understood this
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apollos-boyfriend · 1 year ago
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so my younger cousin is flying in to visit from brazil on sunday, and will be staying here for like, the entirety of july. which, don't get me wrong, is super cool! i love the kid! but it felt like a super weird move, considering his parents are the SUPER strict and borderline helicopter parents. even the smallest prank/roughousing with him/his little sister would lead to a strict talking to from his parents, he couldn't ever do anything without their clear permission, that sort of stuff. so letting him fly at alone at 16 to a whole different country and stay there for a whole month seemed WILDLY out of character. additionally, it just felt like a super last-minute trip. it's not like we have any plans to do when he gets here, and the flight itself and stuff only got booked like, midway through june.
and i was talking to my mom about it, kind of trying to nudge some answers out of her, and after a while she went, "yeah, i think they're sending him over here to get away for his boyfriend. see if the distance breaks them off." which, first of all, surprised me because last i checked, they didn't KNOW he had a boyfriend. literally everyone in the family did EXCEPT for them because while that entire side of the family being semi-conservative, his parents (mostly his dad) are EXTREMELY old-fashioned. so clearly something already went wrong. and considering the only reason the rest of the family knew is because one person found out and it spread like wildfire, i have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't the one to tell them, either.
and second of all. they're sending him HERE. to try to make him forget his homosexuality. i couldn't do anything but just wordlessly gesture to the multiple pride flags scattered around my room, then to myself, because really? he has like two other cousins in the us and they're sending him to me? honey i am about to introduce this kid to queer scenes you have never even heard of. he'll be returning home with labels only shrimp can perceive
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lynxgriffin · 4 months ago
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I did a post asking about this ages ago, but now that there's polls, I'd like to do another round for this question, since it always has me curious:
Also, I am not including stuff like "I just stay up thinking about things that make me anxious", since this is specifically about things that help you sleep, not things that keep you up!
Just curious how widespread this practice is!
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somnimagus · 1 year ago
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My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.
[id in alt text]
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gatoburr0 · 28 days ago
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Whoever left me in my room all alone and unsupervised with my iPad, this is what you caused (it’s me btw).
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starlit-roses-ships · 2 months ago
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You’re not a burden in your f/os eyes even if you need comfort or reassurance frequently. Your f/o loves taking care of you whether that be by listening to you, talking to you, spending time with you, helping you out, or simply reassuring you that everything is going to be okay. It puts them at ease to know they can make you feel even just a bit better in any way they can. ❤️‍🩹
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biblically-accurate-dca · 7 months ago
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substitute
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psystirene · 5 months ago
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i've been thinking about this reddit comment ever since i read it. the sheer rage. almost tearful i think. the horrendous take. underestimating the ability of sapphics to find sickly little leech women irresistible.
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ssalballoon · 1 year ago
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bold words from god's favourite princess
context: my favorite interview
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crypticsketchpad · 5 months ago
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more anxiety doodles (since yall seemed to REALLY like* the last doodle page lmao) out of character fashion edition
individual drawings:
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*ive never even had an art post hit 300 notes LET ALONE 700+ HOLY CRAP so thank you to everyone who liked/reblogged that other post, it means a lot :]
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wickedlittleoz · 1 year ago
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an artist i follow got an ask about whether it was alright to use their art as covers for fanfic bookbinding and i'm. sorry i must have missed this discourse but since when are people outright printing out other people's work and binding them into books? do you contact and get author's permission (sure as fuck hope so)? and how do we writers feel about that, because i certainly feel very uncomfortable with that idea. i mean not to spoil the artistic expression of bookbinding because it's beautiful work that i most certainly could not do, but. you can access them stories any time you want on the websites where they were originally posted. why print them? again i mean i get the pleasure of holding & reading physical books, i much prefer that too, but like. get some books i guess? sorry i come from a place of honesty and tbh surprise and confusion about this whole thing. someone tell me how we're feeling about this. someone explain to me why it's being done. i just wanna understand
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lotus-pear · 1 year ago
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i think you guys are onto smth..
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i unironically got invested in this HELP
#WHERES THE FIC AT IF SOMEONE WRITES THIS I WILL PAY THEM A HUNDRED DOLLARS😭😭#kunikida serving the country while dazai's serving cunt😔#dazai was born to malewife but forced to manipulate and i think that's the greatest tragedy of bsd#anyway some facts i would like to share abt this au thay i came up w while drawing!!#takes place in 1939 (start of wwii) and there was a mandatory draft that required one male over eighteen from each house to serve#both of them are still twenty two and had been engaged for abt two years before getting married that year#newlyweds! unfortunately kuni had to go fight and they were seperated :(#before the war kunikida was a math teacher at the local high school and dazai obviously managed the household and didn't work#he's hopeless at cooking and meal prep even w recipie books so they either get those prepackaged meals or kuni makes dinner when he gets ba#so like when he's making lunch for kunikida he normally just packs a basic sandwich w raw fruit#kunikida always appreciates the effort even tho hes probably sick of having the same thing everyday but he won't complain abt it#when kunikida joined the army he was relieved that the mess hall had better food than dazai#he was the only one in his platoon that never complained abt the food so his fellow soldiers assumed it was bc he came from a tough bg#when in reality he was just used to being poisoned on a daily basis from his dumbass husbands cooking and was hardly fazed from army ration#they write to each other although its more dazai sending and kuni receiving bc hes off fighting and doesnt have time to write back#dazai talks abt life on the homefront and how he has to grow a victory garden (everything is DYING HE CANT EVEN RAISE TOMATOES)#and kuni writes abt his fellow soldiers and how the war is going and when he thinks he'll be home and how he misses sleeping in a bed#ANYWAY yea thought i'd share sry for infodumping in the tags again#this post is for like the four ppl that care abt this specific flavor of knkdz so hopefully this gets four notes at least#bungou stray dogs#bungo stray dogs#dazai osamu#osamu dazai#kunikida doppo#doppo kunikida#kunikidazai#knkdz#lotus draws#bro sry for posting at two in the morning i couldnt sleep until i got this out of my head they have infested my brain
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somnimagus · 1 year ago
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My page for @kairizine. It was such a huge honor to be part of this wonderful book with everyone, I had so much fun!
[id in alt!]
#kingdom hearts#kh#kh kairi#kh xion#kh namine#i don't really feel proud of my own stuff usually but#i really think this is the drawing i'm most proud of from this past year!! it made me think 'oh maybe i can draw' haha#i'm still kinda bad with colors but something clicked with this one. and i feel like i got the sentimental feeling i wanted!#ooh but this project's about flower symbolism so ramble incoming:#protea symbolizes resilience transformation and diversity; hollyhock means 'please remember me.'#so my general theme was finding a sense of self.#these 3 have struggled with finding their own identity; they tend to get left behind both in-universe and in general plotwise#and naminé and xion both resemble kairi and were overshadowed by her memory. but i feel like all 3 have transformed into their own people#xion and naminé have their faces covered partially by hollyhock to show their wish to be remembered for who they are-#instead of the parts that they share with someone else#and the protea bouquets show how they each held on and resiliently grew into their own person despite it all#i put a little swervy path on the hill behind kairi to give that hopeful sense of growth and moving forward. it's a little hard to see#hopefully that makes sense! i really love symbolism but i think in visuals so i'm really bad with words#but gosh working with everyone on this project was so fun. it was like impossible not to get swept up by the team's hype for this zine#i need to hunt down everybody's work and rb it#ohh and everybody's flowers are so crisply drawn it's insane!! i think if i lined all these flowers and leaves i'd die haha#fan art#my art#project stuff
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nattikay · 1 month ago
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super-duper-quickly-thrown-together mini ear flick tutorial thing, feat. Tuk
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