#That his allies thought him to be a monster. But still he committed to them in the hopes that they would repay his loyalty. And they did !!

[techno-rat]

Im always thinking about the tubbo execution t.b.h.

coz like it sucked for EVERYONE but schlatt and wilbur, who orchestrated it. Techno realized his allies didn’t give a shit about him. Tubbo was killed traumatically. Tommy watched his best friend be murdered by a man who he thought was his ally. The crowd is various levels of shocked depending on their allegiance

[crazycoke-addict]

5 Worst things that team Green has done and 5 worst things team black had done

1. Usurping Rhaenyra (Team Green)

Throughout season 1, Alicent and Otto are trying to get Viserys to change his mind about Rhaenyra being his heir, but he never did. When Viserys died, he mentioned Aegon's dream to Alicent, whom he believed was Rhaenyra. Alicent believes that Viserys is telling her that Aegon their son must be king.

The Green Council (excluding Alicent) was already planning to put Aegon on the throne. Aegon is the eldest son of Viserys, and since the succession goes through the male. They believe that Rhaenyra shouldn't be Queen because she is a woman and woman shouldn't rule.

2. Blood and Cheese (Team Black)

After the death of Lucerys, Valeryon. Daemon goes to Kingslanding in secret to meet up with two people known as blood and cheese. Daemon orders them to find Aemond and kill him. However, if they can't find him, then go to the next person. That being Prince Jaehaerys, eldest son of Aegon and Helaena.

While not all team black conspired with the murder of an innocent child. Daemon held more responsibility and is an important figure through team black as king consort and a warrior himself.

3. Killing Lord Beesbury (Team Green)

After Visery's death, the greens are already planning to put Aegon on the iron throne. Lord Beesbury doesn't want to be part of this plan and tells them that Rhaenyra will always be Viserys' true heir and the great house have already served their loyalty to her.

While accusing them of poisoning the King and this includes Alicent. Criston murders him by pushing his head in the ball. Because of this, house beesbury will no longer support house Hightower and even declare war on them for the death of their lord. Criston Cole really messed up for the greens and turned their supporting allies against them.

4. Ordering the blockade (Team Black)

While Rhaenyra and Mysaria had a successful propaganda by bringing in food so that the small folk would turn against the greens. It's worth noting that Rhaenyra ordered the food to be blocked. She could order the blockade to be released and let the food be transported to the small folk.

These are some of the things that Aemond is frustrated with and why they are trying to ally with the Greyjoys. I believe if they use their dragons, they might be burned the food.

5. Exploiting a child's death for political gain (Team Green)

After learning the murder of Prince Jacerys. Otto Hightower see this as an opportunity to get the main houses to surrender their cause by turning this tragedy into a political gain. Otto has Alicent and Helaena to play the dutiful grandmother and mother mourning over their dead son and grandson.

It's upsetting to see Helaena being put through this, and just you forced to do something because it's their duty doesn't mean anything.

6. Committing war crimes in the riverlands (team black)

You know who isn't great at being a diplomat, Daemon Targaryen. Daemon thought it was a great idea to negotiate with house braken by bringing in their enemy, house Blackwood.

House Bracken refuses to support the blacks, so Daemon orders Willem Blackwood to get them to change their minds. Of course, he never told him to commit atrocities, but the fued between Blackwood and Bracken is pretty well known.

7. Parading the head of meleys (Team Green)

This is not only the worst things that team Green has done but rather the most stupidest. Parading the head of meleys was an obvious political gain to make aegon, a heroic person who slain the monster.

I do believe that this was Criston Cole's idea because when you live with and befriended the hightowers, then you know that PR works. While I don't like what they put Helaena through involving exploiting her dead son, it was still a good political gain.

But for meleys head being paraded, Criston Cole has done is break the illusion that house targaryen had been building that being dragons are gods who cannot be touched. Most of the dragons like vhagars and dreamfyre have been living since aegon the conqueror. Team Green had targaryen, and their dragons are in kingslanding. It's a recipe for disaster.

8. Exploiting the small folk (Team Black)

From a political standpoint, Team Green and team black's individual propaganda is a well-done job, and it gave them the success they were looking for. Yet, it's also awful if you watch it from the outside.

Mysaria's whole thing is that she cares for the smallfolk because she herself was one of them. It's also likely that may not know about the blockade, so she genuinely believes that Rhaenyra will be a good queen. However, using the small folk by exploiting them and turning them against the greens, especially with Queen Helaena and Queen Alicent. It is shown that the small folk will be seen as a pawn for both team Green and team black to use.

Team Black just used their weakness by giving them food, but without having to open the blockade.

9. hanging the ratcatchers (Team Green)

This is one of the most vile things that Aegon has ever done as a king besides raping Dyana. During the blood and cheese, Blood ended up confessing that he was ordered by Daemon Targaryen, and while he didn't know the name of the other guy's name and he knew that he was a ratcatcher.

Instead of having Helaena to identify the ratcatcher, Aegon decided that the best option is to hang 99 ratcatchers and place them in the public. I get it. He was grieving, but he weakened team green's claim and potential allies. Him firing Otto and making Ser Criston Cole as hand of the King is also a bad idea as well.

10. letting bastards have access to the throne (Team Black)

Now,I understand why Rhaenyra and Laenor couldn't have kids with each other. They tried to once, but Laenor couldn't go through with it because of his sexuality, so Rhaenyra had to look somewhere else.

The problem is who she chooses to be the father of her children. While Rhaenyra could say that they got their looks from house arryn from their maternal mother's side or house baratheon from their great paternal grandmother's side. It isn't in line with them.

There's a double standard involving Rhaenyra having bastards and other kings/lords having bastards, but the majority of the time, the lords and kings aren't pushing their bastards to take the iron throne. While yes, Viserys accepted Jace as his heir because Jace is a targaryen. It doesn't do much.

Having bastards gain access to a powerful position is a dangerous thing to do, and later on, it has caused many wars and rebellions later on. What's interesting is that the blackfyre rebellion happened came from Rhaenyra's side of her family.

Rhaenyra's reckless behaviour pushes the greens to prevent her from getting the iron throne.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I ended up thinking about Hawkmoth with good publicity again & had thoughts.

So, it was agreed Fu needs to change his entire methodology. His foe knows he exists & has some estimation as to an identity. He knows Hawk Moth want the Ladybug & Cat. He knows the man has connections in the city and is building both a fanbase by orchestrating disasters to play hero, so he can use his followers to eventually flush Fu out of hiding.

Long story short, he cannot keep all the Miraculous, nor can he risk putting Tikki & Plagg into the field. He also needs to find people who, rather than being cinnamon roles are those with little respect for authority or a willingness to break and bend the rules as necessary. He needs a team of infiltrators, saboteurs and fighters.

With that in mind he chooses: (I use my 12 Kwami lore, sorry XD)

Chloe, as she was often used as Hawk Moth's favorite hostage and is aware of his con. He entrusts her with Mulo both to help protect her identity as both civilian & agent and for infiltration and battles. With the power of Multiplication & Duplication, she takes the name Mademoiselle Millions!

Chloe uses her skills in ballet, gymnastics and general athleticism to orchestrate incredible combo attacks. Also like, sends tins versions of herself elsewhere or whatever, she thinks spy work is lame & has seen 'way' more than she ever wanted when looking for Hawk Moth.

Luka is chosen in large part because of his soul song ability, it helped him parce that Hawk Moth was not someone genuine. What's more, raised by ANarka he has a healthy disrespect for authority and his skills with empathy and calm head make him a good counter to some of the Butterflies inate powers.

He is entrusted with Dusuu and with the powers of Evocation & Transmutation, he takes the name Erymathy From kari-go). Luka uses these powers to enhance or weaken his surroundings, strengthen his allies or weaken his enemies, and to change the elemental nature of objects as necessary. Its useful for infiltration.

Juleka, like her brother, she has a healthy lack of trust in authority figures and is far mroe willing to go to extremes as she deems necessary. She is also surprisingly fearless in the face of monsters, even of social situation cause her dread.

Entrusted with Longg, she wields the Miraculous of Storm & Power, as Draconyx. SHe is an ideal partner for the Peacock which can radically dversify her elemental combinations allowing for greater versatility or more overwhelming power as the situation demands.

Alya is a reporter and while at first enamored with Hawk Moth, hshe sought to uncover his identity despite him stressing people should not. She also jjumped on toe 'conspiracy' theory that Hawk Moth was a thief with great interest, not outright distrustful, her commitments to the truth at any cost suits Fu's needs well.

Thus she was entrusted with Kaalki, the Kwami of Action & Migration, to assist her in infiltrating and intel gathering. Alya took on the name Troades (A Trojan Horse reference) and has sworn to get to the bottom of things no matter what. & if she becomes an acclaimed reporter, hero and all around stunner in the interim, she & Kaalki won't complain.

Fox: Fu would have liked to hand out the Fox, the powers of Mirage & Materialization, when used correctly could pull images and emotions from even Hawk Moth and help uncover his identity. However that Miraculous was lost sometime ago, though it seems to be making its way back to Paris in the hands of one, Volpina.

Tiger: I am unsure who I'd give Tiger to, my shortlist is, Kagami (Cos of course), Alyx (She can work) and Mylene (She is a protestor after all) But its hard to make any of them fit quite as I'd like. Though if Mylene was picked she'd go by Sabertooth to honor an extinct animal.

Still, he doesn't need to hand them all out right away so there'd be some wiggle room. Marinette & Adrien are off the list due to their respective respect for authority (Meaning she would struggle to see HK as a villain unless he does so in front of her) or controlling parents making the work harder.

I imagine Fu is a bit more involved in trying to designate tasks and serve as mission control, though he may need to move in & hide with his old flame to hide out from Hawk Moth and his followers. Also, a team made up of people with a lack of respect for authority is not exactly easy to control!

Who knew!?

XD

Oh!

Honestly I'm voting for Sabertooth.

[blackjackkent]

Interesting. I went back to talk to Wyll a bit more and get Rakha a few smooches maybe, since she could definitely use them, and realized that we unlocked some dialogue about Stelmane after her last conversation with the Emperor.

"Could it be true? Duke Stelmane allied with the Emperor?"

"Mind flayers are like devils - they just sport tentacles rather than wings. Clever. Manipulative. Exploitative. The Emperor says he's a friend; I think we'd be fools to believe him."

...Interesting.

This honestly comes a little bit out of nowhere and I have to believe that for Rakha it feels like a massive kick in the gut. She deliberately avoided Raphael's deal because she didn't want to choose to ally herself with a devil because of Wyll's experiences - a decision that took her a certain amount of mental strength - and now Wyll is instead telling her that he believes the Emperor is no better.

I have to imagine Rakha has told Wyll something of why she slurped the Astral Tadpole and has committed to the Emperor's interpretation of things; she's told him about the mental peace that she finds in the Astral Prism. Perhaps she's even told him how she realized she could see something of her relationship with him in the Emperor's relationship with Stelmane - a monster dependent on the company of another for guidance towards a better nature.

However much she's told him, Wyll is very specifically saying that it doesn't matter - the Emperor cannot be trusted regardless.

(A/N: Also - the game is distinctly inconsistent in the pronouns it uses for the Emperor. The Narrator definitely uses 'it' and Wyll uses 'he' here. I've been sticking with 'it' in general since it seems to be the overall more used term in the game, and I tend to think mind flayers don't really have a concept of gender as such, regardless of the creature they were transformed from.)

"Maybe it's true," Wyll goes on. "Maybe Stelmane allied with a mind flayer and subjected the city to their political will. Or maybe he made her an offer he couldn't refuse."

Rakha relaxes just a little. That maybe is reassuring. There are still uncertainties in the situation; even Wyll doesn't know for sure what the right path is. But the conversation still sits like a lead weight in her stomach, one of her already unsteady footholds giving out a little from underneath her.

-----

She can't go to sleep after Orin's visit, not immediately; the adrenaline is still pumping in every vein. So she and Wyll end up sitting at the fire quietly for a long time. It's been a few days since they did; in the wake of the business with Gortash, Jaheira has encouraged both of them to take time to settle their own thoughts. And she was probably right - but still Rakha feels some tension ease inside her, being able to be close to him again.

"I'm sorry," she says abruptly, staring down at his hand on hers with sudden intense focus. "About your father. I didn't say anything. Before, I mean. There's been... so much."

He squeezes her hand gently. "There has. I... don't know that I've given you everything you needed either. This... this business with your father, with Gortash..." He swallows. "I don't know how to give you the peace you need. I know that's why you went to the Emperor in the first place..."

She shakes her head. It's such a broken thing, the love between them - strained to the breaking point by everything tearing at them from all sides. And yet she still feels safer with his hand on her than she ever does without it.

"What could you do?" she mutters. "I am what I am. Just... don't... don't let me go. Please."

He tips his head questioningly, then brushes her lips to hers, leans in closer when she nods into the kiss. "I won't. I'm here. I promise..."

[twistedtummies2]

The Price May Be Right - Number 4

Welcome to “The Price May Be Right!” I’ve been counting down My Top 31 Favorite Vincent Price Performances & Appearances! The countdown will cover movies, TV productions, and many more forms of media. We’re getting closer to the end now… Today we focus on Number 4: Prince Prospero, from Masque of the Red Death.

Alongside “Comedy of Terrors,” this is quite possibly my favorite Vincent Price movie of all time. It is, without any doubt, my favorite entry in the Corman-Poe Cycle of features from AIP. Combining elements of the titular story with another tale from Poe, “Hop-Frog” (here referred to as “Hop-Toad,” presumably so the character doesn’t sound like a children’s game), “Masque of the Red Death” is easily the most thought-provoking and philosophical of all the Poe movies. It’s a film that seems less interested in outright scaring you, and more interested in posing a lot of interesting and unnerving questions. It’s a film about faith, corruption, mortality, ethics, and karmic justice, and the way it presents its different themes and ideas is still just as interesting today as it was back when it was made. In fact, in some ways, I would argue this movie is stronger than it ever was before. Released in 1964 – the year after “Comedy of Terrors” – the story focuses on Price’s character, Prince Prospero. The Prince is the cruel and sadistic ruler of some unknown province in Italy, and the leader of a Satanic cult. When a plague known as the Red Death – which makes people sweat blood till they die from exsanguination – strikes his kingdom, Prospero summons all the members of his cult to his palace, and locks them all away inside his castle to try and escape the plague. Also involved is a young lady named Francesca, whom Prospero kidnaps after her father and fiancé each try to stand up to him. Prospero has all three brought to his castle, to try and devise some unusual punishment for the two men, all while he tries to teach Francesca the truth of the world, as he sees it. Prospero is a truly fascinating villain. In some ways, he is one of the most evil characters Price ever played: he is callous to the core, willing to stab virtually anyone in the back and showing neither pity nor remorse for any of the evil acts he commits. When people who think themselves his friends die either directly or indirectly due to his actions, he shows no recognition of the relationship they used to share. But at the same time, there is a deeper philosophy at work with him: Prospero’s belief is that people are inherently wicked, and that the world is a cruel place of injustice and despair. He believes that God is dead, and that Satan already rules the universe. So, he behaves in a manner he believes would please Satan, just the way any Christian tries to behave in a manner they believe would please God. There are glimmers of something less than totally evil inside Prospero, however. He seems to value true innocence, in a backwards sort of way, and shows respect for anyone who can match the fervor of his own horrible faith. His relationship with Francesca is truly intriguing: it’s a sort of twisted and warped take on “Beauty and the Beast,” as Prospero admires Francesca’s faith and purity. And it is true admiration: when one of his allies suggests he enjoys corrupting her, Prospero replies, “Not corrupting…instructing.” At the same time, while Francesca is frightened of Prospero and appalled by his actions, she does come to have a sense of understanding towards him and his cynical outlook on the world. She is the closest thing to love Prospero has ever felt, and he is someone she realizes is more than just a monster. Prospero also shows other signs of right thinking: he refuses to harm children, and whenever he kills people who might be afflicted with the red death, he seems to consider it a mercy. In my opinion, Prospero is one of the greatest movie villains of all time; an underappreciated cinematic titan of tyranny that really deserves more credit. And it’s just as much a testament to Price as an actor, as well as the writing and direction, that he is such a uniquely depraved and yet intriguing character. Vincent plays the character absolutely pitch perfect, rarely hamming anything up too much (I say “rarely” because…well…it’s Vincent Price), and giving Prospero an elegance and calculating intellectuality that belies his more sinister qualities. He balances the character’s vulnerabilities and cruel heartlessness splendidly, so that we do come to empathize with Prospero, despite his unholy and horrid ways. When this villain meets his defeat, it is satisfying, yet also saddening. That is a sign you have created a truly magnificent evildoer. Tomorrow, the countdown enters the Top 3!

[kitsunesfandomtime]

Treasure Vault - CH 4

Characters: All for One, Yoichi Shigaraki, Second One for All User

Relationship: All for One & Yoichi Shigaraki, All for One & Second One for All User

Warning: Platonic Yandere, EXTRA Disturbing behavior, Vault time, Force Feeding, self-imposed starvation, AFO being surprisingly nice with kids

Summary: All for One has had enough of his little brother's rebellious nature. He can't afford to risk his little brother's life by letting him continue this. If he has to commit cruelties to keep his brother safe, then so be it. What's one more sin on the pile?

It has been months since Hisashi entrapped his little brother in that vault that had never been intended for this. Each day grew longer as it felt like the ghost of his victims lingered longer than it should. Wondering if the guilt of everything was truly driving him mad and now had tried to do some 'negotiations' with the Vigilantes.

They were becoming an annoyance and while had been tempted to just get rid of him felt as if could win them over. Maybe he can use that as leverage to show Yoichi he isn't just a monster and has got some heroes on his side. Well, that was the intention but it was clear upon first meeting the leader was... Well, they certainly had quite a look.

Those red eyes and rugged looks would be quite charming if it wasn't clearly looking like he wanted to shoot him with his quirk. Likely only held back because is still startled at the sudden peace treaty. The very same man who laughed and cheered after slaughtering men was also trying to reach out to the ones who hated crossfire.

"You must have lost your mind considering you haven't exactly been 'kind' toward my group," the leader, uh was it Kenji? Kaiji? Some other third thing? Ugh, he's terrible at names well he will just call him Gearshift since it's his quirk.

"But you still accepted the offer to talk," Hisashi points out with a smile as knows it means the other is hoping for some kind of avenue. As even the leader must know when it comes to a one-on-one confrontation with All for One it was a death wish. Though he didn't respond to that seeming to be waiting for him to offer, such a quiet man.

"You must be really popular with the ladies," Hisashi notes with a sigh as he shakes his head. Holding his wine glass that had been poured the other wasn't touching his offered drink. As if expecting him to poison him, "I didn't poison it. Trust me if I want you dead you wouldn't be standing."

The man's eyes narrow as if to say he didn't believe him as he moves the drink farther from him, "I rather not drink during negotiation."

Negotiations are going to be quite difficult. He could at least make an attempt to try and smooth things over.

"Fine, more for me then," he answers with a shrug. Knowing the man likely thought of him as childish as if the bastard had any right to judge him.

"What do I have to give for you guys to ally with us and help us dismantle the government?" He might as well cut to the chase. Watching the man's lips turn into a sneer guessing didn't like how he went for the point.

"When you stop so casually getting people hurt in the crossfire and gloating how great you are," Was all Gearshift answered as stared intently at him with pure contempt.

This cheeky bastard. A part of Hisashi wonders if Yoichi would even actually like the man or would only like what he represents. He grits his teeth just a hint but it turns into a smile as he looks at the man. It was unbecoming to get upset over such things he knew this going in the other already had a negative impression of him.

"You do realize I'm in a war against the government itself right? Most fault is in them they don't even acknowledge me," he points out as he leans back in his seat. "I've had 'civilians' be contracted to try, capture, harm and poison me. I'm just trying to survive and most of the people I take in are metahumans or former ones who been hurt. I'm not the villain you think I am and you can ask anyone working for me."

Gearshift certainly seemed quite a stubborn man but even he should at least see he isn't all evil. Slowly All for One leans on the table as he stands up allowing the other to see his full height as he looks him down with a coy smile.

"So tell me, what will it take?" He purrs at the other as he holds out a hand toward the other. That is until the other let out a loud laugh making him recoil in confusion because what was so funny?

"You seriously believe that you can just buy me? That I sell my soul to you just because in your delusions you believe you're in the right? That the amount of people you've murdered in your quest is justified?" Gearshift looked amused as if wanting Hisashi to admit it. "I may not like the government but if you end up in charge I already know there will be no future for Japan."

There is a pause as the great symbol of evil slowly registers that the other truly believed that. This man would prefer a government that is in martial law, abusing its power, while being too slow to do anything. Worst there was no fear in this man's eyes simply staring him down despite likely being aware of what he could do. This insignificant man was acting as if was some how equal to him in threat despite the fact at this moment All for One could easily kill him and he be helpless.

Seems like this meeting was pointless. A pity.

A heavy sigh escapes him as he slides back into his seat more than able to tell that since the start the man wasn't here to negotiate. He was here as a courtesy and to make it clear where he stands. Hisashi tilts his head just a bit as he stares intently at the man who seemed to think the conversation was over. Slowly getting to his feet there was one more thing that needed to be said.

"You're a killer too," Hisashi speaks calmly watching the man tense up. "You've murdered my men and stolen from the government. Play pretend all you want that you're some hero and I won't do anything now. This is neutral grounds, but next time you get in my way..."

His malice, his hatred as he grits his teeth at the hypocrisy of this man acting as if he was something above the rabble. This hero was a man carrying out his own sense of justice no different than his own. His hands were not clean and he won't let him leave thinking he is, "There won't be any mercy."

It was a promise.

"You never show it to anyone. So I expected nothing less," was Gearshift's own response. Though as he got up he suddenly got really close to All for One's seat moving in close to stare him down. "And you don't scare me."

His last words before he leaves.

All for One and the 'Vigilantes' failed to make an alliance. But he knows next time he will make sure to wipe them out now that he knows who they are. With a leader like him they can grow into a challenge, he needs to be careful.

As he downs the rest of his drinks knowing he could have done better. He knows what people want and yet he couldn't bring himself to do it. Something about him, those eyes that looked down at him despite their differences created a visceral response. That made him want to forgo using a quirk and grab his hand around that man's throat to wipe that look off his face.

He is much too emotional for the role he wants to become.

"And I still have to visit Yoichi," he mutters as he gets up guessing there was no point in avoiding it.

---------

His little brother has been suffering hallucinations and delusions since being trapped. Claiming things that Hisashi knows for a fact did not happen like hurting him and constantly insulting him.

Yes, he has called him some names but Yoichi acts as if he would spend every visit just beating him down verbally and bruising him. Even Hisashi can't tolerate being that terrible his little brother is already trapped, why would he do that?

It seems like a waste of energy so can only assume Yoichi is hallucinating such things. Was it concerning? Quite a bit so a part of him is wondering if he should take him to a doctor. Since it made his brother even more hostile than normal toward him randomly and bruises have started appearing on his brother likely self-inflicted.

Still, he doesn't stop his usual routine of making his baby brother's food by hand. Bringing in more food knowing it would be wasted and having to force-feed him it was his attempt at showing he still cares. That he will even accept even a pleasant lie-

Only to have to sidestep a tray being flung at him as if Yoichi had spent all day just waiting for him to arrive.

"Have you really resorted to throwing food?" Hisashi speaks almost exasperated at the other's action.

"Just let me go dammit!" Yoichi shouted before covering his own ears as if to ignore anything he wanted to say. Those green eyes were now shut as looks away despite the assault as he was curled on the bed. At least he was using the bed instead of being on the floor and here he thought he slept on the floor.

"Stop that. You go and then what?" Hisashi sneers hating every time the other talks about leaving. He places the food on the table as he watches his little brother curl up into a ball on the bed. Knowing for a fact the other doesn't actually want him gone at this point his resistance is nothing but a show.

A way to make himself feel like he was still following his own moral code and not throwing way too long of a tantrum. Hisashi watches his little brother not move and takes that as a sign to approach. Even though he recoiled when he felt the bed shift Hisashi makes sure to move an arm over his other side.

Trapping him beneath as he stares down at the young man who kept his eyes shut and a small hum escaped him. This is the closest he has gotten in a while that didn't earn a violent reaction. Slowly he leans down and presses a kiss against his little brother's head hearing a sharp breath from the other.

"Shhh I'm not going to hurt you. You know that," he whispers as the male seemed so exhausted and weak. Though Hisashi can't help but feel pleased when the other doesn't lash out like he usually did. It was a triumph, or well it would be before he heard a growl and then felt teeth dig into the arm he just put over the other.

Hisashi winces but guessed he should have expected it as his little brother has been becoming more animalistic in this place. Though he doesn't remove his arm as he feels those teeth dig in as at this point his brother was pitiable.

"You've become just an animal," he sighs it no longer hurts him as much that his brother hates him now. Though as he stares at his little brother memories of how they would hide in bed together return to his mind. Their fights that used to be playful were now violent as he could feel his brother's teeth pierce his skin.

Able to see those green eyes staring at him as if daring him to insult him or aggravate the situation. Unheroic and an absolute mess but he was still his adorable baby brother despite all that.

"Have you gained a taste for human flesh? You can have a piece of myself inside you forever," Hisashi teased knowing before he reacted a bit more violently but he wasn't showing it. Though seem his words worked as Yoichi seemed to realize what he was going on and released the bite trying to move away from underneath as he wiped his mouth of the blood. Snapping out of whatever he was in.

"You're disgusting," Yoichi mutters. Whether it was because he teased wanting a piece of him literally or was trying to imply it actually tasted bad he isn't sure. He hopes it's the former he hates to actually learn he tastes like shit this way.

"I'm disgusting? Have you looked at yourself? You literally bit me," Hisashi taunts as he sits upright with amusement as this was the closest they had returned to their old selves. With his brother acting annoyed and grumpy as hell about whatever Hisashi did.

Yoichi looked ready to retort only for the male to seem to realize he was giving him what he wanted. Shutting up instantly and stopping all conversations, is a pity.

"I had a meeting with the Vigilantes," Hisashi notes casually watching those eyes look a bit surprised. Was it really such a surprise to hear that he opened his hands to some small little militia?

"I decided to try for a 'treaty' but it seems they already have me as the bad guy in their mind. Next time will be a blood bath," he informed and of course, Yoichi's expression changed back to annoyance. Clearly not pleased at being informed of this likely thinking they must be right. As if ready to start another argument.

"Do you wish me dead as well Yoichi?" Hisashi questions casually watching his brother look gobsmacked. Whatever statement his brother had cooked up in his mind suddenly screeched to a halt. How adorable.

"Stop asking me that," Yoichi mutters as clenches at the bed sheets. "That is NOT related to anything we are talking about! Stop trying to act like some victim!"

Ha! A victim? He's many things but he knows more than anyone he is no one's victim maybe in his youth but he has since gone past that.

"Oh you misunderstand Yoichi," he purrs as he reaches out and grabs his little brother's face with his injured arm. Earning a hiss as he forces the younger male's head to look up at him to make it clear to look at him. To stop turning his head away and running from him and truly face him.

"I just want to know how far gone your mind has went. Heroes aren't supposed to be murderers you know but everyone has killed. No one hands are clean," he speaks with clarity as his free hand tucks some of his hair back behind his ear. Before he taps the others heads almost mockingly, "Now tell me... How would you have helped people? I'm curious if you ever had any ideas or you were just content in telling me I'm wrong, hero?"

He couldn't help but mock the young man as can still recall the others attempting to help with no ideas or anything. Yet more than content to snap or call him out on doing what he thinks is best all by himself. The very man who has been trying to take care of Yoichi despite everything.

"I-" Yoichi seemed to be trying to think of an answer. Something that likely would somehow convince Hisashi he was wrong. But maybe because of the state he was in nothing seemed to come out as frustration showed in his brother's eyes. But Hisashi wasn't at all done with this conversation.

Does he think he can allow him to wiggle out of this suddenly acting docile now when they are having such a pleasant 'chat'?

"Answer me," he sneers as he tightens his grip on his brother's faces watching him wince in pain. Here he was giving him a chance to show him the errors of his ways to actually tell him why he was wrong. "What would you do if men you thought you could trust betray you? If the government wished you dead or rather to turn you into some helpless experiment? You aren't an idiot, you've seen how people treated us so tell me YOUR big idea? Or... Would you have rather been some pathetic bystander?"

Yoichi's mouth still held his blood and seemed to have difficulties speaking despite his attempts. So Hisashi decided to grant him mercy as he released his face shoving him back against the bedpost.

"Would you kill me to be a hero?" His voice was low as he stared at his brother's eyes as if waiting for him to say it. To say that after everything that had happened, he would throw his brother to the wolves. Or if really had some ideas it be nice to have some honesty for once.

"Stop it. I don't want you dead dammit," Yoichi whispers... Hisashi did not expect him to still hold onto that belief. Looking almost stunned as didn't detect any lie despite everything that had been done. His brother... Truly was an enigma.

He isn't even sure if it's Stockholm or weirdly genuine. The way his brother had tears in his eyes was puzzling after everything he had done yet had strength in those words. To make it clear that he didn't wish his big brother dead despite how much of a monster he was.

"How can you think that and yet not join me. You make no sense," he sighs wondering if isolation has truly messed up his brother's mind he definitely needs to talk to the doctor. Moving his hands into his coat to take out the bag of food. Watching his little brother's eyes dilate with fear at the sight.

"I wonder how long before that changes," Hisashi speaks as he pins his little brother down as he smiles down at his little brother. Coming to enjoy making sure his little brother eats and stays alive, "It is time to eat, my hero."

He speaks mockingly as he continues this cycle and the guilt he has is slowly disappearing. It was all he could do to keep his little brother alive able to see his brother's will is weakening.

Soon they will be a family again.

[side-shuffling-hyperfixations]

Petermj Fic but Peter has become a spider mutant (eyes,fangs,arms,poison,organic webs and lots of fur).He transformed into that creature and committed a slaughter to protect mj,he’s terrified but Mj tries to calm him.Need angst and comfort

Never Meet Your Monsters

Summary: Spider-Man doesn't kill. Spider-Man shows mercy. Spider-Man has a moral code. Of course, that code only really applies when he's of sound body and mind.

Spider-Man doesn’t kill. Spider-Man is better than that. He sticks to his code. He does what he believes is fair and right.

Spider-Man shows mercy because he knows his enemies—and even some of his allies—wouldn’t if they were in his shoes. That’s what sets him apart.

Seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly. Spider-Man doesn’t kill.

Correction: Spider-Man wasn’t supposed to kill and yet here he was, wide eyes (all of his eyes, foreign new growths that had peeled open on his face to shift his field of vision, he had to resist the urge to claw at them) staring down at the blood dripping from his hands.

Were these even his real hands anymore? Microtremors trailed relentlessly down his fingers; millions of new, sensitive hairs rippled and swarmed with every miniscule shift and shudder. The air was frigid, the blood wet and warm, conflicting sensations—it was even worse than the initial activation of his spider senses. In his base state everything was dialed up to eleven. Now it felt like a twenty; everything was buzzing around him, crowding for his attention. He couldn’t think over the noise, he couldn’t breathe, every gasp poisoned his air with the iron stench clinging to him.

He killed them. He killed them. He had pulled muscle and bone apart like it was tissue paper and in the moment there wasn’t even a second thought. No rationale, no reason, no hesitation, nothing but adrenaline and anger, animalistic. What had he done? What was he becoming? This was it, the end of him, he was a monster, he was going truly feral, he was losing his mind—

“Peter?”

MJ. The only voice that mattered, the only voice that could pierce the noise and pull him free of the spiraling depths of his pain when it did its damnedest to push him over the edge. All of his eyes tunneled on her, magnifying every detail. Her beautiful curls were greasy, matted and tangled where her attackers’ filthy fingers had twisted in to the scalp. The seam of her blouse had been torn open at the shoulder, exposing freckled flesh that he had nuzzled and kissed in private so many times before, the flex of her knees locking to keep her legs steady underneath her.

He had torn them apart for her, for the single-minded purpose of making sure they would never lay a hand on what he loved again. Had to do what I had to do. But underneath the smeared makeup and forming bruises, she was still pale, tear-streaked. She was still frightened and the only thing left alive to terrify her was him.  

“S-Stay away!” he choked out, raspy and chittering, crimson smearing the asphalt as he pushed to widen the distance between them. “Get back, stay away from me! It’s not s-safe, I’m not—Run, g-get out of here!”

“What? No, no, I’m not gonna leave you like this, Pete!” How did she even recognize him? How did she defy all logic by stepping closer? “Please, just—just tell me what this is, tell me what’s happening to you!”

“I don’t know!” Muscles in his jaw spasmed viciously with his cry, a bitter, foreign substance spewing out to spatter at her feet. She yelped, recoiling in disbelief as the ground sizzled on contact, and Peter jammed a bristly hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Did you just spit venom?!”

“I didn’t want to do that, I didn’t mean to—! Please, just go!” All of his newborn, tender eyes were burning as they welled up. “I-I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Okay! Okay.” For a moment he thought that meant she was actually going to listen to him for once and make a run for it—which made it all the worse when she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears, bolstered herself and took another baby step forward. “We’re gonna figure this out, alright, and we’re gonna do it together.”

“No, no, no, no, please, you can’t stay here! What if I—?!” A ragged sob shuddered through him, another spurt of venom bubbling free. “I killed them all! I don’t know what this is, I don’t know how to control it!”

“I want to help you!” she implored. “You wouldn’t leave me if I was in your shoes, would you? You can’t do this on your own and I’m not gonna let you push me away. I know you’re scared…I-I’m scared too but panicking is only going to make it worse. Let’s…Let’s focus on a deep breath right now.”

“MJ…”

“We’re okay, sweetheart! Right now, right this second, we’re okay.” She slid a couple more steps toward him, earning a strangled whimper. “You haven’t hurt me.” Another few feet, her stride a little longer now. “I trust you, I know that you wouldn’t. Trust me now, okay? Just try to breathe. In…and out. Slowly.”

No matter how he tried, the swell of his lungs didn’t stop the dizzy swimming of his head or his vision as MJ loomed alarmingly close, a would-be bomb technician ready and willing to diffuse him. She had to be braver than he ever could be, crouching down to take his hairy, sticky, stained hands into her own. She squeezed them, trying to reassure, and he sat paralyzed, unwilling to squeeze back for fear of breaking her.

“I’m right here,” she whispered, voice and heart breaking at the terror twisting his face. “Are you with me?”

A tiny, tremulous nod.

“Good. Good. Peter, I don’t know what we’re going to do to fix this but I love you and I’m right here and I’m safe. We both are. Or at least…we’ll figure out how to be.”

[vaovalis]

This song hurts. It reminds me too much of who I used to be, and why I became the person I became. I was born with power. More than most people that were born with powers and magic.  As I got older and it became more apparent that I was strong in ways that even the strongest we commonly knew weren’t, more and more people looked to me for help, for hope, for answers; for anything they thought I might be able to give them. I remember how angry I was back then, to see how awful life was for so many of my people. I knew how it was for me and my clan, but somehow, seeing that it was just as bad or even worse everywhere else...put a rage in me that burned like nothing I’d ever felt before. That kind of indignation, that outrage, that utter inability to accept it; I wanted to be the person so many wound up hoping I would be.   I never could figure out how to heal others. I tried so hard to learn how to turn this magic of mine to such ends. I never could though. I still can’t.  What I could do was destroy. I could lay waste to the cruel, the wicked and the monstrous.  I could set the toxic rain on fire over their lands and over their havens, and I could turn the very air they breathed into fire itself.   I couldn’t make life better, but I could bring horror and death to those that made it be so much worse than it ever had to be. And I did.  I see in this world that taking someone else’s life is a serious crime, and it seems like such a nice idea to me.  Nice, but does it work? Can it ever hope to in the face of those truly committed to their own egos, vanities and greed? My world was ruined by those that probably should have been incinerated at birth rather than to ever have been permitted to become the monsters they became. In the ashes and desolation of the world thusly broken, many of we that survived did no differently or better.  It was not enough for the Exalted or their Autarchs that they should have much; they just weren’t happy and just didn’t feel special enough if anyone else had anything at all. It was not sufficient for the common warlord that they have enough; their egos and their vanities demanded that others have too little, or it just didn’t feel to them like it was good enough. I burned them all.  I, my allies, my friends; I became the leader they wished would take charge. I became the savior they prayed for. I became the angel of vengeance they cried out for.  I tried, every way I could, to become what so many needed someone to be. I could never have done it all alone.  My powers are great, but not that great.  Were we heroes, my friends and I?  We didn’t use such words that much. Words like ‘hero’ didn’t carry a lot of water.  We were hailed as saviors and liberators, and a whole generation of children were overly often named after us, but heroes? I think we were. This world’s standards would not have called us that I think, but back home, it was not regarded as unreasonable to slay your enemies.  Death was a much more common, plainly visible reality than it at all seems to be here. It looks so far like people here hide from death to an extraordinary and extreme degree.  I can’t lie; much as I don’t thinking going around killing people is a great way to solve all the problems, these people here on this world seem incapable of stomaching the executions of even their most outrageously heinous criminals. I don’t think they’re going to like me much. I’m going to have to be cautious and careful if I ever get involved in dealing with The Problems, because I know of no particular way to make my Fire do anything but obliterate an enemy. I was speaking with a man in Pocket D just recently that was talking about how hard it was for him to modify his arrows to be non-lethal, and all I could think as he was talking about this was ‘why are you using a weapon for hunting or killing to not kill?’ As the topic progressed, it became apparent that the so-named Heroes of the world often have deadly powers that they try to mitigate and use minimally so they don’t kill those they’re trying to subdue. Seems like a stupid game to me. I won’t be playing it.  I don’t want to get in trouble with the authorities of this world, but its starting to become apparent that these people have got a massively odd problem with solving problems instead of weirdly perpetuating and encouraging them to remain problems. It is to my understanding that a great many of those that they incarcerate for killing, maiming and destroying wind up in prolonged detention centers called ‘Prisons’, where they mostly just sit there on time-out for years and maybe decades or even the rest of their whole lifetimes. Sorry folks. That seems insane to me. If they were awful enough to lock them up indefinitely, you’ve clearly decided that there is no correcting their attitudes, so you might as well just kill them and actually solve the problem. Is it because resources are so seemingly limitless here, I wonder?  They seem to have little value for clean water and their massive abundances of food, so maybe they don’t even think a contrary thought about wasting such resources on someone they never intend on setting free because they’re too dangerous and will never be otherwise. We didn’t waste resources like that back home.  Our prisons were meant for confining someone while we decided what to do with them if such deliberations were in order; they were not an end unto themselves.  Nobody sat in a prison for years back home. Here, it is quite clear even at a glance that the ways common to my world and my empire would be thought of as shocking, brutal and terrible.   Seeing what I’ve seen so far of how this world’s methods of solving the problems of intolerable bastards is working out for them, I gotta say that it isn’t working out for them at all.  Looks like a complete and absolute failure, to be perfectly plain. They better get comfortable real quick with killing the problems that won’t be reasoned with and that can’t be otherwise redirected, or this world is gonna wind up like mine was sooner than later.  They let some truly awful people run rampant like they’re somehow helpless to stop them, and it looks like the problem is that they set forth some extraordinarily naive laws and now they, for some reason, think they can’t just invent some new and better laws or something. I don’t get it. To be fair, I probably don’t see enough of the issue to be judging much just yet, but what I do know is that I recognize an Autarch when I see one, and that Recluse guy?  Totally indistinguishable from the Autarchs I and mine overthrew and slaughtered. They’ve got others they call ‘Super Villains’ that are right up there with Autarchs and warlords galore as well.  Frankly, even some of their ‘Heroes’ look like they could use a serious attitude adjustment for what I’ve been seeing on this television device. I got the solution to what appears to be ninety nine of your hundred problems, folks.  Kill them. Then kill the ones that try to fill their shoes. Kill them so hard and so violently that the example made of them makes it clear to the next three generations that if they want to be like this person, this is how that story ends. With one hand, reward the ones you approve of. Be the person you want them to be like, then reward the ones that get along well.  Openly praise them, openly admire them; celebrate them.  Don’t make it about yourself, but about them - let them have their day in the sun, so that all may see that if they do like this person, they too can hope to be thusly celebrated and held in high regard as well. With the other hand, rip the throats out of those that are perpetually sad and mad that they don’t get to be petty warlords and slavemongers and purveyors of abject poverty anymore.  Make it horrifying, so that even the stupid can’t not know and will never forget that those with the itch to go warlording and slavemongering and greedmongering will never so much as whisper their desires on the same side of the planet you’re standing on. Worked for me for many decades.  I didn’t wind up in the situation of being betrayed and banished to this world because it wasn’t working.  If anything, it was working too well and my supposed allies and apparently-shitty friends seem to have decided that they didn’t need me anymore and I was no longer necessary to keep things together and make the hard decisions.  I don’t doubt for a second that I could have been a better queen and empress. I did a lot of shit that wasn’t smart, a lot of shit because I was angry about the wrong things and a lot of shit that I thought was a good idea or necessary at the time that, in retrospective analysis, wasn’t.  It’s all to say that I labor under no delusion that I was perfect. I have the notion, however, that my dear old friends and my once-allies are going to regret casting me aside sooner than later though. Who is going to keep them on task now?  Who is going to stop them from immediately descending into factions and war for dominance between them? Did they forget that I knew them every bit as well as they knew me too?  Not a single one of them is going to agree that any of the others should take my place; they’d tear their kingdoms and holdings out of the empire river and bed before they agree that one of them should now stand above the others. Some outsider? I have an even more difficult time seeing them accept someone that didn’t fight for all we fought for and earn it being placed under that crown. I don’t see that happening...ever.  They’d stop their bickering happy as you please to, as one, murder anyone that tried I think.   Not much else that I know of is so likely to suddenly make them all remember they used to be friends of a sort. Still, I’m not entirely clear on why they got rid of me.  They all said their piece before they finished the ritual, and there wasn’t much I could do but hear it after they’d spiked me to the floor and kept me bled to near death. They knew better than to kill me. I don’t die right. I die, I blow up and then I’m all better and I’ll fuck your life up.  They knew. They knew better than anyone that the worst thing they could do was try to kill me or contain me in the usual ways. They also knew that they didn’t need to pin me down for too long; just long enough.  And while they had me near death and speared to the floor, they each told me why this was necessary and why it had to be this way. Argulis said that I had become the sun that would not set.  He’d been arguing for years that I should step down and let another basically have a turn at ruling, and by another he, of course, meant himself.   He always coveted the notion of being the final word and the deciding vote, and he never agreed with my preferences for leaving people alone.  

He wanted the Empire to be bigger, more structured; more like the governments I’m seeing here on this ‘Primal Earth’, I think.   I wasn’t for it.  None of the others were overly thrilled with his ideas either.  But, that’s what he told me; that I had become the sun that would not set, and while he regretted that it had come to this, there was no other way to ensure that the future would not be defined by my voice and my will alone. I would have considered it, and likely have done so if someone that wasn’t him or any of the others in our circle were to succeed me.  Nobody else ever thought to ask, and I didn’t go looking for successors.  Argulis’ urging never sat well with me for how obvious it was that he meant himself to be my replacement.  I never considered it even slightly. Theria...her betrayal hurts more than any of the others.  I thought we were as sisters. I thought we were closer than blood.  For years; for decades; it was so.  And there in that place they lured me to, with her spear through my chest alongside all the rest, she told me that she hated doing this, but that the others were right - I was getting too powerful. That all she saw when she looked at me anymore was an Autarch that hadn’t gone to madness and cruelty yet.  That she couldn’t take the risk of finding out if she was wrong, because if she was right, I would be unstoppable; unkillable, barely containable, capable of destruction greater than anyone had any right to.    I never knew she was so afraid of me. Wary of the damage I could cause sometimes; startled by it, at least. But I never knew she was so afraid of me. I never meant for her to be.   And then there was Kalabasus.  Kalab’s betrayal was as coldly rational as everything else he ever did was.  I was too powerful.  They had to stop me while they could because sooner than later, even they wouldn’t be able to, and though I had done nothing to merit such punishment, the risk was too great to allow for. I’m not surprised by his betrayal at least. Kalabasus’ addiction to his cold, unfeeling logic wouldn’t have seen it as betrayal at all; just taking the appropriate action to address something he’d come to see as an otherwise unsolvable problem. Marys’ betrayal is also broadly unsurprising. Disappointing to say the least, but unsurprising.  She always hated and envied how I never had to work and struggle to hone and coax such power as I command from my magic.  She was always bitter about how hard she had to work and struggle in order to do all she did, and she never did make much of a secret of that she felt that those like me, born with outrageously incredible powers, were as unto the cosmos personally mocking her in some way. We were friends of a sort because I tried very hard to at least be sociably civil with her, and I had thought, for many years, that we’d arrived at as good place between us as could be hoped for.  Clearly, she was just waiting for a chance to ‘put me in my place’ and ‘show me what it felt like to be small for once’.   I must have been quite the object of her silently kept self-addressed torments. I never did anything to try to make her feel inadequate or small, but, I guess the only crime I needed to commit as far as she was concerned was to exist and for her to have to be aware of it. Thelander’s betrayal, I still can’t understand even given what he said of it.  He was always so erudite and eager to be helpful with knowledge and researching things and helping to think things through.  His powers as a Sage were something I always greatly admired, and I told him so any number of times over the many years we endeavored together. And yet, he was the one overseeing the working of the ritual of my banishment, saying that he hoped I could understand that what the world needed most was something it could never have so long as I was in it.   I don’t know what that riddle means. Knowing Thelander, it was meant to mean something profound and what he would deem to be very important, but he didn’t explain it, and I was a little too stabbed to the floor and bled mostly to death to really invest myself with inquiries.

What will those morons do, now that I am gone? What big plan do they suppose themselves to have? Do they even have a big plan, or did they only get as far as agreeing that I needed to go for all their various reasons? I honestly wish I could figure out if I did anything other than be too powerful and too scary and not getting old and dying off enough for them to tolerate anymore? Could it really be so stupid as that I did not age while they did, and could it perhaps be that they couldn’t abide the thought of that I would remain when they were all dead?  Did they truly fear for what I would do to the world when time killed them but never did me? Can’t know now. All I can do is wonder about it, and listen to songs like this, and remember the girl I used to be that tried so hard to be what everyone wanted and needed.   I really did try.  I’m sure I wasn’t that great at most of it, but I tried.

[burnnouts]

Robb nodded. "I will see to it." It was as reasonable and just a demand as any: for her kin to be returned, for the departed that all this strife had created, would at last be put to rest. They might worship different gods and have different customs in the North, but on this they could agree. From what he had heard, her brother had strung up his enemies on the castle walls, placed Robb's father, Eddard Stark, on a spike, and made Sansa look upon it. The very thought made Robb's blood boil, but he would not return the favor in kind. Even his enemies deserved to rest in peace. The fact remained that the boys' murder had been an atrocity from all sides; Robb might not have swung the sword himself, but it was his men who had committed the crime, and so their blood was on his hands. He had executed the men who'd murdered them, and had lost much of his army for it, but still, the thought of those kills haunted him just as much as any battle.

Robb had made a decision that day, drawn clear in the earth the line upon which his kingdom would rest. It was a line he believed his father would have been proud of, one that promised their kingdom would be built upon a foundation of justice. But it had not been a popular decision to kill Lord Karstark. The Lannister boys were his enemies, and yet he had killed his dead friends' father for their sakes. But he could not excuse the murder of innocent children, no matter who made the kill.

"Then I believe we are in agreement." If they left this room as uneasy allies, if they allowed the other to live, they would have two separate kingdoms--and for just how long would be be allowed to rule his? His lords had made him king, and they could unmake him as easily. But if he was going to be king, he had to act like one, to make the difficult choices, the honorable choices--no matter the costs. There was no justice in killing either of the remaining Lannister children, simply because their brother had been a monster. If all men were held responsible for the actions of every relative, they would all hang.

"My armies will remain in King's Landing until Cersei Lannister is executed, and you are formally declared Queen. Then we will go." He may not be serving under her rule, but he had not come this far to leave with the Iron Throne empty. "Gods be good, we need not ever cross paths again." It was a shame, really--in another life, perhaps they would not have ended up on opposite sides of a war. Perhaps in another life, they could have had a bond like their fathers shared or just been two young kids dancing together at a ball.

It   is   reasonable.   No   further   demands   other   than   just   his   people   ,and   what   he   gained   in   battle.   It   would   be   hypocritical   of   her   to   deny   him   such   a   thing,   when   her   father   won   the   Throne   during   a   Rebellion.   "Very   well.   Your   people   will   return   north   then.   My   uncle   would   wish   the   remains   of   his   children   returned   to   him   as   well."   Two   little   boys,   children,   innocent   in   this   war,   being   killed   and   murdered   by   a   grown   man.   Would   had   he   wrapped   his   hands   around   her   neck   and   murder   her   too?   Perhaps   force   her   to   wed   to   torture   her   mother   with   the   idea   she   was   a   northern   girl   then.   All   of   that   doesn't   matter,   she   thinks,   as   she   looks   at   the   direwolf   by   his   side.   Emerald   eyes   looked   at   the   King   and   then   back   toward   the   table,   the   question   hanging   on   the   air.  

"Your   father   had   been   kind   to   me,   when   I   was   in   King's   Landing.   He   was   nice   when   we   were   in   Winterfell.   What   my   brother   did,   what   my   mother   allowed   him   to   do   to   him,   and   your   sister,   and   further,   all   of   those   I   heard   from   far   away.   I   was   send   to   Dorne   shortly   after."   But   she   has   no   Dornish   prince   anymore   unless   Quentyn   Martell   returns   brideless   from   Essos,   without   the   dragon   queen   and   Doran   tells   her   to   marry   him,   or   perhaps   a   distant   cousin.   "My   mother   never   once   wrote   to   me   while   I   was   there.   Sending   only   excuses   to   delay   my   marriage   to   Trystanne.   Eventually,   Trystanne   died,   and   I   have   all   reasons   to   believe   she   is   at   fault.   The   last   time   I   saw   my   mother   was   years   ago.   And   I   was   never   a   favorite."   That   was   Joffrey,   who   would   do   no   wrong.   Joffrey,   who   would   hurt   animals   and   servants   and   girls   as   he   saw   please.  

"And   Tommen   is   but   a   boy.   The   crown   he   sees   as   nothing   but   a   game,   he   seeks   counsel   from   mother,   and   his   wife,   both   who   I   believe   have   their   own   agendas."   Margaery   Tyrell   might   not   be   evil   as   her   mother,   but   she   does   have   some   control   over   her   brother,   who   is   crushing   on   her.   "The   moment   my   mother   learned   I   had   bled   she   send   me   moontea,   thinking   I   was   in   Dorne,   following   Dornish   ways."   Her   voice   is   hurt   by   that   alone.   That   her   mother   thought   she   had   become   Dornish   to   the   point   of   allowing   herself   to   take   lovers   before   even   wed.   "Justice   is   justice.   Regardless   of   blood."         

[hopeswriting]

ahh, your view on mukuro is so on point. i am super biased but i always felt that my precious psycho is very highly misunderstood. yes, he can be cruel and see the world in black and white, but it is not his choice, not like he was able to create his own opinion on mafia, family bonds or the world in general. he was created to be a monster by people who only viewed him as a potential weapon, and it is quite unfortunate that manga ended without an arc dedicated to him to allow him either a redemption or at least a better view into his real personality. the shimon arc and the arcobaleno arc helped a lot, but with the focus on so many other things mukuro's development was kind of lost. but i am so glad you do the analyzes and see him as a person with a lot of potential rather than a simple villain from the early arcs with few cameos. again, i am highly biased and will never stop thinking about him, his life and his personality. manifesting a manga only about him in the future kufufu

[either in reference to this post or this one.]

hi nonny, thank you for the ask!

you know what, personally i actually wouldn't say he's misunderstood per se. it's more like people don't care to see past the cruel boy who's willing to go to any lengths to achieve his goals, which i'd say it's actually fair too, because he is that cruel boy. unapologetically too. but i agree he's definitely more than that, and more relevantly here, like you said, he wasn't that boy once upon time and was made to become that boy. unfortunately almost everyone is all but too happy to judge him at face value without ever caring for the bigger picture.

(that said, i'd still say again it's still kind of fair of them, because like, mukuro has done some pretty damn terrible things, and to them specifically, but it doesn't make him any less of a nuanced, complex character, you know? which i think is one of the biggest appeal of his character.)

i also find it interesting how you said he sees the world in black and white. i've never thought about it before, but i have to agree with you he does. which is interesting because even if the mafia as a whole is obviously firmly and deeply in the black category, there's still people like the vongola first gen in it, like nono and all the moderate vongola bosses before him, like tsuna and dino, and like lancia and his family. lancia who looked after him and cared for him like family, and presumably was nothing but kind to him after his boss took mukuro in, and mukuro still (presumably) didn't hesitate to wipe them all out. by using lancia no less, and then he kept using him to do terrible things.

by which i mean, lancia's family taking him in could have been the start of some kind of healing process for mukuro, but of course it was never going to be enough to make up for what he went through, and at the end of the day they were still mafia too. which means they must have committed their fair share of sins too, and it's less that there are "good" mafiosi, and more like some mafiosi aren't all but too willing to use the excuse of being mafiosi to be the worst excuses of human beings on earth (see estraneo). so like, yeah he may see the world in black and white, but is he wrong seeing it that way? when it comes to the mafia at the very least? when the mafia does so much wrong on the daily for whatever "good" it might do once in a while?

and incidentally, i personally don't think mukuro was in need of a redemption arc at all tbh. i think what amano did, humanizing him by showing him to be more than the villain tsuna first faced and had to take down, giving him understanding by sharing his circumstances and making him go from villain to tentative ally that way was the right call. because mukuro's methods were wrong, for sure, which are explicitly condemned both by the characters and the narrative, but i don't think his motives were ever condemned in any way by either the characters or the narrative. because they shouldn't be.

i don't think mukuro ever needed a redemption arc or needs one by the time the manga ends, because he was never any kind of an irredeemable villain to begin with, not by a long shot. from all the khr villains, i actually think his motives are the most righteous ones actually. and like, objectively the most good ones too, you know? the mafia should be burned down to the ground, and i'd say the shame here is that we never got anywhere close to see that happen lol.

thank you, i'm glad you enjoy my analyses! 💕

[pluckyredhead]

Please Care About Aquaman With Me: The Nineties, Part 3

Welcome back to Atlantis! Last time, Garth got hot, Koryak accidentally unleashed an ancient evil, and Poseidonis resurfaced from the ocean...sort of.

With King Thesily dead, Arthur’s...just sort of de facto king again? There doesn’t seem to be any kind of formal process here but everyone’s just listening to him and hey, he does have a rightful claim to the throne via both of his parents.

His first act as Basically King is to decide that in order to make up for the atrocities his people committed against the merpeople of Tritonis, they need to...be their slaves indefinitely. This seems perhaps an extreme solution to me, given that...slavery is also an atrocity...but okay. (I mean, they’re servants, but they aren’t permitted to leave, so...semantics.)

Koryak decides that since he led the people of Poseidonis astray, he should join them in their servitude:

Awww, they’re hugging! Uncomfortably, but it’s the thought that counts!

This leaves Poseidonis pretty empty - it’s mostly just Arthur, Garth, and Dolphin. A lot of other stuff happens here - Arthur’s dolphin mom is killed by fishermen, Black Manta sells his soul to Neron and turns into a weird manta monster, Arthur temporarily goes all lizardy like Kordax and then temporarily blind and also develops webbed fingers - but I hope it’s clear by now that I care exactly zero amount about the superhero part of this comic and only about the ridiculous soapy interpersonal drama.

SPEAKING OF WHICH. During Arthur’s various transformations, he increasingly displays a dark, angry side, which Dolphin grows increasingly uncomfortable with. But hey, you know who isn’t dark and angry, but in fact is a sensitive sweetheart who is also super hot now?

YES. THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.

...Well, actually, not so much, because although Arthur has some disturbingly violent fantasies of killing them both, he just stiffly wishes them well and leaves. Garth is not thrilled, since Dolphin told him she and Arthur were broken up. (Real shitty move there, Dolphin.) But, he says, at least she and Arthur never slept together!

Yeah. Awkward.

Literally why would you assume that, Garth. Also sharing a bathing suit with Dick is way more intimate, admit it.

Meanwhile, enough time has passed that Koryak is like “Okay, we’ve done our time serving the Tritonians, time to leave.” Also, he’s enormous now:

He and Iqula are about to throw down when Garth shows up out of nowhere:

PLEASE NOTE KORYAK ACTUALLY STAMMERING WHEN GARTH SHOWS UP. Not that I ship it or anything. Cough.

Anyway, Garth convinces/threatens Iqula into letting the Poseidonians go and swims off, altruistic and just a teeeeeensy bit smug about it. Koryak and the others head home, inexplicably walking instead of swimming, and run into Debbie, who Koryak immediately develops a crush on:

Look at his dumb face. I love him so much.

Back in Poseidonis, everyone immediately starts kissing up to Arthur, leaving Koryak his usual pissy self. Vulko, who has become increasingly frustrated with Arthur’s refusal to listen to his counsel, sees an opportunity:

Having manipulated his ambitious himbo figurehead into place, Vulko continues to assemble a conspiracy, pulling in religious leader Dardan and 100% failing to pull in an oblivious Garth, who is still loyal to Arthur and unaware that Vulko is no longer the kindly ally he was in the Silver Age. Arthur makes it clear that he’s aware of Vulko’s shenanigans...

But then he just sort of...doesn’t do anything about it? I’m sure that won’t come back to bite him in the ass or anything.

Meanwhile, the city is attacked by parademons because something something crossover event, and Koryak and Garth manage to get along!

...Well, until Koryak decides to let Garth get killed, oops:

(Garth’s fine, Arthur saves him.)

This dynamic is so funny to me because when he’s not trying to get Garth killed for basically no reason, Koryak is very busy gossiping about him and telling everyone in Atlantis that Garth and Dolphin are banging now:

I cannot stop laughing about this. Again, Dardan is basically like their Archbishop. Why are you dishing about Garth and Dolphin’s relationship with him, Koryak? Get a hobby that isn’t obsessing over Garth! (No, don’t, I love it.) (Also Debbie’s in the hospital because of plot stuff, she’s fine.)

Garth, meanwhile, has decided that Poseidonis needs, like...a government...and that he’s going to run for it, mostly because he’s desperate for attention from Arthur:

HE SWOONS. I’ll come back to why in a minute, but meanwhile, what does the conspiracy think of Garth’s attempt at democracy?

Once again, Koryak thinks they should all just stab Caesar Garth. I cannot overemphasize how much this is a Koryak-specific obsession. Garth is not that influential! Koryak does not need to be thinking about him this much!

Sadly, plot stuff now intervenes. The reason Garth fainted before is because he was receiving psychic backlash from Atlan. See, Triton, who is sort of a demigod in this universe, absolutely hates Arthur, especially since Arthur has kicked his ass a couple of times. This humiliated Triton’s father Poseidon, who punished Triton for it - so Triton killed Poseidon, stole his power and his trident, and attacked Atlan, hence the psychic backlash. He then shows up in Poseidonis to fight Arthur:

Arthur taunts Triton until Triton kills him, which is...a choice, I guess. His last word is “Mera!” which genuinely makes my heart hurt. She’s too good for him but I still ship it.

Arthur finds himself in the Greek afterlife, where he tracks down Hades and demands that he let both Poseidon and Arthur return to the world of the living:

Hades agrees, and Arthur and Poseidon come back to life.

Meanwhile, Triton is having a grand old time torturing Garth and Dolphin, and lest you think Koryak is completely irredeemable, he’s willing to die to try to save them and avenge his father:

Luckily for Koryak, Arthur and Poseidon return in the nick of time:

Poseidon doesn’t let Arthur kill Triton...and then proceeds to kill Triton himself. He then announces that he’s tired of ruling the oceans, hands off his trident and all its powers to Arthur, and leaves. Arthur explains that this was his plan all along - to goad Triton into killing him so that he could get Poseidon out of the afterlife to deal with Triton directly - and Garth and Dolphin are like “Wow, that’s really fucking stupid.”

Literally two seconds later, AJ - remember AJ? - shows up, fully grown and looking for Arthur’s help because aliens are going to kill Mera and destroy the dimension AJ is from and blah blah I don’t care. The important thing is that Arthur hands the trident to Garth, says “You’re in charge,” and fucks off.

EVERYONE HAS A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS. Also, leaping lungfish, Arthur, PLEASE construct a functioning government. Name an heir! Appoint a regent! Don’t just hand the throne temporarily to whoever happens to be closest!

Mera turns out to have become an even more badass battle queen than she already was before since she’s been leading a resistance against the aliens. Together, Arthur, Mera, and AJ defeat the aliens, and then Arthur asks Mera to come home with him:

Way to be self-sacrificing, AJ! No one will ever think about you ever again!

The Poseidonians are super stoked to have Mera back as well as Arthur, and there is an elaborate ceremony to essentially re-coronate them as king and queen, even though privately they’re not sure how they feel about each other after everything that’s happened. Meanwhile, Koryak realizes that allowing this ceremony to proceed will cement his father’s power too firmly for him to usurp it. (It’s not explicit, but he might also be realizing that having a queen means a legitimate heir might come along and displace him in the currently unofficial succession.) He prepares to act...

...and GARTH attacks Arthur:

Yeah, so he’s possessed by the trident. WHOOPS.

This makes me laugh so hard. KORYAK YOU ARE THE WORST. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

Koryak yells that he’ll stand by Arthur and promptly gets his ass kicked by Garth (again), as does Mera. Arthur, meanwhile, tells Garth that he won’t fight him this time, which is really touching up until he sucker punches Garth and knocks the trident from his grip. Well, it was a nice thought.

Anyway, Garth’s in his right mind again, and Arthur’s not mad:

Oh, Koryak. This didn’t go your way at all, did it?

The penalty for this level of treason is death, but Arthur tells Koryak that because he is his son, he will be lenient, and merely banish him from Poseidonis for life. I cannot get over Garth getting a pep talk about what a good treason he did and Koryak getting threatened with execution. Like, yes, Garth wasn’t in his right mind and Koryak was, but Arthur knew this was building and did absolutely nothing to stop it or attempt to repair his relationship with his son before it was publicly destroyed. YOU’RE THE WORST, ARTHUR, AND NOT IN A CUTE WAY.

Anyway. Koryak storms out without a word. Vulko pretends very hard that he had nothing to do with all of this even though everyone present knows it was all his idea. The ceremony proceeds...

...and Mera suddenly declares that she cannot be crowned queen, because she and Arthur are no longer considered married under Atlantean law. Gasp!

Next up: the Larsen run, featuring lots of boobs, some near-miss incest, and a tragic dearth of Koryak.

[shimmerbeasts]

Even if Silco had known the hardships, they would have come to face, he had never regretted taking Jinx in. Carrying the little girl off the burning bridge, stepping softly over the strewn about corpses, he couldn't have anticipated how much his life was going to change in that one night and yet how consistent it stayed throughout it all.

Having been deemed a monster under everyone's bed and an outcast in the Undercity, Silco's life had already been hard on his own. After he had recovered enough from that garish eye injury, he had been forced to build up a new life from scratch. Clever investments and finding the right allies at the right time had given Silco the leg up, he seriously needed, as well as the resources to finance the development of Shimmer, even if currently, it was far too unstable and volatile to be of much use to anybody, let alone a fully-fledged revolution.

At the same time, Silco did not just have his revolution to contend with, but his daughter as well. Thus he soon grew used to using some of his resources to ensure he and Jinx were fed. Throughout it all, he always gave her the lion's share. Jinx got more food than him, she was given utensils and tools to tinker with to her heart's content, and she even got the chance to ask Renata Glasc herself about chemistry. She was a monster as much as she was a genius, and Silco did his hardest to ensure, he nurtured both.

Even so, there were still things, which not even he was always prepared for.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Jinx", Silco said, "Sometimes, our mind is our own worst enemy, making us believe things, which, in our hearts, we know, aren't true." He barely flinched as Jinx clawed deeper into his arms, still developing claws creating a small dent in his sleeves. Her face was scrunched up in pain. Silco caressed her back soothingly and placed his chin on her head.

"There could be many reasons why she didn't come back", Silco said, "Maybe she lost you in the chaos. Or maybe, as much as I hate to admit that, maybe she felt that you were holding her back. It is often the people, whom we trust the most, who are the most ruthless to stab us in the back. They leave you writhing in pain and collecting the pieces of your life, they made fall apart."

His expression darkened. For a few seconds, his stomach felt heavy and the hair on his neck stood up. Vander and Vi had both committed the same sin: Leaving them to rot when they needed them the most, after inflicting damage, they could never take back.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Jinx", Silco said, "Neither when it comes to wanting to see topside, nor when your sister left. It is not fair that you are left to feel guilty for something, you never did. Though, maybe it's not just guilt that you feel. Perhaps, there is anger there too. But you don't want to admit that you are angry, so you cover it up with feelings of guilt. Guilt is self-punishing and sometimes easier to face than rage."

"Back when I was recovering from my eye injury", he continued, "There were so many thoughts swirling inside my head. At first, I kept asking myself very similar questions to what you are asking yourself right now. What did I do wrong? How could Vander betray me like this? Did I deserve this eye injury? Was he right for hurting me like this? I blamed myself just like you did. However, after a while these feelings faded, and what I was left with, was anger. Hatred even. I allowed myself to recognise that this had been a murder attempt and not just a betrayal. I was so furious at Vander. I still am. But recognising that I was angry, was in a strange way cathartic. I needed that epiphany to move forward: Not just that I was angry, but that it was okay that I was feeling angry. And I believe you feel the same. Deep down. Am I right?"

At the age of 10, Jinx had to deal with with trauma that most much older than her would never experience. Unlike them, however, her fragile mind wasn't quite built to deal with that trauma. As adult most had a way to properly process everything; they had grown up and matured. Jinx didn't have that as a child who had suffered such losses at a significantly young age of 5. She had witnessed raw brutality and death. It was a massacre, one that had taken everything from her.

The only good thing that had come out of this was Silco, who had found her that day after the smoke had cleared. After the enforcers had cleared out without a single care for the lives they took. Silco had found a broken child and took her home. Held her in his arms as if she were the most precious cargo. He gave her a home, gave her a reason to survive. She was smart enough to realize that he was trying to give her the tools to be strong, but Vi always found a way to undo all that work.

Jinx at first looked away in shame, afraid that she had earned Silco's ire as he head was lifted. However, the caress of her cheek proved the opposite. Bluish silver eyes looked up at Silco, slowly her body began calm as it only barely shook now. However, the memories were still fresh in her mind as she could see hear the gunshots echoing in her mind.

The reputation Silco had garnered was that of a monster under the everyone’s bed. Jinx didn’t need to get out to know that. However she had ventured out just enough to hear all the whispers. It was on one of those occasions that she had spotted her sister, with a tall burly man, whom she discovered was the notorious Vander. That same man was spreading lies, warning people about her papa. But they were all wrong.

Monster or not, it was Silco who was with her now, comforting her when she needed it most like he always would. He alone knew her struggles and was there to tell her the voices were lying, too. Just like he was now, and the look in his eyes told her he believed what he was saying. But he wasn’t angry at her, either. No, his ire was directed at the lies her voices were telling her. The ones that always told her everything was her fault.

“I’m sorry papa, they keep telling me all of things and I keep believing them…” Jinx said was tears continued to run down her cheek and onto his thumbs. Never once did her eyes stray from his, as if pleading him to forgive her. “I see them when I close my eyes, my parents, even though i don’t remember their faces or their voices. They never say anything to me, but I always feel like they are blaming me. If I hadn’t convinced Vi to take me across the bridge to just get a peek at topside…” That’s why Vi blamed her, too.

“But if I’m not the reason Vi left me, than why did she never come back? I called out her name but instead she just… left me.” Jinx’s face scrunched up in pain of it all, her claws sinking deeper into his skin and created an indent. Why was she even feeling this way about a sister she barely remembered? “I have you, but it’s like a sister I barely remember is punishing me for something. What did I do wrong? Why can’t I move on without everything hurting?”

[bestworstcase]

on ‘villainy’ and varian’s and cassandra’s moral codes

for all that varian’s and cassandra’s villain arcs get compared to death they’re really more different than they are similar, and i think one of the more interesting distinctions is the characters’ moral perspectives on their own actions--namely that varian recognizes his own choices as villainous and consciously self-identifies as a ‘bad guy’ and cassandra not only…doesn’t do that but appears legitimately taken aback when varian says she’s ‘become the villain.’ from this we can infer that varian is transgressing his own personal sense of right and wrong while cassandra isn’t.

and… well with varian i think it’s pretty straightforward: he’s a kid who desperately wants to make the world a better place and make his father proud, but his impulsivity and recklessness and general disregard for lab safety foil his plans and get him into trouble. then one of his accidents puts his dad into what is essentially a magical coma and varian becomes singularly focused on reviving him--and, when he realizes that the king is more invested in covering up the problem than fixing it and his only hope lies with a zealously guarded relic belonging to the kingdom, he decides that the only way to achieve this goal is to start breaking the rules.

so he asks rapunzel--his friend who promised to help him--to retrieve some information the king is trying to steal from him, and then persuades her to help him access the sundrop vault; then when she balks at stealing it he makes it clear that he no longer trusts her and escapes with the flower. at this point he’s in the morally dubious zone; being strategic about what he tells rapunzel to make sure she helps him, spiking cookies with truth serum to sow chaos and get information he needs, and doing things that are crimes on paper but also largely victimless. i think these were things varian could probably rationalize as okay--not exactly good, but no one got hurt and he got what he needed.

except the flower’s magic is gone. he drugged the palace, manipulated rapunzel and broke her trust in him, and committed treason all for something useless because the actual magic of the sundrop is in rapunzel herself. now he’s in trouble, because he needs rapunzel’s help but his desperate measures guaranteed she won’t be willing to help him again. and this is when varian realizes that his only options are 1. give up on saving his dad and turn himself in and hope rapunzel takes pity on him, or 2. accept that no one is going to help him now and do whatever it takes to free quirin himself.

so--mutating ruddiger, attacking the city, kidnapping arianna and threatening her with encasement in amber, building an automaton army to defend him while he works--these are all things that varian feels are wrong, but chooses to do anyway because he doesn’t trust that anyone else will even try to save his father. despite his anger and his rationalizations, at the end of the day varian sees himself as doing bad things for good reasons. (“Believe me, I know/I’ve sunk pretty low” & “I’m the bad guy, that’s fine”)

and when his reasons fall through--when he fails to free his dad--he falls quickly into guilt and despair over having hurt people for nothing. he stews for a year in how unforgivable and ashamed he feels, and even when he teams up with the separatists, he’s doing it in, basically, pursuit of a reset button: he wants to take back what he did. and when rapunzel shows him that he can be forgiven, he can have a second chance, he does have people who are willing to help him and trust him again, he drops the memory-wiping idea and his alliance with the separatists without a second thought--because what rapunzel actually does is give him a way to pursue his goals without sacrificing his conscience, which is what he really needed the whole time.

now, cassandra, on the other hand…

cass is an interesting character in this regard because, while she does want to be a hero, she’s not at all altruistic. she’s consumed by her lack of autonomy and she craves not only control over her own life but also respect from the people around her--her desire to be a hero is very self-interested, at its core. and moreover she has a somewhat fatalistic view of the world wherein some people (not her) matter and some… just don’t. 

moreover cassandra, despite her ambitions of becoming a guard, doesn’t so much as blink at eugene’s or the pub thugs’ criminal pasts--she is suspicious of lance at first, but on the grounds that he’s an unrepentant thief who showed up out of the blue under suspicious circumstances to ‘reconnect’ with his old partner in crime; eugene is also distrustful of lance, for the exact same reasons--and of course she doesn’t think twice about breaking the law herself. literally one of the very first things we see cassandra do is commit treason to make her friend happy. cass doesn’t care about the law, and she only wants to be a guard because she associates getting the job with having her dad’s approval and it’s also her ticket out of lifelong servitude.

on the other hand, cass does seem have a strong sense of right and wrong where people she cares about are concerned. she is constantly putting the desires and well-being of her friends ahead of not just her ambitions (e.g. in beginnings for rapunzel, or great expotations for varian) but also her own safety (e.g. risking her livelihood and home to sneak rapunzel out for the night in bea, or setting aside her misgivings about the sketchy bird people in freebird). 

which is all to say--cass isn’t exactly amoral but the moral framework through which she sees the world is… more complicated than varian’s. she doesn’t seem particularly motivated to help strangers but she’ll move mountains to help people she cares about; she doesn’t care much about rules or laws except insofar as she doesn’t want to get caught breaking them, and she has this hierarchical mindset that some people matter--meaning, they get to make decisions for themselves and have people care about what they need and want--and some don’t, and that she herself is stuck in the latter category despite her best efforts to climb out of it.

which brings us to the subject of the moonstone, and cassandra’s villain arc, and why cass, unlike varian, doesn’t consider herself a bad person.

i think what it comes down to most is this: taking the moonstone is an act of defiance against not only rapunzel but also fate itself. waiting in the wings sets up cassandra’s resigned acceptance of this hierarchical order and her own cosmic insignificance, and then in crossing the line she REJECTS that same order. she’s raging against rapunzel but also against the cultural and legal and destined systems that put rapunzel on top and forced cass into subservience. she is very literally fighting for her freedom against the universe itself.

and when cass was not an altruistic or heavily morally motivated or even particularly law-abiding person before, and when her conscience has always been predominantly oriented around taking care of her friends first and herself second, and when the thing that drove her to this breaking point was her friends spitting that back in her face… well.

it’s easy to say “cass literally tried to murder rapunzel a bunch of times, how can she possibly believe she’s the good guy?”--but rapunzel maimed cass, blamed her for it, and consistently prioritized her destiny over cassandra’s wellbeing; and rapunzel represents the cosmic order that cass is fighting to liberate herself from. and while i know that the -popular- take on be very afraid is “cass is terrified of hurting rapunzel,” i submit it’s actually “cass is terrified of having to fight rapunzel, because she still believes that fate is literally tilted in rapunzel’s favor and she can’t win a direct fight with rapunzel.” that’s why she’s so scared; that’s why rapunzel seemingly deleting the red rocks hardens her resolve; that’s why she marches into corona with maximum drama and bluster and builds a fortress and tries so hard to mess with rapunzel’s head before the battle begins. she’s trying to even the odds. and that’s why, when rapunzel stomps her into the curb, cassandra’s immediate response is “i need an army.”

cassandra isn’t scared for rapunzel. she is scared OF rapunzel.

we do also see cass trying not to harm people she considers to be innocent bystanders; she uses the truth serum on varian bc she needs the incantation, but afterwards she doesn’t even bother to restrain him until after he starts pestering her, she says flat out that she doesn’t want him to get hurt when she fights rapunzel; similarly she is willing to hurt calliope to force rapunzel to comply, but--despite her deep personal dislike of calliope--uses a minimum amount of force and again verbally expresses that she doesn’t particularly want to hurt her, that it’s a means to an end and nothing more. attacking rapunzel? that’s fine, rapunzel is her enemy. attacking eugene? of course, he’s rapunzel’s closest ally. mind controlling the brotherhood? that kills two birds with one stone--eliminating powerful enemies with a vested interest in taking the moonstone away from her and turning them into allies who can level the playing field between her and rapunzel. and when she does finally snap and raze corona to the ground? the people of corona attacked her first. i think cass ABSOLUTELY sees herself as fighting a purely defensive war against people who have or will hurt her.

and this is, of course, ultimately why varian failed to get through to her during ‘nothing left to lose’--he appealed to her sense of morality and her sense of morality shrugged. 

as for the thing that snaps her out of it? the moment that forces her to question whether she’s really as right as she thinks she is? it’s learning who her new friend really is. it’s the shock of finding out that she’s been allied with, confiding in, taking advice from a legendary villain, from a monster she likely grew up hearing stories about. cass takes it as a given that zhan tiri is evil--and if she’s friends with zhan tiri, what does that make her? and even then, cass is resistant to the idea that she might be a villain--“No, no, I’m nothing like you. Just because I’m pursuing my destiny doesn’t make me a bad person!”--which is, ultimately, very telling of her whole mindset. she’s not a bad guy, she’s fighting for her freedom. she’s not a bad guy, she’s protecting herself against people who want to exploit her. she’s not a bad guy, she’s just putting herself first for once.

and OAH generally, i’d argue, is not actually about cassandra trying to reconcile with rapunzel or redeem herself or be a better person, it’s… literally cass trying frantically to prove she’s NOT the bad guy. it’s “oh yeah? you think i’m a bad person? well could a bad guy do THIS? *lies and impersonates a former coworker and gets up on a stage to justify her own actions in front of a crowd*” it’s “a bad guy wouldn’t apologize, rapunzel never apologized for anything, and to prove i’m a better person I’M going to apologize! see? SEE!?”--and then everyone in corona attacks her and she goes “FINE, i’m the bad guy, fuck you all” and wrecks the place.

only then--only in plus est en vous--does cassandra get into a mindset similar to varian’s, of “i am the bad guy but if i can pull this off it will be worth it.” she’s not sorry. she still sees rapunzel as an enemy trying to get her under control again, and the only thing that’s really changed is cassandra acknowledging that she has in fact done bad things too.

and… i would argue that by the end of plus est cassandra… feels some guilt but isn’t sorry. “i’ve failed” and “i’ve done terrible things” and “i tried to prove i was more than everyone thought but they were right”--her anguish is not like varian’s anguish in RR, where he was consumed with despair because no one could possibly forgive him for the things he did. cassandra is upset because she did awful things and failed and she perceives that failure as proof of her own worthlessness. she’s right back to feeling how she felt in waiting in the wings but with a hefty new helping of self-disgust and shame for having been stupid enough to believe she could change anything for herself. 

she’s not sorry. she’s not pleading for forgiveness. she just wants rapunzel to give up and leave her alone--& then, after rapunzel convinces her that she’s wrong, and she does have worth as a person, and she does have a destiny of her own, cass does what’s necessary to clean up the crisis she created and then… just bounces. she gets the freedom she wanted and leaves without a backward glance.

(which. good for her.)

tl;dr: varian’s villain arc explores his moral scruples and what it takes for him to be willing to ignore them, whereas cassandra’s villain arc explores her incendiary reaction to a lifetime of injustices; she isn’t amoral but her sense of right and wrong is, unlike varian’s, very contextual and personal. varian is a pragmatic idealist who wants to be lawful good but is capable of setting his own morals aside in pursuit of a goal he considers to be important enough, and cassandra is one radicalizing incident away from realizing that her grievances are not a unique personal failing but a systemic problem and then leading a class uprising.

[robinchan-hananomi]

Ok, so some quick thoughts on One Piece 1038. First, I’m glad to know that not everyone escaped Whole Cake Island unscathed. I’m not surprised Judge and Ichiji would leave Niji and Yonji behind and honestly I don’t feel bad for them at all, but it is good to know that everyone didn’t slip out without a problem. We’ll probably have more to deal with that down the line, but not at the moment.

What do we have to deal with at the moment? Well Luffy’s fighting Kaido and Sanji’s still out, Usopp is still pulling the samurai to safety, Nami is still with Tama, and Brook and Robin are probably still together. Now we got Franky trying to find Zoro and Jinbei trying to hold up a ceiling to protect as many people as possible.

Chopper is normal sized again and he gives us a reminder that because Zoro took that drug, his body is going to be dealt back nearly twice the damage he would have had before. Then we see Zoro, who is currently so hurt he’s paralyzed. Even more concerning is the grim reaper like being standing over him, bringing a scythe down on him. Think Zoro cheated death one too many times that Death himself is like ‘yeah, no more?’ I know it’s unlikely Oda is going to kill Zoro, but it’s still nerve wracking.

Zoro’s current and future condition along with the strain on Chopper’s body and the changes that Sanji are going through is actually a bit of a relief to me. They are taking on two Yonko at once. If we hadn’t taken on so much damage I would almost feel like we were being jipped in this fight.

No idea where Marco is right now, but we also see Yamato trying their best to keep the flame monster from blowing up the whole island. And then we got Izo. Izo sustained some heavy damage helping Usopp and the others escape, only to wonder into CP0. CP0 decide to ignore Izo for the moment, as they are more interested in capturing Robin. Why CP0 wants Robin is a whole other mess, but Izo is a man of code. He is there to avenge his fallen master, protect his little sister, and stand by his friends. That means he is in an alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates. In addition he is still keeping Whitebeard’s finale order in mind, protect Luffy and survive. Not only that but Luffy is Ace’s little brother and someone whose crew is currently protecting Izo’s little sister. How can he do anything else but stand up for them? So despite his injuries he tells CP0 that they aren’t taking one step further, and you know that as long as Izo can still stand, he’s not letting CP0 walk past him. The scene gave me goose bumps and it kinda reminded me of a few other scenes. How many times has Luffy and the others been able to keep traveling because someone who they accidentally allied themselves to or befriended heard an enemy say they were going after the Strawhat Pirates and that ally said ‘over my dead body you are.’ Mihawk was 1000% in his assessment that Luffy’s greatest strength, greatest power, is his ability to draw people to him.

But the highlight of the chapter was Big Mom’s fight against Law and Kidd. Just like the strawhats and the samurai, all the pirates are putting everything they have into this fight. Seeing Law and Kidd working together, even if it’s more like a tag team than anything is awesome. And the two of them are just as committed as the rest of them there, vowing even if they have to give their lives to do it, Big Mom will not reach the roof.

Between 1037 and 1038 we got a lot of new things to think about. And we know our allies are mounting up, even if the others don’t know they are there. Zou is getting closer, and with it the entire mink tribe. There’s a lot being built into this battle, and no matter what happens or ends we know it’s going to throw an every increasing chaotic world into more turmoil.

There’s a few different things going on here, battles that each part of the alliance is trying to handle. The first is getting the island to land safely without destroying the Flower Capital and everyone on the island. That is what Momo and Yamato are focused on. Then we are trying to defeat Kaido and Big Mom. So far, thanks to the Strawhats, almost all of Kaido’s officers are down. Luffy is facing down against Kaido and Kidd and Law are trying to take down Big Mom. THen we have CP0 slinking around trying to get Robin. Brook is currently keeping Robin from their hands, but Izo is now holding them off. And of course the Beast Pirates have to be completely dismantled to free Wano.

So even though things are starting to wrap up, we are still facing a lot more trials. And when this fight is over, we are going to have a lot of troubles. Sanji, Zoro, and possibly Chopper at the very least are not going to be in ANY shape to be fighting or even moving any time soon. We have CP0 and the World Government waiting to continue the fight as well, so hopefully Zou can take care of that little problem. Still doesn't change that we now have a giant elephant in Wano, one with problems of it’s own that is probably next on the list to resolve. And Wano and it’s problems aside, we also have no leads on the fourth and finale poneglyph. Fans may have a few ideas where it is, but the actual characters do not. So not only is the rest of Wano going to be intense, but there is so much going on in the aftermath too.

[restlessfandoming]

"you, my enemy" (chilumi oneshot)

Lumine must assassinate the cruel king of Snezhnaya, Ajax.

//

i could see this being turned into a full fledged fic? but for now, here is the dollar store version LOL

[Masterlist] [AO3 Link]

"you, my enemy"

“I want you to kill the king of Snezhnaya.”

Lumine’s eyes flickered to her client. “King Ajax?”

“There is only one, is there not?” the hooded man responded.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You must have the wrong person,” she said. “I do run-of-the-mill jobs. I don’t murder kings.”

“I was told you were the only mercenary who could do it.”

Lumine slid out of the bar booth. “Find someone else who is insane enough to do that. I value my life.”

The man’s arm shot out, grabbing Lumine by the wrist. She would have sliced it clean off, had the man not taken off his hood.

He had an unmistakable hue of scarlet red hair, with equally fiery eyes to match.

“You’re Diluc,” Lumine said. “The son of the slain King Ragvindr.” It’s never a good idea to get involved with royals.

His face wavered at the mention of his father. “And who was the one who murdered him?”

“King Ajax,” she answered. “That sounds like your own quest for vengeance. Not mine.”

Diluc pulled her closer. “Magic,” he whispered.

Lumine’s blood ran cold. “Magic?” she echoed hollowly.

“I’ve been trying to find the right person to do this for a long time,” he told her. “I had to do my research.”

“What does magic have to do with this?” Lumine asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“You use magic,” Diluc stated. “That’s how you’ve completed every single one of your assignments perfectly.”

Magic had been banished long ago, a witch hunt massacring any and all magic users within the land of Teyvat. Each of the seven kingdoms had decreed it, agreeing that those with magic were too powerful—a threat to the people, all people.

Ever since, the rare few born with magical powers were forced to hide away their abilities for survival. I thought Aether and I hid it well enough.

“You do this, I won’t report you to the authorities,” Diluc continued.

“What about you?” Lumine hissed. “You’re supposed to be dead with the rest of your family.” She shook off his grip. “If I report you to King Ajax, there’s no doubt I’d get a hefty reward, more than you could ever give me for murdering him.”

He pursed his lips into a thin line. “If there’s any suspicion of a magic user, what sort of action do the authorities take?”

You’re killed on the spot—no questions asked. The kingdoms didn’t want to run any risk of magic users rising up, no matter how small of a threat.

“We would be executed at the same time,” Diluc said lowly.

Shit.

Lumine sat back down in the booth, sinking into the seat, gnawing on the side of her cheek. Then, she took a deep breath in.

“You’ll give me every single piece of Mora you have,” she demanded.

Diluc’s face visibly relaxed. “Of course.” He crossed his arms. “The hidden vaults of my family are all yours: every single jewel, Mora, artifact—when you complete the job.”

Lumine’s mouth nearly watered at the prospect of all the riches.

No, she wasn’t greedy. That amount of Mora meant she and her twin brother Aether could retire from this life, this life of scraping by with the money they made from bloody bounties and assassinations. It was the only job they could do, being abandoned as children, having to learn to fend for themselves.

This one job meant she and Aether could have quiet peace until the end of their days.

She held out her hand to Diluc.

“You have a deal.”

* * *

When Lumine arrives in Snezhnaya, she expects impoverished villages, famished citizens, and cold, desecrated lands—all while this merciless, vile king sat on his throne of bones and riches.

However, what she finds are bustling streets of business and cheerful citizens. Children played freely on the streets. The kingdom was thriving.

Is this king truly as evil as the stories say?

It hadn’t been long since King Ajax had begun his crusade of conquering the entirety of Teyvat. It had started with his brutal assassination of his own ruler at the time, the slaying of the late Tsaritsa, quickly followed by his claim to the throne. Then, he had taken over the small country of Mondstadt, and Liyue fell shortly after.

Any who opposed him would face the sharp end of a blade. The stories of him on the battlefield were whispers of blood soaked garments and a wicked smile as he slaughtered soldier after soldier with no remorse.

The image of this bloodthirsty monster faded as Lumine watched these citizens move around care free, as if they were unaware of the atrocities laying under their feet committed by their dear King Ajax.

Glancing up, she could see the distant looming monument, the grandiose castle of the king, looking over the land with a watchful stone eye.

She listened intently to the conversations around her, seeking any information about this Ajax, about how to get close enough to do her job.

She always wanted the most covert way, and now even more so. This was very much her highest profile case, and if she wasn’t careful, she could potentially start wars, with her murder being the first blood.

Perhaps the best way was to become some nondescript maid, someone’s whose presence and subsequent disappearance wouldn’t be questioned by any of the king’s allies. Perhaps as a chef? She could easily poison his food and silently slip away.

How she wished Aether was here with her. He was much more a strategist than she. Unfortunately, he had taken on a different job, far away in Inazuma. They would not see each other until both of their assignments were completed.

Lumine sighed, moving down the street, in search of a bar. Drunk bastards were always the best source of information: they didn’t know how to shut their mouths. In a bar, there were no figures too suspicious, and if there were, they would quickly be forgotten within a few pints of ale.

She pushed past vendors, until she was stopped by a brunette woman in a lavender robe.

“You are not from here,” she said with a breathy smile.

Singled out already? “I’ve only just recently moved here,” Lumine lied.

“Oh? For what reasons?” the woman pressed, her long eyelashes batting as she assessed Lumine head to toe. “Work?”

“No.” What was this woman’s motive? “I’ve heard Snezhnaya is a great country to live in.”

A content, pitched sigh. “Well, since you’ve just moved here, why don’t you come work for me? Outsiders earn a pretty penny.”

Lumine stared at her. “Who are you?”

The woman smiled. “I am Ying’er. I’m in charge of a local performance troupe.” She stepped closer, and Lumine could smell her flowery perfume. “I would love to have you join us.”

“No, thank you,” Lumine told her, inching away. Sounds like a cheap cover for a brothel. “I’m not in need of a job right now.”

Ying’er pouted, but stepped back. “Alright then, sweetie.” She leaned on the doorway of her shop. “I’ll be right here if you decide to come back,” she finished with a wink.

Lumine gave a curt nod before slinking away, back to her search for a bar. She pulled the hood of her cape over her head, sticking to the shadowed walls on her walk. Do I really stick out that much here?

In the distance, she heard the subtle pounding of a drum, and watched, astonished, as the crowded streets parted straight down the middle. An eerie silence filled the previously buzzing plaza. Something was coming.

All the citizens had their heads bowed—Lumine quickly followed suit.

The booming of the drums came closer, and she heard the thunderous marching of armored boots layered into the sound. She glanced up.

There was an entourage of armored soldiers, an assortment of glistening weapons at their sides, escorting a decorated golden carriage.

King Ajax.

What was this? Was there some sort of special occasion taking place?

Much easier to find than expected.

The carriage rolled past. Lumine strained to look at the window while still keeping her head bowed.

Unfortunately, the window was curtained, a velvety red cloth obscuring any view of the king. Lumine wrinkled her nose in disappointment; she had wanted to see what she was up against.

The terrifying rumors of King Ajax never told of what he looked like. Lumine imagined a beastly figure, one with dark shaggy hair and sharp teeth, bones all jutting out in the wrong directions, filleted with raw scars all over.

The carriage continued to move past.

Could she do it? Could she use her magic to take him out right now? There certainly was a large number of people around, and all of them would be suspects; all the easier for her to get away.

However, the guards could easily murder everyone in the plaza if a perpetrator wasn’t found. And, as Ying’er so blatantly pointed out, Lumine didn’t exactly fit in with the Snezhayan citizens.

She would just have to wait. Wait for a better opportunity. Wait to learn more about King Ajax. Wait to plan the best way to kill him.

There was a rustle of murmurs as the citizens returned to their activities, the royal carriage and its guards wheeling out of sight—the air more tense than before.

Taking in a deep breath, she resumed her search.

I need a drink.

* * *

Lumine sat in the corner booth as always, the seat in the bar that could overlook the entire establishment, the place where she could easily see who entered and exited the building.

She sipped at her mug of ale: not enough to become inebriated, but just enough to take some of her stress away. She still listened intently for any utterances about King Ajax.

She kept her eye on a man who was chugging pint after pint of alcohol, complaining about his job, his kids, his wife.

Maybe he’ll complain about his king as well.

“God, I miss Mondstadt,” the man sighed.

Lumine raised a brow. Someone from the conquered land of Mondstadt? He should definitely harbor some resentment for King Ajax.

“Careful there,” the bartender muttered. “The king will have your tongue if you speak ill of him.”

The drunkard scoffed. “The king ain’t here, is he? Too busy with his parties and parades to ever come to a hole-in-the-wall bar.”

The bartender shrugged, silently wiping a glass.

“C’mon,” the man continued. “You don’t think it’s weird how he always invites those performers to the castle? What a dramatic man.” A hiccup. “You think he beds all of them?”

“Probably. Lots of women would want to sleep with the king”

“See, King Ragvindr never did things like that.” He laid his head on the counter. “A modest man. Genuinely cared about his people.”

“King Ajax cares for us. He provides—he’s made Snezhnaya wealthier than ever.”

“Hmph. Is that why he murders people in cold blood? Remember that man that got executed in the street for not bowing to him?”

“Just listen to him, and you’ll be fine.”

Lumine slid out of her booth, making her way to the exit, to a certain brunette woman with a lavender robe.

He likes performers.

A plan started to bubble in her mind as she walked the streets to Ying’er’s shop.

She would slip into the castle with the performance troupe. She would feign illness, seemingly leaving early, when in actuality, she would hide until all the guests had left. King Ajax would retire for the night, alone—and that’s when she would strike.

Lumine smiled, just a bit, confidence coming to her now that she knew what to do.

Her and Aether’s life of freedom felt like a breath away.

* * *

“You’ve certainly improved quite a lot,” Ying’er said, sauntering into Lumine’s quarters.

Lumine set her lyre down. “Guess I’m a quick learner.”

It had been a few weeks since Lumine had arrived in Snezhnaya, and became one of Ying’er performers. She had decided to learn an instrument—the lyre—while staying with Ying’er and the rest of the performers at the hostess’ establishment. She preferred it over becoming a poet or dancer.

Ying’er was right: many people came to watch Lumine sit prettily on stage and play her lyre—her face painted with make-up, and her body adorned with beautiful robes and gowns.

All the while, Lumine anxiously awaited the king’s invitation to their performance troupe. He had invited different groups all over town, though not Ying’er’s yet.

Was this plan a failure? Where was that damned man’s invitation—

“Is that what I think it is?” Lumine asked, eyeing the embellished envelope in her boss’ hand.

Ying’er hummed in affirmation. “The king has finally invited our group to perform at a party tonight.”

Finally. “What an honor,” Lumine said with a smile.

“Very much so.” Ying’er put her hand under Lumine’s chin, examining her face. “Yes...I will have you dressed in our best garments and make-up.”

The woman smiled. “After all, you are our pretty little star.”

* * *

The carriage ride to the castle was filled with the girls’ giggles and whispers, how they wished for the king to whisk them away into a life of riches and royalty, to be his beloved first wife. Lumine kept a hand pressed against her leg—ensuring the dagger hidden under her heavy robes wouldn’t fall out.

She didn’t like to get messy with such a close ranged weapon—she would usually just use her magic from a distance—but she wasn’t going to take a chance if something were to go awry.

As they neared the castle, everyone burst into gasps, admiring the massive stone structure. The excitement doubled as the dozens of other carriages came into view as well.

This is going to be one very extravagant party.

Before she knew it, Lumine was sitting in the great hall, along with the rest of the party goers, awaiting the king’s arrival. She saw the empty throne at the very front of the room, raised on a marble platform, his rightful place above his subjects.

A fanfare of brass instruments blared. The king is here.

The room collectively stood, bowing their heads as the king’s personal guards filed in. Lumine quirked her head to look for King Ajax.

Oh.

The king was not a hideous looking beast at all.

In fact, he was quite the opposite.

He walked in, tall stature carrying an air of importance (and arrogance) on his shoulders with a billowing crimson red cloak, a broad grin plastered on his face. He was young, exactly around Lumine’s age.

He had reddish-brown hair framing his face, locks that glittered like gold in the light of the room, and his eyes were like vortexes—deep whirlpools of the bluest ocean water. All his features were sharp, upturned, like a cunning fox waiting contently to trap its prey.

She watched as he made his way up to his throne, a sickening anxiety spreading through her limbs.

Lumine had never killed anyone so close in age to her—it had always been older men and women. And, of course, she had never found herself attracted to her target.

“Please,” the king spoke, still grinning. “Have a seat.” As he sat on his throne, the rest of the room sat as well.

Lumine swallowed the lump in her throat. His voice was light, playful even.

Was that truly the murderous king of Snezhnaya?

“A toast, to you, my people,” he said, raising a golden goblet. “Let the festivities begin.”

Lumine gulped down her own glass of wine, then shook her head.

I’m here for a job. Not romance.

The room filled with chatter, and Ying’er motioned to Lumine and the rest of the musicians to the corner where they would be performing their music for the night.

Lumine gathered her lyre, shuffling towards her spot in her heavily layered robes. Her mouth was set in a taut line.

A momentary lapse in judgement.

As she played the first few notes, her eyes flickered to the king, who was busy greeting various nobles at his throne. She narrowed her eyes at him, at that sly, sly smile on his face.

It won’t happen again.

* * *

The night seemed to drag on forever. After what seemed like an eternity of playing music for the room—as other patrons ate and danced and conversed—the musicians were finally taking a break.

Lumine delightfully chewed through expensive meats and breads as various actors, dancers, and poets took the floor in front of King Ajax to present their pieces.

The king seemed to be entertained, joining on some of the performances himself.

That drunkard from the bar was right. King Ajax was quite dramatic, inserting himself into the spotlight whenever he so pleased. How pretentious.

The crowd clapped and cheered as another performance was brought to an end, an air of boisterous chatter resuming. Lumine swallowed her last piece of food, making her way to Ying’er.

Time to get started.

“Ying’er,” Lumine called to her boss, clenching her side. “I feel a bit sick.”

The brunette woman raised a brow. “You were looking quite well before.”

“Yes, it was very sudden,” Lumine responded, turning to the exit. “I think I will just head back now.”

“So soon, dear? We haven’t even introduced ourselves to the king yet.”

Lumine was already on her way out. “I’ll see you back at the shop.”

She slipped past the guards patrolling the halls, ducking into the nearest empty room, a storage closet of sorts. Perfect.

She hiked her long robes up, unsheathing her dagger, cutting away at the garments. Sorry, Ying’er. But I can’t fight in this. She threw the discarded fabric in a dark corner, where they would be forgotten about.

She slid the knife back into its sheath, and cracked the door open the tiniest bit—enough to watch the entrance into the great hall.

Now, all she had to do was wait.

* * *

Lumine would have fallen asleep had it not been for the two guards who stopped to converse right outside her door. Within a matter of seconds, Lumine had gone from sleepily nodding off to firmly clenching her weapon in her hand, nerves buzzing on high alert.

“That party dragged on forever,” one of the guards said. “I don’t know how King Ajax does it. Isn’t he exhausted every night?”

“Not sure. He seems to enjoy it.”

“He’s been gone a while now. Should we check on him?”

Lumine tightened her grasp on her dagger. He was gone?

“No. He likes to be alone at night. He’ll kill you if you interrupt him.”

“Oh...Should we just go to the other side of the castle then? So we don’t...interrupt him?”

“...Sounds like a good idea.”

The sound of their footsteps faded, and Lumine dared a peek out the door to scope out the hallway.

There were no other guards, and the boisterous sounds of the party were long gone.

Lumine slid out of the closet, sneaking down the hall, starting her search for King Ajax.

Sounds like he’s still here somewhere. Alone.

This job was getting easier and easier.

Too easy.

* * *

Please be in this room.

There was a great stone door before her, one she had come to after a mind-numbingly exhaustive search through the entirety of the large castle. She pushed on the door, as slowly and as quietly as possible, then looked in.

She nearly cried out in relief.

Sitting in the middle of the room was King Ajax, his back turned to her.

He was completely silent, unmoving, in this empty stone room. Was he asleep? No, it looked more like meditation.

Lumine slinked in, silently, conjuring the elemental energy of the wind in the room.

She would take every bit of air out of his body. Quick, quiet, no mess. It was the method she had always used.

She closed her eyes to focus, feeling the pull of air from his lungs.

He was going to die, and she was going to be free, free with her brother—

WHOOSH!

Lumine opened her eyes just in time to see Ajax rush towards her.

His hand wrapped around her throat, and he slammed her into the ground. All of the breath in her body hissed out of her, and she clawed at his hand.

“Who are you?” he growled.

She stopped prying at his hold, quickly yanking out her dagger, and slashing at his face.

He dodged, forcing him to loosen his grip on her.

She slashed again at his hand, throwing herself away from him as he recoiled in pain. She rubbed at her neck, gasping for breath. The king was looking at the gash across his fingers.

Shitshitshit.

Lumine quickly focused her energy on the earth below, trying to create shackles out of stone to hold him in place, or to just bury him alive.

The ropes of earth sprang out of the ground. His eyes flickered to the coils as they rushed for him.

Yes!

But then a swirling mass of water appeared, engulfing him, destroying the chains in the process.

What—?!

A sharp stream of water shot out from the bubble, coiling around Lumine before she could react. She was pulled to the ground, bound, and unable to move.

The bubble of water dissipated, and Ajax stepped out, eyes ablaze. He approached Lumine.

“Who are you?” he asked again, less angry, more inquisitive.

She strained against the chains of water, her elemental energy unable to rid them. She locked eyes with him. “You’re a magic user.”

He squatted next to her. “You are too,” he responded, the smallest ghost of a smile on his lips. He took her dagger into his hands, weighing it. “Now, why were you trying to kill me?”

Lumine bit her cheek. No, she couldn’t sell Diluc out; he could still get Aether killed.

“That’s how you conquered Mondstadt and Liyue so easily. You used magic,” she pushed, ignoring his question. “That’s forbidden.”

He barked out a laugh, wiping his bloodied hand on her robes. “And yet, here we are, two magic users in one room.” He pointed the dagger at Lumine’s neck. “Tell me why you were trying to kill me, before I make it only one. I won’t ask again.”

“You’re going to kill me anyway,” Lumine said. “I’m a magic user. That threatens your power, doesn’t it?”

Ajax studied her for a second, pulling the dagger back, just a bit. “True.” He tilted his head. “But I’ve never actually met another magic user before.”

She averted his intense gaze. “So what are you going to do? Keep me alive and experiment on me?”

“No.” He stood. “How about this...in exchange for sparing your life, you become my student.”

…

What?

“You mean learn magic from you?” Lumine glared at him. “How do you know I won’t kill you in the future?”

“You won’t,” he said. “This murder attempt? Wasn’t personal—you tried to kill me from a distance. Someone must have sent you.” He closed his eyes, squeezing the hilt of the dagger. After some shaking, it disintegrated into dust.

“Also, you can’t kill me,” he continued, opening his eyes. “You’re severely untrained. You saw how easily I subdued you.” A small smile. “All the more reason to learn from me.”

Maybe this was the gods taking mercy on Lumine. Ajax didn’t kill her right away; she had a chance to live, to get back home to Aether.

“What’s in it for you? This only seems to benefit me,” she said to Ajax.

He hummed, thinking. “A potentially powerful weapon,” he responded, eyes glinting.

Maybe, once she learned more magic, she could overtake him, and complete her job.

She locked eyes with him.

“You have a deal.”

The ghost of those words burned bitter on her tongue.

* * *

Lumine nearly died the next morning.

“You did what?!” she gasped out, after deathly choking on a part of her breakfast.

She was currently sitting across from Ajax in his elegant dining room, who had just informed her that he had announced their marriage.

He leaned back in his chair. “A random new woman living in the king’s castle? Bound to raise many rumors,” he said, nonchalant. “This way, there are no rumors, and we can train without being questioned.”

Lumine worried her lip. He has a point.

“I don’t—We don’t have to...do anything in public, do we?” she asked.

“No.” He smirked. “Unless you want to, pretty girl.”

She grimaced. “No, thank you.” Here for a job, not romance, she reminded herself, no matter how handsome this cocky bastard is. Not to mention, she still planned to kill him.

And so, Lumine’s days were filled with training, pretending to the servants and maids she was King Ajax’s fiancée. She was trapped, as Ajax reminded her many times that if she tried to leave, he would swiftly execute her.

She learned more about him, as much as she didn’t want to. She saw that he did really care for his people, and provided for them as best he could—though he wasn’t above using his power to strike down those in his way, whether it was an enemy or a citizen who simply disrespected his reign.

And that was ultimately what he wanted: power. To have power over everyone in the land of Teyvat. He had endless ambition—Lumine could credit him that much.

Some days, she caught herself imagining it as well: a world she could rule over, have everyone bend to her will, set the laws so people like her and Aether could live without fear, and be provided for. In some ways, she could relate to Ajax’s desires. In some ways, she could justify his methods.

It very much disgusted her, at first. But then, it was liberating. To have someone who could understand the darker sides to her being, understand the blood on her hands.

Even Aether could never fully understand her. How part of her was always glad to be given magical powers to defend herself and those she cared about. How part of her enjoyed her current situation.

After all, she was living lavishly, compared to the impoverished life she had before. She had every meal provided for, luxuriously, and a soft bed to lay in every night. No threat of the authorities finding out about her powers and murdering her.

Could she perhaps bring Aether here?

Ajax had spared her—was it too much of a stretch to believe he would spare her twin as well?

If Aether could be brought here, she wouldn’t have to kill Ajax. She wouldn’t have to kill perhaps the only person in Teyvat that knew who she truly was.

* * *

“If you found another magic user,” she asked Ajax over dinner, “would you train them as well?”

Ajax took a sip of wine from his goblet. “No.”

“...No?”

A small smile, a slight flash of his canines. “I can’t have my weapons outnumbering me, now can I?”

Lumine’s mouth went dry. “If you won’t train them...what would you do with them?”

“Kill them.” He set the cup down. “They would be a threat.”

“I’m not a threat?”

Ajax barked out a laugh. “No, Lumine. No, you are not.”

Ah.

So she and Aether couldn’t be together here. Aether was still in danger of being outed by Diluc.

“Why?” Ajax questioned. “Are you lonely here?”

“I’m trapped in your castle. What do you think?”

He rested his head on his hand. “My bed is open at night, if you’d like.”

Lumine drove her knife through her food. “You’re insufferable.”

“Oh, Lumine, it’s just banter,” he said, chuckling. “You don’t think we’re friends? I quite like your company.”

She pursed her lips, staying silent.

“You don’t have to lie to me.” Ajax stared right at her. “I see you while we train. You like it here. You like becoming more and more powerful.”

He leaned over the table. “You and I are very similar.” He smiled. “There’s a hunger in your eyes. You want exactly what I have.”

Lumine stood abruptly. “We are nothing alike,” she spat uselessly. He sees right through me.

“I told you, you don’t have to lie to me,” Ajax responded, sitting back in his chair. “We are already married. We could rule together—as partners.”

...What?

“I thought I was your weapon.” Her knuckles were white from clutching the edge of the table.

“Partner if you so choose.” His blue eyes narrowed slightly. “Weapon if not.”

What game is he playing? “There has to be some sort of catch.” He was essentially offering her his power as king, even if it was just partially.

“No catch,” he said. “Like I said, if you refuse, you’ll just continue your little life of entrapment, as my weapon.”

“One of these options is obviously better than the other.”

Ajax laughed, genuinely, his expression softening, just a bit. “I guess one is.”

She gave him a look, quizzical, before swiftly leaving the room, his proposal still hanging in the night.

As the guards escorted her back to her room, she played the conversation over and over again in her mind.

Would it be so bad? Would it be so bad as King Ajax’s consort, his companion through his crusade of Teyvat?

He was right: part of her deep down ached for that kind of power.

But joining Ajax meant sacrificing her dear brother.

The aching desire hissed, Is that a sacrifice you are going to make?

* * *

The castle’s stone floors were freezing on Lumine’s feet as she traversed through the halls barefoot. No shoes meant no sound. No sound meant she could surprise the guards, getting the upper hand to take them out. Already, there was a trail of dead guards behind her as she passed through the corridors, the air stripped from their lungs.

Her sheer white nightgown fluttered around her as she dashed about, and in the dim moonlight waning through the windows, she thought herself a ghost, an angel of death. She was on a path she could not stop.

She knew exactly where he was. After spending so many days trapped here, of course she knew where the king’s quarters were.

She knew him like clockwork: what days he would stay up in his study, what days he would retire to his chambers and when. She knew where his guards were, when they would switch patrols, when their protection would be the weakest.

And when it came time, she stood outside of his door, wavering on the spot slightly.

She shook her head, trying the door. Locked.

Taking a breath in, she rapped her knuckles on the hardwood.

She heard rustling beyond the heavy oak door, her heartbeat picking up. She would have to get in there quick, before he looked behind her and saw his guards missing.

The door swung open, a flash of anger on Ajax’s face until he saw who it was.

He gave her a closed-eye smile. “Ah, Lumine, to what do I owe the pleasure—”

Lumine stood on the tips of her toes, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him in for a kiss.

She could feel him go rigid under her touch. She walked him backwards, further into the room, closing the door behind her with her foot.

As the door shut, he broke away from her. “Are you accepting my proposal?” he whispered, his hands clutched around her arms.

Lumine nodded, going for another kiss, arms slinking around his shoulders. This time, he melted into her touch, pulling until he was under her on his bed.

He fell for it.

Pity crept into her heart. From the way he breathed her in, the way he held her in his arms, there was a softness she had never seen from him.

He loved her.

She was his weapon, and now, his greatest weakness.

“I’m sorry,” she said against his lips.

His eyes opened, those ocean eyes on her as she pulled the air from his lungs with ease.

You shouldn’t have trained me.

His hand reached for her throat, but went to his own as he gasped and choked.

She wrapped her own hands around his, pressing down. She slammed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see his face.

He thrashed wildly, and she repeated I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’msorryimsorry over and over again until he went still under her.

…

…

...

She opened her eyes, the world blurry around her. She wiped away the tears pooling in her vision, and looked down at Ajax.

He was unmoving, eyes glazed over, arms limp at his side.

Lumine reached for his throat, hand shaking, fingers checking for a pulse.

He’s dead.

She scrambled off of him, crumbling into a ball on the floor.

I killed him.

Her breathing was uneven—she was the one gasping for breath now as uncontrollable sobs racked through her body.

I am so sorry, Ajax.

* * *

“Lumi?”

Lumine turned to see Aether looking at her with worry.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

A breeze rustled by. Lumine turned back to look over green fields that stretched as far as she could see.

“I’m okay,” she responded.

“Okay,” he repeated. He smiled a bit, pulling an envelope from his pocket. “Diluc’s hawk came this morning. He sends warm wishes to us both.”

After the assassination of King Ajax, Lumine decreed Snezhnaya a freed country, a country with no ruler, and returned the lands of Mondstadt and Liyue back to their rightful heirs. Diluc, now the restored king of Mondstadt, gave Lumine and Aether the riches he promised, and a home deep in the countryside for the peaceful life they so desperately wanted.

But sometimes Lumine had nightmares of Ajax.

She would be sitting next to him, on their thrones as the King and Queen of Snezhnaya. Sometimes, little princes and princesses of theirs would be running around as well.

They would have conjured all of Teyvat together.

They would have loved each other.

Lumine would wake up, tears in her eyes, heart heavy with desire for that life.

And then she would cry because her life would never be peaceful ever again.

[tirsynni]

Okay, a little more Leon flailing and then I’ll stop. Honest.

...probably.

So we’re introduced to this guy as a rookie police officer, straight from the Police Academy. In the remake, it’s clear he’s terrified and has to keep giving himself pep talks and cracking bad jokes to keep his confidence up. It’s revealed that he was so scared of becoming infected that he thought of shooting himself to just end it. Yet he still does everything he can to protect Claire and Sherry, two absolute strangers, and is compassionate to every person he meets during that horrifying night.

What happens after that? He tells Claire to leave him and this small child in order to find her big brother. When the government finds them, he basically sacrifices himself to the government in order to protect Sherry. The first thing he does after that? Uses his new resources to find Claire, find Chris, and tell Chris that Claire is in danger and where to find her. Baby...

We see the stress build on him over the years. He loses friends. He loses allies. He is forced to shoot people he cares about. He’s betrayed, scarred, faces monsters again and again. It is strongly implied in Damnation that he has considered suicide, and in Damnation and Vendetta, we see him finding solace in a bottle.

Yet he remains, in my opinion, one of the toughest and most compassionate characters in the series. He never stops trying to protect the innocent. Hell, he protects the not-so-innocent, including people who were just trying to kill him. When Claire feels guilty in Degeneration, he encourages her. When Buddy tries to commit suicide in Damnation, Leon stops him and tells him to keep fighting. When he encounters Chris in RE6, he tells him simply that he knows he’ll do the right thing and never stops trusting him. He is always quick to support and protect others, even if that person had betrayed him (Helena, Ada, etc.) or was just an enemy (ie, JD and Buddy in Damnation). 

He also keeps going. “...the option of taking our own lives no longer belongs to us... We have to keep living!” From Damnation and I feel like that speech, even if it is directed to another character, personifies him. Leon keeps going, keeps moving forward, keeps saving people, keeps making quips and jokes, keeps bolstering himself and others, and just refuses to falter, give up, or lose hope. We may see him stop to lick his wounds like in Vendetta, but when he’s needed, he literally throws himself into battle. Hell, even in RE4 when his worst fear becomes reality -- becoming infected -- he doesn’t stop moving, swearing to protect and save Ashley.

I love him for being a sassy character, but I love him most for being a broken character who never lets those cracked edges stop him and keeps going to protect others. This guy became a police officer literally to Protect and Serve, and even as a badass government agent, he has never stopped.