#anatoly roslyakov

[bondsmagii]

Tell us about your OC [Redacted], how big of a bastard are they?

I’m just gonna use this as an excuse to introduce a bunch of my OCs using the highly scientific Bastard Rating System:

1/5: traces of bastardry2/5: traces of bastardry with selected examples of Extreme Bastardry3/5: many examples of Extreme Bastardry, but with Good or at least Necessary Reason; one or two moments of Just Plain Bastardry4/5: Just Plain Bastardry, with elements of Intentional Sadistic Bastardry5/5: King Bastard of Bastard Mountain, Let All Those Who Bear Witness Feast Upon His Bastardous Doctrine

so, with that in mind…

OC Bastardry Levels:

Zekiel Tozyehr: Shades of Magic OC for an Extensive AU of mine, Last Antari in Black London™, goin thru it, delightful accent, reads a lot, has spent a good portion of his life wishing Osaron would leave him alone, Bites Off More Than He Can Chew, definitely a badass and definitely doesn’t realise it until long after everybody else, did not see another human for two decades and therefore any interaction is bound to be wild. bastard rating: 3/5 (doesn’t seem fitting? you’ll see)

***

Yakov [yet to be last-named]: revolutionary for a good cause, does nasty deeds in name of said revolution, loves his wife, likes to stare at nature, Angsts over said deeds, sexy scars, many believe him to be the craziest motherfucker to walk Siberia since Rasputin, enjoys a good sunset. bastard rating: 3/5

Anatoly Roslyakov: one of Yakov’s second-in-commands, also a revolutionary for a good cause, Gets His Hands Dirty So You Don’t Have To, has literally no bad feelings over it whatsoever, is well aware that he’s like that as a person so takes one for the team, most reviled member of the squad but gives good honest no-nonsense advice, good husband, great dad, too smart for his own good. bastard rating: 4/5

Anastasia [yet to be last-named]: the other of Yakov’s second-in-commands, Mad Lad, absolute nutcase, 4′11 goblin, WILL use your assumption that her height renders her harmless to headbutt you in the kidneys, bisexual icon, loves her grandma, will kill a man if necessary but doesn’t feel the Rush Of The Kill, likes to play piano and sing maudlin songs at parties, if you Soviet historians out there think she sounds familiar it’s because she’s his great-granddaughter. bastard rating: 3/5

Nadezhda Sharonova: Literature Bitch™, absolutely the only person in this group with brain cells, God She Puts Up With A Lot, ends up way out of her depth but comes out swinging, A Bitch Has Anxiety, good poetry will make her cry, if you debate her she’ll probably put a pencil behind her ear and then point her newly free hand at you and you know you’re dead, very against murder but shit gets wild sometimes. bastard rating: rare non-bastard

***

Percival “Percy” Mulholland: decadence & aesthetic baby, wears Gucci, billionaire at like age 20 but is cool about it, can and will fly all his friends to some fancy location to stay on his fucking yacht, thirty-seventh in line to the British throne, so full of love probably against his best interests, Thot, Part-Time Himbo, nerd, Has A Lot Of Demons, will always be found lounging on a piece of furniture with wine. bastard rating: 3/5

Reuben Sjöberg: as a 6′7 albino person who always wears white he is well aware of the fact he’s probably the most interesting person you’ll ever see, Has A Dreadful Secret, too manipulative for his own good, Sounds Good In Theory But Wait What The Fuck Reuben, terrible ideas abound, Source Of All Trouble, Swedish but speaks better English than anyone in the group. bastard rating: 4/5

Adrian Urquhart: small, gay, will fight you through tears, knows all the gossip at all times, pretty much knows everything about everything, might not tell you until it’s too late, Heretic Catholic™, Spite is a Good Motivator, needs a nap, could probably benefit from a little more backbone, Crouching Introvert Hidden Thot. bastard rating: 2/5

Charlotte Brown: very pretty and very unassuming, knows it, dresses like she wandered out of the fae realm, seems dreamy and distant but never misses a single fucking beat, if she can’t smooth an argument out nobody can, Theatre Bitch™, when at parties she’s lowkey always looking for an excuse to throw her drink over somebody in outrage. bastard rating: 2/5

Niamh Connolly: from Belfast and will not soften her accent for the sake of the poor posh bitches around her, here to cause A Ruckus™, punk lesbian icon who absolutely has punched a Nazi, very strong morals that cause a lot of trouble down the line, probably the only person in the group who’se not a fucking nutcase, very outspoken, letting her drive is not recommended. bastard rating: 2/5

***

Aidan Mirza: Dumbass Narrator™, very gay, grew up constantly wishing for an adventure and boy did he get it, Supernatural Abilities [wiggles fingers while saying ‘OoOoOoOhhh’], too loyal for his own good, I Just Hate This Town Yanno?, lives with A Lot, calm on the outside screaming on the inside, means well but what the fuck. bastard rating: 2/5

Vertigo “Tigo” Havlíček: green hair don’t care, named after a literal carnival ride and not even mad about it, heir to a cursed funfair and is a bit mad about that, Even More Supernatural Abilities, sees too much, Am I The Only Person Going To Do Anything Around Here?, may be responsible for dozens of deaths but he can explain he swears, probably could do with admitting there’s a problem sooner. bastard rating: 3/5

***

Cameron Torrance: anger issues out the ass, disgruntled night shift cashier, alcoholic, Me? Traumatised? Ha!, serious violent PTSD that he will NOT acknowledge, murderer (self-defence), murderer (dealing with some things), You Ever Just Look Around And Think ‘This Might As Well Happen?’, very fucked up confused and oftentimes rancid morals, probably survives by remembering he’s not as bad as Jasper. bastard rating: 4/5

Jasper Tuozzo: runs a deep web murder room, lives to torment the shit out of Cameron, night shift milk delivery driver with a great discomfort of driving at night, smokes like a chimney and will bum cigarettes whenever he can, murderer (because it’s fun), nasty trauma in childhood but sincerely not enough to explain this, hasn’t given a fuck about anything since 1987. bastard rating: 5/5

Francis “Frankie” Morrison: university student, tired, very cute, gets excited if asked to accompany someone on errands, somehow Cameron’s boyfriend and somehow loves him dearly, worries a lot, far too innocent for his own good, cooks for people, hilarious bastard, god knows what he’s doing with these other two freaks. bastard rating: rare non-bastard

[bondsmagii]

so! im in charge of writing the big villain for a story of mine. this guy is pretty horrible already, but I wanted to know from someone I look up to writing wise, what kind of things do you think truly make villains? what would make a villain so bad even you would be like oh thats a piece of shit?

man... I love villains and I love love love writing them. if I look at my own work, and also the villains I enjoy reading about, there are two things that I keep coming back to that I think is effective. usually my favourite villains to read and write about (and the ones I most frequently think what the fuck, dude? over) have one (or both!) of the following two traits:

they’re completely fucking delusional

I love villains who truly, sincerely believe in what they’re doing. they really think they’re in the right, and they either don’t see the extent of what they’re doing in order to reach their goal, or (even better) they do and they just do not care. it’s a very eerie thing to witness, because good writing means that the reader understands the villain and might even see where he or she is coming from. they can look at the villain’s ideas and objectively see yes, this is technically correct, but somewhere along the line the villain has gone so off the fucking shits that no rational human could ever back them up... but at the same time it’s still so understandable. it’s terrifying, because it instantly humanises the villain and makes you realise that we, as people, are very liable to such things. also, there is no limit to what a person will do for a genuine believe. I like to call these types “zealot villains”, and they are so spicy. 

examples I love in books I’ve read would probably be the Darkling from the Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, and Eli Ever from V. E. Schwab’s Villains series. examples from my own original projects would be Eli Farrell (coincidentally also named Eli -- what is it about that name and this type of character?) who commits absolutely horrific acts because of a delusional belief in the working of the world, and Vertigo “Tigo” Havlíček (from my fairground gothic horror project) who commits absolutely horrific acts because of an at least partially mistaken belief in how magic works, not to mention a complete disregard for the consequences of such magic. 

they’re part of the long con

this involves a level of betrayal that most people would simply crumple under the weight of. villains who fall into this category are strategic, incredibly smart, scarily patient, and have no problem lying to multiple people (possibly even hundreds or thousands of people) on a general level, and manipulating and deceiving many people on a personal level. nobody knows who they really are, nobody will ever know their true intentions, and by the time they realise what they’re up against it’s usually too late. these villains are conniving and can read a person in an instant; they’ll instantly home in on the one thing that will best get to a person and will use it against them. they can also fall into the above category (doing so because they believe it’s right) but this trait can also stand on its own. it’s also very common in revenge-driven villains, which is another trait I love. seeing the mess that’s left behind by one of these villains, and the amount of people who suffer some level of guilt for unknowingly helping the villain in his or her plans... it’s heartbreaking. especially when the reader knows what the villain is doing, and is helpless to warn the other characters who are getting involved with them.

examples in books I’ve read would be the Darkling again (he is a brilliant example of these two traits combines) and also to an extent Victor Vale from V. E. Schwab’s Villains series. from other media, a shoutout to Raoul Silva, the villain in the Bond film Skyfall, who surrounds himself with strays and wins their loyalty by homing in on the things that trouble them the most. from my own original projects, Reuben Sjöberg from my dark academia story could fit into this category (his personality is very charismatic and overbearing and he gets a lot of people involved in a very shitty situation all for very selfish reasons) and Anatoly Roslyakov from my Soviet history reincarnation project (he’s a born spy and is not to be trusted).