#and let all the responsibility of leading/being the clan´s heir fall on her

[berryblu-soda]

Ah yes, the stardust squad WIP

Sorry i sound insane, i love them ok??

[belit0]

Would you be willing to write angst where Madara and indra (separately) finally broke the last straw and they and their lover have a heated argument. It escalates to the point where she threatens to take off her ring. How would they react. (The argument was their fault.)

I am convinced Indra is one of those persons who says hurtful things without feeling it just to make the other one angry, and no one can change my mind.

Indra

He knows the argument is his fault, he is aware of how he pressures (Y/N), and how she feels lesser for not being able to give him a child. It is no one's fault really, only the Otsutsuki's impatience and helplessness for not being able to control nature itself.

Indra is mighty in every way, the most powerful man in the world, but he is failing at the one fundamental task of his present time: to conceive an heir and start a clan with his own blood.

He does not know where the failure lies, he has no idea if it is because of him or (Y/N), all he cares about is how he fills his wife with his seed every single night, hoping for an immediate result that never comes. It is frustrating, having achieved the most difficult goal of his life, conquered everything he wanted, and not being able to achieve the most common and ordinary task of any man.

An afternoon of problems is when he explodes against his beloved, bearing the pressures of his followers and resolving situations within the village he managed to create after his victory. Everyone counts on him, everyone needs him, and the pressure of authority becomes exhausting.

(Y/N), worried about her inability to grant him an heir, seeks validation and reaffirmation from him. She just needs to hear everything is okay, that they will get through it together, and that patience will be the greatest virtue for them both to get through the predicament, finally getting a child. The woman goes to her husband's private training camp, where she always counts on being able to find him. The man senses her arrival and stops his practice to give her his attention. "It's nothing urgent, my love, I'm just worried."

With a cold stare, Indra hides his concern, refusing to let his wife see the worry is shared. Unable to show he feels fear about it too, he chooses a distant stance, kicking the problem down on her, "You should be, it's been a while since we started trying."

"You talk like it's my fault...we have no idea what's going on and-" (Y/N) is interrupted by curt words, throwing responsibility on her actions, as if she doesn't want to have a family with him.

"I'm not certain about that, and I'm afraid consequences must happen soon." The Otsutsuki glares at her, red-eyed from his height, inwardly regretting not knowing how to put his feelings into words without hurting her in the process. He knows his position will only lead to trouble, but he can't do anything about it, riding a train with no brakes.

"Consequences...would you risk all our years together for a stone in the road...? Indra, I've been with you from the beginning, long before everything that happened..." There are tears in (Y/N)'s eyes, threatening an early free fall down her face. The woman stares at him in disbelief, genuinely mortified with every response she receives. Does her company mean nothing to him, the unconditional love she gave him through all their moments?

"My life was built upon losing people I believed to love. If I had to lose you for this, it wouldn't be news, (Y/N)." His sentences are like many kunai burying themselves in different parts of her body, and the woman can do nothing but rethink everything until now.

"You should probably keep this then." She throws the gift he gave her on their wedding night, a beautiful ring engraved and embedded in red gemstones, at his feet. Pain is visible on her features, and the anger with which she turns away from him is palpable.

Worst of all, Indra does not feel any of the words he said. He would never abandon her, even if it meant not being able to bear children of his own blood. He cannot control the image he pretends to have in the outside world, even if that includes hurting those he truly cares about.

(Y/N) has been with him since before his curse, was with him during his eternal fight with Ashura, and helped him build the place he now calls his. She is his safe space, his little home, but he can't help the awful unreasonable words flowing out of his mouth in frustration, anger, and rage. She knows him, and understands he's usually a pain in the ass to argue with, but this time she seems to have been truly affected by his statements.

Maybe he took it too far, without even meaning to.

He picks up the ring at his feet and puts it in his pocket before deciding to run, get away from the place, and find a distant and remote village to kill every single one of its inhabitants. Indra lashes out at the life of all the innocents he finds in the tiny town, destroying children, women, and fathers alike.

His anger is directed at himself, raging at his inability to control and suppress his reflex to hurt others. Of course, ironic to analyze his own self while dismembering humans left and right.

Madara

It is in the early evening when Madara decides to leave in search of (Y/N). Having arrived earlier than usual, he wanted to surprise her at home, but she was nowhere to be found. He opted to go to Izuna and ask about her, his brother always being everywhere and nowhere, knowing the whereabouts of every person in the clan.

The younger Uchiha recounts how he saw her walking a while ago, presumably towards the local Uchiha market, intending to buy something to make Madara some dinner. How Izuna knows so many details is none of his concern, yet he is grateful for the information.

Arriving at the market, he scans the place for her presence, too tired to use the Sharingan and deciding to do it the old-fashioned way. He walks among the stalls and greets every person who dares to speak to him, being stopped many more times than he would like at this hour.

As he talks to a little old lady, he sees her in the distance, having a very animated conversation with a man he recognizes from his army. He is an average warrior, one of the many Uchiha who never managed to develop a Sharingan, and he is too close to his wife for his liking.

Quickly excusing himself, Madara frees from the old woman to get closer to where (Y/N) is, without revealing himself to her but close enough for the man to notice. Behind his wife's back, the Uchiha stares at him with eyes full of hatred and menace, causing the warrior to flee in terror without even saying goodbye to her. Confused, (Y/N) turns around to see what spooked the man, caused him to be so horrified, and meets her husband face to face.

Judging by his expression, it looks as if he has just met Tobirama, and the woman is extremely embarrassed when he lifts her over his shoulder, abducting her from the market and concluding her shopping moment.

"Madara what the fuck! Put me down now!" She yells angrily, slamming a fist into his back and trying to lift her head to keep all the blood from going to that area. He doesn't comply with her demand until a few minutes later when they are in the privacy of their home, and away from any prying eyes.

"What got into you?!" (Y/N) exclaims indignantly, trying to understand what could have affected him enough to not even say hello.

"Who the fuck was that man and why were you conversing so cheerfully with him?" He asks with both loathing and resignation, expecting a terrible answer from his wife. Maybe it was her lover, maybe it was the person she would want to replace him with, or maybe she already had.

"He's one of the guards you assigned to take care of me today, you idiot! He was with me all day, under your own orders! Don't you even register what you decree, all day locked up in your office?!"(Y/N) is overcome with indignation, being indirectly accused of unfaithfulness wrongfully.

The Uchiha is speechless, not knowing what to say about it. He deals with so many things per day and at the same time, he tends to forget one or two matters. He feels disgusted for having assigned such a weak warrior as his wife's bodyguard, but even more so for not being able to remember it. The stress was consuming him to such an extent he was beginning to forget important things, skipping some and erasing others altogether.

"Even if that hadn't been the case, seeing me talk to another man doesn't give you the right to freak out like that! Interacting with people of the opposite sex doesn't mean I'll be looking to cheat on you, Madara! Grow the hell up, and learn to respect me as your wife, or it ends here!"

Enraged, (Y/N) storms out of the house, leaving a stunned and shocked Uchiha in the middle of the room. The only thing Madara is thankful for is the fact she didn't take off her ring, which could mean two things: either she didn't notice, or she doesn't see it as serious enough to genuinely leave him. Either way, he feels terribly guilty, and can't understand how he lets himself be driven by jealousy like that.

Unfounded jealousy, even worse.

The Uchiha is left pondering in solitude before he goes off to find her, determined to apologize on his knees if that's what it takes to get (Y/N) not to be angry at him anymore.

[demonslayer-yanderes]

“No! Don’t leave! I’ll die without you!” Very desperate Hanzo, Genji, Prefall Gabe and Orisa hc where captors are scrambling to get reader to not break up with them after blowing their cover as yandere? (Ie killing potential suitors behind back, etc?)

Hanzo was always taught to be discreet, neat, and quick. He was all of those with each and every life he took be it an animal or human. He did everything he was taught- everything right, so why were you here? You had no reason to be here and he gave no indication of what he was going to do once he excused himself from your side. Your eyes grew wide at the sight of your ex dead in the alleyway in which you unknowingly walked into your boyfriend doing the unimaginable. You fervently glanced at the arrow sticking out of his chest cavity and the surprised expression Hanzo was giving you. You take a step back as he reaches his hand out to you; scared. 

“Wait,” He says as firmly as he can, “Let me explain, 私の愛.”

“I didn’t see- I didn’t see you do anything. I-I won’t tell anyone and-” You fumble over your words, speaking too fast for the either of you to comprehend. 

Your boyfriend takes hold of your hand causing you to flinch. He frowns at this but doesn’t let go, “Allow me to explain.”

“Explain what? That- that you killed him? My ex? For what?” You sputter at the audacity he had to try and explain what didn’t need explaining. You know what he did when he was still the heir to the Shimada clan but he told you, he promised you, that he was no longer affiliated with the clan and those days were far behind him.

“He was trying to intervene in our relationship,” Hanzo begins lowly, “Did you think why he would suddenly want to come back in your life? Because he wants what is mine and that i can not allow that. Ever.”

“Hanzo,” You choke out a sob and try to pull back your hand to no avail, his hand gripped onto yours like a vice, “Let me go…”

“Please, calm down-”

“Let me go!” You shriek and he clasps his other hand over your mouth. You struggle against him as hard as you can but it’s no use. His strength was far superior to yours and you stood no chance, “I can’t love a killer!” You hiss through his palm and he freezes.

“What,” He licks his dry lips and slowly removes his hand from your mouth, “What are you saying?”

You swallow a lump in your throat but press on, “If you let me go, i won’t go to the police- I won’t tell anyone about what happened so-”

“What about us?” His voice shakes but his brows remained furrowed.

“There is no us anymore.” You say softly. It didn’t occur to you that he might kill you too, it never crossed your mind, but if it had you knew he wouldn’t, “So just let me go, okay? I promise I won’t say a word to anyone.” 

You glance once more at the dead corpse but hold your breath. Hanzo’s lip quivers as he processes what you’re saying. “No,” He says lowly, “No! Don’t leave me! I will die without you!”

He grabs you by the shoulders firmly and you can’t help but gasp at his sudden roughness, “Hanzo, stop.”

“Please,” He begs in a voice you’ve never heard before. His desperation sounded like that of a wounded animal. He buries his face into the crook of your neck, “You are all I have.”

Genji tried very hard to keep himself in check at all times and usually it didn’t take more effort than blinking but tonight was different, very different. Your new neighbor was getting awfully friendly with you both when he was and wasn’t there. On numerous occasions you’ve assured him it was nothing and that your neighbor was just being friendly. For awhile it kept him at bay and he did his best to ignore it. But when your neighbor suddenly starts flirting with you in front of him he’s had enough. 

Genji stands inbetween the two of you and stares the other down with a look even you were unfamiliar with. It reminded you of that of a predator. He and your neighbor just looked at one another eye to eye for several moments before the latter scoffed and rolled their eyes. 

“What’re you doing?” They raised a brow, crossing their arms. 

“I could ask you the same.” Is all he says as he takes a step forward. Your neighbor doesn’t back up. 

“Look, man-” They sneer but Genji swiftly cuts them off. 

“You look,” He utters sternly, “I know you’re new here and in search of new friends but my s/o doesn’t need new friends.”

“Excuse you?” They scoff at his audacity. They jab a finger at his chest and open their mouth to speak but only an abrupt scream fills the room. You gasp in horror at your boyfriend breaking your neighbor’s finger. 

“You seem nice,” Genji points out his observation before his voice turns dark, “I’d hate to kill you.”

You spew an unbelievable amount of apologies to your neighbor before calling the paramedics. To avoid trouble you swiftly lead Genji into your home, slamming the door behind you 

“What the hell was that?!” You scream at him and he jolts in surprise as if he didn’t expect you to be upset. 

“They were trying-” Genji tries to defend himself but you scoff and cut him off before he has a chance to do so. 

“They weren’t trying to do anything!” You shout, glaring at the man, “You broke his finger, Genji! For no reason! Since when did you suddenly have random bursts of violence, huh? Because that is not the man I fell in love with.”

He holds his hand out to you for reconciliation but you slap it away, glaring at him. You felt absolutely disgusted with how he was acting and did not want to indulge him in any piss-poor apology he was going to give you. 

“Please, sweet flower, just give me a chance.” He voice was soft and nonthreatening, exactly the opposite of what it was just a few moments ago. Somehow you felt you couldn’t let your guard down. 

“No,” You cross your arms across your chest, “I think you should leave.”

He gives you a questioning look but doesn’t make a move, “Flower?”

Turning around you yanked the door open and pointed out the door, “Leave.” 

Tears start to well within his eyes, “No, please,” He falls to his knees, wrapping his arms around your waist as he presses his face against your lower abdomen with a sob, “Don’t leave me. I’ll die without you…”

“No! Don’t leave! I’ll die without you!” Gabriel shouts after you as he chases you down the corridor. Your heart was racing with tears streaming down your cheeks as you ran as fast as your legs could carry you, “Wait!”

You didn’t mean to see it- see him doing that. You knew he was in Blackwatch, and despite the rumors you did your damnedest not to believe them, but you didn’t know he would kill one of your closest friends. No matter how many times you told him, promised him, he was just a friend he didn’t believe you. Why couldn’t he trust you? What was he so paranoid of? He had your love, he knew that, so what did he have to take someone so very important away from you? So many questions flew through your mind with too little answers. 

You let out a cry when Gabriel finally caught up to you and pinned you to the cold, hard floor. You didn’t bother to struggle against him as his hands bruised your wrists. He kisses the back of your head, whispering an apology. You wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor right then and there and just disappear. 

“Mi amor, mi amor,” His breathing is labored when he intertwines his fingers with yours, “He wasn’t a good man.” 

“Why would you say that? He was my closest friend.” You choke out a sob, turning your face to avoid his kisses. 

“It’s because he was so close to you,” He explains, tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear, “He can’t love you like I love you. We’re close, we’re in love. Don’t forget that, bello, we’re in love and I am all that you need, okay? You’re all that I need, mi amor.” 

He kept repeating this like a broken mantra as you lied pinned beneath him, crying silently. 

Efi was still in the process of programming Orisa’s knowledge of fundamental laws. She knew the basics such as jaywalking, running a red light, stealing, and so forth. What she didn’t know, or rather she didn’t know better, was that one couldn’t just push someone into a nearby well because she felt…what did she feel? She was unsure but whatever it was it made her upset. Distressed. Jealous.

By the time they found him he was already dead. He died due to internal bleeding, Orisa explained to you as you shook in fear. You witnessed her push the man into the well. She had to explain but you just would not listen to her. She didn’t know what to do so she brought you back to your home, carrying you kicking and screaming. It certainly caused quite the sight in public but the citizens of Numbani were used to Efi’s new project by now and didn’t think much of it aside from a slight inconvenience. 

“Please understand that my program in regards to civilian behavior may be malfunctioning.” Is the best she can come up with when she doesn’t even know why she did what she did. 

“Orisa, you killed someone. Do you know what that means?” You bellow. She pauses for a long while, unable to form a response, “I can’t handle this- I’m- I’m leaving for a bit.” 

“No!” Orisa suddenly turns gold defensively, “Do not leave! I fear I will malfunction once more without you.”

[velvet-tread]

Octavia, Jasper and leadership on the 100

So I’ve been mulling Octavia’s victory at the conclave and what it means for O and the storyline more generally. I want to talk about leadership and political legitimacy and later I’ll talk about Jasper and I’m going to talk about Clarke and Bellamy quite a bit too.  (Just fyi I’m not covering discourse – there’s a valid discussion to be had about white saviour tropes but this is pure meta today. I leave the discourse platform free for others). 

Onward under the cut

The end of the heda

The past few episodes have been maddening. Like, frothing at the mouth slow and apparently pointless. But FINALLY last week it started to make sense and I see now that these little plot points have been quietly laying the ground for a political metamorphosis. Clarke becoming a nightblood and her failed attempt at assuming the role of commander came about not because she is Lexa’s heir or for simple dramatic effect, but because the show wanted to undermine the premise of the 12 clans’ current hierarchical structure.

As Roan says, if the Grounders’ cannot trust the power of the blood, the whole system, including the role of the commander, is rendered null and void. Which would mean that there is now an opportunity to forge a new way of governing the survivors of the apocalypse, as “one people”.

So as winner of the conclave, Octavia now finds herself in a position of power. I say power and not “leadership” for a reason. Crucially, as winner of the conclave Octavia’s power is legitimate in the eyes of the Grounders because the contest was mutually agreed by all the clans. But what it does not do is automatically confer on her a leadership position. Firstly, because that was not was what was agreed upon - the winner of the contest gets the bunker, not the crown. And secondly, because there is no universally-recognised leadership position to fill - yet.

So Octavia will not be elevated to leader of the “one people” automatically.  But she has the power to make it meaningful and take a step in that direction.  To establish a voice for herself and have others listen. To make decisions on behalf of others. To lead organically.

The apprentice

But does Octavia have what it takes to lead? Is a power grab Octavia’s style?  We’ve certainly never seen her in a leadership position before, she’s always been in the shadow of others – of Bellamy, of Lincoln, of Indra. She is the perennial apprentice. But I’m reminded of something Indra says in 402 (I think?) when we are introduced to Gaia.  She says something like: “my daughter was meant to lead great armies”, which in retrospect feels like foreshadowing to me. Her biological daughter chose a different path, one which she shows little interest in relinquishing, but perhaps her adopted daughter might be the one to fulfil this destiny.

Octavia has never shown interest in leading. Rather, she’s taken more of an interest in judging the leadership abilities of others (more on that later). But honestly, as leaders go, I am so here for the reluctant leaders for whom leadership is a burden rather than a privilege or a right. Those people, who always seem to have a sense of the corruption inherent in political power, tend to make the most interesting leaders.  Give me Harry Potter or Jon Snow. Give me Katniss Everdeen. Give me Octavia Blake.

And just... Octavia’s status as the girl under the floor really does lend her clarity where others might see only the fog of what has gone before. In fact, Octavia really makes more sense than Clarke as Lexa’s political heir.

When Octavia was living under the floor in the Ark, she was never of the Ark. She didn’t vote in its elections.  She didn’t participate in its customs or traditions. She’s not schooled in its political mores like Clarke or Kane or Abby, or embedded in its military structures like Bellamy. Likewise, she was never accepted as a Grounder either. She’s not influenced by faith like Echo or by tradition like Indra. She even says: she’s not Skaikru, she’s not Grounder, she’s nothing.  And a nothing, someone with a clean cultural template, is precisely the person most likely to have the vision to forge the new, unified future that Lexa pioneered.

Leaders and Not Leaders

Which brings me to my next point about leadership, that the development of Octavia as a leader doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll become a Commander-like figure who gets to assume authority over everyone as Lexa did. What would make the most sense for me is that this is Octavia’s first big test of leadership, without actually making her a figurehead. What if she could lead, make decisions and actively use her power, but defer to others when the time came?

I want to digress a moment and talk about Leaders, and how we define them.  There’s a tendency in this fandom to consider leadership and leaders in binary terms: someone is either a Leader or they are Not A Leader. And if they are a Leader, they give orders.  If they take orders, then they are Not A Leader.  Hence why there was outcry when Bellamy “took orders” from Clarke in s2, because people perceived he had been stripped of his leadership status.

Imo this is such a reductive way to talk about it. I mean, sure, some people have leadership qualities and some don’t and some have more aptitude than others. And even bone fide leaders – leaders with a title – are also required to know how to take orders. Military personnel take and give orders simultaneously, that’s why it’s called a chain of command not the dot of command. It applies if you are a middle manager at a carpet sales firm. It even applies if you are the president of the United States.  If you climb aboard Air Force One, you don’t cease to be the leader of the free world. But while you are on Air Force One you are not in charge, the pilot is, because the pilot is responsible for the aircraft and everyone on it so you’d better do what the fuck the pilot says.

So when Bellamy takes orders from Clarke it doesn’t mean that Bellamy’s not a leader.  It just means that in that specific context Clarke is in charge because she is in a position to/has the specific leadership skills necessary for that situation, in s2’s case a fragile political negotiation. And even in that situation, Bellamy is still leading. Once he’s in the mountain, he’s leading the others, arming them, issuing instructions, taking the initiative etc etc. It’s just that the command structure has adapted for the situation they’re in. Leadership is not only defined by the position you hold in a group, it can be organically defined by the circumstances. dependent on context.

With this in mind, let’s talk about Jasper. When the kids landed on Earth a leadership contest ensued between Bellamy, Clarke and Wells, with various others jostling for position in the hierarchy – Murphy and Finn especially. Not Jasper.  Jasper, having survived a spear to the heart, was never in the game. He was thrust into heroism when everyone else was struck down with haemorrhagic fever - he was never touted as a leader. But then when the group is captured by the Mountain Men, and after Clarke escapes, Jasper emerges as the leader of the group.  It was part personality, part luck.  His affability puts him in contact with Maya, they become friends and she becomes his key to the Mountain Men’s culture, and like Octavia he starts to act as a bridge between the two cultures, all the while leading the counter-insurgency against Cage and his vampires.  Jasper is a leader.  He is. He’s a leader for that time and that place and that context.  Doesn’t mean he’s Chancellor or even leader of the delinquents when they get back to Arkadia. And guess what, Jasper’s leading again, this time his DNR death cult. So when the variables line up and Jasper’s charisma and leadership skills hit the mark – people follow him. I repeat: Jasper is a leader.  

The point of all this is that I see Octavia in a similar vein to Jasper.  Young, inexperienced and as yet without the confidence or precociousness which pushes the likes of Clarke to the forefront, but still with the qualities – vision, determination, charisma and intelligence – which makes them the natural leaders in certain situations.

Bellarke and forgiveness

So what really interests me is the parallel stories of empowerment, suffering and disillusionment that this show has been telling about Octavia and Jasper, particularly with how they sit in the narrative in relation to their group’s natural leaders, Clarke and Bellamy.

As well as being dormant leaders with parallel arcs depicting acute mental illness, Jasper and Octavia both hold the unique narrative positions of being Clarke and Bellamy’s personal antagonists.  Jasper and Octavia owe them their lives; both put them each up on a pedestal. With that pedestal came a host of unrealistic expectations of Clarke and Bellamy’s leadership abilities, their humanity and their infallibility as well as a tendency to invalidate their feelings and take their loyalty and love for granted. Inevitably, Clarke and Bellamy fell short. Of course they would. And when that happened, their fall from grace was all the more spectacular for the high esteem with which Jasper and Octavia initially held them, and the resentment and the disappointment in them all the more visceral.

I thought you were better.

This disappointment and anger is embodied in the events at the root of Jasper and Octavia’s most acute episodes – the MW genocide and Lincoln’s death respectively – for which Jasper and Octavia hold Clarke and Bellamy wholly (and unreasonably wholly) responsible.

What would be interesting is for Octavia and Jasper’s parallel stories of leadership in extreme/specific circumstances to segue into their forgiveness of Bellamy and Clarke for the decisions they made that led to those events. I would love that forgiveness to be tied to an understanding of how those decisions were made, as well as an understanding that fallibility with tragic consequences is still just plain old fallibility. Clarke may have committed the ultimate crime, but she made imperfect choices in an impossible situation.  Bellamy may have played a role in getting Lincoln killed, but his mistake was a lack of foresight rather than malice.

On last week’s metastation @reblogginhood talked about the possibility of Jasper having to make decisions about who lives and who dies when the shit inevitably hits the fan closer to Death Wave Time. I love this idea, because although Jasper says he gets why Clarke did what she did at MW, I don’t think he’s tried to understand the pressures she faced as a leader in MW. Having him walk in her shoes would make her experience so real for him.

So whether or not Octavia “leads” in the traditional sense after the conclave, she will definitely be responsible for other people’s lives – the people who are looking to her as winner of the conclave, the current inhabitants of the bunker, and yeah, Clarke. I would looooove her experience with this kind of responsibility overlap with Bellamy’s too. Because although Octavia and Clarke are fam and O has always looked to Clarke for ideas, I think rightly or wrongly she’s probably at a point of being done with Clarke for good (hello tonDC). I don’t think she’d want to execute her, but I neither do I think she’d sacrifice others to save her.  My guess is that Clarke’s importance to Bellamy will be what pushes O to save Clarke’s life, but there will be a messy, uncomfortable compromise or an unexpected escalation. If so, I would love to see Octavia realising that responsibility is harder than it looks and that your decisions can very quickly run away from you without your consent.

Make it messy, make it difficult, make it look like growth. Give me Octavia Blake.