#at his very worst he has been a hit man with sadistic tendencies but even then it's never been on the levels of sadistic like crimson

[painfullyprickedandticked]

i dont think striker and alastor are characters who are "precious senpais who did nothing wrong" i just don't think they're as reprehensible as valentino or stella. their actions aren't excusable, no, but they aren't near that level of abhorrent.

[violent-optimism]

Ranking the Uncharted Villains

Hey Everyone!

I know this post is kind of out of the blue. The truth is I’ve been working on it for about a month or two. It’s taken me a long time to make but it’s finally done and I am ready to share it with you all!

Please enjoy this ranking of all the villains in the Uncharted game series. The order of characters is from worst to best. These are just my personal opinions, and I don’t mean to change anyone’s minds!

Also, please excuse the poor quality of some of these images, I struggled to find high quality ones!

(Note: I will not be including minor/side villains like Ramses, Orca, etc.)

Gabriel Roman – Simon Templeman

So let’s start off with, in my opinion, the worst of the bunch, and not in a good way. Roman is not a horribly written villain at all, but compared to some of the other Uncharted baddies, he’s pretty boring. There’s not much about him that is interesting or unique. He’s just an old British guy hell-bent on finding the treasure before our heroes do. Never seen that before! Although I will give him props for being the only Uncharted villain to actually “kill” one of the heroes…for a limited time that is.

Atoq Navarro – Robin Atkin Downes

Much like his boss, Navarro ain’t that special either. He doesn’t even have that many lines or screen time until the later chapters of the game. One could easily forget about his existence, especially during the more intense areas of the campaign. However, Navarro is slightly better than Roman in one specific way, in that he is revealed to have been pulling the strings all along; and is in fact the main baddie whom you fight in the final showdown. He appears to be far more intelligent than originally shown, which makes for an interesting twist when he betrays Roman and ultimately kills him.

Asav – Usman Ally

For those of you who have had the pleasure to experience the amazing game that is Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, you are probably very familiar with this villain. To put it plainly, Asav is a delusional yet intelligent psychopath who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. While seemingly very intimidating at first, Asav’s plan starts to fall apart towards the end of the game thanks to the insane stubbornness of Chloe and Nadine. In truth, Asav is actually nothing more than a madman who struggles to see beyond his own vision. He is definitely well written (and acted) but he fails to hold up against some of the franchise’s more iconic villains.

Eddy Raja – James Sie

Speaking of iconic villains, it doesn’t get any more iconic than this hilarious baddie from the original game. While he doesn’t have a terrible amount of screen time, Eddy completely steals the show whenever he’s around thanks to the brilliant comedic timing of James Sie. Eddy is an interesting character as he somehow manages to be intimidating and pathetic at the same time. Hot-headed and completely full of himself, the Indonesian crime lord is a classic villain with only one true motivation: treasure (lots of it!). I do acknowledge that Nate and Eddy teamed up before his rather gruesome death, but let’s be honest…he’s definitely a bad guy, no question about it.

Katherine Marlowe – Rosalind Ayres

Looks can be deceiving, and while Marlowe might look like a sweet old lady, she is anything but. Cold, manipulative and incredibly smart; Marlowe is the only Uncharted villain to have literally been at odds with Nate for most of his treasure hunting life. Granted, she needs help from her loyal bodyguards in order to fully enact her wicked deeds, but Marlowe is a very imposing woman nonetheless. Preferring psychological warfare and controlling her enemies through fear, Marlowe is one of Nathan Drake’s greatest adversaries, and rightfully so!

Talbot - Robin Atkin Downes

Probably the most terrifying thing about this Uncharted baddie is just how little we actually know about him. Wherever Marlowe goes, Talbot is never far behind. Throughout his appearances in Uncharted 3, the secondary villain appears to do things that should be impossible. He’s like a magician, a secret service agent and a sadist rolled into one terrifying man. While seeming prim and proper on the outside, Talbot houses an evil streak and shares his superior’s goal of dominating opponents through fear and pain. Oh, and definitely don’t accept any drugs he offers…

Rafe Adler – Warren Kole

Rafe has got to be the worst example of what happens when you spoil your kids. What do all men with money want? More money. With big dreams of finding Henry Avery’s treasure and the bank account to pull it off, Rafe will stop at nothing to prove he is more than just another rich white guy (which he totally is). However, money isn’t the only thing that Rafe has going for him. He does an exceptional job at pretending to act like a sane individual. In truth, he’s a psychotic monster with a temper that’s always bubbling just below the surface. Rafe doesn’t care about being nice and never will, he just wants one thing and I’m pretty sure you know what that is (psst…treasure).

Nadine Ross - Laura Bailey

To be honest, I sort of struggled on whether or not to actually include Nadine on this list. Yes, she is one of the main villains in Uncharted 4, but as we know from The Lost Legacy, she isn’t all bad, and isn’t nearly as loathsome as some of the other characters on this list.

That being said, Nadine is not to be messed with. She literally packs a punch! Capable of fighting two grown men at once, the leader of Shoreline will make you think twice about the phrase: “hits like a girl”. Straightforward, blunt and not one to mince words, Nadine is as strategic as she is lethal. She also has the unique experience of being the only Uncharted villain to avoid death. In the end, she’s all the better for it.  

Harry Flynn – Steve Valentine

It’s impossible to overstate just how entertaining this character is. Flynn is a villain that you love to hate. While not quite as witty as Drake, Flynn does possess a wicked sense of humor; ultimately dishing out some of the most hilarious dialogue in the entire Uncharted series. What is interesting about Flynn is that he honestly just seems like an ordinary guy who made some very wrong choices. His lack of intelligence and pathetic tendencies don’t make him very threatening; especially in comparison to his villain counterpart.

On the other hand, Flynn does seem to get a kick out of fooling Drake and even lands a rather devastating gunshot wound on our hero. Although he tries his best to impress Lazarevic, his efforts aren’t up to snuff, and the villain dies in what is probably one of the most tragic and unexpected deaths of the series.

Zoran Lazarevic – Graham McTavish

Come on, who else could earn the number one spot on this list? In my opinion, Lazarevic is by far the scariest and most dangerous villain in Uncharted. Described as a “psychopathic war criminal” by Elena, the main baddie from Uncharted 2 has no issue with killing his own men if he believes it will help him reach his goal. There is a certain philosophy to him, as he is inspired by the “great men” of history (i.e. Hitler) and wishes to go down in history as a similar figure. He’s a complete sadist and enjoys taunting people with games that put lives at risk. Lazarevic (allegedly) becomes invincible, so much so that even Nathan Drake can’t defeat him. He is utterly insane and if given the opportunity, will snap a few necks and take great pleasure in doing so. Lazarevic is the best Uncharted villain, hands down.

I hope you guys enjoyed my list! Let me know what you think!

[redknight3996]

Random Thoughts on Jojo Part 5

Giorno Giovanna actually does have a character progression that I feel people overlook (and that I also overlooked until I thought of it just a few minutes ago). Namely, he learns to take action more directly, and the main evidence I have for this is how far more directly involved he gets in the murders he commits throughout the part.

That might be a weird metric to measure by, but hear me out.

So, first up, Leaky-Eyed Luca, first guy Giorno kinda kills, and it’s largely “unintentional”! (Air-quotes because let’s be honest, Giorno really didn’t care if this asshole killed himself by whacking the frog and that’s a really dumb sentence but we know what it means). Luca, because he’s an asshole, tries to intimidate a fifteen year old, threatens assault, and then whacks a frog on this kid’s chest because he’s a dick like that. This caves his own head in because Giorno’s powers are bullshit (and that’s actually a good thing for his character). So first killing by Giorno, and it’s really just at thing the dude did himself. Giorno’s not at fault, Luca did it to himself.

Versus Bruno, no murders, not an issue, made a friend. 

Now second is Polpo, because he’s also a prick and his stand murdered an old man. Now, Giorno does kinda kill Black Sabbath, but Black Sabbath is an automatic stand with rules so it’s really not a thing? What he actually does to kill Polpo though is through the indirect method of turning one of his guns into a banana. Polpo puts it in his mouth, it turns back, blows his brains out. Looks like a suicide, and is also totally indirect. Giorno is nowhere near the prison when it happens. It’s a deliberate killing, but there’s a lot of distance to it.

Third up, Illuso! Yes, this fight is more focused on Abbacchio and Fugo, but Giorno’s largely responsible for the kill by infecting Illuso with the Purple Haze virus and essentially pushing him into jumping off right into the line of fire with Purple Haze. Still indirect, and he didn’t even really commit the killing this time.

Fourth for death, we’ve got Melone. Also Baby Face Junior, who is kind of a person but mostly a stand. Giorno develops a lot in this fight because it gains him his ability to heal by facing someone who’s essentially an opposite of his powers (turning living things to objects versus bringing life to objects), and he uses some smart thinking to fuse Junior to his motorcycle and blow the little fucker up. And even then, Junior’s the one who pulled the motorcycle into himself. Giorno caused these sequences of events to happen during this fight, but he relies a lot on Junior being impulsive and basically causing his own destruction. And then he takes the very deliberate step to continue his typical modus operandi, and murders Melone indirectly through sending a venomous snake his way. This is still a murder Giorno commits, let’s not get that wrong; it’s just indirect. He has a distance to it, both physical and metaphorical.

Then five, Ghiaccio. This is a gruesome fight, especially for Mista, and it’s the first one where Giorno 100% murders a man directly. Certainly, he’s finishing off Ghiaccio; Mista was the main actor in this fight, and he takes a ton of hits trying to put ice man down, but it’s Giorno who commits a genuine, direct killing here by stamping Ghiaccio’s head down hard enough to shove the streetlamp’s jutting metal spike right through his throat. Giorno has committed a direct murder here, with his own stand’s feet, and it was against a man who nearly killed one of his friends and had powers that almost rendered the incredibly overpowered Giorno useless. He’s pushed to another breaking point, and he overcomes it. But his methods change. Ghiaccio is directly killed; Giorno doesn’t have distance to protect him anymore.

Directly after this, Giorno has some fights that really fuck him up. With Squalo and Tiziano, he spends most of the fight a hostage with Crush’s teeth literally around his throat. He helps Narancia win the day, but he’s not a main actor. Nor is he one in the Notorious BIG fight, because he loses his hands and is out of commission. In these two, he’s basically a support role at best, hostage in need of protection at worst, but he shows just how much pain he can endure and just how far he’s willing to go when it comes to winning these fights, even if it means permanently crippling himself.

And then we have Cioccolata. Sixth person Giorno kills, and damn if it isn’t direct. Cioccolata strikes an interesting place because he, more than any of the other fights, represents an antithesis to Giorno. Giorno has life-bringing light, Cioccolata has death-bringing mold; Giorno tends to use plants and animals, Cioccolata uses mold; Giorno is a small-time pickpocket and thief turned brutal mafia newcomer, Cioccolata is a doctor turned absolutely monstrous mafia torturer.  

Giorno’s main moral code has been to never involve innocents and try to keep the common people out of things. He’s selfish at times and can easily be harsh or callous, but he tries to be polite and nice to people as his go-to. He’s a student at a boarding academy of some description, but he mostly robs unsuspecting tourists because it’s easy money. Cioccolata masqueraded as a noble volunteer and valiant surgeon to hide his horrific sadistic tendencies, which he would act upon with anyone he could get his hands on, no matter their “innocence” or “guilt”. Enjoying himself at the expense of others was all he cared for, and he joined Passione not to reform it, but to carry out his sadistic fantasies with complete protection from retribution. Green Day even carries this further by being a stand of widespread and vicious murder, carried out against all those “lower” than Cioccolata. Anyone beneath him dies horribly, and it’s no wonder Giorno shows nothing more than pure contempt and cold hatred towards the vicious doctor.

So this is the one where Giorno outright beats a man to death. For 7 pages (7 shots/around 30 seconds in the anime), he takes out every bit of aggression he has on this absolute monster of a man. With Ghiaccio, Giorno kicks him into a spike; with Cioccolata, Giorno beats and breaks him, smashing his fists into the evil bastard until he’s a broken mess, undoubtedly a corpse even before he hits the garbage truck down below. Giorno directly murders a man with his own fists. Up against the man who brings death, the man who brings life does not end the battle with a beetle or a vine; he punches his opponent to a broken pulp. Giorno’s punched plenty of people, sure, but he never finishes someone off like that before then. And he wouldn’t afterwards.

Giorno doesn’t kill Diavolo. This is the end point of Giorno’s progression. Through the arrow, the Son of God becomes divine and strikes down the Devil that had tried so desperately to triumph over the fate in his path, and in doing so, does not kill the Devil, but instead condemns him to an endless, unceasing Hell (I feel like I could do a thing about trying to line up Part 5 characters to biblical figures but fuck me that would take a far better understanding of lore than I’ve got). Golden Experience Requiem forms because Giorno wants, more than anything, to make the man who caused so much pain and murdered so many of his friends to suffer the agony he had caused on a deep, personal scale. 

Giorno has gone from “accidents”, to indirect murder, to direct killing, and now to torture without cease. In reaching his peak of power and truly becoming unbelievably broken, he’s displayed that endless pain is far, far worse than death, and embraced that truth. He is directly displaying the truth of Fate, and his stand has transformed as such. Life and Fate intertwine, and blah blah, it’s genuinely cool symbolic stuff, but you get my point now, right?

Giorno has a genuine progression through how broken his powers are, and it’s through learning to not only use them in increasingly creative ways, but also to act and attack directly. In fact, maybe his power lost that initial aspect of it, that “counters all attacks to it” ability, because Giorno’s mentality changed? Maybe meeting Bruno didn’t just inspire the weary mafioso to change his ways, but made Giorno himself someone who takes action instead of letting the life he forms handle things for him. 

Who knows? I don’t. But I think it sounds neat.

[cyniciism]

´   ･   .   ✶   ⧼    manny   montana,   cis   male,   he   &   him   /   bury   me   face   down   by   grandson   +   a   grubby,   faded   duffel   bag   always   packed   to   capacity   ;   ready   to   be   picked   up   and   slung   over   a   shoulder   padded   in   worn   leather   at   a   moments   notice.   the   slow   build   of   white   hot   anger,   the   itch   in   clenched   fists   with   already   bloodied   knuckles   to   lash   out,   to   do   more   damage,   to   destroy   whatever   is   within   reach.   broken   windows   and   filthy   rooms   and   a   sinking couch   that   has   been   slept   on   one   too   many   times,   bed   clothes   still   knotted   on   its   frame   and   vodka   bottles   half   empty   on   the   mismatched   side   table    ⧽   ━━   don’t   look   now,   but   that’s   CRISTIAN   RAMIRO   DE   LA   CRUZ.   the   THIRTY   year   old   HUMAN   has   been   here   in   seattle   for   his   whole   life,   and   is   a   DETECTIVE   &   LOCAL   YOUTH   GROUP   LEADER.   they’ve   always   been   STAUNCH   &   VALOROUS,   but   i   guess   this   town   just   brings   out   the   worst   in people   ;   apparently,   they’ve   been   way   more   BELLICOSE   &   INJUDICIOUS   than   usual.   it   wouldn’t   surprise   me   if   they   knew   what   was   going   on.   you   can   check   out   his   stat   page   HERE   and   his   pinterest   HERE.

ALL   ALONE   /   whether   you   LIKE   IT   or   not,                alone   will   be   (   something   )   you’ll   be   quite   A   LOT.

SECTION ONE OF THREE : BULLET POINT HISTORY trigger warnings for talk of chronic ill health, prison, sociopathy, serial killers

anyone who knows cristian’s birth mother, mariana de la cruz, can agree on at least one thing - whether she SHOULD have or not, she ALWAYS say the best in people. it probably had something to do with how little about people she actually KNEW. ana was born, it seemed, to suffer ; she spent her whole life SICK, all of her time either in hospital, or AT HOME. she was BEYOND sheltered, and she had very few friends because of it. her kindness could only get her so far in life when she was so SEPARATED from it.

she started to write to CONVICTS in her late teens. it was a decision made out of loneliness, and she figured that was a feeling that the people she wrote to could RELATE to. as heinous as some of their crimes were, ana continued to feel EMPATHY for them. if she had just a few more critical thinking skills, maybe she wouldn’t have fallen in LOVE. he was a sociopath, and a homicidal sadist. he was a SERIAL killer. he was SERVING consecutive life sentences. and still, she got on his visitation list. STILL, five years after they initially began to exchange letters, she obtained a marriage license. and two years after that, cristian ramiro de la cruz, mariana and her locked up love’s child, came into the world.

back when he was just a BABY, of course he visited the prison with his mother ; they would make the trek together once every six months, as this was about as much as she could MANAGE. his mother thought that he was their MIRACLE, and at that, believed wholeheartedly that his father LOVED them BOTH. when he got old enough for conscious thought, he’d REFUSE, point blank. his mother was blind to the type of man that his father was, but cristian’s defining memory is from when he was SIX YEARS OLD, and he was gazing back at his father through the bars of their visitation room. there was no love, in those eyes - eyes they SHARED, and that he would HATE, later on. there was nothing in his expression, that even IMPLIED a hint of care. mariana was delusional, but cristian could SEE what she couldn’t. he would kick up a fuss ever after as his mother prepared to leave, and though it broke her heart - and her visions of a HAPPY FAMILY - she would leave him with a RELATIVE.

outside of this delusion she had, however, mariana was the best mother that he could have ever WANTED. she was the sweetest and most gentle soul ; she loved him with a real FEROCITY, this baby she had never thought she would have, and she was WICKEDLY over protective of him. mariana didn’t LOVE that cristian had to grow up quickly, because of her health. it didn’t make her happy to have a son that could cook for them both when she was simply too weak, or that knew her exact medication dosages off the top of his head, or who had been taught how to place her into the recovery position should the WORST ever happen. he should have gotten to be a KID, and he didn’t, because of her. it HURT, more than anything, and it was probably why the fact he wanted nothing to do with his FATHER pained her so ; they shared EVERYTHING, in their home. they experienced everything, together. and the one thing that cristian couldn’t do was love the man he knew was a MONSTER.

when he was ten years old, his mother collapsed the day before one such visitation. he found her at the bottom of the stairs, and he called 911 from her PHONE as he had been taught to. it wasn’t the first time that his mother had been to the hospital, over his childhood, but it was the first time that he didn’t leave with her. it was decided that mariana was no longer in position to take care of cristian, or herself. she was better off in assisted living, and he would do better in care.

it didn’t take LONG for him to be taken in, and his ‘new parents’... were good substitutes, for the one’s he didn’t have, though he told his adoptive mother more times than he could count that she would never replace his REAL mother. neither of them wanted to, and they won his respect very early on for how they approached DEALING with him. they were there, when he needed someone, and theynever hesitated to help him, when it was required. but they brought him to visit his birth mother once a week, and when he was old enough, he was allowed to go and see mariana ALONE. they helped him buy presents for her, they didn’t STOP him from leaving school early, when his mother’s health seemed to have dipped. they didn’t control him or attempt to take a place they had no right to, and so, cristian grew out of his grudge. it was as easy as that.

and what was more, as he got older and started to go through puberty - they stuck by him, even when he ACTED OUT. cristian had a huge capacity for ANGER - and when he lost his head, he would… break things, over yelling. they never lost their heads with him. they always spoke CALMLY, even after he had punched a hole into his wall, or shattered his mirror. and when he asked, they didn’t HESITATE in sending him to counseling ; something HE recognized he needed, all on his own, as he reached his sixteenth birthday and realized that his BIGGEST fear was being his FATHER, and he was very quickly turning into him.

cristian decided to become a DETECTIVE because he didn’t want to be the kind of MONSTER that his father was. he wanted to be LAW ABIDING in every way - almost to prove to himself, to his father, to EVERYONE who had ever known him, that the blood that ran through his veins wasn’t EVIL. he signed on as team leader for a local group for troubled youth, recently, because he had been there. he had been angry. he had lashed out. he had made BAD CHOICES in his teens that he was lucky hadn’t come back to BITE him. but he’d gotten past it, for the most part, and he wanted to help OTHERS. that’s all he’s been trying to do.

SECTION TWO OF THREE : HEADCANONS trigger warning for mention of cancer

mariana is still alive today, and cris visits her once a fortnight. he still brings her a bouquet of flowers every time, though the gifts he gives are ever changing ; she goes through periods, and right now, she’s enjoying an embroidery hobby, so he brings her thread.

his FATHER, charles brandt, is ALSO still alive - though he TREATS him like he’s NOT. he was diagnosed a year ago with stomach cancer, and cristian’s mother has urged him almost every time he’s visited to do what she can’t, and VISIT. he’ll never want to upset her enough that he’ll tell her the only time he will is when he’s DEAD, but he certainly thinks it quite a bit.

the ONLY reason cristian hasn’t taken on his adoptive parents surname, by now, is equal parts feeling it insulting and because there’s a part of him that thinks doing so would be HIDING. he’s cristian de la cruz, and yes, he’s the son of a serial killer. it’s certainly SOMETHING, and perhaps he would have had an easier time in life at certain points if he wasn’t who he had been BORN. but he’s pretty stubborn, so, here we are.

morals wise, cristian is a GOOD GUY. in every other sense of the words, he probably… wouldn’t be classed as so. he’s pretty arrogant, and he has a fairly bad reputation in the police department because of his TENDENCY to kind of run with things, and charge ahead. they like to say he doesn’t THINK, and that’s why he makes ‘poor’ decisions - but cris is actually very conscious of everything that he does, and he’s very willing to… make the tough call, so to speak, so that no one else HAS to.

he’s still very hot headed. he still goes to counseling. he still fucks up, from time to time. it’s all very human.

SECTION THREE OF THREE : WANTED CONNECTIONS

you know the usual DRILL ! friends ( anything from best to passing ), enemies, hookups, exes, the very MOST. hit me up if you’re interested !

i’m going to send in wcs later but: 

his adoptive fam !

two half siblings via his serial killer dad !

cristian’s partner in the seattle police force

his oldest friend + current housemate

his enemy w benefits !

work friends , enemies , everything in btwn

his ex fiancé ( its super angsty )

the cotm who will eventually turn him

members of his group for troubled youth ! 

[plaguedparadox]

Continuing off the Doctor Who one, what if Anti got captured by Sam and Dean? (Sorry just REALLY love the idea of SuperWhoLock being crossed over with the egos 💙)

Oh boy, it’s been a long time since I’ve even seen Supernatural so forgive me if the boys are OOC or act like the young versions of themselves. Also, I know this probably is for what would happen after they captured him but I just had to write how they met. I’m pretty sure if I wrote what happens afterwards it would be over the 2000 word limit I’ve set myself for these oneshots. Either way, enjoy.

The air crackled with static as the sound of heavy boots made its way across a dingy alleyway, the walls were wet with rain and whatever residue the residents in the area left it with. The traveller didn’t want to know, his arms being practically glued to the side as he had to remind himself that he was only walking to conserve energy. That there was a reason he was in America, so far away from home. He hated it when the people he messed around with began to travel as it usually meant he’d have to wait at home for them to get back or he’d have to hunt them down all over again and he simply didn’t have the patience to keep waiting around. A problem arose from that situation, however, as he knew little to nothing about America or rather how to navigate the area efficiently. He knew the UK and Ireland like the back of his hand, thanks to his prey having lived in both places. A glitched sigh left him as he walked, his feet dragging slightly behind him. Voices caught his attention, two guys arguing over something and, usually, that wouldn’t make him pause to listen in but as soon as the word ‘demon’ was mentioned, he knew he had to listen in. A cracked chuckle left his now grinning lips as he allowed his invisible code to pour into one of the duo’s phones, granting himself access, like a rogue app, to the microphone so he could listen in.

“Listen, Sammy. A demon is a demon, we’ve faced plenty of them before. I doubt this one is gonna shock us.” The shorter of the duo spoke up, his gruff voice dismissive as he checked over his car. “So what if it’s got a few little ticks and tricks we haven’t seen before. All we have to do is find its weakness and go from there.” He didn’t want to sound too smug but everything his little brother had told him about the wandering demon that they were hunting just left him a bit underwhelmed. Sure, they had never faced a glitch demon before but what was a bunch of rogue coding in a human form really going to do to them that a regular demon couldn’t. Dean appreciated Sam’s concern but the younger brother often aired on the side of too much caution, a good contrast to his throw caution to the wind attitude that did get the man into quite a bit of trouble. Dean threw his brother a quick glance, noticing the pained expression on his face as his eyes scanned the phone he was reading from. “What is it?”

Sam glanced up at his brother before dragging his eyes down to his phone, his breath a tad unsteady as he read through the post that seemed to detail facts of the demon. “It says that it has a tendency to mess around with it’s prey, making them face their worst fears before possessing them and making them it’s puppets.” Facing their worst fears. They knew what that meant all too well but it still unnerved the younger Winchester to read it. “Shouldn’t we, at least, get Cas to help?” Dean didn’t respond, too busy looking at his own phone, confused as to why the screen was beginning to play up. He was sure that he didn’t download anything that could break the silly thing. “What’s up?” The younger brother asked, trying to grab his brother’s attention, his own eyes just noticing the weird green glitching. Green. Glitching. Sam quickly looked down at his own phone, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he hurriedly scanned across the post. Unfortunately, it was a lost cause as the glitching soon took over his own phone causing him to drop it in shock. “Dean, it might have found us before we had a chance to find it!” He exclaimed, backing away from his phone, unaware that his brother was doing the exact same. Both brothers were more than shocked as the glitches seemed to seep out of their phones like viscous fluid, combining together and slowly taking a grotesque skeletal shape before eventually bulking out and looking as if it could be a human trapped inside the gunk but the glowing green eyes that never seemed to blink stopped them from being fooled. This was the demon.

Scratchy laughter that seemed to jump and crack like it was a corrupted audio file left the creature as the dark liquid faded to reveal something that looked very human if it weren’t for his eyes, one almost entirely black and one that looked as if it could be normal if it wasn’t for the green sclera, and the huge torn up slit in the creature’s throat which bled but it didn’t seem to bother the creature in the slightest. “Ah, so looking for me, are you?”  It spoke through gritted teeth but the Irish accent couldn’t be hidden. “What makes you think you can stop me?!” It hissed, parts of it glitching away before reappearing. “I AM ETERNAL!” It stood its ground, knife suddenly in hand as it bared its teeth at the brothers. Dean, being the ever so cocky one, demanded to know its name after making a quiet comment about how the way it spoke made the phrase ‘I am eternal’ sound an awful lot like ‘I’m a turtle’, which made Dean’s voice bounce around as he struggled not to laugh. “My name? Antisepticeye. But most just call me Anti, or Master if they’re my puppet!” Anti grinned, showing off his teeth more, his face twisting far more than a human could. He could care less if he was giving himself away, the idiots in front of him weren’t his priority, they weren’t his prey. He just needed to find that stupid Ego that ran off, he wasn’t going to let someone else pull what the doctor had done.

The knife flicked around in Anti’s hand, more than ready to plunge it into the humans that were foolish enough to think they could take him on but he was going to wait, his grand entrance drained a decent amount of the energy he had left after he teleported across the ocean. Anti wasn’t afraid to leap before looking but it did leave him with disadvantages that he found annoying. “So, you’re the big bad glitch that makes puppets out of people?” Dean scoffed, rather amused by the shorter Irish demon. Out of all the horrors he had faced and people were scared of Anti? It was ridiculous. Thing was, Anti loved when people underestimated him, it motivated him to show them what he could really do. Red strings, invisible to the humans, began wrapping around his fingers as he got ready to turn one brother on the other. All humans are the same. Anti thought to himself before lunging for the shorter brother, not anticipating him to leap out of the way and point a gun at him. “Not so fast!” Dean announced, reaching behind him for something as a Latin word left his lips but he quickly froze as he noticed Anti staring at him with a questioning look.”Why didn’t that work?” He mouthed towards his brother who exclaimed the same thing after trying the word himself.

“You done?” Anti asked, his knife now just loosely being held by his side as he watched the brothers try to take him down with tactics that they assumed would work. “I’m not a regular demon, y’know!” He feigned insult before starting to fiddle with his knife, his more sadistic side yearning to come out and finish this pathetic game. He was becoming very impatient and his glitches spoke for him as they became more aggressive

Sam’s eyes lit up as he connected the dots. A glitch was coding or something that needed electricity but if you pumped too much electricity into something that relied on it, it would fry. He quickly gestured towards his brother to distract the glitch while he rushed off, seeking out and finding a power box. The younger Winchester called to his brother, letting him know where he was. Moments later, Dean sprinted out of the alley way and made his way over to the power box, a fully enraged Anti in pursuit behind him. The demon became frenzied after the older hunter made one too many turtle jokes. Just as Dean was about to hit the powerbox, he jumped over it and watched as Anti collided with it, the glitch being electrocuted and blacking out after a few seconds of being pumped full of electricity. It didn’t kill him but the brothers used the quiet time to take him somewhere secure and lock him up. Jokes just falling out of Dean’s mouth as they went on their way making Sam roll his eyes.

Anti woke up after an hour, groggy and confused but energised. Oh, so energised. It felt as if he had been chugging energy drinks and strong coffee for the past ten minutes. His glitches sparked around, no rhyme or reason to them as they used up small chunks of Anti’s over energised state. His now heterochromic eyes, white scleras but one iris blue and the other green, danced around the room as he tried to work out where he was even with his blurred vision. Rage slowly filled him as his memories from today played in his head causing his glitches becoming more erratic, allowing him to phase through and stagger out of his bindings. His nails scrapped against his palms, his claws becoming more evident. Plans crossed his mind, his sharp toothed grin growing wide as the sadistic images became darker and visceral.  

Oh, he was going to cause them a world of pain.

[scriptureofashes]

hey! can i request a spideypool soulmate au where the first words of your soulmate that you hear from them is tattooed on your arm kinda thing with peter having a Really strange sentence on his arm like just a bunch of curse words or something absolutely ridiculous and out of context? i think that would be so funny

this starts out angsty, turns cracky and ends fluffy, what have I done

(ps: wade is speculated to be 28-35, I’ve aged him down only slightly because peter is over 20 when they meet here)

Peter makes a point of never letting anyone see his mark.

Even as a little kid, he remembers Uncle Ben and Aunt May’s frowns when they saw it for the first time, gobsmacked by his soulmate’s utter cheek. Before the accident, Ben would always tut under his breath and mutter on about manners and subtlety. That by itself was enough to convince Peter to strap a watch or a cloth of sorts over it.

To this day, Peter still sticks to covering it, all-too aware of the extra fun he’d be made of if these words ever got around. He’s not particularly ecstatic on feeding the bullying.

May still snorts at the sight of it though, after some considerable wine intake.

(mind the readmore, mobile users!)

Ned is the second person to see it.

“Dude.”

It’s after a rather strenuous PE lesson, so they had hit the showers quick before they can go to team practice. They’re the last ones in the locker room and Peter is frankly so damn stressed about everything that’s been going on in just this last week—coming back from his literal ashes and to the Spider-Man shindig with a Spanish quiz around the corner—that he completely forgets.

He stops toweling his hair, eyes darting back and forth between his bare wrist and his best friend’s failing attempt to contain his disbelief, and throws him a sheepish grin.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“Dude.”

It shouldn’t surprise him that MJ sees it next.

The strap on his watch snaps. It snaps, and it’s summer, so he can’t at least try to cover it with his sleeves, and has he mentioned his life sucks? Because it does. It freaking sucks.

It’s not odd to hide your words from the world. People do it more often than you’d think, but it comes from an outdated, conservative concept, so nowadays, society encourages you to flaunt them with pride. Those who insist on concealing them, especially if they’re young, are slightly frowned at.

And, realistically, he knows the words aren’t bad, per se, but they’re not the kind you’d look at without reacting a little, and he’s learned the hard way that kids and teenagers are the absolute worst when it comes to these things. It doesn’t take much to poke fun at someone who’s just slightly off the norm, so if it’s Peter Parker with something like that as his soulmark? Well, he can only imagine the hell Flash would raise for it at school.

He’s just about two seconds into panicking in the middle of team practice, watching Flash on the podium, when tan hands take the watch away from his fussy hands to slide a red cloth over his inked skin. MJ’s own words stare back at him as she ties off the hairband, ones he actually recognizes but says nothing about.

When she’s done, she takes a step aside. She gives him a brief once-over, and then her expression turns appreciative, clearly agreeing with the contents of his mark.

She winks when she turns away, and Peter feels his face on fire.

Mr. Stark, surprisingly, doesn’t react. At first.

Because Peter’s a complete idiot, as Mr. Stark tells him later, he forgoes precautions and pays the price when they’re testing out an upgrade for one of his web shooters. Something malfunctions, and advanced spider healing or not, it still burns when it goes all the way down his forearm, like the freaking Devil himself took a hold of his hand and yanked.

Peter almost comments on how literally fading to bits had hurt less, but when he opens his mouth he’s levelled with a stare very reminiscent of Aunt May’s, and acknowledges the too soon. Even if it has been almost two years.

Mr. Stark has to push back his sleeve to see the damage and get the right treatment from the First Aid kit one of his bots fetched, and Peter squeaks, indignated, despite his arm hurting enough to be a concern. His mentor actually pauses as he surveys his arm, face paper blank for a few moments. Either he’s seen worse or the injury takes precedence, because all Peter’s given is a split-second look, then calloused hands rub some soothing balm on his arm and the lab safety lecture comes on.

Later, bandaged and properly chastised, Peter chances a look at Mr. Stark. His face is still hard to read, as it sort of always is, but he’s staring back dead on. The silence is somewhat excruciating.

Anyhow, this lasts about three seconds before Peter notices the knowing glint in his mentor’s eyes and the clear effort he’s making at holding back his laughter. It occurs to Peter that maybe he realized why the mark is always hidden by the watch and is trying not to say anything in respect to Peter’s feelings.

So Peter gives him a mile and laughs, abrupt and a bit deprecating, but he can’t help himself, and Mr. Stark’s responding grin is wide and nothing short of exasperated.

“Jesus, kid. You have your hands full.”

And Peter laughs all the harder, catching his breath enough to quip, “I thought it was the other way around?”

It takes a surprising half-minute before the meaning sinks in.

“You’re grounded.”

Peter keeps cackling.

He used to think about hearing them for the first time as often as one does think about hearing their soulmate’s first words to them. He used to feel this sort of anticipation and, he admits, desperation for it, when he still dreamt of becoming like those people in the movies whose soulmate comes and saves them from their not-so-rosy lives.

That was before Spider-Man, however, and before Peter grew up enough to know that’s a load of crap. No one can save you but yourself.

Spider-Man is a hero. He’s the people’s man, an actual knighted Avenger by both Iron Man and Captain Marvel, at the beck and call of every criminal that decides to be naughty one particular night. He’s New York’s reliable savior, a figure to look up to and someone to depend on.

It’s understandable how he still longs to hear them, ridiculous and problematic aside, seeing as he doesn’t have time to be his own hero.

He does hear them. At long last, he hears them, and the moment he does, he wishes he didn’t.

It happens when he’s out on a lead about a rich dude’s friends kidnapping the girl that dumped him and teach her how much of a mistake it was to run away from him. Considering the guy’s sadistic tendencies in his criminal record, Peter doesn’t blame her at all.

Spider-Man sneaks into the empty warehouse he finds them in and drops down quietly, though unnecessarily so. The guys—three, and none of them were even assigned guard duty—are arguing so loudly he could have burst in banging pots and pans and none of them would turn.

“Well, it’s about time I had fun and got the imbeciles going for ‘walking cliché’!” he says in lieu of greeting. They’re all in ninja masks too, what is this. “Seriously, guys. A shady warehouse in the shady part of town? What’s wrong with an old-fashioned basement?”

The trio whips out actual knives, like the idiots they are. If he bristles, it’s at the sight of an asian, half-naked girl, gagged, tied to a chair and dotted with colorful bruises. He’s been doing this for almost six years now and seeing innocents touched up like that—it still gets to him, gets his blood boiling.

He snaps his fingers as to show them some sort of realization.

“Let me guess. Is this a Febreeze commercial?”

Goon #1 looks like he’s about to make a terrible decision and lunge, when there’s a static noise only Spider-Man can pick up. Something crackles in the air from somewhere behind the girl, looking steadily more miserable, a poor quality sound even he has trouble discerning. One of the goons goes to the source of it—a battered but fully functional radio transmitter.

It’s a song.

Here I go, here I go, here I go again (again?)Girls, what’s my weakness? (Men!)

Spider-Man freezes. Suddenly everything around him stills and everything within him explodes, not just because this is not the time—he knows that song, he knows the lyrics to it by heart.

The guys finally freak out at the fact that Spider-Man is in front of them and about to spoil their plan, flinging loud curses at each other. Goon #1 suggests taking him on and Spider-Man dubs him the dumbest of the three, rightfully so when Goons #2 and #3 start screaming at him. The song plays on.

Shoop shoop ba-doop shoop ba-doopShoop ba-doop ba-doopBa-doop shoop ba-doop shoopBa-doop shoop ba-doop, ba-doop, ba-doop

Just as he feels anticipation snap, a red and black figure swings out of somewhere into the scene, guns and swords ablazing.

And singing along the words imprinted on the skin of his left wrist.

“Ooooh, you’re packed and you’re stacked ‘specially in the backBrother, wanna thank your mother for a butt like that!”

And wreaking absolute havoc. The guys don’t even have time to wisely make a break for it—because who wouldn’t—before the whole thing turns into a whirlwind of blood and gore.

“Can I get some fries with that shake-shake boobie? If looks could kill you—” Goon #3 goes down with a sword up his guts, “Would be an uzi—”

Peter reacts on instinct when Goon #2 stumbles towards him. He kicks him right in the solar plexus, and right into a chokehold.

“You’re a shotgun, bang!” a gunshot to his head, “What’s up with that thang?”

They’re the lyrics to the song, but the mercenary never seems to let Peter off his sight as he keeps singing and finishes up the job. Goon #1 flops down, lifeless and messy. Peter can suddenly smell the sharp, sour tang of piss.

“I wanna know how does it hang?Straight up, wait up, hold up, Mr. LoverLike Prince said you’re a sexy mutha—”

The corpses are laid in a bloody pile, overstepped in favor of the transmitter going back to its alleged owner. Said owner proceeds into tucking away his weapons and untying the poor girl from the chair—and gently patting her on the shoulders after cladding them in a jacket he produces from God knows where—and steps away to give her some space while she collects herself.

Of course, that means he’s turned to Peter now, who for the life of him cannot move. He doesn’t think he can.

“Man. You don’t know how much I’ve been dying to meet you.”

Oh my God. There’s a joke there, he knows it.

“It’s like you’re running from me! The few times I do see you, you just slip away before I can go up and say hi. Seriously, I blink—” he snaps his fingers, “And you’re gone. Like an actual spider. Ha.”

Oh my God.

He places his hands behind his back, primly, but he looks like he can barely contain his giddiness.

“Also.” How is his mask doing that, how is his mask leering at him. “It’s as great as they say, by the way. Looks even better up close.”

Oh my God. Peter keeps quiet. It would be a choice, but it’s not.

“Anyway.” He sticks out one hand. “Great to finally meet you, Spidey.”

The hand is covered in blood. Oh my God. Peter shakes it nonetheless, and he hears him laugh. He does not think about how oddly pleasant it sounds or how his wrist tingles in response.

“Cat got your tongue? Or cat eat your tongue, in this case. A cat would kill and eat a spider, wouldn’t it? Anyway, I was expecting to hear Spider-Man’s sharp-tongue tonight.” He waggles his eyebrows at this.

Half-heartedly, Spider-Man slips back into role and nods his head. He absolutely says nothing and goes to the poor girl waiting for one of them to escort her home, and continues to do so even as he hears more absent-minded talking.

Oh my God. His soulmate is Deadpool. This is a nightmare.

As it turns out, Deadpool got hired by the rich ex-boyfriend to kidnap the girl and torture her if she refused to take him back. Deadpool took the money, shot the guy’s head and went off to track his friends so he could kill them too.

Peter doesn’t know what to take away from that, but a stubborn little voice in the back of his head goes, at least he’s got some morals.

It becomes a thing.

After the warehouse incident, Deadpool is always there. It’s like the carefully stacked dominoes of Peter’s life are knocked over in very quick succession, because Deadpool is always there.

Spider-Man is chasing down a pickpocketer and Deadpool is pointing at shortcuts from his perch on some building. Spider-Man is beating up a bankrobber and Deadpool is clapping on like some ridiculous high school cheerleader. Spider-Man is cooling down a hostage situation and Deadpool is shooting hands that hold weapons.

That last one still has Peter a tad miffed, and thereafter he was livid and on the very edge of a tongue-lashing. Deadpool knows of his firm ‘no killing, crippling, torturing and so on’ policy. He knows, and he still does what he does.

Spider-Man said nothing, did nothing but spare a glance at where the mercenary stood with his sniper rifle and fume on the inside as he recalled the man’s anguished screams and the blast of blood. He did nothing but count every rescued hostage and leave the feds to handle the rest.

He never says a word when Deadpool pops around.

In his defense, the moment he does is warranted.

It’s more often than he’d like that he stumbles upon rape scenes. He always knows it’s one blocks away, before he even swings into the alley and gives the asshole a swift kick to the head. And he always lets himself go on these types of situation, sees red everywhere.

So when Deadpool joins in on kicking the absolute crap out of the guy, Spider-Man throws one last punch and leaves him to it, knowing whatever is about to befall the piece of shit is an armageddon Spider-Man can’t deliver, but Deadpool certainly can.

He’s checking over the poor woman, relieved that the guy hadn’t even managed what he was going for other than ripping some of her clothes, when he catches the end of Deadpool’s rant, “—and there’s only one thing worse than a rapist—”

And quips back, “A child!” out of reflex.

Deadpool stops punching—and Peter was right, the man’s face is swollen, purple, unsalvageable—to stare back at him. Subsequently, there’s a groan and a body hitting the dirty concrete, but the merc doesn’t even waver. He’s staring straight at Peter, the mask unreadable for a change.

Spider-Man dials nine-one-one and gives them his location, bids farewell to the woman despite her pleas for him to stay and webs his way away, away, away.

He’s going to give Ned and Shuri so much hell for this.

One particular night, he sets up watch on a section of the city he’s never even been to as a civilian. He’s not running, except that he is. And there’s something tight in his chest, draining all the fight, draining all but the low-simmering anxiety.

Ergo, he keeps to surveillance and eats his deli from Mr. Delmar’s, texts Ned a string of nonsensical emojis because he can and thinks about how he’ll get started on his next paper—college is wild—with all those extra hours he’s doing for Jameson. He resolutely does not think about his soulmate and how much Deadpool he is.

But Peter… is Peter Parker. Of course that whole plan is shot straight to hell.

“A vine. A fucking vine.”

Peter pauses in his chewing, rolling his mask back down over his jaw, even if his back is what’s turned to Deadpool. The chill in the air turns suddenly sharp.

“Well, would you rather have the first verse to a freaking Salt-N-Pepa song?”

“What kind of question is that. Of course I would, Sandra Denton is a queen and whoever says different can eat a big bag of dicks. A huge bag of dicks. One of those huge, sack bags with colorful dildos in—”

“Jesus, yeah, point taken.”

He meant to sound annoyed, but laughs instead. The sound cuts through the underlying tension, melts it outright. Deadpool approaches him, steps slow and quiet. Peter lets him, fiddles with his phone as the merc settles at a respectable distance, eyes always on the evermoving city before them.

“I.” Deadpool pauses and doesn’t talk for some time, which in itself is a red flag. “Look, I get it. I wouldn’t wanna be saddled with a psychotic killer whose face looks like it was fossilized then reconstructed with wet newspapers, either.”

Peter blinks. Oh.

“I just…” Deadpool trails off again. “We could… ah, fucking shit on a pogo stick.”

The merc sighs, drags his hands down his face, and Peter realizes how much of an asshole he’s been. Deadpool is… Deadpool, to say the least, but there is a person under the suit, a broken man with a broken mind.

Just as he starts to get up, Peter slides over his bag of chips.

“I’m Peter.”

Deadpool freezes so abruptly it’s almost amusing. He’s staring at Spider-Man, open and hopeful, like he can’t believe what he’s been given, and Peter stares right back with a smile, despite the mask and the dark.

Deadpool takes the chips.

“Wade.”

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream - JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

It’s been a long while since I’ve talked about Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure; the last time I talked about it was when I reviewed Phantom Blood, which makes this review even weirder. How on earth could I skip over Battle Tedency?! Well, the thing with Battle Tendency is that that part is almost universally loved, especially in the West, and at the moment I feel like I can’t say much more about it than “Yeah this was a good part of the show.” But Stardust Crusaders? There’s a lot to unpack with this chapter of the Joestar’s saga.

Stardust Crusaders has had a divisive reputation in America as opposed to its status as generally beloved that it has in Japan. Some people really enjoy this part, and others really don’t like it much at all. I think a lot of the ire this part draws comes down to character focus and the overall story and how it flows, though I do think overexposure may have at least some part in it, as this was one of the few parts widely known in the West back when the franchise was a cult classic. To be frank, I find the divisiveness a bit unwarranted, though at the same time I do think that this part of the series does have some issues with it that I do think need to be addressed.

Probably the biggest point of contention is how the story progresses. The story is a very simple one: Jotaro and a ragtag team of misfit Stand users travel to Egypt to kill Dio once and for all, and they have to fight through an army of Stand users to get to him, with all of their foes in the first half of the series have Stands named after tarot cards and then all the Stand users in Egypt having Stands named after Egyptian gods. It’s your standard “monster of the week” anime, for better and for worse. While I do like how fun and creative most of the Stand battles are, the issue is that a lot of the enemy Stand users are entirely forgettable, especially the tarot Stand users, who tended to be rather boring, with Arabia Fats being the worst on the merit that he’s only ever seen after being knocked unconscious. 

Most of the others don’t really rise above being mediocre, with a few exceptions. The best of all the tarot Stands is, without a doubt, Hol Horse, the gunslinging cowboy Stand user whose Emperor allows him to control the trajectory of the bullets from his Stand gun… and yet, he never once is able to hit anyone other than himself. He’s the sort of bumbling idiot villain I love to see, and the fact that he also frequently mentions how he respects women and also has no qualms about kidnapping oracular children makes him even funnier. He’s definitely a standout of the first half of the series, and Stardust Crusaders as a whole. Aside from him, the Geils tend to be the better Stand users of the first half, as well as Forever and Mannish Boy if only for the weird factor.

Egypt, however, is where the show picks up the pace, with every single Egyptian Stand user being an absolute blast. Mariah, Alessi, N’Doul, Anubis, the D’Arby brothers… all of the Stand users encountered in the latter half of the show are wildly entertaining and have some truly creative fight scenes. Perhaps the most memorable of all of them was the sadistic hawk, Pet Shop, who gave Iggy an excellent battle right before the steps towards the finale. But special mention also needs to go to the utterly hilarious Oingo Boingo brothers, perhaps the greatest moron team in all of anime, or even cartoons in general. They’re so amusing they even get their own special end credits (and Hol Horse gets to join in when he teams up with Boingo.

Now, while I do love all of the Stand users in Egypt, I have to admit that the old 90s OVA did have a pretty good idea in trimming the fat and only keeping the most plot relevant Stand users while cutting out the more unneeded ones. Forever, Hol Horse, J. Geil, and Enya are the only tarot Stand users fought, and only Daniel J. D’Arby, N. Doul, and Vanilla Ice are the only Stand users in Egypt fought. While I am generally a bit iffy about cutting out a lot of the more fun stuff – the lack of Pet Shop and Oingo Boingo bros is really depressing – the general idea of trimming some of the fat to get to where they need to be sooner probably would have helped this a lot. It really feels like a slog to get through this, even though there’s plenty of fun to be had, mostly because things start to get exhausting right around the time they actually get to Egypt. By then, you’re so fatigued by watching all of the enemy Stand fights that you really just want to see them pulverize Dio. 

So frankly I do think the OVA had the right idea, I just think it cut too much of the fun stuff. A lot of the reason Egypt was such a good part of the arc is because the Stand users danced the line of being fun and being serious, with all the pervert and blowjob jokes in the Mariah episode and the juvenile and child endangerment jokes of Alessi’s episode; if there could have been a way to get to that sooner or at least change up the first half to make it more fun would have really helped. We really don’t need to see Captain Tenille or Devo or Rubber Soul or whoever, as they are mostly plot irrelevant and serve only as the obstacle of the day. 

Of course, the OVA also cut a lot of the fun and lighthearted battles, leaving mainly the most intense ones, and part of what makes Stardust Crusaders good is that it swerves into darkness after comedy. The way the OVA is set up makes the whole thing dark and bleak, which is just not the case. I do think there’s a balance between the two, but it’s definitely not achieved in the anime and it’s easy to see how anyone could become fatigued by some random Stand user of the week showing up and then never being referenced again, only serving as an obstacle to hinder a hasty arrival to Dio’s lair. I think cutting out a good chunk of the tarot Stand users would have really helped the flow of the arc.

Now, onto the characters; one of the most contentious parts is the Jojo of this journey, Jotaro Kujo. Jotaro is a stoic stone-cold badass, one who uses his Stand Star Platinum in numerous ridiculous ways to achieve victory over his opponents. Some see him as a boring, invincible hero, but I don’t find this to be the case. He’s really no more invincible than any other shonen anime protagonist, and he gets beaten down even if he always comes ahead in the end. And yes, while I will admit that Star Platinum does have a tendency of pulling new powers out of nowhere, I don’t see it as much different than, say, Yugi drawing exactly the card he needs to win the duel in Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s just part of being a shonen series, I suppose. That sort of writing off of Jotaro also ignores that most of his victories are won through his decisive wit and quick thinking rather than just Star Platinum punches; that’s usually the finisher after Jotaro pulls off a flawless plan. One of his best victories, in the poker game against D’Arby, doesn’t even feature any ORAORA-ing at all.

As for the stoicism and his unflappable demeanor, as well as his rude and arrogant attitude towards the start of the series, the whole of the show shows Jotaro growing out of this and developing real bonds with his companions, to the point that his rage at the harming of his friends drives him to fight with every ounce of his power against Dio. Jotaro is a very cool and worthy protagonist when it comes right down to it, and Matt Mercer’s voice definitely helps Jotaro ooze eve more cool than he does on his own. While even I’ll admit he has some less impressive moments, the fact of the matter is that he does develop quite a bit as a character, certainly more than the bland hero figure of someone like Jonathan.

Polnareff tends to draw a bit of ire as well, mainly due to people wondering if he deserves all of the screentime and development he gets. The short answer, from my perspective anyway, is yes. The long answer is yes, but at the same time there is a lot with him that could have been done better. He’s easily one of my favorite Jojo companions out of any of the first three parts, but I feel like after his original motivation – finding the killer of his sister – is concluded only a few episodes after he’s introduced, he almost feels superfluous and he really gets shafted by being reduced to the butt of a lot of jokes, though all that being said it’s clear that Polnareff is a man driven by honor as well as vengeance even from the start, so the fact he’d stay on to help in the fight against Dio is completely unsurprising. And while I love Polnareff, I do wish that any of the other characters got as much screentime as he did.

One of the big issues is that a lot of the other characters get pushed to the side, with the story heavily leaning towards developing Polnareff and Jotaro at the expense of every other character. This isn’t much of a problem for Joseph, as by this point any viewer is likely to know that character quite well from the previous season, but Iggy, Avdol, and Kakyoin especially get hit pretty hard with irrelevancy, especially later on. Avdol is one of the more interesting cases, as he “dies” halfway through the tarot Stand user arc, only to be revealed as having survived a few episodes before the gang reaches Egypt, where he then proceeds to do very little until he is killed for real. This is interesting because Avdol has far more of an excuse than the other two, as Araki originally was going to have his first death in the manga be permanent; it’s clear Araki had no idea what to do with the poor guy after he came back, but regardless, it’s still sad he feels all wasted.

Iggy only ever gets one major solo fight before he’s killed, though it’s one of the best in the season and it gives us some insight into who Iggy is. Still, Iggy just ends up feeling like a sacrifice to tug at your heartstrings, one that works of course but one that feels at least a little cheap and needlessly cruel, especially after all the other cruel dog deaths in the season. Kakyoin is perhaps the most depressing, as he ends up getting sidelined for almost the entirety of the Egypt arc before returning in time to go fight Dio and then getting brutally killed by the vampire. It’s even worse because he’s portrayed by Kyle Hebert, who you may know as Ryu of Street Fighter fame; his performance in Kakyoin’s final moments is so genuine, powerful, and heartfelt that you really wish Hebert got more time to shine and Kakyoin got more to do.

These issues aside, though… I really do love this arc. This is mostly because this here is the part where you can see things come together to form the series we all know and love. Up until this point, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has been fantastical but not too out there; sure there were cyborg Nazis, ancient Aztec vampires, and a man name Robert E. O. Speedwagon, but all of that seems a bit grounded, even when it got more fantastical. Even with the introduction of Stands, it’s not really anything too out there, they’re physical manifestations of the wielder’s fighting spirit.

And then you come to the porn addicted orangutan who has sapience and whose Stand takes the form of an ocean liner, and all bets are off.

Forever really marks the point where these adventures truly became bizarre, and set the precedent for all arcs to come, eve Egypt to some extent. Notice how most of the tarot Stands have rather simple abilities, even ones like Star Platinum and Hierophant Green which., while versatile in what they can do, have obvious areas they excel at. Strength, Forever’s Stand, is really a standout with how out there it is, a feat that wouldn’t be matched until the Egypt Stand users came on the scene with their wackier powersets. Nothing reaches the insanity levels of something like, say, Heavy Weather, Bohemian Rhapsody, or Dirty Deeds quite yet, but this was the transitional period between the more narrow-usaged Hamon and Stands, so it makes sense that the waters would be tested with simpler yet still creative abilities at first. Stardust Crusaders really does a good job of easing people in to a series that eventually has hand-collecting serial killers who get boners from the Mona Lisa and a United States president who wants to collect the pieces of Jesus Christ’s corpse to make America invincible, and let’s not even get into the whole situation with Gappy’s testicles. All I’m saying is that if you want to get people to accept a turtle with an interdimensional hotel room inside it… you gotta start with an orangutan.

This is also where all the musical references kick into high gear. Obviously they were there before; Dio, Wag Chung, Speedwagon, Whammu, Kars, and Eisidisi did not escape my notice, after  all. But here they became far more pronounced, with characters like Oingo & Boingo, Enya, J. Geils, Captain Tenille, Pet Shop, and perhaps most ridiculous of all, Vanilla Ice and his Stand, Cream. Vanilla Ice actually, ahem, stands out as being the first example of what would become the standard naming convention for all Stands to follow, that is to say, named after a song or band. Ironically, this makes him stand out in the very arc he appears in.

While in general the Stands were a bit less wacky than later Stands would be, there was a lot of creativity in the battles for what limited powersets they had. J. Geils and Hanged Man, Forever and Strength, Mannish Boy and Death 13, and Midler and High Priestess stand out among the tarot Stand users, while just about every single one of the Stand users with Stands named after Egyptian gods stand out as creative and exciting battles. Daniel D’Arby’s battle in particular is one of the best in the entire arc, as there is not a punch thrown and instead the entire thing boils down to an intense poker match. And, of course, I’d be remiss to not mention the multi-episode final duel against Dio and his Stand, The World, which is so utterly epic and filled with badass moments (as well as Matt Mercer getting to say “It’s high noon”) that it’s impossible not to love it.

Stardust Crusaders is definitely an arc with some serious flaws. It’s incredibly long, its format is a bit unrefined, it has a lot of filler characters, it doesn’t evenly distribute screentime, and a lot of it reeks of growing pains and early installment lack of direction. Considering the point in the series the anime is based on, it was kind of destined to be this way. And yet, despite the flaws, it’s still an incredibly fun, exciting, and funny adventure. Even if underutilized or overexposed, all of the main cast is enjoyable and likable; even if there are far too many to the point of exhaustion, most of the enemy Stand users are fun; and even if the arc drags on to the point where it gets frustrating and tedious, things always eventually swoop around and the show becomes as absorbing as it ever was.

While Stardust Crusaders is definitely not the best arc of the franchise, it’s a hell of a lot of fun and it’s easy to see why this part in particular is so popular and influential. A 2010s anime based on an 80s manga series has no right to feel so fresh and exciting, and yet here we are. It likely manages to work so well despite its shortcomings because, frankly, most other series like this have kind of vanished in this day and age, which helps the show stand out more despite the manga it’s based on helping define its genre back in the day. It’s basically a case of it being the right thing at the right time. Sure it’s not perfect, but it doesn’t need to be, so long as it can suck in and inspire new generations of fans the way the original manga did. It’s a great watch, though honestly, there are quite a few episodes you could skip over if you want to have a faster, cleaner viewing experience, namely most of the tarot Stands.

Whatever the case may be, I think all of us can agree on one thing:

This arc is WAY better than Phantom Blood.

[inviictas]

⌜   CIS MALE, HE / HIM   |   heavydirtysoul by twenty one pilots, slytherin, entp   ⌟   ⏤   meet CRISTIAN RAMIRO DE LA CRUZ ; a THIRTY year old who kind of resembles MANNY MONTANA, don’t you think? they originally hailed from SAN FRANSOKYO where they lived with their adoptive parent, GOGO TOMAGO (   BIG HERO 6   ), but word is that they’ve been working a desk for much of this year. they’ve always been pretty STAUNCH & VALOROUS, but have gotten way more INJUDICIOUS & BELLICOSE since they woke up. maybe their power of N / A can help in taking down the dome. you can check out his stat page HERE and his pinterest board HERE.

ALL ALONE   /   whether you like it or not,                 alone will be ( something ) you’ll be quite a lot.

SECTION ONE OF THREE : BULLET POINT HISTORY trigger warnings for talk of chronic ill health, prison, sociopathy, serial killers

i dont have the energy to write a long bio. b glad.

anyone who knows cristian’s birth mother, mariana de la cruz, can agree on at least one thing - whether she SHOULD have or not, she always say the best in people. it probably had something to do with how little about people she actually knew. ana was born, it seemed, to suffer ; she spent her whole life sick, all of her time either in hospital, or at home. she was beyond sheltered, and she had very few friends because of it. her kindness could only get her so far in life when she was so separated from it. 

she started to write to PRISONERS in her late teens. it was a decision made out of loneliness, and she figured that was a feeling that the people she wrote to could relate to. as heinous as some of their crimes were, ana continued to feel empathy for them. if she had just a few more critical thinking skills, maybe she wouldn’t have fallen in LOVE. he was a sociopath, and a homicidal sadist. he was a serial killer. he was serving consecutive life sentences. and still, she got on his visitation list. STILL, five years after they initially began to exchange letters, she obtained a marriage license. and two years after that, cristian ramiro de la cruz, mariana and her locked up love’s child, came into the world.

back when he was just a baby, of course he visited the prison with his mother ; they would make the trek together once every six months, as this was about as much as she could MANAGE. his mother thought that he was their miracle, and at that, believed wholeheartedly that his father loved them both. when he got old enough for conscious thought, he’d REFUSE point blank. his mother was blind to the type of man that his father was, but cristian’s defining memory is from when he was six years old, and he was gazing back at his father through the bars of their visitation room. there was no love, in those eyes - eyes they SHARED, he would hate, later on. there was nothing in his expression, that even implied a hint of care. mariana was delusional, but cristian could see what she couldn’t. he would kick up a fuss ever after as his mother prepared to leave, and though it broke her heart - and her visions of a happy family - she would leave him with a relative.

outside of this delusion she had, however, mariana was the best mother that he could have ever wanted. she was the sweetest and most gentle soul ; she loved him with a real ferocity, this baby she had never thought she would have, and she was WICKEDLY over protective of him. mariana didn’t love that cristian had to grow up quickly, because of her health. it didn’t make her happy to have a son that could cook for them both when she was simply too weak, or that knew her exact medication dosages off the top of his head, or who had been taught how to place her into the recovery position should the worst ever happen. he should have gotten to be a KID, and he didn’t, because of her. it hurt, more than anything, and it was probably why the fact he wanted nothing to do with his father pained her so ; they shared EVERYTHING, in their home. they experienced everything, together. and the one thing that cristian couldn’t do was love the man he knew was a monster.

when he was ten years old, his mother collapsed the day before one such visitation. he found her at the bottom of the stairs, and he called 911 from her phone as he had been taught to. it wasn’t the first time that his mother had been to the hospital, over his childhood, but it was the first time that he didn’t leave with her. it was decided that mariana was no longer in position to take care of cristian, or herself. she was better off in assisted living, and he would do better in care.

it didn’t take long for him to be taken in by leiko tanaka, also known as go go tomago. and she was a good substitute, for a mother, though he told her many times that she would never REPLACE mariana. she didn’t want to, and she won his respect very early on for how she approached dealing with him. she was there, when he needed someone, and she never hesitated to help him, when it was required. but she brought him to visit his birth mother once a week, and when he was old enough, he was allowed to go and see mariana alone. she helped him buy presents for her, she didn’t STOP him from leaving school early, when his mother’s health seemed to have dipped. leiko didn’t control him or attempt to take a place she had no right to, and so, cristian didn’t form a grudge. it was as easy as that.

and what was more, as he got older and started to go through puberty - she stuck by him, even when he acted out. cristian had a huge capacity for anger - and when he lost his head, he would... break things, over yelling. she never lost her head with him. she always spoke calmly, even after he had punched a hole into his wall, or shattered his mirror. and when he asked, she didn’t HESITATE in sending him to counseling ; something he recognized he needed, all on his own, as he reached his sixteen birthday and realized that his BIGGEST fear was being his father, and he was very quickly turning into him.

cristian decided to become a DETECTIVE because he didn’t want to be the kind of hero that leiko was. he wanted to be law abiding in every way - almost to prove to himself, to his father, to everyone who had ever known him, that the blood that ran through his veins wasn’t EVIL. he started his youth group, recently, because he had been there. he had been angry. he had lashed out. he had made bad choices in his teens that he was lucky hadn’t come back to BITE him. but he’d gotten past it, for the most part, and he wanted to help others. that’s all he’s been trying to do.

SECTION TWO OF THREE : HEADCANONS trigger warning for mention of cancer

mariana is still alive today, and cris visits her once a fortnight. he still brings her a bouquet of flowers every time, though the gifts he gives are ever changing ; she goes through periods, and right now, she’s enjoying an embroidery hobby, so he brings her thread. 

his father, though he doesn’t think of him as such, is also still alive - though he TREATS him like he’s not. he was diagnosed a year ago with stomach cancer, and cristian’s mother has urged him almost every time he’s visited to do what she can’t, and visit. he’ll never want to upset her enough that he’ll tell her the only time he will is when he’s DEAD, but he certainly thinks it quite a bit.

the only reason cristian hasn’t taken on leiko’s surname, by now, is because there’s a part of him that thinks doing so would be hiding. he’s cristian de la cruz, and yes, he’s the son of a serial killer. it’s certainly something, and perhaps he would have had an easier time in life at certain points if he wasn’t who he had been BORN. but he’s pretty stubborn, so, here we are.

morals wise, cristian is a good guy. in every other sense of the words, he probably... wouldn’t be classed as so. he’s pretty arrogant, and he has a fairly bad reputation in the police department because of his tendency to kind of run with things, and charge ahead. they like to say he doesn’t THINK, and that’s why he makes ‘poor’ decisions - but cris is actually very conscious of everything that he does, and he’s very willing to... make the tough call, so to speak, so that no one else has to. 

he’s still very hot headed. he still goes to counseling. he still fucks up, from time to time. it’s all very human. 

he came to walt disney academy for school, and he never left. it’s not because he loves the town, cause he really DOESN’T, but he fell in love while he was at the university - and his heart may have gotten broken, but he had already sort of set himself up for life, here, so... what can u do. 

SECTION THREE OF THREE : WANTED CONNECTIONS 

you know the usual DRILL ! friends ( anything from best to passing ), enemies, hookups, exes, the very most. hit me up if you’re interested !

i’m going to send in wcs later but:

his enemy with benefits ! they’re just ... either, someone he’s booked multiple times, someone with villainous ties, someone who he’s just hated since he was a kid and who’s hated him right back. but they get p hot and heavy now and it’s just... fun ? can it b called that? prob not. should be 27+

cristian’s partner in the buena vista police dept ! they go way back to police academy, and they used to try and outdo one another at every turn before they realized they could work TOGETHER and be better than everyone. have become super tight friends even tho cris is def the bad cop in their good cop bad cop dynamic, and they get along.. real well.

work dynamics ! ppl he gets along with , people who think he’s horrible, people who love his methods, people that hate them. give me someone who hates him solely because one time he drank their whole carton of milk that they left in the work fridge

his ex fiancé ! they would have dated from when cris was about 20, up to when he was 23 ( so they shld be like... 28+ ). they were gross and in love and we can talk abt why they ended ! 

membeRS OF HIS GROUP FOR TROUBLE YOUTH . 

his oldest friend + current roommate. wld work really well for another older big hero 6 kid ! 

[blooming-atlas]

The Cure

Characters/Pairing: Deputy/John Seed

Plot: A sickly Deputy recovering from the Bliss finds herself in the care of John Seed after he rescues her from Faith’s tender mercies. 

Rated: M for mature themes and John Seed being a creep.

Warnings: Drugging, kidnapping, slight nudity. 

A/N: I’ve always loved the thought of a besotted John rescuing the Deputy from one of his siblings. He’s tending to my Rook’s every need while keeping her imprisoned and Poor Katherine doesn’t know what to make of this.

---- The first thing Deputy Katherine Mills became aware of was a headache, a literal throbbing pain inside her skull. Oh, that's right...Faith Seed had doped her up with Bliss. Why did the Bliss always give her such nasty headaches? She was in an uncomfortable position, but she was afraid to move, afraid the least twitch would set the hammers to pounding even harder than they already were. 

She was queasy, too, and she thought she might vomit. Something was wrong, but the fuzziness in her brain kept her from figuring out what. She tried to remember...something. Anything. For a sickening moment there was nothing there, no sense of place or time, just a horrifying lurch into the unknown. 

She remembered nosing around the Henbane, Faith Seed appearing before her and blowing Bliss in her face and then...nothing.

Then the texture of the fabric beneath her made sense, and she knew she was in bed. Yes, that made sense. She had a headache, and she was in bed. Not her bed. She remembered going...no, she didn't remember going to bed. The last clear memory when Faith had taken her was . . . but that eluded her, too, and she stopped fighting for it, letting the darkness and oblivion claim her again. 

When next Katherine woke, she thought she must be sick. What else could account for this overwhelming sense of illness? She was seldom ill, even with the sniffles, but surely only something as serious as a fever or the flu could make her feel so sick.

For the first time, she felt like a prisoner in her own body. There was no way she could get up and leave; she was stuck. Something was tugging on her head. It was a gentle, rhythmic tugging, and instead of making her headache worse, it actually soothed it, as if the sensation dulled her perception of the throbbing. Her arms ached. She tried to move them and found she couldn't. Alarm pierced through the fogginess in her brain. 

She tried again to move her arms, with the same lack of result. “My arms,” she whispered, and her voice sounded awful, so hoarse it was unrecognizable. “Poor Kitten,” a soft voice murmured. “You'll be alright. There, doesn't this feel good?” The rhythmic tugging continued, slow and easy, and after a moment she realized someone was brushing her hair. It did feel good, but she didn't want her hair brushed. She wanted to move her arms. She wanted to get up.

Despite the headache, despite her queasy stomach, she shifted uneasily in the bed and found she couldn't move her legs, either. Panic, hard and bright, made her eyes flare open. Her vision swam with fuzzy images that didn't quite make sense.

There was a man...but he wasn't one of Faith’s, and that wasn't possible. Why was a Peggie brushing her hair? “I'll get you some water,” the soft voice crooned. “You'd like that, wouldn't you, Kitten? Nice, cold water will feel so good down your throat. You've been asleep for such a long time I was worried that you wouldn’t wake up. I’m afraid that my beloved sister gave you too much Bliss.” 

Sister?

A cool hand slipped behind her neck and lifted her head, and a glass was put against her lips. The cold water hit her mouth in a rush, soaking into parched tissues, loosening her tongue from the roof of her mouth. Katherine’s stomach heaved as she swallowed, but thank God she didn't vomit. She swallowed again, then again, before the glass was taken away. “Not too much, Kitten. You've had too much Bliss and your body couldn’t handle it.” She was still very sick if she was paralyzed, but maybe this man didn't know she couldn't move.

She closed her dull green eyes, fighting for strength, but, dear God, she didn't have any. She was so weak that she felt almost boneless. “I'll bring you some soup in a little while. You need to eat something. I didn't realize that Faith had forgotten to feed you, and I'm afraid that the conditions she kept you under has made you ill.” The softness of the voice clicked, and memory crept back. 

“John Seed?” She croaked out. No. Anyone, but him. “Yes, Kitten, I'm right here.” “I feel so sick,” she whispered, opening her eyes and blinking. This time she found her vision had cleared a little, and she could plainly see his face, full of concern. ‘Concern?’ she thought. ‘Since when has this sicko ever been concerned for anyone but himself?’

“I know your ill, and I'm sorry for that.” “I can't move.” “Of course not. I couldn't have you hurting yourself, now could I?” “H-hurting myself?” She was winning the battle against the fog; with every passing second she felt less confused, more aware of her surroundings. She felt as if she were surfacing from anesthesia, which she remembered well from when that drunken asshole she had to arrest two years back had broken her arm, and she'd been put under general anesthesia when it was set. She'd hated the anesthesia a lot more than she'd hated the cast.

“If you tried to attack me again,” John Seed explained, but that didn't make any sense. “I can't. I haven't.” Tried to attack him? She had been doped up with Bliss, and that was the last thing she remembered. 

“I know, I know. When I came to retrieve you from the Henbane you were so full of Bliss that you barely recognized me.” He chuckled. “You have a mean left hook, Kitten.” The brush moved slowly through her hair. “You have such lovely hair, Katherine. It was quite the bird’s nest when I found you. Overall I'm very pleased that my sister failed in turning you into an Angel, though your decision to punch me in the jaw was an unpleasant surprise. Still, you've been through a lot with members of my family. I'm sure you'll settle down around me with time.”

He wasn't making any sense. Settle down? She frowned, her brow wrinkling, and he smoothed the creases with his fingertip. “Don't frown, I love my sister, but even she has a tendency to go overboard with the Bliss. I couldn’t just allow her to turn you into one of her mindless drones, so I gathered up ten good men and rescued you. Be grateful that you were in Faith’s hands and not Jacob’s. Had he gotten to you first, you would have been lost to me.”

Rescue? A chill ran through her, and she went very still as an awful realization seized her. Her stomach heaved again, but this time with fear. “There’s been a family meeting concerning your escape, but luckily none of my siblings suspect me” he said, sounding a little proud. He was the one. He was her rescuer, the one who rescued her from Faith. He'd waited, and seized his chance. 

She wasn't sick at all, she realized; there were still lingering traces of the Bliss in her body, and since she hadn't eaten anything in the two days she had been with Faith, the drug had hit her hard and made her weak for the taking.

She had to answer him. ‘Don't anger him,’ she thought. ‘Don't do anything to make him wary.’ Think. She needed to find a way to get the fuck out of here. Think! “Th-thank you,” she whispered. 

The brush paused in its motion. “My Kitten, I'm so sorry,” he said gently. “I wish I had gotten there in time. Joseph’s furious that Faith lost you and Jacob sent some of his Chosen out to track you down. You’ll need to be quiet while your in my home.” He sounded so pleased that she was grateful to him for saving her life. And why the hell did he keep calling her Kitten? Only close friends and family members were allowed to call her that!

‘Stay calm. Don’t get angry. Stay calm.’

“I understand,” she whispered. “Could I have more water?” “Of course, Kitten, since you asked so nicely.” He lifted her head and held the glass to her lips again, and she gulped as much as she could. ‘Water. Cool water...’

“There,” he said as he let her head rest on the pillow again. “Feeling better, my darling?” “I’m...I’m still feeling dizzy. Can’t remember much.” He made an exasperated noise. “I should have realized. Don't worry, Kitten, I'll take care of you until you get better. You'll feel so much more comfortable when your well again.”

Katherine tried once again to move her arms, and this time she felt something wrapped around her wrists. The truth occurred to her in a sickening rush: she was tied to the bed. To John Seed’s fucking bed! She fought the panic and disgust that threatened to overwhelm her. She couldn't give in to it, she had to think, she had to concentrate. If she panicked she was helpless, but if she kept her wits, she might outsmart him.

She had one big advantage: she knew he was dangerous, but he didn't know she was well enough to think clearly. 

‘Whitehorse.’ 

She remembered talking to him on the radio before Faith took her by surprise. 

Sooner or later he would call and want to see her, talk to her. All she had to do was keep things calm and under control until then. She didn't want to do anything to agitate John Seed, prod him into as much as she could into violence. 

He was a sadist, obsessed with having everything go his way; he was happy now because she was here, slowly recovering from the effects of the Bliss and at his mercy. So long as he believed that, she was safe. She hoped she was safe. But if he thought she was trying to escape from him, he was likely to explode into violence...or worst. If that happened, if she couldn't make a clean escape, then she had to make certain she was ready to handle him.

But there was no telling how long it would take Earl Whitehorse to try to contact her. He didn’t know she was here, but members of the Resistance were probably tearing Hope County apart to find her. Whitehorse would try her radio first, and if she didn't answer, he would try again later. “Later,” however, could be months later. No, Earl wouldn't wait that long. He was too tenacious and would most likely set out on his own to track her down. Stubborn old man saw her as family and the last thing she wanted was for him to endanger himself because of her own stupidity.

But in the meantime she had to help herself. The first order of business was to convince John Seed to untie her. She made her voice weaker than it truly was. If he wanted her sweet and helpless, she'd give him sweet and helpless, at least until she could kick his pretty little ass. 

“John?” “Yes, Kitten?” “I...I'm so embarrassed to say this.” “You don't have to be embarrassed about anything. I'm here to take care of you.” “I need to use the bathroom. I’m...I’m on my period,” she whispered, and she had the benefit of that being so true she was on the verge of really embarrassing herself. Add in the fact that she was having her goddamn period, and the situation was not good.

John tsked. “Dear me. That does present a problem.” “I—I think Faith paralyzed me. I can’t move,” she said, and let her voice wobble. It was better that he thought she was more incapacitated than she really was. Not that she would be able to fight or run even if she was untied, at this point, but she wanted him to think she was recovering very slowly.

“Of course you aren't,” he exclaimed, his voice warm with sincere sympathy. Strange. Did he really care for her well-being? “I just used restraints to keep you from harming yourself. Now, let me see, how can we work this?” Katherine squirmed a little; her distress was becoming so acute that it was no problem to let a tear leak out of her eye. She needed to see if she could walk, or if too much of the drug Faith had given her was still in her system. “Yes, that will work,” he murmured to himself, and folded back the covers.

To her immense relief she saw that she was still wearing her clothes; he'd removed her shoes, her weapons, her backpack and her radio was gone, but that was all. He worked diligently, untying her ankles and then refashioning the thick, rough rope-like restraints into a sort of hobble, with an extra length attached to it and held in his hand. If she could walk at all, it would be in very short steps, and if she tried anything, all he had to do was jerk the rope in his hand and she'd fall flat on her face.

Goddamn him to hell!

She was truly crying by the time he got all that worked out and began releasing her hands.  “I'm sorry, I know you have to be miserable,” he crooned. “Just a few more minutes, and I'll help you to the bathroom.” 

“Please hurry,” she croaked, squeezing her eyes shut. At last he was helping her to sit up, and she saw immediately that even if she were untied, she wouldn't be able to accomplish much. Better to do nothing to arouse his suspicions this time, and wait until she was in better shape. She had to remember that he was stronger than he looked, if he'd managed to get her upstairs all by himself. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was as strong as Jacob. 

Katherine was so woozy that she could barely sit up; in fact, she couldn't, not without help, and she leaned heavily into him.

It turned her stomach to touch him, but she had to concentrate on allaying his suspicions, and if that meant accepting his help, she'd grit her teeth and do it. He got her on her feet. Her knees immediately buckled, and he was supporting her entire weight. She clung to him as he half walked, half dragged her, to the big white tiled bathroom that was part of his quarters. 

All of her toiletries were set out on the vanity; since he'd unpacked her small backpack for her, she hoped her personal supplies were in the vanity drawers.

Yes, there was the bag she had packed everything in, sitting on a shelf; even if he'd left the tampons in the bag, she could get to them. He eased her over to the toilet, and stood there a moment looking uncomfortable. ‘Gonna’ watch me shit, asshole? Go ahead. I’ll show you a real fucking treat.’

“Do you need any help?” She braced her hand against the wall, panting. “I think I can manage.” He should feel safe leaving her in here; there was a window, but it was glass block; she couldn't see out, no one could see in, and it didn't open. 

Even if she could break it out, his bedroom was on the second floor; the first floor in this ranch, she'd noticed, had what appeared to be sixteen-foot ceilings, so the drop would be much higher than from the ordinary second-story window. 

She'd risk it, though, if that turned out to be her only chance. He looked around, and she could see him mentally cataloging the contents of the room to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon or to escape.

He was very careful, and he didn't trust her. She leaned heavily against the wall, underscoring her weakness.  “All right,” he finally said. “I'll be right outside if you need me.” 

“Could you leave the door open a little?” she asked. “Please? So you can hear me in case I fall.” Talk about reverse psychology, asking him to do the very thing he intended to do anyway; perhaps that would convince him she wasn't making a break for it. Thank God she took that Psychology class in University. He looked pleased and gave her a sweet smile as he left the bathroom and pulled the door half-closed.

That was all the privacy she was going to get, but at this point she didn't give a flying fuck. The relief was almost painful, and those damn tears leaked down her face again. She found the box of tampons in the bottom vanity drawer and took care of that problem, too. Feeling much better and not nearly as desperate, but still very weak, she hobbled to the sink and leaned against it while she wet a washcloth and washed her face and private areas. 

If he peeped, then he peeped; she didn't give a damn. She needed to freshen up more than she needed to worry about her modesty.

Katherine drank more water, greedily gulping it down, then made her slow and wobbly way to the door. “Please,” she said weakly. “Help me back to bed.” John rushed to her side. “Lean on me,” he said tenderly. “My poor Kitten.” He supported her on the trek back to the bed and helped her lie down again. She was trembling, and it wasn't a pretense; her legs felt as if they wouldn't have supported her another minute. 

He caressed her cheek, smoothed her blonde hair back from her face, then began fastening the restraints around her arms and ankles. She had to bite her lip when he touched her, but she didn't protest, just lay limply, her eyes closed.

Despite the fact that she wanted nothing more then to punch him in the face, having John pushing back her hair and stroking her cheek felt...really, really nice. Piece of shit actually cared about her and was enjoying playing nurse. “I'll be right back with some food,” he murmured, and left the room, closing the door behind him. There was nothing she could do, trussed up like a dog as she was, so she didn't even tug against the rope.

Katherine wouldn't put it past the bastard to have this place wired for both video and audio, and if he was watching her on camera, she didn't intend to do anything that would put him on alert. That brief excursion had exhausted her small bit of strength. She took a deep breath and let herself sink into the waiting darkness. She would use the darkness this time, to get stronger.

‘And get the fuck out of here...’

[mbtizone]

Troy Otto (Fear the Walking Dead): ISTP

Dominant Introverted Thinking [Ti]: Troy is obsessed with killing people of different ages, sizes, and ethnicities to see what he can learn about the turning process. He wants to collect data, which he then goes on to categorize, or draw conclusions from. He is confident in his assertion that it will take him 87 minutes to die, because of his age, weight, and BMI. He’s so obsessed with collecting this information that when Nick threatens to kill him, Troy begs him to time how long it takes him to turn. He cares about accumulating knowledge and, when Nick wants to know what’s wrong with him, Troy simply responds that Newton stabbed himself in the eye just to understand the nature of light. Troy wants to know why people spoil. He seeks to understand what is going on around him and remains callous and detached in his quest for answers. Troy’s way of thinking about things is subjective. He does what makes sense to him. He wants to take out the horde that he spots on the side of the road because they can’t risk allowing them to reach the ranch. Cooper argues with him, trying to tell him that it’s not on their to-do list and says that they’re on the clock, but Troy doesn’t care about their schedule. He’s guided by his own internal logic and is able to arrive at likely conclusions quickly. He spots shells from a gun that was owned by Phil, which leads Troy to deduce that Phil had engaged an attacker before retreating to the outpost.

Auxiliary Extroverted Sensing [Se]: Action and adventure are exciting for Troy and he likes to be in the thick of things. When he spots the horde on the side of the road and leads his men to take them out, he doesn’t allow them to use their guns because it’s “too much noise” and “not enough sport.” He enjoys taking risks and living in the moment. Troy is often reckless and puts himself and others in dangerous situations. He enjoys a good fight and is skilled with weapons. Troy is always aware of his physical surroundings and knows how to engage with them. His constant vigilance allows him to make many observations about his environment. Troy has very keen senses. He’s the first one to notice the smell that leads his men and Madison to the pile of charred bodies. Troy tells Madison that he’s “always been a bit of a nature boy.” He notices what’s going on around him (Se) and makes note of it (Ti). Although he is aware of the severity of most situations, he tends to treat the new world like a personal playground, with Madison noting that it’s like a “game” to Troy. Troy is impetuous and has trouble controlling his impulses (slaughtering the Trimbol family in the heat of the moment). He doesn’t believe in dwelling on the past. When someone dies, they’re gone. All you can do is get your revenge and move on. When Troy sees what Walker did to their people, he immediately wants to hit them back.

Tertiary Introverted Intuition [Ni]: Troy’s singular focus is on studying, observing, and acquiring information about the dead (Ti-Ni). He is consumed by it. He has a good sense about people and he sees right through Madison’s speech. Troy realizes that she said what she said to garner sympathy and remind the people at the ranch that she’s a victim. She didn’t say what she said to memorialize him. She had a reason and Troy saw right through her manipulation. He usually has an idea of what will happen in most situations (though, having a concept of what the consequences may be is rarely enough to stop him). Troy thinks that what he does is his “calling” in life. He believes it’s what he’s meant to do. It’s his purpose.

Inferior Extroverted Feeling [Fe]: Because he is so wrapped up in trying to comprehend the world around him, Troy doesn’t typically display empathy. When Madison is upset after seeing where the helicopter went down, he admonishes her, saying “there’s no room for grief.” In certain instances, he can become extremely emotional and throw a tantrum. He killed the Trimbol family because they left the ranch and Mike couldn’t even do him the courtesy of looking him in the eye and talking to Troy about it. He has a hard time dealing with his feelings and they cause him to lash out. Troy can be very good at understanding people (seeing Madison’s real motivation for her speech about Travis). Troy does genuinely care about the people at the ranch and wants to help them and protect them, but because he’s so unhealthy, he sometimes ends up doing more harm than good. He’s genuinely upset when he finds the heap of burned bodies and when his group comes across Phil. When Madison tells Troy that his mother never loved him, he later holds a knife to her throat in her sleep, but is unable to go through with it. When he returns to the ranch after their encounter with Walker, Troy wants to keep the truth from them. He only wants to tell Jeremiah, and Troy tries to keep Mike from telling everybody what happened, to no success.

Note: Troy is unbelievably unhealthy. He’s also very complex. Troy has sadistic tendencies and it’s difficult for him to control himself. He didn’t intend to kill the Trimbol family and he means what he says when he’s saying it. He’s just extremely damaged and probably one of the worst examples of an ISTP on television. It’s hard to separate what parts of Troy’s personality come from his cognitive functions and which parts stem from whatever psychological disorder he suffers from. I actually considered high Si for him, because he believes in preserving the ranch, serving it, and doing what he believes must be done in order to protect it. He also talks about the importance of “order, discipline, chain of command,” but I think he means that more for other people and not necessarily for himself. He doesn’t embody those values and tends to just do whatever he wants in the moment. His past has a huge, lasting impact on him, but I believe anyone of any type would be affected if they had the same experiences as Troy. He’s a stickler for “the rules” and how things should be done, but I think that might be part his illness. He uses his loyalty to the ranch as an excuse. They “don’t have enough resources” for Travis, but he’s okay with allowing Madison and Alicia in. I believe Jeremiah and Jake didn’t want to allow Luciana inside because that’s “not how they do things.” Troy hid behind this reason as well, but I think it probably had more to do with his desire to kill people to “learn.” He was probably already thinking about how long it would take Luciana to turn. The same goes for when Vernon, Mike, and the rest of the Trimbol family left the ranch. He was angry and upset, so he used the rules as a crutch. He berated them for leaving with “ranch property.” He didn’t really care about protecting the ranch in that moment, as Jake pointed out. He just used that as his reason because he didn’t want to get into the truth – that he was hurt and felt betrayed. It was also hard for me to decide what his dominant function was – Ti or Se? But there are strong signs of inferior Fe, and nearly everything he does is to feed his Ti curiosity, so ISTP seemed the better fit. Troy can be interpreted in numerous ways, so I used my own analysis of the character, as well as what I’ve read in interviews or heard on Talking Dead to form my judgments. He hasn’t been around very long, though, so I may see something that will cause me go back and retype him in the future. Time shall tell.

Enneagram: 8w7 5w6 3w2 So/Sx

Quotes:

Troy: Did you have contact back home before comms failed? Travis: No. Troy: Oh, shame. New Zealand’s isolated. I just thought, uh maybe your people – maybe they dodged all this. Maybe they turn different or not at all. Eh, could’ve learned something. We may still. Nick: Where’s my mom and my sister? Troy: Being processed. Nick: Don’t hurt them. Troy: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, ease your mind. I’m not a savage. Travis: That’s that’s good to hear. This woman needs attention. Troy: Yeah, she’ll be taken care of. Travis: No, she’s dying. Troy: Everyone here dies. It’s the only mercy I can offer for the sick and the maimed. Now, you can take a seat.

Madison: What are you writing? Troy: Oh, it’s just observations. I’ve always been a bit of a nature boy. I just I mark things down. It will matter later.

Troy: Two ways it cuts, huh? You can’t sleep ’cause of what’s weighing on you or bad times just waiting for you when you wake. Madison: What do you want? Troy: This area’s burned. You shouldn’t go back out there. Madison: Troy. Troy: We’re leaving. I can take you home with us. You and Alicia. Madison: What about Travis? Troy: Our resources are limited Madison: Is he alive? Troy: I’ll release him. I will… if you come.

Nick: Luci, hey- Man: Not sure she can hear you. Nick: What what do you mean? Troy: She’s not going to make it is what he means. Nick: Help her. Troy: No. We take her to the infirmary, she may turn. It’s against policy. Nick: It’s your fault. You shot her. Troy: I was defending my people. I’ll do it again. I know what to do. Nick: No, no, no, no. Troy: This is how it has to be. Nick: No.

[Madison enters and sees who she thinks is Nick in bed.] Madison: How’s Luciana? Troy: Oh, still alive. I liked your speech. I liked how you said his name. Travis. It makes him matter. Makes him real. Madison: He was real. Troy: That’s not why you said it, though. It wasn’t out of grief. It was pointed. You wanted to remind us that you’re a victim, too. Madison: You feel like a victim? Troy: Are you analyzing me now? Madison: No. Troy: What did you do in the old world? Madison: Guidance counselor. Troy: At a high school? [Madison nods] Oh. I never attended. “Certain social aspects of academia proved challenging for Troy.” Madison: You must have been lonely. Troy: No, no. No, I, uh I had this place. Everything that I do is in service to this place. Madison: Does your father believe that? Troy: Yeah, he understands. You know, complicated problems call for complicated solutions. Madison: Killing people’s not complicated. It’s simple. Troy: Do you see? You understand this world. You understand me. That’s why I picked you. But I didn’t – I didn’t pick Nick. Madison: He comes with me. Package deal. Troy: Why were you separated? Why was he with strangers and not his family? He doesn’t deserve his place here. I think you know it. Madison: He’ll earn it. [referring to the bed] That was made this morning, Troy.

Jake: Stay away from Madison and her family. Troy: They’re my friends. Jake: They came here under my invite. They trust me. Troy: They came here not to get eaten. I wouldn’t flatter yourself. Jake: Yeah, but they’re staying ’cause I said I’d protect them from you. Troy: And how are you going to do that? Jake: Please don’t do this. Troy, please. I’m the one that still believes in you. Troy: Well, I don’t need you to anymore. Jake: Yeah, you do. You do. If the ranch knew what you really are- Troy: And what am I, Jake? Jake: Do you really think that you were helping those people out at the depot? Troy: I think I was helping all of us. Jake: Troy when Dad’s gone, this is all on us. We have to take care of this place. We have to lead – Together. Troy: Together. Jake: Yeah. But I need you to do something for me. I need you to stay away from the Clarks. Do you hear me? Troy: Yep. I hear you. Jake: Do you mean it? Troy: I always mean it, Jake.

Troy: The ground’s soft. You could dig a grave real easy. I mean, people would suspect you, but well, they really wouldn’t know for sure. Nick: I wonder how long it’ll take you to turn. Troy: Eighty-seven minutes. Eighty-seven minutes given my weight, BMI, age. You know, if you do do it, you should time it. Journal’s in my pocket. Nick: You are not a scientist. Troy: Time it. Nick, please. Nick: What is wrong with you? Troy: Newton stabbed his own eye to understand the nature of light. I just – I need to know. I need to know why we spoil.

Troy: Cooper, are you seeing what I’m seeing? We got a party to attend! Cooper: It’s out of our way, Troy. We need to get to the Huey and back. Over. Troy: No, no, no, we leave them, they could migrate up the highway toward the ranch. We can’t risk that. Cooper: Not on our to-do list. We’re on a clock, man. Madison: I’m with you. Troy: We’re not making this someone else’s problem, Cooper. We’ll be in and out in five minutes. That’s it. Oh, no, no, no. No guns. It’s too much noise. Not enough sport.

[after he, his men, and Madison take out a horde] Troy: Oh, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. Who timed that? Man: It was just under a minute. Troy: Eh, it’s good work. Short work.

Troy: You ready for what comes next? It’s gonna be living, not dead. Whoa, you’re gonna need more fight in you than that. Madison: I’ll have fight. Don’t worry. Troy: You sure? Madison: Seeing where it happened was harder than I thought. Troy: Oh, you need to let that go. There’s no room for grief. Madison: If it was your father, you wouldn’t mourn him? Troy: Big Otto is immortal. Madison: And you didn’t grieve for your mother? Troy: Nah, if someone is dead, they’re dead, you know? There’s no point dwelling. All you can do is take out the assholes who did you wrong. Madison: Eye for an eye. Troy: Ah, a tooth for a tooth, amen. Madison: It’s just a game to you. Troy: No, it’s not a game. It’s my calling.

Madison: Your men are tired. Troy: Yeah, well, newsflash so am I. Listen, Walker and those assholes will make it back before us if we don’t move double time. You want that visited on your family? Huh? You really think Nick can handle something like that? Madison: We’re not gonna make it back. Troy: You’re overstepping, Madison. Mike, will you pick your ass up? Just wrap your foot and hoof it. Come on, let’s go. Madison: You want them to follow you out of fear or respect? Troy: What did you just say to me? Madison: Being a leader is knowing when to stop. Troy: Okay. Okay. Come here. This is my mission and these are my men. Madison: Yours or your father’s? Would he back this play? Troy: Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m not your son. Madison: But you have such a strange fixation on him. You wanna be a mama’s boy, Troy? Was your mother too cruel for that? Troy: Shut up. Madison: She hated you, didn’t she? Troy: Shut up. Shut up. Madison: Even in the end, when you cared for her and bathed her, she still didn’t love you, did she? Who says we should rest up? Troy: I’m the only one who knows the way back. So you better pick your asses up at first light because I will leave you. I’ll leave you all for the wasted.

Mike: They’re dead. They’re all dead. Troy: Mike, lock your shit down. Lock it down. Mike: They’re dead. And we’re gonna die, too, if we don’t leave! Troy: Shut up! Man: Is that true? Mike: If we stay, we- Troy: Mike, shut the hell up. Mike: If we stay, we die!

Troy: No, no, no, we go after them. Now. We hit them back. Jeremiah: So you can stroll into another ambush, Colonel Custer?

Madison: I was worried you might do something rash. Troy: To my family? No, no. Never. Madison: Can’t blame my worry. Troy: No. All I’ve ever had in my – my whole life is this – this place and these people, and I don’t know, it just I don’t understand, you know. Like, the world out there, it’s, uh – it’s burned. Madison: They wanted to see for themselves. Troy: Anyone who leaves is dead to me. Now, Mike, he was – he was soft, but he was – he’s been my friend since I was a kid. He stayed in school when I got – I got pulled. But he never quit on me. Never. Even when others did. Madison: He didn’t quit on you, Troy. He just stood by his family. Troy: He wouldn’t look at me. He just… Hard to know how to react to something like that. Madison: You make sure no one else leaves. Save them from the same mistake. I’ll help you.

Troy: I didn’t go out there to do that, I swear. I – He owed me. He had to look me directly in the eye. He had to say it to my face, say it like Vernon said it to my father. He owed me that. Madison: He didn’t want to do that, did he? Troy: He said some things, and I did some things. Then it went bad. Not what you want to hear, is it? Madison: You could run this place, Troy, but not if you let things break like that. Last night you had command. I saw that. Your militia saw that, and they responded. Your brother doesn’t have what you have. He’s not of this place. You’re the survivor. You’re the heir. So, no, the last thing I want to hear is how you lost control. That can’t happen. I don’t care how you did it. I don’t care why you did it. All I care about is that you can control it. There’s a fight coming, and you have to save us. Can you? Troy: Yes, ma’am.

Troy Otto (Fear the Walking Dead): ISTP was originally published on MBTI Zone