#dong the villain is dead

[drrav3nb]

This makes us...true partners

[mamamittens]

Oh, Sweet Child of Mine (Pt. 12)

Platonic Yandere Whitebeard Crew (and others) & Reader-Insert

Main|First|Previous

Warnings: Yandere behavior, excessive use of force/fire, light injuries, and character death. At this point, need I remind ya'll to not tolerate possessive/toxic behavior in real life? Or murder/violence for that matter. If yandere content makes you uncomfortable, please do block the tag 'oh sweet child of mine' as well as any variation of 'one piece yandere' that you feel is necessary.

Ya'll about to lose your damn minds and I'm not sorry.

(also, this gif is baller)

Word Count: 2,439

Ace leaned back a little as Striker sped off across the water. Ocean spray erupting in his wake as he veered towards the shoreline. Marco was checking the other nearby island while he checked this one. Discreetly.

Well… as discreetly as he could manage.

After several months of riding Teach’s ass, he knew they were close. Several times they went into a port only to find out that Teach had left only days before. Whatever crew he managed to get on such short notice was competent, Ace would admit that much. But everything he heard only made his fire burn hotter in his chest. He’d been practically spitting sparks for weeks now.

Particularly what he’d heard from Luffy.

‘They look cool. Though really tired!’

Thatch had woken up a couple of months back, though he was still strictly on bedrest. He was able to provide a better picture of what happened. As they had all suspected, you didn’t have anything to do with it. As far as Thatch could remember while bleeding out, Teach had kidnapped you with a sack. Not exactly ‘accomplice’ behavior. Thatch had also been devastated to learn that you’d been taken when he was right there.

Ace promised to bring you back home. At this point, the only reason for Teach to return was so Oyaji could personally punt him into the sea.

Ace ran Striker onto the shore and leapt out, boots digging into the sand as he jogged up the slight incline. Shards of glass breaking under his heel as he took a moment to control his temper.

He just wanted to go home already. He wanted all of this to be over with. To go back to teasing you for dodging parties and Thatch’s attempts to befriend you. Hell, he’d even take your awkward, concerned smiles for when someone tried really hard to talk to you about joining. Like they were confessing their plans to marry a sea king—actually, you’d probably be offended they thought they were worthy of Mao.

Ace sucked in a deep breath and steadied himself. Stalking through the shadows towards the center of the town. Ears primed for gossip.

“—they think I’d pay for that! Ugh!”

“—get ahold of your sister after last week? What she say?”

“—Did you see those pirates? Dragging around a slave, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised—” Ace jerked towards the voice with narrowed eyes. An older lady gossiped with someone just a little bit younger, the two engrossed with their conversation. “—That Blackbeard fellow has no shame! All those rings! And his crew were just obnoxious! I feel so bad for that slave. I wonder if calling the marines would help or if they’d just be sold again?”

“I thought slaves just had the collar and brand. I didn’t even see a brand anywhere… do you think it’s a ransom?”

“Well, you’d think he wouldn’t be carting them around if that was the case! Poor dear looked exhausted!”

Ace grit his teeth, hissing as steam curled between his lips. After a moment, he put on his best, charming smile and stepped out.

“Excuse me, ma’am? I couldn’t help but overhear you… are they still here? My friend was taken by pirates and I’ve been trying to find them for months! Thick glasses, blue bandana around their wrist?” Ace asked with wide, sad eyes. The older ladies tittered at him as expected.

“Oh! Yes, actually, though it looked like they’re using it as a bandage now. That brute doesn’t look very gentle to me, you know. Last I heard they were readying for departure on the other side of town.” She replied. Ace bowed low.

“Thank you, very much, ma’am! Ah.” Ace looked up with a wry smile. “I suggest you ladies get a bit of distance. I’m afraid I’m going to make a bit of a mess soon.”

The ladies nodded and hurried off, warning others as they went.

Ace kept his smile for a few moments longer before settling his gaze in the direction they indicated.

Ace huffed, running up a wall and grabbing onto a rooftile. Hoisting himself up to run atop the buildings for a better vantage point. The colorful clay roofing blurring as he rushed.

He leapt on top of a house, crouched down low as he sneered.

Teach stood with his crew around him, organizing barrels. You swaying on your feet a little beside him. A dull, iron bracelet connected to a chain that ran all the way to Teach’s own wrist.

Luffy was right.

You looked fucking exhausted.

Ace cupped his hand, fire pooling between his fingers as he threw it down at Teach’s feet where it exploded. More light and noise than damage.

He didn’t want to hurt you.

It would be tricky to immolate Teach with you next to him, but Ace was clever. He’d figure something out. At the very least he could keep fighting until Marco arrives.

“TEACH YOU BASTARD!”

--*--

You yelped, startled by the sudden explosion just feet from you. Teach instantly backing up with his hand gripping your arm. His face turned up towards a roof.

You followed his gaze in shock as the figure stood up. Ace screaming furiously across the distance.

“TEACH YOU BASTARD!” Rather than be intimidated in the least, Teach laughed.

“Commander! Should have known it would be you.” Teach grinned, pulling you forward a bit. “Here for something? Why not join my crew? I’m going to be a warlord soon, you know. After I turn in Straw Hat, they’ll gladly give me the position.”

You couldn’t quite see Ace well, but he seemed more furious at the suggestion than before. His fruit flaring enough that even with your exhaustion you noticed. He’d clearly been burning so hot for a while now—your obliviousness to him was just further evidence for how weak you’d gotten over the past few months.

Teach had been getting a tad… desperate to outrun his pursuers until he could manage to get the warlord title. And it seems as though his luck had run out.

“I. Would. Never.” Ace spat, launching off the room in a hail of fire and landing several feet away. “Luffy is my little brother, Teach. You’re not hurting anymore of my family.”

Teach made a surprised sound and you couldn’t blame him. They didn’t quite resemble each other, nor did they share a last name. And seeing Ace now, face etched with fury, he looked about as far from the goofy, beaming Luffy as possible.

Teach clicked his tongue.

“What a shame. You’re pretty strong, commander. We could have done great together.” Teach bemoaned playfully, like they were still crewmates having a small argument over pie flavors.

“I’m not your commander, Teach. Not after what you’ve done.” Ace’s body lit up like a bonfire, flaring high into the sky and making you look away or risk blinding yourself.

The shadows beneath your feet writhed as the light flickered over them, powered by your fruit as a cold spot developed around you. Around Teach.

“Go. None of you are strong enough to fight him—” Teach warned before one of them shot a gun at Ace. The bullets flying through harmlessly, leaving only temporary holes in the blazing fire that constituted his body. Ace’s eyes were fixed on you like dying stars. “Now!”

The crew ran as a flashover spilled out across the area, scorching the earth and singing your lungs.

You wished you had the opportunity to run yourself. Never, have you ever, wanted to fight Ace. For a lot of reasons.

Mostly a lack of desire to know what being a burned marshmallow felt like.

Teach’s free fist was coated in smoke and shadows, curling around his fingers eagerly.

Ace reeled back his fiery arm, fist clenched tight as Teach mirrored him.

Fire and living darkness rushed across the space, suddenly not nearly enough space as they collided violently. Friction lighting where they clashed as it raced upwards and out, attempting to find a weak point. You felt your body being blown back, only held in place by Teach’s firm grip as his boots dug into the earth. Despite only being connected to Teach, you could feel how hungry the fire was. Eating away the oxygen as it exploded again and again, trying to outmatch the shadows.

The final detonation was high above your head and the shockwave took you down to your knees as you gasped for air. Shaking almost as violently as their first blow, your head ringing, skin tingling with light burns. You blinked hard, eyes crying out at the relief as you looked up.

Teach’s grip on your arm was the only thing keeping you from collapsing to the ground. Dust and debris clinging to your body.

You were horrified. Only realizing now that Teach fully intended to keep you right next to him for this fight.

And you genuinely wasn’t sure you could handle being this close to any of it.

Teach grunted, bending down to wrap his arm around your middle like a sack of potatoes. You didn’t even really have time to consider how painful the position was before Ace leapt forward with a feral howl of anger.

Sparks and flame erupting around you as you could do nothing but hold onto Teach’s arm and close your eyes. Your body jerking around as the two traded blows. Teach handicapped by you, as was Ace, who clearly wasn’t quite going all out like he wanted. The air was stiflingly hot and heavy as they clashed. Fire burning through your eyelids as you tried to focus on anything but the fight.

“Zehahahaha~! What’s wrong, commander? You don’t seem to be invested!” Teach cackled before he was cut off with a pained grunt. “I was hit!?” He mumbled just over the rippling sound of fire tearing through the atmosphere.

“You’re a fucking COWARD, TEACH! PUT! THEM! DOWN!” Ace screamed like he was possessed, explosions scorching you as Teach jerked around a touch desperately.

You gasped for air, lungs burning from heat and exertion. Exhaustion filling your head with cotton as tears slipped through your closed eyes.

You… you were so fucking sick and tired of this.

All of it.

Every last fucking thing.

Sick of the fucking pirates!

Sick of your fucking devil fruit!

Sick of the clammy, creepy shadows curling around your ankles every fucking second of the day!

Your senses focused on that sensation. How much you hated it.

Fire and shadows tearing up the earth as Teach occasionally pulled in debris to single-handedly hurl at Ace. Pulled in nearly the whole town only to eject it violently at Ace.

Every move taunting and teasing your senses as it pulled on your lingering energy.

“TEEEAAAACCHH!” Ace roared, the sound distant and dull in your ears.

Your heart beat in your chest. A distant drum that steadily grew closer. Louder until it vibrated in your blood and bones.

Ba-thump!

A mirage formed behind your eyelids. Less wavering and unsteady with every beat.

Ba-thump!

A dial. Almost like a pressure gauge. The needle vibrating near the red and jumping with every attack.

Ba-thump!

You felt a foreign vibration build in your chest. Your feet digging into the broken cobblestone, muscles screaming out as you forced yourself to uncurl from around Teach’s arm.

BA-THUMP!

Your nails dug into his skin as you pivoted. One hand curled around the illusionary dial before twisting. To. Zero.

“Dial DOWN!” You screamed, the pressure of his fruit on yours reversing.

Teach spun in your bloodied grip, body flying around as you threw him over your shoulder with more strength than you thought you’d ever have. Fueled by rage and desperation to make it stop.

The chain pulled taut. Yanking you with him as you screamed, the joint popping out of place from the force of your throw.

The electric pain made your hand spasm as you ‘let go’. Body pulled across the ground and nearly slamming your face into the ruined street beneath you. Your only free hand scrapping across the broken rock, leaving a trail of blood that was shared underneath your knees and side of your ribs.

You gasped, body jerking uncontrollably away from the taut chain but only abusing your dislocated shoulder further.

It was dead silent aside from your pained gasp and a low, startled moan from Teach.

He coughed.

“…zehahahahaha—"

Then he laughed. Shadows erupting around you both as he slowly sat up.

“HAHAHAHA! ZEHAHAHAHAHA! ZEHA—”

A burning, oozing hand slammed into his head, shoving him back down with a barely registered scream. The smell of burning flesh erupting as you looked up in shock.

Teach was dead in less than a second.

Admiral Akainu kneeling over him, one arm shoved to the ground where Teach’s head used to be. His foot burning through Teach’s arm, melting him slowly as lava pooled around him. The heat waving over you at a much greater temperature than all but the most devastating of Ace’s attacks. And he was several feet away.

“…S-Sir?!” You rasped, throat burning as you tried to sit up.

Admiral Akainu jerked at the sound of your voice. His stern features flickering for a moment.

“You did well, Ensign. We only have one last thing to take care of.” Admiral Akainu stated with cold eyes. Slowly standing before walking towards you. Deliberately stepping on the chain and melting it under his shoe.

“HEY! GET AWAY FROM THEM!” Ace screamed, throwing a fireball high. Admiral Akainu flicked his hand, batting it away as he moved to kneel before you. Gently helping you up.

Still in shock, you couldn’t say anything as he braced your back and shoved your shoulder into place. You screamed, startled as pins and needles went down your arm, though otherwise the relief was immense.

You panted, utterly confused as he picked you up with one arm under your thighs, pinning your face into his suit as he sneered.

“I haven’t forgotten about you, Fire Fist.”

You trembled as the air grew hazy with an overwhelming amount of heat. The edge taken off due to your devil fruit connecting with Admiral Akainu’s.

You were so tired.

You managed to look back at Ace, worry dragging you from the edge of consciousness. He looked horrified and infuriated all at once.

You felt the tears slip down your face, almost ice cold in the heat.

There was no way Ace could survive against Admiral Akainu with his devil fruit.

Even before you got involved, it simply didn’t burn hot enough.

[tuttle-did-it]

Rewatching Sliders, episode "Asylum," (season 4, E10). During a war with the villains, Margaret Thatcher was a collaborator with them.

Because of this, any other collaborators are now called Thatchers. And that makes me laugh so, so hard. Because she absolutely would have done exactly this.

they fucking made an amazing photoshop of her doing this and I'm dying with laughter. 😂

[lurkingshan]

Thank you for leaving these tags @pharawee! Without getting into any speculation about how Dead Friend Forever will actually end, I do want to address your question and talk about why most of us want to see severe consequences for these boys. The short answer: it's about genre expectations and the psychological catharsis of a good revenge narrative.

To get down to the really basic point: people who love revenge thrillers love them because they are a fantasy construct in which good people survive and bad people get what they deserve. In a world where bad things happen and we rarely have any control, a good revenge story can be exhilarating, giving you the feeling that justice prevailed, villains received appropriate comeuppance for their wrongs, and the protagonist seized control back and experienced much needed catharsis for their suffering. Real life is very much not like this, which is why it's such an appealing genre of fiction.

So how do we calibrate what "appropriate comeuppance" means? This is where genre expectations become really important, because the genre the revenge narrative plays out in sets the terms for where that bar sits. In The Glory, a recent world class revenge drama, we were in the psychological thriller genre, so revenge came in the form of Dong Eun playing mind games with her bullies until they destroyed their own lives. No murder necessary. Dead Friend Forever, however, is in the horror genre, and specifically began its story by planting itself in the slasher subgenre, giving us a masked killer and setting up expectations that these boys are being hunted. When you watch a slasher, you come in with the mindset that most of the characters are going to die and begin rooting for it and looking for reasons why they "deserve" it. And typically, in a slasher, it takes very little for a character to "deserve" a death--you often see people die for the tiniest infractions, like making a rude comment, telling a bad joke, or having sex. But DFF went much farther than that and gave us a multi episode flashback in which we got a detailed accounting of every wrong this group of boys committed against Non, increasing the audience's bloodlust and conviction that these boys needed to pay.

So why do so many of us want the bullies to die? Because the genre demands it, and the story set the audience up to expect it from the outset. I have seen some discussion of the way the show is blending different horror subgenres and not sticking strictly to typical slasher conventions, and that's true, and expected. Slashers are usually two hours max, and this show needed to fill 10+ hours of content, so it's doing a really interesting blend of slasher, mystery, psychological thriller, and other horror subgenres. But the bones of the story still hold, and despite the storytelling choice to give the villains some nuance and fleshed out motivations for their behavior, they are still villains who destroyed Non's life. If you're feeling overly sympathetic to any of these boys at present, I encourage you to go back and remind yourself how they behaved in the early episodes of this story, which took place after the events of the flashbacks. These are not genuinely remorseful kids who made minor mistakes and then got their acts together and became upstanding citizens; they just want to move on and avoid blame and accountability for what they did, while Non's entire family was irrevocably destroyed by their actions.

If this story ends without Por, Tee, Top, Fluke, Jin, and Phee suffering genre appropriate consequences for their choices that harmed and betrayed Non, it will be a letdown and many will feel unsatisfied. In real life, we may believe that forgiveness is the right path, and we know that Buddhism teaches unconditional forgiveness. But this is not real life. This is a fantasy genre that is specifically meant to provide an escape from the constraints of real life morality and obligations. No one wants to show up to a fantasy party only to receive a moral scolding. The most disappointing thing a revenge narrative can do is wimp out on delivering the actual revenge.

[mrprettywhenhecries]

don’t waste your time (on me) [g.t]

08. | Like Jack and Sally

Gator Tillman ✘ Win Lewis (OC)

⇾ w.c. 6.4k words ⇾ tags/warning(s). canon x oc pairing, f!oc, misogynistic themes, alcohol use, p in v, choking, unprotected sex, oral (f receiving), canon typical violence/blood, accusations of cheating, Gator’s kind of a dick ⇾ a/n. Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated! 💚

When Roy throws a wrench in Win’s Halloween plans, needing Gator to do a job for him, her temper gets the better of her and a misunderstanding nearly tears them apart.

[ masterlist • win bio ]

Gator had just stepped out of the Spirit Halloween at the old K-mart building when his phone went off.  Thinking it was Win calling to ask if he’d gotten his costume for the party yet, he pulled his phone from his pocket to answer, his grin faltering when he saw his father’s name flash across the screen instead.

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asked, bracing himself, a bad feeling churning in his stomach.

“Got a job for you.  Meet me at Hammurabi’s in twenty minutes for the details.”

Before Gator could protest, Roy had already hung up, leaving Gator standing in the parking lot twisting in the wind.

“Shit,” he hissed under his breath, pocketing his phone with more force than necessary and striding stiffly to his cruiser.  If Roy wouldn’t tell him the job over the phone, it had to be something serious.

Roy’s truck was already parked out front when Gator arrived, and he followed suit when his father climbed out and ambled over, meeting Gator halfway.

“So I was thinkin’ about what to do with Nadine,” Roy said, stepping in close and pitching his voice low, and Gator frowned in confusion for a moment.

“I told ya, she goes by, uh, Dorothy now,” he said, but Roy brushed the detail aside.

“Yeah.  At first I was thinkin’ we’d leave her alone until after the election.”

“But…?”  Gator prompted, sensing there was more his father wasn’t saying.

“Is what I was thinkin’—” Roy reiterated, cutting Gator off, “—what with all the heat from the feds sniffin’ around, but then last night I had a dream.  What’s today?” he asked, and Gator’s brows pinched, trying to catch up with his father’s somewhat erratic train of thought.

“Uh, Halloween–” he answered, but Roy was already one step ahead of him.

“Exactly.  All Hallow’s Eve, in which the world of the Gods is made visible to humanity and the dead come back to life.  That’s what Nadine is, can’t you see?  She was dead, but now she’s back.”

“So…?” Gator asked, shaking his head slightly, not following.

“So, we get her tonight.”

“Tonight?” Gator asked, his stomach knotting at his father’s words.  

“Yes, tonight,” Roy snapped, sensing Gator’s reluctance.  “What, you got other plans?” he scoffed, watching Gator wince.

“Well… yeah, kinda.”

“Too fuckin’ bad,” Roy interrupted, his bluff face turning hard.  “Tell that whore of yours you can’t see her tonight.”

“But–”

Gator’s halfhearted protest had Roy’s eyes narrowing sharply.  “This is the best chance we have to get this done.  You tell me which is more important,” he said, voice dangerously low, and Gator swallowed, giving himself a shake.

“This is,” he murmured, ducking his head obediently and Roy nodded, pleased with his answer.  

“Good.  Now, everyone’ll be in costume, the streets’ll be busy.  So, ding-dong, trick-or-treat, we send two around the back, breach ‘em from both sides, tie ‘em up, put their masks on,” Roy explained, leaving Gator squinting in confusion.

“Their, uh, masks?” 

“Their Halloween masks,” Roy clarified, an edge of irritation to his voice.

“Oh!  Yeah, yeah,” Gator exclaimed, nodding quickly.

“Victor and villain, in-cognito, then boom, you’re out the door, you’re in the van, and no one’s the wiser,” Roy continued.

Gator nodded vacantly as he listened to the plan, trying to fix every detail to memory, though his thoughts kept returning to what he was gunna tell Win.

“Now remember, only guys we can trust.  Got it?” Roy finished and Gator nodded.

“Say it.”

“Only guys we can trust,” Gator repeated.

“Good,” Roy grunted, nodding back toward Gator’s cruiser.  “Now get goin’, you’ve got a long drive ahead of ya.  You got this,” he added, patting Gator’s shoulder in encouragement.  “I believe in you.”

Gator watched as his father climbed back into his truck, a dazed grin still stretching his lips as Roy’s words echoed in his ears.

I believe in you.

This was it.  This was his chance to prove himself.

As soon as he was back behind the wheel, heading back toward the costume store to grab a few more masks, Gator quickly dialed the number of a guy he knew to put a crew together, stalling as long as he could before having to break the news to his girlfriend.

Reluctantly pulling up Win’s number, a message notification popped up on his screen—a photo of her in her Sally costume, her face painted to look just like the animated doll—and Gator allowed himself a wistful look before pressing the call button and bringing the phone to his ear, chewing the inside of his cheek nervously as the phone rang.

“Hey, you get your mask yet?  Are you on your way over?”

Win didn’t give Gator a chance to even say hello, buffeting him with questions as soon as she answered, her excitement only making him feel even more guilty about what he needed to tell her.

“Uhm… actually, I got some bad news…” 

The line went ominously silent and Gator grimaced, pushing on.  “Somethin’s come up and dad needs my help with something tonight.”

“Tonight?” Win echoed incredulously.  “You can’t do it tomorrow?”

“It’s kinda time sensitive,” Gator explained, sensing Win’s mounting frustration, and he couldn’t exactly blame her.

“Okay, well… could you come after you’ve finished?”

“I wish I could, but… I kinda hafta… drive to Minneapolis,” Gator mumbled, bracing himself for Win’s reaction.

“Minneapolis?!  But that’s like a six and a half hour drive one way!” she exclaimed, the disappointment in her voice cutting right through him.

“I know,” Gator sighed.  “I don’t like it any more than you do.”

“Did you tell him you had plans?” she asked, though he knew no matter how he answered she wouldn’t like it.

“Course I did, but this is important.  He’s counting on me,” Gator insisted, a little more heated than he intended.

“So was I,” Win murmured.

Gator scoffed before he could help it.  “It’s just a party, Win.  There’ll be others.”

There was a beat of silence and Gator knew he’d fucked up.

“I know it’s just a party,” Win snapped, a hard edge leaching into her voice.  “But I wanted you there.  I wanted to play for you,” she murmured, a soft sniff punctuating her words.  “I wanted you to meet my friends.  That’s–that’s kind of a big deal for me.”

“Win–”

“No,” she exclaimed, interrupting him, not wanting to hear any more.  “Go on.  Go do daddy’s dirty work.  See if I fucking care.”

“You don’t get it, Win,” Gator replied, begging her to understand.  “I have to make him proud.”

Win snorted.  “No, you don’t get it.  No matter what you do for him.  He will never be proud of you.  Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Gator’s jaw flexed, his teeth gritting together as anger seared through him.

“The fuck do you know about loyalty?” he demanded, knowing it was a low blow.

“Jesus, you’re a fucking dick.  You know what?  I’m glad you’re not coming tonight,” Win spat, hanging up on him and Gator briefly wondered if he’d made her cry, quickly burying the pang of guilt beneath his anger.

———

Crouching to plug her guitar into her amp, Win took a swig from the bottle at her feet before discreetly checking her phone.

No new messages.

She scowled, unsure which she was more angry about—that Gator hadn’t texted since their fight, or the fact she wanted him to.

“Hey, you okay?” Beau asked, noticing the look on her face as he slung his bass over his shoulder and adjusted the strap.

“Peachy,” Win muttered, taking another drink and Beau shared a look with Lydia.

“I’m gunna hazard Tillman bailed?” Lyds asked carefully and Win’s scowl deepened.

She knew her friends still didn’t understand why she was even dating him, and right then, she didn’t blame them.

“I don’t really wanna think about it,” she muttered, straightening.

“Clearly,” Beau mumbled under his breath.  “I just hope you’re not too blitzed for our set–”

He cut off with a glare from Win and grimaced.

“I’m fine,” she snapped, but Lydia looked doubtful.

Before either could say anything else, the music playing over the speakers cut out and the party’s host jumped on the small makeshift stage to introduce them.  Win stepped up to the mic and began the intro to their first song without preamble, trying not to focus on the crowd in front of her too closely, lest she find herself searching for the one face she knew she wouldn’t see.

Once the first song came to an end, the last chord echoing through the speakers, she grabbed the mic stand and pulled it closer to address the audience, most of whom were also dressed in costumes.

“Happy fuckin’ Halloween you ghouls and goblins!  Don’t you all look spooky tonight?” she drawled into the microphone, pointing out over the crowd before tugging lightly at her skirt.  “Do you like my costume?”

A small cheer rose from the crowd while several wolf whistles pierced the clamour and Win huffed a humourless laugh.

“My boyfriend was supposed to come tonight as the Jack to my Sally, but he bailed on me, can you believe that?” she scoffed and someone in the audience called out: “I’ll be your Jack!”

Win rolled her eyes, though her lips twitched in amusement.  “Find me after our set and we’ll see.”

By the time their small set ended, Win stumbled off the stage to pack up their equipment, her vision spinning slightly, though that didn’t stop her from grabbing a bottle of beer from a nearby cooler.

“Hey, you okay?  For real?” Lydia asked, joining her, and Win shrugged a shoulder, snapping her guitar case shut.

“I will be.  Nothin’ a little party can’t fix.”

“Where is he, anyway?”

Win let out a heavy sigh.  “Driving to Minnesota.”

“Minnesota?  Why?” Lydia exclaimed, her mouth dropping.

“Dunno, some errand for his dad.  He didn’t go into detail,” Win explained, taking a long swig of beer.

“I don’t wanna say ‘I told you so’...” Lydia said, holding her hands up and Win snorted, taking her friend’s arm and pulling her toward the makeshift dance floor.  

“Then don’t!”

It wasn’t long before dancing ceased to hold her attention and Win’s thoughts returned to Gator.  Heading outside, away from the noise for a cigarette, she pulled her phone out to check for new messages, hurt to find none, not even a simple ‘I miss you’.

Before she could second guess herself, she dialed his number and brought the phone to her ear.  With each ring her heart sank a little further, hoping he was just busy.  Hoping he was alright.  He’d never said exactly what this “errand” for Roy entailed and it only just occurred to her that it might be something dangerous.

When the call went to his voicemail, Win took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes.

“Hey, I wanted to see if you were okay,” she said, fiddling with the cigarette between her fingers.  “I miss you…” she murmured, letting her eyes slip shut before a fresh wave of anger washed over her and her lips twisted sourly.  “Actually, you know what, no.  I’m glad you’re not here!” she exclaimed stubbornly, repeating what she’d told him earlier, though she didn’t really mean it.  She just wanted to make him hurt like she was hurting.

“But y’know what, it’s your fuckin’ loss.  I’m gunna go back in there and get fuckin’ wasted and have a great fuckin’ time without you and you’re gunna be sorry you missed it—“

Before she could finish her drunken thought, a couple of guys stumbled outside, the music from inside blaring for a moment before the door swung shut behind them.

“Hey!  Hey, it’s sexy Sally,” the one guy said, his words slurring slightly as he recognized Win from earlier.

“What’re you doin’ out here all alone?  You want some company?  You did say to come see you after your set,” the other guy exclaimed, his voice loud over the phone before Win ended the call and spun to face them.

“Not if you’re gunna be creeps,” she snapped, taking a step backward and flicking her cigarette away.

“Aw c’mon, we’ll help ya forget all about your jerk boyfriend,” one of them drawled, an almost predatory grin stretching across his face.

“Fuck off,” Win huffed, pushing past them to head back inside and find her friends before they could get any ideas.

———

“Drive!  Just fuckin’ drive,” Gator barked as he jumped into the van after hauling their unconscious teammate into the back and slamming the door.  He craned his head to watch the flames dance higher across the roof of the house as they drove in the opposite direction, the tires struggling to find traction in the hard packed snow, and he silently kicked himself.

Roy was gunna be so pissed.

Though, Gator wasn’t sure which would be worse, his father’s anger, or his disappointment.  Roy’s last words before they parted ways earlier ran through his head, only making his stomach hurt more.

You got this.  I believe in you.

Gator wanted to scream, to beat his hand against the dash.

Nadine had been ready for them, but he’d gotten so close.  Even though she’d banged up his crew pretty bad, he’d had her cornered, desperate, but then somehow the fire had started, quickly spreading out of control and he’d been forced to retreat—the fire department already en route, sirens hot on his heels.

One of the guys in the back let out a pained groan as the van hit a pothole and Gator scowled, pulling his phone from his pocket to distract himself.  There were no messages from Roy and he didn’t dare send a status update, knowing full well not to leave an evidence trail.  When he noticed Win’s voicemail however, his heart leapt, just the thought of hearing her voice reminding him just how much he missed her.  That is, until he began to listen to the message.

The vitriol in her words felt like a punch to the gut, but when Gator heard unfamiliar masculine voices in the background—you said to come find you after your set—his jaw clenched, clamping his mouth shut against the wave of nausea that threatened to carry him away.

Win wouldn’t do that to him, right?  She wouldn’t fuck someone else just to get back at him.  Would she?

A voice in his head that sounded a lot like Roy reminded him she had a reputation for getting around, but Gator stubbornly squashed the thought, hastily dialing her number, though his insides squirmed uncomfortably.

With each hollow ring, the pit in his stomach opened wider, until the call went to voicemail and he felt like he might be swallowed whole.  Chewing his chapped lip, he deliberated whether or not to leave a voicemail himself, finally making up his mind when the recorded greeting ended, punctuated by a shrill tone that only grated further on his nerves.

“Hey.  I’m on my way home, but uh, what the fuck was that message about, huh?  Who the hell was that guy?” he hissed, forgetting for a moment about the others in the van with him.  “Call me back,” he added, fighting the urge to throw his phone and let his anger boil over.

Following up his message with a strongly worded text, he reached for his vape, needing to take the edge off his frayed nerves while he waited for Win to respond.  As the minutes ticked by, however, and no call came, he brought the phone to his ear again, but this time it went straight to voicemail.  

Now on the verge of panic, Gator tried again and again, the outcome unchanged in each few minutes between attempts.

Starting to spiral, his thoughts veering toward the worst, he stubbornly kept calling until the guy in the back let out an annoyed sigh.

“Dude, give it a rest already.  She obviously doesn’t wanna talk to you.”

Gator whipped around in his seat to glare at him, the other, finally conscious again, flinching away from his gaze.

“How about you shut the fuck up before I shoot ya, huh?” he snapped, half reaching for his pistol strapped to his thigh.

The guy held his hands up in surrender and kept his mouth shut, heaving a breath when Gator turned back around to grumble at the driver.  “Can’t you drive any fuckin’ faster?”

By the time the van pulled into the ranch’s drive, the sun had already crested the horizon, lighting the sky with its weak rays and Gator rubbed at his eyes—they felt grainy and his limbs felt heavy, stiffness having set in from the long drive and the bruises he was starting to definitely feel.

When the van parked, he snatched his mask from the dash and slid out, wearily making his way up the walk to the farm house.  On the front porch a small group of ranch hands were working to cover several bodies in a tarp and Gator frowned.

“What happened?” he asked Bowman, who seemed to be standing guard in front of the house, supervising the clean up.

“Boogeyman came in the night,” he grunted, turning to eye Gator.  “Left a warning in the kids’ room.”

“Who, Munch?”

“I don’t know the guy’s name,” Bowman huffed.  “Full on wild man, though.  Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

Gator let his eyes flutter shut for a moment, a heavy sigh whistling through his lips. More than anything, he wanted to climb the stairs to his room, collapse into bed, and forget the entire night ever happened, but he knew he wasn’t done yet and this news only made things more complicated.

“Where’s Roy?”

“Had to take care of something,” Bowman said, his breath steaming in the cold morning air.

 Getting the address, Gator headed to his cruiser, needing to speak with his father.

———

Gator’s boots crunched on the gravel walk as he slowly approached the lone house trailer, Roy’s favourite horse hitched outside confirming it was the right place.  He didn’t have long to wonder what Roy was doing there when the crack of a gunshot from inside made him jump and he quickened his steps, his heart in his throat as he pushed through the door and rushed into the trailer, his pistol already cocked and at the ready as he performed an initial sweep of the room, surveying the carnage.

Roy was unharmed, but the man across from him clutched at his throat as he sank into the couch behind him, blood spurting from between his fingers and frothing on his lips as he gasped for breath, his body spasming in the throws of death.

“Fucking hell,” Gator breathed, lowering his firearm as his stomach churned, and he finally tore his gaze from the dying man, shifting it to Roy.  “You okay?” he asked, though Roy Tillman looked completely unruffled.

Roy didn’t answer, merely standing to ask the dying man’s wife for a glass of water.  As she hurried to obey, Gator’s eyes unwittingly returned to the man still gasping and gurgling on the couch and he holstered his gun, not needing it any longer.  

“Uh dad, what’re we doing?” he asked uncertainly and Roy once more ignored his question.

“So, did you get her?” he asked instead and Gator’s gaze instantly fell.

“Uhm–” he hesitated, trying to find the words to explain.

Roy let out a sigh, simply holding his hand up to stop Gator right there.  “Don’t bother, I can see it all over your face.  Worked you over pretty good, did she?” he asked, noting the fresh bruises already darkening Gator’s eye socket.

“It’s like he said, some kind of tiger,” Gator muttered, sighing.  “The husband got hurt.  House caught on fire–”

“Not now,” Roy warned, cutting him off as he glanced over at the wife, hovering uncertainly at the edge of the kitchen, her back pressed tight to the counter behind her.

“Oh, we got Munch,” Roy exclaimed instead, and Gator’s eyes widened. “You did?” he asked, relief surging through him, only to freeze in his veins at his father’s next words.

“Yeah, got him right there on the couch,” Roy replied, nodding to the dying man across the room.  “It’s the guy from the filling station, the cop killer.  Tip came in over the hotline.  Lenore here called it in herself, didn’t you, Lenore?” he asked, turning to the trembling woman.

“Husband came home bragging he killed a state trooper, wounded another, I responded, shots fired, you were my backup.”

Gator frowned, a mere pinching of the brow as he struggled to put it all together, his sleep deprived brain making it harder than usual.  “So…”

“Loop’s closed, I’m sayin’,” Roy said, giving him a pointed look.  “State can call off their dogs, and we’re free to settle our differences in private.”

Gator nodded, finally getting the picture, and he watched silently as Roy turned to deal with the widow, discreetly bribing her to corroborate their story before she shakily agreed and he followed Roy outside, their business inside concluded.

“Somethin’ else’s botherin’ ya.  What is it?” Roy asked as he untied his horse’s reins, his piercing gaze swinging toward Gator, who tried to wave his concern away, shaking his head with a stutter.

“Come on, out with it,” Roy insisted and Gator let out a reluctant sigh, looking down at his boots.

“Win went out without me last night.  I got a weird message from her, some-some guys in the background–” he cut off, shaking his head.  “Now she won’t answer my calls.  I-I’m getting worried.”

Roy grunted.  “I think you already know what she was up to. Stop kidding yourself.”

“What?  No!” Gator exclaimed, his head snapping up, a look of horror on his face, but Roy could see it in his eyes and he shook his head as he climbed into his saddle.  “Once a whore, always a whore,” he mused solemnly.  “Best you cut that one loose.  Save yourself the headache and the humiliation.  Sooner or later, she’s gunna show you her true colours, and I’m not gunna say I told you so.”

Roy booted his horse, and took off, riding off into the rising sun without another word, leaving Gator standing there, once more twisting in the wind.

———

Gator barely waited til his cruiser was in park to cut the engine and jump out, practically stomping up the walk to pound at the door, past caring about the early hour and who might hear.  After stewing all night and half the morning, his blood was boiling and he wanted answers.

When Win didn’t answer, he peered through the window, scowling when he saw her sitting at the kitchen counter, ignoring him.

“I know you’re fuckin’ in there!” he called, pounding the side of his fist against the door hard enough to rattle the window.  “Lemme in, Win!”

When Win still didn’t get up, Gator’s scowl deepened and he began searching for a hidden key, hoping she had one.  If not, he’d be forced to move onto plan C and just kick the door in.

“Ha!” he exclaimed as he flipped over one of the rocks in the empty flower bed, revealing a little silver key.  

It wasn’t until she heard the click of the bolt opening that Win finally jumped to her feet.  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she cried, standing her ground against Gator.  “That’s breaking and entering!”

“Not if I have a key,” he countered, holding it up for her to see before slipping it in his pocket.

“What was your backup plan?  Bust my door down?” she asked, planting her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing daggers.

“Yeah, actually it was.”

Win let out an incredulous huff.  “I’d love to see you try.”

Gator took a step closer, his jaw flexing with the effort of trying to keep his anger in check.  “Oh, trust me, sweetheart, after the night I’ve had, I wouldn’t fuckin’ tempt me,” he muttered, his voice growing low, holding an edge of menace that did little to intimidate Win.

“Oh?  After the night you’ve had?  Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?” she spat, not backing down.  “Piss off, Gator.”

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Gator demanded, ignoring her jab and Win turned away, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

“Because I didn’t want to talk to you.  I was mad–I am mad!”

“You sure it wasn’t cause you were busy fucking someone else?” Gator hissed, his good hand clenching into a fist at his side as he fought not to lose control–everything Roy had ever taught him about discipline racing through his head.

“What?” Win asked, spinning to face him, Gator’s accusation ripping through her like a bullet.  “Is that what you really think?”

Gator let out a derisive snort.  “What else am I s’posed to think?  I heard that guy on your voicemail message!  He said you told him to come find you later,” he exclaimed, his fist trembling with rage.

Win winced; she hadn’t realized that’d picked up on the recording.  “I-I said that during our set, but I wasn’t actually serious,” she tried to explain.  “After I hung up, I told him off and went to find my friends.  Nothing happened!” she insisted, but Gator rolled his eyes, his chapped lips pulling into a sneer.

“Maybe my dad was right.  Once a whore, always a whore.”

Win’s mouth fell open and she stepped back as if struck.  “You don’t believe that,” she said, voice small, the hurt in her eyes making Gator flinch, shame instantly seeping into him though he quickly squashed it down.

“I dunno, maybe I do,” he spat, avoiding her gaze.  “Maybe you wanted to get back at me–”

Win shook her head.  

“I wanted you there!  All I could think about was how much I fucking missed you.  I didn’t know what you were doing—if it was legal, if it was dangerous, if you’d come back hurt, if you came back at all.  I cried myself to sleep and when I got your message it just made me mad all over again.  That’s why I turned my phone off, not because I was fucking some guy,” she cried, her voice growing hoarse.

“For once in my fucking life there’s only one person I want and that’s you!  So why the fuck would I ruin that?” she exclaimed, her gaze desperately pleading with him to believe her.  “I would never do that to you, no matter how fucking mad I am!”

Gator deflated, exhaustion sucking all the fight from him. He knew in his heart she was right—since they’d begun dating she hadn’t so much as looked at another man—but his mouth opened and closed wordlessly, unable to form the words to tell her before his eyes fell to the floor and he tugged at the sleeve of his jacket.  Silence fell over the room and he swallowed, working up the courage to admit he was wrong.

“I believe you…” he murmured, clearing his throat awkwardly.  “I just–my dad said that shit and I got scared.  I should’ve trusted you,” he breathed, chewing the inside of his cheek.

“Yes, you should’ve, you dick,” Win huffed, giving him a frustrated shove, her admonishment not to believe a word Roy said about her—knowing the man’d take any opportunity he could to break them up—died on her tongue when she saw the way Gator winced and she grabbed his jacket, tugging him closer to get a better look at his face, finally noticing the dark bruise forming under his eye.

“What the fuck happened?” she breathed, carefully taking his face between her hands, tilting it this way and that to search for more injuries, wondering just how bad it was beneath his clothes.

“Fell down some stairs,” Gator muttered, pulling her hands gently from his face.

“Gator–”

“It’s the truth!” he insisted, thankful that at least he could be truthful about something, even if he couldn’t tell her how it’d happened.

Though Win looked skeptical, she didn’t press the issue, merely pursing her lips.  “Yeah well, I don’t like that you keep getting hurt because of Roy,” she muttered, pulling her sweater tighter around herself.

“That’s not what’s happening,” Gator argued, pulling her closer to wrap his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.

“Isn’t it?” she countered, closing her eyes and pressing her face to his chest.  “Everytime he needs you to do something for him, you come back with a broken arm, or a black eye and bruised ribs,” she pointed out.  “And I don’t like the way he treats you afterward, like you’re some fuck up.  You deserve better.”

“It’s not that easy,” Gator murmured, his brows pinching.  “I want to make him proud.  I have to do better,” he insisted and Win’s heart broke a little at his words.

If only he could see his father as clearly as she did.

“What if it’s never enough?” she asked, and Gator’s frown deepened.  He didn’t want to think about that.  If he didn’t acknowledge it, it couldn’t be true.

“I’m proud of you.  Can’t that be enough?” Win whispered, her voice breaking.

Gator squeezed her tighter, guilt burning in his chest.  He wished it could be enough, but he wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there tonight,” he murmured, changing the subject.  “If it makes any difference, I really wanted to be…”

“I know,” Win sighed.  “There’ll be other parties, other gigs,” she said.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t there that’d bothered her, so much as why he wasn’t there, but she was tired of fighting, just glad to have him back.

God, but she was a fool in love.

Win stiffened as the thought caught her off guard.  She couldn’t be in love.  She’d never used that word before, not with any of her relationships anyway.

“Yeah, I know,” Gator said, not noticing Win waging an internal emotional battle over her sudden epiphany.  “But I had the perfect mask for last night too,” he lamented, pulling the round Jack Skellington mask from his back pocket to hold in front of his face, and Win looked up at him, her chest aching with affection.

“The Jack to my Sally,” she murmured, raising up on her toes to press a kiss to the mask where his mouth would be.

Gator tilted the mask back, letting it rest atop his head as he met Win’s gaze.  “Can I make it up to you?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her and Win thought for a moment, letting him sweat.

“I dunno, can you?” she asked, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips despite her cool tone.

As answer, Gator hoisted her into his arms to carry her to the bedroom, dropping her to the bed before tugging her by the ankles to the edge.

“I sure can try,” he drawled, and Win’s hips lifted as he eased her shorts down, finding her bare beneath them.  “No panties?” he asked, his lips curling in amusement as he admired her.

“I need to do laundry, don’t judge me,” Win huffed, pouting up at him.  

“I don’t think you should wear them ever, if you ask me,” Gator chuckled and her breath hitched as he knelt before her, hooking his arms around her thighs to hold her still as his mouth found her core, his tongue slipping eagerly between her folds to taste her.

A soft moan left her lips and her head fell back as his nose bumped against her clit, sending a jolt through her.  Pleased with her reaction, Gator moved higher to tease her sensitive bud, tracing sloppy circles around it with his tongue, and Win’s hands balled in the mess of sheets beneath her.

“Oh fuck, Gator–” she groaned, rolling her hips against his mouth and he switched tactics, lapping at her with broad unrelenting strokes, proud of the way he made her squirm, the sound of his name amid her breathy moans making him dizzy.  Drawing the hood of her clit between his lips to suck, he flicked the tip of his tongue against her aching bud rapidly  and she let out a cry, her legs trying to tighten around the sides of his face.

Growling into her cunt, he pried her legs apart, pinning her down despite her writhing, and his movements grew sloppier in his desperation to make her cum, drool and her juices running down his chin and coating his cheeks.

“Gator—Gator!” 

Win’s voice cracked as she let out a keening whine, her body going rigid as her climax washed over her in waves, her hips lifting from the bed, cunt fluttering, clenching around nothing, but Gator didn’t stop til she was an overstimulated twitching mess, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath.

When he finally lifted his face, panting just as hard, he turned to kiss her inner thigh, wiping the slick mess from his face against her feverish skin.

“Gator,” Win whined, shifting beneath him and he opened his eyes, looking up at her from between her legs.

“Fuck me with the mask on.”

A grin tugged at his lips, the idea turning him on more than he would’ve expected.  He’d only been planning on giving without asking for anything in return—something he’d never thought he’d do, to be honest—but how could he deny her if that was what she wanted?

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he got to his feet, stripping hastily and pulling the mask down over his face.  For a moment he stood over her, tilting his head as he took in the sight of her—her arms stretched over her head, body on display for him.

“Jack—“ she purred with a quirk of her lips, reaching for him, and he couldn’t help the groan that caught in his throat as he crawled atop her, grasping his cock to give it several slow strokes before tapping it against her messy cunt.

“This what you want?” he drawled, his voice muffled by the mask, rubbing his throbbing head between her folds, coating it with her slick.  “Want me to stretch this tight little pussy, split you open on my cock?” 

Win merely nodded, her lips parting in a silent plea.

“Uh uh, gotta hear you say it, Princess,” he taunted, giving her sensitive clit another smack with his head, making her twitch.

“Yes, please, Gator,” she begged.

“That’s more like it,” he grunted, finally pressing into her slowly, his breath hitching at the way her walls hugged him so perfectly, clenching around him, sucking him deeper.

“C’mon, you can take it,” he growled, stretching her further, breathing evenly through his nose to keep from cumming too soon, his breath condensing against the inside of the mask.

Pausing once he’d sheathed her, he gave her a moment to adjust before pulling nearly all the way out and thrusting back into her languidly, fucking her deep and slow, letting her feel every vein and ridge.  It was only when Win wrapped her hand around his wrist, guiding his hand to her throat that he nearly faltered.

“Choke me,” she breathed, and Gator marveled at the way his hand easily encircled her neck, his cock twitching deep inside her at the sight.  Careful not to go too far, he began to squeeze, applying just enough pressure for Win’s mouth to fall open silently and her body to tense, but for her chest to still rise and fall.

With each snap of his hips to hers, he grew rougher, his thrusts growing faster, harder, slamming into her as he choked her, fucking her into the mattress like in his filthiest wet dreams.

The way she looked up at him, devotion glazing over her unwavering gaze, made Gator light headed and he suddenly needed to be closer, needed to feel her.  Releasing her throat, he tore the mask off his head, letting it clatter to the ground as he surged forward to claim her lips in a searing kiss, his thrusts growing sloppy in his desperation.

He swallowed her cries in a frenzied clash of lips and teeth, groaning into her mouth as her nails bit into his shoulder blades, raking down his back to grab desperately at his ass, urging him deeper until he couldn’t hold back any longer, his balls tightening and spilling his load deep inside her with a broken moan, her name on his lips as came apart.

When he collapsed atop her, still twitching inside her, Win’s arms snaked around his back, holding him tightly against her chest.

“I forgive you,” she whispered into his shoulder and Gator smiled sleepily, his eyes fluttering shut in her embrace, a weight leaving his chest at her words.  Exhaustion finally overtook him, and Win wasn’t far behind, a deep comforting sleep dragging her under.

Gator wasn’t sure if it was minutes or hours later when he woke, needing to take a piss, Win still passed out beneath him, a peaceful look on her face that tugged at his heartstrings.  Carefully disentangling himself so as not to wake her, he pressed a featherlight kiss to her forehead, pushing her sweat-dampened bangs out of the way before pushing off the bed to amble to the bathroom.

Not bothering to shut the door behind him, Gator let out a sigh as he relieved himself, taking a moment to splash some water on his face and run his fingers through his hair before heading back to the bedroom.

Something made him pause, however, and he turned to frown at the front door, having forgotten if he’d locked it behind him or not.  Finding it unlocked, he quickly yanked it open to peer outside, only to freeze at the sight of a bloodied note stuck to the door with a serrated hunting knife.

I’m Always Watching.

Hissing a panicked breath, Gator hastily peered up and down the street once more before yanking the knife free and locking the door behind him.  Pressing his back to the door, he crumpled the note in his fist, his heart hammering in his chest.

The door had been unlocked the whole time, Munch could’ve easily walked right in, attacking them while they were… distracted.  The thought sent his blood running cold—he couldn’t afford to be so careless, not when Win was involved.  

Stowing the knife in the side of one of his boots, he scrubbed his hands clean and grabbed his gun before returning to the bedroom, finding Win still asleep, completely blissfully unaware of what had happened.

Sleep with your hammer cocked, that is, if you sleep at all.

Roy’s words ran through his head and he slipped his pistol under the pillow before crawling back into bed and pulling Win close, his pulse still thundering in his ears.  

If Munch had wanted them dead, he could’ve already done it, which meant they were probably safe for the time being, Gator reminded himself, willing his nerves to calm, forcing himself to match Win’s slow even breaths.  Burying his face in her hair, he yearned for that deep unassuming sleep he’d woken from not long ago, but one thought still nagged at him—if Munch had the opportunity to do more than leave a warning, why hadn’t he?

⇾ taglist. @sailorskunk, @heartbreak-sandwich, @super-unpredictable98, @tangerinesteve, @girlwiththerubyslippers

@cycat4077 , @thecreelhouse

[tobiasdrake]

Ding dong, the puppet's dead, and now it's time for Deadpool.

You can tell how much X-Men Origins: Wolverine pissed off Ryan Reynolds because it shows in how much of a love letter this movie is to his character.

Like. For those who weren't there when it was happening, you have to understand that this movie only exists because of Ryan Reynolds. There was no studio interest in the idea of spinning off an unpopular movie's fandom-reviled villain. Fox was ready to let Origins be the last word on Deadpool, a character who had clearly failed to capture the hearts of the audience at the box office.

If that seems completely absurd to you since the problem with Barakapool was clearly their awful take on the character, then you have to remember that we're talking about execs. They don't read the comics. They just look for what sells tickets. And Wolverine vs. Deadpool did not sell tickets.

This was not helped by the box office disaster that was Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. A movie intended to be the start of DC's own cinematic universe, to be followed up by Man of Steel - only to crash and burn so horrendously that DC quietly disowned it and made Man of Steel the "first" movie of their cinematic universe. Green Lantern's cinematic reputation has not recovered to this day.

If you didn't grow up in the 80's or 90's, you cannot understand how wild it is to live in an era where Aquaman is a beloved fandom icon and sex symbol while Green Lantern is a pathetic joke no one would invite to a team-up party.

So. Like. Here is the pitch.

Major actor from two of the worst superhero films Ryan Reynolds is in your office and he wants to reprise his role as the unpopular villain from the worst X-Men movie ever made. Also, he wants it to be rated R, which supermovies aren't because are you insane? These is a family genre!

No one would ever sign those papers. Ryan can talk until he turns blue, "No no, we're gonna do the character justice, people actually really like Deadpool, he's really funny, we just need the right take," but nobody's committing Blockbuster money to this. It's not just risky. It's career suicide. It's the stupidest possible investment you could ever make.

He goes all out for it. Gets a CGI studio to make "test footage" of what the film would be like. It's weird and silly and violent, and the character talks directly to the audience a lot? Like. Utterly destroying the suspension of disbelief. You tell Ryan in polite executive terms to get the fuck out of your office.

So he goes home, leaks the film on the internet, and the fandom goes fucking wild. The response is overwhelmingly "HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST MOVIE EVER HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT".

I mean.

Well.

Now you have to do it.

You give Ryan a paltry $58 million to go make his stupid movie. It makes more money than any X-Men film ever has. More money than any X-Men film ever will, barring its own sequels. It is a phenomenon rocketing Reynolds and his character into MCU levels of stardom.

What the fuck just happened?

Deadpool, baby. Deadpool happened.

Pictured: An artist's rendition of the executives who doubted him.

[dazeddoodles]

Before Odahlia ends up in jail Hooty eats her, she’s mid villain monologue when Hooty just swallows her whole.

Everyone:…

Hooty: :3

Everyone:…

Amber:(fires nerf gun into the air) DING DONG THE DEMON IS DEAD

Amity: HELL YES

And with that, Amity likes Hooty now

[killervelveteenrabbit]

Is this the end of Chloe Bourgeois?

She’s been exiled from her city after a brief but disastrous run as its absolute ruler. Her father has disowned her. Her mother is humiliated by her and seems intent on making her burn for it, now that she has sole custody of her. Her co-conspirator in her grand scheme has dropped contact, forsaking her to run her own game. Her childhood friend, the boy she once regarded as hers and hers alone, has washed his hands of her. Her only friend, whom she treated as an underling for years, has turned against her. And her favorite bullying target has just explained to her, in no uncertain terms, that she’s lost everything and has no power over anyone anymore.

Even from a Doylist perspective, there seems to be no place for Chloe anymore. She no longer lives in Paris, and Lila/Cerise has usurped her position as designated beta-villain. Some would see this as an opportunity to write Chloe out of the series entirely, and few people within the fandom would shed tears. 

And yet, Chloe does have her fans. Some of them object to the apparent beatification of Marinette, in-universe and out, or that Mr. Astruc and the writers have flanderized Chloe into the series’ hate sink at the cost of her character arc. Others sympathize with Chloe as a victim of emotional abuse and neglect who doesn’t understand how to be a good person because no one’s shown her how (although I would argue that Armand and Miss Bustier at least tried).

Putting Chloe on a bus (or in her case, a jet) while singing “Ding Dong, the Bitch is Dead” seems too easy and neat an ending for her. I would like to see Chloe return in season 6 with the increased capacity for empathy that often comes from losing something precious. I want her to learn that “nice” isn’t just an affectation one puts on to impress people you like. I want her to understand that true heroism takes effort and even sacrifice. I want her to experience the give-and-take of equitable relationships. I want to see her tempted to fall into old habits and make a few bad decisions, but ultimately prove herself to herself. And again shifting from the Watsonian to the Doylist, I would like to see Chloe become a powerful foil and counter to the increasingly diabolical Lila/Cerise.

The problem is that I don’t see how this is possible. Audrey seems intent on controlling Chloe’s every move to prevent her daughter from causing her further shame. Even if Chloe did return to Paris, everyone there seemingly hates her. The only way I can see it happening is if Audrey got tired of Chloe and sent her back, not knowing what else to do with her... and if someone, against their better judgment, agreed to shelter her... and if she adopted a new name and changed her appearance so that no one recognized her as the recently overthrown child-dictator of Paris.

Reinventing Chloe offers far more creative potential than discarding her. Also, it would show the kids for whom this show was created what it means to be a truly good person, that sometimes it takes real effort and hard choices but that it’s ultimately worth it.

[dangermousie]

Do you like triumph of evil in your kdramas? A small rec list for the pessimist in you

If, like me, you got into kdramas way back when or like older kdramas, tragic endings are not a particular surprise - endings where one or both members of the OTP die were pretty common and even unsettling endings that remind you of the world being rather unjust (Bad Guys) also happen.

But I am talking about something more than that - an ending that really socks it to you, by making you feel the villains won, it was all in vain. I confess when well-done, I love the bleakness of that type of ending. So here are my five favorites for this sort of thing:

Hong Gil Dong (2008)

This story of a rebel fighting to overthrow the mad tyrant and bring justice to the people has the most thoroughly bad ending on the list. Who dies? EVERYONE EXCEPT THE BAD GUYS! I don't mean the OTP, I don't mean your fave secondaries, I mean everyone. The sheer realistic bleakness of the ending is breath-taking. Gil Dong, his OTP Yi Nok and the rest of the rebels are murdered by the forces of the king they put on the throne. The last shot of the story proper is them standing watching a shower of arrows coming towards them, staring at their death. The only survivors are the King and the secondary girl and both are monsters. The king is the man they put on the throne with so much effort but who cannot allow them to live because what they want is not to replace a bad absolute ruler with a different one (that he may have coped with) but to replace the system itself - to hold the king accountable, and he cannot have that. In the end, a mad tyrant has been replaced with a sane tyrant and the class system and the injustices of that society that wrecked Hil Dong, Yi Nok and the rest continue unabated. And secondary girl betrays Gil Dong because - for all her sort of crush - she never truly saw him as human, just a fancy peasant toy that should be thrown away and punished for not behaving as he ought. In the end, the good guys, the heroes, who fought so hard are killed and it's not easy acceptance for them either (there is a scene where Gil Dong, knowing they are all dead once spring comes, admits to Yi Nok how terrified of death he is that has haunted me for a decade plus) and the monsters continue on happily. Sure, the people recite stories and new fighters will rise in their place but it's very much of a "no happy ending in our lifetime" message.

At the time this drama came out, the Hong Sisters were known for their romcoms and this started out pretty goofy - watching it live as it got darker and darker was a hell of a trip and the ending made the fandom insane. But the more I thought about it, the more I loved it, the more fitting it seemed. I love all the other takes on rebels against the crown a la various other HGD and Iljimae adaptations but this one has, to me, by far the most fitting ending.

IRIS (2009)

Talk about bleak. This drama starts as your standard if high quality actioner about competent glam agents of a secret CIA type agency. And then it all goes to hell in a handbasket for our mains as it turns out a secret evil organization is the one that's pulling the strings, and our protagonist Kim Hyun Jun (played by Lee Byung Hun in my favorite of all of his performances) is sacrificed for complicated reasons that are only gradually revealed and begins his descent into hell. He starts the story as a competent, cocky sweetheart and transforms into a PTSDing shaking hands wreck. And you watch him fight so hard - fight through all the torments inflicted, fight to protect his loved ones and to keep his sanity, and fight to take the evil org down. You watch him slowly rebuild himself, and to slowly find happiness again with the woman he's loved all this time, Choi Seung Hee (played by Kim Tae Hee in my fave of her performances, who has unknowing ties to the org) and to fight over the org and inflict damage on it.

And then we get that ending, as he's finally found some peace and safety, and he's driving to propose to Seung Hee and as he sees her, he's shot in the head, point blank and he lies there, dying, seeing her but not able to reach her, tears falling out of his eyes as she waits oblivious for a man who will never come and it's made so clear that the org goes on, that nothing has been defeated and that it has all been for nothing - he's been killed as a punishment to him but also as a message to Seung Hee that nobody ever escapes - for her to find his body and realize it was all for naught. And it is also made clear that there was NOTHING he could have ever done to avoid this fate except if his parents made different choices before he was born (!!!) Talk about bleak. I sobbed for hours.

Ja Myung Go (2009)

I've just posted about this one so I am not gonna re-do the comments but yeah, it ends with the OTP death, the kingdom destroyed and the one winner is King Daemushin, the bad guy. The God of Battles wins again. Sure he lost a son but he's got other sons. Worth it, would think the old monster.

My Country: the New Age (2019)

The rest of the dramas on this list are older. This one is not. Our two main protagonists die in the end but that is not what makes it so bleak - what makes it so bleak is that nothing of what they wanted came to pass. In a way, it's a bit of a Hong Gil Dong redux situation - there is a new ruler on the throne but he's not any better than the old ones and he's cleaning up the people who put him on the throne. Hwi especially fought so hard for a place and then just to have some peace and he gets neither, the man he fought so hard to put on the throne being his murderer.

What Happened in Bali (2004)

Ooof, this drama! We have four main characters and at the end, two of them are dead, shot by the third one who turns the gun on himself. The only survivor is the ice cold secondary girl who would probably not pause sipping her morning coffee when hearing the news.

This is a story of people damaged and ruined by a bunch of monsters who suppress any hope and anything good and cause more and more damage - we watch the three mains claw at others and at themselves hoping for happiness and connection and love and it all gets dismantled and set on fire repeatedly and in the worst way. It's perhaps the starkest with Jo In Sung's Jung Jae Min - who you watch taken apart and driven to extremity slowly and gradually over the course of the drama. And his monstrous family ends up triumphant at the end - even in death and murder he was not monstrous enough for them to fit in - and now they will continue their lives.

PS The scene where he shoots Ha Ji Won's character right as she's just finishes telling So Ji Sub she loves JIS and wants to go back to him and she tells him "I love you" for the first time ever as she lies dying - that lives in my head rent free forever.

[silviakundera]

Lighter and Princess ep 36 - the finale!

What Gao Jianhong explains is honestly what I had assumed: Li Xun's sister's death and the ramifications ruined 2 lives, not 1. Geo Jianhong obviously never expected her to die at that hotel. (It was an accident, not even Fang's fault either as much as a POS he is.) But just like LX wasn't thinking clearly, neither was GJH- he was panicked and also consumed with guilt. Objectively, it was an unconnected accident. But she wouldn't have been at that location if not for Gao. So he just triples down on being the villian. Ok, I'm a monster. So be it. I'll play that role to the limit. Maybe this is how I finally win. After all these years, I think he's still been feeling guilt over Sister Li Lan's death. He can't stop being the villain because he doesn't believe in his own redemption. And this gets all mixed up with the resentment and hate that persists because of his inferiority complex.

This doesn't absolve him of anything, btw. He's a bastard who has stolen from & stepped on more amateur game designers; caused Li Xun mental anguish, betrayed his trust in a disgusting manner; abused his wife, blackmailed Zhu Yin with 'social death'... He tried to send Li Xun back to prision. Objectively a trash person.

But it's consistent, layered characterization. It's an explanation. I was glad to see the subtext I'd interpreted become explicit text.

gawwwwdd but I'M EVIL in that it's so satisfying for Gao Jianhong to hear that Li Xun has the inner strength & capacity to forgive him and let go. ("Impossible! It's me. It's me who wanted to step on him. It's me who stopped from from standing up.") BWAHAHAHAHA you fell short yet again, you pathetic man child. He bests u in everything. ❤ And now you're living for him, at his command.

They got the name back \o/

The biggest surprise in this drama is how I ended up loving class president Fang Shu Miao. Just a minor character but it's fun that she grew up into an awesome lady and good friend.

smh but up to the very end, this drama still trying so hard to convince me that ML is handsome lmao sorry I have eyes, no. Love u anyway rat boy 😍🐀😍

The Flying team scenes in the finale really were too perfect and made me so emotional. Mr Dong is still the boss! They're all shareholders! Eating ice pops again, the sacred tradition 😂😭

Mr Dong: "Your daughter is my boss now. She works for herself."

asdfghjk (whispers) it's true tho

99% of the time I dislike the "this company is my found family" storyline tbh. I've seen a lot of toxic situations in rl, especially young lgbt who were rejected by their families and had nowhere else to go, only to be taken advantge of. But this drama has been a big exception to that. A group of odd balls who aren't loyal friends at the start (originally out for themselves) but go thru adventures together. My favorite flavor. And now Mr Dong is defending Li Xun as an elder, when he has no one else to bring to the table. This drama earned it! (And it helps that the protagonists are clearly the leaders of this gang now, no power imbalance.)

"Mom, this is our home. You have no right to interfere. You have no right to make the decisions." 👏👏👏 i love herrrrrrrrrr

After Zhu Yun's mother makes an absolutely disgusting declaration (to an orphan whose parents & sister are dead) that she must marry her daughter to someone "with a happy family" of an equal social status, and invites him to bring his parents to meet them... It's now Li Xun's turn to be an absolute badass and instead of centering his own pain and insult, simply points out that he knows Zhu Yun has the ability to change the world, but her parents just want ZY to obey them. It's her parents that are wronging HER most of all and he sees that. Maturity!

I love how they roll. She suggests they have a baby because 30 is the right age, but then they'd need to get married. He's like ok, let's have a baby. And then a couple days later buys them a house. She's basically quasi proposed to him and then they just decide to get it done. Very them.

The marriage certificate guys' FACE. "You have many family members." !!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

The marriage was absolutely perfect. Loved the final group picture and that their friends gathered to support them in lieu of blood family.

I normally don't get attached or care too much for supporting characters. But Lighter & Princess and A Journey to Love broke that mold for me. Sorry Ren Di, though you are smoking hot I never could care about your angst. But the friend group really endeared themselves to me.

What a truly fantastic story from beginning to end. Never falters. I feel like modern cdramas have a bad rep compared to kdramas but there are some real gems. note to self: make a modern cdrama rec post this year

[fnafsbheadcanon]

This small story: Gregory has a sister named Eleanor. She’s the same age as her, it she has some dark plans for him.

Eleanor: How unfortunate for you three. That thought that you came so close and yet way too far.

*She looks at her guardian*

Eleanor: You heard from Gregory?

Jacob: Not for a couple of months.

Eleanor: I miss him… I need him back.

Jacob: Don’t you think you should let him know the truth?

Cassie: What do you mean the truth. *She asked as her two other friends that she’s been on her side ever since they met each other wanted the answer*

Eleanor: *Giggles* Oh Cassie. This whole time you seriously believed that stopping Gregory would be very over. Know that you three ding dongs are out of the way. I’ll finally get my real plan into motion. First: Gregory needs to see his sister again.

*Cassie, Tony, and Ellis had their eyes widen at the last sentence. Gregory has a sister? Since when? All of them thought Gregory was alone. But he has a sister?*

Tony: You’re his sister? *He asked*

Eleanor: *Nods* Of course. But he doesn’t know that yet. Unfortunately because of that asshat “GGY”; he nearly forgot everything about who he was and his memories of me were erased.

*The three couldn’t believe this. They all thought this was just some girl, but he was the sister of the person they needed to stop*

Eleanor: It’s very foolish of you three to think Gregory is the villain here. You idiot don’t anything of what happened. *She got up to their faces* I do though.

Cassie: What do you mean? If you said that you do know then you also know what Gregory has done! He killed people. Tried to kill me! Destroyed my friends, and hurt his own friends (Vanessa, and Freddy).

Eleanor: *She made a thumbs down at them* Wrong. You don’t the full story. ‘You’re the one that cause Vanessa and Freddy’s deaths’ *She left out that last part*

Ellis: What did you say?

Eleanor: Nothing… nothing. Anyway I think it’s time for me and Jacob to go. While you three are trapped in your little prisons of your new bodies, Gregory has a sister to meet again. Ta ta~

*The three kids screamed at her: Her lies, deceit, and the truth of who she was. She ignored them all. She didn’t care. But Gregory did. She’ll fix that. Once she has him back with her, if he still has trouble because of what those three idiots have done, then she’ll make sure that they don’t exist to him. Even if she had to erase all his memories again. She looked at the heart pendant necklace she wore. It was glowing white. That meant Gregory was on the move.*

*She gave one last look of the house. It was designed for Cassie, Tony and Ellis: To sure that they won’t escape from the house. Now that she transferred their original bodies into little dolls; she won’t have to deal with them anymore*

*Eleanor sat at the front passenger seat of the car. Jacob took the wheel, and drove off to the night. She couldn’t wait for her brother. Now that Vanessa and Freddy are dead. The three kids are now out of the way*

Oo0. Wait do you mean the Eleanor from the books cause that would be even more wild.

[hrny-song-tournament]

Inspired by other song brackets like @crysongz, @best-overplayed-song, @weird-song-bracket, @lovesongbracket, @songcharshowdown, @songshowdown, @movingmusiccomp.

Also tagging @tournamentdirectory, @ultimate-poll-tournament, @thedilftournament, @ultimatemilvesbracket. Pls let me know if you are uncomfortable with being tagged in this bracket.

Btw, it's a safe space for aspecs if you aren't sex repulsed etc.

It's time for horny. 69 songs, but which is the horniest/makes you most horny?

Cardi B - WAP vs Nine Inch Nails - Closer

Hey Violet - Guys My Age

Hudson Mohawke - Cbat vs Lilianna Wide - Grind Me Down (Jawster Remix)

Ok Go - I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe vs Prince - Soft and Wet

Arctic Monkeys - I Wanna Be Yours vs Gunther - Ding Dong Song

Britney Spears - 3 vs Daft Punk - Something About Us

Ty Dolla $ign - Or Nah vs MCR - F.T.W.W.W.

Rihanna - S&M

Lady Gaga - G.U.Y. vs Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know

Reinaeiry (Sam Smith Cover) - Unholy vs KiNG MALA - she calls me daddy

Jen Foster - I Didn't Just Kiss Her vs Mariah Carey - Touch My Body

Depeche Mode - Master And Servant vs NEFFEX - Rumors

Justin Timberlake - SexyBack

Heathers: The Musical - Dead Girl Walking vs 5 Seconds of Summer - Teeth

Ayla D'Lyla and Miss Madeline - Life Could Be Sweet vs Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On

Simon Curtis - Flesh vs Hozier - Dinner & Diatribes

Nanne Grönvall - Håll om mig vs Arctic Monkeys - Knee Socks

Beyonce - Rocket vs Transviolet - Girls Your Age

George Michael - Careless Whisper vs Lemon Demon - Two Trucks

Shakira - She Wolf vs K/DA - Villain

Hozier - Talk

The Orion Experience - The Cult of Dionysus vs Moulin Rouge Cast - El Tango De Roxanne

Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls vs Miike Snow - Genghis Khan

Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) vs Dove Cameron - Boyfriend

Khia - My Neck My Back vs Kim Cesarion - Brains Out

Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka - Magnet vs Rick James - Super Freak

mazie - girls just wanna have sex vs Queen - Get Down, Make Love

Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) vs Santana - Smooth

Todrick Hall - I LIKE BOYS vs Dead Or Alive - I Wanna Be A Toy

Olivia Newton-John - Physical

Neon Trees - Animal vs Hozier - Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene

Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom vs Ashnikko - Slumber Party

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast - Strip Away My Conscience vs Holychild - Bathroom Bitch

Jhameel - Feisty vs Arctic Monkeys - 505

Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment vs Ofenbach - Be Mine

The Weeknd - Earned It vs Jeangu Macrooy - Shake Up This Place

Hozier - Moment's Silence vs annapantsu - Hellfire

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

so i’ve been working on a short piece retelling a more historically accurate version of the battle of changban, told from kongming's POV. zhuge liang is the NEET-cum-civil advisor who knows jack about military matters and is slightly regretting his career trajectory,  zhang fei and guan yu are regular (albeit kickass) generals, zhao yun stays the same since he's a badass irl, and liu bei is a conman with a heart of gold who gets dragged kicking and screaming through a hero arc. (good news, my liege! the people love you and dong wu wants an alliance! the bad news is you gotta fight cao cao. again.) 

i had this on the backburner for months bc zhuge liang's characterisation was coming out kinda meh, but i’ve finally hit a breakthrough! the best way to write kongming is to make him one part shen yuan (of scum villain fame) and two parts huang mi (of first day as a second century warlord fame). his mental state can be either summarised as "watch me destroy this pleb with facts and logic" or "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

extracts:

Oh, great. The Imperial Protector’s squatter cousin is here to see me. A Northerner who goes by Liu Xuande. One of those one-horse warlords with a conveniently unverifiable royal bloodline, a lot of public goodwill and a string of almost-victories under his belt. The best thing Liu Sandal-weaver has going for him is that the Prime Minister wants him dead, and in my opinion, anyone who can survive a pissed-off Cao Mengde is worth the time of day.

Here's my brilliant strategy; don't be in the way of Cao Cao's elite calvary when Cao Cao's elite calvary arrives. 

What a way to start a career. The twenty-seven-year-old recluse with his sandal-weaver liege, running for their lives. Everyone on the administration was saddle-sore, sleep deprived and absolutely caked with dust. I was horribly, horribly constipated from the rough food and overwhelming stress--but I bet my last copper that's never going to make it into the history books, either. 

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

The Great OC Alphabet Caper: Deceit Edition

(Credit to @sleepyowlwrites for this idea)

For characters introduced in the other books, see these posts: The Unfortunate Moth • Silver Glass • Mine Eyes Dazzle • There Stands a Spectre • The Tempest and the Night

Characters who first appeared in Houses Full of Deceit, in alphabetical order:

Ji-hun

Name: An Ji-hun (안 지훈)

Age/Pronouns: 30s(?), he/him

Brief physical description: Look at Lee Dong-wook in Strangers From Hell, imagine him in 1910s clothes, and you've got Ji-hun:

Brief list of defining traits: Complete monster. The sort of person who kills children, cuts off fingers, and hunts detectives across the world.

Excerpt:

"I was hired to kill that family. I found out they were related to you, so I thought it would be fun to hunt you down too." Yo-han tried to wrap his mind around this. "So you chased me for months… for fun?" An's smile returned. It was almost like talking to someone with a comedy mask tied to their face. "This was the most fun I've had in years. I'm almost sorry to kill you." His finger moved. Yo-han ducked. An shifted his aim to follow. The problem with actors was that they had an irritating tendency towards the melodramatic. Even worse, it was contagious. If Yo-han had been consulted, he would have asked for reinforcements before the nick of time. Unfortunately he hadn't been consulted. Fortunately the nick of time did just as well. Phil flung the dining room door open. She aimed her gun at An. "Drop it!" An started. He pulled the trigger. The bullet buried itself in the floorboard at his feet.

Trivia:

He started out as a minor character in Like Snow on Hungry Graves. I had to cut his subplot, then decided to reuse his character in a completely different setting. (How different? Well, apart from the fantasy versus realistic settings, in TCOSYH he's by far the worst character to appear on-page. In LSOHG, he would have shared most of his scenes with two characters who are worse.)

He gets killed off very abruptly for such a major villain. This is because of several plot changes. The denouement was supposed to happen in Scotland, for example, and the lead-up to his death would have taken an entire chapter

His surname is a reference to South Korean actor Ahn Nae-sang, and his personal name is a reference to Ji-hoon/Ji-hun from Psychopath Diary

Avington

Name: Timothy Avington

Age/Pronouns: 40s, he/him

Brief physical description: No specific description

Brief list of defining traits: Tries to start a war for fun and profit (his own, obviously). Arranged the Hastings murders because Mr. Hastings found out too much about his plan. Gets killed off in record time

Excerpt:

The Avington family had prided themselves on living in the most fashionable district in London. Unfortunately, that had been before people started asking awkward questions like "How could you afford those jewels when they cost more than your husband's yearly salary?". Now they had to content themselves with a modest house in an unfashionable district. Timothy Avington hated it. Something had gone wrong with his plans ever since Hastings confronted him. Hastings was dead now, but the bloody fool of an assassin just had to kill the wife and children too. Now the Japanese had lost interest in his scheme. His friend Jeong was suspected of taking bribes. He felt like he was living in a house of cards about to collapse around him. It was a sunny day in early May when the collapse came.

Trivia:

I got his surname from a name generator. His first name is borrowed from one of my relatives

The main change I'm planning for the second draft: giving him more to do! As it is he appears out of nowhere then dies

Mrs. Hastings

Name: Seo Eun-a (서 은아), Una Hastings (adopted name)

Age/Pronouns: 40s, she/her

Brief physical description: None

Brief list of defining traits: Never appears because she and her family are killed in the prologue. Yo-han's cousin

Excerpt: None

Trivia:

Another change I'm planning for the second draft: she'll appear at least once before her death

She's mentioned in passing in Mine Eyes Dazzle (where she's alive and well, because it's a prequel)

Mr. Jeong

Name: Jeong Dong-sik (정 동식)

Age/Pronouns: 50s, he/him

Brief physical description: None

Brief list of defining traits: Avington's co-conspirator. Tries to kill Yo-han. Never actually appears but is presumed to have died off-screen

Excerpt: None

Trivia:

His personal name is a reference to Dong-sik from Psychopath Diary

Another change I'm planning for the second draft: he'll actually appear. I'm hoping to have him and Avington both killed by Ji-hun, which would be very fitting (but hard to work out when they're on different continents...)

Adding the general Case-files taglist: @akindofmagictoo, @sam-glade, @sarahlizziewrites, @oh-no-another-idea, @cljordan-imperium,

@mrbexwrites, @lightgriffinsect (Let me know if you want to be added/removed!)

[killerandhealerqueen]

A League of a Nobleman...bruh I was waiting for this drama to come out in 2021 and I’m so glad it’s finally here. 

I have never read the original work it was based on, so I was kind of going into it blind, but I really enjoyed this drama.  It’s so up my fucking alley it’s ridiculous. 

I loved all the characters.  Zhang Ping, Lan Jue, Chen Chou, Xu Dong, Wang Yan, the fucking Emperor...I loved them all.  I love their relationships and how they grew close to each other, I loved learning about their backstories (especially Lan Jue and Zhang Ping) and how they were intertwined...just loved it.

I loved the cases too.  They were super interesting and like, some things I could figure out what they were putting down, but other things I just stared at my screen in shock like bitch.  The whole overarching case?  Absolutely fucking shook.  And I love me a good overarching case

I also loved loved loved (and this is me as a forensic science person talking) that whenever they were either investigating a body or touching evidence, they were wearing fucking gloves and masks.  Like thank you fucking jesus.  If fucking historical dramas can wear gloves and masks, there’s no excuse for modern dramas to not do the same, you feel?

As for the villains...hated hated hated the Empress Dowager.  I ain’t sad she’s dead.  She deserved it.  Like, you fucked around for too damn long and now you’re suffering the consequences.  Reap what you sow, bitch.  Reap what you sow.  And as for Shulin...I just feel sorry for him.  I really do.  I don’t condone what he did, but I do feel bad that this happened to him.  And his death was peaceful...which considering his entire life, was probably a good thing.  He just fixed his clothes, straightened his hair, and walked straight into the mist to never be seen again.  A fitting death, I suppose.

I do like the ending.  I liked that Mowen came and took charge of the Court of Judicial Rites (as he fucking should) and I thought it was super cute that Xu Dong and Lan Jue went to Yiping County to see Zhang Ping and that the drama ended like how it started: with a bowl of noodles. 

Also the OST.  Fucking slaps man.

Overall, 10/10, would definitely recommend

[phoenixkaptain]

Random Teen Titans thoughts, 1966 edition:

-nothing can escape Aqualad’s notice. Not giant, noticeable ears or giant, metal conquistadores

-I’m pretty sure TT #1 is the introduction to characters, especially Robin, saying “Quick like a bunny, Kid Flash!” which is just really funny to me

-this happens more often than I thought (I’m rereading these early comics), but Robin almost always explains things when asked. And his explanations are always long and in-depth and he is a giant nerd

-Robin says “What can possibly happen?” because he’s Robin and that’s just what Robin does

-Robin says “Hope there’s nothing more popping from that pyramid!” because he did not learn his lesson the first time

-the villain made a giant, metal conquistadore, but the weird animals with human faces were just incarnations of the beast god. Nobody questions this

-I think Kid Flash practices by juggling with his feet. Otherwise, I have no idea what the panel was implying

-“You’re strictly feom Squaresville if you don’t put down the drags - like you’re cubed, but def!”

“You sure that is English, Penny?”

I love this interaction and I’m with Garn on this one, sorry, Penny

-Aqualad says “great waves and all that jazz” basically mocking the interjections they’ve all been saying (including him) and I just think that’s funny

-Kid Flash says “Better find a hole in the sky, and hide this egg-beater, Robin!” and no, context does not make it make any sense

-Wonder Girl ties her hair to a tree branch because her grip is slipping. Miraculously, this works

-the image of Wonder Girl holding up Aqualad, who is holding up Robin, who does not seem to notice nor care about his current predicament, is both adorable because Robin has such complete faith in his teammates and hilarious because he is dangling precariously with only an Aqualad to keep him from falling

-Aqualad says “Quick like a bunnyfish- if there is such a thing!” I’m pretty sure he’s making fun of Robin

-Gotham banks have machine guns set up in their walls, in case of burglaries. This explains quite a lot

-Robin says his math mark (his math grade) could be better, and I do not believe him

-Ding-Dong Daddy Dowd’s shop is called Ding-Dong Daddy Dowd’s Hot-Rod Hive: the Hottest Buckets This Side of Dragsville, and I don’t know how to feel about that

-Robin gets handcuffed to a speeding motorbike. He can’t stop the bike, but I just don’t understand the thought process. If Ding-Dong wants him dead, why did he not just kill him? Ding-Dong is a ding dong

-Kid Flash: “I failed.”

Aqualad: “I failed.”

Robin: “We all failed.”

10/10 leadership

-The narration claims that there was an outstanding outcry for Speedy to be added. I don’t know if I believe them. This is only issue #4

-Speedy decides it would be better to break into the Teen Titans’ hideout and set off the alarm, instead of giving them any head’s up that he’s coming. He’s right, it was better

-someone swapped Speedy’s arrows with explosive-rigged arrows and expected Speedy not to notice

-Davey (important character)’s dad tries to intimidate Robin, which was just hilarious. You really think Robin, Boy Wonder from Gotham City (the city with machine guns in the bank walls) is going to be intimidated but a bad dad? Silly

-Kid Flash says “I’d know that beautiful racing form anywhere!” of Davey, and I just think that’s funny

-Davey’s dad is the absolute worst. He made his son cry. He’s such a dick

-Davey says “I’m going like a big-tailed bird, Robin!” and I just don’t understand the relevance

-Davey’s dad decides to be less of an asshole, which is nice

-this exchange between Wonder Girl and Robin:

“He’s cute- cuter than any of you characters!”

“You can bet your magic lasso, W.G., that we will hook up with Speedy again!”

-the Ant is the son of a circus strongman and an acrobat. He and Robin should be pals

-Robin calls Aqualad “Sea Flea”

-Beast Boy can’t be part of the Doom Patrol without guardian permission. He also can’t be part of the Teen Titans without guardian permission (Robin saying “Batman had to okay me!” is funny because who did Batman okay Robin to?) Beast Boy thinks they just think he’s a freak, and runs off to the circus

-I saw a review say that Beast Boy’s arc was too similar to Pinocchio, because Beast Boy wants to “be a real hero,” but I have no idea where that idea came from? Beast Boy doesn’t give a shit about being a hero, he just wants to go somewhere and feel like he belongs

-Aqualad says this: “Holy hagfish, Robin… you figure we can get away with this bit- impersonating circus performers?” which is just funny because he’s asking the circus performer if he can accurately perform in a circus (I don’t think the Teen Titans know each other’s identities at this point)

-Robin calls Aqualad “Minnow”

-Robin says they should rethink letting Beast Boy join the team, and in the end, it’s left up the the audience to decide. As in, us, the readers reading the comic. As I said before, I’ve read a lot of these comics before (up to #43), and Beast Boy does not appear as part of the team in any of these issues. Poor Beast Boy

-I ship Robin and Aqualad, and I can’t explain it. I just find their dynamic, Aqualad questioning Robin and Robin being generally unfazed, is cute. And he calls Aqualad “Minnow” come on