#i made a darksided choice just for her
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
mylordshesacactus · 4 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
[id: the thing is monster is so unfitting for anyone who actually darksides (just a man would be the darkside fall song) but it's PERFECT for ahsoka's particular shadiness]
YES exactly.
For reference for the uninitiated: Just A Man is, legitimately, STILL, one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful songs in the entire musical. It's human and tender and raw and just...PERFECTLY Sing, O Muse, of a complicated man.
(I've said before but Just A Man is inextricably associated, for me, with Sylvanas Windrunner more than any other fictional character which, yes, is embarrassing for me, but is also a better explanation of her motivations than Blizzard has ever bothered to try to articulate.)
It's my favorite song in the entire musical by far. It's also EXACTLY how the classic darkside fall begins--an impossible choice, the life of a stranger for the life of someone you love, the right thing or the safe one. Conflicting loyalties, the desperate grief of not being able to save everyone and having to choose, and listening to fear when they shouldn't.
Just A Man is how good Jedi start to fall in a way they can't come back from.
youtube
And as we were discussing I had the realization.
If you were in Barriss' head, isolated in the Temple in the middle of the war, marinating in the Dark Side and unable to escape it...listening to it whisper and taunt and lie, convincing her that she couldn't trust anyone and there was no way forward except giving in to it...
It would sound something like this, I think.
youtube
(Deep down, we only care for ourselves...we both do what it takes to survive...)
This, too, is how a Fall can start. This is Anakin kneeling on the floor of Palpatine's office wailing "what have I done?" and what saved Barriss was that she was given months in isolation to realize that this was the worst mistake she ever made, and just enough space to learn to see the lie next time it was shown to her.
78 notes · View notes
fangsandfracturedhearts · 1 year ago
Text
Fangs and Fractured Hearts
Summary: After embracing eternity as a vampire spawn under Astarion's wing, the Crimson Palace becomes a haunting symbol of the man he once was. As his personality unravels into a dark abyss, you flee. A year of hardship unveils the harsh reality of existence as a vampire spawn.
Just as all hope seems lost, a twist of fate reunites you with Astarion, revealing a glimmer of hope amidst the shadows. As you navigate the complexities of your relationship, you must confront the unsettling truth behind the Rite of Profane Ascension and the devilish secrets it holds.
In a race against time, you embark on a daring quest to save Astarion from his descent into darkness. With each choice you make, the stakes grow higher, testing the limits of your courage and determination.
Will Astarion find redemption, or is he destined to succumb to his own inner turmoil?
Tumblr media
Pairing: Softish Ascended Astarion x female!Tav Spawn Note: It is/will be mentioned Tav is a draconic sorcerer
Rating: Explicit 18+ [Slow Burn]
Setting: Post End-Game Please note: Written before epilogues were added, so may not be congruent with that content
Warnings [more will be added] - expect mature content/read at your own risk.
Blood drinking. Sexual Themes/Tension. Slow Burn. Eventual Explicit Smut. Pining. Suicidal Thoughts. Biting. Violence.
Small Notes:
I am not well-versed in DnD 5e and it's rules as it pertains to this world, so although I'm going to try and keep it as accurate as possible, some aspects may not align or may be completely made up for story reasons.
Mentioned of in-game content that I've made resolve a certain way for this Tav.
Fabricated camp events.
Tav is named in later chapters (15 +), will have her own backstory, which we may explore eventually.
Details of Tav's appearance have been made up, but I've tried to keep details to a minimum so you can imagine your own Tav.
Tumblr media
Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy!
Big thank you to everyone who reads and/or comments/follows/likes/reblogs - it truly does make my day to know you're finding some enjoyment in my story :)
Tumblr media
Chapter 1: Lost Between Night and Dawn
Chapter 2: Reunion
Chapter 3: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Chapter 4: Little Lamb
Chapter 5: Rebellion
Chapter 6: Dancing with Darkness
Chapter 7: Rogue Desire
Chapter 8: Free Fall
Chapter 9: Beneath the Veil
Chapter 10: Soulbound
Chapter 11: 'Till Death Do Us Part
Chapter 12: Catharsis
Chapter 13: The Fallacy of Power
Chapter 14: Devil's Ploy
Chapter 15: Reclamation
Chapter 16: Riddles
Chapter 17: Unearthed
Chapter 18: Unleashed
Chapter 19: Hark Thy Plea
Chapter 20: I Forgive You
Chapter 21: Preparations
Chapter 22: This is Our Sanctuary
Chapter 23: Way Down We Go
Chapter 24: His Hands Hold My Heart & He Won't Let Go Until It's Scarred
Chapter 25: Darkside
Chapter 26: The Edge of Erasure
Chapter 27: Sin and Shadow
Chapter 28: Blurred Lines
Chapter 29: A Lonely Kind of Love
Chapter 30: A Brand, A Tether
Chapter 31: Ice Meets Fire
Chapter 32: Adrift
Tumblr media
AO3 [cross-posted]
If you're interested, I also write a spawn Astarion x Tav fic - Shadows of the Past
I also write a much darker fic for named Durge and AA that I post to A03 exclusively. It's dark, gory, and not about fixing AA but about them becoming an evil power couple if you're interested - Lie to Me
382 notes · View notes
mdhwrites · 6 months ago
Text
What Were the Palismens' Point and Did They Succeed?
I got a really long ask that started with asking me how I would have handled the Palisman. For a question like that, I believe there are two core tenants that need to answer. The TL:DR though for this is that despite the Palisman having presence since S1, their point in the story is only made clear in S2 and then their point is useless except for Luz, weakly, because of how TOH defies normal genre convention, in a way that is very counterproductive, when it comes to character climaxes.
Anyways: The questions.
What is the narrative concept of the element we're talking about?
What is the point of the narrative element?
For the Palisman, this isn't clear until Hunting Palisman. Before then, they are glorified broomsticks with one episode acknowledging their agency but at the end of the day in S1: They're just glorified broomsticks. Hunting Palisman very clearly and bluntly states what their point is.
They are a physical manifestation of the witch's will and desires. You can only obtain one with a clarity of purpose and conviction. This is also the point of them: They are essentially character statements. The grand thesis of whoever that palisman is connected to. Honestly, as far as creative uses of magical items to present the culmination of a character, the palisman are...
Exceptionally stock standard. Like painfully so. Anyone watched a season of Power Rangers? Yeah, the Palisman are just the battlizer. If you watched Winx Club like... AT ALL past the first season, maybe even requiring that long, it is ANY of their power ups because they always come with a big character growth moment that defines who they are as a person. It is maybe one of the basic fantasy tropes out there to have self actualization be a power up.
And this isn't just me being hyperbolic. Even from their first introduction, it is presented as a part of a witch growing up. That the school grants witches their palisman but that Luz will have to earn hers. Once she does, she has a loyal companion and the ability to fly. Even at Hexside, you still have to reach certain age to get a Palisman. They're not just giving them to kindergartners. The show itself, by all accounts, says this is explicitly what they are. It's even why Hunter can have Flapjack like he does because the two are their most at sync the closer Hunter is to being Cale- Being the good person he always was. -_- Before then, during moments like Eclipse Lake, they are out of sync, just like he says.
There's just a small, tiny, MINISCULE problem with this concept. Barely noticeable so I'm probably making a big deal out of no- HOW DO YOU HAVE TWO CHARACTER CLIMAXES LIKE THIS IN THE SAME MINUTE AND THEN ONE OFF SCREEN!?
TOH has this weird aversion to character climaxes, at least traditionally paced ones. This is any episode focused on the ending of an era for a character. When a hero falls to the darkside, with the entire episode, or episode after the fall happens at the end of one episode, being about his fall to the darkness. When the scoundrel decides that there are indeed things worth more than gold and has to grapple with that. The end of Book 2 of Avatar spends a lot of time in its last couple episodes grappling with what is a character built up over the entire season: Which side of Zuko wins out for his future? This is balanced with Aang's character climax with the guru with asking questions about how much Aang is willing to give up to the job of the Avatar instead of being the free spirited, loving kid he's always been. A LOT of time is given to this.
TOH hates giving time to ANYONE who isn't Luz. Very few people get real character climaxes of this sort of variety. Willow essentially never gets one and Gus never gets one. You could Watching and Dreaming and Labyrinth Runners specifically but those episodes aren't about self actualization. A VERY common thread with character climaxes is a choice the core character has to make in order to make things right. Meanwhile, in both episodes, HUNTER is the one to make the choice and actions to fix the problem. It is not about self actualization that then prompts a better, more refined character... It's honestly just one problem of the character amongst many like most kid's show episodic issues. This is ESPECIALLY true for these two because Gus' having this level of confidence issues has never been a thing. The closest to ever come to it is the Human Society episode and, well... That happened like a season before Labyrinth Runners with MAYBE one more hint at the S1 penultimate episode from the orb giving him a pep talk. Otherwise, he has confidence. Willow's is worse because she's NEVER taken on others burdens like they talk about. The stories they tell do not sound like Willow at all and Gus, her best friend, has NEVER called her 'Dependable Willow' before now. It has all the hallmark fingerprints of a long running kids show retconning elements to have a plotline this episode. You know, during the season that was SHORTENED.
And this is without recognizing that their palismans have NOTHING to do with either episode, at any time. They are absent from being a part of their self actualization and why shouldn't they be? They already bonded and obtained their power up back in Hunting Palisman. Both made declarations and received a palisman for it because... What the fuck?
This is the core of why when I saw the initial question, I kind of went "I can't do them better because they're pointless besides giving the fandom Patronus stand ins for OC creation." They don't do jack shit.
Amity gets this THE WORST. She makes her palisman off screen, before the shortening took effect, and we only get told what it was... As a part of comforting Luz. Her character thesis, the embodiment of who she is, her will made manifest and it's used narratively to try and comfort her girlfriend. The words actually don't matter because a character climax should not just be words. It should include action alongside it. A showing of their character alongside them telling you, if they tell you at all.
This is also why Luz's character climax blows on this front. Not only is it not well built up to (I despise Luz's character climax) but it also doesn't have action behind it. It's a big statement before she... Just shows off Stringbean to her friends and then gets ready to go fight the Collector? What does that have to do with Luz? What does that have to do with 'wanting to be understood'? It's not even like her goal is to show the Collector understanding now that she's figured this part of herself out. As far as we can tell, her goal was to kick the Collector's ass right up until the Collector tried to show he was an uwu baby, please ignore the murder stars and the fact that I actually know the consequences of my actions (he KNEW King would hate him for the dreams and so is shown to have understanding of his actions upsetting people) and yet did them anyways. Obtaining Stringbean is meaningless besides the meta context of "She just like me fo real" for the people who identify with her.
All of this because TOH won't commit an episode to just finishing a character's arc, or even part of it. I have LONG been complaining about how Escaping Expulsion IS a character climax for Amity but she's in like a collective four minutes of the episode. It is the complete refusal to continue to be who she was. To be willing to throw away even her family in the pursuit of her own happiness and desire to choose her own future. For her to be such a small part of it centers her motivation on Luz because she hasn't had enough time to explain or put focus on why she doesn't want to be who she has been. It's always just on "I wanna be with my friends." or "I want to protect Luz." or "Luz and her friends make me happy." As such, the motivating factor being Luz's life being in danger doesn't make it feel like Amity self actualizing, it makes it feel like a young lesbian throwing away everything for someone she has known for like two months. That what matters is not her character but just that this is another step towards Lumity for her. That's not exactly great, is it? Especially not with how much they want Odalia to shoulder the burden of the fact that Amity CHOSE to be pure evil to Willow for YEARS. For her to be cast off so easily... Well, it just doesn't hit right. Not like it should for a climax like this.
Almost every character climax in the show suffers from stuff like this. Eda's big farewell in Agony of a Witch? She's in like four minutes of it and barely spends time with Luz so we never get that deliberation before Eda chooses to lose her life. It can't even be said that the season built up to it because Luz and Eda haven't had a plotline together since Adventure in the Elements. At best? Grom. And Grom doesn't exactly help build up how deep their connection is, does it?
And so how would I do the Palisman better? I'd just remove them. They are not used for the purpose they were built for and the show doesn't do the elements they're connected to in a way that would ever work for them. They have no point besides being cute and marketable but otherwise? They're entirely superfluous.
Which is a pretty shitty thing to say about something that's meant to represent the best your character can ever be. See you next tale.
======+++++======
I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!
I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.
A Twitter you can follow too
And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.
95 notes · View notes
aresielle · 5 months ago
Text
We often see on social media or in comment under articles "X will nether do that. It's illogical and bad writing." about a character who fall to the dark side of the force.
I think peoples forget, the fist think to disappear, when someone fall, is logic and rationality. Darksider are not logical. They are not rational. They 're doing the opposite of the reason why they fall initially. And they always made the worse decisions ever.
Anakin go from "I want to save my wife. I like to be a hero" to "I choke her. I'll kill everybody, the women and the children too".
Dooku, from "the republic and the jedi are corrupt" to "I create a gouvernement more corrupt than the galactic senate and a war who will force the jedi to act somehow more again their moral code." And he didn't see a problem.
Maul. His name is an explanation enough for anyone who had watch the clone war cartoon. There is nothing rational in his "KEEENNNOOOBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII !!!".
Palpatine. He seems fine at first. And when we analyse his decisions ... we begun to doubt his choices. His own kidnapping at the beginning of episode III. The way he handle Anakin and Luke in episode VI when he know Anakin is irrational about his family since day one. Staying in the second death star while nagging the rebel.
Kylo Ren/Ben Solo ... like Maul, this guy is not really an exemple of good logical decisions. He makes bad decisions faster than his father made the Kessel run. Who run to Soke instead of his mother, Leia Organa, when his uncle try to kill him? She is a biggest tread to Luke.
Reva and the inquisitors in general. Their jobs is to capture or kill jedi. So of course they go around the galaxie telling people "have you see a jedi? These loosers who are kind, compassionate and help peoples?" . It's pic logical's tactic for hunting jedi.
To be fair sometimes they seems to realise they made a mistake somewhere. Like Qimir when he look at Mae in episode 2 and 4. Or Palpatine when the invisible hand crash on Coruscant. They have the same "why did I choose this idiot as my apprentice" look.
So Osha following the hot guy who kill her old friend, Yord, and Jecki, her sister padawan she just meet, and try to kill her twin sister Mae is following this pattern of stupid choice done by people who fall to the dark side of the force. It's stupid. It's irrational. I think that's the point.
Yoda says the dark side is quicker, easier, more seductive. He forget to say you will loose your brain cells in the process.
58 notes · View notes
zvtara-was-never-canon · 2 months ago
Note
Always heard how aang is preachy in TSR to katara and how he doesn't accept her "darkside". And I can't help but ask zutarians where exacly is line between preachiness and loving? What differs what aang is doing from what uncle Iroh is doing to zuko. Iroh can talk about hope, inner strength. When zuko is frustrated with not learning lighting technique he doesn't coddle him or whatever but speaks about how he has to get rid of his turmoil and speaks diffrence between shame and being proud. But guess what ,here iroh is wise, loving uncle, he is not forcing his beliefs on zuko no no no he wants whats better for him and wants him to change. Look at aang in tsr he says what revenge can do, says to katara that she has other choice,when she doesn't agree he lets her take appa and says that he needs to face this man(very similar to how iroh let zuko go in s2). When katara returns he asks if she is ok and says that he is proud of her, even after katara didn't forgive this man,aang doesn't care he just smiles as she leaves. Aang here is forcing beliefs on her,doesn't accept her dark side, doesn't understand her pain but iroh through zuko's journey is loving uncle that zuko ought to apologize. What a joke. Ember island aang yeah I would smack him but TSR aang? I will always defend him.
I wouldn't even smack EIP Aang. He was a 12-year-old that made a mistake, immediately felt bad, and left Katara alone because he never meant to upset her and didn't want to make things worse.
I'd say "save the slap upside the head for when he sends an assassin after people like Zuko did" - but lets face it, Aang would never do something that extreme and obviously awful to anyone, meaning he was better person than (pre-redemption) Zuko and that's why Zutarians will try to twist EVERYTHING he does into somehow being a selfish, inconsiderate thing to do, hence the complains that he was "preachy" for trying to stop Katara from making a terrible mistake.
32 notes · View notes
luxthestrange · 2 years ago
Text
RoR Incorrect quotes#103 Dark Side
Adam talking with the Mother's of the fighters about his experiences raising you
Adam: So once my boy's and I was having a lightsaber fight, My little girl comes up to me and goes-
Y/n(5): Hey daddy, I'm gonna have a lightsaber fight with you too but im Darth Vader! Adam: ...And I was like "Alright, You know...little weird you wanna be at the darkside at this age...CHOOSING evil at 5 is a little concerning to a parent"Whatever you want-
Adam: My little girl is holding this Red light saber TWICE the size of her body and she is psyched she is doing what her older brothers were doing with her dad, And were just yk going back an fourth-She cuts my leg off so im hopping in one leg...
Adam:-Then she cuts my arm that's holding the lightsaber, I drop the lightsaber-NOW SHE'S GETTING COCKY-...
The Mother's*Giggle at Adam's demonstration*
Adam: THEN SHE CUTS MY OTHER LEG OFF, AND I FALL BACK ON THE COUCH CUZ I DONT HAVE A CHOICE NOW I DONT HAVE ANY LEGS AND I SAID-"Oh sweetie~You won! You just beat daddy!~"...And in the most adorable voice you all can image she just goes...
Y/n(5):Not yet!~
Adam: AND PUT THE SHIT THROUGH MY THROAT AND CUT!*Doesnt knows whether to be proud or...scared*She said "You gotta get the throat! that's the most important part!"
Tumblr media
Anne"Maybe Jack and Her are a matched-made in heaven after all..."
449 notes · View notes
marvelstars · 8 months ago
Text
Tatooine and Skywalkers
I was thinking about Obi-Wan, Luke and Tatooine and realized that despite Obi´s constant complains over the planet and uncle Owen, it was Obi-Wan´s idea to bring baby Luke to Tatooine and make him survive the planet because Anakin was able to do so as well, so Luke had to show he could, as preparation to be able to defeat Vader acording to ROTS novel.
Obi could have chosen literally any other planet, Alderaan, Corellia, etc and even bring over Uncle Owen or Aunt Beru to take care of Luke but no, Luke had to survive Tatooine as a rite of passage or something like that.
So while I feel bad for Obi here you kind of made your bed mister.
About Luke and Anakin experiences on Tatooine:
While Ani certainly liked to have his own adventures and play with Kitster and Wald, he had more than enough being a slave, having a bomb inside his body, hidding threepio from Watto, developing his own detector of bomb chips to take out his and his mothers, escape with his mother in a podracer, of course until QuiGon and Padme told him they needed help, protecting himself from your usual pirates, hutt soldiers, tusken raiders who are always around Tatooine and protect his Mom from abusers while he was at it. He used the same slave system to protect her and others "It´s a shame you can´t kill me because then you would have to pay for me"
It´s LUKE the wild one who believes Tatooine is boring and he absolutely needs to have adventures elsewhere, join the imperial army and the rebellion after that, because he just had enough of shooting at giant rats from a distance and being given shores on the farm by his uncle. Sure there are Hutt soldiers around sometimes but there are also imperial soldiers so the Hutts no longer have as much influence on the planet as they used to have. Luke only comes back to Tatooine to rescue Han and turn Jabba´s base of operations to ashes before going to DS II to talk his Dad out of the darkside.
Like I love Anakin and Luke´s similarities but something I also love about them are their differences.
Anakin is totally willing to work within a system he doesn´t like if he doesn´t have other choice and he can adapt some of it´s characteristics to his and his loved ones benefice until he can fix it enough to make it better for everybody.
Luke is of the mind that if he doesn´t like a system he is totally willing to leave it or bring it down, with explosions if he can involve them.
Tatooine was instrumental in teaching them this. I love that for them.
59 notes · View notes
jung-shook-iieee · 2 years ago
Text
Darkside 2 | PJM
Tumblr media
➳ pairing: Jimin x reader
➳ rating: M (gore violence, implied dubcon.)
➳ genre: arranged marriage au, dark themed.
➳ summary: after the demise of your father, you were forced to marry a mob boss who was a decade older than you. Jimin has always been ruthless and marrying someone like him wasn't your first choice, but living with him made you crave for his attention. For getting his attention you were repeatedly acting out until one day he decided to take the matter in his own hands.
➳ warnings: spanking, fingering ( not much described), use of curse words, orgasm denial, gore violence, slight exhibition, dark themed, implied dubcon, reader se def scared of jimin, jungkook is fucking sexy you know? And jimin is in full daaddy mode lmao, overall it's really fucked up and dark and yeah it's a 18+ so if you feel uncomfortable do not read further.
➳ word count: 5k , (pt.ii) ( pt i)
Masterlist
➳ a/n: woah, it took me so long to post it but yk my exam is tomorrow and i don't know what the fuck I'll write but here is it so enjoy? And i haven't proofread it so genuinely sorry for any grammer mistakes. ( I know this story is fucked up so don't come at me. Okay?) Reblog if you like it tho. <3333333
➳ PARK JIMIN YA'LLLLL
➳ a/n2: I do not support this kind of activities in general, it's just a fiction and I do not own anybody. Please understand the difference between fiction and reality. And please enjoy. &lt;33
You could hear them downstairs. The men your husband had over. It seemed like there was two-three of them, plus your husband. Drinking alcohol and talking in low voices. Probably going over some illegal deal - not that you cared. You took a deep breath and looked down at your outfit for the night - a lacy black nighty with a plunging neckline - sinfully short too, with the hemline barely brushing against your upper thighs. You knew if you bent down, it would leave nothing to the imagination. And panties? Who needed them?
Slowly, you made your way down the stairs, each step feeling more excited than the last. You had never really disobeyed Jimin so blatantly before. A part of you, despite everything, was still scared of the big bad mob boss he was. But a larger part of you was irritated by his apathy, how he acted like you didn't even exist. At this point, you'd do anything to get somekind of reaction out of him - which is why you were in your current state.
The cold air hit you hard when you entered the living room. The serious chatter between the men seemed to cease almost immediately as you slowly made your way across the room, not sparing any of them a glance - not even Jimin. You made sure to wink your hips with every step, knowing that every single eye in that room was currently on you - even Jimin
You made your way into the kitchen, exhaling the breath you'd been holding in. You hadn't thought too far ahead with your plan, but decided to grab the leftovers of ttaekboki, since you didn't get to eat it properly.
You could hear them chuckling and whispering to each other until one's voice chimes in, " Well Mr. Park, who's she? Is she your whore? " You wrinkled your nose in disgust. These men were sure not from the local or else they would've known you. No men dared to look at you, let calling you a whore alone.
" You gotta introduce her to us man, I bet she must be good that's why you're keeping her around. Huh? " Another unfamiliar voice chimed in. God why  the hell Jimin even invited them over? Shitty perverts.
" I'm his wife and hello to you too. " You said casually leaning over the marble top giving them a show. Even though the lights were dim in the kitchen but still they could see your cleavage. It was cold, your nipples were poking out from the silk material.
You dared to make eye contact with Jimin and you could've sweared your blood ran cold just from his gaze only. He's a master in controlling his facial expressions but the way he was eyeing you up and down with cold,stoic expression on his face told you that he was beyond pissed. His fist was clenched tight, turning white and your coy smile instantly faded.
You regretted coming down, yes, you did and you were about to stood back quickly when suddenly Jimin stood up and smiled at you, the kind of smile which told you that you fucked up. He started walking towards like he's going to beat the shit of you.
" Excuse me everyone, this is my wife. Park Y/N." He said smoothly and walked beside you. He roughly pulled you by your waist more close. A squeek left your mouth and you did not dared to look him in the eyes.
He tugged you forward walking towards the guest. "It seems like my wife is definitely confused because I clearly told her that she isn't allowed to come downstairs. But -" He paused, and you stuck your chin up and gave him the biggest glare you could muster up.
But unfortunately for her, she's disobeyed me." Jimin finished, looking at you and reaching out and grabbing your wrist roughly. The calmness in his demeanour was making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but you'd sooner die than give away that you were definitely scared. You tried to twist out of his death grip but to no avail. And he was literally crushing your wrist with how hard he was holding it.
" Let go of me. " You hissed at him, knowing full well that you were basically putting on a free show for everyone else in the room, and they were hanging on to every word you spoke. Jimin didn't even spare you a glance.
"So, you gentlemen will have to excuse me while I go see to my wife. As you can see, she's being a bratt and needs disciplining. Jungkook, take some more beer out for these guys. They'll sit and wait while I finish with her, won't you?" asked his right hand guy and othrs, except you knew it wasn't really a question.
" Sure park we understand it would be so nice if you would tame her in front of us. It would be a sight to behold. " One of them said adjusting his bulge. He had the audacity to say this to jimin and you wondered why jimin only smiled at him. It wasn't the nicest smile of his, which definitely gave you goosebumps.
Jimin said something to jungkook in foreign language, something only which jungkook understood and smirked.
The whispering drowned in the background as jimin started dragging you roughly towards his room. The look on his face was unreadable, regarding His actions his expressions were calm. The grip on your wrist kept getting tighter and your heart was thudding out of your chest.
Let go of me, you fucking jerk!" You swore, wiggling around, your small fists landing on his muscular back. Your small fist's punch would probably doing nothing to his built body. You felt embarrassed as everyone eyed you shamelessly while your own husband dragged you like some sack of potatoes.
" FUCKING LEAVE MY HAND YOU ASSHOLE. " You swored again as you entered his bedroom and surprisingly he did. With a blink of an eye he pushed you roughly on the bed making you whimper from the harsh act.
" Fuck you bastard you're so fucking crazy they were calling me whore and you yourself treated me like one in front of them. How fucking dare you. " You spat every word laced with venom, Your nose was flaring up, You tried to get up, planning to storm out of his room and run into yours and lock the door and just get the fuck away from him.
Easily, jimin overpowered you, roughly pushing you back down onto the bed when you tried to make a run for it. And again, you tried to get up, because fuck if you'd let this man get the best of you. You attempted to shove him aside, except he was built like a brick wall and didn't budge an inch. That was when he grabbed your jaw roughly, jerking your face forward to meet his gaze.
"Keep fucking talking, you dumb bitch, I dare you." He hissed, his thumb and forefinger pressing so hard into your skin, enough to bruise. It got your eyes tearing. No one ever in your life has treated you like this.
" If you keep acting up like this y/n then I'll have to do something really bad. " He threatened by pressing you harder against the mattress, he hovered you, arms on both sides and trapping you in between. He was looking down at you so dangerously.
" Fuck you. " You seethed through clench teeth and wriggled more vigorously. You scratched jimin's neck in the process, blood started trickling down his neck but you did not felt sorry for him instead you again aimed to scratch there but this time jimin slapped you across the cheek.
It left you stunned. You did not dared to turn your head the other side. " You have the fucking audacity", began quietly, face inches away from yours, "To parade around downstairs in this fucking clothes, acting like you're a free piece of ass. I don't know if you're asking for it, or just plain fucking stupid."
" Bastard. " You said in low voice, your throat was sore from all the shouting earlier.
" And that filthy mouth of yours. Damn! Y/n you just annoy the shit out of me sometimes. " He continued. "And to think I was going easy on you all this time. Excusing your behaviour 'cause you're young and stupid." He shook you, hard. "Not anymore. You're a fucking spoiled little rich brat, and clearly your daddy didn't fucking think it was important to teach you some manners and respect."
And before you knew jimin manhandled you, You scratched and clawed to try and escape his grasp, but in two seconds flat he was sitting on the side of his bed with you over his knee, your thrashing legs pinned underneath his strong thigh. Red hot embarrassment coursed through your veins - how dare he put you over his knee like this! In a position so demeaning?
" Let go of me jimin I swear -"
You were cut short when you felt his hand on your ass. His rough, calloused palm stroked the silky material of the chemise that barely concealed your bare skin, and involuntarily you sucked in your breath sharply. What the fuck was he doing?
" You should have been disciplined a long time ago but looks like your daddy was a shit huh? " He chuckled, how could he even dare to insult your dead father. " He clearly did not bothered to teach you some manners? " He caressed your flesh over the silk material.
" Shut your fucki-" He did not even let you finish and suddenly grabbed the soft flesh roughly And you couldn't help but gasp - both at his touch and at the jolt you felt between your legs. What the fuck. No. Fuck no. This wasn't happening. He continued to fondle your ass, touching you as if you were a piece of meat on display. " How about I teach you some fucking manners my dear wife? " He asked Mockingly.
" You're fucking sick." You gasped, determinedly ignoring the way your pussy clenched at his words. With all your might, you tried once more to wiggle out of his grasp. Your motions ceased immediately when his palm cracked down on your ass. Hard. And you cried out in both pain and shock.
"You try and move one more time, and I'll use my fucking belt." jimin warned, the threat making your mouth run dry. You immediately fell limp against him, breathing hard from fighting this losing battle. Fuck him. Fuck him for taking you over his knee and spanking you like you were a child. You hung your head, squeezing your eyes shut to keep the tears of anger and embarrassment at bay.
That's more fucking like it." Jimin said, once more going back to squeezing your stinging ass, as if to rub salt on the wound. You bit your lip at the pain, and debated calling for help. And it seemed like he could read your mind: "And by all fucking means, yell and scream all you want. The door's wide open, princess. They can all hear you. But if you think anyone's coming to save you, you're dumber than I thought."
"You... You can't do this." You said, voice breaking but still having a bit of fight left in you.
Jimin lifted the flimsy material of the chemise, exposing your ass to his cold stare. "That's where you're wrong, princess. I can do this. I'm the only fucking one who can do this. And you're gonna take it. Because you deserve it. You deserve to be punished for flaunting your fucking body as if it's not already been claimed."
SMACK
The first hit sounded like the crack of a whip, and stung just as bad. You couldn't help but cry out in pain, knowing you were giving him the very reaction he wanted from you. And how you wished you were stronger, calmer, cooler, more collected. You wished you hadn't given him the satisfaction of hearing your cries of pain. But it hurt like a bitch. So then why could you feel the wetness pooling between your legs?
And it was like Jimin was unleashing hell on your ass, with smack after smack raining down angrily onto your sensitive skin. It was like all his hatred rested in the palm of his hand, which cracked down against your ass with full force, making you scream every time it did.
" Dumb fucking slut." He said through clenched teeth, the spanks never ceasing as he continued to talk. "And to think I felt sorry for you. For being forced into this. To think I left you alone. Didn't say shit when you were in my house, -"
As he was talking to you, you heard a loud series of cries, which immediately made you stiffer. You instantly clutched his biceps because you were scared. You did not know the source and the cries only grew louder along with a sound of hitting something very hard to be precise.
" Jim- is- down- who........ " You mumbled being scared of those atrocious sounds.
" Y/N focus on me. " Jimin ordered with an authority and you couldn't deny him so you nodded your head. Still scared you started sobbing softly.
He grabbed your hairs and pulled you backwards towards him, " Don't ever dare to cut me in between. No one have that power over me got that? " He tugged it harshly making you cry loudly.
" Answer baby....? " He again tugged it.
" Ye-s.... Y-es.. Please I'm so-rry. " You begged. All the faint arousal you felt till now vanished in a blink. You weren't aroused now, not even a bit. You were plain scared. Scared of what might happening downstairs.
" Good, so where was I? Huh I was saying you using my credit card, acting like a spoilt little bitch. Complaining about everything under the fucking sun. And you think you could keep your fucking act for long huh? " He completed his sentence and smacked your butt hard.
To be honest you couldn't focus on jimin properly because the loud muffles and cries could be heard real fucking good from downstairs. And jimin noticed that and he wasn't really happy about it.
He told you to focus on him. Didn't he? But you being the spoiled brat pissed jimin even more.
This time he spanked you really hard, which left you howl in pain.. Wriggling around furiously, you faint sobs turned into ugly ones. " It fucking hurts pleaseeeee. " You begged with whatever energy was left within you.
" Good it should fucking hurt. I told you to focus on me did not I? " He turned you around and manhandled you onto your knees. Your face was red, eyes puffy, lips swollen from all the harsh tugs you gave yourself to keep quiet. " But you had your fucking focus on anything but me. " He wrapped his hands around your neck and squeezed tight. "L-eav-ee.. So-rr-.. Pleas-" The oxygen was cutting, your eyes we're rolling back.
Jimin released your throat giving you a light slap on your cheek. He took in your condition for a good two minutes. And within those two minutes you felt exposed, embarrassed, self conscious and what not. Anyone in your place right now would want to jump from the cliff, he turned you into this condition of yours. He was the reason why you felt ashamed and pathetic.
Jimin stood up from the bed and fixed his obvious bulge, he raked his fingers through his hairs and patted your hair. " Come on stand up. " He helped you in getting up. He wiped your cheeks with his hand, pushed back all the strands of hair which were covering your beautiful face.
" Not so sassy now, are you? " He taunted while sucking his lower lip between his teeth. That coy smile was taunting you. He leaned down and kissed your cheek. Then took your small hands into his and started walking towards the stairs.
" I - need to- chan-ge.. Pleas-ee. " You somehow managed to say that, even though your mind was telling you to keep your mouth shut. Jimin laughed, throwing his head back., " Why now? You should have used your little brain before baby but don't worry now they won't mind. " He said and dragged you downstairs even though you struggled to stay back.
You were feeling scared as jimin dragged you downstairs, the smell instantly hit you, making you nauseous. The iron smell was so strong that it was surely blocking your senses. 1...2...3...4....steps and then you entered the hall. You screamed so loudly that all the heads in the room turned towards you.
No, it must be a dream. The sight in front of you was too disturbing to see. There was a pool of blood on the floor, jungkook's hands were bloody, but the blood wasn't of him. His hair were messy, a few buttons from his shirt were ripped off, other guards were also in the same condition.
Those three men who insulted you were on their knees, fucked out, beaten into a pulp, they were shivering and covered in their on blood.
You unconsciously tried to take a step back but then you remembered jimin was next to you. He quickly tightened his grip over your arms and dragged you forward. You started crying, you were feeling dizzy and felt like vomiting when your feet came in contact with the cold yet warm blood.
" Please, please, please, don-t do this.. I want to go back please ji-min.. " You begged, hell you would beg a hundred time more right now. Fuck your self respect you just want to go back to your room, hide under the covers and cry.
" Sshh baby, you should not cry... They deserved it. You remember how they called you names. Don't you? " Jimin cooed at you, stroking your back while maintaining the tight grip over your arms.
" They dared to disrespect you, my wife. But don't worry I'm still not finished with them. " Jimin chuckled and roughly dragged you towards the couch, so you could get a perfect view of jungkook's art.
To be honest it was the most jimin had ever spoken to you, and you never wished to see him like this.
He sat on the couch and made you sit on his lap. You were scared to death. You were shivering, not because of the cold but because of the fear. Sweat was trickling down your forehead and neck but you couldn't utter a word right now.
" So, what we're you saying noah? Repeat your words.! " Jimin whispered said to one of the men who insulted you. The guy was literally unconscious, he couldn't even open his eye properly. When the guy did not replied jungkook grabbed his hair and shook his head sideways. Thr lateral groaned in pain.
" Say something buddy, I'm waiting.!! " Jimin said as he fumbled with your nighty straps. You were traumatized, couldn't utter a word, the tears were continuously flowing down.
" Bas-t-ar-d. " The guy barely said and instantly received a punch from jungkook. The action made you shriek loudly. You did not want to be here. Even if those guys called you a whore, you don't want them to die.
" Shut up will you? I'm talking right here ain't I?? " Jimin grabbed your chin and turned his side harshly, you Whimpered as you looked into his eyes. They were emotionless, this jimin right here, in front of you was different.
" m'sorr-y.... Please. Please. Jus-t... I won-t do that again. Please. " You begged, with your hands joined in front of him.
" I will let you go princess, but we have to give them a show. They're our guest. Sit pretty and listen to me now. Won't you? " Jimin pecked your lips as he cooed at you. Stroking your wet cheeks with his thick fingers and pushing back the hair from your face.
" No. No-No... Pleas- No. " Your eyes widened, you cried loudly and struggled against his body. You were trying to get up but jimin easily held you in place.
" Sshhh... You don't want me to fuck you on the floor. Now would you? " Jimin warned and in one quick movement he tore the lace material off your body. You screamed and cried, he was being inhuman. How could he do these things in front of other people?
" Come on y/n, jungkook did so much for you! He deserves a show as well. Would you like that jeon? " He asked from the brown hair boy sheepishly.
" Anything you want Hyung. " The boy replied with a smirk on his face and jimin signaled the other guards to leave the place.
" I swe-ar i would not dis-obey you again. Jimi-n please dontt do th-is... Please. I promise I Will li-ssten to you. Promise.. Please just don-tt. " You furiously begged, at the moment you would do anything to change your husband's mind. But it was too late he already started separating your legs roughly, and flicked your nipples with other hand.
He stopped and looked at you, " See, princess? See how easy it is for me to break you? To reduce you to a crying mess?" He stroked his finger against your cheek, gathering the salty tears that were drying against the soft skin. His touch was feather-soft, intimate. And you felt so humiliated, so defeated, so conflicted - and now it confused you why he was being so gentle.
You sniffled. No other man had ever reduced you to feeling like a humiliated, kicked puppy. "I was just... I just... Please." It was like you couldn't gather yourself, couldn't tame your thoughts which seemed to be running every which way.
Jimin's hand slowly slid down your thighs and ghosted over your pussy. " Don't cry baby this will only teach you a lesson. You thought I was some local mafia? On whom you could shout, blame, curse anytime? No baby, I'm the fuckin king. " Jimin stated as hi flicked your clit lightly. You weren't in your senses right now, you couldn't believe your eyes and ears.
You audibly gasped, the sudden direct contact making you almost convulse forward into his chest. You grabbed a fistful of his white shirt, scrunching your eyes shut and wishing to God that maybe he will stop tormenting you, that maybe he could feel pitty for you.
" You're soaking baby..... You really are crazy my lady. " Jimin fake gasped, easing a thick finger into your pussy. And you cried into his chest, hating that after beating the living shit out of your ass, and scaring the daylights out of you this man had casually just began fingering you and it felt so fucking good. You prayed he or jungkook wouldn’t notice when you began to slowly hump against his finger, wanting to create more friction. He chuckled, “You’re a naughty fucking slut, aren’t you? All riled up and on edge, wet from all this mess in front of you, Now you want your daddy to take care of you, don’t you?”
You were too ashamed to reply, your face still buried in his chest, your tears staining his shirt and your lips bitten raw from trying to suppress your moans. Jimin added another finger and increased his pace, his thumb finding your clit and causing you to cry out. He smirked, “Who knew how easy it was to get you to shut your mouth. You got nothing to say anymore, baby? Where’s my little wife who loves to run her mouth, huh? Where’s she gone?”
Please,” You mewled softly, arching your back from the mounting pleasure, his fingers curving upwards and brushing against all the right spots. His thumb expertly massaged your clit, as if he knew your body, knew exactly how it worked. As if this wasn’t the first time he was touching you down there. “Please, I just…”
Immediately, jimin pulled his fingers out of you, your pussy making a squelching sound – as if it was trying to keep his fingers inside you. The heightened pleasure you were feeling instantly died down, and you cried out in indignation, “Wh-What! No! Please!” You gripped his forearm, “Please!”
“You don’t deserve shit after that stunt you pulled earlier baby.” jimin said simply. His eyes trailed towards the three barely alive body's and on jungkook who was no doubt enjoying the show and then back at you. He sighed, his fingers, soaking with your juices, now absentmindedly playing with the lacy borders of your ruined nighty which now sat bunched up around your waist. “You ruined my meeting, sweetheart. And now, you’ve distracted me.”
You swallowed harshly when he took your hand, placing it on top of his clothed dick. God, he was so hard. Painfully hard.
" Clean up the mess jungkook, will you? " Jimin said standing up, straightening the creases he got over his trousers.
" Don't kill them yet, I want them alive. Move to basement and I'll be there shortly. " Jimin ordered jungkook and the boy nodded in response like a fucking robot. He too had no emotions no guilt in his eyes and body language. They all are beyond your imagination.
Your husband turned towards you and offered you a hand, " Come baby, you still got to learn so much. I'll make sure everything stays in your pea size brain. " Words took a few seconds to register in your mind. It's not the end, he still has so much in his mind. How will you survive this?
YOU HAD ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING IDEA.!
.
Taglist
@hoseokteardrop @screamertannie @hopeonthestreet67 @qttp365 @taeluv13 @favfanfictsbts @elayne321 @kooookie @sweetwolfcupcake @vvh0adie @yellabella77 @bri-mal @g-o-bs--fanfictions @miyaohyeahh @dearbambideer @emojkluvr @abcbabcba @stannorr @realhotficshit @sweetlovesjk @kookieboo @sublimekidoafknight @bonny-kookoo @aliceaflor5-blog @kookiecrumb @jjkeverlast @prettyghost @kooliv @gimmethatagustd @pb-n-juju @aslias17 @ririlovesangst @taehyungseggs @dewamused @jungshook7 @moonfaery @fragmentof-indifference *sorry for the tags, trying to grow my community back. * :)
332 notes · View notes
darkdemeter · 3 months ago
Note
Fem Child reader fluff platonic! War and Strife (reluctantly) have to leave S/O behind in Vulgrim (and fortunately Dis) hands when they have to depart in dangerous areas like poisonous places, always threatening him to care for her. They didn’t expect SAMAEL of all people to order Vulgrim to allow him to speak with the child. Intrigued that a human child had managed to make it through as well as the purity of her soul, Samael listened to her talk about her adventures with the Horsemen.
GUIDE HER WAY HOME V
◤✘DARKSIDERS REQUESTS | CATALOGUE (Platonic!) Strife and War x Female Child!Reader
Tumblr media
NOTES ↳ If you cannot tell, I'm enjoying myself way too much writing for Guide Her Way Home, I'm just delving further into this marvellous storyline + its little side stories and game!hcs. Thank you so much anon for all the requested snippets thus far. WARNINGS❕ ↳ War and Strife being big, protective brothers over reader — funny and fluffy shenanigans ensue, reader is up to curious mischief — Vulgrim and Dis being that bickering uncle and aunt duo — Samael being omniscient and an info sponge to suit his agendas — I think that's it?
✎ 2.3k ────────────────────────
“Vulgrim, we’re trusting you with her. We are placing our trust in your… ahem, capable hands.” 
“Horseman, not so much as a hair will be plucked from her head,” assures the demonic soul merchant, voice rasping easily that it sounds like hollow bones being rattled in a leather sack. 
Strife’s chest rumbles with a deep, muffled growl emitting from him as he refrains from unholstering Mercy from his hip. Only stopped by the sound of your giggle, it is one that smooths the bristled nature of his protectiveness. You clammer over Strife’s shoulder until you find purchase on the bronze platform of War’s pauldron, hands clutching and smoothing the red fabric of his cowl in your grip before you slip down. War’s hands easily catch you before you can fall the considerable distance and he hands you off to Vulgrim.
“Vulgrim, we will hold you to those words. One hair, and your neck will meet my blade,” warns the stoic, hooded Horseman. Vulgrim tuts the dark, slimy tendril of his tongue. Quick to pass you off, he hands you into Dis’ care who sways about on the void’s ethereal buoyancy with a plump purse of her dark lips, lashes fluttering. 
“Don’t you worry, Horsemen. She’ll be right and in one piece when you boys get back.” 
“Riiight,” Strife huffs, unconvinced. He leans in closer to War to mutter, “I still think this is a bad idea.”
“We have no other choice, Strife. It’s far too dangerous to take her along.” 
Sulking with dreaded defeat, Strife lowers himself to his knee, hand gracing your head with a tender pat. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
“Okay,” you say, voice tiny and pitched. Your palm lays flat on Strife’s mask with a small pat of your own and his shoulders jostle a little with a low chuckle. 
Turning your head to War you then move to hug him, only for him to flinch. Immediately like the first drops of rain, a pout forms on the lines of your mouth and War internally reprimands himself. And so, to coax you to remain calm and happy, his own hand reaches out and you gladly accept it, hugging the massive chunk of metal fingers. 
War may be silent with his sentiments and words, but when your eyes meet his with that enlarged fixation and kind smile, his brows fall lax and he nods silently, assuring. 
“Be safe!” you call after them when they turn to leave you, waving your arm and bouncing on the small and worn padding of your boots. With that, you are left in the care of Vulgrim the Soul Eater and his “business associate”, Dis. 
Your feet wander, Your destination unknown yet anything and everything, you are a curious force set loose. Running along the roughened stone of the void made manifest, Vulgrim and Dis are led around in a chase to keep you from venturing into that cauldron of bubbling acids and howling souls, or from toddling off the edge and into the murky abyss… or to prevent another serpent hole incident. 
The threat of Chaoseater cleaving his head from his shoulders now becomes a daunting thought the more Vulgrim thinks on it. 
“No, no! Bad child!” Vulgrim seethes when he sees you duck and weave between the many nooks and crannies. Damn the void… 
“Dis, do something!” Like a snake poised with its fangs, Vulgrim’s patience runs thin and little, his clawed fingers always catching air instead of you as you continue to roam at will. 
“You’re the one who took your eyes off of her.”
“Because I trusted that you would keep an eye on her. Look at her, she’s unleashing chaos!”
Dis frowns, browline anchored low with a shake of her head. All you were doing was trying to grasp at a mysterious talisman dangling off an ornamental hanger, bones tied and threaded to clatter gently together in the realm’s faint inky mists. Only to then become amused with the loosened knot of one of your boots.
“She’s a child, Vulgrim. For a demon spying on humans, you don’t know a lot about them—”
“Studying!” Vulgrim hisses in his resolve. Dis scoffs sharply. “Mm. That’s one way to put it…”
When Vulgrim finally scoops you up, he raises you to his eye level, eyes thin with a spiteful growl that seeps through his deformed and mangled maw. “Listen here, childling, you will obey and cease these antics this instant.”
Blinking, your mouth stretches into a wide smile that pushes deep into your cheeks. “Okay!”
It cannot be that easy, Vulgrim snorts through his nose like a beast relinquishing its tense breath. He all but shrugs you off, passing you to Dis who cradles you with all four arms. 
A small noise catches in her throat, a humming chuckle. 
“Don’t you listen to that bag of bones, lil’ baby. He’s just old and raggedy. Now come along with Mama Dis and let’s see what we have around here for you.”
Attempting to float away and forget all the transpiring problems, Vulgrim is stopped short and his skinless lips waver with a guttural, feral warble, glaring a thousand threats into Dis’ back. 
Hours seem to pass by. You sit in the distant corner surrounded by stacks of old tomes, shelves stuffed with wilting, parchment scrolls. Propped up before you is a large grimoire that Dis had presented to you to keep you occupied. Of course, you didn’t comprehend the extremity of the words, mutely glossing over most of them and instead focusing on the illustrated inks of drawings when the words became too much. 
Dis had assured the book was a fairytale after she checked with Vulgrim who, with a simple and dismissive wave over his turned shoulder, said the grimoire was harmless. However, it was something more than that. It told of prophecies and ancient times that stretched across the cosmos. The stars, you gasped aloud with astonished wonder. 
And because your attention was taken with the large book that sat propped up, far too heavy to merely sit in your lap, Dis had left you to your own devices. Meanwhile, Vulgrim grouched about his realm, tending to whatever matters a demon of his trade did. 
The warming tint of glowing candlelight dances faintly behind you, your shadow hovering against the old parchment pages. Your hands curl along the page edge and with a small, heaved grunt, you turn it over to the next. 
Daggerish font blends with the grey tones and washed out allure of the illustration that covers the entirety of the pages, your eyes and fingers move along to pronounce each word. 
“Then… came the time of… the Nepp— Nepffilim…” 
Your gaze wanders away from the words only to widen, glistening with the dancing glee of starlight, a gurgling coo sings from your enlightened and pure heart, soul innocence shining within you like a bright ball of light; and all because you recognise two familiar guardians within the drawing. You don’t notice the way the void shivers and rumbles around you, seemingly disrupted. 
Nor do you realise, for how could you, the flaming orbs of eyes sparked with kindled intrigue. 
With a squeal you leap forward onto your knees, palms flush against the pages as you muse, laughing and babbling. “Strwife! Wawr!” 
You thought they returned in a way, that in seeing them here somehow meant they were back from whatever voyage they could not take you on this time. But then your brows curl down, furrowing in the bevelled middle when you realise that much like the stone walls and rocks of your home, they were just drawings.
Your head tilts with a confused, quiet hum and you begin to turn the next page only to not find them there. So you let the sheet of parchment fall back down with a softened flap.
That’s when you notice the lack of company around you. Right then, you decide to change that. You stand on your feet and with all your might, you grab hold of the grimoire and tug, the ominous and loud thud of it falling off its holder bounds off with a bold, resounding echo. 
Grunting and sighing with exerted efforts, your hands clutch hard as you begin to pull the grimoire with you from that corner, around the bends of books stacked on high and make your way through the fragmented platforms. To do so is no easy feat, often you have to stop to look around yourself before finally, you reach where Vulgrim and Dis bicker with one another by the bubbling cauldron. 
They hold their tongues at the sight of you shuffling towards them, face set hard in your concentration to drag the book with you as you then settle at their side, huffing as you let the side you clung to drop. 
“Dis…” Vulgrim rumbles low, tone teetering on the verge of his last sanity. When she makes a noise in return, he all but jabs a finger that sounds with chinking metal of rings in motion to the grimoire you’re reading. Dis’ eyes blow wide open.
“Oh! Ahh, sweetie, let me take that uh, book for a moment.”
Though you mean to protest by the way your hands shoot out for the taken book, you simply nod in understanding. Obviously, they did not want you to read or observe its contents, and like the good child that you were brought up to be, you obeyed diligently. 
Vulgrim presses to his brow a shaken cluster of fingers that rap and tap at his clothed temple, scratching down the dirtied brown of his horn. “The Horsemen will kill me— why did you give her that grimoire?”
Head tracking back and forth between them, you watch silently. 
“Me?! Ugh, the nerve of you, you grotesque bag of Belial’s sh…” With a moment to calm her erratic and feral hissing that blew the pinkish flame of her head brighter, she sighs and calmly states her defense. “You told me that the grimoire was a safe fairytale.”
“Look at where we are! Nothing here is safe for a human child—”
“Enough!”
The misted blacks that writhe and interweave in flowing paths stutter, shocked under the consuming bellow of a roar that comes from someplace above. Your head moves about in order to locate where the booming voice came from. 
“Vulgrim, bring the child to me. I wish to speak with her.” 
Sputtering, choking on such a command, Vulgrim whines with a forced inflection. “But, Samael—”
“Now…” 
The merchant is all but forced to comply, unable to deny such an esteemed power his wish. Picking you up, Vulgrim brings you to the platform above. Once there and in the presence of Hell’s prince, Vulgrim turns with a slight tilt of his chin as if to bow his head. Samael twitches a finger in indication and the demon trader complies, setting you down on your feet again. 
This platform is one you have not seen before, your eyes are momentarily drawn to the edge and your lips form into a cautious ‘o’ before you turn back to Samael who sits upon a rubble mound of a make-shift throne. 
He leans forward with an elbow pressed to his knee, tail draped lazily by his side and with a tilt of his head, his mouth parts into a fanged grin.
“Come closer, my child.”
Curious, the small nub of your nose scrunches and you approach him, almost eager to meet another potential friend. Vulgrim sees that you harbour no direct fear, not until you get closer to the demon prince. 
You stop, a quiet breath leaving you as a gasp while your wide eyes blink up at Samael. “I have been made aware of your presence. I’ve never had the chance to meet such a kind soul. Tell me, what is your name?”
Announcing your name to him, he hums with a small nod, repeating it. “I am pleased to meet your acquaintance, little one. I am Samael.”
“Hello Sama-el!” You greet with a wave that moves from your elbow.
His eyes burn like wavering flames with a million questions. Just how exactly did you pass through a serpent hole? With Earth shrouded in secrecy, it’s a case that baffles the greatest of minds. The blinding light that surrounds and envelopes you from within shines brightly and Vulgrim’s eyes are forced to shrink from it. He slowly lowers a hand to you and you take it. He is careful to place you at his side, settled on a stone block and his body shifts so that he can see you better. 
“So you are the one the Horsemen found,” he says, voice a low drawl and thick with heat that bellows from the furnace of his gullet. “It must have been scary wandering out there on your own. You’re very fortunate to have met the Horsemen.” 
You nod with a small hum, eyes twinkling slightly at the mention of them. “Uh huh.”
With a wave of his hand, crafty unto a magician’s hand that slights trick from thin air, he procures a glassy object. Your attention is taken immediately, eyes trailing after the crystal ball as it merely glides and rolls over his hand and into his palm, balancing with intricate ease. 
“Do you like it? It’s yours.” He hands it to you and your small hands grasp hold of it. He watches, intrigued while you study the orb closely. You raise it to your eye and you sigh audibly, mesmerised by the white flecks that slowly drift within it. Your memories are faint, a slight blur but you remember watching the specks of snow fall from the sky, marvelling at the chilling beauty. Your time of playing in the cold blankets in your village is distantly fond. 
“Do you enjoy travelling with the Horsemen?”
“Uh huh! I do!” You beam a wide, innocent smile and that aura shimmers around you. Samael rubs his chin with leisure, thinking… scheming. 
“I’d love to hear about your tales with them.”
Giddiness bubbles in your belly, happy to regale him with the many stories you have to share about your adventures with Strife and War. He is quiet, attentively listening and piece by piece, the pure nature of your soul — your honesty — plays right into his hand, hinting at insightful weaknesses of the Horsemen.
Tumblr media
17 notes · View notes
scarletknightreterns · 5 months ago
Text
Brutally Honest- Darksiders
“Brother, she is ill beyond our knowledge. We cannot take care of her.” War was not kind about it, either. The words came off as cold, merciless without any restraints latched onto whatever morality he had in his heart. Complete and utter ‘survival of the fittest’ driving his choices. The only issue was, he couldn’t fathom why his brother lacked the same conviction to leave the woman in the dust of her ill-begotten state and just, move on?
It got the strong killed when they allowed emotions of pity or compassion to leave them lingering by the bed of someone who only would tear them down and bring about misfortune. If the buzzards did not get to her first, her sickness would. Whatever it was... it festered and writhed in her body like a plague growing in stale waters, overrunning her health and dragging it literally through the mud. The only question was, how long until it came after them next through contagion?
She hardly had any strength, yet it was a miracle alone she still breathed. And this realm had no trace of heaven nor did any heavenly influence have any BUSINESS being here.
War could, within the moment, acknowledge that she was a fighter. But the odds were against her.
So then, why did Death put a cold cloth on her sweaty, pale forehead, her breathing so shallow and body so weak not even her subconscious could register the act of kindness?
To War’s honest opinion, it seemed as though Death ‘cared’ about the woman. Extended his hand, heart, and attention to ANOTHER person who was NOT apart of their family, yet he called her as one; apparent, by his actions alone.
“I will not abandon her, not after all she’s done, and put herself through, for our sakes. The very least we can do to return the favour, is help her,” Death’s eyes were cold as steel in their warm orange glow. Mind made up and unable to be swayed otherwise, they stared at War like a warning looming in the night. “Even if she does not recover... she at least won’t be alone or abandoned.”
Over by the bed’s cold and vacant edge was the second youngest of the siblings, Fury, watching her brothers both bicker at one another because of this woman who one of them singlehandedly took her care into his palms.
She was confused because she thought they had ALL viewed Cinder the same way by now; as family. She was angry because Cinder was sick and they didn’t know why or how. And she was scared because she didn’t WANT Cinder to leave them behind. To go someplace else where they couldn’t reach her.
“She... is going to wake up again, right..?”
The innocent question, painted with a completely normal and reasonable amount of fear, caught Death’s attention almost immediately. The pale one looked over at the small sibling standing there, her silver eyes so big and found, filled with a heart-wrenching amount of concern and questions.
He found the kind answer evaded him, avoided every grasp of his fingers.
All Death wanted was to tell her that, yes, the woman would be alright, ease those fears away, but he found only a bitter reply slipt past his lips, one that tasted wrong across his tongue, “I do not know...”
Honest words hurt sometimes.
And the way Fury’s face twisted into anger and anguish, before she scampered out of the room, hurt Death more then any rusty-edged blade through his heartless chest. If he could take back those words, he would, but he was brutally honest.
Even he did not know.
Just a little angsty thing I wanted to get off my mind before I lost it :P
16 notes · View notes
Text
what is done is done, Peter as a character made choice (after trusting Tony), and make choice, which had consequences, which lead to May being shot, which lead to Mephisto taking advantage of the situation, choice then consequences
It is silly to say 'what's done is done' when what was done was something that never logically would have happened. Understand that when i use the terms 'mischaracterisation' or 'Out of character/OOC' what I mean is 'the character would literally never behave this way in the context of the situation'. The narrative is broken and inconsistent. Therefore you must fix and address this.
In writing consistenty, especially in regards to characterisation, is aggressively more important than consequences. If the character only made choices because they were written out of character, that is to say incorrectly, then the consequences are built on a foundation of sand because those consequences SHOULDN’T be happening.
An example: In the Obi Wan Kenobi TV show Darth Vader was apparently powerful enough to telekinetically pull a star ship in flight back down to ground. This is inconsistent with his depiction in the original trilogy and Rogue One where he is within range to do such a thing but does not, the obvious intention being that such a feat was beyond his powers. Thus establishing he can do that breaks the narrative as the entire Original Trilogy either would not have happened or could not have happened if he HAD pulled back the star ships in Rogue One or the Empire Strikes Back.
Another example, this time regarding characterisation. Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi believed his father, Darth Vader, who had been steeped in the darkside of the Force for over 20 years and committed various acts of evil could be reject the darkside and find redemption. He was proven correct, his faith rewarded. However, in the Last Jedi, when confronted with his 20something year old nephew, Kylo Ren, who Luke believed was in the process of being seduced by the darkside (but had yet to do ), Luke gets mere moments away from pre-emptively murdering him in his sleep. If written IN character Luke would never have come close to killing Kylo, which means Kylo would not have hated him and joined up with the darkside after all, therefore the entire sequel trilogy would be different.
In the case of OMD, the situation is very similar to Hal Jordan murdering all the other Green lanterns in the 90s. Goeff Johns wanted Hal to be the main GL again, but to do that he needed to address his past crimes and did so by explaining he was mind controlled by a villain. Another example, in the 80s Bill Mantlo had the Punisher killing people for minor crimes like stepping on the grass when a sign forbade them doing so. The next writer explained he had been essentially been exposed to drugs without his knowledge, therefore was not morally accountable for those actions. Right there you have an example of NOT accepting 'what's done is done'. When the character is damaged, you FIX them. Peter making a deal with Mephisto, unmasking, siding with Tony are all things that very hardcore VIOLATE his decades long established characterisation. he literally would NEVER have done any of those things if written correctly.
Mephisto keep making deal left and right because that advantage him in the long run, Spencer just gave us a reason why he made that deal with Peter (which also place the editorial in a awkward place as OMD still being a thing mean Mephisto is winning). If Mephisto think that messing up with Squirrel girl is advantageous to him, you can be sure that he will have twenty deal prepared for her.
What Spencer did was a retcon. Therefore you can simply retcon it again. I like Spencer’s run. I respect his effort to alleviate OMD. However, he did not address the fundamental problems, which includes Mephisto’s involvement in the first place. His retcon also, as I said, introduces the problem of Mephisto’s plan being nonsensical in a different way than it was in OMD. If he wants to avert the birth of Peter and MJ’s child, he can simply orchestrate one of their deaths. He wouldn’t even need to utilise time travel to do that. As thing currently stand, Peter and MJ could conceive the child that would bring him down any day now, they do not need to be married to do that, a one night stand would do it.
Your solution is taking a wider account of Mephisto’s character and actions. Meanwhile my point is Mephisto shouldn’t have ever been involved in the narrative in the first place. He is NOT a Spider-Man character and he is way too cosmic and mystical for Spider-Man’s world. That was even a criticism at the time in 2007. So, retcon that he wasn’t even involved in the first place and you not only fix OMD, but you fix Mephisto’s mischaracterisation in OMD and the character is untainted on top of that. Mephisto is a really cool character and a really great villain, but because of his involvement in OMD his popularity took a hit, his association with OMD (a universally despised story) dogs his character. But retconning that actually the guy we saw in OMD was never Mephisto in the first place, simply an illusion or imposter, you unburden Mephisto as well as Spider-Man.
you speak of the same Spider-man that became the chosen of a Multiversal spider-god and fought a energy vampire that hunt animal-totem character across the multiverse. Like I agree that spider-man is a city based character, but it don’t mean that he have to stick with just bank robbers and similar. Like Spider-man had to deal with stuff like pseudo werewolf (JJJ son) or vampires (Morbius). It is not because that spider-man is a city based characters that he can’t get once in a while a story a bit bigger. In the end, what matter is if the character is correctly used in the story.
Buddy, Spider-Man was created in 1962 and that totem stuff appeared in 2001. It was not, and is still not, this long standing engrained integral part of the character’s canon whatsoever. I don’t know what to tell you, not every facet of the canon is weighted the same. Across the 60+ years of Peter’s history, most of his stories are not mystical, cosmic or universal and we have had so many stories over the decades we can say with absolutely safety what kinds work better than others, and it ain’t the mystical/cosmic/totem fuelled ones.
The JMS stuff was good (prior to JRJR leaving) because it was addressing a VERY specific issue at the time of the early-mid 2000s. After Mackie and Byrne’s run ASM sales were so low they honestly considered discontinuing the comic/character altogether. That happened because they had tried pathetically to regress Peter into what they believed was a ‘classic’ status quo. JMS, in doing the initial totem stuff used it as something to energise the fanbase and get people reading because it was such a controversial idea to suggest, and initially JMS really did JUST suggest the totem stuff, he did not confirm it at all. From a characterisation POV, it then made Peter question himself, and made the readers question their own understanding of Peter. This was integral at the time to reconstructing Peter in the wake of the DAMAGE Mackie/Byrne had dealt him. This was also why JMS reduced the cast to Aunt May and MJ and had MJ and peter broken up initially. He had to REBUILD the character from the ground up and to do that he focussed on his core, which meant his exploring his core relationships, namely the one he had with his Mother and his wife, the person who represents his past and the person who represented his future, where he came from/where he aimed to go.
Additionally, the multiversal aspect of both the Spider-God and Morlun was not introduced until 2014 under Slott, a run chock full of inconsistencies, mischaracterisation, bad ideas and even worse execution. Again, it is not the case that ALL of the canon is weighted the same. Some stuff is shit and at odds with the defining themes of Spider-Man. No character is endlessly malleable because if they were, if they could be anything, then they are tantamount to being nothing. They need definitions.
Whilst I was not as hardline as other people, there were hundreads of people even in 2001 who were adamantly opposed to the mystical elements being introduced in Spider-Man and many who were similarly opposed to the sci-fi elements introduced via Venom and Carnage. Imo, I think you can have exceptions to every rule, but that doesn’t mean there AREN’T rules.
As you say, he doesn’t need to be exclusive to bank robbers and their like, but it really shouldn’t go beyond Doc Ock level threats. The likes of Morlun should be characters used sparingly and not tied into Spider-Man’s story on a foundational level.
“Like Spider-man had to deal with stuff like pseudo werewolf (JJJ son)”
What if I told you there were always bad Spider-Man stories that probably should have been ditched or redrafted, even in the goated Conway 70s era?
“or vampires (Morbius).”
Morbius is a creature of science, not the supernatural and is therefore consistent with Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery and worldbuilding.
“It is not because that spider-man is a city based characters that he can’t get once in a while a story a bit bigger.”
I agree. But when you do a story that is fundamental to the status quo of the character moving forwards that story should not be inconsistent with his world building and what not. Even the Clone Saga was consistent with with world building as it was a case of science gone wrong. Notably, the tail end of the Clone Saga retconned seemingly mystical characters like JT and Scierer to be more consistent with Spider-Man’s world. In fact, the writers very briefly considered using Mephisto as a resolution to the CS, but rejected the idea BECAUSE Mephisto didn’t fit very well into Spider-Man’s world.
OMD is foundational to Spider-Man’s narrative on a perennial basis. Undoing it, would be the same, especially if it is then tied into him becoming a father. Therefore, it is better to simply nix the mystical elements all together. By saying ‘it was JT using mind manipulation’ it is now consistent with Spidey’s world building and themes.
“In the end, what matter is if the character is correctly used in the story.”
No it isn’t. What matters almost as much is if you have put the character into the right kind of story that optimises what defines them. This is partially why 90% of Marvel team up was crap. The nature of the book meant it couldn’t optimise Peter’s character as it put him in either ungrounded situations or, by virtue of spotlighting the guest star, you couldn’t focus upon his personal life.
“The problem of OMD is two thing”
It was way more than 2 things.
“it did not have a proper conclusion to the MJxPeter relation (an external factor literally modifying the universe to make your relation change is not a good way), in good part because Marvel know the ship is too popular to permanently break (like they tried to kill MJ to do that, the backlash was so bad that they rolled back on it) “
See, right there is what I am talking about. it wasn’t just  things. Mephisto changes history so they weren’t married but still in a relationship. Okay…but why would that mean they would break up? We got an answer in OMIT, but it was again inconsistent with MJ’s established characterisation.
The problem was not the execution or the lack of proper conclusion, it was doing the story in the first place. It was foundationally bad and fundamentally DAMAGES the characters, themes, worldbuilding and brand. Case in point Peter uttering ‘with Great power comes great responsibility’ is now a bad joke and utterly hypocritical as he, when it really mattered, he did the single most irresponsible thing he could ever do, selling out on his beliefs, on what his Aunt wanted, his wedding vows and hurting both himself and his wife. Like he more or less emotionally manipulated MJ, putting her in a no win situation wherein if she rejected the deal she’d be destroying Peter.
The proper/better resolution given the set up to be honest would have been the story exactly the same but Peter at the 11th hour saying no and either accepting May’s death or May living anyway.
It lead Peter Parker in a state of no progress, which is now leading to more storytelling problem because Damn, there is not an infinite way to tell “Peter is kicked of his run” or “Peter met a new love interest that nobody will bother developing before it get forgotten, nobody cares anyway because everyone know it will not stick in the end”
Whilst I agree the above is A problem with OMD it was far from the only one.
Again, you are listing off just 2 things but NEITHER of those 2 things include the issue of established characterisation. Peter was an already defined character from 1962-2007. We knew how he SHOULD have been acting in Civil War and OMD, we had past precedent literally showing us that. But he, MJ and even Mephisto DIDN’T act in those ways, thus the narrative is broken, the chain of cause and effect disrupted.
(also how can NO ONE in the Marvel universe save Aunt May? Just clone her and shove her mind into the clone body, or turn her into a vampire. Either of those would be lesser evils than what Peter did with Mephisto)
that kinda the point, you can’t handwave all that stuff, there is high and (a lot of) low stories post OMD, but saying “it never happened” is just doing OMD 2.0”
No it isn’t. I’m not saying those stories never happened. I wouldn’t want to do to post-OMD stories (the highes of which seem to belong exclusively to Nick Spencer btw, there is precious little redeemable in any other post-OMD stuff) what was done to the wedding and post-wedding stories.
My solution establishes ALL the stories happened with the sole exceptions of OMD and OMIT, both of which are universally despised and more poignantly are guilty of erasing and rewriting the past, so turn around is fair game.
Literally every other BND and beyond story however happened identically to how we read it, it is simply that the context is now altered. The micharacterisation and so on was due to mind manipulations. Again, this happened with Hal Jordan.
There is a difference between re-contextualising the stories vs. erasing them. The Clone Saga did not erase the Death of Gwen Stacy, but it did recontextualise it.
In the case of post-OMD Spider-Man it recontextualises it in such a way that they now make more sense and are therefore more palatable. Again, its not like these are popular stories in the first place. Post-OMD is only a mixed bag because there was exactly ONE run that understood the character. Everything else was varying shades of shit.
“which is a mistake story wise, the best thing is to just have the characters that they fucked up their part of their life and accept the consequences of it.”
No it isn’t because the ‘fuck up’ is something that would never have happened and breaks the narrative. Additionally in this case the fuck up literally annihilates any moral credibility Spider-Man or Mary jane could ever possibly have, which is catastrophic for a superhero narrative. Again, with great power comes great responsibility is hollow from a guy who made a deal with a demon to fix his life, even more hollow when we the readers know he never WOULD have made such a deal.
It is clearly better to morally exonerate him (like Hal Jordan) and have him heroically defeat the villain who put him in this situation against his will.
“They never removed Tony and Cap am responsibilities out of Civil war 1 for ex, same idea.”
What if I told you Civil War and its resolution thereafter was a prime example of bad, world breaking writing and the fact that it has been part of the status quo for nearly 20 years doesn’t change that. The passage of time doesn’t legitimise bad stories. Also, they 100% did not do that whatsoever. Tony and Cap were not held accountable for their (OOC) in Civil War. Iron Man got amnesia and this was treated as morally exonerating him, as if a murderer is now innocent because they can’t remember killing anyone.
“Like even if you go with some kind of brainwashing or whatever, the thing is that you basically remove all responsibility in the consequences of Peter choice”
Correct. Because Peter’s choice is morally indefensible and something he would NEVER have done. Like the prior 45 years of Spider-Man engraved it in stone that, in the context of the situation presented in OMD, peter would NEVER have acted in the way he did. Again, see Hal Jordan.
(that he made willingly, no matter how stupid that choice was, as far as we know),”
No character makes a choice willing. They are written by a writer. You are treating OMD as though it was simply a stupid thing for Peter to decide to do. My point is he WOULDN’T have made that choice willing under the circumstances presented to us if he had been written IN CHARACTER.
Writing a character in character is PARAMOUNT to the entire purpose of reading a story since emotional investment in the character is the entire reason anyone would want to read about Spider-Man in the first place.
“Choice having consequences is the core of Spider-man story.”
Yes, but the choice and their knock on consequences need to be consistent with charcterisation. You are basically arguing a writer can do anything they want, write Peter in any way they want so long as they address the consequences of the choices. I’m saying the choices in the first place NEED to be in line with what the character would believably choose. You can’t just have him make ANY given choice. It is ONE big story from 1962 to now. Keeping the narrative cohesive as much as possible is paramount.
By having Peter act in a way he never would have acted in the first place, and that choice being the foundation that comes before, you de facto delegitimise everything building upon that choice because we all know none of this stuff would have/should have happened in the first place because the foundational choice would not have happened. The cause and effect is fucked.
“Like take the Parker Luck, it is not some kind of magical stuff to explain Peter messy life, originally it is how you name the situation where Peter have to make the choice between his personal life (being on time for a date) or doing something good as Spider-man (saving someone from drowning at random).”
No it wasn’t. The Parker luck was simply what Peter called the good or bad luck everyone experienced. It could be something totally mundane that had nothing to do with his super powers. In JMS run Peter and MJ try to meet up to fix their relationship, but because they do this simultaneously, Peter flying to LA and MJ to NYC, they miss one another. They refer to this as ‘the typical parker luck’. That isn’t anything to do with his choices between being Spider-Man or his personal life. It was just Murphy’s Law in action. Aunt May and Uncle Ben used the phrase too.
I’m not saying that choice is not key to Spider-Man, but it is obvious not all the choices he makes in the narrative should count or count equally if they violate his established characterisation.
“Choice result into consequences, sometime good, sometime bad, but that Peter keep making the right choice is a good part of the appeal of the character, it is why people look at him and go “I should be more like that guy””
But that is exactly why you need to exonerate him for OMD. When the choice really mattered he made the worst, most morally evil and selfish one he could. His credibility as a hero thereafter was annihilated. It made a lie of what came before.
“saying that doc oc cannot be redeemed is kinda stupid when he proved more than once that he can, he would not become a full fledged hero but still an anti-hero,”
He never proved it. Where was him being held accountable for attempting to rape MJ? For raping Anna Maria Marconi? For violating Peter’s bodily autonomy? For stealing his life for a year? For damaging Peter’s reputation? For attempting mass genocide…twice?
Hell, his desire to fight crime as Spider-Man literally was a result of
his egotistical desire to prove himself better than Peter and
Peter literally zapping him with his memories. Prior to that in ASM 700 Otto was holding Peter’s friends hostage. Even after that he tried raping MJ
I’d also add Superior was chock full of yet more bullshit mischaracterisation. Case in point:
Doc Ock in Superior had a fondness for kids…and yet in a pivotal 90s story (directly referenced in Superior) he literally called Spider-Man stupid for trying to protect a child during a fight as it made Spidey vulnerable to Otto.
It isn’t redemption when you do these insane NEXT LEVEL evil things and never apologise for them, never pay a penalty for them, and your desire to be a crime fighter was due to an external force acting upon you+ your ego.
Again, time doesn’t legitimise stories. Superior was dogshit in 2013 and it is still dogshit now.
“when even “I’m going to eat your brain” Venom got that treatment.”
Venom never attempted to rape anyone. Venom never murdered someone and pretended to be them for a whole year. Venom never stole someone’s body, violating their bodily autonomy. Venom never attempted to nuke New York city to prove he was bad ass. Venom never tried to bun half the world to prove he was worse than Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot combined (literal quote from Ends of the Earth). Eddie Brock at least recognised his sins and wrestled with them, he even attempted suicide at one point. In his first 90s story (the 3rd Venom story over all) he abandons the chance to kill Spider-Man in order to rescue a baby. When he breaks into Peter’s home he scares the hell out of MJ but does not physically touch her. He makes out as if he is going to hurt Aunt May to fuck with Peter, but he doesn’t abduct her to do this (Otto btw abducted Aunt May and Betty brant more than once in the Lee/Ditko run). In his next appearance he even tells Peter sincerely that he would never actually hurt Aunt May as she is an innocent. Brock chooses to forgo his vengeance against Spider-Man to help him fight Carnage. His actions as an anti-hero and Lethal protector were at least as originally intended by his creator David Michelinie supposed to be sincere acts of selflessness. He nearly died in the very first lethal protector mini-series to save loads of homeless people and put his vendetta with Spidey aside again to that end. He wasn’t doing it because someone manipulated him nor because he was fuelling his own ego, to prove he was better than someone else, he had a warped code of morality, but a sincere code of morality nevertheless. He genuinely wanted to protect innocent people.
Additionally, up until the mid-90s his claims of ‘eating your brains’ were just rhetoric. He never meant them. But in Venom: The Hunger Eddie is shocked when the symbiote really does eat someone’s brains, leading him to instead feeding the symbiote chocolates which produce the same chemical.
So, no matter how you slice it, morally speaking Venom/Eddie Brock is in fact much MORE morally upright and deserving of redemption than Otto was.
“you are just ignoring a lot of character progression he got from good stories”
They weren’t good stories and they were built upon a foundation of sand.
Moreover, even if it was legitimate progression, it doesn’t address the fundamental problem of you removing Otto from peter’s villain pool.
“(even if Superior Spider-Man had to dumb the whole cast down so it can work, but that not the subject)”
That is precisely the subject. If you dumb the cast down you are mischaracterising them. If they had acted the way they should have the entire story DOESN’T happen, at least not the way it did. Cause and effect MATTER.
“until the editorial used Mephisto (again) to regress him to Old school villain Doc Oc (which ironically is placing him in the same situation as Peter, the character is now growing stall)”
I do not agree with HOW they did that, but I agree that original, in character Otto needed to be restoried for the greater good of Peter and for Otto himself.
However, were I in charge I’d come to a compromise. Because the Otto in Peter’s body was in truth a copy of his mind, which was then copied into the Living Brain, then into his clone conspiracy body, then into the body he had up until his deal with Mephisto, and then that body was magically transformed into original Otto, he is by any definition a CLONE of Doc Ock. The real Doc Ock in fact died in ASM #700 although that Otto’s mind was itself a copy he made before Kaine killed him in the 90s.
My compromise would be simple. The Otto we have now becomes Superior Spider-Man again, he gets shunted into a parallel universe along with Anna Maria Marconi. All the Superior Stands who for some reason loved that stuff can enjoy him over there. Meanwhile the original Otto is legitimately resurrected (as he was in the 90s) and all his memories up until he hijacked Peter’s body are restored. This would be an Otto who literally never went on this alleged redemption tour in the first place. He neither knows, nor gives a fuck about Anna Maria Marconi, being Spider-Man or anything like that. Everyone is happy.
“I invite you to check the champion run where Miles make a deal with Mephisto, it is not without reason I mentioned him… The idea was to make breaking OMD a big event for several characters, not just Peter, because it is what make money, and every companies love money.”
Breaking OMD automatically makes money. No need for events. Constant events have hurt Marvel and again, its too big, too cosmic for Peter’s story. If Miles needs to break a deal with mephisto, maybe he gets his own story about that. But there is MUCH more at stake here than simply the optics of making a deal with the devil. All the mischaracterisation before, during and especially after OMD needs to be addressed.
“And like it or not, Miles IS massively popular, enough to keep a Run ongoing when a lot of other characters don’t manage to (Miss marvel at random)”
That’s neither here nor there.
“Using that kind of event to tell stories that would impact both Miles and Peter in different way in the more or less long term is the smart way to do stories. “
No it isn’t. Miles has nothing to do with OMD. He doesn’t need to be involved in this. This is extremely personal and particular to Peter, MJ and their supporting cast and enemies. Miles wasn’t even created in 2007. Bringing him intot he story would be unncessarry.
7 notes · View notes
ohyousillything · 2 years ago
Text
I love the idea of Cody being anakin's superior officer. Like i know anakin is general, but the clones have the only real war training here, so Maybe Cody is like supervisor to generals with no experience.
I imagine Cody loathes anakin at first sight. He dislikes his brash Nature and the way he seems to have obiwan wrapped around his little finger. He hates that Rex worships anakin and that more often than not anakin's leadership choices end up with his vode in danger or injury, and that obi wan is just that tad bit more reckless when anakin is around. I see Cody as this inherently logical, practical guy, and anakin is the absolute opposite.
But i also picture Cody as a selfless, emphatetic person, and i think he wouldnt hold any of his own feelings against anakin. so he challenges anakin's every reckless plan with well Made strategies. He cuts into anakin's rash desicion making process and shows him how to weight odds and calculate risks. He makes him walk through every possible outcome before setting things in motion and teaches him how to deal with the fallout of a Bad desicion. He makes anakin walk through the aftermath of a battle, tend to the wounded, learn about wasted economies and hunger and the pain of civilians in destroyer worlds and helps anakin reach into the part of himself that understands all that, helps him work through his anger and negative Feelings by helping others, running relief missions, doing papaework. Because anakin was a tatooine slave, he knows about pain and poverty, so Cody makes him help people in menial missions between battle and it helps him connect with himself and his past experiences.
Anakin likes Cody Because he takes no shit from anyone and Because he never lets up, even when anakin is a brat or when he blows up after a failed mission. Where the Jedi would give him a lecture about cotrolling his Feelings and the darkside, where obi wan would look at him with dissapointment and guilt, Cody just raises an eyebrow and dares him to do better next time. And so anakin tries harder next time, and he does better.
and maybe they Bond over shared experiences of being belittled, of being treated as less than a person, and over their shared love of obi wan. And maybe anakin learns that having Feelings is ok, so long as You don't let them get in the way of being a good person.
Maybe Cody tells anakin about how the fear of losing his vode is a part of himself, but he never lets it drive him. Maybe he teaches anakin the recitation he says every night, where he lists all his vode that now march the stars. And maybe anakin tells Cody about shmi and about his dreams, and maybe Cody ads her to his list, and they start saying it together. Maybe anakin learns how to grieve without loss becoming a festering wound.
Maybe when he starts dreaming of padme's death he tells Cody first, and maybe Cody actually listens, seeing as the kid's dreams have come true before. Maybe its Cody anakin goes to, when the order makes him spy on palpatine. And maybe Cody tells him about his doubts regarding the Republic and the Chancellor, and maybe anakin listens. And maybe it's Cody anakin calls first, when palpatine reveals himself, and maybe Cody listens to him and trusts him, and they make a plan, they filter the info to obi wan and other Jedi through the vode. Maybe it helps them ride out order 66.
Maybe people still die and things Go to shit, but at least anakin has someone in his corner that gives less than two fucks about the force or the darkside, and who trusts him Because he's anakin and not Because he's the chosen one or whatever, someone who understands, and that helps him make better choices.
Cody's just a good guy doing his job and doing it well, and if that means he has to become a father figure to a guy 10+ years older than himself then so be it. And maybe a bunch of random acts of kindness make the galaxy a better place.
209 notes · View notes
darklydeliciousdesires · 4 months ago
Text
Light on the Darkside - Chapter Nineteen.
Big thanks as always to my little audience! This update might seem final, but it's merely the chapter that bridges the gap between the time jump coming in chapter twenty, where we will focus on Ella and James at a completely different point in their lives. I hope you'll enjoy seeing their future playing out just as much as I did writing it for them :)
Tumblr media
Previous chapters - One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen
Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed.
Words - 4,171
Warnings - 18+ throughout. Topics cover depression, suicide and eating disorders. Minors DNI!
It was as he was halfway between euphoria and realising the need to dial back his arousal a tad that a noise coming from the front door worked in perfect counteraction, James groaning as the pounding of fists upon the dark wood filled the flat. 
“For fucks sake!” he growled, brows knitting with the depth of his frown. His mum had obviously changed track and gotten somebody else in the building to buzz her in. “She’s fucking mental! And I’m the one in the family they fucking had sectioned!”  
Emerging from beneath the duvets, Ella pulled them back, reaching for the stereo remote control and switching it on. The sound of Motorhead began to blare out as she guided his cock to her folds, biting her lip as she grinded against it a few times before sinking down with a soft gasp. 
“Ignore it, don’t let her get to you. Just concentrate on giving me one hell of a good shagging,” she purred, leaning to kiss him, wanting to take his mind off the fact that the last person he wanted to see persisted at banging on the front door. “Mmmm, I love you. And your sexy cock.” 
He smiled, laughing filthily, clasping his arms around her as their hips rolled together, once again feeling his annoyance begin to fade into insignificance. By the time they’d finished and the music had been switched off, though, it was quick to ramp up once more at hearing Carole was still on the other side of the door. Once in the lounge, the music was turned on again.  
“James! You can play that awful music as loud as you like, but I’m not leaving until you talk to me!” 
“You’ll be out there a really fucking long time then, innit,” he muttered, making himself a tea, stealing a bite of Ella’s toast and quickly regretting it. “Babe! You and that fucking Marmite!” he spluttered, Ella giggling as he opened the bin and spat it in.  
“Shouldn’t steal my toast, then!” she chirped, grinning and placing a couple of slices into the toaster for him, and another for herself. She’d woken up starving. It was definitely a two-slice morning. It still made him smile, to see her eat what had previously been a scary food. Even if it happened to be slathered in something he couldn’t stand.  
Once furnished with a strong brew, he at least tried to ignore the noise he could hear over the music, having to sadly turn it down when the guy who lived above them began banging and shouting in protest.  
“Shall we go out?” Ella suggested, being met by a look of incredulity. 
“How, through the bleedin’ window?” he snorted. “I don’t even wanna hear her shit, let alone face her again.” 
Her mouth twisted into a lopsided grimace. “Point taken. I just don’t want to see it getting to you. I’m worried all of this will start impacting your mental health with her harassing you all the fucking time.” 
“Honestly, it was fine before all this started. It still is now; I’d just rather she wasn’t at our front door with her total fucking bullshit.” 
Lying across his lap, she reached to stroke his hair, her hand trailing to scratch under the thin line of his goatee beard. “It shows one thing loud and clear; you made the right choice cutting her out of your life.” 
“I did, little.” He leaned to kiss her, the banging upon the door starting up again. She’d been out there for an hour.  
“James! I mean it, I’m not leaving until I see you! Put down that little tramp of yours and come out here, now!” 
His lips tightened, jaw clenching, Ella quick to remind him of what the red mist of his temper could all so easily cloud. “She’s provoking you; you know how she is. It’s all about the reaction with her, the control. Right now she like, has neither over any members of her family. Don’t let her get to you.” 
While he would have been lying if he said she wasn’t getting to him, Carole’s antics had pissed off somebody else close by much more, it seemed.  
Craning their ears, they heard voices, Carole just about audible in telling someone that it was her son’s flat she was trying to gain access to. Ella scrambled up, taking a look through the peephole, jumping back as she flapped her hands. 
“Shit! Police!” she hissed, running for the table and snatching up the weed box, hightailing it to the bedroom to yank up the floorboard to the side of Hel’s vivarium where James hid his emergency cash, slotting it in and lowering it again, running back out and joining him as he loitered by the door, listening in on the exchange.  
“Have you considered that your son isn’t home?” one of the officers put to her. “We’ve received a noise disturbance report stating you began banging on the door over an hour ago from a neighbour.” 
“The music had been blasting all flippin’ morning, it’s probably that which they’ve reported! I just want to see him!”  
The other of the two officers reached to wrap his knuckles on the door. “Police! Open the door, please.” 
James left it for a count of ten before turning the locks and opening it up, focusing on the officer and not looking at Carole once. 
“Apologies for disturbing your morning, but can you confirm this is your mother?” 
“I can,” he nodded. 
“And is there a reason why you aren’t answering the door to her, sir? We’ve been sent here on a noise disturbance complaint,” the other of the two officers spoke. 
“There is. She isn’t welcome here, and she knows that but ain’t listening, innit?”  
The officer turned to Carole. “Well, there you have your answer, love. If he doesn’t want to see you then I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Breeching the peace is an arrestable offence,” he warned, steering her away from the door while the other officer waved a finger at James. 
“Here, you’re one of Clive Sutton’s lads, aren’t you? I met you last year just before Christmas, those girls who had glassed that fella at Vodka Revolution. Remember?” 
James did. He’d never been bled on so heavily in all his life. “Yeah! How are you, mate?” 
“Not bad, fella, not bad.” Police and doormen often recognised each other, being that they had a good working relationship and respect for one another in their respective lines of work, doormen often having to call for police assistance in matters such as more serious instances of affray. “Listen, we’ll take her downstairs and explain if she returns, she’s risking getting herself arrested. If she turns up again just call in at Nuneaton station and give ‘em my badge number. I’ll pop over if I’m free, alright?” 
“Yeah, sound, nice one,” James confirmed, just about able to hear his mother shouting something about him being in cahoots with the police from the stairwell. “She’s fucking barking, mate.” 
“She isn’t the worst we’ve had this morning!” Offering his hand, James shook it, the officer smiling. “See you out there on the streets at some point, pal. Take care.” 
Shutting the door, he let out a long breath. “Ahh, quiet. I like quiet. And sound coppers.”  
Ella couldn’t help but begin snickering. “Oh, I bet she’s big time pissed off now, seeing that you kind of know one of them!”  
“Innit?” he grinned, moving back to the sofa again, grabbing the phone on his way. “I need to give my dad a call, see how he is, let him know about all of this shit, too.” Calling Alan, they sat and chatted for a few minutes, the elder of the Kingston men saying it would probably be best if he popped round to have a face-to-face talk. He arrived at 1pm, Andrea and Steve absent since the latter was driving the former home, Alan looking very tired as he sat down in the armchair. 
“Ahh, always looking after me, petal. Thanks,” he spoke, taking the cup of tea Ella handed him, smiling when she leaned to kiss his cheek. He loved his son’s girlfriend to death, thought them to be a very good fit for each other, too.  
“Right, so how’d it all go down, then?” James asked, crossing his legs beneath himself on the sofa, taking a large swig of tea and placing the mug on the table.  
Alan sighed, rubbing his face. “I finally had it with her, kidda. I just couldn’t sit there any longer and watch her rip me kids to shreds for bloody nothing. Nothing! She’s got a son she should be proud as hell over with everything he’s overcome in the past year, doing well for himself with his music, holding down another job as well, and a daughter all set to go off to university. What flamin’ more does she need?”  
“To make us feel like shit for her own failings, apparently,” James spoke, lighting a cigarette and tossing the packet to his dad. “Cos’ that’s the only thing I can think of, why she’s doing it. That or she’s where I got all my shit up here from, know what I mean?” he added, pointing at the side of his head. 
“Well,” Alan gulped, “they do say it can be hereditary, all of that. Wouldn’t bloody surprise me either, lad, with the way she’s been. I tried me damned hardest, told her everything she was finding fault with was all in her head. Said to her, I did, that she’d driven her son away by acting the way she does, but she wouldn’t have it. Even suggested she have a bit of counselling to get to the root of the problem, but she threw it all back at me. 
“Watching her turn on our Sam the way she did, though, that sealed it for me. Whatever problems she’s got, I don’t want them affecting you two. No. I’ve put me bloody foot down on that, just a few years too late.” He looked pensive for a few moments, taking a long drag on the cigarette, holding the smoke deep in his lungs. “I wish I’d buggered off a few years before, you know. Taken the pair of you away from her. Maybe things mightn't have ended up so bad with you, eh?” 
Oh, no. James wasn’t prepared to let him think that for a second. “Nah, dad. That’s a pile of top grade bullshit. Wasn’t your fault, what happened with me. Mum was only ever a part of the problem.” He paused, puffing his cheeks out, the gravitas of the situation hitting him again. It might have been for the best, but still, he didn’t enjoy seeing his father so broken down by it all. “So, where’s this new house, then?” 
“Little bungalow just off Wye Road, not far from your uncle Ted and auntie Janine,” he revealed. “It’s not much but it’ll do, gives Sam a home base when she’s back from uni and the rent is decent as well. We’ll sell the house and divide it, unless she wants to get herself a job and carry on with the final ten years we’ve got on the mortgage. I’ve told her I’ll keep paying it until then so she isn’t destitute.” 
While his dad earned good money as a factory foreman, James couldn’t help but worry that paying out on two houses would put him under a considerable financial strain. “Maybe have a word with a solicitor about your rights there, dad, you know, when you go file for divorce?”  
“You make a good point, lad,” he nodded, “I was trying me best to keep her quiet, but I suppose you’re right there.” To James, it seemed that everyone had been doing this for much too long a time already, pacifying Carole, effectively enabling her behaviour. Now it had all come crashing down around her, it was little wonder she was so angry. That, however, was not his problem. 
He had his own life to deal with, the band’s new album soon to be released and a seven-month tour scheduled to begin that coming April. He was looking forward to it, but hated the fact he’d have to leave Ella behind for much of it, only coming home sporadically over those months. It was the life he’d chosen, though.  
Choices. They were something he pondered heavily that afternoon, returning to bed for a few hours of sleep before he had to get ready for work. Lying there awake at 4pm, Ella sleeping soundly against his chest as he watched the promised snow begin to flutter down, he thought of little else but the choices he and those closest to him had made, all leading to that moment in time. 
His mother had chosen to become the person she had, not one person forcing her hand in her choice to behave so spitefully. For all her wrong, he knew that deep down she did love him. It just manifested itself in a very strange way. As he had previously asserted, though, it was no longer his problem to deal with. For his own mental health going forward, it couldn’t be either. He had made his own choice there. 
Eleven months before in the very next room, he had made one hell of a fateful choice, one that would change his destiny and finally drive him towards the recovery he now saw he’d truly been in need of. He was fundamentally still the same person, but looking back at how he’d been the previous year, James barely recognised himself.  
Through medication and the strong support of a wonderful therapist, he’d been given the tools he needed to cope with the darkness within himself, a light finally shone upon those depths. At last, he had a grasp on it, a deeper understanding, and the resources to make sure he never sank so low again. He also had something else very important to him, too. 
Looking down, he placed a loving kiss to her forehead. Without Ella, he doubted he’d have survived it all, taken the course he had which had led to him finally getting back on an even path to better mental health, even if that had meant being separated from her for a time. She’d been intrinsic to his recovery, understanding him on a level few did, her love and patience offering him all the support and comfort he knew would continue too, the further their relationship grew. 
With her, he saw his entire future whenever he looked at her. She was it for him, the one, as often coined. He wanted it all with her, marriage, a house, kids, the whole package. And god, how he’d strive to be a better parent to his own children than his mother had ended up being to him and his sister. That was a pledge he made right there, years before they would ever come into the picture.  
“What are you thinking about?” 
He almost jumped a foot off the bed. “Shitting hell!” he exclaimed, Ella laughing softly as she stroked his chest. “Thought you were still asleep, innit!”  
“I was,” she yawned, kissing his chest. “So, those thoughts?” 
“Nothing much,” he spoke, hand moving to stroke her back beneath her hair. “I was just thinking that when we become parents, I’m gonna do a much better job of it than my mum did with me. They ain’t gonna have anything to worry about there. I’ll never make them feel like my problems are theirs.” 
Ella smiled, thinking of that future with him. “How many do you want?” 
“As many as possible!” he grinned. “Seriously, just say the word and I’ll be knocking you up around the clock.”  
Oh, his way with words. Ella raised an eyebrow, shaking her head as he laughed, kissing her. “Not just yet, though. One day. Let’s live a little more first before we bring small people into it, innit?” 
Resting back down against him, she enjoyed his warmth, fingernails stroking over the smattering of dark hair in the centre of his chest. “Sounds perfect, BFG.”  
Life was rarely that, though, perfect. It usually happened while you were busy making other plans, too. Three years passed by in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Nocturnal Descent rising to prominence within the metal scene, the guys on a permanent rotation of touring, recording albums, working other jobs around it and enjoying the time they had away from it before they’d be back out on the road once more.  
Their schedule did give them a good break in 2001, though, James requesting it for an upcoming event that meant he wanted to be at home for a few months, Ella happy to be taking a short break with her first-year psychology BA final assignment handed in before her second year would begin. It was just after he’d returned home from touring South America that they both decided to go and pay someone special a visit.  
They’d returned to see her a number of times over the past three years, but it had been a long gap since their last visit to Moor Acres. The old place hadn’t changed much at all, but for one nurse there expecting their visit, she was shocked to her bones at the change she saw walking towards the nurse's station.  
“Eee, now!” she cried, clasping her hands over her mouth before pointing at Ella. “Ya’s never told me about that on the phone!” Truly, it was the last thing she expected, to see a pregnant Ella walking towards her, tearing up as she remembered the little waif made of skin and bones who had first walked into the facility four years before, looking scared and haunted. She was the furthest from that now, her smile a blaze of sunshine.  
“Wanted it to be a surprise, innit?” James spoke, happy to be pulled into one of Mary’s warm hugs as he kissed her cheek.  
“Well, I’m surprised, alright!” Mary sniffed, drying her eyes and moving to greet Ella, stroking her hair lovingly. “Look at ya’s, pet! Oh, you look well. It suits you, being pregnant, this lovely little tummy you’ve got! How far along?” 
“Thirty-six weeks, so now long now until she’s here,” she replied, Mary’s eyes almost falling out of her head.  
“Eee! I was like a bloody zeppelin with my first! It’s not fair, like, ya’s having such a pretty little bump!” 
James snorted, his hand rubbing lovingly over the swell of Ella’s belly. “She shouldn’t be so compact. You should see how much she eats! Shitting hell, she’s costing me a small fortune!”  
He had feared that perhaps a rapidly changing body would lead to Ella feeling some of her old traumas with how she saw herself, plus her relationship with food perhaps rear its ugly head once more. He was very glad that she’d put on a stone over her pregnancy without it affecting her once. Quite the opposite, in fact. Ella loving being pregnant.  
“Any funny cravings?” Mary asked.  
“Fried chicken with plum jam.” 
James heaved at the very thought. “You’re wrong. Top grade wrong, babe.” 
She fixed him with a look, pointing at her belly. “Well, you put this in here! Don't blame me!” 
“Didn’t hear you complaining at the time,” he scoffed, Mary throwing her head back with laughter.  
“Have ya’s thought of any names for the bairn yet?” she asked, Ella beginning to beam. 
“Lyra,” she began, her smile warmer than sunshine. “Lyra Mary.”  
Immediately, the kindly nurse who meant so much to them began to cry, pulling them both into her arms. “Oh, that’s made me entire year! What an honour!” She’d been there for them through the roughest time in both of their lives, James and Ella wanting to show her truly how appreciative they were to her for that.  
Ella promised to call her once she was home and settled again after Lyra’s birth so Mary could come and meet her, the latter watching them leave arm in arm happily a short time later. She’d wondered separately over both of them, whether two people who were once in such a vicious stranglehold from their respective illnesses would be able to fully recover and go on to lead happy, healthy lives.  
It filled her heart with nothing but sunshine to see that they had, and together, too. 
Sunshine. It was what filled the delivery room with a beautiful glow on the morning Ella finally gave birth to their daughter, the pair never knowing a love like it as they held her for the first time. While her exhausted mummy slept, Lyra lay happily in her daddy’s arms against his bare chest as he sat in a chair next to the window. The summer sun warmed him, but not as much as the feeling of holding his first child. 
“How the hell did a foul mouthed, loud music making, heavily tattooed, bad-tempered dickhead such as myself make something as lovely as you, tiny girl?” he spoke, his fingertip gently stroking the soft round of Lyra’s cheek as she slept. “Shitting hell, you’re so pretty, ain’t you? Just like your mum.” 
“Oi, church burner,” Ella spoke, cracking one eye open. “Stop swearing at the baby.” 
“Shut your hole.” To hear one of her favourite phrases turned on her, she laughed, swiftly regretting it. God, childbirth hurt. “I know I’ll have to watch it, though. Eventually, when she starts picking up words. It would be funny though, innit, if the first thing she said was something she shouldn’t.”  
Ella shook her head, quickly falling asleep again, James continuing cradling his daughter against his chest. “You know, before you were even born, I promised myself I’d be a better parent to my kids than Carole was to me. Still stands. Anything you need and I’m right here, yeah? Anything. Okay, I might be off on tour for ages at a time, but I’m only ever at the other end of a phone, and if you need me more, I’m there. Promise.”  
Looking out of the window, he thought back to that time, the day where he’d pledged to be better to his own kids while watching the snow falling. That day, it had been a poignant one, one he’d never forget, and not only for what he’d promised himself. He hadn’t known it at the time, but it had been the last time he’d ever see his mother, Carole moving away from Warwickshire and starting afresh up in Glasgow after her divorce from his father. 
Their relationship had remained broken, her new life bringing no new perspective, at least as far as he’d known before one day, he’d gotten a phone call from a number he didn’t recognise. On January 15th, 2001, Carole Kingston had collapsed at work and been rushed to hospital, where she’d been pronounced dead on arrival from a massive stroke.  
It had shaken James way more than he thought it would, if he was honest, the part of him that still cared about his mother stung by the fact she had died and they’d never reconciled. The side of him that always knew that would happen since he didn’t want her back in his life reasoned that while he had every right to mourn her, or rather the mother she had been prior to her behaviour leading to their fracture, he had his own life and future to think of.  
She’d been gone for seven months, and in that time, it had given him much focus on healing not only from her death, but the many wounds she’d inflicted upon him prior to his walking away from her. Through his ongoing therapy sessions with Michael, he had reconciled that his mother likely was suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness of her own.  
“Her illness and lack of incentive to seek help with it, are not your burden to bear in her death. Walking away from her and subsequently losing her immediate family because of her repeated bad behaviours should have been enough for her to seek help. If a person does not wish to get better, though, they simply shan’t. She passed away still rooted in her own toxicity, sadly, but this is through no fault of your own, James. You made the choices you had to in order to preserve your mental wellbeing.” 
Michael’s advice had been as sage as ever as they’d talked through James’s feelings of guilt. Still, it changed nothing regarding his promise to do better by his own children. 
“And I bloody will.” he whispered, kissing Lyra’s head, smiling at her with pride. All the love, care and good parenting in the world would be given to his baby, of that he knew for sure.  
Whether it would be enough to fight against the family curse, though, was another matter altogether. 
9 notes · View notes
princess-of-the-corner · 10 months ago
Note
I sometimes have an impression that nobody considers Marinette's PoV when talking about S3 Finale (or any other "conflict" where Marinette is one of sides)
Only thing she saw, was Hawkmoth and Mayura attacking Master Fu, and "drunk with power" Miracle Queen "enjoying" her "personal entourage" of mind-controlled Miraculous Holders. Ladybug didn't have literally ANY knowledge about why Chloe was Akumatized.
I headcanon that Ladybug berated Chloe so hard, because it was "Secret Test of Personality". Marinette (being Marinette) just thought that only two options are possible:
If Chloe "stays as good person", then this means that Hawkmoth Akumatized her against her will
If Chloe "returns to being awful", then this means that she betrayed Miraculous Team by willingly allying with Hawkmoth
As you said "Marinette sees World as black-and-white"
Oh no I entirely get that it's just.
The whole thing is set up to where she /should/ find out.
Like there were bits and pieces set up to it being how she's making a mistake here. Mostly in that she let her feelings for Adrien effect her choice and she did a shitty thing by abusing her power to pull Kagami away from Adrien under the guise of 'oh well I /really/ need you to do Hero things right now!' with the double points of Kagami being the other Hero whose identity should be public knowledge(@ that one fucker I'm not arguing this again). And all of this accidentally falling right into Hawkmoth's plan to manipulate Chloé going off better than he could have ever imagined.
We got.... some of this. In having the 'oh no I screwed up and accidentally led Hawkmoth to Fu so he got the Miraculous' payoff, but we don't get the 'Marinette purposely made a selfish and shitty decision' payoff.
Marinette /should/ have found out what happened.
Now like like like
Obligatory thing about how this isn't her fault, it's Gabriel's for being a manipulative fuck, and how Mari didn't /intend/ to do this yadda yadda.
But her actions were still shitty and hurt people. And the realization of this should hit her. She used her powers for selfish reasons and accidentally made things so much worse.
I don't mean this in a 'Mari should be punished' way, but when the show puts blame on her for other things that were far more 'unintended consequences' than this, it's weird that she's not coming to the realization that she made that mistake.
And it's because the narrative shifts. Chloé wasn't 'incredibly hurt by LB's perceived rejection and got manipulated by Gabriel into being the villain', she's just 'always been an evil brat who never actually wanted to change'. If they acknowledge that Marinette's actions had unintended consequences, they have to acknowledge that Chloé /was/ in fact hurt and that's part of why she went darkside.
21 notes · View notes
dealingdreams · 4 months ago
Text
The Acolyte s01E04: Day
With my a broken heart and full of rage i will out of spite continue my rewatch of the acolyte. Quick refresher, i'll post my quick thoughts as i watch all in this one post, then do some general thoughts at the end.
obviously there will be spoilers okay lets goooo
quick thoughts:
fucking love the episode title of Day then the next epi being Night just delicous
the fact that kelnacca was drawing the mother anyisea's and mae's marking is so interesting
I think Osha intending to leave without saying goodbye to Sol is another example of her running away. She doesnt want the confrontation and would rather avoid and run.
Qimir did actually risk his life to help Mae. also his little needling remarks to try to get inside Mae's head crack me up.
Vern immediatly assuming Sol didn't tell he thought Mae was alive this whole time is odd to me. Like Sol made mistakes but he wasn't that unkind.
'you failed so much' lol
Tumblr media
I still think Qimir was telling a bit of truth with that lie about his 'master'....i owe him, he collects people
Osha looks so hopeful when she askes Sol if he wants her to rejoin the Jedi
Osha's issue with Bazil amuses me but she respects pronouns
Jord's facial expression before he tells Osha to hand over the blaster is hilarious to me
Manny did so good with even changing his posture as Qimir instead of The Stranger like you wouldn't have guess he was that jacked under all that...like he grew somehow i swear
Another example of Osha being drawn to beautiful and dangerous things with the Moths
i really like that scene between Jecki and Osha 'were not defined by what you lose...' super sweet i felt like Jecki was a bit wise beyond her years
Tumblr media
Qimir's little nudge to Mae before he went off to get some water is cute as fuck...such a sweetheart for a darksider
Mae's face after Bazil started yelling sends me omg lol
Tumblr media
i know it was so he could change and get his mask on cause still...no one can see his face and know he's the stranger but it just seems so hilariously dramatic that he didnt stop Mae from walking away from him.
I still love that he just floated down into frame
also the blocking of this scene to have Osha between him and the Jedi is just chefs kiss.
the fact that he doesn't hurt osha infact gets in out of the way (roughly for sure but still) before he pushes the jedi away is such a cool moment
final thoughts:
overall i love this episode so much.
qimir being just a little guy is so funny to me...his facial expressions the banter between him and mae is gold. the little slips in his mask just perfect Manny did such a fucking brilliant job.
I like JJ's acting choices in this episode also...Sol seemed so distressed throughout. I think in part he sensed The Stranger but didnt know what it was. so between looking for Mae (someone who knows the truth about what really happened), protecting Osha, and feeling something forbodding in the distance i think you can really see how steadily Sol is unraveling. JJ is just fucking amazing truly!
also when folks say they dont understand Mae's motivation she literally says on screen that her loyalty is with Osha...Mae's motivation is Osha. I dont get what the disconnect is here
8 notes · View notes
localnativesofficial · 4 months ago
Text
Nik's second solo album & debut concert
Nik just released the final singles before his second Chewing album is released Sept 13. He's also playing an intimate concert in Los Angeles at the Lodge Room October 1. For tickets & to pre-order vinyl: https://chewinginc.com
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Debut Chewing Concert October 1, 2024 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room
Set 1: Solo piano performance by Nik Ewing
Intermission
Set 2: Improv free jazz set by:
Nik Ewing - keys, etc.
Ryan Hahn - guitar
Dave Harrington (of the duo DARKSIDE with Nicolas Jaar & the infamous jam band Taper's Choice with lots of others) - guitar
Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes, etc.) - drums
Special Guest - bass
Tumblr media
"When my first child was born, I played piano for her almost daily. A lot of days when she was an infant, I would hold her in one arm while playing piano with the other hand. One day she kind of sang along and made a repetitive noise to what I was playing. I approximated this as best as I could with my right hand in the “verses” of this song, “First Melody” that we wrote together. This album is for her, to have a document of the music from the beginning of her life. Making a physical version of this album is so important, so she can hold and listen to this album on vinyl in 20 years. Who knows what music consumption will be like decades from now?"
11 notes · View notes