#that he is cursed to wear the face of the person who sacrificed their life for him when they both knew he didn't deserve it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cobaltperun · 9 months ago

Text

Lost (28) - Bounce

Tara Carpenter x female Reader

Summary: To anyone on the outside, and to Tara’s friends, you were Tara’s fierce protector, the MMA fighter who’d take anyone on for Tara. The Guard Dog, as Amber called you. You had no idea you’d have to protect her from people who claimed they loved her. It didn’t matter. As long as you and Tara had one another there was nothing you wouldn’t be able to survive.

Story warnings: Scream violence, family issues, trauma, angst, certain sensitive topics

Word count: 4.5k

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

-Kicked around, cut, stitched and scarred, I'll take the hit but not the fall, I know no fear, still standing tall-

She snuck through the shadows, careful to avoid being detected right away. If she remembered correctly Ghost-Lion was meant to patrol this corridor and then, just around the corner, she would reach the personal area Ghostface used as his meeting room and base of operation. Sure enough, she caught a glimpse of the robes and followed after the man. She needed to be careful not to cut his robes or damage the mask. After all, she needed them.

So, as he began climbing the stairs she ran up to him, put him in a chokehold you taught to her years ago and squeezed as hard as she could.

He grunted, turning and pushing back into the wall, making her almost let go of him, but she held on. She had to. For Tara. For Tara’s sake and safety Sam needed to be stronger than anyone, and so, in a desperate attempt to gain the upper hand when he began pulling her arms away from his neck, she leaned back and let both him and her tumble down the stairs.

~X~

Following Sam’s directions, you opened the doors and came face to face with a gun pointed at you.

“Shit, Y/N, it’s you,” Kirby sighed, lowering her gun.

Your eyes widened when you saw the state everyone was in. Anya was dead, Kirby had blood on her hands and was trying to help another woman out while Tara shakily walked over to you, and you automatically pulled her into your arms. “I’m here now,” you whispered softly, not entirely sure what happened here, but at least Tara was unharmed.

“Sam is trying to sacrifice herself,” Tara cried into your chest, and you had to pull away slightly.

“What?” you whispered, suddenly out of breath, but it made sense. The look on her face, her actions, she was tired of this and it wasn’t the first time she thought her death would solve everything.

But before you or anyone else could say anything you heard the sound of yacht sailing away, prompting you and Tara to run outside.

“Sam!” Tara cried out as the two of you saw the two figures through the windows, both wearing Ghostface masks and there was nothing, absolutely nothing you could do to reach the yacht in time.

“You’re the MMA fighter, right? I have the boat, I can get you on board of that yacht,” the wounded woman said as she stumbled to her feet. You guessed this was Kirby’s mole, as well as the one who got hurt by the Ghostface you and Sam just killed.

“I owe you one,” you nodded. There was no doubt in your heart. One of those two was Sam, and you were going to bring her self-sacrificing ass back to Tara.

“Y/N,” Tara grabbed your hand and you just leaned down to kiss her.

“I’ll be right back,” you said, unlike Sam you had no intention of dying, or leaving Tara to raise your children alone. You knelt in front of her and kissed her belly twice. “I promise.”

“You better,” Tara whispered, letting go of your hand. You could see it in her eyes, though she was afraid, though she was worried for your life, she still had faith in you, she still believed you’d come back safe and with Sam with you.

~X~

She was staring right at her goal, at the end of this curse. She’d end the cult, her own life, and no one would ever target Tara again. She would be free from Billy’s legacy.

The sprained ankle and a couple of cuts on her body she got from fighting Ghost-Lion would be a disadvantage, but she’d push through the pain and finish the man off as quickly as possible. That was, at the very least, what Sam planned to do.

“I didn’t think you’d be the last one standing,” Ghostface told her. “I guess that’s the king of animals for you,” he chuckled a bit.

“Something like that, I guess. What now?” Sam approached him slowly, ready to stab him in the back.

“I’ll just start over, after all, much like killers from the Stab movies, we, as well, are replaceable. Though, this time I’ll start with killing Samantha,” he paused for a moment, looking ahead toward the open sea. “No more dramatic final girls, I’ll just kill her.”

His voice was calm, but Sam could sense the tension in it. Maybe it was just the fact that his entire plan fell apart in one night, or a few days at best, it didn’t really matter. But then she saw the glint of the knife and her eyes widened. He knew.

“I guess loyalty really is dogs’ greatest trait, only you weren’t loyal to me, were you, Samantha Carpenter,” he slashed at her and she just barely dodged being cut open. Instead, the blade cut through the robes and left her with a small cut on her abdomen instead. “Ghost-Lion was taller,” he simply said, continuing his assault as Sam stumbled back, unable to properly regain her footing with her ankle.

She was supposed to catch him off guard, not the other way around, but she still managed to catch his wrist and twist it to get him to drop the knife.

But her sprained ankle and the pain from falling down the stairs proved to be almost insurmountable disadvantage as he managed to lift her up and slam her against the controls, pushing the lever and speeding the yacht up in the process.

Sam gasped as the mask fell off her head and nearly blacked out when he punched her in the face, but she gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain. She lifted her leg up and kicked him in the balls, making him stumble back and drop to his knees.

“It’s about time I see who you are,” she didn’t know what to expect. Would it be someone she knew, even just vaguely, or would it be a complete stranger. What she saw made her freeze. The man looked like he was desperately trying to copy Billy Loomis, and in her disoriented state of mind she clutched her head and saw her father instead.

“I gotta say, he sure captured my look,” the monster in her head laughed at the sight and Sam shut her eyes, desperately trying to block the hallucinations out.

That one moment of weakness was enough for Ghostface to grab her and throw her to the floor. Before she could react he grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the floor.

“I’m not going to stab you Samantha, I want to feel you die,” he said, an insane and sinister grin on his face told her everything. Her only hope was that the yacht would hit something and push him off her, but she still tried to pry his fingers from her throat.

~X~

The yacht was speeding up and you knew you’d only have one chance to do this.

“These aren’t good odds,” Kirby’s mole told you.

“Tell me about it,” you sighed and got ready to jump and grab onto the fence. “We don’t exactly have other options, go back to the harbor, get that wound properly treated, Sam and I got this!” you told the woman and jumped just barely reaching and clinging to the fence. “Oh, shit!” this definitely wasn’t as easy as regular pull ups, especially with your wounded palm, but you managed to climb over the fence. “All good! Now go!” you yelled and took off. Sam would likely be in the control room or however it was called.

You burst through what looked like important doors and saw Sam struggling to push the man off her as he tried to strangle her. He was no longer wearing his mask, but the robes made it clear he was the cult leader, the Ghostface. The sound of doors slamming against the wall made him look up and it gave Sam enough of an opportunity to push him off and roll away from him as you rushed in, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up.

“Y/N!” Sam coughed, as she tried to regain her breath, but your entire attention was on the man as you slammed an uppercut into his jaw and followed it up by several hooks, each one gaining more momentum as you punched him from one side to another. Blood spilled from his mouth and nose and he stumbled back. You took a deep breath and pulled out a knife and before he could regain his composure you ended his life by slitting his throat.

You took a few deep breaths and turned to Sam. “You okay?” she wasn’t exactly okay, she had a few shallow cuts and her ankle was probably sprained, but she was alive.

Sam nodded, leaning back against the wall and tossing the knife aside. It was finally over. “On a scale from one to ten, how angry at me are you?”

“Nine point as long as Tara wants you in her life it doesn’t matter,” you were angry, but how you felt didn’t matter as much as Tara getting to keep her sister in her life. “But you better make it right for her, and Sam,” you paused, glaring at her. “She can never know you were the one who framed me,” you decided and went over to the levers and all the other things you have never seen in your life. “Right, let’s figure this shit out and just go home.”

Sam didn’t say a word, instead she just took what you said in and waited.

“As worthless as it is, I’m sorry I got you arrested,” she apologized, and you gritted your teeth.

“Just stop talking, Sam,” you really didn’t need reminders of that day.

~X~

Agent Woolf came back alone, without you or Sam, and barely clinging to consciousness as she stumbled out of the boat. Kirby quickly ran over to her and helped her over to where her and Tara were. Tara was happy the woman was still alive, and that she’d likely be fine, but she still worried. You and Sam were taking too long and the yacht was getting further away.

“They’ll be fine, Tara,” Kirby told her, but she was starting to lose hope.

“They better be,” she whispered, and then, just as she said that she saw the yacht turning in the distance and her heart soared. There could only be one reason for that!

A few long minutes later she saw you and Sam coming down from the yacht, and though Sam was limping she didn’t look like her life was in danger.

“Go,” Kirby pushed her lightly as she remained frozen just watching you and Sam coming closer to her. And as if broken out of her trance she just ran, jumping as she reached you and Sam and hugging both of you as tightly as she could.

“Thank goodness!” she cried out kissing you and then burying her face in Sam’s neck. “You asshole! Why would you do this to me?!” she felt her lungs burning as she sobbed.

“Tara I-“ Sam tried to speak.

“Not a word! You hear me! You don’t deserve to apologize, you just, you left me again!” she took a step back and nearly pushed Sam away, but then, through her tears, she took in Sam’s appearance. The sunken cheeks, the lost weight, the few cuts Sam received, as well as the way Sam was limping, and she just wailed and nearly dropped to her knees. She would have, if Sam didn’t reach her in time and pulled her into a hug.

“I missed you so much Tara, I don’t deserve to apologize, but I’m so, so sorry!” Sam was crying as well, clinging to Tara so hard it almost hurt.

But the physical pain was nothing compared to all the time she spent worrying for Sam, all the fear and despair and the need to have her sister back by her side. And she finally had Sam back in her life, and she didn’t ever want to let Sam stay away from her for this long again.

~X~

She didn’t deserve it, but around the beginning of May she walked out of the courtroom with essentially a slap on the wrist. Released on parole because of her efforts to bring the cult down and evidence she gave them that was putting people behind bars. She should have been in prison as well. She should have been punished, but she didn’t get that, she was almost rewarded instead.

Her impulses to kill, to hurt people were overlooked in favor of who she killed and what she brought. And Sam hated herself for that.

Could she ever truly forgive herself for everything that happened? For all the ways she put the people she loved in danger? For all the people she cared about that were dead?

She couldn’t know for sure, but she had her doubts as she approached the police car driven by the woman that was a mole in the cult. Tara would be pissed when she finds out Sam didn’t call her, but she wasn’t certain of the outcome of the trial, she didn’t even tell Tara when it would be. Just in case she was sentenced to years and years in prison, she didn’t want Tara to have to see her being taken away. She’d go and visit her baby sister, and you, though that would be a bit awkward, but she just needed to collect her thoughts. Thankfully, Kirby respected that.

“Congratulations on your freedom,” the woman said as Sam sat down next to her.

“Thanks. Not just for this, for everything you did,” Sam said, it was almost funny how she was yet to learn the woman’s name.

“No need to thank me, I was doing my job,” she replied and began driving Sam away from the court.

“Am I ever going to learn your name?” Sam asked out of the blue.

The woman grinned and turned to Sam when they reached the red light. She offered her hand to Sam and smiled softly. “I am Drew Woolf,” she said.

And so, Sam properly met the lady that was for some time her only ally in the cult.

~X~

It didn’t have anything to do with Ghostface showing up again, Tara and you had the conversation even before she got pregnant. You both wanted to let your kids grow away from the busy streets, to have clean air, or as clean as it could get, and lots of space to play around. No more apartments, no more busy streets. You wanted to settle down, to have complete control over your home. So, you went and purchased a fairly big empty patch of land in Colorado Springs, a short drive away from Pikes Peak and though it took some time, especially since Ghostface thing happened, the house was built and you were finally ready to move in in the middle of July.

You parked your car outside the house. A two-story tall building, fairly large and spacious, with a yet to be filled backyard. But that was a project for another day, or, well, a year, since a lot of your attention would be taken up by the kids that would be born by the end of September.

You got out of the car, smiling at Tara and winking, silently telling her to stay in her seat as you went around and opened the doors for her.

“My lady, your hand please,” you bowed slightly, offering Tara your hand, and she laughed, accepting your joking gesture.

“It looks good from the outside,” she said, the house looked secure, and, because you had to be careful, there were motion sensor cameras around the house already installed. “Secure,” she smiled as you hugged her from behind, your hands resting on her belly.

“We’ll be fine,” you whispered, kissing her cheek and smiling when you felt one of the twins kicking. They were active babies, and if anyone asked you Tara looked incredible.

“Mhm, let’s go inside,” she leaned back against you for a moment and then took your hand and pulled you along. The basement was elevated, and only four feet of it were beneath the ground, for one reason. The gym. You separated the basement into two parts, a garage for your car and an empty space if Tara ever decided she wanted one as well, and then there was a still empty separated part that was meant to be used as your gym. For the sake of convenience, the gym had a small bathroom, just in case you wanted to take a quick shower, or simply wash your hands before going upstairs. The gym was also connected to the first floor via indoor stairs. Tara led you up, to a spacious living room, that doubled as a mini library of books and movies and all the things you and Tara learnt to enjoy over the years, your gaming console included, a very nice kitchen and dining room. There was also the hall leading to the main entrance and the stairs that led to the second floor where you had five rooms, one of which was designated as home office for you and Tara.

Overall, it was a big house, maybe even a bit too big for your soon to be family of four, but you wanted a room for each of the kids, and your own room and a guestroom so, that was the logic behind the number of rooms on the second floor.

Tara kissed you on the lips when you finally sat down on your bed. “It’s perfect,” she whispered against your lips before she pushed you to lie down and straddled you, a mischievous smile on her face.

~X~

September was coming to a close, as was Tara’s pregnancy, and one slow night you were just lazing around in the living room, watching some TV show. Tara had to leave you for a few minutes, so you just scrolled trough the news until she came back.

“You know, this is at least partly your fault,” Tara groaned as she sat down next to you. She’d give birth any day now, so you were both extra careful and always ready to drive to the hospital if the kids decided to rush things.

You gently lifted her feet up to the sofa and took her socks off. Giving Tara a massage became a bit of a habit, and she repeatedly showed you how much she appreciated your efforts. “How so?” you humored her as you began rubbing her left foot. It became her go-to joke lately, a tiny tease and complain do to all the extra weight she was carrying around.

“How? You got me pregnant,” she nudged you jokingly with her right foot.

You grinned at that. “Mhm, my strap can do anything,” you chuckled when Tara jerked slightly. You accidentally tickled her, and her feet were ridiculously ticklish.

She sighed contently. “Wouldn’t that be nice, no medical procedures and all that,” she placed her hand on her belly. “I can’t wait to meet them,” she said, smiling widely all of a sudden. “They are kicking more often. Tiny MMA fighters,” she chuckled as you laughed.

You reached over, placing your hand next to hers. Soon, soon your children would be born and it would no longer be just you and Tara, it would be four of you.

“Y/N,” she spoke softly, almost timidly and you looked into her eyes.

“Yeah?” you instinctively moved to hold her hand.

“What if they end up having asthma?” she asked.

Your eyes softened. It wasn’t asthma itself Tara was worried about. She knew both of you would take care of your children and love them regardless of their health. It was the idea of the children, or even one of the kids inheriting something she had, in her eyes passing down her asthma felt like hurting them.

You opened your mouth but closed them in order to properly phrase your answer. “If they do, they’ll have us to teach them how to live without it affecting them too much,” you remembered sleepless nights with Tara when you were kids, you remembered how worried you were, how much she would struggle to breathe during the worst nights, no matter what you did. You remembered how weak and delirious from the sickness she would be, how she would end up being so exhausted she often wouldn’t remember everything.

~X~

One such time was shortly after Tara turned seventeen, a few days after Christmas. You came back from a fight to find her just about ready to pass out at your doorstep, she was just sitting in the hall, barely conscious when you climbed up the stairs of the apartment building.

“Shit! Tara!” you rushed to her side and picked her up off the floor. “You’re burning up, damn it why didn’t you call me?” you managed to unlock your doors and quickly put her in your bed, sitting her up and letting her lean against the propped-up pillow. You were gone for one day and this happened. You knew her mother wasn’t at home, the damn drunk, but Tara didn’t even tell you she was sick, and this wasn’t how she should be after only one day.

“Fight. You were busy,” she mumbled, pulling your blanket over her body.

You turned the heating on and poured water into the kettle. “You know I would have thrown the fight if I knew,” you would scold her later, once she recovered, for now you were looking for medicine that could help her. You had a bunch of medicine thanks to Tara’s frail health. “Right, temperature first,” you fussed over her like you usually did when she was sick. “I should really take you to the doctor,” but she wouldn’t listen to you.

“You’re all I need,” she muttered. Doctors were expensive and she made you swear you wouldn’t take her to the hospital and pay for the bills a long time ago because she knew you’d pay if you took her there. You did do that once, about two years ago, and Tara still complained about that every now and then. She tried to pay you back, but you wouldn’t budge.

“Tara,” you sighed, respecting her wishes for now, but if she didn’t get better by the morning you’d actually take her to the hospital, promises be damned.

“Just come here,” she sat up and you knew what she wanted, so you got behind her and reached out for the pillow, only for Tara to place her hand over yours. “Skip it, please,” she just lied down on your chest and, though she coughed afterwards, took a deep breath. “I love you, you know? I wanna spend the rest of my life with you,” she said in her exhaustion, and you just held her.

“I love you too, you dumbass,” you whispered, your heart breaking when she got hit with another coughing fit and all you could do was hold her and rub her back.

Tara was better tomorrow morning, her temperature dropped as the night went on and she woke up in the bed alone around noon. That’s how exhausted she was.

“Hey, sleepy head, how are you feeling?” you sat down on the bed with the glass of water and her medicine in hand.

Tara leaned her head back, groaning a bit. “I’m so sorry, Y/N,” she apologized and winced when the sudden movement made her dizzy.

“Apology accepted if you’re apologizing for not telling me you were sick,” you sighed, waiting for her to properly wake up.

“You know what I mean,” she mumbled, and you knew, unfortunately, you knew. She was apologizing for relying on you again. Finally, she accepted the medicine and leaned back once again, she was still a bit weak, so she needed to rest. “I hate being sick, I can’t separate what’s real and what’s a fever dream,” she complained as you got up to make her a breakfast. “Like, last night I dreamt you, you know what, never mind, it’s too embarrassing,” her face was red, and you assumed sickness was only partly to blame.

~X~

You never found out what her fever dreams were. It didn’t matter now. You moved from the end of the sofa and hugged Tara from behind. You kissed the top of her head and pulled her close to you. “Whatever happens, whether they are healthy or not, we’ll be there for them every step of the way,” you whispered, absolutely certain of your words.

“I know,” Tara nodded, turning her head to kiss you. “My Love,” she rested her head against your chest and listened to your heartbeat.

~X~

A few days later it was happening! It happened! It…

You were about to pass out, you weren’t ready for this! You held Tara through her labor as much as she held you and you nearly fainted when you heard the first baby, a boy, crying at exactly fourteen minutes after two a.m. only for the second one, this time a girl, to come out twenty-three minutes later.

“Congratulations! You got a boy and a girl!” the midwives brought the two babies and gave them to Tara as she was resting, and you couldn’t help but cry as you watched the two bundles of joy.

“You two really are tiny,” she whispered, bringing them closer and carefully hugging them.

Could you touch them? You were an MMA fighter, you were used to violence, not babies that were born less than an hour ago!

“Hey, come here,” Tara whispered, exhaustion vanished from her eyes the moment she got to hold them, and you swallowed the lump in your throat and reached over to touch them.

“I…” you couldn’t say anything, you were completely speechless.

“I know,” Tara smiled, she could feel the tremble of your hands on her own, as you chose to place them there just in case. “I thought of names.”

“I’m fine with any names you want,” you quickly told her, only now realizing you didn’t really have this conversation.

“How about Zack and Susan?”

You just froze and looked at Tara, honestly unable to process all the emotions you were feeling, so, instead, you just nodded, leaning over to quickly kiss her on the lips to hopefully convey even the smallest bit of what you were feeling.

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

Taglist: @alexkolax

#tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter x you #tara carpenter #tara carpenter x female reader #scream #jenna ortega x reader #x reader #x female reader

96 notes · View notes

apples-and-heartbreak · 1 year ago

Text

I feel like when I’m reading or watching something, for me to like a hero, they have to

1) have ambition about anything

2) not be annoying

3) not excuse their shitty behaviour with their shitty childhood

4) not be so self-righteous they don’t see their own flaws

For these reasons I hate with a burning passion Jace Herondale, Clary Fairchild, Eli Ever, Tiberius “Cal” Calore VIII, Dean Winchester, and Legend/Dante Santos

Jace is constantly doing something shitty in every book and people don’t care and they just put up with it for some reason. In CoG he belittles Clary because he wants to push her away but keeps coming back to her. He also keeps coming onto Clary when he thought she was his sister and said that cursed sentence in CoG that I need to bleach from my brain. I know if he said that shit to me I would’ve punched him in his stupid face cuz who does he think he is? He mocks the werewolves after they lost a child in their pack, he’s just awful to Alec at times, he doesn’t seem to understand there are consequences to his actions and just does shit because he wants to. He had the emotional maturity of a dried up pinecone.

Clary also does so much shit and people don’t call her out because she’s the protagonist and she just lets Jace do whatever to her because he’s hot. Girl please get a grip. She slut shames Izzy because apparently women aren’t allowed to have a sex life or wear revealing clothing 😒 girl you kissed someone you thought was YOUR BROTHER!! She dated Simon to get over Jace and then kissed Jace in the Seelie Court, and repeatedly thought about Jace in a romantic sense WHILE she thought they were SIBLINGS! I can’t.

Eli is so self-righteous, annoying and hypocritical. He uses God and religion as an excuse to kill innocent people which is just disgusting. Like I get that he thinks being an EO changed a person because Victor became different but he is an EO himself and he just takes it on himself to murder innocent people for simply existing.

Cal has no desire to do anything, at least up to the beginning of King’s Cage he doesn’t (where I currently am). He knows how poorly the Reds are being treated and he doesn’t want to change anything because (and I’m paraphrasing) there would be outrage among the Silvers and a war would break out. Bitch you are already at war! He’s the reason why so many innocent young Reds have lost their lives fighting in a war they have no say in. He sees the Scarlet Guard killing Silvers and he doesn’t try to stop them. He sulks and whines but doesn’t take any real action, which he could if he actually wanted to. He stalks around the camp like Mare’s dog and thinks he’s better than everyone.

Dean Winchester is an abusive asshole. He locked Sam in the cellar when he was addicted to demon blood when he knew the withdrawal could kill him. He shit on Sam for being manipulated. He’s made horrible perverted jokes about women, might I remind y’all of the high school episode (he was at least 26 at the time). He guilted Sam for leaving him in Hell and Purgatory when he did THE EXACT SAME THING when Same went to the cage. He threatened Kaia, a teenager at gun point for his own selfish purposes. He abused Jack til the very end, yelling that he wasn’t family when Jack had sacrificed his soul and life for the Winchesters, and made Jack hate himself for being born. He was shitty to Cas in so many seasons and didn’t care that Cas just went through seeing his son die and wasn’t able to save him. He violated Sam’s body by tricking him into letting Gadreel in which led to the death of Kevin and had the audacity to think he was wronged.

Dante is shit. Julian, his brother, lived with him for centuries, followed him wherever he went and loved him unconditionally. All Julian asked was for Dante to love him back, which he never did. When Julian finally found someone who loved him, Dante made fun of him. And then in the next book he gives up his immortality for Tella, a girl he has known for literal months at most. He didn’t love his brother, who has been with him since the beginning, enough to give up his immortality but he loved this random girl he has known for a couple months at most to give it all up?? Tella should’ve left him in the dust just like she did Jacks and went off on adventures by herself and met someone that wasn’t a twat.

#great poison talks #anti jace herondale #anti clary fairchild #anti clary fray #anti jace lightwood #anti jace wayland #anti cal calore #anti eli ever #anti dante santos #anti legend #anti dean winchester #supernatural #spn #the mortal instruments #vicious ve schwab #caraval #dante santos

58 notes · View notes

moonfawnx · 30 days ago

Text

Long Lost Lovers

Chaos x Lala (ouabh series)

Summary:

Warnings: Ouabh spoilers, blood, killing, underage murder, smut, angst, marking during smut. [let me know if i forgot any please :) ]

Chaos was a mad man, for sure.

He arrived at his manor, blood dripping from his lips and jaw.

Another family. Dead. Slaughtered.

Because of him.

He tried to drown out their screams as he sank his teeth into their flesh, ripping the fathers’ throat first, as the mother tried to shield her daughter.

At the end, though, neither of them made it out of his wrath.

When he was also done with the woman, he turned to the child- no older than 13. He tried to fight his urges. To not become the monster everyone thought him to be. To not become the monster she believed him to be.

“Chaos is a monster” he remembered Lala’s words to Evangeline, when they both thought he was too far away to hear them.

His heart wretched at her words- at what she thought of him.

But when the child turned her head away and bared her neck to him- when he couldn’t fight it no more and thrust his fangs in her skin, tearing at her neck and pulling the life out of her- he supposed Lala was correct at the end of it all.

Chaos gripped the counter of his bathroom, as he eyed the blood on him through the mirror.

He tried so badly to control his anger, but fate wasn’t doing him no favour.

Only a month prior, Evangeline and Jacks had finally broken the curse, promising themselves to each other for the rest of eternity.

He knew he should be happy for them- for Jacks especially. He was his brother, after all. Maybe not by blood but at heart- after everything Jacks had sacrificed for him, and after Evangeline freed his family.

He knew he was being selfish, for being resentful of their happiness, but how could he not?

How could he be happy for couples, when love had done him no good his whole life?

When he was stealing small, shy glances at Lala when they were only teenagers- before it all went down.

“Chaos?”

Her sweet voice was a melody to his ears. He tried to ignore the pang- of the excitement leaving Lala’s voice each time she addressed him.

He made his way out of his chambers, as he came face to face with the face that turned his darkest nightmares into dreams.

“Ariel” he inclined his head, flashing her a wicked grin.

He watched as the light left her eyes. His heart clenched painfully at the sight of it.

Of course- his face was splattered with a child’s blood.

Of course he disgusted her, yet again.

“Go clean your face” she growled “And when you look like a person again, come speak to me”

He gave her a pointed look, “i do not understand that tone of yours, Ariel” he loved her name- god, he loved her- “you’re the one who showed up unannounced at my home”

She waved her hand, dismissing him.

“Hurry”

He did as he was told- eager to please her in any way he could, as always.

Lala’s eyes searched the hall, while she was waiting for him. She would never get accustomed to it- to hearing her actual name, falling from his lips.

His lips, which were stained in blood. Innocent blood.

Just as they were all those centuries ago.

Chaos emerged from his room again. His lips and jaw now clean, and he even changed his armor, wearing a more comfortable black button up.

He nodded his head for her to follow him.

“No need” she interrupted “it won’t take long”

His eyebrows raised. “what is it then?”

“I was at Eva’s home and she and Jacks are planning a dinner to celebrate Jacks’s birthday. Since your home was on my way, they told me to deliver the news, as for some reason you’re also invited” she said, her cool tone giving nothing away.

His fangs flashed.

“For some reason- Jacks is my oldest friend” he growled.

She raised her eyebrows discriminately.

“I suppose it makes sense that Jacks keeps you close.” she eyed him up and down. “He wouldn’t want to end up as those victims of your cruelty”

Without waiting for him to answer her, she turned around and walked away- towards the closest exit she could find.

The exit that would require her walking in front of his vampires.

He quickly fell into steps next to her.

“Ariel-” he tried to catch her wrist.

The way she looked at him made him wish she had slapped him instead.

She kept walking, as he hurried his steps behind her.

When she entered the other hall, all eyes were instantly on her. She swallowed, understanding why chaos had tried to stop her, but still she did not want to let go of her pride.

She strode through the hall gracefully, not daring to look into a single vampire’s eyes.

She had almost made it to the exit, when big hands gripped her from behind, long nails digging into her collarbones.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing here?” the vampire with spiked red hair asked her, flashing her a bloody, nasty grin.

“i give you merely five seconds to take those hands off of me before I-”

She did not get a chance to finish before the vampire was ripped off of her.

Chaos, in a flash of seconds, beheaded his fellow servant with a swift of his sword.

“Off limits” he growled as he looked at the rest of his court.

They all nodded their heads as they went back to whatever they were doing before.

Lala stared at the male ahead of her and he stared at her back for a few seconds before his eyes dropped at her collarbones, which were now bleeding due to the vampires rough grip.

“Follow me” he told her, not giving her a chance to answer before grabbing her wrist and leading her.

“Where are you taking me” her voice steady, as her face had been when the vampire was on her.

As Ariel had always been. Steady, not letting her fear show, if she even felt any.

“The wound needs to be cleaned.” he murmured. “If the vampire had his blood on him, and he massed it on your wound-” he didn’t finish and she understood.

She decided to keep her witty remark to herself, as she truly did not want to turn into a vampire.

Chaos led her to his chambers, then in his own bathroom.

“Sit” he monitored at the counter, as he went through his cabinets, taking out some vials.

“Stop ordering me around, asshole” she murmured, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at him, yet she still sat.

She studied his bathroom. The colour of the walls was black, the cabinets also. His stuff appeared to be organised perfectly, which for some reason was a surprise to her.

She hadn’t considered that the vampire lord who spent his free time feasting on children actually cared about messiness.

He came in between her legs, pouring a liquid on a cloth, and then brought it up to her wounds.

She looked up and studied his concentrated face as he cleaned her.

She was well aware that he was undoubtedly beautiful. He always had been, but now that he even had his helm off, after centuries of not seeing his face, she couldn’t help but stare at his green eyes and strong jaw.

His eyes met hers as he smirked.

“For someone who claims to despise me so much, you do like to stare a lot” he played with her.

Please, he thought, play with me back. Treat me as a friend for once.

“I’m looking at the blood you failed to clean off of you” she shot back, although she could feel her cheeks flashing after being caught staring.

She instinctively brought a hand up, and wiped his cheek, the supposed blood he had left behind.

Both of them knew she was lying. He had done a great job cleaning himself, nothing giving away the fact that he had been killing hours prior to their meeting.

Embarrassed and with her cheeks heating even more, she went to remove her hand from his face.

Right as he leaned closer to her touch, letting her cup the side of his face.

She looked at him with such intensity he could’ve moaned.

And he looked at her with such longing that left her shook.

He leaned closer to her face, slowly, letting her think it through.

She snapped out of it quickly, as she hopped off of the counter, forcing him to move back.

“I- I should go” she hopped her voice didn’t sound ad breathless as she really was.

But she made no move to leave.

And as Lala saw the hurt coating his features, and the way his breath hitched, she knew she had made her decision.

She moved towards him quickly, and threw her arms around his neck, as her lips met his.

He bumped on the wall behind him, shocked as he pulled away and looked at her.

Her cheeks reddened so much she thought she was going to pass out.

“I’m sorry I-” she tried but he smiled softly as her, in a way she wasn’t even aware that he could, and he brushed his lips on hers softly.

“You have no clue how long I have waited for this”

He closed the gap between them, his hands ruffling through her waist and back, as hers gripped his jaw and hair.

His tongue entered her mouth, as they explored each other. He took her bottom lip in his mouth and bit her softly, as an embarrassingly loud moan escaped her at the action.

She felt his hardness grow right after, pressing at her stomach.

Their tongues kept brushing as their lips moved in sink, and her hand gripped his hair more tightly, as his own suddenly groped her ass.

With that she pressed herself even closer, grinding on him as his hardness grew even more.

His kiss turned rough and dominant, as he span them around pushed her on the wall. She jumped as his hands gripped her ass, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Her red and gold dress rose up, and her burgundy panties came on sight, as they finally pulled away to breathe.

He looked down, his hardness pressing on her, as he took in her lacy undergarments and smirked.

“Obviously you chose that pair for me”

She hissed at him, not having the words to insult him after their make out session.

Her hands gripped his blouse.

“Chaos” she looked at him, her big eyes pleading.

“Tell me” he answered, as he went in to explore her shoulders with kisses, carefully avoiding her neck.

“I need more” she whined.

He flashed her a smile. “Then more you’ll get”

He moved them away from the wall, walking towards his bedroom.

“What-” Lala cut herself off confused.

“Did you think i would take you against the bathroom wall?” he grinned wickedly, as he placed her on his bed softly “you deserve better than that” he muttered softly.

He climbed on top, smothering her mouth and body with kisses.

Lala threw her head back as he slid the straps of her dress off her shoulders and dragged the dress down, slowly and intimately.

Then, her breasts were revealed, full and heavy.

“Beautiful” he exhaled “so damn beautiful”

He cupped one, and moved his tongue on the other one, gently sucking on her nipples, as he trailed more kisses on her body, and then moved to the other breast.

Lala was becoming agitated. The male was very obviously hard- his pants looked to be straining in an almost painful way, that had her questioning if it would even fit. And yet, he was only kissing her belly, leaving love marks behind.

She tried to pull him up to her “Chaos, come on” but he stopped her, turning his head up to her and held her waist firmly as he spoke.

“Please, Ariel, I have waited so long for this, just…” he looked at her with desperation “just let me take my time.”

And maybe it was the softness he spoke with, so unlike the Lord of vampires, or the way he looked at her, as if she was the only one for him- that made her listen to him and let him take his sweet time.

She nodded as he grinned wickedly, and he worked off the remaining of her dress, leaving her only in that little lacy thing covering her heat.

He gave her one last grin, before he kneeled in front of the bed.

Lala had never before seen him kneel- never for anything.

He hooked his fingers underneath the material of her underwear- and ripped them off.

“Chaos!” she gasped “i liked that pair”

“I’ll get you a new one” he mustered up the strength to speak. Lala rose her head to see him, and god did the look on his face set fire in her vains.

Chaos wasn’t looking at her- no he was looking at her now fully exposed heat, in front of him and on his mercy.

All of a sudden becoming shy, Lala tried to close her legs, but he was faster, pushing them open gently.

“Don’t- don’t you dare hide yourself from me” he looked at her again.

He grabbed her thighs roughly, and threw her legs over his shoulders, all why keeping their eye contact.

He pulled her at the end of the bed, her cunt now breaths away from his beautiful mouth.

And Chaos, being the male he is, took out his tongue, and dragged a lick from her folds up to her clit, looking in her eyes the whole time.

“God” he moaned “you taste better than i dreamed”

Colour bloomed on her cheeks.

“You dreamed about this?”

“Many times, my lady” his grin was lost as he collided his face with her pussy completely.

And damn it did Chaos feast.

He swirled his tongue around her clit, sucked on it, and when he dove down to her awaiting hole,he pressed his nose on her clit.

Lala completely gave up on controlling her moans, as she let herself be as loud as day, which seemed to make the vampire lord work faster.

He thrust his tongue inside her as her walls clenched around it, and quickly started tongue fucking her, while his fingers mover to her clit, torturing the sensitive nub.

His teeth, fingers and tongue all worked in sink as she felt the pit in her stomach grow. Her fingers gripped his hair, pulling him closer, and the vampire lord let out a chuckle that sent massaged her walls just perfectly.

His movements grew faster, as he held her thighs open, allowing him to dig his face deeper, in a way she didn’t even know was possible.

Her thighs began trembling as he sucked on her clit again, and then his tongue was brushing on that spot inside her that made her see stars.

“I’m-” she tried but words failed her as he worked her through her peak.

But Chaos understood. As he always did, as he always would.

“I know Ariel, let go for me” he laughed against her cunt at her desperation, contrasting the way she usually seemed disgusted of him.

Her orgasm crushed through her roughly, as Chaos didn’t stop his movements, working her through it all as he swallowed every last drop of it.

Then he was rising, his face wet with her liquids, but the movements of his fingers inside her did not stop one bit.

Lala’s back arched as her moans got louder, and Chaos’s pupils dilated at the sight, as he pumped his fingers faster.

Tears were forming at the edge of her eyer as the sound of his hand repeatedly entered her so wet heat filled the room. She became a babbling mess as she didn’t even understand what she was saying, only knew that she was begging him to end her agony and let her cum again.

“That’s it, scream your pretty little heart out” he murmured as he sped up his fingers.

In a matter of few minutes, he brought her to her second and third orgasm with his fingers, as his eyes focused solely on her beautiful face.

Getting to see Lala’s orgasm face after all those centuries of longing might as well have completed Chaos’s life.

As he dragged out her third orgasm with rubs on her clit and his fingers scissoring inside her, Lala suddenly grabbed his wrist.

“I need you” her voice breathless and her eyes full of honesty, that made Chaos stop his movements and finally moved to kiss her again.

The kiss was delicate, and soft, and so unlike what she had expected of him that she pulled away and showered his face with kisses. First the side of his lips, his nose, cheeks, forehead, and ended it with a soft peck at his lips.

When she pulled away, the raw emotion on Chaos’s face tickled her skin, as he looked at her with an intensity that would have anyone else fainting.

He moved his body on top of hers, as her fingers greedily unbuttoned his tunic and shoved it down his shoulders.

His bare chest was covered in scars, as she ran her fingers on top of them. He grabbed her hand, and brought it to his lips ad he placed soft pecks to each one of her fingertips.

His pants came off soon after that, his underwear following as she eyed his cock, hot and awaiting. He was so hard she was surprised it didn’t hurt him.

“See what you do to me?” he muttered with that male arrogance that made him so attractive. He kissed her neck- god her neck but… Chaos seemed to be controlling his urges, of sucking her blood out.

Probably because he was done controlling the urges of fucking her soul out.

He positioned his cock on her hole, as he turned to look into her eyes.

“Say my name” he looked at her expectantly.

“Chaos” she run her hands through his back, exploring him.

“No-no. My name.” he growled softly, as his eyes turned dark and pleading.

She understood- the scar of being seen only as the monster people claimed him to be. The monster she herself referred to him everyday.

She understood and her heart hurt at his pain.

So Lala stroked his cheek as she placed another soft kiss on his lips.

“Castor” she murmured.

And Chaos became a mad man once again.

His cock entered her, as he kept his eyes on her face, trying to memorise everything, from the way her nails dug in his back, to the way her mouth formed into an o shape, and her eyes squinted.

He tried to keep all of it in memory- just in case even after this, she decided she didn’t want him at all.

He gave her mere seconds to adjust, before he started thrusting into her, setting a slow gentle pace.

He was holding himself back- she realised. Holding himself back due to the fear of hurting her.

So Lala clenched around his cock, early a groan out of him, as he said,

“Give me everything, Castor”

And he did.

His thrusts turned into rough pounding, as her moans filled the room. He grabbed her legs and sat up, throwing them over his shoulders as his fucking turned faster.

The sound of skin to skin drowned out even Lala’s loud moans, as his eyes fixated on the way her breasts were moving while he fucked her.

Her eyes filled with tears, so overwhelmed of the pleasure he was giving her as her hands gripped the bedsheets.

“You’re so tight Ariel” he groaned and she knew she would never get tired of him inside her. She watched as he smirked and kept his eyes on their joining parts, as he drew back until only the tip of him was inside her, and slammed back in sharply, getting a sound out of her that was better than any other reward.

Her pussy began clenching around his cock, as she babbled nonsense starting from “Castor please” and ending to “Oh god Castor!” as he kept stuffing her cunt full in a brutal pace.

His fingers found her swollen nub, rubbing perfectly round circles on her, as her mouth fell open, the vampire lord succeeding in fucking her completely numb.

“Where is that attitude of yours now sweetheart, huh?” his thrusts never faltered as her thighs turned red from the pounding “Do you like my cock in you Ariel?” he teased, as he aligned her hips, turning her in an oh so perfect position that had her screaming out so loudly, he was surprised no vampires had interrupted them yet.

“Yes, yes, yes!” she shouted in a high pitched voice as Chaos’s cock brushed all of her sensitive spots “I love it! I love your cock so much”

And maybe any other time of the day she’d feel embarrassed at the way she was screaming for him.

But as Chaos let out a deep whine- a sound Lala was sure she’d remember forever- she let herself get lost in that moment with him. In what could’ve been.

“You love it huh?” he grinned wickedly as his balls kept smacking against her ass.

All of a sudden his smile faltered and his eyes snapped shut as he cursed under his breath, throwing his head up.

He was near- very near. His body fell on top of hers, the snapping of his hips never faltering, as she gripped at his shoulders, and he pressed quick pecks to her neck- her neck.

Her own hips started meeting his thrusts, fucking herself on his cock. His head moved as his eyes met hers.

“You want to know what I love?” he breathed out, as that same awe look returned in his pupils.

She should’ve said no.

“Yes”

“You” he moaned “I love you”

She was awful. She was a bitch who deserved nothing for doing this to him. For letting it get so far, when she knew they were never supposed to be together. A monster, a manipulator and so much more. But Lala was no liar, so she gave him her truest answer.

“I love you too”

He cried out, tears spilling out of his eyes and his thrusts turned feral.

“Ariel” His eyes were on her, looking at her with so much love and adoration as he neared his orgasm.

She kissed his mouth first, and then she moved to his teary cheeks, as she kissed his tears away.

And then they both lost it.

Lala screamed as her orgasm ripped through her, his fingers once again finding her clit and drawing out her pleasure for as long as he could, before he let out his loudest groan of the night, and locked his hips with hers, her legs wrapping around his waist pulling him close as he stuffed her full of his cum, so far deep.

His face fell into her neck, breathing heavily as she hugged him close, providing him the love he deserved.

They stayed like that for several minutes, breathing each other in, before he pulled out of her, smiling softly as he watched his cum drip out of her and her cheeks reddening.

He laid next to her, strong arms pulling her close, as her own cupped his face, kissing him softly. His hands ran through her body, massaging her ass, waist, back and breasts as he tried to memorise every single part of her, just in case she never let him have her again.

But she wouldn’t- not after what they had both admitted during sex.

“Ariel” her name came out hoarse as he looked at her with hope.

“Castor” she kept her eyes on his, smiling softly at how bare she had him in front of her. Not only in the sense of clothing- Chaos was completely bare and vulnerable.

“I need to- I need to know if you meant it” his eyes scanned her face, stroking her hair gently. “Because I did”

She moved on top of him, only to hug his shoulders and drag him to lay on top of her, his face in her chest, her fingers running through his hair as they embraced each other tightly.

“Tomorrow, Castor” she whispered “We will talk tomorrow” and kissed his forehead.

He looked at her deeply before nodding and closing his eyes.

Lala eyed the gorgeous male as his cheek pressed against her breast, ear against her heart.

She closed her eyes as well, and allowed them to have that moment. She provided him the safety and affection he so badly craved from her, as she felt him fall into a deep sleep.

And Lala smiled as she pulled the bedcovers on top of them, and went to sleep in Chaos’s sweet embrace.

Chaos groaned as he awoke, the sun striking his eyes.

He rubbed his eyelids, the thrill and happiness of yesterday’s moments still weighing on him.

He had her.

A smile grazed his lips as he nearly weeped with excitement. Centuries after begging the gods for her, after stealing any glimpse he could catch of her, after he desperately wished he could get the helm off just so if she were to maybe offer him a kiss, he’d take it.

There was no need for that now.

She loved him, as he loved her.

Chaos extended his hand towards her side, reaching for her as he always will from this moment and on.

But Chaos’s hand reached cold bedsheets only, and when his eyes adjusted, his only notice was of Lala as well as her clothing gone.

His smiled faltered. There was no way. She said she loved him. He felt her love him.

Unless she said it to feel your void, said the voice in his head.

Of course. Of course she didn’t. Of course she turned her back to him again, as she always had before.

Of course she’s never choose a monster like him.

And once again, Chaos turned into a mad man.

Taglist: @albdoooo @glassydesserts

#once upon a broken heart #ouabh series #jacks ouabh #evangeline fox #chaos valor #castor valor #lala lagrimas #ariel lagrimes #ariel lala #lala x chaos #castor x ariel

5 notes · View notes

princesssarisa · 12 days ago

Note

Im working into a more grim version of the beauty and the beast titled “the bleeding hart”,got inspired by various media and batb adaptations,here’s some notes now:

-The setting is more goth like in the late 1800s

-Miriam aka “beauty” is an artist than a reader (technically she reads specific biology books) but she had to put it aside to support her family and she works as a nurse so she saw lots of stuff.She has also a weird concept of nature,life and death and she ignores too much her mental health

-Beast is a basically a horror elk,a chimera of elk,jaguar/linx,wolf and snake with bones bursting out of the body and jewelry adorning his antlers,earring,piercings,necklaces,brackets and chains on arms and tail and he’s covered with scars.Personality is more cold than angry and when he’s feral he’s a horror scenario (this dude mauls animals and maybe people).As a prince (his name is Cain btw) before the curse he had a more vampiric appearance:pale skin,pale blonde hair with piercing blue eyes and had more destructive and ruthless behavior caused by abuses and himself,also obsessed with dissection and biology,after the curse he’s like Adam mixed with book accurate Frankenstein creature,very long black hair with white strands of hair,still blue eyes but he’s now covered with scars and has chronic pains

-The servants are entities (every age,nationality and even animals) The beast can see them but not belle and they’re “puppets-ghosts” wearing their servants clothes and a mask that if you take out there’s a hole instead of a face but one that looks it came from an mri scan

-The curse was a deal the prince made with a particular enchantress aka Lilith wanting to rule the reign (be careful what you wish for) and it lasted for more than 100 years.In those years it spread out a legend of a castle inhabited by the devil itself if you get lost in the woods and see a white elk guiding you there

-The figure of Gaston is an high class poacher,man of power hunger for conquests and posses the rarest species even if it will cause the extinction of the species,but he has worse to hide

-Miriam’s family follows the original story,father was a merchant in ruin and after the accident the father,four daughters and three sons has to survive from it,he sacrificed a lot to put them in better positions,he does his best even if it could cost his children well being

-Religious horror

-Bit more of blood and spicy elements

-Nobody here is actually straight

-Mentions of mental illness and s****de

This sounds fascinating!

Here are my ideas for my retelling, which at the moment is titled A Beast's Rose:

*It's a WLW retelling: both Beauty and the Beast are female.

*The setting is vaguely Russian-inspired, approximately the 17th or early 18th century.

*The Beauty character loves both books and music, as in the early versions of the tale. She's an aspiring poet and composer, though she gives it up to focus on everyday work after her family becomes poor.

*She's the eldest of three sisters rather than the youngest, which might make some people think I'm ripping off Howl's Moving Castle, especially because this version of the Beast is also a magician. The truth is that when I was little – before I had even seen the Disney version, I think – I saw a stage adaptation of the tale that made Beauty the eldest sister, and looking back, I like the way that change enhanced her role as the family nurturer.

*Her mother is the single parent whose freedom she exchanges her own for rather than her father. Her father died in the shipwreck that also cost the family their wealth.

*The Beast is a cross between a wyvern and a giant gray bat, much like the Great Animal from The Swan Princess, but with a long snakelike neck and giant sickle-shaped claws on her feet like a deinonychus. Her personality is also more cold than angry. When she was human, she was a beauty with long, dark brown hair, who looked quite a bit like Olivia Hussey as Juliet. (Yes, I use celebrity face casts.)

*In human form she was like a young lady Leonardo da Vinci: a talented artist, architect, and scientist. This also let her learn some magic, because in this fantasy world, magic is a science, derived from plants, animals, and other elements in nature. Unfortunately, the king – who was her cousin – cared less for her work than for her good looks. This was in an era when cousin romance and marriage was normal, and so he pursued her against her will. In desperation, she finally used the magic she had learned to turn herself into a beast to fight him off. But seeing how she had done it, he took control of the magic himself, and retaliated by cursing her never to change back to human form until she fell in love and was loved in return.

*Instead of an actual castle, she lives inside a hollow mountain, which she used her magical polymath skills to transform into a castle and garden on the inside. The mountain's forbidding rocky outside vs. its beautiful inside reflects her personality.

*The servants are small animals, inspired by the monkeys and birds from the original tale, yet like Disney's enchanted objects, they used to be human too. They were the few servants who tried to defend "Lady Beast" against the king's sexual harassment, and as a "crime-fitting" punishment, he used her transformation formula to curse them too.

*Unlike in most versions, the local peasants know that "Lady Beast" exists, but they think she's an evil monster and tell all sorts of terrible, untrue stories about her. It's like Elphaba's status in Wicked after she goes on the run, but without the political/revolutionary aspect.

I have many other ideas too, but I’m still sorting them all out.

#beauty and the beast #fairy tale #retelling #zoeloveconvers99 #the bleeding hart #my writing #a beast's rose

2 notes · View notes

timeagainreviews · 2 years ago

Text

The Secret Finality of “Survival”

An admirable quality of Doctor Who has always been its ability to adapt to change. From it’s genesis, it has overcome budget restraints and technical setbacks to the delight of many. Not even the need to replace their main actor could stop Doctor Who. It’s not easy then to try and dissect exactly why Doctor Who could not survive the 1980’s. There are key moments when the show alienated viewers in a major way, but sometimes shows wear out their welcome with general audiences. Even in the First Doctor era people were asking how much longer the show could continue. Had the show become a parade of changing faces? It’s ironic then that it was Patrick Troughton’s fresh face which reignited the mystery of the Doctor. Just when you thought you knew the Doctor, he became someone else entirely. Over the years, Doctor Who’s ability to renew itself proved to be its greatest asset. Sadly, however, the Sylvester McCoy era was to be the last regeneration for the original series of Doctor Who.

When production on season 26 began in 1988, rumours of cancellation were already in the air. Not only had public opinion shifted away from the show in dramatic fashion, but the budget had been gutted forcing more difficult and less controlled location shooting. Before the season had finished airing, the production crew knew there would be no season 27. Producer John Nathan-Turner was forced to scramble for some sort of final episode to cap off 26 years of a BBC family tradition. The season was originally supposed to end with “Ghost Light,” but it was decided that the three-part story “Survival,” would function better as a finale. At first glance, it’s easy to think “What? Why?” But I would argue that the reason is that it was always leading back to the Master, of course.

Doctor Who could probably have continued to battle monsters across space and time going from face to face for years. But even the Troughton era’s new visage could not overcome the rut writers had found themselves in with aimless base-in-peril stories. The Doctor needed a more personal threat. Daleks and Cybermen were of course classic baddies, but they were generally faceless and emotionless. Perhaps the villains should also have a face. Some of the more popular one-off antagonists were individuals who possessed strong wills and personalities. For example- the Toymaker, the Meddling Monk, Mavic Chen, or the ironically faceless Great Intelligence. It wasn’t until the Pertwee Era did the Doctor find his ultimate foe in the Master.

The introduction of the Time Lords sacrificed a bit of the mystery of the Doctor’s character. Suddenly, the cosmic vagabond had a home and a species. It’s only fair that in this sacrifice, we gained the Doctor’s perfect antagonist. The Master is everything the Doctor isn’t, while being exactly what the Doctor is. They both know the secrets of time travel. They both regenerate. They both have TARDISes. But the Master is that twisted reflection of the Doctor. The Twelfth Doctor once said “Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones, but you still have to choose.” But in the trolley problem that is life, the Master’s choices are self-serving and sadistic. The Master is the man who would have still bashed the caveman’s skull with a rock. This sort of sadism, masculinity, and war are at the forefront of first-time Doctor Who writer Rona Munro’s script.

Having recently explored Ace’s personal history in both “Ghost Light,” and “The Curse of Fenric,” it seems fitting that the Doctor and Ace should end up back in her hometown of Perivale. While the character arc of learning why she burned down the Gabriel Chase mansion as a child seems like a fitting end for her character, I would argue it’s just as interesting to see Ace return home. Rarely in classic Doctor Who were we shown the companions returning home, and usually it was always to say goodbye. Had we seen a season 27, this would have marked the first time a companion returned home only to continue travelling with the Doctor. This is just one of many ways in which Ace was the proto-modern companion. We often see modern Doctor Who companions returning home to check in with family and have a cuppa. These moments give us a glimpse into the way travelling with the Doctor has changed them. Ace’s reaction to Perivale is on par. But it’s not just Ace who has changed while she was away. Things in Perivale don’t exactly add up. Old friends have gone missing. And the local community centre is now populated by macho self-defence classes taught by a paranoid military man named Paterson.

I mentioned earlier that the budget put massive strains on the production crew. Despite this, they make excellent use of story craft. “Survival,” plays out more like an independent film than a serial from a classic BBC series. In some respects, this was Doctor Who back to its roots- a small ragtag crew putting emphasis on writing and creative problem-solving. There is an attempt at atmosphere. Perivale feels gritty and a bit run down, a detail Munro attributed to the town due to her own youth in a grittier Scotland under Margaret Thatcher. She would later reflect that when she actually saw Perivale, she found it charming. Mind you, the real Perivale never acted as a nexus for extraterrestrial kitty cats. And as a cat owner myself, those little fuckers do not respect personal property. They dig up the garden. They claw the sofa. They make nerds washing their cars disappear.

It would be easy to say that these first couple of episodes are sparse. Their synopses are among the shortest you’ll find on TARDIS Data Core. But that doesn’t mean they’re entirely empty either. The script to David Lynch’s Eraserhead was only 20 pages and it made an 88-minute film that my wife said felt like three hours. I would argue that building tone can be just as effective as narrative. Much of the first episode in particular feels like building a sense of desperation. There is desperation to leave Perivale. Desperation to find the missing youth of the town. Desperation to survive.

Perhaps the most desperate to survive is the Master. We’ve seen him on his last regeneration. We’ve seen him extra crispy. In the Eighth Doctor movie we see him so desperate to escape death that he’ll snake his way down Eric Roberts’ throat. And here we find the Tremas Master, wearing someone else’s face using the minds and bodies of the youth of Perivale to escape a sentient planet where he got himself trapped. For a newer writer and first timer to Doctor Who, I would argue that Munro absolutely nails the Master’s character. The Master will stoop to anything that will ensure his survival. It’s in his name. He must control others. He must control his destiny. He refuses to let death be his master. Even years later when John Simm’s Master chooses death, it is in his defiance of the Doctor. It is his refusal to let the Doctor control him. In the Master’s mind, other people exist only to serve his means.

Meanwhile, the equally astounding eternal god that is the Doctor is having trouble with catfood and the neighbourhood watch. I find no end of enjoyment in watching the Doctor shoo a dog away from cat food, so much so that I made it into a ten-minute loop. He’s escaped a Dalek holding cell, survived a murderous satellite, and avoided ritualistic execution. But at this moment, he just needs this dog to stop eating his cat food long enough to trap a Kitling. Having been spotted hiding away in some old nan’s garden, the neighbourhood watch is called in to see to the Doctor. This brings us back to Paterson, because of course it does. Paterson is exactly the kind of twit to be up in everyone’s business. I don’t blame the old nan though, you do what you gotta do to feel safe, boo.

It’s Ace’s scream that brings the Doctor and Paterson to the playground where Ace is being chased about by a “Cheetah People.” They really dug deep on that name there. Something I found myself enjoying was the way in which Ace used the metal playground structures to evade capture. It made me think about how Ace may have played in this very jungle gym as a child. Would she have made up stories in her head where she pretended to evade invisible enemies? In this way, Ace has a home-team advantage. This advantage is short-lived, however, after she is transported to the Cheetah Planet (another cracker of a name). The Doctor and Paterson also find themselves transported under its red sky as the Master stands by to greet them.

I joke about the name of the Cheetah Planet and the Cheetah People, but I do actually like some of the ambiguity. Sure, it maybe sounds like Charleton Heston is about to find half a Statue of Liberty, but I like that they’re a bit of a mystery. Even though the Doctor has heard of them, he doesn’t really know anything about them. We don’t know what to expect from our feline friends, but the introduction of the Master shows us that they’re probably victims as well. Once again the Master is using others for his own purposes.

Storywise, I would say episode two is probably the weakest of the three. Most of the episode is Ace avoiding Cheetah People and discovering her missing friends from Perivale, some of whom have been surviving on the Cheetah Planet for weeks. Something about the Cheetah Planet causes people to become feral. First changing their minds and slowly, over time, their bodies as well. This primal source holds the power to transform people into Cheetah People. Now, when Munro had originally written the script, she was thinking something a little more subtle. The Cheetah People were never meant to be in full masks, but rather closer to the facial prosthetics of Star Trek. You would have been able to see the actor’s performance underneath their new catlike features.

I mention this because the look of the Cheetah People is a sticking point for a lot of fans. Not even the cast or crew were happy with their look. Even Rona Munro complained that the masks were distracting from her lesbian subplot between Ace and Karra. Because if you can look beyond the mask, you’ll find a deeper story. While some furry Whovians out there may not have much trouble accepting a story about Cheetah People in bad fursuits, to others it was offputting. Because of that, I think Survival struggled and continues to struggle with being taken seriously. For me, it’s on par with “The Web Planet,” and the Menoptera, a similar story and creature that are often maligned by people who find them embarrassing. And like “The Web Planet,” you’ll find a story about anthropomorphic animals being controlled by a single sadist. They’re like Doctor Who’s Ewoks in that way. And like Ewoks, some people think they’re a mistake. Those people are wrong, by the way.

The Master does his best to look as though the Doctor has fallen into his trap, but what seems like a grand scheme is little more than a last-ditch effort to escape the Cheetah Planet. Due to the Kitlings’ ability to trap people there, the Master’s hope is to use this power to leave. He makes a great effort to look like the supreme overlord of this empire of dirt, but the Doctor sees right through him as always. He sees the Master’s gambit for what it is- the boasts of the most powerful man in prison. And the longer the Master finds himself on this forsaken planet, the less control he feels. Sure, the Master loves a bit of carnage, but it’s this loss of self that frightens him. Losing control of himself to the wild nature of the Cheetah Planet is another form of death, and as we know, the Master possesses a deep seated fear of losing control.

You’ll forgive me if my memory of the events that follow are a bit hazy. I’ve seen Survival several times and even now I struggle to recall key plot points. What’s important is that Ace has formed a bond with one of the Cheetah People, Karra (played by Doctor Who royalty Lisa Bowerman), and their running together has begun to turn Ace feral. It’s implied that running with the Cheetah People hastens the transition into ferality, but even with that consideration, Ace’s change feels abrupt. Some of Ace’s cohorts had been trapped for weeks without so much as a whisker. It’s a minor gripe from a serial plagued with minor gripes. I’m probably being fairer to Survival than I normally would because of the extenuating circumstances surrounding the production. An inexperienced writer, a show on the brink of cancellation, and a budget slashed to hell do this story no favours. In that way, it feels like a mean thing to judge it too harshly. And as we’ve seen from her return with “The Eaters of Light,” Munro can actually write.

Another thing this story does that acts as a sort of pre-cursor to modern Doctor Who (or in the continuity of the show- its very next episode) is the way the Master will take on companions of his own. Much like Chang Lee, Ace’s pal Midge is lied to and manipulated by the Master. The Master uses his feral nature to transport him back to Perivale which is exactly what he wanted. We can hand wave away how the Master knew Ace and the Doctor would ever return to Perivale long enough to notice all of Ace’s mates have gone missing. Like I said, minor gripes. Now in Perivale with kitty cat Midge, the Master literally pilots Midge around looking to recruit more young men into his harem… er… army.

Having escaped a catastrophe with the Cheetah People (with no thanks to the cowardly Paterson) the Doctor and Ace are now back in Perivale ready to square off against the Master and his group of misanthropes who may as well be carrying tiki torches if it wasn’t for the fact that it was broad daylight. The big showdown, however, appears in the form of the Doctor and Midge running motor bikes at one another in a game of chicken. By that description, the scene sounds less clever than it actually is, but when you follow the theme of the story, it says a lot. Initially, it is Ace who volunteers to run down Midge, but the Doctor knows if she were to engage, it would turn her completely feral. Knowing that his own mind is at stake, the Doctor still takes her place, refusing to let her fight his battles for him. The Master, on the other hand, is far more comfortable sending Midge in his stead. At this moment, we are given a visual representation of the fundamental difference between the Doctor and the Master’s ideologies. It is this scene that makes me believe Survival is actually the best choice they could have made for a final Doctor Who story.

Unable to accept defeat and leave well enough alone, the Master pulls the Doctor back to the Cheetah Planet for one final bestial showdown. But even in his increasingly feral state, the Doctor’s compasion overrides the instinct to bash the Master’s brain in with a skull. I referenced the First Doctor’s feeble attempt at bashing a caveman’s skull with a rock, and that wasn’t without reason. In an accidental manner, the show has brought the Doctor around full circle by echoing his first story. Originally it was Ian who had stayed his hand, and now, through years of travelling with human companions, it is the Doctor who stays his own hand. The Doctor refuses to live and die as an animal, and because of this, he is able to walk off into the sunset for future adventures.

Over the years, we learned that the Doctor is a Time Lord from Gallifrey. But even still, the Doctor defies explanation. But through meeting the Master, we learn what the Doctor very easily could have become. We may not know who the Doctor is, but through the Master, we have learned who the Doctor isn’t. In this last story with the Doctor, we don’t learn his name. Very little more information is gained about the Doctor. Instead, it is reiterated what the Doctor believes. Life is sacred. People aren’t pawns. Take responsibility for your problems. We also learn why the Master always loses- he only thinks about himself. Ultimately, it’s community and caring for others that ensures our survival.

#doctor who #Seventh Doctor #Sylvester McCoy #Survival #Rona Munro #Cheetah People #Cheetah Planet #Ace McShane #Sophie Aldred #Ace #Perivale #The Master #Tremas #Anthony Ainley #Season 26 #TARDIS #BBC #Time and Time Again #timeagainreviews

43 notes · View notes

obscurecharactershowdown · 2 years ago

Text

Group A Round 2

[image ID: the first image is of The Faceless One, a cartoon character. his face is mostly shadowed, but it looks white and skeletal. the robes of his outfit are purple and have skeletal decorations. he has a ragged cape, strong shadowed arms, and floating above one of his palms is a green object that looks like a face or helmet. the second image is of Leila Vernon, a smiling girl with short dark hair, lighting a candle in a witch's shoe. she's wearing a shirt or jacket with sleeves long enough to cover her hands completely. end ID]

The Faceless One

So, MotU likes to do this thing where every time they reboot, revive, or reimagine the franchise, they change Evil-Lyn's backstory. Well, in 2002 they decided to make Evil-Lyn the daughter of a new character: the Faceless One. This man is my emotional support fictional dad and let me tell you why! The Faceless One used to be the ruler of his city. He was a middle aged man who had only one child, late in life: Princess Evelyn (Evil-Lyn). But baby Lyn was captured by the Faceless One's enemies and used as a hostage for Faceless to use his powerful sorcery to revive a Goddess. But no price was to high and no act too insurmountable for him to get his daughter back. So, the Faceless One REVIVED THE PETRIFIED BODY OF THE DEAD GODDESS SERPOS. And he got his daughter back, and everything seemed great. Right? WRONG! The Goddess Serpos, awoken from her slumber went to the Faceless One's city and razed it to the ground. Killed everyone except for Faceless and Lyn. Faceless managed to get Lyn out safely. But as punishment for reviving a dead Goddess and sacrificing an entire civilization for one person, he was cursed to be an immortal ghost that is trapped in the ruins of his city for all eternity. But if given the chance to do things over again, the Faceless One would still do the same thing. Nothing is more important to him than his daughter. [additional propaganda 1]

Leila Vernon

I LOVE HER shes so cool. its been a while since ive read the books so hopefully i dont get anything wrong but she was an orphan obsessed w magic stunts yknow like houdini and stuff. the orphanage held an event for this magician Dante Vernon for the kiddos but Leila was bullied for being too optimistic so they locked her in a broom closet when he came so she couldnt see it (guys i cried). she managed to escape because she kept lockpicks on her and had practice so she managed to see the last act! then later she got adopted by Dante and his husband and theyre such a wholesome family i love them read the magic misfits please i beg of you

#obscurecharactershowdown #group a round 2 #obscure poll #the faceless one #masters of the universe #leila vernon #the magic misfits #neil patrick harris

11 notes · View notes

rockislandadultreads · 1 year ago

Text

Libby Spotlight: eAudiobook Hallow-Reads

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (read by August Ross)

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

Yet she spares Cas's life.

This is the first volume of the "Anna" series.

The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates (read by Adam Verner)

An incomparable master storyteller in all forms, Joyce Carol Oates spins six imaginative tales of suspense in The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares.

“The Corn Maiden” is the gut-wrenching story of Marissa, a beautiful and sweet eleven-year-old girl with hair the color of corn silk. Taken by an older girl from her school who has told two friends in her thrall of the Indian legend of the Corn Maiden, in which a girl is sacrificed to ensure a good crop, Marissa is kept in a secluded basement and convinced that the world has ended. Marissa’s seemingly inevitable fate becomes ever more terrifying as the older girl relishes her power, giving the tale unbearable tension with a shocking conclusion.

In “Helping Hands,” published here for the first time, a lonely woman meets a man in the unlikely clutter of a dingy charity shop and extends friendship. She has no idea what kinds of doors she may be opening.

The powerful stories in this extraordinary collection further enhance Joyce Carol Oates’s standing as one of the world’s greatest writers of suspense.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (read by Simon Vance)

A very young woman's first job: governess for two weirdly beautiful, strangely distant, oddly silent children, Miles and Flora, at a forlorn estate... An estate haunted by a beckoning evil. Half-seen figures who glare from dark towers and dusty windows- silent, foul phantoms who, day by day, night by night, come closer, ever closer. With growing horror, the helpless governess realizes the fiendish creatures want the children, seeking to corrupt their bodies, possess their minds, own their souls. But worse-much worse - the governess discovers that Miles and Flora have no terror of the lurking evil. For they want the walking dead as badly as the dead want them.

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon (read by Cassandra Campbell)

West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.

Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she's not the only person looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

#horror #fall reading #spooky reads #reading recommendations #reading recs #book recommendations #book recs #library books #tbr #tbr pile #to read #fiction #booklr #book tumblr #book blog #library blog #readers advisory

3 notes · View notes

zorilleerrant · 7 months ago

Note

Giles and Ethan is such huge ship in the BtVS fandom, you'd be surprised if you aren't in it with us. And it's been popular since the show was on the air! They actually have several episodes together but their story isn't overall that important to Buffy's plot (altho it does underpin a lot of extremely emotional Giles scenes, my favorite being when he kills Ben) so I'll try to summarize:

Ripper (Giles) and Ethan were friends as teenagers; they pushed each other further and further in learning dark magic, even though it was dangerous to everyone involved. With some of their other friends, they started a demon worshiping cult; this ended up killing one of their friends and was generally rock bottom for the whole gang who parted ways.

References and imagery of this time in their lives are also heavily punk inflected so they may have been in a band together

While Giles went on the genre equivalent of the White Magic path, Ethan went further and further into Chaos Magic, following all kinds of strange entities and building up enormous power. He essentially gained the life they'd dreamed of as aspiring witches when they were young.

The first time we meet Ethan, he's been contracted for a con: he needs to talk Buffy into wearing a cursed costume, and then set a spell in motion to catch her off guard, so she can be killed. (It's not his job to kill her, though.) He knows how important this is in a philosophical, almost religious sense to Giles, and also has some inkling that Giles considers Buffy family, like a daughter, although he's not aware how deep the feelings run. Clearly this is in some sense personal to him, although whether he's jealous or thinks he's freeing Giles or wants revenge or in some twisted sense thinks this can bring him into Giles's family, is ambiguous.

Giles then tortures Ethan. This is possibly The Scene. Huge fodder for whumpers and enemies-to-lovers fans the whole way through. He tortures for information, then to make Ethan reverse the spell, then, at the end, after everything is fixed, a little bit more just because he can. This is the reveal of Ripper/his dark side, and the way the actors play the tension is just delightful, especially since it's never really explained, so it's nothing but bits and pieces as fandom fodder for the rest of the show.

Ethan returns when someone is hunting and killing their entire group of childhood friends. He turns to Giles for help. Even after their last meeting, he's willing to trust Giles, and expects Giles to trust him. He's willing to kill for Giles, yes, but also to kill so Giles doesn't have to, to spare him the pain. He knows Giles is willing to lay down his life for Ethan even though he hates him, and Ethan is, consequently, willing to die for Giles... maybe. Which side they're on is so ambiguous and shifting and there are Big Emotions but they never quite face them head on.

Later Ethan returns when contracted for another job. The fact that he keeps returning to Sunnydale, where he knows his Ripper lives is clearly pining; the fact that he avoids the man until they inevitably run into each other again implies his feeling are either too strong or too complicated for him to deal with. I mean, yeah, he's, like, demon sacrificing a bunch of babies, but at the same time... the way he chose to enable that is by bringing back the teenage versions of all the adults in town. The teenage version of Ripper. The version he knew. The version he loved. And even after going through this far too complex process of a spell that he didn't necessarily have to, he's still too scared to talk to the version he worked so hard to bring back.

Ethan returns again to get revenge; he's cooked up a convoluted scheme to once and for all get back at Giles. Whether it's because he felt abandoned, he's jealous of Giles getting back on the Righteous Path, he thinks that should be their family, etc. - all are good ship fodder. He weaves a complicated spell to turn Giles into the thing he hates most, the thing repulsive and disgusting to him, the thing he's worked his whole adult life to fight. And he turns Giles loose so his so-called family will turn on him and kill him, just the way that Ripper turned on Ethan.

Before this, though, even knowing what's he's planned to do, Ethan spends the night drinking and laughing with Giles like the old friends they are, wondering where they went wrong, if they could ever get back there, how things might have turned out differently. There's nostalgia and longing and regret, and, still, he looks Giles in the eye and says, "I poisoned your drink." And he did.

which poll has had your favorite response so far? im biased, but the consternation in the black sails one had me chortling

i haven’t watched this show but, considering i could only find like 3 photos of them, i was not expecting there to be such a passionate response about the history between rupert giles & ethan rayne from buffy the vampire slayer 😭 like who are those old men and what on earth did they do to each other

#look I said something #these two are my absolute favorite they have like every single thing that wiggles my What If thoughts #also there are more shots of them together there are just only like two that are popular. and some are Demon!Giles so not obvious

95 notes · View notes

beevean · 2 years ago

Text

I just. The parallels in Hector and Isaac’s designs are so good.

I love the angel/devil motif they have going on. Hector is conventionally pretty, with a soft face, long wavy silver hair, baby blue eyes, and is dressed in blue (and black, to symbolize his dark past). Isaac has stronger features (which is a godsend among the plethora of “same faced long haired pretty boys” drawn by Kojima), slick red hair that covers half of his face, grey/yellow eyes, and is dressed in reddish black. He even wears red makeup and has black tattoos all over his body.

The angel/devil motif is blazoned in the Devil Forgemaster crest as well, as they’re not one thing or the other, but in between. Not angels nor devils, not fully human nor fully otherworldly, always on the edge: from there, they choose their own paths. And I adore when in fanart their positions are reversed compared to the placement of the wings on the crest <3

https://at.tumblr.com/whitecatarts/hector-and-isaac-castlevania-has-always-been-one/2clhzacnuoqj

Speaking of Isaac in particular, red hair and yellow eyes hint at some kind of demonic nature. In the franchise, only two other characters have flaming red hair: the vampire Walter, and the Succubus in SoTN (and Simon in Chronicles, but I don’t understand why). Red hair has been historically associated with witchcraft and vampirism, and Isaac descends from a formidable family of dark sorcerers and is the loyal servant of a vampire. As for the yellow eyes, the only other character in the series with the same color is Alucard, a half-vampire. There is enough evidence to theorize that Isaac could be a cambion, or a changeling. After all, he and his sister Julia look absolutely nothing alike... Too bad that it would ruin the overall theme of “humans who don’t belong to the human world” :\ it’d make for an interesting AU, I think.

And yet, and yet. They still have part of each other in their design. Hector has a red sash wrapped around his waist; Isaac’s armor includes a little blue crystal. They also carry the pain caused by the other: Rosaly’s black headband is wrapped around Hector’s sash, as her tragic fate was caused by Isaac and Hector’s past; Isaac’s outfit is what’s left of his Devil Forgemaster uniform after Hector slashed and broke it, much like Hector’s actions indirectly broke Isaac. They’re intertwined to the core.

Isaac having the Devil Forgemaster’s crest tattooed on his back says a lot about him. Unlike Hector, who could take off his vest and stop being recognizeable as a Forgemaster, Isaac chose to be branded for life. This might also be why he stayed away from human civilization during those three fateful years: he really couldn’t have shown his face, or better his body, anywhere. It speaks about his loyalty, running much deeper than Hector’s, but also of his insecurity, so eager he was to show his commitment to his Lord. Hector didn’t need to be tattooed: his proficiency was more than enough.

Even their own names are parallels of each other! Hector is Greek in origin (most famous example being General Hector of the Trojan War) and it means “to hold fast” or “restrain”, hinting at his strong will that allows him to break free from Dracula’s Curse. Isaac is Biblical in origin and refers to the son of Abraham, who was nearly sacrificed in the name of God to prove Abraham’s loyalty: Isaac, loyal to Dracula beyond reason, also get sacrificed to his “God”, but unlike his namesake, he was not saved in time. It also means “he will laugh”, which Isaac does... a lot... not for good reasons...

Honestly at this point my only problem is with the details of Hector’s design. I have no clue of what’s going on with his arms, or if he has holes in his pants and how he covers them. But otherwise I really appreciate how much thought was put into both of them. And this is not even getting into the parallels of their personalities.

#castlevania #curse of darkness #hector castlevania #isaac laforeze #i care them... i care them too much...

33 notes · View notes

blzzrdstryr · 4 years ago

Text

Generous offering

Yandere!Zhongli x gn!Fatui Harbinger!reader

Wordcount:1843

CW:Yandere themes

There are several simple things one should know before dealing with the archons - be respectful and polite, speak only when you’re allowed to and most importantly - never forget that archons aren’t humans.

The first two rules are instinctive - it’s natural for humans to simper and bow before the forces far greater than them, while the latter is not; on the contrary it’s counterintuitive and unexpected. People tend to project, tend to humanize - they see kindness when there’s none and make a huge mistake of assuming that archons see things the way they see it.

Tsaritsa, for example, lacks humanity, despite holding the title of Goddess of Love. The love that she holds for you is different from love mothers and fathers give to their children, or love that young sweethearts share at night, it’s cold and impersonal and undeniably cruel.

Tsaritsa says that she loves all of you and she loves Snezhnaya, yet she lashes out a harsh and gruelling punishments at every perceived failure and rules her land with an iron fist, one would think that the cryo archon is a liar and a hypocrite, who uses pretty, flowery words to hide the atrocities she commits, but this perspective is flawed. Tsaritsa loves all of you and she loves Snezhnaya, she’s just not human enough to properly express this.

That’s why it’s a bit jarring to see the ancient lord of these lands in his mortal form - he lacks the same otherworldly terror and grandiose that every of Tsaritsa’s move and word carry, yet he also possesses the air of wisdom and elegance so refined that rare person can reach it. It’s easy to assume that he’s human.

Rex Lapis, or “Zhongli” as he calls himself now invites you to the Liuli pavillion the second day after your arrival, for tea and local cuisine as he says, and who are you to decline a God?

Liuli staff hurries and dashes around, preparing their best room for you - Fatui are known for their seemingly endless finances, no wonder they’re in haste. “Please make yourself comfortable, dear guests”, the waiter curtsies and leads you to the dining room, which happens to be richly furnished and decorated with high-quality darkwood furniture and the hand painted wall panels further accentuating the luxury of the restaurant.

One of these panels illustrate different scenes from the Liyuen mythos - a battle of mighty and wise adepti against the horde of demons, Rex Lapis aiding his people in building the Harbour and the most spectacular one - a majestic dark brown dragon with golden fur and feathers descending to the devoted worshippers, who in turn present him with their offerings and gratitude.

He orders tea and meals for both of you, as you start to converse about the plan that he is determined to bring into life - the so-called test of Liyue, and the guarantee of you obtaining his gnosis.

“And what about your colleague?”, he sips a bit of his tea, intense amber eyes piercing right through you. He looks both human and non-human in this moment, both undeniably mortal softness and frailty seen in his figure and the barely concealed divinity, the sense of awe slowly seeping into air mixing in one person.

“And what about him? Tsaritsa and you have negotiated everything beforehand, I will make sure that he plays his part properly”, he hums at your answer, lowering his gaze deep in thought. You start on your own tea.

Ah, Childe, if only he knew why exactly he’s here - a distraction and a scapegoat. You even feel bad for him - it’s truly unfair to be lied to by your own Goddess. However, it’s also not a big surprise - Childe is the loudest out of all Harbingers in all senses. Infamous for his skills and battle obsession, his name is enough to have people both shivering in fear and cursing him.

“What do you think of your archon? Was serving her of any use to you?”Rex Lapis unexpectedly asks.

You lean back in your seat, thinking what to say.

“Tsaritsa is a gentle soul, she declared war only to protect us, her subjects and I am ready to aid her in whatever undertaking she starts”.

“Will you continue to serve Tsaritsa, if her action might put you in danger, make you suffer and bring unnecessary grief?”, he leans closer to you, his human features distorting enough to reveal the ancient dragon sleeping inside. His eyes shine a cold golden glow and accurate fingernails morph into sharp, dark claws.

“Yes”, you breathe out, mesmerized and terrified by the sudden change: “Her love knows no bounds, yet she always puts the needs of the nation before anyone else. If my suffering can help Snezhnaya, then I will accept it with open arms”, he moves back at your answer, all draconic traces gone in an instance, upper corner of his lips subtly rising - whatever you said must’ve pleased him immensely.

The conversation flows back into the territory of plans to be realized, yet the cold sensation of dread still clings to you, your gut feeling yelling at you to get up and run. You remain seated to the end of your meeting, politely conversing with the God that terrifies you.

***

Days slowly grow into weeks and Childe acts just as you have expected - the Eleventh Harbinger might be smart, yet even he wouldn’t be able to see what two of you are scheming. Still, you request Ekaterine, a spy you planted in Northland bank, to keep you updated on the Tartaglia’s actions - extra caution never hurts.

You continue to meet up with geo archon, as you two discuss your next actions. Tartaglia has started cooperating with that blonde foreigner Signora has warned you about, and while this union doesn’t pose any threat to your plans, it’s always good to have a plan B, just in case something happens.

Sometimes your conversation develops into a more unexpected direction, as you find the archaic lord more chatty and tending to ramble, than any of Liyuen historians would dare to picture him as. One on such occasion he talks with you about dragons - benevolent deities who protect and bless their people in an exchange of generous offerings.

His eyes devour you, as he retells you ancient folktales and you suppress your discomfort, preferring to attribute his honestly unnerving behaviour down to his lack of humanity - he was never human in the first place.

That’s why you also prohibit yourself from viewing him as anything but God - Rex Lapis in his “Zhongli” persona is genuinely attractive, he’s well-mannered and obviously handsome and far more knowledgeable than any mortal should be. If you didn’t know of his true nature you would have fallen for him by now - it’s hard not to.

Life, how strange that wouldn’t sound, goes as usual - you get Ekaterine’s report on what Childe’s up to and if it’s something unexpected you book a Liuli pavilion room and send an invitation to the funeral parlour consultant. You only need to wait until Childe gets desperate enough and decides to use the sigils of permission to unleash the well-awaited chaos.

This routine however is soon broken by the appearance of familiar ashy-white hair in the distance. She doesn’t wear her signature mask or dress, nor are there agents at both of her sides, yet you can still clearly recognize her. Signora leaves the Wangsheng building in haste, cape with the hood concealing most of her face and figure, except the long locks of hair, peeking from inside.

What is she doing here?

You thought that Tsaritsa sent two of her servants - Tartaglia and you, him to “test” Liyue, you to oversee the former’s actions and obtain gnosis, there’s no need to send her too.

Your mind races, as you search for a logical explanation of Signora’s presence as your memory supplies the piece of first conversation you had with “Zhongli” - could it be that Tsaritsa also sent you to play a role you have no idea of?

Cryo archon is a goddess of love and her love is cruel and unforgiving, she has sacrificed countless chess pieces before, so it wouldn’t be surprising if she did that again - you are nothing but a pawn after all, one of the tools she uses to exact her will and force her vision, all of the Harbingers are.

You want to believe that you can accept and resign to whatever hardship and fate your Goddess might subject you to. You can’t.

***

Adepti and Qixing converse at the pier of the seaport, as you hurry to the Northland Bank, a slight smile playing on your lips - Childe has finally done it - he summoned an ancient god to lure out Rex Lapis, ultimately proving that Liyue can stand without him.

There are sounds of heated argument heard when you open the building’s door and then you see it - Signora and Tartaglia exchanging barely concealed insults and “Zhongli” standing nearby.

“[Harbinger]? What are you doing here?”, the ginger shifts his gaze onto you, a rare emotion of hurt and disbelief flickering in his dead fish eyes. “Of course, Tsaritsa sent you too”, he smiles, angry and disappointed. “Seems that whole world wants to make a bad guy out of me”, he stomps out of the room, leaving you with Signora and “Zhongli”

“[Harbinger]”

“Signora'', you acknowledge each other, after she trails exiting Childe with her eyes.

“I am here to take the gnosis of Rex Lapis”, she says and you nod, accepting that your Goddess lied to you too: “Tsaritsa also asked me to give you this letter”, she extends her arm, a thick envelope with the familiar seal catching your attention.

With the trembling hands you snatch it out of her hold and almost rip the envelope - for what reason did Tsaritsa send you here?

She writes that you need to stay in Liyue for an undetermined period of time to upkeep “the agreement” made between her and Rex Lapis. You read her message silently, yet when your eyes trace over these words, the sensation of “ “Zhongli’s” eyes on you becomes ten times sharper and stifling. You don’t know what to do.

The other Harbinger leaves too, taking the gnosis with her, as “Zhongli” takes a couple of steps to you, touching your shoulder in a somewhat reassuring gesture. “[First]”, he starts, tone sympathetic and soothing. You don’t fall for it.

“You had your hand in it, didn't you?”, you hiss and accuse, throwing an angry glance at him, momentarily forgetting about the first two rules of dealing with archons.

He smiles, revealing two sharp fangs, his surprisingly scaly hands snaking around yours. “Yes”, Rex Lapis admits, and looks nothing like gentle and knowledgeable “Zhongli”. How could you forget? Archons aren’t humans, humanity is just a fancy dress they don to toy with mortals. He is the dragon, not the benevolent deity that is painted on the wall panels of Liuli pavillion, but a greedy and ancient creature, hungry for gifts and gratitude.

You are his generous offering.

#yandere genshin impact #Yandere genshin #Yandere Zhongli #Yandere Zhongli x reader #Yandere genshin impact x reader #Yandere genshin x reader #Male yandere #my writing #Yandere x reader #Male yandere x reader

489 notes · View notes

athyathye · 4 years ago

Text

Fast reflexes

The times wherein they saved you from getting hurt with their fast thinking and agility.

(Ran, Hanma and Izana)

Author's note 📝: hello everybody~!

Warnings ⚠️: Vioence, mentions of blood, curse words and more

Ran :

Hanging around with him and his brother was your way of a date.

Even though he won’t admit it, he cares deeply for his brother, and he wasn’t going to allow anyone to ever wrong Rindou while he was around.

The same goes for you as well, Nobody would dare do anything to you while he was around.

Those times where he wasn’t? You’ve got your own bodyguard namely Rindou but it varies.

To say people were scared to interact with you was an understatement, they couldn’t even glance at you even when you were in the same room as them.

Which was surprising because Ran made you stick to him like glue.

Every meeting, every fight you were there, and no one could tell you to leave.

Ran made sure of that of course.

This particular time, all 3 of you were just chilling, doing whatever while you had your back on one of the few sturdy walls from the abandoned building Ran had found.

Ran and Rindou were somewhere near you, but had enough distance to make sure you couldn’t hear them.

After all, you may be one of them, but they weren’t going to risk dragging you into their life-or-death plans.

Sadly, what Ran had miscalculated was the fact that some people really were desperate enough to get revenge on him.

Sacrificing time and sleep to make sure they’d have the right opportunity to smack him in the back.

Tilting your head back, bored out of your mind, what you didn’t expect was to be face to face with a man who had a look of pure anger.

His veins almost bursted from his face and neck, swinging a metal bat at you.

You didn’t even have the time to scream before you got tackled out of the way by Ran.

You closed your eyes as you felt a hand on the back of your head, another on the small of your back.

“Ran!” You heard someone scream along with a light impact on your body that you guessed was from the intruder.

You opened your eyes urgently, face to face with Ran’s pained one. Looking to the left you saw Rindou on top of the man, raining punches on his face.

“You ok?” Ran asked you, checking your face thoroughly, letting your hand travel to his chest, clutching his shirt as you felt the aftershock run through you.

Hanma :

Contrary to popular belief, I want to believe Hanma would be a good boyfriend.

The type of lover to only show you his real side, while still being the goofy but violent person he was.

The cute type of boyfriend who’d ask you if you had eaten, if you slept well, if you want him to bring you food.

Doing anything to make you satisfied because he’d never want to lose you, so you’d never get tired of him.

He was definitely one for romance, though the thrill of fighting kept him happy, the soothing sensation of your love kept him alive.

Now, you were described as the sickly-type. Always having to get admitted to the hospital at least once a year because of your weak constitution.

And Hanma knew that, how could he not when he already experienced some of your moments, that was why he made it a habit to bring alcohol or a handkerchief on him.

Making sure to keep you from numerous sickness-prone areas or objects like dust bunnies.

Though he didn’t want to bring you with him, he hated not being with you more.

So he did the only logical thing to do, make you wear a hat and a mask when you were strolling with him through the gang activities he did.

That was why the people who encountered you with him could never take a good look at you, nor could they even stand near you.

But that was before the fateful moment of your feeble body.

From the numerous people glancing at you, it unquestionably made you nervous, and what happens when you’re nervous? You have difficulty breathing.

That was when you grabbed Hanma’s sleeve, a hand on your chest as your eyes grew hazy, only staring at the scene in front of you.

“Hey, hey, you ok?” He spoke in slight alarm, pushing the other people who surrounded him and you away.

Beginning to lead you away from the hectic gang meets. Before somebody had called out to him, “HANMA YOU PIECE A’ SH*T WHERE THE F*CK DO YOU THINK YER GOIN’?” One furiously provoked.

“F*ck” He cursed to himself as he made one of his trusted lackeys to guard you, meaning K*saki.

He turned around after making sure K*saki was going to take good care of you, wanting to end the fight as soon as possible.

Meanwhile your eyesight was beginning to grow more and more hazy, before ultimately reaching forward to grab something, only to fall backwards.

But before you could have a harsh impact on the ground, Hanma heard Kisaki’s small sound of surprise.

Immediately glancing back at you, his body automatically moved forward as he caught you.

Carrying you bridal style as he practically ran to the nearest hospital.

Not caring about the way he exposed you and himself as he just tore off your mask to allow you to breathe more properly.

Only caring about your well-being.

Izana :

Izana is extremely powerful, we all know that.

But he was weak when it came to you.

That was the reason why Kakucho didn’t really want you around them that much.

Now don’t get me wrong, he likes you, he really does. He was happy Izana finally found someone willing enough to be with him and vice versa.

It was just, exactly that. Izana was weak when it came to you.

And who else would take advantage of the situation?

That was his thoughts as he watched Izana smile so casually and brightly at you.

The both of you, being so lovey dovey on the sides, away from the rest of the gang, Sitting on the edge of a building’s balcony.

Izana laid his head on you lap, making you brush his hair for him, allowing him to relish on the smooth and gentle touches you provided

Uncaring about the rest of the world at the moment as accompanied with your light grazes was also the soft breeze of the wind, lulling him to a false sense of security.

“Well don’t you look relaxed, Izana” A gruff voice called out to him, which in turn, immediately made him tense up.

Securely grabbing you by your waist to put you down from the dangerous place before a person grabbed him, restricting him from any more movements.

He curiously glanced around, taking note of the number of people and how strong they looked, then back at you who was anxiously peeking at him, your hands tight on the railings to prevent you from moving.

“Ahh, why are you so tense pal? I’m not gonna hurt you.” He chuckled, swinging a hand on Izana’s shoulders, who looked tense but stoic.

“Well at least not you-” The man’s hand reached to push you, hard enough to make you let go of the railings and surprising enough to catch you off guard, losing your balance as you tipped backward.

Scared out of your wits, you closed your eyes, dreading what you were about to see, only to feel something prevent you from dangerously falling.

You opened your eyes, seeing the man who had pushed you sporting a bloody nose.

And Izana clenching his teeth while holding you, with all his might, in one hand.

You snapped out of your trance, immediately holding onto the railings to lessen the burden on Izana.

That was when you heard the frantic yells of Kakucho and the others, as well as the sounds of groans and punches.

The moment you glanced up once more you saw the slight genuine smile on Izana.

“It’s fine, you’re fine.” You didn't know whether he said that to comfort you or himself.

But you knew, it was truly fine.

#tokyo revengers x reader #izana kurokawa x reader #izana x reader #ran x reader #haitani ran x reader #ran haitani x reader #hanma x reader #shuji hanma x reader

837 notes · View notes

superhero--imagines · 4 years ago

Text

Etsy Store Here l Ko-Fi l Commission Info

Part 2 Here!/ Part 3 Here! / Playlist Here!

* Sorry guys but this mans been living in my head rent free

* So the first time you see Satoru it’s with those black specs he likes to wear and you get a glance at those GORGEOUS eyes

* He meets your eyes for a second before looking away, it’s the briefest of interactions

* But your heart is racing and you can feel the familiar heat of attraction starting to lap at your face

* ‘He looks just like a prince’ you think

* You find out pretty fast the ‘prince’ similarities stop at appearance

* “Ah it’s not my fault you’re so weak~” You hear him say with the princely smile as he teases Utahime

* It looks like he’s held something so high she can’t reach it

* “Try your best, if you drink plenty of milk I’m sure you’ll be tall enough one day~” he says before laughing with that same princely face

* “You shouldn’t pick on those that are weaker than you” Geto intervenes, somehow making the entire situation worse

* You watch as Gojo laughs

* You’re starting to think he might be the real curse you need to exorcise

* You continue watching him as Utahime tries to kick him in the crotch

* “You silly girl, did you forget there’s an infinity between us?” Cue Gojo’s “A-hahahahaha” laugh

* Yeah, he’s definitely a demon

* You keep your distance, Gojo’s beautiful and all, but you’re not dumb, you’ve heard about the Satoru clan.

* “Hey Geto-Kun, who do you think would win in a fight me or a lion?”

* Besides that guy is way too reckless, you’d rather not get all mixed up in that if you can help it

* You watch as Satoru takes his shirt off, his well defined chest glistening

* Still, you’re grateful for the show

* Little do you know the famous Gojo Satoru has taken note of you as well

* Naturally given his ability he notices everyone, but he especially takes note of you

* It’s not because you stand out, quite the opposite

* You blend into the background easily, supporting others when needed

* But not to the degree where you unable to defend yourself, or you’re sacrificing your own life for someone else

* He grins

* Looks like he found something interesting

* You’re at the vending machine eyes racking over the drink selection

* But there’s another thirst quenching sight right next to you, their hand resting on the vending machine, that princely smile aimed right at you-

* “So what do you say?” Satoru asks, and you start to wonder if that princely smile seems just a bit wolfish “Do you want to be my lover?”

* You’re kind of annoyed

* What an impetuous question, you can count on one hand how many times you’ve spoken to each other, and you only need both hands to count the words said in each of those encounters

* “No”

* You turn your attention back to your drink choices, it’s pleasant weather so you don’t want anything hot.

* Anything carbonated is out of the-

* Gojo moves closer, peering into your face with that grin

* Ugh does he have to stand so close

* “Why ‘no’? I know you think I’m attractive”

* “I also think you’re a womanizer with a god complex”

* And really why shouldn’t he be?

* He’s probably the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen in your life, not to add the sheer power he contains in that body of his

* But just as he has the right to be a womanizer with a god complex, you have the right not to take part in that narrative

* He backs away, leaning back against the wall

* So he’s not going to deny it

* Well, at least he’s somewhat self aware

* Those clear blue eyes catch yours again, and you have to fight against every human instinct from showing any human reaction

* You turn back to the vending machine making your selection when a smile lilts onto his mouth

* “Friends then”

* “Just colleagues” you reply, grabbing your drink

* But as you walk by you push a canned beverage into his chest.

* It’s a can of green tea

* It’s his favorite drink

* He looks to you seeing a bottle glinting in your hand

* So you didn’t sacrifice your own thirst, but you also didn’t ignore his needs

* He feels that same wolffish grin curl onto his mouth

* “What an entertaining person”

* After that if you’re anywhere within a 50 feet radius of him he’ll go out of his way to get your attention

* “Oh wow, looking especially radiant this morning (Y/N/N)” he’ll say with a playful seductive wink

* When you don’t respond he tries annoying you instead

* “Ah you can’t reach that? Here let me-” and then he’ll proceed to hold it even further out of your reach

* He’s expecting you to jump up and down, or at least give some sort of response but you just walk away

* Well that wasn’t what he expected

* He feels that grin spread across his face again

* Very interesting

* His attraction to you is pretty shallow

* He’s interested you because you’re entertaining

* And you’re entertaining because you aren’t interested

* Which only makes him that much more interested in you

* Its a paradox

* You watch him flounder around, annoying Utahime for a giggle

* Well it doesn’t matter anyway, you know how he is, he’ll get bored soon enough and lose all interest in you

* He’s not the strongest {f*ckboy} for nothing

* You see him turn to meet your gaze, offering a boyish smile and a wink

* You make sure not to give any reaction, turning to listen to something Shoko is telling you

* You hope he can’t sense the twinge of heat you feel on your face

* You’d be lying if you said you didn’t find the attention a little flattering

* I think for the most part you’re right, Satoru is mostly playing around-

* At least at first.

* You’re just something new and fun no one knows about, and wildly entertaining since you never respond the way he thinks you will

* You’re kind, but not at the expense of yourself, and he likes that

* Besides you’ve got this quite sort of consideration for others-

* It’s not flashy, it’s so subtle most people hardly notice

* It’s in the way you bring an extra snack for Utahime when she’s running herself ragged training

* “They were having a two for one special”

* Or the way you’ll get your teacher a plushie you saw at a shop at the station because you know he needs more

* “I just thought it was cute, but I haven’t got any room for another one”

* You’re quiet, someone who hears things and she’s things, but never says anything about them

* A wallflower

* But you’re not weak

* There’s something about those two things put together in the same person that entertains him to no end. Like a paradox or a puzzle he can’t seem to solve no matter how hard he tries

* Satoru’s had at least a hundred lovers, and a great many of them had provided him with their own brand of kindness and consideration

* But he’s never felt something as warm as when he see’s a lunch box in his dorm after he hobbles back from a mission that lasted a little longer than expected

* He peers at the note attached, it’s not even signed but he knows it’s from you

* “I know you think you’re god or whatever, but even gods have to eat”

* He doesn’t know why, but he’s overcome with the urge to cry

* He gulps hard- it’s not like this a lunch you made by hand or anything, it’s just something from the convenience store

* And it’s not like this note is particularly affectionate or special either, he’s gotten entire love letters from his previous lovers

* So he’s not sure why he saves your note, placing it behind a picture frame where only he’ll know it is , or why he thinks that convenience store lunchbox is the most delicious thing he’s ever had

* Even though he knows he cares about you, and that he’s grown quite fond of you -

* I don’t think it clicks for him

* And part of that is because well, he’s Gojo Satoru

* He collects lovers like some people collect photographs or memories

* They serve their purpose, and he lets himself be entertained by pretending all the feelings are real, and then he moves on to the next one

* It’s just what he’s used to

* And this whole paradox you two have going on could go on for a few years until something finally shifts

* He went a little too far with one his half-flirting-half-tormenting pranks

* And for the first time you give him a reaction, it’s only for a second, but annoyance and anger mar you face

* And then just like that, it’s gone and you turn and walk off in the other direction

* Sh*t.

* He went too far didn’t he?

* It should be fine right? You’re not too mad at him right? You’ll get over it-

* Right?

* But for the next few days you don’t speak to him, and you don’t make eye contact

* It bothers him more than it should

* Normally he would be annoyed that his toy would have the gall to blatantly ignore him like this-

* But this is different than that.

* He’s-

* He’s feeling regret

* He shouldn’t have acted that way to you, maybe if he had just done something differently, or said something differently-

* It’s not like the way things were between you two was ideal or anything,

* But at least then you would at least speak to him

* ... and every once in while he would get to see you smile

* It’s never at him, it’s mostly when you’re with Shoko or Utahime

* Occasionally when you’re with Nanami or Geto, who you’ve been talking to more recently

* He’s pretty sure you three are talking about him, just one day away from forming a “down with Gojo Satoru” club

* Still that smile when you laugh-

* The way you look so carefree and young and so full of life is worth all the slander in the world to him

* He needs to see that smile, to know something that wholesome and kind exists somewhere in this cruel world

* Satoru’s thinking about how to go about apologizing to you

* He’s caught between buying you a Lamborghini or buying you a special grade tool when he ends up running into you

* “Ah, could you help me with something?”

* He would quite literally give you the clothes on his back right now if you asked

* You stand up on a a chair holding a glass of water

* “Apparently this is supposed to help with concentration or something” You say pressing the glass full of water to the ceiling

* “Can you hold this broom?” You ask and Satoru nods, holding the broom handle steady as you make sure it’s pushed against the glass holding it steady

* You nod approvingly down at him

* The rest happens pretty fast, you’re off the chair, carrying it away

* “The broom is actually a special grade tool, so cursed energy won’t work on it”

* You grin

* “Have fun figuring how to get out of that Baka Prince!” You say with a laugh

* And Satoru is dumbfounded

* But not because you just pranked him into a holding up a glass of water with a broom

* But because as you were rushing away, you showed him your teasing grin

* It’s the first time you smiled at him

* And as he looks up at the glass of water, a smile slowly spreads across his face

* It’s not the wolffish smile he usually has when he’s around you, or the princely smile he uses when he’s trying to get something

* It’s a genuine smile

* Ah, so that’s it

* He’s fallen in love with you

* If you’re not the one entertaining him, then he’s just not interested

* Ah geez

* He was so focused on trying to get you to fall in love with him that he really didn’t see this coming

* Well he’ll have to start being serious about pursuing you now-

* Though for you to pull off something like this on him tells him you’re his ideal match without a doubt

* A wallflower with a mischievous streak, he likes that.

* He scratches his head with his free hand

* “I wonder how I’m supposed to get out of this?” He muses looking up at the glass full of water

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jujutsu kaisen reader insert #satoru gojō x reader #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #satoru Gojo imagine #satoru gojo x you #gojo satoru x reader #Gojo satoru imagine #Gojo satoru headcanons #satoru Gojo headcanons #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #superhero—imagines

639 notes · View notes

musherum · 3 years ago

Text

replaying hollow knight a little... one thing i would criticize this game for is, like... okay, so the game clearly follows a premise popularized by dark souls: you explore an abandoned, decrepit, formerly very influential kingdom, that was ruled by these like, nigh-omnipotent godkings. and through playing the game and collecting bits of lore you discover how, despite all their power and wisdom, those godkings still managed to let the whole project go to complete shit, and ended up leaving millions to suffer in completely miserable and unjust conditions when the consequence of their hubris reared it's ugly head

(and boy, we could spend days talking about the implications of that shit, huh??)

but in hollow knight, as opposed to something like dark souls, theres like, very little effort really put towards criticizing either the rulers of this kingdom (the wyrm and his three guardians) as like, fallible beings, or analyzing the role they had to play in the kingdom of hallownest's downfall. like, when you look at hallownests decline, its essentially the vindictive actions of one older godlike being, outside of the kingdom, who resents the power of the up-and-coming wyrm, that sends the whole of hallownest crumbling down. the omnipotence and wisdom of the white wyrm is basically played straight and taken for granted, aside from like, a hidden narrative beat that shows that he essentially raised the titular hollow knight as his son, and then sort of sacrificed him to contain the radiance binding-of-isaac style. all we really get on him is "well, he was kind of a shitty dad who sold his kid to the moth-devil to stave off a spiritual pandemic in his kingdom!"

like, theres maybe some further hints towards the kings shortcomings that can be sort of inferred?? from flavor text found at start of the game, and then from dialogue with the mask-maker later on in deepnest. at the beginning of the game you find a tablet instructing bugs of hallownest to "not hide their true faces," and to rejoice in the innate superiority and ability to control their baser instincts that the wyrm granted to the bugs of hallownest. and then later on in deepnest, if you discover the mask-maker and talk to them, they have a line about how, before the coming of the wyrm, bugs would gain a level of self-awareness and self-control by creating and wearing masks. so like, from that you can maybe infer that the wyrm mightve screwed them over by accident when the whole radiance thing happened: they lost the cultural practice of wearing masks to preserve their identities, and as the supplemental comics tell us, when a bug of hallownest wanders far enough away from the kingdom, their minds begin to cloud again. they were totally reliant on the magic found in hallownest to remain self-aware. because the king, in his arrogance, encouraged his citizenry to abandon the primitive cultural practices of mask-wearing, he's locked them into a lose-lose scenario, post-radiance: either they stay in the cursed city, succumb to the radiance, and lose their self-awareness, or else they abandon their city, the influence of the wyrm's gift fades, and they lose their self-awareness.

...but honestly, though this is all based on official information from the games and the supplemental comics, it still feels like a reach to say that this was team cherry trying to present the ruler of hallownest as a flawed person, who's shortcomings helped lead to the downfall of the kingdom. it really loses something from dark souls, again, one of its obvious tonal and narrative inspirations. i feel like in DS, the counterpart of the white wyrm, lord gwyn of the first flame, is pretty clearly depicted as having been often motivated by hubris and fear, like real life rulers often are. it clearly sets him up as being behind the protagonist, and all other undead, having to gather up and destroy the essence of humanity and sacrifice themselves to the flame, over and over. it also pretty clearly establishes that this is for selfish reasons: it's in order to preserve the age of fire and its attendant hierarchies, and it's in order to prolong the rule of his bloodline. and it's also, probably, out of plain terror: gwyn doesnt know what an age where the fire has faded would entail, and he doesnt want to have to find out. in these things, i think, elements of dark souls' story have applicability to real-world situations - the jealous guarding of power, the forcing of a period of history to continue when material conditions show that it has to end, the paralyzing fear of what might come next after the current historical moment is over. and this makes it, in my opinion, a lot more narratively rich, and valuable, and satisfying than if gwyn was a just a generic, fairy-tale king - wise and noble, only ever wanting whats best for his people. i mean, hollow knight is obviously not a game that focuses primarily on narrative - its a metroidvania that was clearly designed with exploration and speedrunning in mind. but i still think in this case, the fairly two-dimensional characterization of the white wyrm does kind of hurt it, yknow? it makes it less rewarding to revisit and think about from other angles

#idk. im putting too much thought into insignificant things again

11 notes · View notes

violetnotez · 4 years ago

Note

fic or whatever concept: fushiguro is in love w the reader but they have a huge crush on yuuji and it’s just megumi suffering as the reader and yuuji get together and they’re actually really,,, happy??? and in love???

This is the shit I LIVE FOR -also I made a whole playlist for this idea-you can watch the vid here!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Megumi x reader (not really?), Yuuji x reader

Songs to Listen to: Treat You Better (but the Kurt Hugo version, seriously, thank me later!)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Maybe if he had tried harder, this wouldn’t have ended up like this. He just felt alone, empty, with nothing to show but a broken heart and head full of bitter dreams.

Did he fool himself? That maybe, some miraculous way, he would have won?

Megumi lay on his bed, worn sweatshirt making his skin crawl and his black sweats uncomfortable to wear, his toes curling from disgust.

Nothing could get his mind off of you, even months after you started dating Yuuji.

It almost got worse, now that you were off limits.

Funny how it works like that.

His brain seemed to just always want to think of you-the way your voice seemed to sparkle when you yell out his name, the way you look too damn cute when you’d walk out of your dorm room in the morning, hair messy and feet bare-

Fuck fuck fuck.

Megumi groaned, placing a hand on his forehead and smoothing his hair back in exasperation.

You weren’t his, and you’d never be his-he shouldn’t be thinking of you like this. You were dating his best friend after all-didn’t he have any shame?

Even though he was in so much heart ache, so much pain from the fact he couldn’t have you.....he couldn’t ever hate his friend from taking you away from him.

Yuuji was good to you, and painfully, he had to admit Yuuji was better than him in every way as a boyfriend.

Yuuji was sociable, able to strike up a conversation and make everyone feel like his best friend-Megumi wasn’t like that.

Yuuji wasn’t afraid of physical touch, constantly having a hand on your hip to keep you near him or swinging you around lovingly like he hadn’t seen you in years- he was terrified of physical touch.

Yuuji was strong, powerful, and able to protect you from the world- he couldn’t say the same for himself.

Megumi’s insecurities were infesting his body, gnawing at his bones, squirming through his muscles and into his skin, making his jaw clench and nails dig deep into his skin from disgust within himself.

Why hadn’t he at least fucking tried?

But he had been too placid, too worried of rejection, too worried of ruining your friendship-

But then again....he was just too selfless. He was willing to let everyone around him surpass him if it meant they would win, thrive, and live happy lives- even if it meant he had to suffer the consequence.

Megumi squeezed the white sheets around him, twisting them into tight spirals around his digits.

He let it happen again-he had succumbed to that fear.

Years worth of affection, years worth of admiration and dedication-washed away like it never happened., because of it And now he was dealing with the repercussion with phantoms of what could have been, with the jealousy, and a broken heart.

Megumi shifted in his bed, feeling his sweatshirt stick to his back, his hand reached out to grasp at the white beams of moonlight drifting into his room.

What would have happened if he had said no that day? Would anything have changed-if he had admitted that he did like you, that he had wanted to call you his?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

He remembers that day like it was yesterday, that feeling of dread filling in his stomach as if he knew something was about to change, the shift of energy making an icy chill run along his back.

Yuuji has been behind him, leaving training as they usually do with his hands in his pockets.

It was quiet, the hallways empty except for the two of them, the wooden floors making soft clicks as it reacted to their footsteps. It should have felt peaceful, a soft breeze fluttering in from the opened windows as the sun began to set outside. But that errie sensation was still boiling in Megumi’s gut, that gnawing feeling of dread making him unable to enjoy the peace.

“Hey man, I wanted to ask you something real quick,” Yuuji’s voice stopped Megumi in his tracks, his feet halting with an echo in the empty corridor.

Megumi turned around slowly, tentatively, almost too worried to face what was behind him.

Maybe at this time he knew what was about to happen, the feeling of dread settling.

“Sure,” he simply stated, shrugging nonchalantly as the golden sun set the room in a red hue.

“This might be a little personal,” Yuuji began, hands placed in the pockets of his sweatshirt still, “but I got a question about y/n.”

Yuuji looked at him, staring him down like two men in a duel. He was serious, more serious than Megumi had seen him in a long time.

“I know you guys are pretty close...”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Megumi stated, swallowing a ball of saliva down his dry throat.

“Well, I-“ Yuuji sighed, pink hair swaying as he looked down at the floor quickly, almost preparing himself for what he was about to say next.

“I-I wanted to ask them out.....out on a date....”

“- it okay with you?”

Megumi’s eyes widened in shock, the his whole body feeling as if hit by a ton of bricks from Yuuji’s words.

This was it-the worst case scenario, the worst thing he knew was happening but didn’t want to admit.

Megumi tried to recover quickly, his eyes slanting back down to unamused slits in a matter of seconds.

“Why are you asking me?” he questioned, trying to keep the growing panic inside him at bay,” It’s not like I dictate who she dates.”

“I think you know why.”

“I don’t.”

“Fushigoro-“

Megum sighed violently, eyes looking up at the ceiling as he tried to fight the growing pain in his heart.

“I don’t dictate your life-I don’t dictate them-and you don’t dictate mine. Do whatever the hell you want-“

“I won’t date them unless you say it’s okay for me to Fushigoro.”

Itadori’ voice had none of that boyish, playful tone to it. It was more mature than Megumi had even heard it-but something behind it was different.

It was almost like there was this desperateness to it- Yuuji needed him to say yes. Yuuji so badly wanted to call you his-just like him.

“You can say no-“ Itadori rushed on, eyes intense with anticipation, “-I won’t think less of you or hate you for it.”

Megumi watched as he shuffled uncomfortably, the knowledge that he just admitted his crush making him slightly sheepish as he scratched the back of his head.

“Hell, I know I would-” he said truthfully, “ I just don’t want to ruin our friendship by going behind your back.”

Fuck, Megumi wanted to fight for you. He wanted to so so badly.

Megumi had known you for longer, you two were close friends, he had a connection to you-didn’t he deserve to be yours after being so dedicated to only you?

Fushigoro was there for when you cried over your stresses, rubbing your back patiently as you let everything out of you, summoning his animals because he knew how much they made you happy.

He was there for your late night study sessions, the lighting hazy as the pouring rain pounded on the window, cleaning up your room of the papers and flashcards after he convinced you to go to sleep.

He trained with you when you worried you weren’t strong enough, always making sure to congratulate you in someway, fighting the redness in his cheeks after you had successfully completed a new move, your skin dangerously close to his.

God, he had waited for so long-why did the world have to fuck him over? Why did his best friend, out of all the people in the world he could form a crush on, like you like that?

But looking at Yuuji, he knew he wouldn’t win this war. Him and Yuuji were very similar in their passion and devotion, but the simple difference between them was Yuuji wasn’t afraid to be selfish.

Megumi was accustomed to backing down for everyone, sacrificing himself so the people he loved could succeed. It was an awful habit of his, maybe due to his insecurities, maybe just a routine he learned at this point, he would never know- but the fact was he knew that Yuuji would never stop fighting for you. Even if Megumi screamed at him, cursed at him, told him to fuck off and leave you alone-Yuuji wouldn’t ever stop loving you. Itadori would respect Megumi’s wishes, but he would still protect you, fight for you, and love you with everything in him.

And that much devotion coming from someone as charismatic and kind like that-what person wouldnt fall for that?

Megumi sighed, his heart breaking in two at the sudden realization hit him-he was too weak to be any threat to Yuuji.

”You’re not going behind my back.” He finally said, looking down at the floor as the self loathing boiled in his stomach.

“But you-“

“I don’t. Like them.” Megumi was seething, hating every fiber in his body for doing this to himself. Each word was choppy, the sentence laced with sternness and bitterness.

“-Do whatever the hell you want.”

Megumi needed to leave, and leave quick. He hadn’t felt this emotional in a long time, and he didn’t want Yuuji to start thinking that he was actually bothered by all of this.

He turned on his heel, ready to get out of there as quickly as possible-

“Hey Megumi- you really okay with this? This won’t change our friendship? I won’t do this unless youre okay-“

Yuuji took a step forward, hand reaching out to his friend as a peace offering, a sheepish smile on his lips.

Megumi turned, his chest tightening as he looked down at his hand, too tired to reach out for it and pretend like he didn’t hate his friend at this moment.

“They dont like me. They like you- I see it. You’ll make them happy, and that’s all I want for them.”

Yuuji smiled , seemingly content with his quiet friend’s answer.

“Thanks man,”

Megumi turned again, head hanging low as he quickly left the corridor, desperate to get out of there.

“Tell me thank you when they say yes.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

He groaned, letting the painful memories overtake him as he turned his back to the wall.

It just hurt-maybe he would get over all of this one day, but right now he couldnt.

As if on cue to deepen his torture, he heard a giggle from you across his room, the muffled noise of Yuuji’s voice making him cringe.

Thin ass walls-you were probably visiting Yuuji again for the night, staying up all night to watch movies.....

This was destroying him-but he couldnt ever blame you for it, because you were oblivious to his love for you. He had made sure you would never catch on- and now you would never know because he was too cowardly to ever say it.

God, what he’d do to have the roles switched though...with you breaking school rules to come visit him at night, to here that sweet laugh in his room, to feel your head cuddle into his chest, or see you slowly begin to wake up in the morning....

Megumi felt a pain in his chest at the wanting feeling that would never fully be satiated gnaw at his chest, his hands despertedly grabbing at his pillow and shoving it against his ear.

He didnt want to hear you, he didnt want to see you...at this moment he didnt want anything to do with you or Yuuji.

This hurt too much...

Fuck, he really screwed up.

166 notes · View notes