#this could've been 'verse

[canisalbus]

What if I told you that RoobrickMarine went and wrote an entire novella starring my 16th century dog couple? It's very canon-adjacent, well researched and thoughtfully put together, has inspired me a ton during these past months and it's now publicly available at AO3. I highly recommend it.

✦ Separation ✦

[thewhizzyhead]

So like one common theme when discussing bullying is the tendency for bullies to project their insecurities on their victims right? like them taking their own shit out on the people they bully?

so i know that may not be exaaaactly the case with Max Jagerman in Nerdy Prudes Must Die like the dude even in the afterlife just really fuckin likes terrorising the shit out of people due to his god complex BUUUUT what I found very interesting was when in the Nerdy Prudes Must Die sequence, he was telling Richie to repeat after him: "Who will pray for me when my body's gone or until another Richie comes along?" And mind you, this song comes directly after another musical sequence about all the teens in that high school being so fucking happy that Max was gone. And like, well yea you can't blame the kids for being happy that Top Terrorizer #1 is gone and that they don't have to abide by his social strata anymore - but then again, having nobody pray or give a fuck about Max after him being mysteriously missing for 2 weeks is,,kinda fucked up for Max no matter the kind of person he is. So, to see someone he victimised get the attention and appreciation I would assume Max would've wanted from his team especially after being missing for so long - it really does seem to me that he was projecting onto Richie when he was about to kill him and making him feel how little he will matter to other people when he dies - like what he could've felt after literally everyone considered the high school "objectively better" now that Max was gone.

Which makes things a whole lot more interesting when Max snaps out of his WHO WILL PRAY FOR YOU solo when Richie belts out I'M NOT A LOSER - henceforth defying the idea of worthlessness Max was projecting onto Richie. So damn.

[iwasbored777]

Miles and Gwen's dynamic in ATSV was funny to me cuz he was always trying to decide what to do how to behave around her how to keep respectful distance how not to make her uncomfortable and be a gentleman and she just kept touching him any time he was near she was so affectionate and that made him even more confused like "she hugged me she wrapped her arms around me but if I wrap my arms around her too would that be inappropriate?"

[normaltothemax]

“They’re dead, and it’s all my fault.” The words sounded hollow, but he didn’t think anyone could blame him for that. After all, the hunt went south because of him. People got hurt, got killed, because of him. Because Sam got scared and froze, like a baby. It didn’t even matter that he got hurt too—that’s what he deserved, wasn’t it? A fitting sort of punishment for a screw-up like that.

[gingermintpepper]

I hear the original Odysseus and Epic the musical’s Odysseus are pretty different to the point they’re sorta their own characters- how do you feel about this?

Hello beloved Anon!! Thank you so much for the ask <3

Generally, I feel like a very big part of the appeal of adapting stories, especially myths, comes from seeing what these stories and characters mean to the author and how their interpretations of the themes and conflicts in a piece of classical literature are expressed in their interpretation of the story as a whole. This, naturally, means that I fully expect and look forward to unique interpretations of well loved figures whenever I hear that something is going to be adapted! I love being able to see what aspects of a character has stuck with an author, I love being able to trace said aspects back to the original myth and see what other places the author has picked up inspiration from along the way to inform their interpretations! A big part of the appeal of reading and interacting with a whole lot of different mythical media comes from my genuine excitement and anticipation in seeing how a favourite figure of mine has been adapted or how a moment from a story that I really like has been handled!

With respect to specifically Epic and the Odyssey, my opinions on how the characters have been adapted are somewhat mixed. Putting aside my general misgivings about the current writing of the musical, I really like the directions Herrans has taken with the theming and the broad strokes of Odysseus' character and consequent arc. I like the idea of Eurylochus as a well-meaning but still very fallible second, I like the idea of Odysseus and Athena's close-knit mentorship that completely goes to shit after the Cyclops Incident, I even really liked a lot of the representations of the gods - from Hermes' carefree and relaxed kind of power to Aelous' frivolous cruelty to Zeus' power and command prior to God Games. A lot of the interpretations in the Wisdom Saga are things I feel much more neutral-negative about though. While Telemachus' ingénue-esque naivete and enthusiasm in Legendary and Little Wolf is endearing, I much prefer the Odyssey's slight desperate but unfailingly politically apt Telemachus - the wily son who helped his mother with her staling schemes and who was praised for his wit by his father. Telemachus is a young man and while he's technically characterised as such in EPIC, he's also treated in the same way a Disney Princess is where she is technically a young woman but must still appeal to very small children and I'm just not a big fan of that. I'm also not a big fan of Antinous' characterisation though that was something I was originally intensely excited about in the early days of following EPIC! Hold Them Down is a song I'd been dying to hear a full version for because I felt like it captured the quiet menace of Antinous so well - his charisma, his vile motivations, his absolute disdain for the strong-willed Penelope who has thwarted his attempts to take Ithaca for himself and the way his mask has slipped from barely cordial but socially correct visitor to absolute monster who is willing to do anything to get that crown. Just, UGH, Hold Them Down had me HYPED, but the Antinous we got in Little Wolf was... inelegant. Not subtle at all, crass with his intentions - the kind of guy who would've gotten kicked out ages ago for contempt against the queen. The whole political aspect of why they couldn't just kick the damn suitors out is that technically they'd never done anything punishable that would justify rejecting them and sending them on their way. Antinous was the head of that malicious compliance - the one who had the intelligence to be menacing but not so much that his words could be blatant insults or threats. That was part of the whole point of Odysseus striking Antinous down first! Little Wolf's Antinous,,, was not that and I found myself intensely disappointed by it considering that he was that in the earlier versions of Hold Them Down.

My other misgivings in terms of characters just have to do with Apollo, Hephaestus and Zeus in God Games tbh. I'm someone who is generally more concerned with the portrayal of gods in a work than I am with the humans and EPIC has a super unique take on all of the gods that accompany and inhabit its world. I've made a separate post voicing my misgivings about Epic's Apollo but I don't have a long laundry list of issues with EPIC's Hephaestus, I just wish he had more time to shine and that there was more to chew on with respect to his argument. Zeus however is in a similar boat to Antinous where in the first half of the play he was perfect - literally the perfect neutral god-figure who was simply doing his job and obviously not personally swayed one way or another when it came to Odysseus and was maybe having some fun at his expense in Thunderbringer. His violence in God Games then was not only greatly surprising and seemingly out of character, it was also completely unsubstantiated in the story of EPIC itself. Zeus had nothing against Odysseus, he has no particular reason to bar Athena from rescuing him. Likewise, he is the one who offers up the proposal of a game, why would he have a problem with losing it? The reason of 'he doesn't like to lose' doesn't cut it for how extreme his reaction was and it completely undermines what was a genuinely super enjoyable and different take on Zeus in a modern Western-based greek myth inspired piece of media. Absolutely such a tragedy to me.

Of course, to me, the biggest actual crime of adaptation that EPIC's committed with respect to its characters is that we only have about 10 songs left based on Herrans' original outline for the musical and Penelope still has not had a single song or showing or meaningful reference apart from "I am Odysseus and I miss my wife (her name is Penelope)". The Odyssey was a twofold story split between Odysseus vibing on the way back to Ithaca and the political bullfuckery that was awaiting for him when he inevitably returned to Ithaca. The center of that aforementioned political bullfuckery was Penelope and Telemachus. Considering Penelope has been Odysseus' guiding motivation for the entire play, the fact that there has not been a single solid piece of real characterisation that can be attributed to her this late in the story is uh! Criminal actually, and it's the only thing for which I hold some level of genuine disdain over.

In conclusion: I generally quite look forward to people doing adaptations and interpretations of myths and such! I generally think EPIC's done a good job with the adventure and exploration part of the epic but the political and domestic aspect of it really isn't where Herrans shines as a writer and it shows.

[corazondebeskar-reads]

snippet sunday?!

here for this. tysm for tagging me @janaispunk & @covetyou

since y'all have been my biggest enablers cheerleaders, here's a snippet from tomorrow's final chapter of "well it's love, make it hurt" 😭

“You’ve lost it.” You roll your eyes when he just laughs again.  “I might have,” he admits once he’s settled down. It wasn’t really that funny, after all. But the abrupt switch from his betrayed fury to the overwhelming affection made him feel happier than he had in a long time. “Hey,” he says, soft and serious.  “What?” “I miss you.” It was the first time he had said anything of the sort on these calls. But the danger of setting off your alarms, of causing you to run, seemed so much less these days. You’re quiet for a moment. You let the feeling sink in and breathe through it. It’s okay, you remind yourself, it’s not a dangerous thing. He’s not asking you to run away with him. He’s not asking you for anything.

no pressure tags: @joelsgreys @tightjeansjavi @milla-frenchy

[petroltogo]

currently working on the next part of the flip a coin verse and i suspect i seriously underestimated how many strands and perspectives i want to fit into that beast. but slow progress is progress. if there are any povs you‘d like to see in that part, let me know! i can’t promise anything but my outline is still pretty flexible right now

[seafavoured]

❛ what is it you want this time? ❜ (blackrose, dnd, perhaps more smug smug smug after ed shows up at his door a second time lmao). @pyratezlife / ned.

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄, 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐄𝐃'𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 ? because he certainly didn't recall making a conscious effort to do so, and yet, here they were. he'd been lying in his own lovely, four poster bed for what felt like hours, trying desperately to will his mind and body to sleep. it was the most comfortable they'd been in months, with all the accommodations of ned's tower. so why did they have an easier time resting atop the cold, hard ground in the middle of a danger ridden forest?

everything in their room was perfect : a comfortable mattress strewn with soft pillows and fine, silk sheets, his favourite elderberry wine chilled by the desk with an assortment of sweets that looked as though they were straight from the bakery in that last quaint little town. the one edward had fawned over for their blackberry tarts and fresh bread. even the high ceiling of the room seemed to meld to an ever shifting canvas of stars, as if the night's sky were captured right here in this room. they had been saying just this morning how hard they found it to fall asleep without the twinkling little pinpricks of light above.

but no amount of luxury could help when their thoughts ran an endless gauntlet through their head. memories they would rather not focus on, no matter how ... pleasant. he'd eventually risen in frustration and left to stroll the maze of corridors, aimless. at least, that was the intent. apparently somewhere down the line, his feet had carried him straight to ned's door, where his fist deigned to knock.

they stood blinking at ned through the open doorway, like a deer caught in the headlights. hells, what the fuck was he doing here? why had they come? heat flushed his cheeks a deep plum hue as he bristled, horribly conscious of their bedhead and smalls and rumpled sleep shirt. ❛ nothing ! ❜ they cringed. it was said too quick, in a knee jerk reaction of self defense. suddenly rankled and on edge, wishing he'd at least redressed in his leathers before going for a midnight walk in the tower.

❛ nothing. why do i have to want something, just to come say hello? because i don't want anything, that is. ❜ they might as well have come equipped with a shovel, for the godsdamned hole he was digging. fingertips twisted idly in the loose linen of their shirt, his other hand carding through that mess of dark hair. ❛ why, what do you want? ❜ accusatory, as if they weren't the one to come knocking in the first place. ❛ because it certainly seems like you're trying for something, plying me with gifts like that. you don't need to give me special treatment, just because we fucked one time. ❜

[quarks-pussy]

Mirror Kira is something that can actually be so personal

[bolinity]

The way she halts the two of them is a little sudden, yet hesitant. " I noticed, uh, " she begins, falling short of daring to elaborate. Put on the spot by none other than herself, an embarrassed red is creeping on her features. " There's this one silly tradition, " she tries again, a hand rising to rub her nape, " that if you happen to be under that plant up there, you're ... supposed to kiss? "

She attempts to look amused, to hold her gaze on Bolin, but both fall a little short, like her attempts at air bending. " It's also for like, couples, which we aren't -- exactly? So I don't know why I told you this. "

Only, that she does know-- but she can't just blurt out the whole truth now, can she? She'll have an even bigger mess in her hands. " I guess, growing up holed up at the compound I missed out on a lot of silly, regular stuff like this. "

一 korra to bolin! I heard you like mistletoes....... / from @avatarwithin

❖ || @avatarwithin

Bolin's soft green eyes along with his dark brows flicked up in the direction Korra pointed above their heads. Sure enough, someone had tied up a sprig of mistletoe: its white berries and long, rounded leaves contrasted with the bright red ribbon it hung by. His gaze trailed back down and focused back on the Avatar in front of him, clocking how her cheeks started to lean toward a shade closer to the ribbon he just looked at. Immediately, his ears started to follow suit as he started to feel hot under his collar, despite the lack of firebending taking anywhere near the two of them.

His thoughts immediately rushed between trying to process whatever rules he may have heard about this ritual over the years and Korra speaking at him about what she knew about it. He definitely knew about it... not that he personally ever came across it before either, like her. Yet, here they were.

"Oh- Uh, yeah!" His voice cracked a bit once he finally found it. Mortified, he quickly lifted a fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat. "I mean, yeah," he tried again, his voice dropping an octave lower than necessary. "It's just a silly winter thing, like you said. Nothing, like, serious or anything. I mean, for me, I can't say that I've been around it all that much since I lived on the streets — you already know the story — but I heard that anyone who turns down a kiss, they're doomed to bad luck."

While he was quick to ramble, it took him a moment to process what he just said before he started to fluster and his gaze was everywhere else but Korra, waving his hands dismissively. "I-I mean that just sounds like a way to kinda force someone to kiss 'em or something. And it's not like there's some Mistletoe Task Force in the RCPD that'll come and get people who don't do the thing..." He pursed his lips in apprehension before he tried to save face by nonchalantly lacing his fingers behind his head to appear more casual.

"Soooo, it's not like you're actually obligated to actually kiss anyone actually. It's just a silly winter thing. Yeah. So silly." The huff of a laugh that punctuated that sentence wasn't going to fool anyone as his cheeks burned hot as well as the rest of him. However, the idea wasn't that silly to him, but this display he had put on sure was. He needed to stop talking immediately.

"AndIdefinitelydidn'tmentionthatpartbecauseIwantedtokissyouorwhatever, haaaah." The laugh that tapered the end of that marathon of words exited Bolin's mouth like an exasperated exhale. Despite the cold weather, he was sweating waterfalls at this point.

[twodeluxe]

🦐 for the ask game!!!

the emotions really DO be shrimpin'....

so beatmania iidx has me by the throat rn and i'm absolutely in love with all the roots26 characters. they're very interconnected, and all sorts of little mundane details about each one make them feel like people i could know. i've got two favorites but the one who's currently eating most of my fucking brain real estate is

duel

real name "leonard baxter," which is a very silly name in my honest onion. i am never going to call him that ever in my life. the aliases are basically just IIDX usernames anyway so that's cute in a way i guess.

he's a british weeaboo. completely seriously. i'm going mostly off the arcadia version of his profile here - he was a sweet kid who liked soccer, but got screwed over after his parents' store went bankrupt, started fucking around as a broker in the black market because poverty. got stabbed, got inspired to move to japan from a movie he saw while he was in the hospital, and now he writes books about culture and uses his black market sales skills to export weeb shit.

oh, and as per heroic verse and rage, apparently he's also some kind of dog-mecha-suit-wearing demon-assassination-strike-team-member who's on the leash of one of the more morally dubious recurring characters.

"isn't this a game about being a dj," someone asked me recently. (it is.)

siren calls him shady basically to his face. iirc one of the girls says he talks strange (he does - from what i can see he tends to quote stuff and has other...quirks.) he dresses like a mall ninja military fetishist. (he's never been in the military - though another fucking iidx dj has. nix my beloved.) i threw some actual official art of him on a customized eamusement card decal and my friend said i shouldn't use it because it has actual gang imagery in it. (i only mention this because i think it's hilarious in retrospect.)

i hate this man. i want to put him in the dryer spin cycle. his fashion choices make me want to eat my own iidx controller. he's the exact kind of person i'd kill to be friends with because he'd invite me to go to japanese history museums. his tits are out in the newest art of him that i've found. if he wanted to put a dog collar on me i probably would not tell him no.

shrimp emotions indeed

[huccimermaidshirts]

.

[mascarasalocaso]

‘Mine’ is literally Andreil (especially Neil but not just him); the song was written about them, I'm convinced. Ever since I had that realization I've had the need for everyone to know that and, since I haven't seen anyone mentioning it in the fandom, I had to do my best to ensure more people have this information. 

I mean, these are the lyrics of the song:

(Text in brackets are my comments, text in blue are the actual lyrics of the song)

Verse 1:

You were in college working part-time waitin’ tables [Well, Andrew no longer works at Eden's, but he does go to college, so I'd consider it a partial match] 

Left a small town, never looked back [Cass' house back in California] 

I was a flight risk with a fear of fallin’ [“Flight risk"? That is literally Josten's middle name]

Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts [I know that Neil 'didn' t swing' (being the fandom consensus, I think, that he's demi) but at first he was also all like 'Yeah, I can't afford to trust people and caring about anyone in that way it's not worth it , since it only leads to trouble'  and so on] 

Verse 2

I say “Can you believe it?

As we’re lying on the couch?"

The moment I can see it.

Yes, yes, I can see it now [I haven’t thought of any special meaning to this, so if anyone sees anything, feel free to point it out in the comments]

Chorus A 

Do you remember, we were sitting there by the waters? [*on the roof] 

You put your arm around me for the first time [their first kiss (and many others) but it is also a safe place of sorts for them, somewhere they can go to to be alone. At first, it's Andrew's place, but later on he also takes Neil, and it turns into a safe space for the both of them, metaphorically putting his arm around Neil] 

You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter [Andrew made Neil a rebel in the sense that he convinced and motivated him to stand his ground and fight instead of keep on running. And I guess the part about his father doesn't need much explanation] 

You are the best thing that’s ever been mine [They've both lived lives full of trauma, people hurting them, and other negative things. And now they have each other and it's so much better than anything either of them thought they could get. I’m not one to say that a certain couple is perfect because it sounds cheesy, but in each other they now have someone who really (bothers to) understand them, and “accepts” them, with everything they have in a way that they couldn't find in just anyone] 

Verse 3 [This might be my favourite verse]

Flash forward, and we’re taking on the world together, [This could refer to the part between Andrew coming back from Easthaven and Neil getting kidnapped, where (at least for Neil) it was a time of peace and things going fine (all things considered), or to their lives post trilogy/college, even if then it alters a bit the chronology of the song] 

And there’s a drawer of my things at your place [I was about to say that they skipped this part and moved ahead to living together, but actually, I think this could be connected to the keys. It isn't having his things at Andrew's but, ultimately, the whole thing about having something (a space) that is yours at someone else's house is that this person is allowing/inviting you in it. The drawer is like saying "This is my thing, but you are also welcome, not only as a guest but rather as it also being your thing", and that is (more or less) what Andrew was saying when he gave Neil the keys to his house and his car. ] 

You learn my secrets, and you figure out why I’m guarded, [Do I even need to explain?  I will anyway. Again, doesn’t chronologically follow the story, but I feel like the scene in Wymack’s living room coming back from the first time at Eden's really does count as Andrew “figuring” Neil out. He doesn’t get all the truth, but he then gets the blurry picture of what Neil’s life is. I guess this line is just perfect for them and really didn’t need explaining] 

You say we’ll never make my parents’ mistakes [I could be tripping here, but I think Andrew does at some point say to Neil something about not being his father, not looking alike and… Alright, I don’t remember, maybe I should reread the books.]

Verse 4

But we got bills to pay, [At first metaphorical bills, then “real” ones. I already mentioned the “time of peace” Neil has before getting kidnapped. During this time, he has long decided how he’s going to play thighs and made peace with the fact that his death is nearing. So, yeah, they have their moment of calm, but bills are due, he has to answer for all the unresolved issues surrounding his life. The second interpretation, the one with the real bills, would be, of course, about the deal Neil makes with the Moriyamas at the end of the books.]

We got nothing figured out, [1. Taking into account what I said about the preceding line, this is obvious, I guess. Neil and Andrew are at a point where they are finding their footing and also their happiness, I suppose. But they haven’t really resolved their problems, and they (the problems) are just around the corner. 2: They kinda survived through the whole deal, but they didn’t exactly “solve” them (except for Nathan, I guess?), they merely did that: surviving. I think the first interpretation is much more fitting and just goes along better with the rest of the song.]

When it was hard to take, 

Yes, yes, this is what I thought about [Here I’m not completely sure I understand what the song is saying, so I’m sorry if I get it wrong, but if I’m right: This is during his time with his father. Of course life at that point isn’t very nice. And while he is suffering he also thinks about the nice things in the last years. Namely, the foxes and Andrew. 

Chorus A

Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water? [This follows the same string as the last verse. So while Neil is with his father and everything he has the good memories of Andrew, etc]

You put your arm around me for the first time [Given that Andrew wasn’t the only good thing Andrew had while with the foxes, this time we could say that the “you put your arm around me for the first time" doesn’t mean just Andrew but the rest of the foxes (especially Wymack) as well]

You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter

You are the best thing that’s ever been mine [With that in mind, this line makes even more sense, because with his troubled childhood and everything that was his life from hen on, the foxes are by far the best thing he has ever had]

Chorus B

Do you remember all the city lights on the water?

You saw me start to believe for the first time

You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter

You are the best thing that’s ever been mine

Oh, oh, oh

[All the chorus part is that, remembering the various instances. Both mentioned priorly on the show and not mentioned]

Verse 5

And I remember that fight, two-thirty a.m. 

When everything was slipping right out of our hands

I ran out crying, and you followed me out into the street

[I really liked thinking about this as a scene that’s a bit different from what the song might be describing; Which is the one in TKM, if I’m not wrong, where Wymack tells Neil he’s going to be captain the following year, and he has a panic attack (I think). So the “fight” wouldn’t be an actual fight but a conversation that did upset Neil nevertheless. This upsets him because it’s something that he wants but knows he can never get; and this causes a crash between the life that he’s kind of build for himself at PSU, where he’s a promising striker for the Foxes who could be Court, and his “actual life”, where he’s the runaway son of a criminal and will die before the end of the year. All of this to say that at that moment Neil was made aware of the fact that the life he really wanted was going to slip right out of his hands without him being able to do anything about it. He then literally ran out, except not crying but having a panic attack. And Andrew came to him.

As I said I liked seeing this part as a reference to that scene, maybe because I like the scene, but now I’m thinking it actually matches way better with another scene. It’s still not chronologically in order, but it doesn’t go as far back (as the aforementioned scene). The scene in question is the riot. There was in fact a fight. It was not 2:30 a.m., but it was late at night. Everything was in fact slipping out of their hands (except Andrew didn’t know it, but still), that with Neil getting kidnapped, probably never to be seen again. Neil very much did not run, and he did not cry, but he was in distress and Andrew went to follow him where he went. (I know Andrew at the moment was looking after Aaron and Kevin, not so much after Neil, since they had broken the deal. But once his people were safe and stuff had calmed down a bit, he did try to find Neil in the car park, he choked Kevin for information, he tried to fight the FBI, etc. Neil doesn’t really know about what Andrew is doing at the time, but when he speaks with the FBI he knows Andrew wouldn't just leave him. And later, of course, he hears of what happened, all that Andrew did.]

Verse 6

Braced myself for the "Goodbye"

‘cause that’s all I’ve ever known

Then you took me by surprise

You said, "I’ll never leave you alone"

[Even ignoring how Neil thought he was going to die at the hand of his father and because of that said goodbye to Neil and everything he (Neil) had. 

When Neil is with the FBI, he thinks the Foxes probably hate him now that they know the truth, so when he goes to meet them at the hotel it’s mostly to say goodbye. He thinks Andrew, more than anyone, will be mad at him for lying to him, but when they actually see each other Andrew is just relieved to see him alive. He then refuses to leave his side, both while they’re in the room and later with the FBI, making it really clear to Neil that Andrew will be with him no matter what, “you aren’t going anywhere”.]

Chorus C

You said, "I remember how we felt sitting by the water

And every time I look at you, it’s like the first time

I fell in love with a careless man’s careful daughter

She is the best thing that’s ever been mine"

Whoa

You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter

You are the best thing that’s ever been mine

Verse 2.2

Do you believe it?

We’re gonna make it now

And I can see it

I can see it now

[They're in love (or something) forever, etc, etc ]

[umbrx]

"I'll kill him, but how much is it worth to you?" Vital paused, a brow raised and feline-like disposition curling the corners of his mouth in a smirk. "Then halve that and offer me something that isn't just boring money."

How much is it worth to you?

Life was priceless, but it was priceless only if it was his OWN. The lives of others... they were a transaction, a business cycle. A customer while alive, merchandise while dead. Sometimes both at the same time. A tool for Doflamingo to use, exploit, and benefit from, regardless of the cost. Once there was a cost he wasn't willing to pay, a leverage to use against him — a WEAKNESS. Carved from the same flesh as him, and the warmest of blood running through veins. Blood which now stained the earth, had ran deep towards the root of all evil and was powerless against it. The greatest cost had already been paid, painted RED by his own hands, still leaving the faint metallic smell in the air whenever Doflamingo thought of the memory.

Sometimes, he even wanted to relive the memory. The anger, the hatred from someone once so beloved, the CALM which overtook his whole body as he aimed, the pull of the trigger and how easy it felt, its weight after the gunshot, the SILENCE when the last breath left lips. It felt as if he was breaking from the CHAINS and had become limitless, yet later did he realise he only swapped them for new, different ones. The IRONY.

❝ If putting a price tag on something universally considered priceless doesn't clue you in, Vital, I'm disappointed. ❞ Doflamingo was aware he and Vital were cut of the similar cloth. Doflamingo had no morals when it came to others, and he suspected Vital still possessed FRAGMENTS of humanity in him. Whether those fragments were mere masks he wore for the sake of blending in or were Vital's REAL feelings didn't matter. He was, just like many hitmen, ready to be TRUE to himself or DOUBLE-FACED enough to swallow it all down. ❝ Two hundred thousand dollars. ❞ More than enough for the trash he wanted taken out. A clean job, no witnesses and nothing traced back to him. The standard.

Lips quirked up at the counter-offer, seemingly AMUSED. It was a rare occasion to pay LESS than the offered amount, not that Doflamingo would complain. The amount to satisfy the hitman mattered little to him, and so long as he had his price ( EVERYONE did ), Doflamingo would get what he wanted too.

He rose from his chair and made his way to the cabinet with drinks. Doflamingo poured himself whisky, and ONLY for himself. He never served others. Tangy, citrus-like flavour of Macallan slid down his throat, and as he approached Vital, the smirk never left his lips. ❝ Do you believe yourself worthy of something other than money? ❞ Savouring the moment and the taste on his tongue, his smirk was equally devious as it was provoking. ❝ If yes, prove it. ❞

[akumanoken]

A man who feels that so intensely.... who promised to protect someone and instead had to clean up the mess that was made... not knowing what would happen if he were to remember what he did....and simply sit there helpless as the scars of the abuse and the sudden crack in his temper festered inside Souji's mind...

[ladyseidr]

okay abt to sleep but consider: AU where cassidy survives but only because her brother is killed instead and she is the most vengeful, angry 13-year-old ( or older, if it's years later ) who will do anything to find out and literally actually kill william herself—