#who watches the watchmen? they watch each other and they watch themselves

[awitcheress]

So I've been watching way too many cooking shows on Facebook and Instagram lately..

Geraskier modern AU - non magical. Part 1.

Geralt is homeless and has been for most of his life. Jaskier is not. In fact, his family is filthy rich. But they don't approve of what he wants in life which is to be a Michelin star gourmet chef. He's been cooking his entire life because when he was a kid, his parents pretty much made sure he studied, but apart from that they didn't care much. (Very original premise, I know... Lol.)

But the one person who did care for him was the chef of the household. An elderly man who lost his son and wife, when the son was only a small child, so Jaskier and the chef find each other immediately and form a strong bond. Even as a very young boy, Jaskier shows much talent in cooking.

Then, when Jaskier turns eighteen, Chef dies. Jaskier is devastated by his loss and he equates everything good and loving with food. So, he wants to go to culinary school to continue learning to become as skilled at cooking as Chef.

When his parents refuse to allow him this (Surprise!), Jaskier runs away. Unfortunately, he has no way to survive and ends up homeless and alone. For long, miserable weeks, he starves and suffers cold weather, nowhere to feel safe, no one to trust.

Sometimes he even considers returning to Lettenhove...

One day, late at night, he is cornered by a big, muscular man, who beats him up and tries to rape him. It's too dark for Jaskier to see what the man looks like. There have been instances of rape/murders all over Novigrad. Jaskier is convinced he is going to die, when two other men appear and chase Jaskier's attackers away.

Jaskier is profoundly grateful to these two men who introduce themselves as Geralt and Eskel. Well, Eskel introduces them. Geralt only mumbles... (naturally)

Eskel tells Geralt to accompany Jaskier to the city watchmen. He does, but it's useless. Homeless people being raped and murdered? Just as well. It'll clean up the city streets is their attitude.

Geralt doesn't seem surprised. Regardless, Upon leaving, Jaskier chatters away with Geralt. He relies his life's story in two minutes flat 😂 as Geralt "hms" and grunts in his own inimitable way. Jaskier is not deterred. He's in love.

This gruff, tall and broad shouldered man is Jaskier's knight in...tattered old black clothing. His hair is long and the color of the palest cream, and he is absolutely breathtaking. Geralt has a voice that rumbles deep in his chest when he chooses to say something. His legs are long and powerful, his eyes like liquid honey... Geralt's arms are sinewy and strong. Oh dear, Jaskier has to stop himself from melting like ice cream left out in the sun...

Geralt helps introduce Jaskier to the people at the homeless shelter, and he's offered a bed there. Geralt leaves and, again, Jaskier is alone. The shelter is nothing like what he's used to from home, but it's eons better than the last few weeks on the street. He has a roof over his head, even if he has to share living space with others.

Thus, the loneliness is gone quite rapidly. Jaskier meets several people there, among them, Vesemir, who runs the soup kitchen. When he finds out that Jaskier likes to cook, Vesemir invites him to help.

Soon his life is changed into something so different, he feels his head spinning, and Jaskier's days are a million times better. He has access to showers, a bathroom, clean water, he's gets to eat at least once a day. And, cooking, something he loves to do so much, is actually helping others. The love is back in his life.

And then, of course, there's Geralt. Speaking to him, and listening to others, Jaskier learns that Geralt, despite his gruff nature, is a good man who patrols the streets with his brothers, Eskel and Lambert. They're trying to help keep the homeless safe, but there are so many of them...

Several young, homeless, slender and pretty men, like Jaskier, are raped and murdered. Jaskier's description of the man who attacked him is shaky at best... "Big and strong" fits even Geralt and his brothers. The only one who wasn't there is Lambert, who is a bit of a prick.

Geralt and Jaskier over time becomes friends if a sort but Geralt is not responding to Jaskier's attempts at flirting.

A year goes by, and one day, Geralt finds Jaskier in the kitchen with big news....

[merciawintersageposting]

More head canon: how Rook relates to death- and secrets🗡️☠️

The Magpie, Part 3

What is death to a Crow but a looking glass?

A shiny object glinting with life's secrets at its surface, limned with sharp edges and fractured memories. The pursuit of secrets comes at a high price- and life in Thedas is always below asking. Rook had learned this many times the hard way.

For them, there is something worse than dying. To watch the innocent suffer and die, sacrifices on the altar of some noble's great aspirations- or worse, their wounded pride. Lowborn lives fall as the leaves do, so many unnamed and easily crushed underfoot. Such is the life of the few children who survive long enough in the Guild to become Magpies- procurers of secrets and intelligence. For Dalish children sold to the Guild by starving or greedy or desperate caretakers this is learned over and over.

Once, there was a time Rook foolishly thought themselves inured to it. But the mirror of death makes all hidden truths plain.

The job was simple: retrieve a packet of letters from a minor noble's home in Redcliffe. Pose as a new servant, locate the letters on his estate, retrieve them and leave no mess behind. But the thing about blending in is that it sometimes requires you to be seen and known- a thing which they had never experienced without a feeling of terror, anticipating a blow.

Rook first appeared on their doorstep with a short-term contract, all the correct recommendations and due respect to the lord of the manor, a taciturn warhorse whose glory days had long since faded. He seemed good enough as any man, if a bit inattentive.

Though a skeleton crew, the chambermaids and footmen took a kindly concern for each other, and so Rook befriended them with shy smiles and offers to help with the laundry. The head steward Dereth was a challenge. With long and lanky hair, the old Dalish man bore Dirthamen's vallaslin, and the knowing looks of someone who sees too perceptively, who has lived longer than his seventy years. This contradictory mixture of savvy and softness perturbed Rook. Having few memories of their father that weren't laced with fear, they found it difficult to get their bearings. Then they learned Dereth had taken to teaching some of the young pages to read, hoping some could make a better life for themselves as he had.

Rook assured him they could read, which he laughed at- the gritty sound reminding them of sand on a cabin floor. As they both assisted the cook in making preparations for the week’s meals, Dereth taught them old poems, using the chopping sound of knives on vegetables to keep the rhythm.

"I had aspirations to it once y'know. But, you- you've a voice for it. Someday I think," Dereth pronounced, "you'll be a great poet."

It was nice. This was, Rook thought, what it must be like to be normal and have people who saw you as more than property or a pawn.

But a contract requires its due. And so one day, Rook disappeared.

Discretion is a Crow's greatest asset. But Rook was possessed of a strange curiosity, and allowed themselves one glance at the packet before handing it in. Flowing handwriting by a lettered and artful hand had spelled out part of a name Pr. Volka- and the rest dotted by a watermark.

The packet successfully delivered, they returned to their usual hiding place- a little hayloft rarely visited by anyone other than workaday farm hands. Horses are good company and even better night watchmen.

Crows and their flock are instructed never to seek out again that which was visited before. But Rook's thoughts of the people they left behind on the Radcliffe job frayed at the edges of their mind.

News travels fast. And so Rook learned from one of the newest "recruits" that a Ferelden noble had recently died in his sleep. His heir had returned to right his affairs, and immediately accused his father's aged steward of fomenting rebellion after finding him showing some of the younger servants how to write. When it was further discovered that important documents were unaccounted for, the steward met his end on the edge of a longsword and was left to molder in the sun- an example of what it means when you forget your place in the order of things.

Waiting for the right opportunity, the footmen wrapped his body in brown cloth, and under the cover of night carried him to a spot a league out from the house. He was buried in a modest pine grove, the spot marked by what few offerings the household servants could spare, flowers and painted rocks.

As time passed, the ground settled, and little trace of Dereth's grave remained. Save only for a piece of vellum tied to a stake in the ground.

Look closely and you will find the words almost etched into the vellum in a strong, clear hand:

If I should die and leave you here a while, Be not like others sore undone, Who keep long vigil by the silent dust. For my sake turn again to life and smile, Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do Something to comfort other hearts than thine. Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine And I perchance may therein comfort you.*

for fred.

*Turn Again to Life by Mary Lee Hall.

[animentality]

Your hot take on the boys and invincible kinda piss3d me off, not cause I totally disagree, but only because superhero media as a whole is lazy. Specifically for these two, though? The boys isn't just evil superman, it's corporate owned supervillainy, vigilantes who don't have powers, and yeah the shock value gets too much sometimes but like clearly you haven't seen it. And invincible is about a kid (son of superman) who is betrayed by his idol and forced to fight him and lose. Maybe don't judge so quickly!!

What, I have to watch the entire show to judge it?

That would necessitate that I take time out of my day to watch something that I don't like.

And if I watched the entirety of both, and still hated it, you'd tell me I shouldn't watch things I "hate" and I should just leave you and your dumb opinions alone.

So we're discarding that part of your argument because it's pointless.

oh wait.

but that's your entire argument.

hm.

well.

ok. let's talk anyway.

so first off. you just said that superhero media as a whole is lazy.

that's quite a generalization to make about a genre.

I don't disagree but you're giving me shit for saying deconstructions of super hero movies are worse, to me personally, than super hero movies themselves, when you just made a blanket opinion statement disguised as a fact.

Think about that for a second.

Then I wanna talk about the whole "it's about politics" and "subversion of superman" schtick.

you're telling me that the boys is about politics, and invincible is an alien invasion story.

yet neither of those things need to be told through a superhero angle. they just are because of the superhero hype justifying their existence in the market.

and that's fine and all... but to me that's what they are.

gimmicks based on what was hot at the time, which was super heroes.

so they don't exist without the superhero genre to make fun of. they don't have relevance except by being reactionary.

and that's a lame selling point for me.

super hero movies have been dying lately, and frankly, I didn't even know invincible had a season 2 until I saw invincible had popped up on fortnite.

and even then I didn't see anyone talking about it, aside from the shock value of the rape scene.

but don't worry. we'll get to that.

as for the boys, well, I don't know, it could last for some time... but do deconstructions that wallow in misery and mega angst and are highly topical based on the year they were released really stand the test of time?

I don't know. we'll see.

all I know is that no one anticipated the fall of marvel after the success of Endgame...

but look at it now.

The Marvels, Antman 3, Madame Web... the lackluster performance of DC...

if you look back at the boys 50 years from now, what will you see?

a satire of the Justice League.

but it's not something on its own.

at least watchmen, as garbage as it is, has unique characters and a weird, but mildly interesting take on history.

the boys is like oh what if there was a world where superheroes existed and they killed people?

yeah that'll stand the test of time I'm sure.

Spiderman has lasted this long because he's relatable. He was the prime example of a changing genre, that allowed its heroes to be more down to earth.

Batman has his gothic detective thing, and you can tell so many stories with him, as he's just an ordinary man, who's also coincidentally a huge freak at the same time. what's not relatable about that?

And even Superman... oh, so he's boring because he's a good person?

yeah. sure. I don't particularly like him. I don't think he's that deep.

but his popularity did come from the basic idea that people should be good to each other.

what is the average jackass going to learn or remember from the boys?

oh that homelander likes drinking breast milk.

gee, that's relatable.

also that the deep fucked an octopus.

because haha... Aquaman, am I right?

so.

now let's move on to shock value.

It sucks.

the boys is made for people who hate super heroes.

it's fine to hate super heroes, but Jesus Christ.

you hate them so much that you make them edgy. you make them rapists and mass murderers. you make them do nasty shit just because you wanna make someone vomit.

like. ok.

I don't like shock value in anything, not even horror movies.

if there's no plot reason for it, then I don't want to see it.

but the boys is all about throwing in sex scenes wherever they can, and making them as fucking weird as they can just because "oh we're not marvel."

yeah. I know that. even marvel pretends to have a story from time to time.

the boys literally starts off with a fucking 90s ass rape revenge story. like seriously?

so revolutionary ahahaha.

with a guy who fucks animals.

and is meant to be sympathetic later on because he's pathetic.

soo soooo deep.

good rape revenge plot.

reminds me of the misogyny of blade runner, and the director saying well I'm objectifying women because sexism exists in real life.

gee thanks, guy.

forgive me if I was turned off by a show that immediately sexually assaulted its main female character.

I'm a triggered snowflake, hahah, you got me.

but when I look at all this, it's like...

I never got into game of thrones because I never liked the mega edge lord plot of that either.

but at least game of thrones was doing something different with a genre, rather than just making a satire or parody of the genre.

it stands on its own.

the boys relies entirely on shock value and superheroes having sex in depraved ways.

it might have some valid political commentary somewhere in its messy gory insides, but nothing I couldn't get, and much better, from the Wire.

[e-thonrudwrites]

Writblr Introduction

I’ve seen so many writblr introductions that I wanted to do one!

P.S., it’s a long one.

So I got into writing (as a hobby, even though I’ve always loved creating stories as a kid) thanks to an old bully of mine in Swedish eighth grade. I wrote my first queer characters, in my first English WIP ever. It was a fanfic/AU of She-hulk and other Marvel characters, and of course I posted that bad boy on Wattpad and think it got 80k views over the year on something I’ve never finished. I remember being so nervous about making my FMC fall in love with another woman and for them to care for each other. In retrospect, it probably had to do a lot with trying to figure out my sexuality. But as soon as I did it I felt such relief, and I’ve never looked back on writing straight MCs.

But how does this connect with my writing journey and who I’m today? Well, I’m 23 yo, and my English is better, and that’s coming from someone who’s dyslexic, heck I think I can spell better and have a more advanced language in English than in Swedish which is ironic that it’s my native language. But genre wise nowadays, I write MM Romance in a bunch of different sub genres: romcom, fantasy/sci-fi, thriller, and a bit of horror. And ever since my disability progressed, I’ve tried to incorporate disability in my stories — have bad ass characters that just happen to limp. It’s not the end of the world and that’s what I wanna read.

Which is the most important thing I learned as a 16 yo kid posting on Wattpad and getting the social anxiety and burnout of posting there. Write for yourself. Write what you wanna read. Which has made me connect so much more with my stories and characters, especially when writing a WIP as RUINS OF DAWN and letting myself lean into the darkness I’ve always enjoyed as a kid.

But one of the negative things I know my bullying has affected me in is I know no one’s gonna care about what I write because I’m who I am. Because I’m me. And that’s why it took me so much time in to figure out that I can, and I’m allowed to send queries to agents. That just because I’m me doesn’t make it that anyone else who’s ace, queer, and/or disabled can’t connect with the characters and see a glimpse of themselves. Because that is what RUINS OF DAWN is for me. It’s a book for my 15 yo self that loved all the grimy and gory stuff, who was not feeling good or understood why I was feeling like this around people. Though RUINS OF DAWN is not for people under 18, but if I know myself, a bit of blood and spicy scenes wouldn’t have stopped me. My favorite and comfort movie is WARM BODIES. A damn zombie movie, though the books are more horrifying.

So what is RUINS OF DAWN then? Well, it’s the WIP I’m currently laying all my focus on getting done and ready for beta reading, and the one I’m gonna try to query.

RUINS OF DAWN is a dark sci-fi romance thriller, set in 1962 after the Cubs crisis has gone nuclear. It follows Ed Johnston, our Time manipulating protagonist who gets forced by the NTIA—an organization created by the President to watch supers (Psst, think of an organization corrupted like the TVA from LOKI)—to meet the Director, and where he meets his ex-lover the waiting room. It’s enemies-to-lovers, second chance with similar horror elements as Isaac Marion’s THE BURNING WORLD.

#ownvoicesdisability #ownvoiceschronicpain #ownvoicesqueerness

Comp-titles for RUINS OF DAWN: V. E. Schwab’s VICIOUS, Amal El-Mohtar THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR, Greg Rucka’s THE OLD GUARD, MOONKNIGHT (2022), DEADPOOL (2016), L. J Hayward’s WHERE DEATH MEETS THE DEVIL, Isaac Marion’s THE BURNING WORLD.

So if you like the X-MEN, THE WATCHMEN or anything to do with superheroes and time loops and time travel, then I hope you’ll follow me on my journey to get this bad boy published.

Also, I’d gladly get to know more writers. My life is definitely lacking writing buddies, because authors supporting other authors is the best thing ever.

[analogskullerosis]

@tsupertsundere said that I could say I was tagged in a getting to know you post, so here we go.

LAST SONG -- "Sweet Freedom" by Michael McDonald

This is officially my song of the summer right here. I'm having the happiest summer I've had in a long time. This shit rules.

CURRENTLY READING -- Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams by Sylvia Plath

I'm very familiar with Plath as a poet, but have little experience with her as a prose writer (I've never read The Bell Jar). I only just started it so I haven't quite dived in yet, but it's interesting so far. You read any of her work and you just get the feeling that you're reading something written by a tortured soul. I think of my friend Anisa and my first exposures to her writing in college whenever I return to Plath.

Also, it would be really great if literally anybody else on Earth was allowed to write a foreword for her work instead of her scumbag abusive husband, Ted Hughes. I don't give a fuck what he thinks.

CURRENTLY WATCHING -- Doom Patrol (2019-2023)

I've seen the series before, but I've been watching it again with my dear friend Hannah and I've been really happy that she's been enjoying it (considering she doesn't like much of anything that has to do with superheroes). The show is basically if the X-Men were really bad at being the X-Men and Watchmen without the cynicism, nihilism and douchebaggery. It's a show that's more of a psychological study on some of the most beautifully broken people you've ever seen on television and how they strive to not only try and better themselves, but each other. They also have to deal with the strangest and weirdest enemies and phenomena the world has to offer. Brendan Fraser voices the robot. I have a whole tag dedicated to the show and it's one of the best television shows I've seen in years.

This was fun to do! I would love to hear from these people next -> @xrinsohma, @poppy-ghost, @cowgirliee, @delanore-roosevelt, @oleskellybones, and anybody else who has interest in doing this! (you can just say I tagged you) :)

[libertineangel]

Although past centuries had seen the celebration of Jester's Day, or the Festival of the Fool, spread across the breadth of Tamriel, by the closing years of the Third Era it had been all but forgotten outside the Iliac Bay, with most of those who remembered it elsewhere being thankful of that fact on account of its potential to be a profoundly irritating nuisance that wears out its welcome as quickly as a house fire on a chilly night; the ranks of stout-hearted traditionalists who opposed this view were generally filled by young children, who could be forgiven for revelling in the mischief, and the occasional insufferable co-worker, who could not.

If one were to look to the Imperial City around 3E 430, however, one would find a small group of people whose support fell into a third category: a group of young adults who called themselves the Black Diamond Collective, who saw potential in the old festival. They had read books of history and culture - or, more accurately, Thalin had read books of history and culture and then told the rest of them - and remembered the event a little better than most, seeing it not only as a time for lighthearted japes and foolish games but as an opportunity to rattle the chains of order and bring a bit of humility to the powers-that-be. This was precisely the sort of opportunity they were always on the lookout for, and so they spent many an evening making plans for the occasion, usually clustered around a table at a nearby tavern (or alternatively around a table at a slightly further tavern, or sometimes even in their actual workspace).

Eventually they settled on a plan of action, deciding that between the nine of them it would be most effective if they spread their efforts across the City, working in small groups to simultaneously target different areas and aspects of Imperial authority in ways best suited to everyone's talents - Cavortius, Thalin and Avita-Midaras would dress up like the Watch and give the residents of the Elven Gardens a taste of what life was like on the Waterfront, Alix and Claudia would enter the Temple Of The One to present some highly unorthodox revelation, Marius and Julia would head to the Arena District with some choice artwork, and Velwyn & Amiela would go down to the docks and do something silly with a boat.

Now that they knew what they were doing (to an extent), they began to gather & prepare the necessary supplies for everyone's tasks. Thalin and Avita-Midaras went out to buy wood of the right dimensions to be carved into Watch armour; Marius, Claudia and Julia bought a large quantity of paint, Alix and Cavortius spent time in the Temple District libraries reading old records of commoners' divine inspiration and trying to write a convincing script, while Velwyn and Amiela hung around the Waterfront trying to figure out exactly what they were going to do with the boat.

Eventually they were as ready as could be hoped, and the day came. They wished each other luck, took a drink for good measure, and headed out to their appointed tasks.

The fake Watch group, in their painted wooden armour that looked vaguely convincing from a distance and only slightly less convincing up close (provided the observer was extremely short-sighted or squinting intensely), started banging on doors and announcing surprise inspections, pushing past the occupants with a lot of "keep quiet or we'll call it resistance" and "we do this all the time on the Waterfront" and as much general self-important bluster as they could manage, occasionally even going so far as to declare some random interesting-looking object contraband and marching out with it before the owner had a chance to accuse them of very obviously being young burglars impersonating the law. Several times they had to duck into alleyways as real Watchmen approached, but - despite the evident search that had got underway once their victims reported what was going on - they managed to continue their scheme for several hours, until they knocked on one door and found it answered by a very large bodyguard with a very large mace and a very angry voice telling them that yes, they would be resisting and they didn't think it would take much effort. The trio chose to prove the bodyguard right and consider the day's proceedings concluded, taking a very roundabout route through the side streets back toward the Studio, which they did not reach on account of being stopped by the real Watch at the foot of the road and arrested on counts of burglary, intimidation and impersonation of Imperial personnel.

Meanwhile, over in the Temple District, Alix and Claudia sat on a bench and went over their script one last time before entering the Temple of the One. They approached the central altar slowly, in a manner that was supposed to look reverent, and knelt before it as common worshippers before placing their hands upon it, shivering a bit and loudly proclaiming to see with increasing insistence; the attending member of the Imperial Cult grabbed a quill, ink and some paper before running over and asking what they saw, and the pair took a shuddery breath before beginning their spiel. In rhyme and meter they spoke a mixture of non-sequiters and grim prophecy, all of it meandering vaguely around the idea that the Nine Divines were really no more special than any other gods and the Imperial Cult being an arm of the government was a weapon against the citizens' freedom of religion. The priest wrote all down with expressions ranging from awed to harrowed to sceptical, until Alix stumbled over one of their lines and lost their composure, whereupon they and Claudia ran out of the Temple in a fit of laughter.

Marius and Julia, with the safest job of the day, spent the time in the Arena District covering every flyer & poster they saw with cheap printings of their own, a series parodying Arena advertisements with slogans and imagery lambasting the violence of Imperial occupation in the provinces. After a while they got bored and wanted to do something more proactive like the others, so they looked around for some inspiration and their eyes landed on a couple of discarded training swords, which sparked a new idea. They took them up and tried to draw a crowd by essentially re-enacting the point of their artwork, improvising a bit of speech alongside; they did not draw much crowd, not least because they did this sort of thing fairly regularly and most of the District regulars were used to ignoring them, but the two of them had fun with it until a couple of bored Watchmen arrested them for incitement.

Over on the Waterfront, Velwyn and Amiela spied a vacant boat of appropriate size - small enough for the two of them to move, but large enough to be noticed - moored to the docks and commandeered it while nobody was looking, manoeuvring it out into Lake Rumare. The wind was with them as they sailed south-east toward the Niben, against the proper flow of water traffic, until they reached the narrow passageway at the southern tip of City Isle through which all incoming ships travelled, where they beached the boat at just the right angle to obstruct every vessel larger than their own, effectively blockading the city from all deliveries and major arrivals. Wanting to ensure the authorities knew this was intentional, Velwyn climbed up the mast with a knife and did his best to cut a message of justice for the Waterfront into the sail before he and Amiela disembarked and ran off back to the city.

They met up with Alix & Claudia back at the Studio, and the four of them recounted their endeavours and shared a few drinks while they waited for the rest of the Collective to return, and idly wondered what might be taking them so long as the night grew darker before agreeing they'd probably decided to lay low in separate lodgings and leaving it at that.

Some time the following afternoon they finally arrived, explaining that they had earned the ire of the authorities and ended the day in cells, before the prison officers deigned to respect the ancient rights of satire and let them go (with some minor fines) on account of it being Jester's Day, along with their upstanding good names. They spent the evening celebrating a good day of action, and agreed that they really should do it again next year.

[tanoraqui]

2 extra bits for Men at Arms

--

“Whatever you do, don’t touch it!” Vimes warned.

“Why not? It’s only a device,” said Carrot. He picked up the gonne by the barrel, regarded it for a moment, and

somewhere in the darkness, a monster coiled, made of smoked and blood and the smell of oiled metal. The gonne whispered, “Hold me. Keep me. Kill for me.”

“No,” said the figure it surrounded in the darkness--who was golden, who was incandescent, who was a King. 

“I can give you everything. I can help you make the world right.”

“You brought destruction to my city. You killed innocents people for fun. You nearly made my Captain dishonor his badge.” 

The gonne screamed as the king blazed brighter with each word, tearing the darkness to shreds and

then smashed it against the wall. Bits of a pinwheel rolled away.

“One of a kind,” he said. “One of a kind is always special, my father used to say. Let’s be going.”

- - 

Walking the world as a vengeful spirit was, it turned out, incredible boring. Perhaps because Cuddy was not walking the world so much as the edge of this vast black desert, stretching out beneath a moonless sky. He could have started walking across it. The more not-time passed, the more he wanted to. Felt that he had to, that it was the right thing. But one of the things even dwarves know dwarves are known for is their stubbornness, so he stayed right where he was. He couldn’t go back, but he wouldn’t go forward. Not quite yet.

Death hadn’t seemed concerned about this vow. He had simply said, “MANY DO NOT, IMMEDIATELY. PARTICULARLY DWARVES. TAKE YOUR TIME.”

It was very difficult, actually, to tell time in this place. So Cuddy wasn’t sure whether it had been a couple hours or a couple days or maybe a couple centuries when, finally, three objects fell out of the sky. They were a little ghostly at first, but solidified in time to land at his feet.

This was not entirely unexpected, in that he had definitely been waiting for the axe - his axe, refurbished and sharpened and better than new. Cuddy scooped it up with a glad cry, and then used it to poke one of the other objects - a device that looked like a long tube attached to a crossbow trigger, which he had seen a flash of in a dark alley and a careful sketch of in a notebook.

The gonne did not explode. It did sag a little, as though it had been broken and then put together again but not quite properly.

Axe ready to strike, as though this was a snake rather than a mechanical weapon, Cuddy bent down and poked it with his finger this time.

The gonne sagged a little further. It did not speak. It did not aim itself.

(It turns out that even a terrible weapon that should never have been is not quite powerful enough, not quite a self enough, to have a ghost. This is incredibly much for the best.)

Cuddy left it for the moment and poked at the satchel - just as hesitantly, just in case. It was a completely ordinary satchel. The papers inside were less ordinary, and he ended up sitting down on the black sand to read them all, and think a little harder about the events of the last few days of his life, and what might have happened afterwards.

Then he went back to the gonne hand with a few knocks from the travel hammer and tongs in his pocket, had it good as new. There was enough of it left for him to set it against his shoulder without thinking, aim it at the sky, and cock it with a very satisfying click. Cuddy grinned.

Then he made sure his axe was secure on his back, and slung the satchel over one shoulder to boot. Information could be a terrifically valuable weapon. 

“All right, any demons and devils that are probably not out there!” shouted Constable Cuddy (promotion made official posthumously, though he didn’t know it.) He made that satisfying click again, and started out across the desert. “Go ahead, make my day!”

[doberbutts]

Things I do actually have a problem with:

Hair :( The human men have long hair so why not the elves? Seems like a weird choice to make in all honesty, especially with Finrod who is specifically described as having long flowing hair now sporting a shaved haircut. I’m not saying everyone needs waist-length hair but shaved sides/back are more dwarvish and human things than elvish things. The mohawk that looks right on the dwarf looks absurd on the elf, even if it’s styled fine. Similarly, yeah, sad to not see beards on the female dwarves. Disa does have sideburns (sparse, but present) but... bearded lady pretty...

The bending of canon to make it fit makes sense in some areas and not as much in others but I’m waiting until the season ends to see if they tie up these ends neatly before making my final decision on that. Having Elrond go to the dwarves seems like a weird choice when Celebrimbor is literally right there. Shortening the timeline so they don’t keep building up and then killing off characters of less long-lived races does make sense for this specific format.

Personally I think the only way to have avoided that problem would be for it to be less inter-connected ASOIAF-style and more Silmarillion-style. So like, an entire season spent on Beren and Luthien, an entire season spent on Turin, and entire season spent on the War of Wrath, etc. That being said I think that would have appealed to a much more narrow audience as the Silmarillion is well known to be the least appealing of the “widely known” books (being Silmarillion, Hobbit, and the LOTR trilogy) to new fans due to how dense, dry, lore-heavy, and flowery it is. It’s also harder for new fans to understand how everything connects without spending quite a long time on the ol “yeah hey you remember this guy from this episode? well I’m his great great great great great great great grandkid” or “hey you remember this one thing that seemed like a really minor detail? SURPRISE it’s a MAJOR PLOT POINT now” So I think no matter how you tell the story of literally anything from the Second Age, there will be complaints to how that translates to the screen considering Tolkien never wrote for the screen and never expected his works to be adapted let alone in this manner.

Again, if you watch with the attitude of “inspired by, not 100% word-for-word” similar to how comic book and videogame movies are made, where it’s set in a version of the same world but it’s not exactly true to source, it’s a much more enjoyable watch than if you were expecting everything to be exactly the same because it super will not be.

I’ve heard complaints about the only black elf thus far being a low-class elf (who is currently engaged in a slavery subplot big sigh) but also consider: that’s because most of the high-class elves are directly related to each other. Meaning if one is black they all have to be. And considering Tolkien fanboys are already shitting themselves about a single original character being black, can you imagine the pushback if the entire Noldorian line was black? Also that would directly fall into a different antiblack trope because the bulk of the Noldor have bright red, blonde, or silver hair which relies on the “dark skin but eurocentric features” trope. And then if you change that, you get people raising hell that Galadriel’s “golden hair that shines so brightly it looks like the light of the Two Trees is contained within” was changed to brown or black. But then if you don’t make her black but do make other characters directly related to her black...

While I do think there should be more speaking black characters, and especially more black elves among what Amazon is calling the “watchmen” since there’s more room to play with that than the Noldor because, as said, everyone’s related to each other for that clan, the complaint that there are only a handful of black characters is sort of lost on me. There’s dozens of shades of brown in the crowds of people. The speaking characters could use more diversity, but the world itself is more diverse than is being implied. And, to be quite frank, more diverse than Tolkien’s writings or literally any adaption of them.

HOWEVER I do agree that it’s a little yikes that the only black elf is currently engaged in a slavery subplot. I mean yeah Sauron did do shit like that, and orcs are technically super fucked up elves so he needs fresh, er, “breeding stock” as it were, but really you gotta throw your only black elf into it? He did get some moments of being a badass and in fairness there’s white elves enslaved with him but. Still a little yikes. Hopefully he will break free and continue to be a badass, honestly I’m so normal about him, really the blorbification level is at an all time low, I can be normal about an AfroLatino elf truly I’m incredibly normal about this man.

[pvrkacciosan]

The Heart of the Lioness: ☽⋆5⋆☾

A Power of a Decade

The Heart of the lioness Masterlist

Previous Part

☽ - Assassin's Blade Years  - ☾

Brielle pulled the hood further up to cover her face, the rain continuing to hammer down hard, she could feel it like tapping against her skin. Hid in an alley in the city of Rifthold, the sky was darkening above her and that wasn't just because the clouds blanketing the air, consuming the city in its wrath and storm. The air was chilled while she slipped under the archway of the greying building and out onto the crowded street.

She felt the eyes tracking her, the prick of them all observing the stranger moving through their mist, she had to get into cover soon before any of them figured out what she was. She was without her powers, but not powerless and certainly not alone.

She caught the sight of the figures movement as they mirrors hers from the opposite side of the cobblestones streetway. Carriages moved between them yet the two figures kept pace with her own. They too wore the same leathers and dark hood pulled up over their own head, hiding the obviously pointed ears.

Teyra pulled Isaiah along the road with her, Brielle sped around an elderly couple strolling along at their own pace,  The cobble stone pathway was wet underfoot yet when the road was cleared of horses and carriages, Brielle made a quick dash across them, hoping her shoes had enough grip to keep her upright. A solitary hand held her hood in place as the wind rushed against her cheeks.

Teyra halted with Isaiah at her side, his head inclined to watch down the street. 

"You sure this is the right way?" his voice was hushed by the bustling noise surrounding them in the early night city air, the rain dripping from the front of their hoods. Yet as she approached Brielle could see his dark oaken brown eyes scanning everything to the old women walking down the street her back curled over a stick in hand to hold herself up. He didn't look at her as he continued to assess their surroundings, unnerved as though even his own skin drawn across his bones was causing discomfort. Being in an unknown city where your kind were hunted could do that to someone.

"This way" Brielle said in passing, they turned to follow without a word or question.

The trio stalked along the same street for a few more minutes, weaving in and around people as they moved, coming to a side street Brielle stopped looking down at it she paused.

Reaching into the inside pocket of her leathers, she pulled out the note, the rain had made the paper damp, folding it back up and slipping it away she ran the words through her mind once more.

"Second floor, fourth window along" she muttered under her breath, Teyra appeared in her peripheral looking at the building they were to venture into. 

"Why do I get the sense the owner of that knows how to protect themselves" she jutted her chin in the buildings direction.

"Security detail stretches around the whole building" Isaiah was at Brielle's other side now. She knew he would scout out the building before they were due to enter tonight. This loyalty to their lives going further then death itself, and if he could prevent that for any of them Brielle knew he would.

"Two visible watchmen at the entrances, three more hidden at each" 

Brielle mulled over his words, who ever this person was they knew how to protect them self, and had reason to have such security. However over her passing with this client, she had puzzled that he didn't own this, not with how desperate he sounded in their letters. If he had the money as this owner clearly does he would have helped himself instead of getting her to come across to Erilea. No he was not the owner of this building, but perhaps the owner was his master.

"Not anything we haven't dealt with before, use the rain and shadows as coverage, and stay behind me" Brielle looked to both her sentries, her friends. They both gave responding nods. Brielle pulled her hood up a little higher on her head.

Then they moved.

It only took the three of them a few minutes to cross the distance from the alley way to the edges of the building, Teyra had almost got herself caught, but Isaiah a few paces behind her, had dispatched the man before he could so much as look in the female's direction. They continued on with Isaiah whispering a playfully snide remark at Teyra for her lacking ability to stay hidden.

With their bodies hugged into the shadows of the wall, Brielle looked up- the rain hitting her face now, small shards of ice they were against her skin. The destined window was above them now. She turned to look around, the buildings near by were too far for them to climb and jump into the window. Probably a deliberate move by the owner. Smart Bastard. Brielle smirked.

"Okay, we climb"

Teyra scoffed, rubbing her hand along the top of her thighs, a failing attempt to dry her palms against the soaked material. 

"It's too wet, We'll surely slip" The other female was looking up the wall now, the second floor didn't look so high from a distance but looking up at it now, looking at the feat they would have to claim, it did look daunting. The bricks slick with trickling rain water, glistening in the light from the overhead moon.

"Not if we help each other" Isaiah whispered, head moving around to listen for patrolling guardsmen,

"Fair enough" Teyra whispered, a bright smile appearing once more from within the shadow casted across her face.

Turning to the wall, Brielle placed her hands against it first, reaching up to the full length her arms would allow, the tip of her finger searching for a small nook to grip a hold of. Getting them secure was the easy part, pulling herself up was the harder part.

Pushing off with both feet Brielle gasped when her foot slipped, but a hand caught the back of her thigh, stopping her from falling further.

Looking down Brielle saw Isaiah holding her up his arm extended out from his cloak, he met her stare, "Go."

Brielle moved again, getting a grip against the wall for her feet she pushed up her hand moving to pull up then her legs once more, and she repeated the process again and again, from above them Brielle directed Teyra and Isaiah on where to grip and they followed her instructions until they were almost at the window.

Teyra had slid a couple of times but had managed to grip her body tight to the wall. If they made too much noise a passing guard may hear them, so they stayed silent. Or as silent as they could facing the fact they were climbing two stories in torrential weather.

Brielle's legs burned as she pushed her weight up a small grunt escaping her as she reached a hand up to the window sill, the surface was dripping water and the clots of moss clung to it made it even harder for her to grip a hold of, but Brielle dug her fingers into a small grove and pulled.

Her training with her brother had seemed to pay off as she pulled and suspended herself up enough to push the window open. It creaked as it swung, Brielle held out for another second to make sure no one heard the noise.

Once satisfied with the amount of time waiting for the noise to resound far enough to be heard and be reacted to she pulled her body all the way up, the muscles in her arms burning for relief when they stretched out and she finally fell into the building with a light thump.

But Brielle could wait not one second later as she surged up and rolled back towards the window, leaning up to it she peered out and held a hand for Teyra to grab.  Brielle couldn't tell if it was rain or sweat that marred her friends brow, but the other female looked about two seconds away from letting go,

The wind was hammering the side of the building now and the rain fell harder and faster, and as Teyra was a centimetres from reaching her hand, Brielle's heart stopped,  her body was yanked backwards by something wrapping around her throat from behind.

She was thrown away from the window and a body was upon hers a heartbeat later, she had no idea how her hood was still hung over her head because all she could think of was Teyra and Isaiah now exposed, left clinging on the outside of the building.

The body tackled her own as she began to raise to her feet, the arms wrapped around her waist and the pair of them tumbled backwards. The wood of the floorboards cracked against her spine

They landed hard in what looked like a hallway, Brielle pushed against the body on top of her, a feminine grunt resounded as she threw a fist up and hit her opponent in the ribs, hard.

The girl groaned but Brielle caught her movement as she reached for something strapped to her leg, her blood thrummed harder, pulsing in her ears she grabbed the other girl's arm stopping just as her fingers brushed the handle of what looked like a very sharp dagger that no doubt promised pain.

Tucking her legs under herself, Brielle thrusted her hips upwards and the girl was knocked off her balance, she twisted across the top of her and Brielle rolled over onto her stomach and pushed up through her hands, 

"Celeana, stop!" a voice yelled quietly from down the hall, the sound of rushed footsteps following,

Whipping her head back up Brielle felt the whoosh as her hood fell back off her head, she now had the chance to look her attacker in the eyes, she was a young female with blonde shoulder length hair, a bruise marred her cheek and she now was in a crouch with two deadly looking daggers held in each hand.

There was a thump from behind her and a growl from Teyra as she fell in through the window. Brielle held a hand out, stopping her friend from attacking, there was a deeper resounding grunt as Isaiah climbed in after Teyra.

"You're Fae" the voice from before whispered, Brielle's finally looked over to the man stood beside the girl he had called Celeana. 

"Say it a bit louder and get us all killed why don't you"  Teyra growled, she weighed her weapons in her hands, eyeing the pair up and down still panting from the effort it took to climb the impossibly flat surface outside.

The girl wore clothes similar to their own, a suit dressed to hide and not be seen, Brielle watched, this teenage girl knew what she had been doing when she attacked her, just what was this place?

"Who are they?" the girl spoke leaning towards the man who was dressed casually he had dark hair and a scar running along his jaw bone, Brielle looked him up and down, his ears were what caught her attention next, she began to rise from her place at the floor. His ears, they were... Fae yet not at the same time, she sniffed, Demi-Fae.

How he had managed to survive this close to Adarlan and the man they called King was beyond her thinking, of all those she had helped, smuggling them across to Doranelle, she had never helped someone this close to the edge, with death a constant companions on his doorstep.

"I'm assuming they're the people I called for help" he shifted so he was looking at the teenage girl, "Arobynn can't know they're here" he wasn't looking to the three Fae who all once again had their hoods up and had grips of their weapons, either in display or hidden amongst the fold of their cloaks.

Celeana passed a look to them, looking each of them in the face as if taking them in, the ancient species which had survived through so much, a race which had been almost completely wiped off the face of this continent. A look of  deep rooted longing seemed to flash on the girls face a second before looking back to the man next to her, resting a hand on his shoulder, a wordless goodbye passing through the windows of her eyes, no goodbye was given as all she said was 

"Leave Arobynn to me," Brielle noticed her hand tighten, "Now go" that was the last Brielle saw of the girl before she tucked her knives away and raced back down the hallway.

It was nearly a month later when they arrived back in Doranelle with the demi-Fae assassin from Rifthold, Ilan his name was, Brielle had learned as much as she could about him as they travelled across land and sea, Ilan had not known his family and had landed into the midst of Arobynn Hamel's Guild. With his heightened Fae senses; Arobynn had given him an offer of work.  Ilan didn't want for that life anymore and so here he was.

In a new land, pockets stuffed with money for a new life, this was the part Brielle resented most, saying goodbye. But the knowledge that she had brought them to a land they could freely be themselves without paying for it with the cost of their life eased the unsettling in her stomach.

Ilan looked to Teyra, and Isaiah, then finally, he smiled at Brielle, a thank you of sorts, his smile was pinched at one side where the scar ran along his jaw and met his lips. 

"I know you're services came at no cost but there must be something I can do to repay you" he spoke directly to Brielle now, she felt her skin heat as Teyra and Isaiah looked to their commander, they too knew how difficult this part was. 

The words clogged her throat but Brielle shook her head, Ilan placed his hands together, "There has to be something... — some way I can repay you"

Brielle went to shake her head once more when a thought occurred to her, a reminder or rather  in fact a memory of what she used to ask for as payment. Raising her head once more, a hand tightening around the blade tucked to her side beneath the dark cloak, with the hood pulled over her head once more, Brielle's face was neutral as she said, 

"Be my eyes and ears"

That was the last time she spoke to Ilan as she turned and began to walk off, Teyra and Isaiah both pulling up their own hood as they followed away from Ilan, Teyra shot the demi-Fae male a quick smile before she turned and just as Ilan blinked, one minute they were there,

the next... 

Gone.

☽ - Empire of Storms (present)- ☾

"What do you guys mean you're leaving?" Brielle asked, watching as her mate and brother began to bag their belongings into travelling packs, their weapons lacing every part of their muscled bodies.

Gavriel turned to look at his sister, "Maeve has sworn us to go, we have no choice"

Her mate appeared at her side now, he clasped her elbow gently, a shiver ran up her arm at the contact point, "You know we wouldn't go if we didn't have to but.."

"Yeah blood oath, I know I know, I'm the one person you don't have to remind about the strength of a command" 

Fenrys was at her front now, his hand cupping her jaw, his dark onyx eyes meeting her own, "We shouldn't be gone too long"

"What's your task anyway?"  pulling away from Fenrys slightly so she could look at them both, her mate's arms stiffened and Gavriel turned to look around at his sister from across the room where he was packing some herbs into his pack.

The two male's in the room didn't quite know how to respond to her in that moment, despite Lorcan being a damn bastard, she liked the demi-Fae. She wouldn't think too kindly of their task, Vaughan had also been sent on. In a battle of stares, the two males seemed to be arguing over who was going to tell her.

Brielle pulled herself from Fenrys's grip, standing in the middle of the room now her eyes darted between the two, "Just one of you tell me" she was growing sick of them teetering about subject around her, she was just as old as them both and a warrior just like them, and Fae none the less— if they could handle it so could she.

"We've been sent to kill Lorcan"

With her heart leaping into her throat, Brielle gaped at the two in the room with her, all movement ceased to a halt. 

"What so is she now killing us all off one by one?" 

"She may as well be now if she's having us hunt and kill one other" Gavriel turned his whole body now so he was looking at everyone else, 

"She's gone mad. Typical Maeve, doesn't want to actually get her nails dirty"

Fenrys move away from Brielle, back to where he had left some on his things on a bench, Brielle followed him over, his shoulders were tense when she laid her hands against the muscles of his shoulder blades, Gavriel was now moving around the room doing his own thing once again.

Leaning into her mates back, Brielle could feel ever one of the worries in his body, simply by how the muscles tensed together in his back, wrapping her arms around his torso, locking her hands at his waist Brielle kissed at his back through the thin shirt. The material smelt strongly of him, and as she pressed her cheek to it Brielle found herself trying to savour it all and commit it to every wall of her memory. A curl flipped her stomach, this was something that neither of them liked very much, leaving. It was hard to endure something when you were by yourself. 

She tightened her grip around him, his back straightened ever so slightly with her staying where she was, Fenrys ran a hand along her arm at his front before turning around to face her. Clinging to ever inch of who she is. 

"You going to be here for me when I come back?" he asks looking down at her now, 

Brielle leaned into his chest but still held the eye contact, "I can't help but notice how you didn't say 'home' " she spoke into his shirt now, 

"because this isn't our home," Fenrys was shaking his head while he looked to her, 

"If not here then where?" Brielle lifted a brow in question, 

Her mate seemed to ponder her question in the only way he could, with that damnable smirk and narrowed eyes, "Our home is out there somewhere," he tilted his head down, touching his forehead to hers, "I will build you a sturdy house in, where we could finally settled and just be with each other" he leaned so his words were tickling her neck , Brielle giggled and Fenrys waited for the joyous sound to quiet before he whispered his next words to the skin below her ear, "a place where I could have you as my wife and I could watch you carry our kids" she felt the brush of his fingers against the skin of her lower stomach above her womb, the place where she would hopefully one day carry and nurture their kids.

The image of that world, with him made Brielle's heart swell double its size inside her chest, and she hugged him tighter once more, an action which he mirrored. In that world Maeve wasn't their queen, and they were free to just be with one another. 

The idea of their kids, made Brielle breathless and a tear burned in her eyes, 

"Don't even think about making me an uncle just yet" Gavriel jutted from the side of the room, Brielle gasped at the reminder her brother was still here with them.

When she pulled away from Fenrys she could have sworn she saw him quickly turn to wipe at his eyes, 

"I saw that" she chided, Fenrys rolled his eyes, but nudged her lightly before he took her hand and held it close to his side, 

"Would really hoped you two would stop doing that shit around me" Gavriel uttered turning back to his stuff. 

Grump. Brielle thought, dropping her mates hand she skipped across the room to her bother, bumping into his side as she did a small jump to land next to him.

"Well your suffering is my entertainment big brother," spotting a small bowl of grapes stationed next to his stuff, Brielle quickly snatched them before running off, as she did Gavriel reached to try and grab her, Brielle's laughter bounced off the walls as she ran to hide behind Fenrys.

Gavriel stopped where he was, but pointed a finger at his sister when she peaked out from behind the other Fae male, popping a grape into her mouth with a satisfied smile.

"Thief's get their hands cut off  for stealing you know" he tried to put a stern face on, but he almost cracked when Brielle smiled at him once more, gripping the arm of Fenrys she stood up and offered her mate a grape he took it gladly while watching Gavriel.  He didn't need Maeve's blood oath to kill Lorcan, when he saw him and Rowan next he would happily kill them both for leaving him with the younger Fae members of their group.

"Only if they get caught" Brielle was laughing once more, but she managed to smile at Gavriel while she held a grape between her teeth.

Despite the scowl he kept on his face, Gavriel smiled when he turned away and he didn't do anything beside send his sister a narrowed eyes stare and he simply allowed Brielle to continue eating away at the grapes while she sat with them until they were ready to leave. 

...

Taglist:@dreamiezpsycho @rbdmaniacapotter

Next Part

[todoscript]

Syndicate — [ 1 ]

Parts | one ; two ; three

Genre | Mafia AU / Anti-Villain AU.

Pairing(s) | MafiaBosses!TodoBakuDeku x Fem!Reader

Rating | Mature

Words | 5.2k+

Summary | Being the lover of, not one, but three influential young men, who are the leaders of the most wanted crime syndicate in Japan, it is no surprise that other eyes are watching you beyond the three’s own.

Warnings | Violence. Cursing/crude language. Guns. Mafia talk/“negotiating”. Lots of fighting. Reader is inspired by the femme fatale archetype. Polyamorous relationship. Characters are aged-up. Sexual undertones/implied sexual content. Possessiveness. Heavily self-indulgent. Written in 3rd POV. Shouto’s “codename” is Mercury (b/c the planet is both half-hot and half-cold lol).

Author’s Notes | Hello all! This is the first ever fanfic I’ve posted on tumblr! Sorry, the idea was lingering in my head until I suddenly felt the burst of energy to start writing this out of nowhere in the dead of 3AM. I’ve written fanfiction before but I’ve never published anything for tumblr so this is exciting.

The air is still, nearly silent apart from the nocturnal creatures that scurry and prowl through alleys, navigating over the dewy darkness between the seams. The moon graces the gloom of the night with its luster across desolated areas in Japan. Business hours have longed past as services are halted until the next coming day. Civilians are nowhere to be found, tucked away in their homes with their lights flickered off.

What remains alive in Japan during this hour is the wind cast through the streets, the scamper of animals in the nocturne, and a low hum of an ebony vehicle driven down roads of street lights.

“Whatever the fuck Overhaul wants better be worth my fucking time, Deku,” hisses a peeved Katsuki Bakugou, leaning against the window of their sleek automobile and looking highly uninterested during the ride. Izuku Midoriya, the young man with the head of unruly verdant hair, nods his head. His expression is mild at his friend’s usual discontented tone.

“Kai Chisaki—the head boss of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza—wants to negotiate with us, Kacchan. Surely it would be advantageous for us to hear him out. If anything we’ll manage to at least squeak some intel from him to reference for later on.” A glint rises in the male’s eyes.

“‘Some intel’ ain’t enough. If they’re gonna drag all three of us out here, then it better be for something good, or else I might have to let off some explosions to satisfy my boredom.” Bakugou’s quirk begins to pop and crack around his palms at the idea of letting loose.

Shouto Todoroki—the third of the trio—sighs exasperatingly at his fellow inflamed mafia boss, running his hand through his red and white tresses.

“Bakugou, I’d advise against it. Knowing the location we’re heading to, your explosions would only cause a ruckus in the area that’d get the annoying heroes involved. I’ve had enough dealing with those fools as it is and we also don’t need the men in blue following after our trail.”

“Shut up Icy-Hot! If this ‘negotiation’ isn’t beneficial to us, I’ll find my own way to make them pay for wasting our damn time!” Bakugou yells.

These three young men—Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, and Shouto Todoroki—are known as the bosses of one of Japan’s most powerful organized crime syndicates.

Notorious, ruthless, and authoritative, these three, despite their youth, have secured a name for themselves within the underground crime world. Aside from their tenacity and skill, the strength of each of their quirks played a large factor in their rise among the rivaling crime groups. They easily snuffed out the weak competition without so much as a sweat, and working under them are other strong combatants, each of them possessing their own unique and powerful quirks.

With everything at their disposal, the Yuuei mafia group quickly obtained a vast, large territory within the capital of Japan—the epicenter of where all the shady deals and disputes occur.

“We didn’t even bring Angel Face with us. What a drag.” Bakugou gruffs. He leans back in his seat, arms crossed, and cushioned behind his head as the lamps flicker past them, the dim lights splayed across the endless road.

“Letting ____ rest was the least we could do after her successful infiltration at the political officials gala,” the middle of the three states matter-a-factly.

“Especially after the rounds she endured even after her mission,” Todoroki adds, vividly remembering the gala dress cascading down her skin and clinging to her body that night, as well as their antics that ensued afterward.

He recalls the beautiful, red formal gown she wore for the occasion, the material hugging her figure perfectly and accentuating her curves in all the right places. God, he prayed that something within him wouldn’t stir at the thought of it again.

They all remembered it quite clearly. It made their fingers itch the very evening of the event, yearning to touch all the dips and arcs that sculpted her body. Her hair, styled up and tied with a matching silk red ribbon, kept the skin of her neck bare and begging to be marked while gold lined her wrists and collar bones. To say she was a goddess that night would be an understatement. The three could barely keep their hands off her before she even left the mansion, let alone attend the gala. But once her mission was complete, she arrived home to be thoroughly loved and lusted, with three young and hungry men indulging in all the divine fruits this celestial being had to offer to them.

The girl they speak of is not only their right-hand woman but also the three’s beloved paramour. Since their journey into coming to power, ____ has been with them through thick and thin and has become an influential asset in attaining their position.

Beautiful, yet dangerous, she proved to be an incredibly powerful fighter in many forms of combat in combination with her quirk, along with having a gift for deception that allowed her to climb her way to the top of the pack. Naturally, the trio found themselves drawn to her, not just for her strength and beauty, but also her passion and ability to mend the spirits of those around her. If it weren’t her, the Yuuei mafia group would not be as intact and well-oiled as it is today.

“Besides, we have some of our best following in the car behind us in case anything suspicious happens,” Midoriya gestures to the similar-looking sleek and dark-tinted car trailing behind their own.

“I very much doubt we need them, but it’s best not to worry Angel too much while she’s resting,” Todoroki murmurs, crossing his legs.

A few more turns and they’ve eventually entered the area of a vacant warehouse located on the edge of Japan near the shore.

The moment their vehicle is directed to a stop, the three bosses exit. Bakugou vehemently slams his door, eyeing the building with a vexing glare.

“Let’s get this shit show over with. This better be good.”

The warehouse is eerily quiet in the dead of the night and smells of salt from the ocean behind it. Spotting them walking to the entrance, the watchmen of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza hastily open the doors enclosing the warehouse. The hinges bear an uncomfortable creaking sound that jars through the silence.

“Oh, he’s here! He’s here! My cute little Izuku is here!” hollers a shrill voice belonging to an all-too-energetic head of messy, bunned-up blonde hair. The said boy blinks twice at her enthusiasm as they approach the lone wooden table situated in the center of the warehouse.

Uh, do I know her? He ponders for a second before dismissing the thought.

A pale man with gloved hands and shaggy auburn hair holds a hand out to halt the girl behind him. “Calm down Toga, we haven’t spoken of negotiations yet, so I need you to be quiet.”

Toga pouts, nearly grasping a silver blade at her side but stills herself for now. In the meantime, she opts to fidget with the tubular machine wrapped around her body.

The three look up to view a small group illuminated by the light fixed above the wooden table. Their eyes swiftly count seven or eight of them surrounding that area, including the ringleader, and likely more hidden somewhere in the darkness around them. After all, any fine and experienced villainous group would know better than to invite the bosses of the most dangerous crime syndicate without being thoroughly prepared for a possible scuffle to occur.

However, for now, they all advance with the notion to talk first before unleashing quirks and violence (well most of them anyway).

“Welcome, welcome. I see you made it to this place without much trouble; you’re right on time,” Overhaul greets the three young men mildly, “Deku, Ground Zero, and Mercury.”

Midoriya walks forward as the center of their entourage to return the cordial greeting. “Yes, it’s nice to finally meet you, Kai Chisaki of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza. Otherwise known as Overhaul.”

“Ah, so you know of me and my cause. It seems our reputation precedes us.”

“Of course. The Shie Hassaikai yakuza has long been in business in the crime world…” Midoriya muses, “Though they’ve wrung out past their former glory. Having since been pushed back into the underground after the rise of heroes.”

Bakugou smirks, close to letting out a snicker at the backhanded comment.

It’s true. While the Shie Hassaikai were one of the main criminal groups running the yakuza underground, that all soon fell and crumbled as the surge of heroes came into society. It was only after the former boss’ grandson, Kai Chisaki, came into power and took leadership that their name grew back into prominence once again, albeit little by little.

“Why you little–” A man donning a long white raincoat and plague doctor mask swiftly appears with a pistol pointed in Midoriya’s direction, none too amused by the remark. However, he’s cut off by a wall of ice erected at Midoriya’s side.

“Watch where you point those toys you little rat,” Todoroki sneers, and the tone of his voice nearly exposes chills to the air.

“Calm down, Chrono. We’re the ones that invited them as guests, thus we need to treat them like so.”

The white-haired subordinate withdraws at the words of his leader, retracting the gun back into the pocket of his coat.

“I apologize, he’s simply on edge over the fact we have some pretty powerful people at our doorstep. You’ll have to excuse him.”

“It’s quite all–”

“Did we come here to talk, or did we come here to fight?” Bakugou barges through, shoving past Midoriya with no restraint.

“I thought this was a fucking negotiation, not an apology fess. If one of your dogs is so edgy, I’d be happy to give him a good thrashing to satiate him if you want,” his raised hand sparks and flickers in the dark, “If not then get to it, Overhaul,” he threatens. Midoriya sighs.

“I think we’re simply all… piqued as to why this meeting was demanded out of nowhere and scheduled for the dead of the night no less, but I’m sure you have some important matters to discuss with us right, Overhaul?” Midoriya reasons, a sly grin on his lips.

“Right, let's get to it shall we?” Approaching closer to the table separating them, Overhaul continues, “First off, I must congratulate you on successfully infiltrating that gala the other night. Not many crime organizations can sneak into a party of that caliber. Especially when it’s so heavily guarded and kept secretive to all suspicious eyes of the dark,” he commends, digging a hand into the pocket of his jacket.

The three exchange quick, wary glances from the corner of their eyes that the opposite party misses.

“You were there?” Todoroki questions bluntly in which Overhaul hums in response.

“Hm, yes. But for different reasons, I’m sure. You see, I’ve been… examining little details of the Yuuei mafia group recently. It fascinates me how well-oiled and efficient you are at running your organization, so I began to ponder: ‘How do they do it?’ Little did I know, the answer all became more than clear to me from what I saw at that gala,” the auburn-haired man drawls, finally plucking out a photo from his pocket and sliding it across the wood under the light.

The moment the three recognized the image, their eyes widened, soon shifting into visages of sheer hostility at the next statement pronounced.

“This girl here? I want her.”

Within the confines of the paper is ____, dressed in the red gown she wore the very night of the gala, a masquerade mask over her features with the purpose to obscure herself in the throng.

The three before Overhaul seethe vessels of wrath.

“What did you just say? Do you even know what you’re asking of us?” Todoroki feels icy and heated atmospheres form on his opposing left and right sides upon hearing Overhaul’s words, sensing the tension rising around his fellow partners as well.

“The girl, I must say, does excellent work at her job. She’s skilled and tactical, having infiltrated many influential organizations and assassinated several powerful faces getting in the way of your mafia group. Such precision, efficiency, and beauty makes her the perfect woman, wouldn’t you agree?” He picks up the picture, bringing it up next to him.

Given the deadly pressure in the air, the next words he utters might be the final nail in his coffin.

“Well, I want you to hand her over to me.”

The nail is hit. There’s a lingering silence before hell nearly breaks loose and the next motions could deliver his soul down the River of Styx.

Fueled by blood-boiling anger and annoyance, Bakugou charges forward to land an explosive hit on the yakuza boss. “LIKE HELL WE WOULD, YA FUCKING BASTARD!” He’s thwarted by a yellow barrier emerging to shield the leader from the attack, courtesy of a henchman at his left side. The blonde jumps back, his hands still crackling and his rage not dissipating anytime soon. “Don’t go spewing a bunch of shit outta your mouth!”

“Now… let’s be rational or you’ll start getting dirt everywhere...” Overhaul dusts off his shoulder before resuming the conversation nonchalantly, “Of course I’ll provide you with compensation. I wouldn’t be so naive as to expect to be given something so valuable without offering payment after all.”

With a snap of his fingers a large, bulky man promptly lays a silver briefcase on the table. The locks click open to reveal wads of cash layering the case to the brim, enough to flabbergast and entice any common citizen in Japan.

“If this amount isn’t enough, I have another briefcase with—”

A jolting sound of the wooden table and metal briefcase breaking beneath Midoriya’s foot is enough to diminish the rest of Overhaul’s remark, signifying their blunt answer to his offer.

“What a waste of a night it’s been. Presenting money to us in hopes that we’d simply hand over our beloved like she’s some prostitute for sale? You're more of a fool than I took you for, Kai Chisaki,” Each word that rolls off Midoriya’s tongue is laced with venom. Such malice is enough to paralyze those who hear it, as if it would be the last statement they’ll ever listen to before hitting the concrete dead.

Reasoning with the trio any further is equivalent to bargaining with the god of the underworld, offering nothing but your knees on the floor and a sad pleading voice, only to be whisked back to the deepest, darkest chambers of hell.

Overhaul simply pauses before following with a long, testy sigh.

“A no then? Alright. Toga.”

The bun-headed blonde pounces forward at the command almost instantaneously, knife in her grasp and ready to swing. Midoriya moves to the side with ease, evading the blade as well as dodging a puncture from a needle. His agility is manifested in green electric currents of aura.

“Ooh, I finally get to cut up and obtain cute Izuku’s yummy blood!” She grins psychotically, keeping both eyes trained on the green-haired boy. “Heehee, I’ve been waiting for this day! Ever since I saw that photo of you all bruised up in a fight, I had to have you all to myself! I just love a man all red and bloodied!” Toga exclaims in utter glee, giggling like a schoolgirl meeting her celebrity idol.

Midoriya grimaces, nearly shivering at her excitement over announcing her neurotic confession to him. Her contorted facade is not earning her any points either. Taking notice of the wary expression that crosses his brows, Toga grins wider.

“It’s OK, even if you don’t like me now, you’ll definitely like me when I get a drop of that girl’s blood and transform into her! We’ll look so much alike, you’ll have heart-eyes for me too!” Her features curve into a look of pure hysteric that leaves Midoriya speechless, so much so it takes a loud blast hurled past him to finally bring his senses back to the conflict.

“Move it, Deku!” Bakugou’s attacks are relentless and powerful, but Toga’s nimbleness prevents her from getting hit.

“Deku, Ground Zero, back up,” Todoroki raises his left hand, the corresponding side flaring with heat before quickly igniting into bright hot flames enough to cover his entire arm. “You lot have some nerve to call us and arrange this abhorrent deal under the guise of a ‘negotiation.’ I’ll incinerate you all for even thinking you could take her from us.”

His quirk is unleashed in a flurry of fire that’s launched toward his enemies.

“Dabi,” Overhaul signals and a lanky man with patched, burnt scars and skin held together by staples and stitches steps forward, triggering his blue blazes to combat the red-orange ones. The infernos collide into a firestorm that soon scatters and disperses due to a power struggle.

“Tch,” Todoroki narrows his brows, annoyed.

“Hm, the brat’s not all talk after all,” Dabi’s expression remains stoic while his hand hovers in front of him, still swallowed by his azure flames. Wordlessly he releases his blazes once more only to be countered by Todoroki’s wall of ice diminishing the onslaught of fire.

On their end, Midoriya and Bakugou are in pursuit of the head honcho Overhaul himself, while attempting to throw blows at Toga along the way.

Now enveloped in energy that increases his strength and dexterity tenfold, it isn’t long until the green-haired young man catches up to crafty Toga’s momentum. With a grunt, Midoriya kicks forward, swinging his foot into the girl’s direction with tremendous force that’s too quick for her to avoid.

Toga braces herself for the impact but the attack never meets. Instead, a yellow shield materializes in front of her to take the blow, a crack now evident on the surface of the saffron safeguard. “Oooh! Izuku’s really out for blood! How thrilling!” she squeals, licking her lips.

“It’s that fucking barrier bastard again! Move over, I’ll kill him!” yells a pissed Bakugou who jumps over Midoriya’s head, running across the top of the manifested barrier. From there, he spots his offender.

Gritting his teeth, he dashes off the shield before it can disappear and uses it to propel himself forward. His palms glow and envelope themselves with heat as he holds them outward.

“Rappa! I can’t conduct another shield so quickly, get him!” Tengai, the one with the barrier quirk, hastens his partner. Rappa zealously swoops in front of him with iron-knuckle gloves ready.

“Oh no, you don’t! Try and fucking dodge this!” Bakugou brings his hands forward while still in midair, “Stun Grenade!” A radiant, gleaming light emits from his palms, effectively blinding all those within his vicinity.

Rappa and Tengai have no choice but to cover their eyes from the intensity of the light, leaving them wide open to strike!

Without hesitation, the ash-blonde creates two more explosions to launch himself forward, spinning in the air and gathering momentum before firing his attack encased in an explosive tornado.

“Howitzer Impact!!”

In an instance, a flash exudes in a fiery burst of nuclear reaction, which releases violent discharges of kinetic energy towards his enemies. The attack hits home, covering a chuck of the area with debris and rubble, and producing a hole on the right side of the warehouse.

Tengai and Rappa are incapacitated.

“Kac— Ground Zero, you went all out didn’t you…” Midoriya mutters while holding Toga down despite all her fidgeting. In a last-ditch effort, the girl draws out the spare knife tucked away in her utility belt, however the young man on top of her knocks it away before she can react any further.

“Toga, am I correct? I suggest you stand down, or I may have to break something to make you cooperate.” Midoriya’s warning exudes a menacing tone, in contrast to his former courteous character and the gentle features adorning his face. Yet Toga does not seem fazed by this.

“Heehee, you’re so cute when you make threats like that…” she giggles, shifting her head ever so slightly to catch glimpses of the male’s appearance. He’s quite disheveled down to his wrinkled suit, unbuttoned collar, sweat glistening on his forehead, and what’s this?

Toga peeks at a single crimson line split on the skin of his cheek with dilated pupils.

“Even though you were so fast, I at least managed to graze you just a teeny-tiny bit! That scarlet cut looks so nice on you, Izuku, aw how I wish I can give you more!” She prattles on and on, beaming over every utterance spoken past her lips. “I did say red is the best color on you, after all!”

Midoriya’s eyes narrow at her behavior, fists clenched and apt to deliver a silencing blow.

“Although… blue wouldn’t look half bad either.”

Unable to express confusion at her remark, he soon perceives a blast of cerulean blue flames aimed and released in his direction, forcing him to jump up to dodge the attack. Toga makes her escape after the fire diffuses, withdrawing next to Dabi. The patched man continues his onslaught on Todoroki and Midoriya.

“They’ve managed to defeat our spear and shield, and nearly took out Toga,” Overhaul’s stance is methodical and calculating, overseeing the fight from the back lines of his unit with a gloved hand beneath his chin. “I suppose it’s time to use that,” he declares.

Chrono briefly glances at him before reaching for a gun in the pocket of his coat—a different weapon from the pistol he pointed at Midoriya earlier. In a container held behind him, he produces a peculiarly shaped bullet, one that takes on the form of a cartridge with a hypodermic needle sticking out on one end.

“Dabi, when these bullets hit, that will be your chance to burn them all away,” orders the auburn-haired man. He raises an arm to prep for the signal as Chrono readies the gun wielded in his hand, positioning his target onto the spiky blonde mafia boss.

“Ha! You think a pathetic little gun is going to stop me?!” While Bakugou exudes confidence and arrogance, his dual-haired comrade is not as keen about the situation at hand.

Why would those fools try to use such a primitive method of fighting at this point? They saw how useless that gun was earlier… ponders Todoroki in the heat of battle, Unless…

“Ground Zero! Be careful! There’s something fishy about that weapon they’re using!” he warns, making the blonde’s expression fix into an irritated glare.

“Shut up Icy-Hot; I know what I’m doing! Why don’t you pay attention to patchwork over there before you get another scar!” Bakugou quips back, eyes never leaving Overhaul. “I’m gonna make this washout yakuza leader regret ever giving us a call to this useless negotiation.”

The man is impassive at the blonde’s threats, lips remaining in a fine line underneath his mask. His arm stays raised next to him for Chrono to acknowledge.

At once, Bakugou’s body launches back into action like a jet engine propelling a rocket. His movements gather more and more sweat to strengthen himself for another devastating assault.

“Pesky thing won’t stop moving…” mutters Chrono, hand continually shifting aim at Bakugou’s unpredictable tumbling. “I’ll just make you sit still!”

On command, arrow-shaped hair pierces through the fabric of his hood and extends straight to Bakugou. His quirk’s versatility and quick instincts allow him to evade the attack to the left with ease. However, it seems Chrono was waiting for that very moment as the blonde is now within his gun’s line of sight.

Overhaul draws his hand down, giving Chrono the signal to finally pull the trigger. A crack of a sonic boom resonates within the single millisecond it is shot. The dart is fired.

The gunshot rings throughout the space of the warehouse. Todoroki and Midoriya can barely register the shot in time to yell out to Bakugou, whose head turns toward the capsule’s velocity in almost slow motion.

Crap..! he curses, unable to move away to escape the bullet in time and preparing to embrace the shot.

However, it never makes its mark.

“Boss! Watch out!”

A gruff voice suddenly makes its debut within the fray, taking everyone by surprise as the newcomer throws himself in front of Bakugou, hardened arms crossed.

“What the—!”

Chrono watches in despair. The bullet ricochets right off the rock-like body of a man with spiked tufts of crimson red hair.

“What the hell? Red Riot?!” sputters a bewildered Bakugou at Kirishima’s abrupt entrance.

“D-Dammit!” Chrono tries to fire again to rectify his failure, but his attempt is in vain. Something muscly wraps around his arm tightly, tossing him away.

“Froppy!” Midoriya calls out to the girl as she retracts her froggy tongue, currently clung to the wall, and camouflaged into her surroundings. She reveals herself into the battle with a small “ribbit.”

“While you guys were inside, a bunch of their goons started surrounding our cars. We knew something shady was up, especially when we heard explosions coming from inside, so we busted our way in here right past them!” Kirishima explains, now standing back-to-back against Bakugou, “Seems like you’re fighting a battle too!”

“I see, so they planned on ambushing all of us if we didn’t comply with their deal,” says Todoroki. He fires more flames in their direction. “How pathetic. They were woefully unprepared.”

“Agreed! Ambushing is no way to fight! Real men would come at us head-on!” Kirishima emphasizes his fierceness through clanking his hardened fists against each other, jagged edges sparking.

“Red Riot! Froppy!” exclaims Midoriya, “Where are the others?”

Asui ribbits before answering, “They’re handling the rest of the—”

“L-Leader..! Leader!” a frantic voice shouts from the entrance of the warehouse, where a ragged up Shie Hassaikai henchman tries to pry inside.

“T-The girl..! She isn’t h-here, she isn’t— GAH!”

His message is interrupted. A menacing shadowy figure looms over the goon like a monster hiding within the dark and throws him back to the struggle outside, proceeding to rampage across the battlefield. Desperate cries leak out but to no avail.

Overhaul discerns the sputtered message:

The girl he so desired was not with them to begin with.

To his dismay, this fight was pointless. If what he sought could not be forcibly taken right then and there, then there is no reason to continue the battle. There was no prize to be won by the end of it all.

Now, he must adjust his plans due to the unfavorable news. How tragic.

At the thought of having lost time, energy, and resources, the yakuza leader pinches the bridge of his nose, utterly furious. There’s a pause in which Overhaul seethes an aura of killing intent over this frustration.

But it eventually simmers and subsides. What happens now cannot be changed, no matter how enraged he is. So he must take logical steps to preserve and remedy the repercussions, which to him was simple:

“We’re withdrawing.”

“What?” Dabi looks at him incredulously, “After all this?”

“Yes, they've taken down our spear and shield, and have wiped out the majority of the soldiers. If what we want isn’t here, then there is no point in staying,” Overhaul’s husky tone bears weight and authority at every word.

“Nemoto, grab Chrono from wherever he was thrown.”

“Yes, Overhaul. What about Rappa and Tengai?”

The auburn-haired man doesn’t so much as spare a glance toward his two defeated subordinates lying on the ground, “Leave them. They’re expendable to me.”

Nemoto nods, going to gather a knocked out Chrono thrown across the warehouse and now lying unconscious atop broken wooden crates.

Midoriya’s fists clenched tightly at the scene, realizing what the yakuza’s next plan of action was going to be.

“They’re trying to escape!”

“Oh, the fuck they are. I won’t let a single one of you bastards leave!” Bakugou bursts into the air, propelled by the explosions from his palms in hot pursuit, with Midoriya catching up thanks to his heightened speeds.

“Sorry boys, party’s over!” Toga intercepts the two using twin knives flung in their direction, catching them off guard. Dabi follows the diversion by gathering a massive amount of flames into his hands before swiftly releasing the kindled energy to erect a blue wall of fire throughout his surroundings.

“Bye Izuku~!” a feminine voice shrills from behind the fiery wall, becoming the last words they hear as they wait for the flames to dissipate, ultimately revealing that their enemies had already fled.

“Those fuckers couldn’t have gone far,” Bakugou doesn’t relent, poised on finding them and having them pay the full consequences of their actions. Midoriya grasps his shoulder, stopping him.

“Let them go, Kacchan. Considering the location they decided for this meeting, they likely fled by boat. We have no way of following them at the moment.”

Todoroki agrees, adding on, “Besides, there are more important things to worry about right now,” he casts his gaze to the wooden table Midoriya had broken prior to the fight transpiring. “For one, they’re after ____ and are willing to go to any lengths to get her. We need to head back to the mansion to make sure she’s safe.” There’s slight urgency evident in his tone. Despite their tenacity, the idea of having their beloved wrenched away is enough to render them even a little bit fearful. Had she been present in the conflict, there’s no telling what could have happened.

“And two,” Todoroki walks off to another site of the warehouse, picking up something dropped on the floor, “we need to figure out what this is.” In his hand, he holds the small capsule bullet that is now slightly dented thanks to the impact against Kirishima’s hardened skin.

The other two examine the capsule briefly until Bakugou decides to take it from Todoroki’s fingers for closer inspection. If Overhaul was so keen on using a gun to do away with them all, despite how inferior it was, then this must be no ordinary bullet.

The three decide to contain the item for further examination for now as they, Kirishima, and Asui make their way outside again. There, bodies of Shie Hassaikai thugs littered the floor after having been thoroughly beaten into submission. Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, and Kaminari lean against the cars casually but remain attentive after the fight.

“It was quite an ill-planned move to dare to attack us in the night,” Tokoyami’s eyes closed in thought at the havoc he wreaked thanks to the amplified powers of his quirk. Kaminari snickers and boasts with an electric snap of his fingers, “Yakuza didn’t know what hit them, the mafia always stays on top.”

“Excellent work everyone, it seems the henchmen were of no trouble to you,” Midoriya commends the squad, “Now, we must leave before the police arrive on the scene to assess the damage.”

Their six combatants all nod at the order, about to gather back in their vehicle until Bakugou huffs with a final statement before they make their getaway.

“Know that the next time we see those Shie Hassaikai bastards, we will take them down,” He narrows his eyes at the ocean, the moon still hanging above the sky and basking the waters in moonlight,

“without hesitation.”

Ending Notes | Whew.. thanks for reading! For the next part I was considering writing it in 2nd POV since the reader will actually be physically present during the events of the story now, but I’m not sure yet. Please let me know your thoughts and follow if you’re interested in this series <3

[leopardos]

GUZMÁN / CHARACTER PARALLELS.

normally, i do not explicitly draw inspiration from popular media characters – it’s more of a vague process, something i notice long after the fact and not at the beginning. however, when i made guzmán, i knew i wanted to write a villain, and since i was writing a superpowered being, i naturally looked at comic books: some iconic villains from the xmen franchise, watchmen – to round it up, i looked at some morally gray characters from film, because while i want guzman to be evil, and cheerfully so, there’s layers to the evil. i want him to be a character you can enjoy reading, even if you consider his actions despicable. or i want him to be a character you can hate, while acknowledging there’s layers to what he does.

MAGNETO [MARVEL COMICS]. obviously i’ll look at the quintessential antagonist from the x men franchise. notice how i say antagonist, and not villain. i honestly think magneto was right had good reasons to do the things he did. like magneto, i want guzmán to be considered at his best a well intentioned extremist. he genuinely believes mutants are superior and humans have caused too much damage upon mutantkind, because they’re afraid they will be left behind as evolution marches on. and like magneto, once he discovered his power, he spent several years of his life studying anything under the sun to help him master it, especially the field of mathematics. he’s crafted himself into a dark messiah, convinced his ends justify his means – a determinator who will stop at nothing until he sees his vision materialized.

APOCALYPSE [MARVEL COMICS] but then there’s the side of guzman that’s… let’s say… a little off his rocker. you may consider his ideas to be rooted in conspiracy given his kind of troubled upbringing. guzman believes mutantkind’s rightful place is above humans, yes, but also has an unquestionable god complex. while he playfully may accept being referred to as evil, truthfully he considers himself above such human terms. what he does really enjoy is conflict, constant and unpredictable, and it’s in such environment that he thrives: where he can manipulate others into doing his bidding and orchestrate mayhem and uncertainty, in order to portray himself as a much better option – a fixed point in an ever-shifting landscape, so to speak.

OZYMANDIAS [WATCHMEN] while apocalypse and magneto are very essential inspirations, i only draw bits and pieces from ozymandias, most notably his affably evil manner of carrying himself, and the prodigious intelligence – which, although not to ozymandias’ level, it’s characterized by his ability for great, extensive analysis of the situations that present themselves to him, since there’s no way for guzman to reliably use his mutation other than to seriously think about each step he takes with it. he’s crazy prepared for most eventualities that may occur, and he has back up plans after back up plans worth of information going on in that brain of his at all times. guzman is a knight templar, and he would kill a few if it meant he would get to save several, and that’s pretty much the basis for his problem-solving processes. like ozymandias, he’s chasing after a better world – but is committing atrocity after atrocity in the name of it.

at his worst, guzman can only be considered someone whose ego and ruthlessness is  detrimental to his surroundings and the people with whom he associates.

ALEJANDRO GILLICK[SICARIO] if you compare alejandro to the other names on this list, he might not seem like much, but he’s vital to how i write guzman, in ways that might not be immediately apparent. but if you’ve watched the films, you just know – it’s the mysterious past, the quiet demeanor, and the subdued delivery, especially when it comes to his anger and his grief, that really do the trick at selling him as a formidable, ruthless killer. when guzman is not trying to be charming, he’s surprisingly mild-mannered, and incredibly hard to read. and at the core, guzman’s story is a story of revenge, a tale of retribution, and being in a relentless search for it, just like alejandro’s case.

[grigori77]

Summer 2021′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 2)

The Top Ten:

10.  WEREWOLVES WITHIN – definitely one of the year’s biggest cinematic surprises so far, this darkly comic supernatural murder mystery from indie horror director Josh Ruben (Scare Me) is based on a video game, but you’d never know it – this bears so little resemblance to the original Ubisoft title that it’s a wonder anyone even bothered to make the connection, but even so, this is now notable for officially being the highest rated video game adaptation in Rotten Tomatoes history, with a Certified Fresh rating of 86%. Certainly it deserves that distinction, but there’s so much more to the film – this is an absolute blood-splattered joy, the title telling you everything you need to know about the story but belying the film’s pure, quirky genius.  Veep’s Sam Richardson is forest ranger Finn Wheeler, a gentle and socially awkward soul who arrives at his new post in the remote small town of Beaverton to discover the few, uniformly weird residents are divided over the oil pipeline proposition of forceful and abrasive businessman Sam Parker (The Hunt’s Wayne Duvall).  As he tries to fit in and find his feet, investigating the disappearance of a local dog while bonding with local mail carrier Cecily Moore (Other Space and This Is Us’ Milana Vayntrub), the discovery of a horribly mutilated human body leads to a standoff between the townsfolk and an enforced lockdown in the town’s ramshackle hotel as they try to work out who amongst them is the “werewolf” they suspect is responsible.  This is frequently hilarious, the offbeat script from appropriately named Mishna Wolff (I’m Down) dropping some absolutely zingers and crafting some enjoyably weird encounters and unexpected twists, while the uniformly excellent cast do much of the heavy-lifting to bring their rich, thoroughly oddball characters to vivid life – Richardson is thoroughly cuddly throughout, while Duvall is pleasingly loathsome, Casual’s Michaela Watkins is pleasingly grating as Trisha, flaky housewife to unrepentant local horn-dog Pete Anderton (Orange is the New Black’s Michael Chernus), and Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story) and Harry Guillen (best known, OF COURSE, as Guillermo in the TV version of What We Do In the Shadows) make an enjoyably spiky double-act as liberal gay couple Devon and Joaquim Wolfson; in the end, though, the film is roundly stolen by Vayntrub, who invests Cecily with a bubbly sweetness and snarky sass that makes it absolutely impossible to not fall completely in love with her (gods know I did).  This is a deeply funny film, packed with proper belly-laughs from start to finish, but like all the best horror comedies it takes its horror elements seriously, delivering some enjoyably effective scares and juicy gore, while the werewolf itself, when finally revealed, is realised through some top-notch prosthetics.  Altogether this was a most welcome under-the-radar surprise for the summer, and SO MUCH MORE than just an unusually great video game adaptation …

9.  THE TOMORROW WAR – although cinemas finally reopened in the UK in early summer, the bite of the COVID lockdown backlog was still very much in effect this blockbuster season, with several studios preferring to hedge their bets and wait for later release dates. Others turned to streaming services, including Paramount, who happily lined up a few heavyweight titles to open on major platforms in lieu of the big screen.  One of the biggest was this intended sci-fi action horror tentpole, meant to give Chris Pratt another potential franchise on top of Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, which instead dropped in early July on Amazon Prime.  So, was it worth staying in on a Saturday night instead of heading out for something on the BIG screen?  Mostly yes, although it’s mainly a trashy, guilty pleasure big budget B-picture charm that makes this such a worthwhile experience – the film’s biggest influences are clearly Independence Day and Starship Troopers, two admirably clunky blockbusters that DEFINED prioritising big spectacle and overblown theatrics over intelligent writing and realistic storytelling.  It doesn’t help that the premise is pure bunk – in 2022, a wormhole opens from thirty years in the future, and a plea for help is sent back with a bunch of very young future soldiers.  Seems Earth will become overrun by an unstoppable swarm of nasty alien critters called Whitespikes in 25 years, and the desperate human counteroffensive have no choice but to bring soldiers from our present into the future to help them fight back and save the humanity from imminent extinction.  Less than a year later, the world’s standing armies have been decimated and a worldwide draft has been implemented, with normal everyday adults being sent through for a seven day tour from which very few return.  Pratt plays biology teacher and former Green Beret Dan Forrester, one of the latest batch of draftees to be sent into the future along with a selection of chefs, soccer moms and other average joes – his own training and experience serves him better than most when the shit hits the fan, but it soon becomes clear that he’s just as out of his depth as everyone else as the sheer enormity of the threat is revealed.  But when he becomes entangled with a desperate research outfit led by Muri (Chuck’s Yvonne Strahovski) who seem to be on the verge of a potential world-changing scientific breakthrough, Dan realises there just might be a slender hope for humanity after all … this is every bit as over-the-top gung-ho bonkers as it sounds, and just as much fun.  Director Chris McKay may still be pretty fresh (with only The Lego Batman Movie under his belt to date), but he shows a lot of talent and potential for big budget blockbuster filmmaking here, delivering with guts and bravado on some major action sequences (a fraught ticking-clock SAR operation through a war-torn Miami is the film’s undeniable highlight, but a desperate battle to escape a blazing oil rig also really impresses), as well as handling some impressively complex visual effects work and wrangling some quality performances from his cast (altogether it bodes well for his future, which includes Nightwing and Johnny Quest as future projects).  Chris Pratt can do this kind of stuff in his sleep – Dan is his classic fallible and self-deprecating but ultimately solid and kind-hearted action hero fare, effortlessly likeable and easy to root for – and his supporting cast are equally solid, Strahovsky going toe-to-toe with him in the action sequences while also creating a rewardingly complex smart-woman/badass combo in Muri, while the other real standouts include Sam Richardson (Veep, Werewolves Within) and Edwin Hodge (The Purge movies) as fellow draftees Charlie and Dorian, the former a scared-out-of-his-mind tech geek while the latter is a seriously hardcore veteran serving his THIRD TOUR, and the ever brilliant J.K. Simmonds as Dan’s emotionally scarred estranged Vietnam-vet father, Jim.  Sure, it’s derivative as hell and thoroughly predictable (with more than one big twist you can see coming a mile away), but the pace is brisk, the atmosphere pregnant with a palpable doomed urgency, and the creatures themselves are a genuinely convincing world-ending threat, the design team and visual effects wizards creating genuine nightmare fuel in the feral and unrelenting Whitespikes.  Altogether this WAS an ideal way to spend a comfy Saturday night in, but I think it could have been JUST AS GOOD for a Saturday night OUT at the Pictures …

8.  ARMY OF THE DEAD – another high profile release that went straight to streaming was this genuine monster hit for Netflix from one of this century’s undeniable heavyweight action cinema masters, the indomitable Zack Snyder, who kicked off his career with an audience-dividing (but, as far as I’m concerned, ultimately MASSIVELY successful) remake of George Romero’s immortal Dawn of the Dead, and has finally returned to zombie horror after close to two decades away.  The end result is, undeniably, the biggest cinematic guilty pleasure of the entire summer, a bona fide outbreak horror EPIC in spite of its tightly focused story – Dave Bautista plays mercenary Scott Ward, leader a badass squad of soldiers of fortune who were among the few to escape a deadly outbreak of a zombie virus in the city of Las Vegas, enlisted to break into the vault of one of the Strip’s casinos by owner Bly Tanaka (a fantastically game turn from Hiroyuki Sanada) and rescue $200 million still locked away inside.  So what’s the catch?  Vegas remains ground zero for the outbreak, walled off from the outside world but still heavily infested within, and in less than three days the US military intends to sterilise the site with a tactical nuke.  Simple premise, down and dirty, trashy flick, right?  Wrong – Snyder has never believed in doing things small, having brought us unapologetically BIG cinema with the likes of 300, Watchmen, Man of Steel and, most notably, his version of Justice League, so this is another MASSIVE undertaking, every scene shot for maximum thrills or emotional impact, each set-piece executed with his characteristic militaristic precision and explosive predilection (a harrowing fight for survival against a freshly-awakened zombie horde in tightly packed casino corridors is the film’s undeniable highlight), and the gauzy, dreamlike cinematography gives even simple scenes an intriguing and evocative edge that really does make you feel like you’re watching something BIG.  The characters all feel larger-than-life too – Bautista can seem somewhat cartoonish at times, and this role definitely plays that as a strength, making Scott a rock-hard alpha male in the classic Hollywood mould, but he’s such a great actor that of course he’s able to invest the character with real rewarding complexity beneath the surface; Ana de la Reguera (Eastbound & Down) and Nora Arnezeder (Zoo, Mozart in the Jungle), meanwhile, both bring a healthy dose of oestrogen-fuelled badassery to proceedings as, respectively, Scott’s regular second-in-command, Maria Cruz, and Lilly the Coyote, Power’s Omari Hardwick and Matthias Schweighofer (You Are Wanted) make for a fun odd-couple double act as circular-saw-wielding merc Vanderohe and Dieter, the nervous, nerdy German safecracker brought in to crack the vault, and Fear the Walking Dead’s Garrett Dillahunt channels spectacular scumbag energy as Tanaka’s sleazy former casino boss Martin, while latecomer Tig Notaro (Star Trek Discovery) effortlessly rises above her last-minute-casting controversy to deliver brilliantly as sassy and acerbic chopper pilot Peters.  I think it goes without saying that Snyder can do this in his sleep, but he definitely wasn’t napping here – he pulled out all the stops on this one, delivering a thrilling, darkly comic and endearingly CRACKERS zombie flick that not only compares favourably to his own Dawn but is, undeniably, his best film for AGES.  Netflix certainly seem to be pleased with the results – a spinoff prequel, Army of Thieves, starring Dieter in another heist thriller, is set to drop in October, with an animated series following in the Spring, and there’s already rumours of a sequel in development.  I’m certainly up for more …

7.  BLACK WIDOW – no major blockbuster property was hit harder by COVID than the MCU, which saw its ENTIRE SLATE for 2020 delayed for over a year in the face of Marvel Studios bowing to the inevitability of the Pandemic and unwilling to sacrifice those all-important box-office receipts by just sending their films straight to streaming.  The most frustrating part for hardcore fans of the series was the delay of a standalone film that was already criminally overdue – the solo headlining vehicle of founding Avenger and bona fide female superhero ICON Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow.  Equally frustratingly, then, this film seems set to be overshadowed by real life controversy as star and producer Scarlett Johansson goes head-to-head with Disney in civil court over their breach-of-contract after they hedged their bets by releasing the film simultaneously in cinemas and on their own streaming platform, which has led to poor box office as many of the film’s potential audience chose to watch it at home instead of risk movie theatres with the virus still very much remaining a threat (and Disney have clearly reacted AGAIN, now backtracking on their release policy by instigating a new 45-day cinematic exclusivity window on all their big releases for the immediate future). But what of the film itself?  Well Black Widow is an interesting piece of work, director Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) and screenwriter Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) delivering a decidedly stripped-back, lean and intellectual beast that bears greater resemblance to the more cerebral work of the Russo Brothers on their Captain America films than the more classically bombastic likes of Iron Man, Thor or the Avengers flicks, concentrating on story and characters over action and spectacle as we wind back the clock to before the events of Infinity War and Endgame, when Romanoff was on the run after Civil War, hunted by the government-appointed forces of US Secretary of State “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) after violating the Sokovia Accords.  Then a mysterious delivery throws her back into the fray as she finds herself targeted by a mysterious assassin, forcing her to team up with her estranged “sister” Yelena Belova (Midsommar’s Florence Pugh), another Black Widow who’s just gone rogue from the same Red Room Natasha escaped years ago, armed with a McGuffin capable of foiling a dastardly plot for world domination.  The reluctant duo need help in this endeavour though, enlisting the aid of their former “parents”, veteran Widow and scientist Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexie Shostakov (Stranger Things’ David Harbour), aka the Red Guardian, a Russian super-soldier intended to be their counterpart to Captain America, who’s been languishing in a Siberian gulag for the last twenty years. After the Earth-shaking, universe-changing events of recent MCU events, this film certainly feels like a much more self-contained, modest affair, playing for much smaller stakes, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy of our attention – this is as precision-crafted as anything we’ve seen from Marvel so far, but it also feels like a refreshing change of pace after all those enormous cosmic shenanigans, while the script is as tight as a drum, propelling a taut, suspense-filled thriller that certainly doesn’t scrimp on the action front.  Sure, the set-pieces are very much in service of the story here, but they’re still the pre-requisite MCU rollercoaster rides, a selection of breathless chases and bone-crunching fights that really do play to the strengths of one of our favourite Avengers, but this is definitely one of those films where the real fireworks come when the film focuses on the characters – Johansson is so comfortable with her character she’s basically BECOME Natasha Romanoff, kickass and ruthless and complex and sassy and still just desperate for a family (though she hides it well throughout the film), while Weisz delivers one of her best performances in years as a peerless professional who keeps her emotions tightly reigned in but slowly comes to realise that she was never more happy than when she was pretending to be a simple mother, and Ray Winstone does a genuinely fantastic job of taking a character who could have been one of the MCU’s most disappointingly bland villains, General Dreykov, master of the Red Room, and investing him with enough oily charisma and intense presence to craft something truly memorable (frustratingly, the same cannot be said for the film’s supposed main physical threat, Taskmaster, who performs well in their frustratingly brief appearances but ultimately gets Darth Maul levels of short service).  The true scene-stealers in the film, however, are Alexie and Yelena – Harbour’s clearly having the time of his life hamming it up as a self-important, puffed-up peacock of a superhero who never got his shot and is clearly (rightly) decidedly bitter about it, preferring to relive the life he SHOULD have had instead of remembering the good in the one he got; Pugh, meanwhile, is THE BEST THING IN THE WHOLE MOVIE, easily matching Johanssen scene-for-scene in the action stakes but frequently out-performing her when it comes to acting, investing Yelena with a sweet naivety and innocence and a certain amount of quirky geekiness that makes for one of the year’s most endearing female protagonists (certainly one who, if the character goes the way I think she will, is thoroughly capable of carrying the torch for the foreseeable future).  In the end this is definitely one of the LEAST typical, by-the-numbers MCU films to date, and by delivering something a little different I think they’ve given us just the kind of leftfield swerve the series needs right now.  It’s certainly one of their most fascinating and rewarding films so far, and since it seems to be Johansson’s final tour of duty as the Black Widow, it’s also a most fitting farewell indeed.

6.  WRATH OF MAN – Guy Ritchie’s latest (regarded by many as a triumphant return to form, which I consider unfair since I don’t think he ever went away, especially after 2020’s spectacular The Gentlemen) is BY FAR his darkest film – let’s get this clear from the start.  Anyone who knows his work knows that Ritchie consistently maintains a near flawless balance and humour and seriousness in his films that gives them a welcome quirkiness that is one of his most distinctive trademarks, so for him to suddenly deliver a film which takes itself SO SERIOUSLY is one hell of a departure.  This is a film which almost REVELS in its darkness – Ritchie’s always loved bathing in man’s baser instincts, but Wrath of Man almost makes a kind of twisted VIRTUE out of wallowing in the genuine evils that men are capable of inflicting on each other.  The film certainly kicks off as it means to go on – In a tour-de-force single-shot opening, we watch a daring armoured car robbery on the streets of Los Angeles that goes horrifically wrong, an event which will have devastating consequences in the future.  Five months later, Fortico Security hires taciturn Brit Patrick Hill (Jason Statham) to work as a guard in one of their trucks, and on his first run he single-handedly foils another attempted robbery with genuinely uncanny combat skills. The company is thrilled, amazed by the sheer ability of their new hire, but Hill’s new colleagues are more concerned, wondering exactly what they’ve let themselves in for.  After a second foiled robbery, it becomes clear that Hill’s reputation has grown, but fellow guard Haiden (Holt McCallany), aka “Bullet”, begins to suspect there might be something darker going on … Ritchie is firing on all cylinders here, delivering a PERFECT slow-burn suspense thriller which plays its cards close to its chest and cranks up its piano wire tension with artful skill as it builds to a devastating, knuckle-whitening explosive heist that acts as a cathartic release for everything that’s built up over the past hour and a half.  In typical Ritchie style the narrative is non-linear, the story unfolding in four distinct parts told from clearly differentiated points of view, allowing the clues to be revealed at a trickle that effortlessly draws the viewer in as they fall deeper down the rabbit hole, leading to a harrowing but strangely poignant denouement which is perfectly in tune with everything that’s come before. It’s an immense pleasure finally getting to see Statham working with Ritchie again, and I don’t think he’s ever been better than he is here – he's always been a brilliantly understated actor, but there’s SO MUCH going on under Hill’s supposedly impenetrable calm that every little peek beneath the armour is a REVELATION; McCallany, meanwhile, has landed his best role since his short but VERY sweet supporting turn in Fight Club, seemingly likeable and fallible as the kind of easy-going co-worker anyone in the service industry would be THRILLED to have, but giving Bullet far more going on under the surface, while there are uniformly excellent performances from a top-shelf ensemble supporting cast which includes Josh Hartnett, Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice, Sicario), Andy Garcia, Laz Alonso (The Boys), Eddie Marsan, Niamh Algar (Raised By Wolves) and Darrell D’Silva (Informer, Domina), and a particularly edgy and intense turn from Scott Eastwood.  This is one of THE BEST thrillers of the year, by far, a masterpiece of mood, pace and plot that ensnares the viewer from its gripping opening and hooks them right up to the close, a triumph of the genre and EASILY Guy Ritchie’s best film since Snatch.  Regardless of whether or not it’s a RETURN to form, we can only hope he continues to deliver fare THIS GOOD in the future …

5.  FEAR STREET (PARTS 1-3) – Netflix have gotten increasingly ambitious with their original filmmaking over the years, and some of this years’ offerings have reached new heights of epic intention.  Their most exciting release of the summer was this adaptation of popular children’s horror author R.L. Stine’s popular book series, a truly gargantuan undertaking as the filmmakers set out to create an entire TRILOGY of films which were then released over three consecutive weekends.  Interestingly, these films are most definitely NOT for kids – this is proper, no-holds-barred supernatural slasher horror, delivering highly calibrated shocks and precision jump scares, a pervading atmosphere of insidious dread and a series of inventively gruesome kills.  The story revolves around two neighbouring small towns which have had vastly different fortunes over more than three centuries of existence – while the residents of Sunnyvale are unusually successful, living idyllic lives in peace and prosperity, luck has always been against the people of Shadyside, who languish in impoverishment, crime and misfortune, while the town has become known as the Murder Capital of the USA due to frequent spree killings.  Some attribute this to the supposed curse of a local urban legend, Sarah Fier, who became known as the Fier Witch after her execution for witchcraft in 1668, but others dismiss this as simple superstition.  Part 1 is set in 1994, as the latest outbreak of serial mayhem begins in Shadyside, dragging a small group of local teens – Deena Johnson (She Never Died’s Kiana Madeira) and Samantha Fraser (Olivia Scott Welch), a young lesbian couple going through a difficult breakup, Deena’s little brother Josh (The Haunted Hathaways’ Benjamin Flores Jr.), a nerdy history geek who spends most of his time playing video games or frequenting violent crime-buff online chatrooms, and their delinquent friends Simon (Eight Grade’s Fred Hechinger) and Kate (Julia Rehwald) – into the age-old ghostly conspiracy as they find themselves besieged by indestructible undead serial killers from the town’s past, reasoning that the only way they can escape with their lives is to solve the mystery and bring the Fier Witch some much needed closure.  Part 2, meanwhile, flashes back to a previous outbreak in 1977, in which local sisters Ziggy (Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink) and Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd), together with future Sunnyvale sheriff Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland) were among the kids hunted by said killers during a summer camp “colour war”.  As for Part 3, that goes all the way back to 1668 to tell the story of what REALLY happened to Sarah Fier, before wrapping up events in 1994, culminating in a terrifying, adrenaline-fuelled showdown in the Shadyside Mall.  Throughout, the youthful cast are EXCEPTIONAL, Madeira, Welch, Flores Jr., Sink and Rudd particularly impressing, while there are equally strong turns from Ashley Zuckerman (The Code, Designated Survivor) and Community’s Gillian Jacobs as the grown-up versions of two key ’77 kids, and a fun cameo from Maya Hawke in Part 1.  This is most definitely retro horror in the Stranger Things mould, perfectly executed period detail bringing fun nostalgic flavour to all three of the timelines while the peerless direction from Leigh Janiak (Honeymoon) and wire-tight, sharp-witted screenplays from Janiak, Kyle Killen (Lone Star, The Beaver), Phil Graziadel, Zak Olkewicz and Kate Trefry strike a perfect balance between knowing dark humour and knife-edged terror, as well as weaving an intriguingly complex narrative web that pulls the viewer in but never loses them to overcomplication.  The design, meanwhile, is evocative, the cinematography (from Stanger Things’ Caleb Heymann) is daring and magnificently moody, and the killers and other supernatural elements of the film are handled with skill through largely physical effects.  This is definitely not a standard, by-the-numbers slasher property, paying strong homage to the sub-genre’s rules but frequently subverting them with expert skill, and it’s as much fun as it is frightening.  Give us some more like this please, Netflix!

4.  THE SPARKS BROTHERS – those who’ve been following my reviews for a while will known that while I do sometimes shout about documentary films, they tend to show up in my runners-up lists – it’s a great rarity for one to land in one of my top tens.  This lovingly crafted deep-dive homage to cult band Sparks, from self-confessed rabid fanboy Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim), is something VERY SPECIAL INDEED, then … there’s a vague possibility some of you may have heard the name before, and many of you will know at least one or two of their biggest hits without knowing it was them (their greatest hit of all time, This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us, immediately springs to mind), but unless you’re REALLY serious about music it’s quite likely you have no idea who they are, namely two brothers from California, Russell and Ronald Mael, who formed a very sophisticated pop-rock band in the late 60s and then never really went away, having moments of fame but mostly working away in the background and influencing some of the greatest bands and musical artists that followed them, even if many never even knew where that influence originally came from. Wright’s film is an engrossing joy from start to finish (despite clocking in at two hours and twenty minutes), following their eclectic career from obscure inception as Halfnelson, through their first real big break with third album Kimono My Place, subsequent success and then fall from popularity in the mid-70s, through several subsequent revitalisations, all the way up to the present day with their long-awaited cinematic breakthrough, revolutionary musical feature Annette – throughout Wright keeps the tone light and the pace breezy, allowing a strong and endearing sense of irreverence to rule the day as fans, friends and the brothers themselves offer up fun anecdotes and wax lyrical about what is frequently a larger-than-life tragicomic soap opera, utilising fun, crappy animation and idiosyncratic stock footage inserts alongside talking-head interviews that were made with a decidedly tongue-in-cheek style – Mike Myers good-naturedly rants about how we can see his “damned mole” while 80s New Romantic icons Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, while shot together, are each individually labelled as “Duran”.  Ron and Russ themselves, meanwhile, are clearly having huge fun, gently ribbing each other and dropping some fun deadpan zingers throughout proceedings, easily playing to the band’s strong, idiosyncratic sense of hyper-intelligent humour, while the aforementioned celebrity talking-heads are just three amongst a whole wealth of famous faces that may surprise you – there’s even an appearance by Neil Gaiman, guys!  Altogether this is 2+ hours of bright and breezy fun chock full of great music and fascinating information, and even hardcore Sparks fans are likely to learn more than a little over the course of the film, while for those who have never heard of Sparks before it’s a FANTASTIC introduction to one of the greatest ever bands that you’ve never heard of.  With luck there might even be more than a few new fans before the year is out …

3.  GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE – Netflix’ BEST offering of the summer was this surprise hit from Israeli writer-director Navot Papushado (Rabies, Big Bad Wolves), a heavily stylised black comedy action thriller that passes the Bechdel Test with FLYING COLOURS.  Playing like a female-centric John Wick, it follows ice-cold, on-top-of-her-game assassin Sam (Karen Gillan) as her latest assignment has some unfortunate side effects, leading her to take on a reparation job to retrieve some missing cash for the local branch of the Irish Mob.  The only catch is that a group of thugs have kidnapped the original thief’s little girl, 12 year-old Emily (My Spy’s Chloe Coleman), and Sam, in an uncharacteristic moment of sympathy, decides to intervene, only for the money to be accidentally destroyed in the process.  Now she’s got the Mob and her own employers coming after her, and she not only has to save her own skin but also Emily’s, leading her to seek help from the one person she thought she might never see again – her mother, Scarlet (Lena Headey), a master assassin in her own right who’s been hiding from the Mob herself for years.  The plot may be simple but at times also a little over-the-top, but the film is never anything less than a pure, unadulterated pleasure, populated with fascinating, living and breathing characters of real complexity and nuance, while the script (co-written by relative newcomer Ehud Lavski) is tightly-reined and bursting with zingers.  Most importantly, though, Papushado really delivers on the action front – these are some of the best set-pieces I’ve seen this year, Gillan, her co-stars and the various stunt-performers acquitting themselves admirably in a series of spectacular fights, gun battles and a particularly imaginative car chase that would be the envy of many larger, more expensive productions.  Gillan and Coleman have a sweet, awkward chemistry, the MCU star particularly impressing in a subtly nuanced performance that also plays beautifully against Headey’s own tightly controlled turn, while there is awesome support from Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Carla Gugino as Sam’s adoptive aunts Anna May, Florence and Madeleine, a trio of “librarians” who run a fine side-line in illicit weaponry and are capable of unleashing some spectacular violence of their own; the film’s antagonists, on the other hand, are exclusively masculine – the mighty Ralph Inneson is quietly ruthless as Irish boss Jim McAlester, while The Terror’s Adam Nagaitis is considerably more mercurial as his mad dog nephew Virgil, and Paul Giamatti is the stately calm at the centre of the storm as Sam’s employer Nathan, the closest thing she has to a father.  There’s so much to enjoy in this movie, not just the wonderful characters and amazing action but also the singularly engrossing and idiosyncratic style, deeply affecting themes of the bonds of found family and the healing power of forgiveness, and a rewarding through-line of strong women triumphing against the brutalities of toxic masculinity.  I love this film, and I invite you to try it out, cuz I’m sure you will too.

2.  THE SUICIDE SQUAD – the most fun I’ve had at the cinema so far this year is the long-awaited (thanks a bunch, COVID) redress of another frustrating imbalance from the decidedly hit and miss DCEU superhero franchise, in which Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn has finally delivered a PROPER Suicide Squad movie after David Ayer’s painfully compromised first stab at the property back in 2016.  That movie was enjoyable enough and had some great moments, but ultimately it was a clunky mess, and while some of the characters were done (quite) well, others were painfully botched, even ruined entirely.  Thankfully Warner Bros. clearly learned their lesson, giving Gunn free reign to do whatever he wanted, and the end result is about as close to perfect as the DCEU has come to date.  Once again the peerless Viola Davis plays US government official Amanda Waller, head of ARGUS and the undisputable most evil bitch in all the DC Universe, who presides over the metahuman prisoners of the notorious supermax Belle Reve Prison, cherry-picking inmates for her pet project Taskforce X, the titular Suicide Squad sent out to handle the kind of jobs nobody else wants, in exchange for years off their sentences but controlled by explosive implants injected into the base of their skulls.  Their latest mission sees another motley crew of D-bags dispatched to the fictional South African island nation of Corto Maltese to infiltrate Jotunheim, a former Nazi facility in which a dangerous extra-terrestrial entity that’s being developed into a fearful bioweapon, with orders to destroy the project in order to keep it out of the hands of a hostile anti-American regime which has taken control of the island through a violent coup.  Where the first Squad felt like a clumsily-arranged selection of stereotypes with a few genuinely promising characters unsuccessfully moulded into a decidedly forced found family, this new batch are convincingly organic – they may be dysfunctional and they’re all almost universally definitely BAD GUYS, but they WORK, the relationship dynamics that form between them feeling genuinely earned.  Gunn has already proven himself a master of putting a bunch of A-holes together and forging them into band of “heroes”, and he’s certainly pulled the job off again here, dredging the bottom of the DC Rogues Gallery for its most ridiculous Z-listers and somehow managing to make them compelling.  Sure, returning Squad-member Harley Quinn (the incomparable Margot Robbie, magnificent as ever) has already become a fully-realised character thanks to Birds of Prey, so there wasn’t much heavy-lifting to be done here, but Gunn genuinely seems to GET the character, so our favourite pixie-esque Agent of Chaos is an unbridled and thoroughly unpredictable joy here, while fellow veteran Colonel Rick Flagg (a particularly muscular and thoroughly game Joel Kinnaman) has this time received a much needed makeover, Gunn promoting him from being the first film’s sketchily-drawn “Captain Exposition” and turning him into a fully-ledged, well-thought-out human being with all the requisite baggage, including a newfound sense of humour; the newcomers, meanwhile, are a thoroughly fascinating bunch – reluctant “leader” Bloodsport/Robert DuBois (a typically robust and playful Idris Elba), unapologetic douchebag Peacemaker/Christopher Smith (probably the best performance I’ve EVER seen John Cena deliver), and socially awkward and seriously hard-done-by nerd (and by far the most idiotic DC villain of all time) the Polka-Dot Man/Abner Krill (a genuinely heart-breaking hangdog performance from Ant-Man’s David Dastmalchian); meanwhile there’s a fine trio of villainous turns from the film’s resident Big Bads, with Juan Diego Botta (Good Behaviour) and Joaquin Cosio (Quantum of Solace, Narcos: Mexico) making strong impressions as newly-installed dictator Silvio Luna and his corrupt right hand-man General Suarez, although both are EASILY eclipsed by the typically brilliant Peter Capaldi as louche and quietly deranged supervillain The Thinker/Gaius Greives (although the film’s ULTIMATE threat turns out to be something a whole lot bigger and more exotic). The film is ROUNDLY STOLEN, however, by a truly adorable double act (or TRIPLE act, if you want to get technical) – Daniella Melchior makes her breakthrough here in fine style as sweet, principled and kind-hearted narcoleptic second-generation supervillain Ratcatcher II/Cleo Cazo, who has the weird ability to control rats (and who has a pet rat named Sebastian who frequently steals scenes all on his own), while a particular fan-favourite B-lister makes his big screen debut here in the form of King Shark/Nanaue, a barely sentient anthropomorphic Great White “shark god” with an insatiable appetite for flesh and a naturally quizzical nature who was brilliantly mo-capped by Steve Agee (The Sarah Silverman Project, who also plays Waller’s hyperactive assistant John Economos) but then artfully completed with an ingenious vocal turn from Sylvester Stallone. James Gunn has crafted an absolute MASTERPIECE here, EASILY the best film he’s made to date, a riotous cavalcade of exquisitely observed and perfectly delivered dark humour and expertly wrangled narrative chaos that has great fun playing with the narrative flow, injects countless spot-on in-jokes and irreverent but utterly essential throwaway sight-gags, and totally endears us to this glorious gang of utter morons right from the start (in which Gunn delivers what has to be one of the most skilful deep-fakes in cinematic history).  Sure, there’s also plenty of action, and it’s executed with the kind of consummate skill we’ve now come to expect from Gunn (the absolute highlight is a wonderfully bonkers sequence in which Harley expertly rescues herself from captivity), but like everything else it’s predominantly played for laughs, and there’s no getting away from the fact that this film is an absolute RIOT.  By far the funniest thing I’ve seen so far this year, and if I’m honest this is the best of the DCEU offerings to date, too (for me, only the exceptional Birds of Prey can compare) – if Warner Bros. have any sense they’ll give Gunn more to do VERY SOON …

1.  A QUIET PLACE, PART II – while UK cinemas finally reopened in early May, I was determined that my first trip back to the Big Screen for 2021 was gonna be something SPECIAL, and indeed I already knew what that was going to be. Thankfully I was not disappointed by my choice – 2018’s A Quiet Place was MY VERY FAVOURITE horror movie of the 2010s, an undeniable masterclass in suspense and sustained screen terror wrapped around a refreshingly original killer concept, and I was among the many fans hoping we’d see more in the future, especially after the film’s teasingly open ending.  Against the odds (or perhaps not), writer-director/co-star John Krasinski has pulled off the seemingly impossible task of not only following up that high-wire act, but genuinely EQUALLING it in levels of quality – picking up RIGHT where the first film left off (at least after an AMAZING scene-setting opening in which we’re treated to the events of Day 1 of the downfall of humanity), rejoining the remnants of the Abbott family as they’re forced by circumstances to up-sticks from their idyllic farmhouse home and strike out into the outside world once more, painfully aware at all times that they must maintain perfect silence to avoid the ravenous attentions of the lethal blind alien beasties that now sit at the top of the food chain.  Circumstances quickly become dire, however, and embattled mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt) is forced to ally herself with estranged family friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy), now a haunted, desperate vagrant eking out a perilous existence in an abandoned factory, in order to safeguard the future of her children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and their newborn baby brother.  Regan, however, discovers evidence of more survivors, and with her newfound weapon against the aliens she recklessly decides to set off on her own in the hopes of aiding them before it’s too late … it may only be his second major blockbuster as a director, but Krasinski has once again proven he’s a true heavyweight talent, effortlessly carving out fresh ground in this already magnificently well-realised dystopian universe while also playing magnificently to the established strengths of what came before, delivering another peerless thrill-ride of unbearable tension and knuckle-whitening terror.  The central principle of utilising sound at a very strict premium is once again strictly adhered to here, available sources of dialogue once again exploited with consummate skill while sound design and score (another moody triumph from Marco Beltrami) again become THE MOST IMPORTANT aspects of the whole production. The ruined world is once again realised beautifully throughout, most notably in the nightmarish environment of a wrecked commuter train, and Krasinski cranks up the tension before unleashing it in merciless explosions in a selection of harrowing encounters which guaranteed to leave viewers in a puddle of sweat.  The director mostly stays behind the camera this time round, but he does (obviously) put in an appearance in the opening flashback as the late Lee Abbott, making a potent impression which leaves a haunting absence that’s keenly felt throughout the remainder of the film, while Blunt continues to display mother lion ferocity as she fights to keep her children safe and Jupe plays crippling fear magnificently but is now starting to show a hidden spine of steel as Marcus finally starts to find his courage; the film once again belongs, however, to Simmonds, the young deaf actress once and for all proving she’s a genuine star in the making as she invests Regan with fierce wilfulness and stubborn determination that remains unshakeable even in the face of unspeakable horrors, and the relationship she develops with Emmett, reluctant as it may be, provides a strong new emotional focus for the story, Murphy bringing an attractive wounded humanity to his role as a man who’s lost anything and is being forced to learn to care for something again.  This is another triumph of the genre AND the artform in general, a masterpiece of atmosphere, performance and storytelling which builds magnificently on the skilful foundations laid by the first film, as well as setting things up perfectly for a third instalment which is all but certain to follow.  I definitely can’t wait.

[spoks-au-center]

Worldbuilding Masterpost

Hii thank you for checking out the world-building masterpost for my story Beyond Nowhere(sometimes also called just Spokstory)! Most of this stuff is a wip and will be updated in the future ^^

The Cube

Every planet in the universe is a part of The Cube System, the cubes are metaphorical obviously, just for the sake of visualization of the possible paths between the planets that in reality are scattered all across the galaxy. Each “Cube” consists of 27 planets divided into 3 levels: Alpha, Beta and Gamma;  each level has 9 positions from which the planets take their names. The planets can connect through Breaches with their neighbors(so B5 could connect with B2 but not with B1 or B3).  Everyone is aware of this system. 

Breaches usually appear naturally and co-occur with an aurora borealis, they are later turned into public paths and can even have highways going through them. They mostly open when planets are old enough yet it can happen at any point. They can also be enforced by technology, but it’sss kindaa dangerous. Obviously. So there’s The Watchman who is this demi-god like being that is supposed to "watch over” and make sure that everything goes nice and smoothly and that all planets are cool with each other. Each cube has it’s own Watchman, they are basically immortal but can be weakened or temporarily destroyed. The Watchman of the main plots Cube is called Howard, a Watchman from another Cube also appears at some point, hes called just The Other. Howard lives in his own pocket Delta Dimension. Watchmen are not supposed to be worshiped, Howard for example resents it, yet still loves attention and validation of his status. Still, he's not a “god” and the word itself does not exist/function in this universe. 

The place between the Breaches is commonly called Nowhere. Normally a person crossing the breach wont even notice being there or will only catch a glimpse of it as its mostly a star-less void and it only takes few milliseconds. If one was to stay for too long there they would dematerialize. 

The main plots planets are all part of the Beta Level. Beta5 is connected with Beta4 and been for around 200 years, they treat each other more like different continents than planets. Beta4 has also connected with Beta7 around of 20 years ago. Every resident of any of the Beta Level Planets can be called a Human, they can also have names for themselves. 

Beta8 is not connected with any other planet.

The Alpha Level Planets are a setting for my other stories!

The Gamma Level Planets are Unknown as of now.

Beta5 

MAP TBA

Beta5 is the main planet where most of the plot takes place. It’s very Earth like when it comes to the climate and has a single moon. Its represented by a pentagon, color blue and Blue Herons, its residents also used to be called the Herons. As the middle planet of The Cube it should be a desirable place for living or business, yet the inhabitants managed to remain mostly carefree so to say. Its a quite peaceful planet, its primary field of interest is medicine, yet they lack this huge engagement in scientific fields that’s so prominent on its neighbors. It also has no army or any sort of armed forces. It’s capitol is located in West Jefferson City, near its most advanced region on the northwest. The plots main city is called MorrowCIty. 

Beta4

MAP TBA

Beta5′s neighbor, although never call Beta4 like this in front of a person from Beta4. They hold a silent grudge against the other for, well, many reasons. Beta4 is represented by a rhombus, color green and Skinks. They are largely focused on science and making new outer planetary connections - they were the ones to make contact with Beta5  and Beta7 just recently. The lead company in this field is The Whittaker INC. 

  Beta7

MAP TBA

Beta7 is represented by a heptagon, color red, and Sunset Moths, it has two moons called Un and Deu and both are colonized, moreover it has an open travel route with one of the closest planets called Orion and its residents also live on Beta7 as companions of the Moths. Beta 7 is ruled by Reine Carmen, she has a government under her and is well-respected and loved by the people.  In contrary to its neighbors like Beta4 or Beta8, people of Beta7 decided to explore the space around them and colonized both of its moons, moreover visited a near planet and discovered the local fauna to be quite friendly and intelligent. They are very advanced when it comes to space travel and exploration thanks to it. The majority of the planets surface consists of sandy plains, dense forests or really high and steep mountains. The Moths mostly live in giant city like caves under the mountains or in cities carved in the side of a mountain. Their architecture is a mix of traditional stone carvings and high-tech. 

Residents of Beta 7 are Raptor-Moths and their skin and hair colors can vary but are usually quite colorful like blue, green or red, they commonly have darker markings on their faces and moth like antennae on the foreheads and large ears. Their legs are digigrade and raptor like with claws, feathers and scales which also appear on their arms. They also have feathery tails with movement ability dependable on a person. 

Beta8 

Beta8 is represented by an octagon, color yellow and Greyhounds, with its residents most commonly calling themselves the Greyhounds. It surrounded by a single ring and an artificial force-field that’s supposed to stop meteorites from hitting the planet as its unfortunately situated on a path of an asteroid belt/debris disk. Part of its land on the southeast has been already destroyed and sunk into the ocean of magma, the rest is constantly covered in storm clouds and destroyed by hurricanes and acid rains, only some land on the north and on the Dyne Labs Island still has vegetation, plus the former most-fertile lands on the east are kept in this state artificially. The planet already had a low sunlight time, and the Greyhounds were used to prolonged amounts of darkness and this is how they managed to survive for so long, yet their time is running out. 

Greyhounds are tall, usually around 6′6ft, and with slim or fit build. They have grey skin with varying undertones, some can have vitiligo (it usually causes the lack of runes) Runes are marks appearing as straight or breaking lines, sometimes with empty dots, most commonly nowadays just on the greyhounds faces, but can spread to arms near shoulders and thighs, the designs of their clothes come from those. The runes usually appear under eyes and chin, sometimes on the forehead and sometimes connecting with each other, they also don’t have to be symmetrical and can be the same on more than one person. Runes have no social meaning, they can be artificially “tattooed”, its especially popular when one acquires a prosthetic. Greyhounds eyes vary in color, with most common being blue and green, there is no pure red, pink, purple or pure black eyes tho. Some can have bright grey/almost white eyes or heterochromia(also sectoral heterochromia). The eyes also shine and the brightness depends on emotion or emotional state of a person(for example will start fading when ones hurt or depressed), there’s also a rare possibility of one having the ability to change the brightness of their eyes at will(Oscar can do that). Greyhounds blood is  blue, therefore their mouth and tongue are also blue and they blush in blue. Their hair is usually black, grey or white, dyeing hair is not very popular(they are like high school teachers and find it unprofessional, most greyhounds will look weird at one with dyed hair), the hair texture can be any. Hair length is usually kept quite short, as longer hair is unpractical for a work in the lab(even Tims hair is too long but hes a leader can can do whatever he wants, same goes for Simmone with her dyed hair)The ears can be short - pointy(with very little movement ability) or sideways(with no movement ability), medium long(with a lot of movement ability, also at will), and long(with slightly less movement ability than medium). Greyhounds can also in a way conduct electricity, its not harmful to them in basic amounts, but they do not have electric powers themselves.Weapons are mostly electricity-based and can be made out of electricity themselves (I just call them like laser knives lol) that also gives laser weapons or energy based guns,  a very popular piece of equipment most greyhounds use are their ear-pieces that project holograms, also their weapons or things like helmets can be holostructed so they don't have to carry them all the time.

In the present time the power over the planet is split over to the Four Labs whose Leaders form the Council with Roswell as the primary Leader. Those Labs are as follows:

EOS Lab - led by Timothy Roswell and Ryland Russel. They overlook everything happening on the planet, science and non-science based; but most importantly are in charge of creating the Breach to Beta5. Moreover, they overlook yet another invisible field around the planet that stops The Watchman from entering it. Roswell mostly resides in The Tower, a city like enormous building near the mountain range on the north. EOS Lab has many facilities around the planet, the biggest ones are located in a straight line going from north to south in the middle of the main continent, each of the labs is capable of creating a Breach. [yellow]

North Lab - led by Simmone MacArthur, it’s primary objectives is sustaining the Force Field around the planet and research the weather. Simmone herself was reluctant towards Roswell at the start, but now they have a good relationship. [purple]

Dyne Lab - led by Ria Hale and Kim Hale, a pair of twins. Dyne is the Switzerland of the Labs, they do a lot of humanitarian work and carry out research in many fields. Ria and Kim are also Roswells and Rylands old friends from their university days and they have maintained as friends till now. [blue]

Valiant Lab - led by Everest Kelley and his son Jamie Kelley . The most conservative one, Everest used to be an important figure even before Roswell took over the Council, they also really don’t like each other but have to work together. Valiant Lab is responsible for the agriculture and sustaining the planet with food. [green] 

The territories in red “belong” to The Rebels - Greyhounds that were against Roswell's treatment of the Watchman. They also wanted to overthrow the previous Council and now want to overthrow Roswell too, kinda like the french ig? 

You can have any profession in any lab just that each of the labs will be more focused on certain aspects : eos - physics/quantum physics/engineering, very big Main Guys Complex lmao anything that could be used for breaking the laws of space and time in general, they also have some military air forces; dyne - humanitarian work, could also be sth with plants, earth or weather; valiant - plants/agriculture but also military, north - weather mostly. 

[pancakeke]

News from 10/7 to 10/8:

The New England Journal of Medicine has condemned Trump’s COVID response.

The FBI has unsealed details of an alleged plot by militia members to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer. The conspirators, who called themselves the Wolverine Watchmen, stalked her vacation home, planned to buy explosives to blow up a bridge to her home, and planned to hold her hostage, if not outright kill her, and hold her on trial for treason. Whitmer spoke about the planned attack, calling out Trump for "fomenting anger, and giving comfort to those who spread fear, hatred, and division." She also tied Trump’s “stand back and stand by” comment to the actions of the terrorists. Here are some of their photos.

GOP Chairwoman Ronna Mcdaniel, who caught COVID at the White House, says she doesn't think there were any problems with the White House's coronavirus protocols.

Health officials scrambling to produce Trump's ‘last-minute’ drug cards by Election Day. Trump is hoping to put his name on each of the $200 cards to help his reelection campaign. These cards are being paid for through Medicare's trust fund after pharmaceutical companies refused to foot the bill. Critics are calling it a “taxpayer funded bribe.”

Former top RNC & Trump inaugural fundraiser Elliott Broidy charged with conspiring to serve as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the fugitive Malaysian financier JHO LOW & others. (translation: illegal foreign lobbying). He was charged for his role in a scheme to "lobby the Justice Department and Trump administration on behalf of undisclosed foreign entities." Document here.

Pelosi and Rep. Raskin plan to introduce legislation tomorrow to establish a commission under the 25th Amendment charged with evaluating the president's mental/physical capacity. The plan is based off a bill of Raskin’s which created congressional body (which is actually contemplated in the 25th amendment itself) made up of doctors, psychiatrists and former executive branch officials to make judgments if a president's health is failing. The bill itself is here.

The Trump Trump administration filed an emergency application to halt census count at the Supreme Court.

Another unnamed member of the White House press corps tested positive for COVID.

Filmmakers created a secretly-filmed documentary about Trump’s failure to respond to the pandemic over 5 months. Here is the trailer. It will be available at select drive in theaters on Friday 10/9, video-on-demand starting Tuesday 10/13, and then Hulu starting Oct. 20

Trump’s doctor says he can safely return to public engagement after Saturday but has not taken questions. Both Trump’s doctors and his staff will not divulge when his last negative test was taken, not even to the House of Representatives.

Trump put potential blame for his COVID on Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty. This doesn’t make sense according to Trump’s (assumed) COVID timeline.

Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff, defied COVID restrictions to throw a wedding for his daughter back in May. Meadows is not (currently) a part of the White House COVID cluster.

The NYT published an article showing members of the White House not following COVID regulations. But we already knew this, really.

Trump posted a bunch of videos where he looks like a crazed used car salesmen that I’m not linking here because you shouldn’t hate watch stuff. His circular speech is getting worse.

The second presidential debate is being pushed back to October 22 because the Trump has COVID, a deadly communicable disease.

Facebook took down a “coordinated inauthentic behavior campaign” that was being run by a U.S. marketing firm working on behalf of pro-Trump student organization Turning Point USA. By that they mean a sock puppet accounts spreading misinformation by commenting on news articles. The scope was 200 FB accounts, 55 pages, and 76 Instagrams. 

The US trade deficit hit a 14 year high.

A Federal judge is seeking the White House’s position on declassifying the entire Muller Report (we’ve only gotten either parts or redactions) per Trump’s recent tweet demanding the entire report be released. Buzzfeed is currently seeking the report in its entirety.

[itsthenovelteafactor]

Superhero Gothic

Thanks to everyone who responded to my previous post (special shoutout to @jeyfeather1234 💛 ) about superheroes and gothic media! I know it’s been, like, a month, but here we go.

Here’s a bit of a look into some common gothic themes, and how they apply to Doom Patrol, The Boys, Watchmen (2019), and The Umbrella Academy. This one’s a bit long, not gonna lie, but I hope you enjoy! 

Part I: Let’s Talk About Gothic Media

There is not actually an all-encompassing definition for gothic media, or even a universally agreed-upon one. You’re probably familiar with some well-known gothic works (think Dracula, Frankenstein, Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King) but there is a lot of debate on what exactly makes them gothic. 

There are some common themes in gothic works, though: families/characters under the control of a tyrannical paterfamilias, the crumbling of the established order/estate, long-buried secrets that have consequences in the present, and supernatural events that are stand-ins for/reflective of the emotional state/past actions of the characters. 

(Note: these aren’t all the themes of gothic works or even most of them, but for purposes here, I’d like to limit this analysis to them. I’d love to talk about other themes/ideas, though, if anyone has them. 😊)

So… superheroes (quick overview in case you haven’t watched any of them… spoiler warnings for the rest of this discussion)

Doom Patrol:

Five misfit superhumans attempt to rescue their mentor figure when he is kidnapped by an old enemy.

They are very, very bad at it.

Also features a singing horse head, a sentient nonbinary teleporting street (who is by far the best character) and the narrator is the fourth-wall breaking series villain. 

Beautifully weird but will also emotionally devastate you. Criminally underrated, tbh.

Watchmen (2019):

Story takes place after the canon of the graphic novel which is too much to summarize.

Alternate history (that should really feel more fictitious than it does) where white supremacist organization the Seventh Cavalry, masked police officers, and former superheroes in hiding all collide in Tulsa Oklahoma

Swept the Emmys this year and ABSOLUTELY DESERVED TO

The Umbrella Academy:

Washed up former child superheroes are forced to reunite when their father dies under mysterious circumstances 

Time travel, dysfunctional siblings, and a killer soundtrack

Basically a family drama with the superhero story as secondary (complimentary)

Probably the most obviously gothic of all of these it is aesthetic AF 

The Boys: 

Superheroes exist but they are corporate sellouts under the control of evil company Not-Amazon (AKA Vought)

Regular human protagonists try to hold them accountable for their actions with varying (read: usually minimal) success

Yes, it’s the one from those weird ads earlier this year

Billy Joel!! 

Part II: Niles Caulder, Ozymandias, and Other Terrible Father Figures

The Tyrannical Paterfamilias: 

Does not always mean a father figure explicitly, often relating to the notion of a patriarchal tradition, or family inheritance that plays a role in controlling the main characters. 

Sometimes, it is a father figure. 

Sometimes, it is a representative of patriarchal tradition/male head of pseudo-family unit.

So, uh, role call: 

Reginald Hargreeves (even in death) holds power over his children, and has shaped all of them into the adults they have become, and that drives the majority of the conflict. Each of the major character individually grapples with the after-effects of his abuse. Luther feels the need to be the leader and protect everyone and alienates his allies as a consequence. Diego constantly asserts himself as a hero (often to dangerous extremes) because it is the only way he was ever valued. Allison has to teach herself boundaries and responsible use of her powers after he encouraged her to abuse them for years. Klaus turns to drugs to cope with his childhood trauma. Five disobeyed his father with disastrous consequences and is constantly fighting to not become him. Vanya spent her entire childhood in the background, and never learned to assert herself in a healthy way. Thanks, Reggie.

Homelander says that The Seven are like a family. While whether or not this is accurate (it isn’t) is up for debate, he does occupy the tyrannical paterfamilias roles incredibly well. Homelander controls every member of the Seven, threatening them and their loved ones whenever they step out of line (read: do not do exactly what he wants in the exact way he wants them to do it.) He is also very closely tied with conservative/patriarchal rhetoric in-universe and at one point dates a literal Nazi. 

William Butcher less evil than most of the other characters on this list but the bar is also like, on the ground. Butcher tries to control the Boys in a similar way (Butcher and Homelander are character foils, okay? it’s actually pretty neat). He’s perfectly willing to sacrifice them in pursuit of his own goals, disregards their points of view and the well-being of their loved ones, and tries to cut loose anyone who disagrees with his methods (recall when Hughie tried to rescue his friends at the end of s1 and Butcher… punched him in the face? Yeah, that.) The difference is that the Boys can push back against his without being, you know, brutally murdered. (And also the Butcher isn’t a literal monster; I’m not anti-Butcher, okay? He’s an interesting character and the fact that he seems constantly on the verge of becoming that which he hates most is part of what makes him interesting.)

Guess what, folks? It’s hating Niles Caulder hours. He engineered accidents to turn the main characters into his test subjects, and then kept them conveniently hidden away in his large manor. Stole their autonomy and independence but paints himself as a benevolent father figure. And that’s not even including what he does to his actual daughter, Dorothy. He’s terrified of her growing up (read: becoming a young woman) and so he locks her away for almost 100 years and, when she is freed, yells at her constantly and makes her terrified of showing any signs of maturation (even though she’s 111 and clearly tired of being written off as a child).

The relationship between Ozymandias and his daughter, Lady Trieu, is integral to the final act of Watchmen. Heralded as the “smartest man in the world,” Ozymandias refused to acknowledge his daughter as his until he needed something from her. While Lady Trieu is more self-sufficient and independent than some of the applications of this trope, she goes to great lengths to prove herself, first to him, and then to herself when he rejects her.

Part III: Been a Long Time Gone (Constantinople) 

Gothic fiction is often associated with change, and particularly, the collapse of established systems of power. For example, many works like The House of the Seven Gables and The Fall of the House of Usher take place in old, crumbling manor houses. There is a reason for this! These kinds of estates are remnants of a past that is irreversibly gone, and their continued presence in decrypt forms serves as a reminder. 

Each of the four series takes place at a moment, either on a wide scale or on a personal scale (or both!), in which an established order is being questioned, and the constant reminders of that failed order are used to gothic effect.

The Umbrella Academy plays this most directly (In fact, there are TONS of parallels between the end of s1 of TUA and House of Usher that I don’t have the time to get into right now... lmk if you want that meta). We can see the Hargreeves mansion as a very literal example of this. While not worn down, the house is notably both very large and very empty. Shelves are filled with merchandise for a superhero team that disbanded over a decade prior, and portraits of a family that no longer speaks to each other. None of the family members ever seem truly comfortable or at ease in the house, and for good reason - every back corner is a reminder of their incredibly traumatic childhood. 

In The Boys, the story begins with the fridging death of the main character’s girlfriend, Robin, at the hands of a member of the Seven, a group of heroes so ingrained in the public consciousness that when they later hide out in a costume shop, literally every single costume is for one of Vought’s heroes. The Seven represent the system in power, which, at the disposal of Not-Amazon means corporate greed, shallow altruism, and the cultivation of public personas at the expense of actual humanity. 

From that moment on, the sheer presence of The Seven on everything from public billboards to breakfast cereal is a remainder for Hughie (and the audience) that this established system doesn’t work and is based on lies, which serves this effect on a personal level. In the broader scale, however, we also see that the Seven themselves are fracturing under an unsustainable business model. Even their name, “The Seven” starts to seem a bit dated when halfway through season one through the end of season two there are notably... less than seven of them. 

The main characters in Doom Patrol are all in recovery after the accidents that irreversibly changed their lives. We see through flashbacks the people that they used to be, and the difference is striking. They were each established in their own elements: Cliff a famous race-car driver, Rita a world renowned actress, Larry a hero pilot, Jane was involved in counter-cultural movements, Vic was a student and athlete. The foundations upon which their worlds were established are completely decimated by the accidents, and now they (save Vic and sometimes Jane) live mostly in isolation in Niles’ manor house, an estate that is far larger than would be necessary to comfortably house a group of their size.

And you feel the emptiness, both in the manor, and in the lives of the characters. They have barely created a shadow version of their own existence when the series starts, so fragile that a simple trip into town devolves into utter chaos. 

Angela Abar of Watchmen has also constructed a life following the terrifying act of terrorism on the White Night. It’s a bit of a double life, and we see that the balancing act is challenging for her, even before the story truly begins. The death of Judd Crawford, and the revelation about him that follows is not only traumatizing on a personal level (but it definitely is that), but also upsets her understanding of the world. People she’s come to trust are not just dishonest but truly monstrous. And the more Angela learns about what has been happening, the more her understanding of the world begins to unravel. Her memories, and the memories of those around her are cast in a much more sinister light, and the effect is genuinely chilling. 

Part IV: “I’m the Little Girl Who Threw the Brick in the Air”

In episode 3 of Watchmen, Laurie contacts Dr. Manhattan on the cosmic phone booth to tell him a joke. It’s a version of what TVTropes calls the “brick joke,” and it relies on set up taking place early on, other stuff happening, and then the response coming at an unexpected moment. 

So, yeah. Events of the past/buried secrets resurfacing with consequences in the present.

Continuing with the theme from Watchmen, the entire series is punctuated with the way the past and the present intertwine, with elements from both the original Watchmen graphic novel, and actual American history. One of the things we talked a lot about in my gothic lit class was the manner in which the overhanging specter of past atrocities casts a shadow over the present, and how many works cannot help but have gothic themes because there are so many horrifying things in the past that cannot be ignored, and provide both context and nuance for the discussions we have in the present. No series tackles these topics quite so directly (and with as much care) as Watchmen. (note: it does not always make for easy viewing, but if you’re in a place where you feel like you can engage with that kind of material, I highly recommend the show.)

In Doom Patrol, the past actions of the characters very much control the storyline (see: previous discussion of Niles Caulder), but the character whose storyline I want to talk about here is Rita (partially for plot reasons and partially because I just love Rita, okay?). We learn when we first meet Rita that in the past she was... not a great person. We know that the trauma of the accident that gave her her powers has changed her, we also know that she still holds on to the guilt and that her guilt has limited the scope of her world for years, but we don’t know what exactly it is that she’s done. 

Enter Mr. Nobody, all-powerful narrator who is not just aware of Rita’s greatest sins, but perfectly capable of manifesting reminders of them into the story. She is confronted with empty cradles, and the sound of crying children in the background of many scenes and we see how much it effects her, without a full understanding of why it does (see: The Tell-Tale Heart). Her past begins to haunt her physically, and she begins to crumble in response to it, until finally she is forced to confide in a stranger (and thus the audience). The past actions do not just inform the audience of Rita’s character - they show up to influence her behavior in the present. 

The ending of The Umbrella Academy season 1 is super evocative of the gothic genre with Vanya breaking open the soundproof chamber (wherein she was silenced for years) and rising from the basement to destroy the last remnants of the Hargreeves legacy (which would be awesome if the last remnants of the Hargreeves legacy didn’t include the rest of her family). Pretty much every mistake the siblings make over the course of the season feeds together to create the finale, but the primary cause isn’t something any of them actually did. It all ties back to Reginald Hargreeves’ complete inability to be nice to children. Any children. His own and random strangers that need help. 

In The Boys, while the extent to which people are making f-ed up choices in the present cannot be expressed enough, we see through the characters of Homelander that many of the present difficulties are a result of past mistakes. Particularly, the profit-seeking corruption within Vought. We learn in s1 through Vogelbaum that Homelander was raised in a lab by Vought as an experiment, only to be unceremoniously thrust into the spotlight and told he was a superhero (which... does not justify a single one of his actions but is still a major yikes). As the head scientist of the project, Vogelbaum is very aware that ignoring his conscious if the name of research has essentially created the biggest threat their world has ever seen. 

(Seriously y’all just stop raising your super kids in isolation) 

Part V: Put Them Together, and They’re the MF-ing Spice Girls 

Having the environment respond to characters’ emotions/mental states is pretty common in gothic works (it was a dark and stormy night = someone is probably not doing super well). One of the advantages of the genre’s tendency towards the supernatural is that, often, those elements of the stories, as well, are reflections of the main ideas of a work of fiction (see: Stephen King’s really unsubtle period metaphors).

Because all of these shows have a ton of supernatural/scifi elements by virtue of being, well, superhero shows, I thought it would be easier (and more fun!) to come up with a short list of elements, what they mean, and what cases they might apply to.

1. A Nonlinear Experience of Time

The Umbrella Academy: legitimately about time travel. Characters are attempting to fix the timeline but are unable to because they are both mentally and sometimes literally stuck in the past. 

Watchmen: In the episode This Extraordinary Being, Angela experiences firsthand the experiences of her grandfather, under the influence of a drug called Nostalgia. The episode touches on many themes, one of which being the impact of generational trauma in marginalized communities. Throughout the series, Dr. Manhatten is cursed with experiencing all time at once, and the episode A God Walks into Abar illustrates that, because of this, he is constantly facing the consequences of particular actions before, after, and while he is preforming him.

Doom Patrol: Mr. Nobody is able to physically travel to one of Jane’s flashbacks via his fourth-wall breaking powers, and gives Dr. Harrison an ultimatum for the future. 

What it implies: Events, particularly events that evoke guilt or conflict, are not as rooted in the past as one would like to think.

2. Powers/Abilities that reflect personal trauma/failings

Doom Patrol: Larry’s abilities/bond with the Negative Spirit have made it so that he is constantly covering himself with bandages/avoiding other people, which reflects his experiences having to hide his identity as a gay man in the 50/60s. Rita forced herself to walk a thin line, betraying everything in pursuit of her image; her abilities require constant effort to keep her entire body from becoming misshapen and out of control. Vic’s father with boundary issues can literally control his perception of the world through his cybernetic enhancements. Dorothy’s abilities manifest as imaginary friends because she was kept isolated for years at a time. 

The Umbrella Academy: pretty much all of the kids’ powers are representative of the interpersonal skills they were never able to develop. Luther is super-durable but also the most emotionally vulnerable of the group. Five can teleport and time travel but always seems to be too late to stop things. Diego can manipulate the trajectory of projectiles but cannot escape the path his father set out for him, not matter how much he resents it. Vanya always forced herself to stay quiet until the sound literally explodes out of her.

The Boys: Annie’s abilities allow her to control light, but she struggles (in the beginning) to bring to light the horrible things done to her behind closed doors. 

Watchmen: Not technically a power, but Looking Glass’ mirror-mask is a constant reminder of the hall of mirrors that both saved his life and traumatized him forever. 

What it implies: from a story perspective, these allow for an exploration of trauma/guilt to occur on a scale much larger than people simply talking about their problems (as if anyone on any of these shows knows how to talk about their problems...) It also means that the trauma/guilt of the characters takes on a physical form that is able to haunt them, and constantly remind them/hold them accountable for their past actions.

3. Diluted Sense of Reality:

Doom Patrol: The first season is narrated by its main villain, and throughout the season we see that the act of narration itself has an impact on the story.

Watchmen: The event that kicks off the plot of the story is hinged upon a paradox introduced by Angela near the end of the series when trying to speak to her Grandfather in the past through Dr. Manhattan.

The Umbrella Academy: The pair of episodes in season 1, The Day that Wasn’t and The Day That Was take the same point in time and explore two possible avenue for the future from there, with The Day that Wasn’t ending with the events of the entire episode being completely erased from the timeline.

What it implies: you can’t necessarily trust everything you see, even from the audience perspective, giving them a position not unlike that of the characters. The character’s uncertainty and confusion is magnified and reflected in the world that surrounds them.

Other examples: an apocalypse (The Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol, Watchmen (of a sort)), ghosts (The Umbrella Academy - hi, Ben!), immortality/invulnerability (Watchmen, Doom Patrol, The Boys), and characters that look significantly younger than they actually are (The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol). 

Part VI: Why Did You Write a Literal Essay Don’t You Have Real Schoolwork (yes... shhhhh...)

And... there you have it. I don’t really have some grand conclusion here. This is (clearly) far from a complete analysis but it is the most my finals-week brain can concoct at the moment. 

If you have other ideas, let me know! You can always add to the notes or message me – my inbox is always open!  If you got this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Much love! ❤️

[valiantly-onward]

The Serpentine War

Here we go!

This is my Serpentine War fic. A few notes: because we don’t know many of the names of the old Elemental Masters, I’ve given them some names, but I’ll be changing them if those names get released. There will also be two or three scenes in the later chapters that are taken directly from the show but I don’t claim them at all and have just written them out for storyline continuity. Those scenes belong to LEGO Ninjago.

I’ll try to post a few chapters a week, so here’s chapter one!

Chapter 1: A Snake

At the moon’s peak, a stranger approached the gates of the great city of Ouroboros.

The watchmen stood sentry, moonlight glinting on their violet scales. Both craned their long necks at the lone figure emerging from the dunes. As he tread closer, he threw down his hood. A human face, cruel and pale, steadily watched the Serpentine watchmen raise their spears.

“Human,” the first hissed. “Return to your lands, or suffer at the law.”

The man raised his hands. “Please, I mean you no harm. I seek an audience with your chief.”

The snakes glanced at each other. More and more humans ventured across the border these days, emboldened by ignorance. But one at the very gates of Ouroboros...what were they to do?

The man enjoyed watching the Serpentine guards squirm. Finally, the first told the second, “Tell the gatekeeper we have a prisoner to escort to the throne. Send more sentries.”

So the second slithered off. In minutes, the sentries had been replaced, and the man strode down the sandy streets between two guards. Their long tales rasped against stone, while wind blew the road clean before them. The man remembered ancient maps of the city - roads, like spires on a wheel, leading to the masterpiece throne of the Anacondrai chief.

Once, the Serpentine were ruled under one king of the sands. Now, so long divided and dispersed across the vast Serpentine lands, five different tribes governed themselves. But all roads led back here, to the mightiest of the chiefs, the Anacondrai General Arcturus.

Past the low stone dwellings and alleys with deepening shadows, the guards finally led the man under a great archway into an round courtyard. Empty stands rose from the sand on all sides. Far across the yard, a huge stone snakehead broke the line of stands. Beneath it, an Anacondrai was slithering onto a low dias and seating himself on an intricate golden throne.

Though the ancient Pyrovipers were gone, their old gods and superstitions were not. The man watched amiably as Arcturus’ guards appeared with a set of golden pauldrons and strapped them across the great snake’s shoulders. All gold, to represent the power of Ninjago itself; all snakes, for pride, for glory.

“Speak, human,” said General Arcturus.

The man stepped past his Serpentine escort and bowed low. “Great General Arcturus, I am Lord Chen. I have travelled far, risking even our ancient laws, to plead with you.”

“To plead?” The general’s voice rumbled somewhere between a hiss and a roar. Greater men than Chen regarded that voice like sand chafing in a shirt collar - it was impossible to be comfortable.

Still, Chen pressed on. “I have spent years studying your people. Your history is fascinating. And your legends…” He made a show of wringing his hands. “There is one in particular that frightens me.”

“You woke me from my slumber,” Arcturus frowned. “To speak of myth?”

“Not myth, great one.” Chen dared to look up to meet the general’s gaze. “Prophecy.”

The Anacondrai guards began to shift. Restless whispers snuck over forked tongues. Arcturus’ slitted eyes did not waver.

Chen clasped his hands behind his back. “It is true, is it not, that there is a Serpentine legend about the curse of the Golden Master? That one day, he will rise with golden power to bring destruction and doom?”

More whispers. The guards behind Chen slid back, as if he were the devil the legend spoke of.

Arcturus leaned his snaky head forward. “This is indeed one of our legends. It is our belief that such a day draws near. It has already been too long since the death of the First Spinjitzu Master. Soon, someone will claim his place.”

“That is why I implore you, General,” Chen said. He cast a hand back the way he had come, from the sands. “The people of Ninjago need to be warned of this danger. And those who follow the ways of the First Spinjitzu Master must be stopped - before they bring doom upon us all.”

“We cannot warn the people of Ninjago,” Arcturus replied. “We would have to enter their lands. And it would be in vain - they would not believe us.”

Chen mustered all the sentiment, all the raw emotion he possessed, and pretended it was love. “Please. For the sake of Ninjago, before it is too late - you must warn them. And if they do not listen, you must make them listen.”

All was silent in the courtyard for many moments. The desert wind continued to pull sand across the stone, to and fro, as it had since time had a name.

General Arcturus rose from his throne, pauldrons and fangs gleaming. “You are prepared to do what needs to be done, human?”

“For the greater good.” Chen bowed low again, so low that no one could see him smile. “Only one can remain.”

@greenygreenland