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#Two alters of one of the systems have decided to adopt me???
crowboss-whore · 2 years
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I'D LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO ANY OF MY FRIENDS WHO ARE PART OF A SYSTEM THAT HAS A SUN WUKONG OR A MACAQUE FICTIVE
I LOVE YOU GUYS. I'M SORRY YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH MY SIMPING OVER YOUR SOURCES. I'LL TRY MY BEST TO KEEP MY SIMPING ON A DOWN LOW.
This apology goes out to all Sun Wukong and Macaque fictives or Sun Wukong and Macaque-esque alters. You guys are lovely people and I hope you guys have a good day HAHA <3
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celaenaeiln · 6 months
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On the subject of Bruce, Dick, and the Titans, do you think part of Bruce’s issues stem from jealousy?
Like being jealous over the fact that after his parents died he struggled for so long with only Alfred and it took Dick to break through that and help him cultivate a genuine sense of family again, but now Dick is branching out and expanding his family while Bruce hasn’t been able to do that (at the point of Dick being fired)
Follow up to that, do you think that if it is partially jealousy and insecurity, do you think it’s a contributing factor for Jason’s adoption? Not just that he wanted to help another kid but also because he subconsciously wanted to show Dick/ mimic Dick in being able to move past the tragedy of his past by finding new family. Like a shitty slightly spiteful move of ‘hey you’re moving on and doing better but look so am I!’ even if it’s not exactly true. Sort of like pretending your dating someone at a party your ex is at even tho ur still grieving the relationship and not over ur ex.
Other sidenote, love your posts and whenever I come on tumblr I check to see if you’ve posted. Hope you are having a good day ❤️
Thank you!!
So for the first one, Bruce wouldn't exactly be jealous of Dick for having a support system. He wants Dick to be happy.
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Outsiders (2003) Issue #29
But he also doesn't want Dick to go. He's jealous that he has to share Dick's attention and his jealousy stems from the fact that he isn't the one Dick goes to.
The second one is spot on!!! OOF THE ANALOGY WAS TOO GOOD!!!!
The main reason for adopting Jason was not just because he wanted to help him, but because Bruce was jealous and angry and hurt that Dick left. That he chose the Titans over him.
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Batman (1940) Issue #416
Like you said, "hey you’re moving on and doing better but look so am I!"
In the other version Bruce literally fires him, and it's name-called, for Dick's devotion to the Titans.
I think it's sometimes hard to reconcile Bruce's relationship with Dick because of how many Robins and how much the family has grown but Dick and Bruce's relationship is different.
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Batman: Court of Owls Issue #1
"Dick, you know me better than anyone, except perhaps for Alfred..."
It was and is always going to be Dick and Bruce. The Titans call them out on it, the batfamily calls them out on it, that's just the way things are.
So imagine someone you're this deeply connected to, your lifeline, leaving you for someone else. The Jealousy tore him apart and Bruce does what Bruce does best when he's hurt - he pushes people away.
Dick has talked Bruce out of everything in his life. If he didn't have amnesia and become Ric Grayson, Bruce's mental state would not have taken a downward spiral. During his post-Selina leaving him at the alter- nightmares, he has one where Selina is dying and Bruce says, "this is just like Dick."
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Batman (2016) Issue #63
Nightmares about Dick's death are bleeding over into his nightmares of Selina's.
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Batman (2016) Issue #63
It wasn't altruism which made him make the move, it was spite.
I made a post a long time ago for an ask that asked me about Dick and Bruce's complicated relationship that really goes into depth about why the two of them are inseparable. Dick's said it himself too in the action comics. They both knew the partnership was going to end because Dick wanted to leave but Bruce couldn't let him go so he decided to hurt Dick before Dick could hurt him.
He's canonically described as a foil to Batman. So, yes, by Batman's own admission, Dick is the person who knows him best so jealousy of Dick leading a life, prioritizing people that aren't him, plays a huge role in his actions and interactions with Dick.
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noras-dc-shenanigans · 10 months
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Friends | Surprise
Sam and Tucker were acting weird. They hadn’t had any arguments about animals, or meat, or who’s turn it was to have the Doom controller… nothing.
It was suspicious.
And yeah, okay, they were all 16 now, so they could maybe just be getting more mature. Danny, himself, had stopped being a gremlin to Vlad, which after two years had actually messed with the guy more than anything Danny had done, so that was a plus! The Fruitloop had spent the last few months constantly on guard, expecting some prank to befall him. It was fantastic!
But back to Danny’s dilemma.
His friends were acting weird, and Danny couldn’t help but think it was because of the Big Reveal.
No, not Danny telling his parents about Phantom. That had gone well enough, as by then they’d realized that Phantom was helping and sentient, not just a pile of malicious ectoplasm.
No, the Big Reveal had been from Danny parents, who after hearing Danny’s confession has given one of their own:
Danny was adopted. In itself, not a big deal. They were still his family, they all still loved one another, it didn’t really change anything.
No, the Big part of the Reveal had been the fact that his birth father was none other than Bruce Wayne. The Bruce Wayne.
Apparently, as a just-legal adult he’d had a pretty serious thing going on with a woman named Selina Kyle, but she left him at the alter when they were both 20, only for her to discover her pregnancy. By then, Bruce had taken in an orphaned Dick Grayson, and Selina had decided that she didn’t want to overwhelm him with a newborn on top of a nine-year-old. But she also didn’t think she’d make a good parent, but wanted to be sure the baby would be safe and loved and cared for, and so decided to look for a family herself.
Eventually, she’d come across the Fenton’s file on her advocate’s desk, saw that they were rejected due to their ‘line of work’, and decided to check them out.
Anyway, long story short, she liked them, they loved him, Selina used some of her ‘contacts’ to get the paperwork sorted and legalized, and Bam! New baby Daniel Thomas Fenton, ready for action!
… Yeah, Danny thinks Selina was probably into some stuff, and left Bruce because of a scam gone wrong or something.
But again, he’s waaay off topic. His friends are being weird, he’s like 87% positive it’s about his birth parents, and now they’re both obsessively checking their phones like—
Knock knock kno— INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRU—
“Oh, sorry about that, we must have missed one when we were disabling them. Please, come in!”
Aaaand now there’s apparently people over? From the noise, it’s like five people or so, though they all walk so quietly on the carpeting it’s hard to tell, even with Danny’s enhanced hearing. He turns to ask his friends if they remembered his parents saying something about guests, only to see two identical grins.
‘Uh oh. Those looks combined usually mean bad news for me. Maybe I should take off while I’ve got the chance?’
Unfortunately, his friends knew him too well, and they both instantly blackmailed him with embarrassing Phantom PhailsTM videos.
So stayed he did, and down he went, once his mom called for them. The entire way down the stairs, his friends are grinning and smothering laughs and just generally acting like elementary school all over again.
Taking one, bracing breath, Danny prepares to see whatever the h*ll kind of prank his ‘besties’ have set up for him, and turns the corner into the living room.
…’Is that Bruce f*cking Wayne on our couch?!’
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Indeed. Indeed it is, along with Dick Grayson, who grins and ruffles his hair; Jason Todd, who offers an eye roll and a fist bump (and hoo-boy, that’s some very corrupted ecto in there, Danny’d better check that later); Tim Drake, who very distractedly shakes his hand before diving back into a conversation with Mom about their security system; and Damien Wayne, who gives him the stink-eye and only very grudgingly shakes Danny’s hand as well after Bruce nudges him into it.
So. That’s a thing, now. Meeting his super-famous estranged family members because his friends thought it’d be good both as a ‘parents-blew-themselves-up-and-Danny’s-not-a-legal-adult’ back-up plan (which, Danny can admit, is necessary, after he’d already had to put out several fires down there this month), and of course, a great prank to play. No doubt Tucker has several videos of Danny’s gaping.
After the awkward introductions comes an even more awkward dinner, though thankfully the atmosphere is due to all around lack of conversation skills and not a re-run of Night of the Living Food. (Thought Danny’s pretty sure he saw the meatballs wiggle a bit)
Eventually, everyone winds up at the front door, with yet even more awkward goodbyes and see-you-laters and a few, yes, awkward hand shakes.
By the time they door closes behind them, with a promise to join Danny and his friends at the mall tomorrow, he has decided one thing, for absolute certain:
‘I am soooo getting them back for this! Watch out for your own surprises, friends.’
————
In case you’re curious:
Bruce- 36
Dick/Barbara- 25
Jason/Jazz- 18
Tim/Steph/Team Phantom- 16
Duke- 14
Damien- 12
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(Gods, this post got long, and a lot more in-depth than I expected. Proceed with caution if you decide to read about the mess of religious brainwashing I went through. It's really horrible and I do mention violence. If it's not something you think you can read without triggering yourself, please move on to some other post. Maybe spend some time on my cat sideblog, listed on my pinned post. Hell, even if you do read this whole thing, you might still want to visit it, or one of the others also listed.)
We all have programming and baggage to deal with. And sometimes we go all too willingly for the self-flagellation (physical or mental), like we were taught. I decided, after the fusions almost all fell apart, to enter what was essentially solitary confinement. The only part attending to my isolation from the others was Era.
We were kinda like two peas in a pod, even though we were also always in separate subsystems. Era was corrupted extremely fast because he had the misfortune of getting paired to the version of the antichrist in our mind. I was paired to Pandemonum as it's demon. And it was the closest to Galaco, which I frequently took advantage of. But it took time for others to realize what I was doing. Then after foster care, it got easier to whisper provocation to it simply because Nanny didn't have a whole congregation to help control us. I tugged on Pandemonum's strings like a marionette. His anger was easy to manipulate.
Other than that, I personally did a lot of terrible things to other parts early on. I was awful to just about everyone, and one of the absolute worst. Hell, even Era wasn't immune to my abuse. Granted, he learned to be cruel right back, and then somehow we learned to enjoy the mutual torment.
But then the part that eventually named herself Caelienn found a way to balance Era somewhat and get him to behave mostly again. And he found me, before Ash sealed Pandemonum, but also after I'd already done enough to corrupt it. I was put in isolation, but Era kept coming back to keep me company and work me into being a decent part to live with. Every time, he was clear he was trying to use the kinds of methods Caelienn did.
Only some early parts picked up actual names of demons. And more often than not, they were named from male demons. Other non-biblical names only actually came later. But there were too many demons, according to them, to name them all. I got stuck being called Mammon, of all fucking things. Of course I wanted a new name. Era kept trying to offer me different names as options, but I never really liked most of them at all.
There was a certain point in middle school where everything from our original conflicts was forcibly cut off from the majority of the system. And then we just forgot it all. I finally picked a name, but I still didn't mean to get attached to it. It was intended to be at most a placeholder for something ‘better’.
Over time, I did get to know and bond with some other parts. I remembered Caelienn from the little I remembered of his (she's bigender and I want to use both his preferred pronouns) impact on Era. She just totally accepted me, then Jaden (now fused into Maple) and Garnet decided to treat me as their son. Basically adopting me.
I couldn't remember the bulk of childhood except as a vague feeling of shame, though. I still felt undeserving of actual kindness. The instinct to take and do what I wanted, and screw how it affected anyone else, was still buzzing in the background. Some things got better when we started deconstructing the most obvious aspects of our indoctrination, but it couldn't fix it all. Especially not since we tripped into some of the New Age bullshit for a few years. That was a weird time, but at least we learned not to believe everything we'd been taught about various kinds of spirits.
So we never really got to the core of why we were all so fucked up to begin with. It was all locked away from any alters who might ever front. Only the holy side, and maybe a couple of the highest authorities on this side plus Ash, could access any of that information. Us demons were simply on another layer of this side. Of course we were. We were just as affected by the lockout, a borderline reset on everything internally.
I literally don't know what to do yet. When that--whatever the hell happened with Joshua--all those old, buried feelings and urges just flooded right back into my awareness. It was hard to stay aware of the progress everyone had actually made. It was hard to retain my bit of progress.
And when Era pulled me out of my isolation, I did lose control of myself. I was...loose, and I felt a need for violence. For whatever reason, he just let me act out against him and do as I damn well pleased. Then I think I lost all my ability to think for a while when Galaco took me, because what??? As far as I could remember, Galaco was always the scared little tattletale. I didn't know it also felt those same cravings.
At least I guess we're doing well processing the way we were treated as evil. Era seems to confess that he always felt like they treated us like we actually killed someone, or were about to. We physically hurt others, yes. This is true. It's very possible we hurt someone else about our age pretty badly. We probably would have been diagnosed with some kind of conduct disorder, if they believed in psychology (they didn't, big fucking shock).
But who the fuck in reality taught us to in the first place? Yeah, it was entirely them. The fucking assholes who were taking part in what I see as a state-sanctioned kidnapping. They showed us real life violence. We can remember often reenacting parts of the bible in the little girl's bible study group. We imagine that we picked up more violence there than just a little bit. But for us, it was compounded by their inherent sexism. Girls were not supposed to be violent, which only made us even more reactive and angry.
I'm too exhausted to care about our old conflicts. I've got shit to own up to and atone for, but that's another matter altogether. At least no one else really wants to fight anymore, either.
-Kite 🪆😺
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frostedfaves · 3 years
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Naive (3)
Masterlist
Pairing: demon!Wanda Maximoff x fem!reader
Summary: You pick up on the lies in Wanda’s life and she decides to show you the truth.
Warnings: 18+ ONLY, dark!fic, demon things™️, more hints at dom/sub because I’m a whore for demon!Wanda
A/N: I can’t believe that it’s been a month since I posted the last one 😭 I have some things planned for the next part and so on but I also kinda wanna take requests again??? idk we all know how I get overwhelmed easily with that so we’ll see what happens there. anyway tell me your thoughts on this please!
Previous part
Waking up feels like gasping for air after being trapped underwater. You aren’t sure how long you were asleep, but the mid afternoon traffic quickly alerts you of how much of the day has passed. 
Despite your head feeling like it’s made of cement, you manage to stand up, slipping off thin pajamas as you walk into the bathroom and stop at the mirror. Your skin seems tender in places and you’re a little bit startled when there isn’t a single indication of the bite marks and scratches you feel, even after rubbing your eyes a few times and turning in every direction possible. Deciding to let it go for now, you reach for the shower stall to turn on the water, detouring to the bedroom instead when you hear your phone ringing.
“Hello?”
“You didn’t save my number, did you?”
“Wanda?” You pull the phone away long enough to quickly clear your throat. “I mean hey, Wanda! What makes you think I didn’t save your number?”
“You answered like you didn’t know who was going to be on the other end.”
“Okay, you caught me,” you admit after a moment of silence. “I promise I’ll save it as soon as we hang up. Anyway, what’s up?”
“Remember that pet adoption center you pointed out to me?” You acknowledge her with a hum. “I was thinking about getting a cat…Wanna tag along?”
“Absolutely! I was just about to shower though so I can be ready in an hour or so.”
“Perfect! I’ll text you when I’m outside.”
The two of you say your goodbyes and you keep your promise of saving her number, typing in her name and hesitating on the emoji keyboard. Realizing you’d spent far too much time contemplating this, you simply save what you have and hurry back to the bathroom, something in your brain urging you to not keep her waiting.
-
Within an hour, she sends you a text in all caps and a smiley face that tells you she’s arrived, and you can’t hide the fact that you’re surprised when you come outside and she’s waiting on the passenger side of the car.
“Hey! How are you?” she greets cheerily as she approaches you with a hug, and you shiver when her hand touches your lower back. “Are you cold?”
“No, I’m okay.” You smile and thank her when she opens the door for you, attempting to collect yourself as she crosses to the driver’s side again. “I’m really happy to see you again.”
“You are?”
“Yeah,” you admit quietly as she pulls away from the curb. “Is that such a bad thing?”
“No no, I just didn’t want to assume you were enjoying our time together as much as I was.”
She places her hand over yours while she glances at you, smiling as she squeezes your fingers and thigh lightly. You feel a rush of something traveling from the places she touched to your brain, only slightly aware of the fog settling in your mind.
“Well I didn’t want to be too enthusiastic about it and scare you away if all you wanted was friendship,” you clarify, meeting her eyes when she reaches a red light.
“I suppose you’re looking for more too, then.”
“I am now.”
The light turns green and she breaks eye contact, but the little smirk that follows tells you everything you need to know. At least, you hope it does.
-
“I think he’s the cutest one we’ve seen yet,” you comment about the kitten that hasn’t looked away from Wanda since you approached his area. “He seems really drawn to you, too.”
“How did he get the name ‘Baby Satan’?” Wanda inquires with an employee, who approaches you with a chuckle.
“It’s actually Baby Stan, because we used to have an adult cat named Stan as well and needed to tell the two apart. We were going to give him a new name but decided to leave that up to his new family.”
“It says ‘Baby Satan’ though,” you cosign with Wanda, gesturing to the extra A mixed in with the magnetic letters that spell the kitten’s name.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! I don’t know how that got there,” the employee apologizes as she reaches over to fix the sign, and you watch her freeze as Wanda touches her arm.
“Don’t be sorry. Keep it; I want to adopt him.”
“Okay, right this way,” the employee mumbles as she turns awkwardly and stumbles over to a desk, and as the two of you follow her, you look back to see Baby Satan still staring at the woman beside you.
“What was that about?” you speak up finally once you’re in the car with her new furry friend, and Wanda frowns at you while fastening her seatbelt.
“What?”
“Why did that employee react to you like that? You touched her and she started acting really weird after.”
“Oh, Kim’s fine!” she assures you as she fixes her mirror before pulling out of the parking lot. “I actually asked her about that while you were looking at scratching posts and she said I’d overstepped her boundaries and made her uncomfortable. Don’t worry, I apologized and everything’s good again.”
“She told you her name?”
“She was wearing a name tag, babe.”
Babe...that’s new. Still, the sudden nickname doesn’t completely distract you from the fact that you’re certain there was no name tag on Kim’s uniform. You’re debating with yourself about bringing this up when you notice her heading toward Lane County.
“Are you taking me to your house?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” She glances at you and over her shoulder toward Baby Satan before turning back to the road. “I figured I could introduce both of my kittens to the place they’ll be spending a lot of time in.”
Her fingers brush over your knee as “my kittens” leaves her lips, and you’re almost embarrassed when your hips involuntarily buck slightly. Noticing the small change in your behavior, she takes advantage of your head turned toward your own window and allows her instincts to continue driving while she stares at you, placing her palm on your thigh and rubbing circles on the fabric covering it that brings her closer and closer to your core.
“Home, sweet home,” Wanda announces as she pulls her wandering hand away to park the car, jumping out a second later and grabbing her furry son from the backseat. “Hey there, Baby S.”
You step out of the car in a similar fashion of pulling yourself out of a swimming pool, taking in the fresh air and trying to relax yourself as you follow her into the apartment building. The hallways reflect the quiet and clean neighborhood as you make your way into the elevator and up to the 6th floor, suddenly entering the most empty apartment you’ve ever seen.
Of course there’s furniture: a couch with a TV mounted on the nearest wall, a dining table with a set of matching chairs, a few stools placed at the island and kitchen appliances that are shiny and new. But there isn’t any personal artwork, posters, books or even just a lamp that you could tell Wanda purchased herself with one glance.
“Are you staying in an AirBNB or something?” you ask as she carefully places Baby Satan’s carrier next to the couch, and she chuckles.
“I guess technically it was one before I moved in, but I’ve been here for two years.”
“Okay...so where are your pictures?”
“What?”
“Where are your pictures?” you repeat, maintaining a steady voice despite the expression she gives you as she faces you again. “Pictures of your family, friends, you as a child?”
“If you knew my family, you’d understand why you don’t see them here.” She startles you by practically growling her words but you press further.
“Okay but you also said you love plants and we’re the only living things in here.” You step back to put more space between you while quiet shuffling noises are heard inside the carrier. “What’s really going on here?”
You can easily spot the shift in Wanda’s emotions: going from defensive, arms crossed and eyes glaring to resigned with slightly sagging shoulders and a defeated sigh.
“Fine, you got me.” She bends over to pick up the carrier again and passes you on her way to the door, stopping a few feet away. “If you’re serious about pursuing a relationship with me, then I should probably show you my real home.”
“I don’t know...”
“Come on, love.” She comes just close enough to bring your hand into hers and a tingle spreads through your body, causing you to pull away but her grip only tightens. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you, and this is the only time I’ve lied.”
You find yourself being drawn closer to her, and an almost familiar feeling washes over you when her thumb begins rubbing gentle circles into your jaw. The metal on her ring is so cold it almost burns upon contact, yet you nuzzle into her more with each pass along your skin.
“Don’t you want to be good for me without being forced to your knees first?”
If the fog surrounding your consciousness wasn’t so thick, you might’ve been shocked by this side of her, so calm yet demanding you serve her. But the hand on your jaw seemed to cover every inch of your body and sink into your nervous system, forcing you to fall into her and let her lead you back to the car with a simple arm around your waist. You’re buckled into the passenger seat again and a slightly blurry grin greets you from behind the wheel seconds later.
“I can’t wait to make you mine.”
Your head falls against the car window as she drives to the edge of Lane County, and your altered vision picks up on businesses turning into isolated suburbs into grassy fields into forests. You travel along narrow, winding roads past the tallest of trees with very few spaces in between, and your hazy state of mind prevents you from panicking when Wanda turns onto a dirt path that doesn’t even seem to be safe for bicycles. The wheels bump along the forest floor until she comes to a stop just outside of a two foot dwelling, similar to a cave.
Once the two of you are out of the car again, she holds your hand with her free one until you reach the cave, instructing you to sit in front of it while she does the same. She places her palm on the door, and her rings seem to come alive as they interact with it for a few moments before it swings open and the three of you are sent flying through a tunnel. You land with a groan on the hard floor and dust yourself off as you carefully stand, any questions dying in your throat as you face Wanda again, now standing before you in her true form.
“Welcome home.”
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zorlok-if · 2 years
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🌌 for everyone!
From this ask list.
🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?
This one's actually really interesting because, as I mentioned before (but a while ago), Zorlok is a character I played in a Monster of the Week campaign and this story/cast is inspired by that game. So, many of the characters did not start off as my OCs. Some are new and some are adopted (though I've changed them considerably). It's been an interesting process divorcing these characters from who they were before and reinventing them in my storytelling style.
Tommy: When I thought of the idea for Zorlok, Tommy came about simultaneously. Originally, his name was Timmy (so, the bottom left bit in this art by @mansymdraws nearly made me do a spit take the first time I saw it). The idea for Tommy came from me asking myself who a demon would least like to be stuck in a Faustian pact with and boom, Tommy was born. I think he's also inspired by TV/movie high schoolers like the kids in Stranger Things, It Chapter 1, etc.
Dev: Dev was one of the other two PCs in the original campaign. The main idea behind Dev has stayed pretty similar (a former criminal trying - not so successfully at times - to redeem xemself with an ex-friend detective nipping at xyr heels) but I've made a lot of changes to xyr backstory that were likely inspired by Dorian Gray, Fig Faeth, Arsene Lupin, Peter Pan, Jay Gatsby, etc. I also took a small element of the original character's story and altered it to work better within the context of this story (hint: the original Dev—who wasn't named Dev—didn't wear an eye patch). I also knew that the gender selectable Dev I was creating would use neopronouns when nonbinary and that xe would play with/ignore gender norms no matter xyr gender identity.
EJ: The other PC, EJ is probably the character I've made the fewest changes to. I think that I've turned down some of the original goofiness of EJ, who was a bumbling ball of anxiety before, and made them a somewhat more optimistic bookworm (though they are still in many ways a bumbling ball of anxiety). In the original campaign, EJ's player and I loved to play off the Odd Couple-esque dynamic between the two who were forced to constantly be around each other even though they didn't always get along. That's something I've kept. They also have a non-traditional relationship with gender (but, in all honesty, you can probably just copy and paste that into the description of every character I write).
Adam/Eve: One of the original NPCs, A/E—who was originally just Adam, a cis man—arose from a character choice associated with Dev's character, specifically this one:
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Randomly, our GM (or Keeper in this system) named the detective Adam and I enjoyed playing off that since I was playing a demon. When I took over the character I wanted to continue playing with the Adam thing, but I wanted them to be a trans person who had adopted the name as a way to eschew their former faith and project the idea of them remaking themself and their body in their own image. They're also inspired by classic film noir detectives, Riz Gukgak from Dimension 20, and the idea of Sherlock/Ganimard (or someone who thinks they're Sherlock/Ganimard).
Lucía: Originally Anna, Lucía was just a member of a rival group we were pitted against. She was completely different in terms of personality, appearance, skillset, etc. Really, Lucía's pretty much an original character who occupies Anna's former spot. (She's also tied to ROs from a different IF that I've worked on which is set in the same universe). Lucía's also inspired by the women from Arcane, particularly Vi and Caitlyn. Her name is also inspired by Lucifer (as many of the characters' names are inspired by religious themes and/or are deeply symbolic) though she's only like him in that they've both fallen from a position of grace having sided with the enemy and... you know what, yeah, Lucí's actually got a few parallels to ole Luci.
Ciel: Ciel is the hybrid of an original NPC, Ethan—who was a hunter on the rival team with Anna—and the version of Zorlok that I played. (And yeah, the name wasn't intended to be so but might in some ways be a reference to Black Butler). Ciel's big thing is that they pride themself on being a mystery, so, I won't say anything else here. 😈
The Celestial: A completely original character. I can't say too much without getting into spoilers, but the Celestial emerged from my desire to have a character who knew Zorlok's past but couldn't share it with them. Who could provide some insight into infernals and celestials, but you also can never be sure if it's reliable info or not. I've suggested before that eir relationship with Z is similar to Aziraphale and Crowley's from Good Omens, and I think that's a really good comparison (but even though ey's meant to be a fallen angel figure, the Celestial's closest to Crowley in all honestly). Ey's mostly inspired by classic roguish tricksters like Loki, Anansi, etc. but also fall into the classic fallen angel archetype.
Danny: Danny was a character from the original game, though I can't tell you why they came about. I'd also just like to say that I didn't name Danny and they've always been a ghost, but, yeah they're perhaps a bit inspired by Danny Fenton (and I don't know if that was my GM's original plan but I like to think it was). I think I've drawn aspects of them from many different places, including Rick Blaine, Samwise Gamgee, Jorah Mormont, Indiana Jones, Victor Frankenstein, Edward Elric, etc.
Rose: Rose is one of the characters who's based on an NPC from the campaign, though he was originally named Chris Jeffries. Rose serves as a domestic, "normal" contrast to the fantastical absurdity of the rest of this story. I also knew I wanted an older RO who was a parent and Rose was perfect for that. Character-wise, I know that my GM based him on Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation and while I've tried to keep a bit of that spirit, Rose is a lot more complex now. He'd also fit into the game Dream Daddy while the rest of the cast is more Monster Prom.
Okay, I think I answered all these questions 😅 Let me know if I missed something or if you have any questions about this stuff!
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syn0vial · 3 years
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The Official Star Wars Fact File: Zam Wesell
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(Unofficial translation by me, syn0vial. Please forgive me for any mistakes, I've studied Spanish for some years but it's definitely not my first language!)
Zam Wesell was an exceptional figure that belonged to an equally exceptional species, the Clawdites. The bounty hunter was an unorthodox and extraordinary being who left a mark with her short life and career.
The Clawdites have always been oppressed and never been trusted. It is something that is accepted as natural in life. Their society arose due to a gene therapy that cured a sickness, but also created a new species, condemned to be exiled from the principle habitable zone of the planet Zolan. All Clawdites can change the color of their skin, but only a few are capable of altering the texture of it, and there are even fewer that can change its shape. Only a small number—very capable beings, dedicated and with great self-control—could take the form of another being for an indefinite period of time.
Shape-shifting results in great pain and discomfort for a Clawdite; they must use oils and ointments to stop their skin from becoming horribly cracked. Yet, in contrast to even the best of her species, Zam Wesell could not only change form with relative speed, but could maintain it while resting.
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Combat Training
In Zolan society, those that deviated from the rigid secular norms were persecuted. Clawdite society was less restrictive, but even they showed apprehension about some of Zam Wesell's activities.
In the semi-anarchic society on the Clawdite-dominated continent of Sultur, where Zam was born and raised, the clans were governed by warriors known for their boastfulness. In general, the strongest prevailed, but even the boastful owed loyalty to their clan. Among them all, the best warriors of Zolan were the Mabari knights. They were part of a religious order that would not admit sinners among their novices. The religion of Zolan preached that the untruthful were the worst sinners of all. Despite this, Zam, when she was with them, successfully hid her true nature long enough to reach the third level of mastery in the Mabari martial arts, before being forced to flee Zolan.
Zam relocated to the corporate planet of Denon, where skills like hers were in great demand. The corporate security organizations always needed new employees and with Zam's shape-shifting ability, it didn't take much for her to ascend to the rank of sergeant. Nevertheless, this was only the beginning of her career. She calculated each step with utmost care; in this way, she quickly rose to become a very well-paid corporate bodyguard.
She was a self-proclaimed "progressive" and never forgot her planet and her people. She always sent huge sums of credits to Zolan, to radical Clawdite groups dedicated to the emancipation of their species; it is unknown whether she was truly invested in the situation of her species or if she only wished to provoke unrest.
Outlawed: Zam Wesell's journey before she became a bounty hunter was a winding one. She was denounced on her home-planet, Zolan, for being Clawdite and even more so, for her ability to shape-shift. After learning martial arts in a religious sect of warriors called Mabari, she abandoned her planet.
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Clawdite Assassin
Since leaving Zolan for Denon, Zam Wesell had accepted work that provided huge profits and little excitement. Not much happened before she left her job as a bodyguard and sought a change of scenery.
Her experience in the risky world of industrial espionage on Denon had perfected Zam's deadly skills, while also allowing her to develop a web of contacts, financing, and gear to start her career in earnest. Finally, she could establish herself as a bounty hunter. She had adopted as her identity the appearance of a short, attractive female human, as a means of securing more work and hiding her true Clawdite face. With practice, although not without pain, she managed to maintain this appearance even while sleeping. She also adopted a uniform, a purple jumpsuit that could adapt to both her human and Clawdite forms, and that helped protect her skin.
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Above the jumpsuit, she wore a flexible armored doublet and a protective skirt. The skirt's connected segments concealed an impact-absorbing system that offered protection against attacks from behind. Her helmet had its own light and incorporated a commlink under the veil that hid her face. In the heat of combat, her true Clawdite face could emerge, which the veil helped hide. Zam's belt had a series of compartments and essential devices for her profession, including the holster for her KYD-21 blaster. In front of her doublet, she carried a small respiratory device. These tubes inserted into Zam's body and allowed the device to function through her lungs if it was required by the atmosphere. The uniform came complete with a certain number of Mabari objects, among them an ancient cape clasp, an emblem on her helmet, and combat gloves. All these objects were ingraved with inscriptions from sacred Mabari texts.
We're bounty hunters, Zam, not heroes: The partnership of Zam and Jango Fett began long ago, long before she was contracted to kill Padme Amidala. The two bounty hunters respected each other. Zam had the honor of knowing the son of Jango, Boba Fett.
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Elite Assassin
It was fated that the paths of Zam Wesell and Jango Fett would meet, but it would prove a very dangerous crossing.
Zam Wesell was considered one of the best bounty hunters of her generation, and she believed it. So it was logical that she would come to be known by Jango Fett, considered the number one in their profession.
One of their first encounters [Syn's notes: preceded five years by their true first encounter in the game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter] took place after Antonin Vigo, of the Black Sun, contracted Zam to kill Dreddon the Hutt. She took the form of a red-headed slave and successfully carried out the mission. Just as she was about to take her leave, Jango Fett appeared. Zam discovered that she was not going to be paid, nor was Jango, who had taken out Antonin at the behest of Dreddon.
Zam and Jango both knew of each other's reputations. The mutual respect that they had and their simiar ethics led them to allow one another to go on their way. However, the two would meet again shortly afterwards when a dug named Fernooda contracted Zam.
We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This: Zam and Jango were contracted to recover an ancient artifact. She let him do all the hard work; then ambushed him and made off with the idol.
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Jango, you're always complaining about my shapeshifting: The mutant power of a Clawdite was very useful in her work and elongating her arm to grab hold of the idol that both she and Jango Fett were searching for. [Syn's notes: The presentation of this information is a little misleading. Zam catching the idol like this occurred well after this job for Fernooda, when both Zam and Jango were working together to keep Fernooda's boss from using it in a terrorist attack.]
I know that there's a man under that mask: Zam managed to get closer than anybody to the mysterious Jango Fett, with the exception of his son Boba. Even so, she knew that a relationship between them would affect her work, and thus decided not to push it further.
It was an awkward situation, since Fernooda had assigned the job to Jango, but had decided to ensure its success by also contracting the Clawdite. The aforementioned mission involved recovering an idol that had been in the possession of Fernooda's boss. Zam, who knew that Jango had also been contracted, let her rival do the dirty work before springing an ambush. This time, she insisted on seeing the face of the man under the mask. She was so transfixed on him, that she didn't realize there was an enormous insect, the guardian of the idol, about to attack her.
Without knowing why, Jango came to Zam's rescue and, recognizing that she was in his debt, she allowed him to leave with Fernooda's idol. Thus began the strange and exceptional relationship, even friendship, between Jango Fett and Zam Wesell. [Syn's notes: As mentioned earlier, their association truly began with the events of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, but perhaps this is the point things got a little more personal between them.]
Partners: Without a doubt, Zam and Jango worked well as partners. The question was whether they were willing to let their affection become more important than their work.
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Mutual Empathy
Although it was nearly inevitable that Zam Wesell and Jango Fett should encounter one another again, the first reunion that occurred between the two bounty hunters did not go as either had expected.
At first glance, the mission seemed simple. It involved an assignment that Vigo Antonin, of Black Sun, had given to Zam Wesell, and the contracts from this organization were always lucrative. Certainly, the jobs offered to bounty hunters of Zam Wesell's level were never easy.
The target was Dreddon the Hutt. It was never a good idea to threaten Black Sun business and Vigo Antonin wanted to make an example of him. Zam used all the resources at her disposal to investigate and infiltrate Dreddon's organization. Her Clawdite powers allowed her to adopt the form of a human dancer that appealed to the Hutt. She needed all her concentration to maintain this form during a prolonged period, but Zam was very good at what she did. The disguise completely fooled Dreddon. Hutts are very difficult to kill.
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Poisons and blasters could not guarantee that Dreddon wouldn't have time to call for his guards, so, to end his life, Zam restrained herself to placing a microbomb hidden in one of Dreddon's amphibian snacks when he was about to enjoy a private performance from his favorite dancer. The result was somewhat chaotic, but decisive.
A Private Affair
Just when she was about to leave, Zam heard someone approach. She grabbed her blaster and hid, waiting to see who could be intruding on her mission. She was almost happy to see Jango Fett, the most infamous bounty hunter in the galaxy, next to the corpse of his client.
Zam had successfully completed her mission and would soon receive a rich reward for her troubles. What's more, she could make fun of Jango Fett for the murder of his client. She had him at her mercy, pointing at him with her blaster, knowing who he was and what he was capable of.
Unfortunately, Zam's good humor soon went up in smoke. Jango had returned from completing a contract for Dreddon: killing Vigo Antonin! Thus, neither Zam nor Jango would be paid. Fett took the first opportunity to draw his blaster and with that both bounty hunters were in the same bind.
Zam was the first to lower her blaster, with her trademark style. With a twirl and a grin, she pointed out that the problem was that neither of them wanted to make the first move. She then flounced off, leaving Jango alone with his thoughts.
It's a weird rock: The artifact that Fett and Wesell had to recover was an idol that, as they would discover, bestowed mysterious powers upon its owner. [Syn's notes: ...If "mysterious powers" means "ownership of extremely explosive chunk of rock," then yes, that is correct.]
A New Contract
However, Zam needed work. The matter with Dreddon had left her without anything to show for it. A dug named Fernooda offered a contract shortly after she returned to her base of operations, but he warned her that he had already contracted another bounty hunter for the job in question: Jango Fett.
Zam readily accepted the job, since it seemed simple. Recovering a little statue from the natives of the jungle planet Seylott that had been stolen from Fernooda's boss. She had already decided to let Jango do the dirty work and ambush him at the temple's exit.
Jango's Revenge
It seemed that this time, Zam Wesell had won. She even managed to get Jango to remove his Mandalorian helmet. The scarred face she saw was handsome, if a bit gloomy. Then, a huge carnivorous insect attacked Zam from behind. The other bounty hunter ignored Zam's cries for help, taking the statue and running.
My client offered 50,000 Republic credits: The paths of Wesell and Fett crossed once again when the dug Fernooda contracted them to recover an object that the natives of Seylott had stolen from his boss. Immediately, the instinctive sense of rivalry returned between the two bounty hunters.
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Heroes of Coruscant
Zam thought that she was doomed, Jango Fett had taken off, leaving her to be devoured by the enormous monster on Seylott.
While fighting to escape, Zam was surprised to see Jango return. He told her to take out all the explosives that she had on her and prepare to detonate them. Zam didn't have much option but to trust him, although she wasn't sure that he wouldn't get both of them killed. Fortunately, Fett's jetpack got them out of trouble. Zam picked up Jango's helmet from amidst the smoke and the dust left from the creature's destruction, gave it to him, and allowed him to take Fernooda's idol; afterwards, she turned and left, smiling as she told Jango to take care until next time. There would be a next time, Zam assured her rival, although this didn't seem to bother Fett.
However, Wesell wasn't satisfied. She had heard rumors here and there, and soon learned the truth about her mission on Seylott. The idol had been under the power of the Force-sensitive natives. The Annoo-Dat general Ashaar Khorda wanted the idol to use as a weapon capable of generating explosions that could destroy an entire planet. Even worse, Khorda's target was Coruscant.
Zam traveled quickly to Kamino, where she met with Jango and, to her surprise, with his young son Boba. She believed that Boba's mother had been killed and Jango said nothing to the contrary. Instead, he listened impatiently to Zam's story about the idol. Zam ended by saying that, since she and Jango had found the weapon, they owed it to the people of Coruscant to stop Khorda's plan.
Under the Mask: Zam Wesell was one of the few people who could elicit affection from the harsh and implacable Jango Fett
A Matter of Conscience
Jango wasn't interested, since he wouldn't be paid for the work and his son needed him on Kamino, but Zam convinced him that there were countless children that needed him on Coruscant. Jango Fett, an orphan rescued by strangers, softened his position and finally accepted his first time working together with Zam Wesell. [Syn's notes: Again, second time since Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.]
Zam had seen Khorda's right-hand man, the dug Fernooda. Thus, she took on his appearance in order to discover Khorda's and his lackeys' plans. They found out that Fernooda planned to place the idol in one of the planet's central reactors, where the explosion would cause a chain reaction that would destroy the planet completely.
Jango and Zam, along with a solitary Jedi, found the mad killer, after following the clues that he and his gang had left. Together, the three proceeded to defeat the gang and recover the idol. The Jedi could absorb the Force of the idol and leave it without power once more; although at the cost of his life.
Safe Return: Zam Wesell worked together with Jango Fett to seize a powerful Force artifact and return it to its owners. She managed to convince Jango to accept the mission.
Zam and Jango took the idol back to Seylott, earning them the gratitude of the natives. They were requested not to return ever again, something that the bounty hunters had no intention of doing. Upon returning to Kamino, Zam was not fooled by Jango's complaints of not being paid, since she knew that, deep down, he knew that returning the idol had been the right thing to do. It was the same impulse that had saved her on Seylott. She said goodbye to Jango with a kiss on his scarred cheek, so he wouldn't feel it had all been for nothing. It seemed that Zam had won again.
Altruistic Mission: Zam's desire to prevent the deaths of millions of people in a terrorist attack shows that she had a certain sense of conscience.
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The Final Mission
Jango Fett made an atypical decision: subcontract Zam for the most dangerous assignment.
Jango wanted to spend more time with his son Boba. The boy's education was very important to him. However, the most famous bounty hunter in the galaxy had many offers of work. He accepted most of them and the rest he passed on to Zam Wesell. She worked alone most of the time, although they worked together occasionally, to the benefit of both of them.
Assassination Contract
A man that Jango knew as Tyranus, the same that had given him work with the Kaminoans, requested that he accept a special mission. It involved the killing of a high-order politician who had interfered in Tyranus's business. The pay was very good and Jango was happy to be able to pass it on to Zam Wesell. It seemed like a simple job.
The target was a senator dedicated to public life, something that would make her an easy target for an intelligent assassin. However, the target was also a queen of Naboo, friend of the Jedi and a central figure to the supreme Chancellor of the Republic.
Direct Hit: Ostensibly, Zam Wesell had killed the senator Padme Amidala with a bomb on her ship, but the victim ended up being a decoy, making it necessary to take another approach.
Reckless Driving: Zam realized that she was being pursued by Jedi. Her skill at the wheel of a speeder allowed her to traverse the busiest districts of Coruscant, but her pursuers wouldn't give up the chase.
To Kill a Senator
Zam chose the occasion carefully.The target was to return to Coruscant for a crucial vote, and her landing would be predictable enough. Zam used her capacity for shapeshifting to discover the time and place of Senator Padme Amidala's return.
With her usual cunning, Zam managed to place a bomb on the target's landing platform and then left to observe from the heights of a building a kilometer away. From there, she waited for the moment of truth. Amidala's silvery ship landed, flanked by fighters. The senator came down from the ramp and the moment her foot stepped onto the platform, Wesell detonated the explosive. There were few survivors and the news was full of stories and images of Zam's success.
Double Action
Zam Wesell believed she had completed the mission, but her satisfaction was short-lived. Amidala was apparently alive in the rotunda of the Senate at the end of the day, a very irritating outcome. The woman killed on the landing platform was a double. Fett was angry, along with his client. There could be no more mistakes.
Fett spoke with Zam and gave her a glass tube with two kouhuns inside. He cautioned her that they were extremely venomous, since she wasn't an amateur.
The bounty hunters counted on an ASN-121 droid, programmed with the location of Amidala's quarters, to deposit the deadly cargo. Then, Zam sat and waited for the return of the robot.
It was emiting an alert signal. Zam saw through her scope a Jedi holding onto the droid. Not even the droid's destruction could shake the Jedi, and soon she was being pursued through all of Coruscant, with her skills as a pilot put to the test.
Just when she thought she had lost them, one of the Jedi jumped onto her speeder. In the subsequent skirmish, her vehicle was damaged and she was forced to land. She sought refuge in a bar with the Jedi close behind.
Death of a Hunter
Seeing one of the Jedi at the bar, Zam approached as close as she dared, knowing that he could deflect a blaster bolt if warned in time. Unfortunately, the Jedi was much more astute, igniting his lightsaber with a twirl and severing Zam's hand that held her blaster. The pair of Jedi dragged Wesell's wounded body into an alley to interrogate her.
Ground Chase: Zam, without her speeder which had been damaged, had to flee on foot. She got into a bar, where she intended to ambush her pursuers, but Obi-Wan Kenobi attacked her with his lightsaber before she could fire; Wesell was badly injured.
One of them, the younger one, pressed Zam to reveal the name of her client. At first, she resisted, but then, after the Jedi spoke again, began to tell her captors what she knew.
The poison dart that Jango shot ended Zam's life before she could speak a word. She died quickly from the venom's deadly effects; she didn't suffer. This was the last thing that Fett could do for a friend.
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epona610 · 3 years
Text
A Comparison of OUAT Redemption Stories
So I was DMing with someone about a different show entirely, and I brought up OUAT because I loved/hated this show so much and it’s largely based on redemption stories. I was going to briefly explain why I find Hook’s arc so compelling (though not without its flaws, of course) and Regina’s so lacking, but it turns out that I still cannot write briefly about this subject. So I’m posting this here because this is what my blog was originally about, and I find I still feel very much the same way even after a few years have passed. I want to preface this by saying I haven’t rewatched the show since it went off the air, and I certainly could’ve forgotten some things. And I’m obviously biased in that I loathe the character of Regina so much, although here I’m trying to explain exactly why I can’t stand her.
Hook and Regina were both motivated by revenge for the deaths of their first loves. Rumple murdered his ex-wife and Hook’s current lover/partner/co-captain, Milah, so Hook set out to kill Rumple himself, the Dark One, who is one of (if not the) most powerful beings in their world. Hook caused a lot of harm to innocent people as collateral damage, but eventually he gave up on the idea of revenge and basically peacefully coexisted with the guy who had murdered his first love and chopped off his hand. Regina’s mother was the one to kill her first love, but did she go after her? No, she went after the ten-year-old child (Snow) whom her mother had manipulated into telling about her first love (by playing on Snow’s feelings for her dead mother, whom Regina’s mother had murdered). Regina was going after an innocent person from the beginning because she was afraid of her mother. 
Then there’s the scale of the harm done. Regina: literally slaughtered at least two whole villages, sent countless children to be literally eaten by a cannibal, cursed an entire population by permanently altering their minds, has murdered so many people and taken so many hearts she lost track of whose was whose, illegally adopted a child whom she knowingly raised in a town where no one else grew or aged and then gaslit him when he caught on, murdered her father in order to cast the curse. Hook: was a pirate so he has killed people (we learn that his rings come from murder victims, whose names and circumstances he remembers) killed his own father (who had sold him into child slavery) thereby orphaning his little brother, killed David’s father, backhanded Belle across the face once, shot her so she’d cross the town line and lose her memories, sort of turned Baelfire over to Peter Pan (but only after Bae refused to let Hook hide him so I never got why he felt guilty over that honestly). No indiscriminate mass murder that we know of. 
And of course there’s the remorse or utter lack thereof. Regina is constantly defending her actions. I’ll use her own words to illustrate. She at one point says to Snow: “To be fair, I was threatening you. Everyone else just became collateral damage.” And then later we get this infuriating exchange:
Regina: Need I remind you I dedicated years to knocking you down? But nothing could stop you. 
Snow: You took my kingdom, cast your curse, I lost my daughter for 28 years.
Regina: And then you found her. 
Clearly no remorse or recognition for the fact that she stole Emma’s entire childhood from her and her parents. And the classic, said as she was escaping a tree that attacks people’s regret: “I did cast a curse that devastated an entire population. I have tortured and murdered. I’ve done some terrible things. I should be overflowing with regret, but I’m not.” 
I feel that I should add that she ends that last statement with “because it got me my son”. And that sounds lovely, but that means that she doesn’t regret the harm she’s done since getting him (continuing to enslave and sexually abuse her victims, murdering Graham, attempting to murder the entire town so Henry would have nobody else to love) or even more notably, the harm she’s done to Henry (raising him in a psychologically unhealthy environment, cursing him in an attempt to curse his mother, gaslighting him, attempting to murder his entire family, altering his memories, etc.) Regina says time and again that she “gave up on revenge” against Snow, but as far as I can tell, she only decided she was satisfied because she’d succeeded in irreparably harming Snow. She took away her chance to raise her daughter, who ended up being raised in an abusive foster system and felt obligated to give up her own child. 
And then I compare that to Hook’s apologizing and making things right with people he’s hurt, like Ursula, his younger brother Liam, and David. And then he and Belle become close friends and eventually they have this conversation:
Belle: I’m sorry, I can’t stay here. If Rumple finds you harboring me...
Hook: His wrath will be an added bonus.
Belle: I don’t understand. Why would you risk your life for me?
Hook: Long ago, I... I tried to kill you in the queen’s castle once. I failed. But along the way, I did something I can live with no longer. I laid a hand on you. And there’s the matter of my shooting you at the town line.
Belle: Yeah, well. You’ve changed since all that.  
Hook: Maybe. I have a long road to travel before I can be someone I can be proud of. Despite the forgiveness of others, I must forgive myself, and I’m not there yet.
So yeah, that’s a summary of why I find Hook’s redemption arc to be (somewhat) believable and satisfying and Regina’s to be... basically nonexistent. The show tells us she’s a hero and a good person now, but she never apologizes or shows remorse. She makes it abundantly clear that she’s doing good only in the hopes of getting happiness for herself, which she absolutely feels entitled to even though she’s taken it from so many others (the amount of times she complained about not getting what she wants despite occasionally doing the right thing is incredible). She still even has a bunch of hearts whose owners she apparently forgot! There’s no indication that guilt weighs on her at all, or that she even feels any guilt. I can’t buy a “redemption” from someone who never shows remorse or accepts responsibility.
Note: these quotations weren’t taken from memory, nor did I go back and watch the episodes. They came from the OUAT transcripts found here.
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mayalutara · 3 years
Text
Trans!Evil Xisuma AU called “Is This Home?” Inspired by the song “(This Is) Home” by Cavetown:
Xanthus (EX) is one of two children living in the Void family. Xisuma, his younger brother by a little bit, supports him when he comes out as ftm transgender. But Xisuma, the adorable derp he is, stays in his parents’ good graces when their homophobic parents get really mad at Xanthus for being trans. They do let him stay, but they make a deal: if he would like to identify as trans, he has to move out. But if he stays quiet about it, he is allowed to stay.
Fed up with his family, Xanthus leaves. He makes his way to the Mainworld, getting lost in the fray. The first thing he does is go get his hair cut and dyed, and buy a binder.
Life gets tough from there. He keeps trying to get a job, but many hirers turn him away due to him ✨being trans✨
Just as he’s about to give up, enter a mysterious figure by the name of Helsknight. Hels—who’s real name is Emmanuel—invites Xanthus to stay with him, and he’s even help get him a job. The two become tentative friends, until one day when Xanthus finds Hels’ closet.
There are a lot of girly clothes.
Pretending he never saw it, he has dinner that night with Hels and he notices Xanthus doesn’t seem like normal. The two talk way less than normal until Hels decides to ask. Xan mentions the closet, and Hels says he’s bi and likes to cross dress. Xanthus sits in a stunned silence, Hels laughing.
Hels suggests that after dinner they go play around and cross dress with each other. Xan agrees, and they do. Then he remembers he’s trans and reminds Hels.
Hels basically goes “what matters what’s underneath? You’re a guy, and that’s all that matters.”
Xanthus doesn’t have the words to describe his emotions, so he hugs Hels with no warning. The two are startled, and Hels asks if he can kiss Xan. Xan consents.
Epilogue:
A handful of years later, Xan and Hels get married, and they adopt NPG, who was put in the closet, both literally and figuratively, by Grian. Yay, happy ending.
Little things:
Xanthus is 16
Xisuma is 15
The Void’s are human but live in the End, hence the comfort of the helmet in the future
Xanthus had been binding unsafely due to the fact that he didn’t have anything to bind with properly, but the dysphoria was too much so he had to do something
NPG uses it/its because yes
A side note: The characters of Xanthus and Helsknight are inspired by two of the fictives in the system I’m host of. Both have consented to being portrayed in this way (alter Xanthus even helped me develop this AU (he is also ftm). Thank you buddy <3).
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aaronhotchstuff · 2 years
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Tell me bout Harvey, Clint, and Audrey
(thank you so much for sending this in!! tagging @luucypevensie since she also wanted to know more about them <3)
tw: mentions of kidnapping and experimentation
but i’m sorry this is super duper late!! i tried to keep it short (though this is absolutely anything but) ‘cause there’s really a lot to unpack since harvey connects with several of my other ocs. i’ve also only started to outline recently so these are subject to change;
first of all, laura & their kids don’t exist in my universe. i want to include barney (clint’s older brother from the comics) but i’m not certain how to rope him in yet (i do have a couple ideas tho lol)
clint and harvey first meet around mid to late 1990s and at this time, clint’s not an agent yet (i’m still debating whether to use the circus storyline from the comics or not) and harvey is a prosecutor
some time in their relationship harvey gets pregnant with audrey
but at some point before that or before they met, harvey’s twin hailey (a natasha romanoff oc, portrayed by caity lotz) got killed (and yes she’s not even dead dead LMAO) and when nothing still gets done by the books, she decides to “prosecute” criminals her own way with the help of her friend(s?) i’ve yet to name
people called her vigilante alter ego banshee and definitely made an impact so she came up on several ✨radars✨
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naked eye, a spy organization that i created, got to harvey before SHIELD
they kidnapped her, developed a project based on her then erased her memories (as well as clint’s) via their other “subject” abigail jones; formerly alexis jones before experimenting on her to create a superpowered person and use her to their advantage
kinda unrelated but there are several women put into this project, two of which are coraline thompson (a sam wilson oc, portrayed by juliana harkavy) and bianca winslow (not sure what show/s or movie/s to put her in but she’s portrayed by jurnee smollett)
though i’m really on the fence about clint also being mind wiped ‘cause they’re gonna reunite and the angst of that,,,
but also her being the reason he accepts fury’s offer to join SHIELD?? hell yes
anyways, she gives birth to audrey on christmas day of 2000 while within naked eye’s facilities and they just dropped her off to the system
audrey always felt like an outcast and felt horrible in every foster home she gets in and kept running away; doing everything she could to make it through the day so pickpocketing, shoplifting, etc. and she was only like 8 when she started all of that
eventually, she attempts to steal from a businesswoman named blythe radcliffe (an eventual quentin beck oc, played by danneel ackles), who basically ended up adopting her after offering her dinner
the outcast feeling obviously doesn’t just go away but daphne (a karolina dean oc, played by madelaine petsch), blythe’s daughter, tried to help her through & they eventually become super close (also audrey is only a year older than her)
they lived in new york and audrey made friends with one kate bishop <3 but when the incident happened they moved to los angeles (or whatever city marvel’s runaways was set in, i forgot lol)
some time between 7th and 8th grade, she dyes her hair red just to match with daphne and blythe
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she’s lesbian but already felt insecure enough so she dates either chase stein or another oc of mine just to prove to herself that she isn’t
daphne is also a lesbian and is out so although she inspires audrey a lot, she just really does not want to accept it (even more so when clint and harvey found her bc she’s scared they won’t accept her and like, leave her again)
onto the part that’s very much still in the works; harvey and clint reunite in catws but it doesn’t necessarily follow steve, nat and the rest of the movie (it’d be like what happened in the background while they were taking down all the big guys)
so like clint wasn’t with them because he was handling the love of his life <3
as you can tell it’s very vague lmao i’m still going back and forth between the storylines i have in mind
anyway anyway after all that gets sorted out and harvey is back to her right mind, she remembers about her daughter and she immediately started looking for her
clint was very surprised by this (either ‘cause he didn’t know since she didn’t get the chance to tell him before she was kidnapped or because his mind was erased,, though while writing all of this i’m really leaning toward the former) but helps her with the search of course
when they finally found audrey (some time after january 2014, maybe april or may or june, and audrey is 13), it was both thrilling and scary for the both of them since harvey already has guilt all over her & convinced herself that her daughter had to go through what she did because of her and clint just literally does not know how to parent a child lol
they have a bit of a rocky start what with audrey being a bit cynical and defensive but eventually, the fact that all of her thoughts about her family just abandoning her getting debunked is very emotional for her and she just loves being with them so much
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harvey giving her the love of a mother that although she got to experience with blythe was quite different coming from her real mother <3
with clint it’s like they are both teenagers and everything just goes out the window whenever they’re together and harvey isn’t around AGSHGAGAHA
EVEN MORE SO WITH NAT???
but ofc nat is definitely waaaay more composed than clint and her and audrey make fun of him a lot FAHSGSAGS
clint immediately appointed nat as her godmother, no buts or questions asked — not that she had any, she loves her little red like she’s her own <3
AND AUDREY LOVES HER AUNTIE NAT
probably spends more time with her than with clint whenever she’s visiting him (or her mom) at work LMAO
anyway the rest of the avengers just love her, they think she’s adorable (which she hates) and see a lot of her parents in her
so with having more support system (and role models) than she expected audrey’s probably more inclined and comfortable to come out to them
however the rocky start kinda goes on with clint and audrey since sometimes he’s not really there there, sometimes it seems like he’d rather be out on a mission than braiding her daughter’s hair and that does not pass by audrey
she knows that very well and it hurt a lot
but she’s not one to spill her feelings so she just kinda let it be, and this becomes a very important part in her fic, bullseye!
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so they wanted to live in missouri where clint’s farm/safehouse is (i hc that every agent has a resignated safehouse for their fam or loved ones if needed <3) but audrey wanted to go back to new york
because despite all the hardship she went through there, it’s still her home and she never really liked LA, she just didn’t want to complain
so to honor audrey’s wishes although definitely against her parents’ better judgment, they move to NY once her 8th grade school year ends (this is still 2014)
some time in the summer harvey and clint will elope, so audrey’s last name will be legally changed to barton ‘cause despite the probable danger what with them being avengers, they really wanted to have something normal for once and that’s to have the same family name
they enroll audrey in midtown high for her freshman year and at some time she’ll probably date karlee kingsley (my peter parker oc, portrayed by china anne mcclain) or someone else in the spider gang but this isn’t really a fixed event rn
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now when aou happens, what with both harvey and clint almost dying (side note: pietro doesn’t die in aou in my universe), which scared the living shit out of audrey, they decide it’s best for them to retire and spend more time with her
but then civil war happens and both steve and tony roped them into the accords; tony reaching out to harvey knowing that she’ll be on his side, and she was
this is because she has done a lot of bad during her time with naked eye (which she remembers vividly) and joining the avengers was kind of her way of making up for that and tried to help more people than she hurt, but even then, obviously, people still got hurt; and so she thinks that signing the accords and have someone look after the team or keep them in check will help lessen the casualties, the loss that they caused
then steve to clint, as you know
however harvey refuses to fight her former team unlike her husband which kind of put a strain in their relationship
once clint is broken out by steve, he’s in house arrest like scott, but at this point they’ve already moved to missouri — as per audrey’s wishes since she knew that her dad is a fugitive and would be safer there
aaand i’ll end it here because infinity war and the events after will be tackled in audrey’s fic, but if you want me to talk about that as well just send an ask!! <3
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jaxsteamblog · 3 years
Text
Her Royal Majesty Our Queen
Click here to read the entire fic on AO3
During the two day trip to the Foggy Swamp, Katara had to disconnect from her role as Thuy’s Master and step back into her work as Queen. This visit had nothing to do with the Avatar as she needed to meet with the Matriarch of the Swamp Tribe, and Thuy was simply going home. Toph, as her current instructor, was always going to come along but was herself interested in seeing the swamp. 
For someone who invented metalbending, Toph was certainly very interested in mud. 
The layover was, amusingly, in Haru’s hometown. With their arrival publicly announced, Haru’s parents sent a short letter to her hotel room, but there wasn’t any attempt to meet. Katara was only there for the night, and Haru was happily married in Republic City. 
Still, it was nice to be thought of.
On the flight the next day, Thuy became more animated and even Mister Whiskers was showing more signs of life. The amphibious creature clearly missed her damp home. 
“Did you hear that, Sugar Queen?” Toph asked loudly, making Katara turn from her laptop. “Thuy says they eat bugs.”
Katara blinked and shut her laptop slowly.
“And?” She asked.
“Doesn’t that weird you out?” Toph questioned.
“No?” Katara put a hand on top of her computer. “Some of us didn’t live in a manor for the entirety of the war.” 
“Are you saying I’m soft?” Toph demanded, not sounding angry but leaning over the arm of her seat menacingly.
“Oh Toph, you’re as dense as a rock.” Katara replied sweetly. 
Toph cackled, slapping the seat arm and sitting back. 
“See Wet Wipe, you have to give as good as you get. Otherwise people will walk all over you.” She said to Thuy.
“I just don’t think it’s nice.” Thuy huffed, picking up her squirming catgator. Mister Whiskers had taken to chewing on the empty seats in front of them. 
Katara did not like how many sharp teeth were in that wide mouth. 
“Avatars don’t get anywhere by being nice.” Toph countered.
“Don’t I know it.” Thuy muttered. 
Due to the unpredictable nature of the swamp, the plane landed at a small, private airfield next to the looming entity of the banyan grove. 
As they disembarked, figures came out from the treeline and Thuy ran to meet them, Mister Whiskers loping cartoonishly after her. 
One figure Katara recognized as the matriarch. Dong-Lee broke away from the group and walked leisurely toward Katara as she and Toph made their way to the trees.
“Welcome, our queen.” Dong-Lee said. A chorus of shouts raised from the group behind her and Katara felt her face start to warm.
“Please, Matriarch, Katara is perfectly fine.” She said, waving the comment away. 
“You are bringing the other tribes back to our family, we are proud to call you our queen.” Dong-Lee replied.
Katara’s mouth twitched at the comment, but she ignored it. 
“I appreciate the welcome, Matriarch.” She said. 
“Is the Fire Lord still onboard?” Dong-Lee asked.
“Zuko?” Katara frowned in confusion. “He’s in Caldera.”
“He didn’t come?”
Dong-Lee sounded surprised and Katara did blush then.
“We’re not married yet, I wasn’t aware you were expecting him.” She explained. 
“I apologize, Thuy had told me you were handfasted already.” Dong-Lee said.
“They are!” Thuy shouted indignantly. “They announced their coupling ages ago and then she accepted his pledge on my birthday!” 
“That doesn’t mean we’re married!” Katara snapped anxiously.
“Sure it does.” Thuy said, sounding calm and unconcerned as she walked back over. “A wedding doesn’t make you married, a pledge does.”
“That’s not how it works in other places.” Katara said and sighed.
“That is how it works here, though.” Thuy said. “And we are your people too.” 
Katara sighed again and rubbed her face.
“I’m sorry, Matriarch, Zuko isn’t coming.” She said.
“Like dragon spit he isn’t.” Thuy said. She pulled out her cellphone and Katara lunged. Thuy avoided her easily, pushing herself away with her bending. 
“Zuko, Auntie said you’re not coming to the swamp even though I promised everyone.” Thuy started, continuing to move away as Katara made a strangled sound in exasperation. 
“So,” Toph interjected as she strolled over. “I was told there were bugs?”
By dinner, Zuko was already in Republic City making further travel plans. At Thuy’s invitation, Sokka and Suki decided to tag along and the three of them would be in the swamp by the next evening. 
Having her script so completely disrupted, Katara sulked and grumbled at her seat. 
Toph had gone hunting with some of the tribe members, returning completely drenched in swamp mud but clutching the still writhing bodies of leopard eels. Apparently having an Earthbender made it much easier to catch the fish by hand, and an unsettling sack proved it. 
The catch was gutted and cleaned at the docks, with Mister Whiskers getting her fill of offal. None of that bothered Katara, save for the blood that spilled onto their woven mats. 
There hadn’t been much in the way of technological advancement in the swamp. Whatever spiritual energy shielded Thuy’s home, it was complete and fickle. The tribe used peat and water to make steam engine generators, but they didn’t power much outside of the few telephones, radios, computers, and satellite for reception. And that was certainly spotty, often requiring a shaman or Thuy herself to go into the swamp and yell about it. 
Torches, bug nets, and rickety walkways were sprinkled over massive banyan roots and linked the various thatched huts or raised pavilions. Family groups lived in nodes and each node could communicate with the others via the root system and a shaman. So the technology they did have only came, Katara found, after Thuy was identified as the Avatar and her family knew she would need it. 
Other things, like books, weapons, and clothing, trickled in at random times when an outsider was allowed access to the interior. 
The swamp had protected Thuy and provided her with everything she needed. 
It reminded Katara very much of the South Pole.
Which oddly did not help her mood.
“Is her royal majesty being snooty?” Toph asked, sitting down hard next to Katara.
“No. I’m just mad I didn’t know they expected Zuko to be here.” She replied.
“I’m surprised too, to be honest.” Toph said, putting her hands down behind her and reclining. “What do they want with the Fire Lord?” 
“That’s a good question.” Katara replied. 
The answer came after dinner had been cleared away. 
A shaman, adorned with bright feathers and a carved wooden mask, stepped out onto the wide dock. Everyone quieted and turned; Katara looked expectantly at Thuy, but she was already focused on the shaman.
“We welcome the return of our kin, Thuy.” The shaman said and clapping filled the heavy air. Katara clapped slowly, still unsure of what was happening. 
“Before we understood our world, we told stories to explain what we saw. The Avatar represented all of our questions; where did we come from? Why do we have Benders? Why are there four elements? And how are we to live with the spirits?
“The ancient stories tell us that the sun and the moon fought over the ocean. That one day, when the moon triumphed, the sun fell into the ocean and from it’s boiling, the lands were made. The bubbles made the air we breathe and pushed the sun back into the sky. So the elements were made, but as they came from strife, only one would ever inhabit a human at a time.
“We know of space now, of gravity, but we also still live among the spirits. We see how they alter the world around us, how they bestow gifts, and how they take things away at a whim.
“After the great and terrible war, the rest of the world is turning away from the spirits. It is why the Avatar has been born here, in this sacred grove, to remind us of what we are all still connected to.” The shaman paused but no one spoke or made a noise. 
“The rest of the world is being reminded. Our spirits, not our adopted family of the Great Banyan Tree, but our spiritual parents Tui and La, have reconnected to our human world. The honorable princess Yue has ascended to the sky as the handmaiden of the moon. And here sits our awe-some protector, the Matriarch of All Waters, our queen!” The shaman continued and a roar went up around Katara. 
Toph, unable to find a snarky comment, only sat up straight. A shiver ran through Katara and she gripped uselessly at the mat under her. 
“The sun has fallen again into the ocean. We must prepare for what is to come.” The shaman said, raising his hands to quiet the people. 
“Tomorrow, the queen and her husband will go out into the swamp. When they return, we will abide by whatever message they bring.” The shaman said and then turned his carved mask toward Katara.
“Long live La!” He called and the shout was quickly picked up by the others.
“Looks like someone has a new, terrible destiny.” Toph whispered.
“Alright Huu, get down and let the fiddlers start!” Someone yelled and laughter replaced the solemn calling. 
The energy immediately shifted and Katara let out a breath, slumping onto the low table. 
“I am so sick of destiny.” She muttered.
That night, Katara sat awkwardly tucked in a knot of a banyan tree. She had to climb higher than she liked to get a decent signal on her phone.
“Divination at dinner?” Zuko asked. 
“It’s starting to feel like we never had a choice not to be together.” Katara grumbled.
“And that’s a bad thing?” He questioned haltingly.
“It makes it seem like it doesn’t matter what kind of person I am if you were fated to love me anyway.” 
“I don’t know. Even if people say we were meant to be together, we still had to be the people we are to make that happen. And I do love you because of who you are.”
“But I don’t want to be this. Whatever this person is that everyone is making me out to be.”
“And what’s that?”
“Liu called me Oma, everyone here thinks I’m La, and Rohan is trying to make me think I’m the embodiment of yin.”
“What do you want to be?”
“Me! I just want to be me. And your wife.” Katara added, lowering her voice and wrapping her free arm over her chest. “I just want to be me with you.” 
“The quiet, unassuming wife of the Fire Lord?” Zuko asked and she snorted. 
“I could never just be a wife.” She said dryly.
“Which is why I wanted to ask you…” Zuko started and Katara sat up.
“What now?” She asked.
“I want you to become the Fire Lady.” He said.
That stilled her and Katara stared off into the darkness. 
“You still there?” Zuko asked cautiously.
“Yeah, no, I’m still here.” Katara said. “Just, thinking.”
“I know it’s a big ask.”
“That’s two crowns, Zuko.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my queen too. You will be queen to my people. Our people.” 
Katara went quiet again, and Zuko waited. 
“You want children.” She said finally.
“Yes.” He was quick and honest. “Don’t you?”
“I don’t know.” She said, just as honestly.
“I never wanted them before. But with you?” Zuko’s voice drifted and Katara felt her pulse quicken.
“If they’re really saying I’m the sun falling into the ocean-”
“Zuko.”
“-then maybe what they mean is how many little islands I can-”
“Zuko!”
“The allegory is right there Katara.” 
Katara laughed and her anxiety left her. 
“I’ll think about it.” She said finally.
“That’s all that I ask.” He replied.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said.
“I am so excited for our field trip, you have no idea.” Zuko joked and Katara laughed again.
It was certainly enough to think about for one night.
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writeyouin · 4 years
Text
Swerve X Reader – Changes - Chapter 6
Chapter 6 – The Arena
A/N – I finally came back to this, my poor abandoned baby.  As usual, a special thanks to @rocksinmuffin​​ without whom, this story wouldn’t exist.
Warnings – Minor suicide mention.
Rating – T
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“That is the cruellest thing I have ever seen you do,” Swerve glowered at you.
“It had to be done. There was nothing else for it,” You replied nonchalantly.
“RODNEY DID NOTHING WRONG.”
“He existed.”
“SO YOU JUST KICKED HIM OUT FOR EXISTING?”
“Look, you get to choose your Animal Crossing villagers, and I get to choose mine.”
“Abuse them, more like,” Swerve pouted.
“Fine, do you want to play on the switch and adopt an ugly-ass hamster who does nothing but bitch all day?” You asked, holding the console out to Swerve.
He took it from you, placing it on the tallest shelf in the hab-suite, “You can have this back when you learn kindness, you monster.”
“… That’s just mean,” You said, looking despondently at the shelf which was labelled No Man’s land. Beside the switch was a copy of Harry Potter which had been removed from you until you could read it without yelling at Snape every time you saw his name, and several pictures of Getaway which you had scrawled insults on; Swerve wasn’t punishing you for those, he just liked admiring them every now and then while you worked on new insults to scribble.
“Okay, fine, you can have it back right now, if you say that hamsters are cute,” Swerve grinned.
“Clearly, you’ve never seen one in real life. They work for the devil and steal people’s souls. I’m ninety percent sure that they also have armies ready to-”
Pain wracked your body and you woke up screaming to find your captors prodding you with weapons akin to cattle prods but much larger and stronger. It was the same creatures that had captured you.
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?” You yelled through the pain.
The humanoids didn’t reply, staying eerily silent; you wondered whether they were even capable of communication in a way that you might understand.
“All right, that’s enough… For now,” A human called, stepping forward, looking completely out of place among the others.
Your captors backed away, leaving you alone with the human on the opposite side of the cell. You glared at the woman, who couldn’t have been older than thirty. She wore acidic green armour that bore a symbol of a decapitated robotic head with wires and cables sticking out from the neck; the ensemble made you nervous.
“So… You’re our newest contestant. How dull,” She commented boredly, examining you.
“Contestant? What do you mean?” You asked fearfully.
Once again, you were left without a reply as the woman pulled out a dictation machine and began talking into it as if you weren’t there. “Subject is of questionable build. A Minibot. No definable insignia – probably a NAIL. Presumably no fighting skill of which to speak. No weapon attachments that can be seen. One noticeable draw to the crowds is that it’s a female – a rarity in itself.”
“Oh my God, are you- Fuck, are you putting me in the hunger games?” You demanded incredulously.
“The bot uses organic terms in communication. It’s possible that it has spent much of its time around organic communities rather than with its own kind.”
Although you knew you could argue that you weren’t originally a Cybertronian, you decided that it probably wouldn’t get you very far with your captor; she was clearly only interested in her job, whatever that was. You doubted that you would get anywhere talking to her.
“So that’s it? You’re going to put me into an arena to fight? Did I get it right? Hey! HEY, I’M TALKING TO YOU. YEAH, BITCH WITH THE BAD HAIR, YOU!”
The childish attempt at an insult earned you a bemused glance, and the woman paused the dictation machine.
“You ought to mind your manners, or you’ll be in a much worse condition before the fight, and that will only bore the spectators,” She warned you.
“I’ll behave, if you at least tell me your name. I’d like to know who I’m insulting.”
Your roguish attitude earned a sadistic smile; it wasn’t every-day that your captor met a Cybertronian with any spirit left, “Lady Ouida.”
“Stupid name,” You murmured, mostly to hide your fear. “So I’m right about this being a colosseum of sorts?”
“Yes. You are to fight in the arena.”
“And if I win, I go free?”
“No. If you win, we kill you anyway. The people are out for Cybertronian blood after all.”
“Wow… That’s so fucking stupid. Like for real, did you take this out of a book? It’s not very creative is it? How many movies have you seen where the hero is thrown into a death ring to battle? Plus, there’s not going to be much of a fight. I mean, look at me. My arms are all fucked up from your bodyguards, I’m clearly not a fighter, and I’m like only three feet taller than you. Factor in multiple opponents and you get a five-minute fight, tops which will mostly be me running for my life.”
“You don’t seem too concerned with your fate.”
“Bitch, I am terrified, but I’ve seen death and been dragged back from it. I have defined the meaning of an out of body experience. Right now, I am competing with forces that you cannot even imagine in a brain that was not meant for me. In other words, there is nothing you can do that is worse than what I’ve been dealing with for the last forty-eight hours so GET FUCKED.”
The words PERSONALITY MALFUNCTION appeared on your visor, and you knew they were true. In your human form, you tended to avoid confrontation where you could. However, faced with the prospect of unavoidable death, it didn’t seem to matter anymore. There were only two options left for you anyway. Die in an arena, or wait for the Lost Light to come to your rescue. As you stared into the grinning face of Lady Ouida who had developed a sudden interest in you, you hoped it was the latter.
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Chromedome sat miserably in the brig, having been put there for attempting to forcibly alter Swerve’s memory banks with mnemosurgery. He had lost count of how many times he had been in that exact scenario, where mnemosurgery was the only way forward, but nobody else would see it that way. How many times had Rewind refused to talk to him because of it? How often had he been forced to alter Rewind’s memory afterwards so he wouldn’t leave him? Chromedome held his head in his servos, thinking of Rewind. He wouldn’t believe it if Chromedome said it was all for Swerve. So what if mnemosurgery felt good, as long as it helped people it wasn’t that bad. Sure there were risks, but there were risks to all sorts of things that people did anyway.
With nothing else to do but think of his failure, Chromedome waited despondently in his cell, with the faintest of hopes that Rewind might deign to visit him, even if it was just to yell.
Ultra Magnus watched the security footage stoically from the computer panel in his office. As well as Chromedome, he was also watching Swerve, who had been restrained for his own safety and was sobbing loudly, screaming your name, and Whirl who was in the med-bay, awaiting yet another energon transfusion. Of the three, Whirl worried Ultra Magnus the most; he was not taking well to Ratchet’s surgery. He had damaged one of his internal components beyond repair and it was now up to Perceptor to create a suitable replacement. The replacement would undoubtedly need constant maintenance for the rest of Whirl’s life if he survived, but it was the only way forward.
Ultra Magnus looked up as the door flew open, and Rodimus came barging in.
“THIS IS A DISASTER!” Rodimus roared.
For once, Ultra Magnus didn’t have the spark to placate Rodimus; he was right, everything was going disastrously.
“WHIRL IS DYING. CHROMEDOME IS ALL KINDS OF MESSED UP. REWIND BLAMES ME FOR WHATEVER REASON. SWERVE IS SUICIDAL AND (Y/N) IS MISSING. Please tell me you have something that might help fix this mess?”
“I do not,” Ultra Magnus replied quietly. He had never felt like such a failure. Under his watch, everything had gone wrong. The Magnus armour was getting heavier every day; he didn’t deserve to wear it.
“FRAG! WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO? SHE COULD BE IN DANGER. THE ROD POD’S TRACKING SYSTEM IS FRAGGED. THE CREW ARE FURIOUS. THEY HAVEN’T BEEN THIS MAD SINCE-”
“OUT OF THE WAY, COMING THROUGH,” Nightbeat’s voice called in the corridor as he weaved through the few bots out there and made his way into the office with Megatron close behind him.
“Rodimus. Ultra Magnus,” Megatron greeted professionally, before gesturing for Nightbeat to take over.
“I FOUND (Y/N),” Nightbeat began ecstatically, completely missing the sombre atmosphere.
“What? How?” Rodimus asked, dumbfounded.
“I watched the Rod-Pod’s ejection from the bay and followed it through the security cameras. After that, it was simply a matter of predicting several plausible trajectory’s considering that (Y/N) isn’t a pilot-”
Rodimus waved his arms, “Forget I asked. Just tell me where she is.”
Nightbeat ignored his disappointment that the big reveal had been ruined; it had taken a lot of work for him to covertly listen to all the radio stations where you might have landed and then locate you from that. “She’s on a privately owned planet called The Arena.”
“The… The Arena?”
Megatron nodded solemnly, “Yes. My research tells me that they capture stray Cybertronians and-”
“Don’t tell me. They put them in the arena ‘cos they think that’s creative… Primus, that’s annoying. All right, plan time. We change course, go to The Arena, break in, rescue (Y/N) and make everything go back to normal. Any questions?”
Megatron took a moment to consider the plan, “How-”
“No? Great. Then let’s go. We’ve got work to do.” Rodimus transformed and drove out of the office to head to Brainstorm’s lab. He had brushed it off with his usual casual demeanour but just like everyone else, he was furious that anyone would want to hurt you. If he was going to rescue you, he would need weapons; the morally-grey kind that Brainstorm made.
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Swerve sniffled, feeling pathetic as coolant that he couldn’t wipe away under his constraints dripped down his front. Yet another failed suicide attempt to go on his record; he couldn’t even do that right. He remembered the last time he had done something so drastic, when you had come to save him from himself; you had probably only married him out of pity. Despite the depressing thought, Swerve found himself unable to believe it. You had married him because for some reason that he didn’t understand, you loved him. The two of you had spent one year married and it had been the best year of Swerve’s life. When you brought up the idea of sparklings on your anniversary, Swerve couldn’t believe that life could be any better, and now after all of that you were gone.
Although Swerve longed to wallow in self-pity, he couldn’t help thinking of Chromedome. It seemed that his last conversation was finally sinking into Swerve’s processor. What was it he had said exactly? Swerve vented air through his systems, calming himself so he could isolate the memory file.
“YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT (Y/N)!”
While it was true that Chromedome could have just said that to stop Swerve from ending his life, there was also a slim possibility that Chromedome really did have new information about you.
Swerve kept replaying the memory’s audio, listening for the truth. As a bartender, he liked to believe he was good at separating lies from the truth, but when the other bots were sober, he wasn’t very good at it.
“(Y/N)…” Swerve whispered your name, wondering what he might not know about you as of that moment.
What if you had come back and he was wallowing in his cell, too wrapped up in himself to know about it? It wasn’t possible. If you were back, it didn’t matter what state Swerve was in; he would have been taken to you. Unless…
Swerve struggled to sit up, his processor racing with endless possibilities pertaining to your fate. What if he hadn’t been taken to you because your new body was failing? What if you were dying and Swerve wasn’t there? What if he was the only one that could help you?
Unbalanced as he was, Swerve managed to stand up. He started kicking at the door, yelling as loud as he could.
“HEY! GET ME OUT OF HERE! TAKE ME TO MY WIFE! TELL ME WHERE (Y/N) IS!”
Swerve didn’t pay much heed to what he was saying. All he cared about was getting to you, no matter what it took.
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73 notes · View notes
eraserrhead · 4 years
Text
List of BNHA Fics That You Should Read
a twisted fate never alters destiny - Big brother Aizawa who gets adopted by Inko during his high school years. Lots of manga spoilers but sticks pretty well to a lot of canon elements. 100k, incomplete.
hero’s shadow - Vigilante Izuku who gets unofficially adopted by like 4 different dads. Very chaotic and has a decent amount of angst. Sensitive topics covered too but has warnings in chapter notes. 179k, incomplete.
A deadman’s gun - Stain takes in Izuku to train him. Vigilante Izuku. LOTS of angst. 65k, complete.
Lavandula Somnambulist - Izuku is Midnight’s biological son (and very pretty). So far fic is about Izuku trying to get into the hero course through the sports festival with a quirk very similar to Midnight’s but with a few other elements. 33k, incomplete
Throw A Chair Through A Window And Call It A Day - Fairly new fic but SO well-written. Nedzu leaves town for Official Business and hands the school over to Aizawa for a week. Aizawa makes Izuku his secretary. Izuku is crazy smart and Aizawa goes full chaos dad mode. 47k, incomplete but updates pretty frequently (about once a week I think?). 
The Capture Scarf Caper - Super new fic (like 10 days old new) but so far it’s really well-written so I’m adding it anyway. Quirkless Izuku finds a capture weapon after Eraserhead accidentally leaves it in an alleyway after a fight. Proceeds to think “.... This could be a quirk.” 9k, incomplete. 
Viridian: The Green Guide - Make sure to read the tags on this one for warnings. Vigilante Izuku (but technically not) becoming the local hero’s mascot. Dadzawa. One of my fav fics. 79k, incomplete.
throw me a goddamn rope - just enough to hang myself with - Aizawa goes back in time after the future is Super Fucked Up. Accidentally meets Izuku and Inko and is dragged into their family by the scruff of his neck like a disgruntled cat. Some dark topics so read the fic tags. 63k, incomplete.
I Never Told You What I Do For A Living - Izuku has a Death Note quirk. The villains kidnap him for this quirk and use a collar that forces him to follow their rules/orders. He has to find loopholes in those rules to try and alert the heroes all while playing a double role as a detective trying to crack the case of the mysterious murders he’s committing. Lots of angst. 52k, incomplete.
Izuku Eats His Problems - Izuku is a flerken (like Goose from Captain Marvel). He had to hide his species in fear of discrimination his whole life and has no McFucking idea how to control his powers. One of my fav fics. Pretty heavy shindeku so if you don’t like that ship you probably won’t like the fic, as a warning. 173k, incomplete.
Complicated Creation - Quirks are the work of magic spirits. Izuku is pretty much the only one who can see and interact with these spirits. Everyone thinks he’s lost his mind. 112k, complete.
Powerless - Crossover with the DC Universe. Batman finds a nervous quirkless Izuku and decides “yes. this is my new son” and trains him to kick ass without a quirk. Not much knowledge about the DCU required because it’s explained but better if you know at least a bit. 163k, incomplete.
did i even make a sound? - Izuku asks Present Mic for help to train his quirk and Present Mic accepts because he sees himself in Izuku. 30k, incomplete.
BREAKING NEWS: Actions Speak Louder Than Words - Izuku never goes to UA and instead starts a blog to reveal hero’s scandals. Heroes aren’t a big fan of this. 31k, incomplete. 
Apex Predator - Izuku enters UA expecting it to be like his prior school experiences. He hates bullies so he establishes himself as the “apex predator” of UA to prevent bullies from picking on those weaker than them. Then proceeds to have no idea that people are intimidated by him. 82k, incomplete.
Problem Child - Aizawa and Izuku both die. Somehow this isn’t the end and Aizawa is reincarnated as Izuku. 21k, complete (I think there’s gonna be a second part tho)
Sky’s The Limit - Izuku discovers his quirk through a suicide attempt and turns into a bird. He’s pretty much chill with being a bird. Dadzawa. 15k, incomplete.
The highest achievement - God fucks off somewhere so the angels look at Izuku and go “yeah, good enough” and give him god powers. Izuku goes “yeah alright” and proceeds to cause chaos. 24k, incomplete.
With Great Power - AFO takes over Japan. Then immediately retires and hands the entirety of Japan and its government over to Deku. Deku has no idea what he’s doing and has to try and reform the Japanese government, the hero system, and all of it’s laws. 54k, complete.
Class 1A’s Misadventures as Vigilante Influencers - Class 1A realizes that the hero system is corrupt and some heroes can get away with anything. To save someone with their life on the line, they go rogue. Two parts before this fic to get the full story but this is the longest one so I’m linking it. 29k, incomplete.
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Text
Anime i’ve Watched
That begin with a N (Part 2)!
Yep this is how i’m going to bring over all the anime and manga i’ve watched and posted about on the old blog. It’s not so detailed but it will have to do. Anything new I watch or read from this point on will have their own posts.
Net-juu no Susume  (Recovery of an MMO Junkie):
Genres: Game, Comedy, Romance, ONA 
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Synopsis:  For the first time since graduating high school, 30-year-old Moriko Morioka is unemployed—and she couldn't be happier. Having quit her long-standing job of over 11 years, Moriko quickly turns to online games to pass her now-plentiful free time, reinventing herself as the handsome and dashing male hero "Hayashi" in the MMO Fruits de Mer. With the pesky societal obligations of the real world out of the way, she blissfully dives headfirst into the realm of the game, where she promptly meets the kind and adorable healer Lily. Befriending each other almost instantly, the two become inseparable just as Moriko herself becomes more and more engrossed in her new "life" as Hayashi. Eventually, Moriko adopts the reclusive lifestyle in its entirety, venturing out from the safety of her apartment only when absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Moriko, a timid 28-year-old corporate worker named Yuuta Sakurai has also logged onto Fruits de Mer from the other side of town. Coincidentally bumping into each other at the convenience store one night, both write off their meeting as no more than just another awkward encounter with a stranger—however, fate has more in store for them than they think. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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My Rating: 8/10
Finished airing in 2017 with a total of 10 episodes
My Thoughts: The male lead wears glasses! In case that’s something anyone but me cares about... Aside from that I can’t remember much about this one which is never a sign of an amazing anime so it’s up to you friends! Will you watch it or leave it?! 
Nijiiro Days:
Genres: Comedy, Romance, School, TV Short, Shoujo, Slice of Life
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Synopsis:  Nijiiro Days follows the colorful lives and romantic relationships of four high school boys—Natsuki Hashiba, a dreamer with delusions of love; Tomoya Matsunaga, a narcissistic playboy who has multiple girlfriends; Keiichi Katakura, a kinky sadist who always carries a whip; and Tsuyoshi Naoe, an otaku who has a cosplaying girlfriend. When his girlfriend unceremoniously dumps him on Christmas Eve, Natsuki breaks down in tears in the middle of the street and is offered tissues by a girl in a Santa Claus suit. He instantly falls in love with this girl, Anna Kobayakawa, who fortunately attends the same school as him. Natsuki's pursuit of Anna should have been simple and uneventful; however, much to his dismay, his nosy friends constantly meddle in his relationship, as they strive to succeed in their own endeavors of love. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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My Rating: 8/10
Finished airing in 2016 with a total of 24 episodes. Each episode running about 13 minutes in length. 
My Thoughts: Love the manga, which I keep meaning to finish because it is a completed title... and I should probably finish it before manga gets even harder to find online with the way things are currently going... 
Anywho, the anime! Pretty good. The episodes are about half that of a normal anime but you have a 24 episode count so it’s basically the same as having a 12 episodes run with the usual running time!  I’d watch it is you want more content after the manga, but keep in mind that the anime does not cover the entirety of the manga! 
No Game No Life:
Genres: Game, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi, Fantasy
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Synopsis:  No Game No Life is a surreal comedy that follows Sora and Shiro, shut-in NEET siblings and the online gamer duo behind the legendary username "Blank." They view the real world as just another lousy game; however, a strange e-mail challenging them to a chess match changes everything—the brother and sister are plunged into an otherworldly realm where they meet Tet, the God of Games. The mysterious god welcomes Sora and Shiro to Disboard, a world where all forms of conflict—from petty squabbles to the fate of whole countries—are settled not through war, but by way of high-stake games. This system works thanks to a fundamental rule wherein each party must wager something they deem to be of equal value to the other party's wager. In this strange land where the very idea of humanity is reduced to child's play, the indifferent genius gamer duo of Sora and Shiro have finally found a real reason to keep playing games: to unite the sixteen races of Disboard, defeat Tet, and become the gods of this new, gaming-is-everything world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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My Rating: 7/10
Finished airing in 2014 with a total of 12 episodes. 
My Thoughts: I have a laundry list of things i’m meaning to watch, read or do. Watching the No Game No Life movie on Netflix is one of those things. Anyways! I recall this one being alright, nice art/ animation/ character design and an interesting premise but too short and underdeveloped. One of those animes that may have benefited greatly from a longer run or second season. 
No.6:
Genres: Action, Sci-fi, Mystery, Drama
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Synopsis:  Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect... at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—gained a new perspective on the world he lives in, thanks to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi. Nezumi turned out to be just one of many who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. But despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences: because of his actions, Shion and his mother lost their status as elites and were relocated elsewhere, and the darker side of the city began to make itself known. Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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My Rating: 8/10
Finished airing in 2011 with a total of 11 episodes. 
My Thoughts: Just read the manga and watch this as extra, I can’t remember if the anime covered the entirety of the manga’s story but either way check out that source material first! The manga series is also completed which is a huge bonus. High point: The relationship between the two leads. 
Noragami:
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Shounen
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Synopsis: In times of need, if you look in the right place, you just may see a strange telephone number scrawled in red. If you call this number, you will hear a young man introduce himself as the Yato God. Yato is a minor deity and a self-proclaimed "Delivery God," who dreams of having millions of worshippers. Without a single shrine dedicated to his name, however, his goals are far from being realized. He spends his days doing odd jobs for five yen apiece, until his weapon partner becomes fed up with her useless master and deserts him. Just as things seem to be looking grim for the god, his fortune changes when a middle school girl, Hiyori Iki, supposedly saves Yato from a car accident, taking the hit for him. Remarkably, she survives, but the event has caused her soul to become loose and hence able to leave her body. Hiyori demands that Yato return her to normal, but upon learning that he needs a new partner to do so, reluctantly agrees to help him find one. And with Hiyori's help, Yato's luck may finally be turning around.
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My Rating: 8/10
Finished airing in 2014 with a total of 12 episodes. 
My Thoughts: Yes! Watch it! Love it! And also read it. Big downside: The updates for this manga are slow and the story is unfinished obviously. Upside: Two whole seasons of anime goodness, and if we’re really lucky we’ll eventually get another? Ok maybe not... but a girl can dream! Also this anime has one of my all time favourite opening themes! Amazing! 
Noragami Aragoto:
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Shounen
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Synopsis:  Yato and Yukine have finally mended their relationship as god and Regalia, and everyone has returned to their daily life. Yato remains a minor and unknown deity who continues taking odd jobs for five yen apiece in the hopes of one day having millions of worshippers and his own grand shrine. Hiyori Iki has yet to have her loose soul fixed by Yato, but she enjoys life and prepares to attend high school nonetheless. Taking place immediately after the first season, Noragami Aragoto delves into the complicated past between Yato and the god of war Bishamon. The female god holds a mysterious grudge against Yato, which often results in violent clashes between them. It doesn't help that Bishamon's most trusted and beloved Regalia, Kazuma, appears to be indebted to Yato. When lives are on the line, unraveling these mysteries and others may be the only way to correct past mistakes. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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My Rating: 9/10
Finished airing in 2015 with a total of 13 episodes. 
My Thoughts: Another amazing opening theme! Seriously this series really knew how to pick them! Also have crushes on a solid chunk of the cast... so there’s that. 
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romeoshqs · 3 years
Text
What: self para.
Time Frame: romeo is about sixteen, it’s his birthday.
Triggers: mentions of abandonment & weed, lack of self love. 
Song Inspiration: love song, yungblud.
Lyrical Inspiration: “nobody taught me how to love, myself, so, how can i love somebody else, there ain’t no excuses, i swear that i’m doing my best.”
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Romeo had disappeared from his home for the past couple of days, wandering the streets much like when he was younger. He had been living in what he called his forever home for about five years now. He knew that the so called family that had adopted him, had loved him as if he was their child. With the conflicting emotions, of feeling that no matter how a family or a person wanted him, or loved him for that matter, he still was reserved. Afraid that he wasn’t good enough to be love from what happened within the system that he was in and out of since he was eleven. If his own mother didn’t want him, what makes him think that someone else could. 
Walking the streets with the duffle bag full of what he had needed, he ran. Ran to no where in particular, but the direction his mind seemed to point for him to run too. He was nothing, no one, and while everyone around him treated him with care, and adoration, he wouldn’t grasp that, well not at this moment anyways. His mind was running through thoughts. Thoughts that seemed to particularly embed themselves in his mind at this time of year, where he always took off for days to escape the feelings, feelings that wouldn’t go away at first. 
Walking into the home of his friend that sold weed to others to escape the reality, reality most called life, Romeo walked through the home until he found the guy he was looking for. “Hey mate, I need a dub.” He spoke holding out the crisp twenty he had gotten from his allowance a week ago. All this keep your head up and not let anything get to you, felt like complete bullshit. He lived life not knowing what would have happened to him, and that edge needed to be chipped off his shoulder and stored in a trash bag a million miles away. Taking the small sack and the complementary pack of cigarillos, he walked out heading to the pier. 
Upon his arrival the young man sat down. His fingers splitting the rillo in half perfectly, as he dumped the tobacco out in the pack the cigarillo had came in. Picking apart the weed he lined it up and twisted the brown coarse leaf into the perfect blunt. Letting it dry for a moment, he then brought it to his lips and lit it up, inhaling the herb deeply. His thoughts would come to a halt soon. His inner feelings becoming numb for the next few hours as he decided to alter his own mind. 
Letting the smoke out, he sighed contently. His mind already buzzed. “Why did she not want me.” He questioned to himself. “Why wasn’t I good enough to be called her son? Would I have been this way if I was adopted and kept, instead of being in and out of the system?” He asked. He knew he would never get answers to the questions he always seemed to have the day of his birth. He knew that his family now, was out searching for him, so he finished what he had left of the blunt and tossed it out heading home. 
As soon as he walked through the door he was engulfed by the man and women that took him in, and called him their own. His chest heaved as he stood there being engulfed. “I-I’m sorry.” He managed to get out as he cried. “I’m sorry I keep running at this time of year.” His voice spoke out brokenly. “I just don’t know how to accept the love that is given, when I don’t know how to love myself.” He whispered as he wrapped his arms around the two people that took him in and loved him no matter how much hell he caused them, to see if them adopting him was going to fail like the others in the past. “I-I promise to not do it again.” He spoke lowly and true to his words. He knew at this moment that he had people that loved and cared about him, and now in the matter of time he would grow to accept that love and love himself. 
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soulmate-game · 4 years
Text
Crack One shot
Soulmates were real, but there was no universal type of bond. The only agreed upon fact was that everyone only had one soulmate, and that was whatever that person needed most in life. If what they needed most was a romantic partner, their soulmate would be romantic. If they needed family or a lifelong friend more, then that would be the bond they would have. It could show up in any way, some more common than others but many unique to that pair or trio of soul bonded individuals.
Marinette had arrived in Gotham last week. She had won the Wayne Enterprises International Scholastic Competition for her and her class, the reward for which included a month long trip to Gotham. Three of those weeks would be spent in Gotham Academy during the week, with the weekends spent in personalized internships with Wayne Enterprises employees.
Except Marinette, who as the winner of the competition, got her internship with Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake themselves.
And after finding out that Robin was her romantic soulmate on her first night in Gotham? She was really hoping this internship would go smoothly without any life altering discoveries.
Someone needed to flick Tikki for not giving her enough good luck though, because that did not happen.
Marinette thought stumbling through her and Robin’s game-styled Bond would be more than enough confusion and complication for at least the rest of the year for her. But no. No, of course not. Because when she met Bruce Wayne at his manor for their first official day of internship on Saturday, nine days after arriving in Gotham City, she shook the billionaire’s hand for the first time.
And when their hands connected, the only thing in either of their favor is the fact that Alix had turned down the invitation to come with Marinette and therefore the only other people in the mansion were Bruce’s family (including Alfred, of course). Because as soon as their hands touched, bright silver light shone for a moment before what was basically a holographic screen popped up. On it in bold black font were the words:
— SOULBOND INITIATED STATUS: Familial FAMILIARITY LEVEL: Introductory BONDED INDIVIDUALS: Bruce Wayne (AKA:REDACTED) and Marinette Dupain-Cheng (AKA: REDACTED) INITIATE SOULBOND GUIDE? (Y / N) —
“B-But I already met my soulmate on Thursday!” Marinette objected, eyes wide as she pulled her hand away like it burned. “This can’t— this is a prank, right? New WayneTech or something?”
Unfortunately, Bruce stares at his own hand in similar shock.
“Miss Dupain-Cheng, I also already met my soulmate,” he informed gravely, poking his palm with the index finger of his opposite hand. “But look. I did not get a physical mark from my romantic soulmate, but…”
Marinette knew. She didn’t want to acknowledge it, but she knew. Everybody with a physical soulmark said that you knew when it was real, when it wasn’t paint or a tattoo or anything else, because it felt real. In some intrinsic, magical, mysterious way, everyone intuitively knew if a physical mark was or wasn’t genuine.
And the little, silver bat signal on the center of Marinette’s palm was definitely genuine. Her eyes went wide at the sight of it, and the information on the holographic soulbond-board changed.
BONDED INDIVIDUALS: Bruce Wayne (AKA: Batman)
Bruce showed Marinette the small silver ladybug symbol on the exact same spot on his own palm.
And Marinette Dupain-Cheng (AKA: Ladybug)
“What the fuck?” That was Dick, who was the first to get over his shocked silence. But not very well. “What. The. Fuck? If Bruce had a familial soulmate, I would have thought it would be me. You know, first adopted son and everything,” he waved at himself, but his tone wasn’t jealous. It was just confused. “Or any of this other adopted children,” Richard gestured to the line of them next to him. “Why get a familial soulmate now? And why have two soulmates?”
The last line on the hologram began to flash insistently.
ACTIVATE SOULBOND GUIDE? (Y / N)
“I, uh, think we should click yes, Monsieur Wayne,” Marinette suggested, lifting her hand to do just that before pausing and glancing at her new (what? Father figure? Uncle figure? Oh my god if Bruce was Batman, did that mean Damian was Robin? The builds and estimated measurements matched up. Did that mean Bruce—) “Mon dieu, you’re supposed to be my father in law figure,” Marinette realized aloud, her face suddenly paper white at the realization.
“... I agree, let’s see what this ‘Soulbond guide’ is, exactly,” her familial soulmate decided to say, ignoring her realization entirely. He pressed the ‘Y’ with one finger before Marinette or his other children could protest. The silver screen changed, the text melting away in favor of showcasing a horizontal line. Until that line spoke, and moved to show the wavelengths of its voice as it did so. Like a digital mouth. Occasionally text would pop up to complement or supplement the spoken words.
“Hello. I am your SOULBOND guide, A.I.D.E, or Autonomous Introspective Destiny Escort. I am a pocket personality created by the Universe and Fate Itself as your guide and informant regarding your soul bond, and nothing but your soul bond. My knowledge may extend to some aspects of your personality, memories, background, and motives behind actions, but otherwise does not delve far beyond the specificities of your Bond. Even my knowledge of your timeline and social structure in your reality are limited. That being said, do you have any questions regarding your Bond?”
“Oh my god, it even reflects Bruce’s emotion issues,” Jason breathed, thoroughly intrigued and entertained.
“But what does that say about Marinette?” Tim shot back. “She isn’t emotionally stunted like both of her soulmates.”
Yeah, everyone agreed at that point that trying to hide their identities from the French girl was a moot point.
“No,” Marinette agreed slowly, eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t even want to ask what you mean by emotionally stunted, because if Robin is any indication…” she winced, and several people in the room chuckled. Jason outright cackled. “But after dealing with HawkMoth for so long and not being able to let out any of my negative emotions, I developed a kind of mental system I guess. I just kinda… click and delete my anger or betrayal as often as it takes, if that makes sense.”
“That is not healthy, and we will talk about that later,” Damian said instantly, not looking pleased. Marinette just shrugged and grinned at him sheepishly.
As usual, Bruce was the first to actually begin to interrog— ahem— ask questions.
“Why do we have two soul bonds?” He asked, getting right to the point.
“In your case, it is due to your alter ego BATMAN. BATMAN has been a separate part of yourself, or at the very least you have seen him as separate from yourself as Bruce Wayne, for more than eighteen years. This grants BATMAN his own soulmate, as if he were his own entity. People such as Superman do not have this attribute, as they are fully cognizant of the unity of their two identities. BATMAN’s soulmate is Marinette, a familial soulmate. In her case, Marinette is in possession of the Ladybug Miraculous, which holds the power of Creation. This, along with the fact that Marinette is what is classified as a TRUE LADYBUG and/or a CREATION SOUL, gives rise to the possibility of a second soulmate being created for her as the need arises. This was compounded by the fact that she, like you, also sees LADYBUG as being a separate person from her own identity as Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Since she has held both a true CREATION SOUL and maintained this mindframe of being two separate people for several years, LADYBUG was granted a soulmate of her own, which is you. Does that suitably answer your question?”
“The first of many,” Bruce admitted grimly, turning to Marinette. “Do you want to ask anything else, or get on with the internship?”
“Just one question today,” she answered immediately, her mind buzzing. “What does the soul bond allow us to do, and how do we activate it?”
“You can activate the Soul Screen and myself by tapping your soulmark with that intention in mind. Your abilities are as follows; Mental Communication link— a two-way telepathy activated on command only when the Bond Mark is activated. Surveillance— the ability to see through your Soulmate’s eyes through the Soul Screen in emergency situations only. Bond Text— The ability to send written messages to your Soulmate by holding onto your soul mark, imagining the contents of the text, and sending it. Nobody except your soulmate will be able to see said message, and it will appear on the palm that hosts that individual’s Soul Mark. SOS— If one member of the soul bond is in life threatening danger, the other member’s bond mark will glow and a meter showcasing the endangered member’s life force will appear next to the mark. Upon the life force extinguishing, this Bond will permanently dissolve. Resurrection, time travel, and magical Cures will not revive this Bond.”
“In other words, the Universe is calling both of you out for being reckless and is only giving you once Chance here,” Barbara surmised ruthlessly. “Good luck. Alfred, what’s for lunch?”
As everyone filed out of the room with the dissolution of the Soulbond’s novelty, Damian, Bruce, and Marinette were left standing in awkward silence. Silently, Marinette shut off the Soul Screen and A.I.D.E with it.
“... we won’t be able to keep secrets anymore,” Marinette said, seemingly just thinking out loud. “Once we activate the Soul Screen, AIDE will totally rat out any we try to keep.”
“She was my soulmate first, Father, so I’m stealing her now,” Damian said by way of warning Bruce before he picked Marinette up and carried her away. The billionaire playboy philanthropist just stared after them, wondering what the hell he did to taunt the Universe into making him the butt of all of its jokes.
He tapped his ear twice, a different bond awakening. “Selina? Please tell me you’re in town. I think I’ll crack out some of the good alcohol tonight.”
“Celebrating something?” The familiar voice purred in his ear.
“Coping.”
—*—*—*—*—* This is not at all canon to the original story, but takes place in the same universe. Just an idea I had for a second that I wanted to write a stupid one shot for. This is crack and I’m okay with that.
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