#but he knows full well dinah will murder him for that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

marvelmusing · 1 year

Text

The First Bite

Pairing: Billy Russo x Fem!Vampire!Reader

Summary: After you get partnered with Billy for an undercover operation, you’re eager to tell Madani exactly why this is a bad idea. Things do not go to plan.

Warnings [18+]: smut, oral (male receiving), blood consumption, (reader drinks from Billy), mention of non con blood drinking on an underaged Billy, mentions of murder, heavy on the sub!Billy vibes, (Billy is definitely trying to hide his praise kink, blood kink, and pain kink but the reader is onto him), very soft dom!reader, Billy has a sub drop, aftercare

A/N: I’ve missed writing for Billy and had no idea it had been so long since I wrote a full fic for him (so I decided to finally write this idea - it sort of possessed me and I wrote it within a night)

My Masterlist

Billy Russo smells insanely good. To the point in which, on bad days, you need to clench your jaw tightly when he breezes by to suppress the thoughts of sinking your fangs into his throat.

You’ve never met a human that tests your restraint like him, and the worst part is that it doesn’t take a genius to know that Billy doesn’t like vampires.

The tension in his shoulders when he realises that he’s in the company of one of your kind is obvious, though he isn’t openly hostile towards you. At best, he tolerates you, nodding politely in greeting, and listening to your points during meetings.

You had worked with his friend Frank plenty of times, and the two of you got along well, which seemed to ease some of Billy’s discomfort.

But then you’re assigned an undercover operation, with Billy as your partner.

“What the hell is this?” You snap, throwing down the manila file onto Agent Madani’s desk.

She doesn’t look away from her computer screen, continuing to type as she remarks,

“I see you received my mission plan.”

“I told you no, Madani.” At that, she looks up at you with a raised brow. “This isn’t safe for Russo.”

She tilts her head aside with a smirk.

“I thought your self control was better than that.”

You lean forwards, fists closed as you press your knuckles against the glass of her desk.

“My self control is perfect.” You state fiercely. “It’s everyone else I’m concerned about.” You glance down at the file. “This club has an open policy. An unclaimed human is free use for any vampire.”

“Then claim him.”

You recoil, anger and disgust crawling over your skin. A claim was something personal and intimate. Not some act of convenience for a mission.

“No.”

Dinah looks surprised by your outright refusal. A lot of vampires wouldn’t mind an excuse to stake their claim on a human - especially one as good looking as Billy.

“I’m not going to coerce him into making a commitment like that just for the sake of saving you time, when you could plan something far better to get an in with these people.”

“And what if I said yes?” A familiar voice asks.

You swivel around quickly, eyes widening at the sight of Billy leaning against the bookcase behind you. One of his hands is settled in the pocket of his trousers, and you can’t deny that he looks delectable.

But you hadn’t smelt his scent when you had stormed in here, and you couldn’t smell him even now.

“Scent blockers.” He remarks in explanation.

You nod faintly, stunned by his sudden appearance.

“They work pretty good.”

“Can we talk?” Billy asks, standing up straight and gesturing towards the door. You nod.

“Sure.”

Neither of you speak as you walk down the corridor. Billy opens the door to your office, and steps inside.

He rounds your desk, sitting down on the chair there as he leaves you standing.

“Would you do it?” Billy asks.

“Do what?”

“Claim me.”

You shake your head.

“Only if you wanted me to.”

He raises a brow.

“And if I want you to?”

“This isn’t because of the op, is it?”

Billy looks down, fiddling with the Newton’s cradle that sits on your desk. He nudges one of the metal balls lightly, knocking them together which makes a minute clinking sound that only you - with your heightened senses - can hear.

“It isn’t because of the op.” He admits quietly.

“I thought you didn’t like my kind.”

He shakes his head. Then he rolls his left shoulder with a slight grimace on his face.

“It ain’t that.”

His eyes go distant as he stares across the room, seemingly lost in his memories, and from the look on his face they can’t be good ones.

“You don’t have to tell me.” You assure him.

“There was this rich scumbag vampire, who used to visit the group home I was at.” Billy lifts his gaze up to meet yours briefly. “Not many of us had met a real vamp before. He used to play games with us, stickball, hoops, whatever…”

A smile flickers over his lips, only for a moment, before his expression hardens.

“I was eleven, and that was when I found out how… appealing I am for your kind.”

“Billy.” You say softly, guilt gnawing at your stomach for how much you want him. He looks up at you.

“It’s your instincts, I know that now. We all think about doing terrible things sometimes. Doesn’t mean we’re terrible people.”

He rolls his shoulder again, a familiar tick, but you’ve never pondered the reason behind the movement. Now, you zero in on it as he says,

“That was the first, and last time, I’ve been drank from.”

You’re still for a long moment, staring hard at Billy’s face before you ask him.

“What was his name?”

His eyes lift to meet yours.

“You’re not going after him.”

It takes everything in you not to snarl in response.

“The hell I’m not. You were a kid Billy, instincts or not, there’s no excuse.”

“He’s already dead.” Billy states, and some of the tension leaves you. “Frankie and I tracked him down a couple of years ago.”

“And?”

“The fucker got what he deserved.”

You nod, the edge of a wicked smile tugging at the corner of your lips.

“Good.”

When he hears your response, Billy’s eyes go glassy for a moment, before he shakes himself slightly.

“So, you want me to claim you?” You ask softly. He nods. “You’re sure?”

He gestures for you to come closer, and you round your desk as he turns your chair so that you can stand between his parted thighs.

“I’m sure.” Billy says as he settles his hands on your waist, tugging you closer.

You get the memo, and move to straddle his lap. The sound of your heels dropping from your feet, and the crease of leather as Billy adjusts his position, fills the room.

Whatever scent blockers he had taken, must be wearing off, because the scent of him is slowly filling your nose, making your teeth ache.

“Is there anything you don’t want me to do?” You ask quietly. There’s confusion in his dark eyes, so you add, “Anything that makes you uncomfortable?”

“Don’t bite my left shoulder.” You nod immediately.

Billy looks back down at your thighs as he smooths his thumb over the hem of your skirt.

“And don’t call me pretty.”

“Okay.” You say in a near whisper.

With one hand, he tugs at his tie, loosening it with practiced ease away from the collar of his shirt. Then he undoes the first few buttons of his shirt. The movement allows a little more of his scent to reach you, and your mouth begins to water for a taste of him.

“We’ll have to do this several times.” You warn him. “Layer the bites to make the claim seem genuine.”

Billy hums in response.

“You just looking for an excuse to have me again already?”

A smile tugs at your lips, as you shake your head at him, looking up at his eyes sparkling with amusement. In response, you press a gentle kiss against his thundering pulse.

“This okay?” You ask.

His voice fails him, and Billy can only nod.

Nuzzling your nose against his neck, you inhale deeply, choking down a keening whine at his scent. Billy’s fingers are splayed wide over your thighs, squeezing the flesh with an increasingly tightening grip.

“You ready?” Your words are breathed softly against the shell of his ear, and Billy shudders.

“Yes.”

“Three taps on my thigh, and I’ll stop.”

He blinks at you for a moment. Then he nods.

“Three taps.” He repeats in confirmation.

It’s only then that you extend your fangs, pressing them into the skin of his throat and begin to draw blood.

He tastes rich with an underlying sweetness, the best you’ve ever had, and you’re desperate for more. Your chest is pressed flush against his, and you can feel his heart beat not only between your teeth, but against your own pounding heart.

He gasps a little when you pull away, but he tightens his hold on you.

“Make it messy.” He demands in a breathless voice. You blink for a moment, before you’re leaning back in, eager to oblige.

You bite higher up his neck, sucking harshly for a few seconds before you withdraw, only to lower your mouth around an inch before you’re biting again.

The startled whimpers from Billy would concern you, if you couldn’t taste the endorphins rushing through his blood.

Once you’ve left a rather decorative trail of bites along his throat, you press your tongue firmly over them as you lick a clean stripe along his pulse line.

He moans lowly, hips jerking against yours. Billy Russo likes some pain. Interesting.

When you finally pull away for good, you take a moment to admire your work.

Billy’s cheeks are flushed a beautiful shade of pink, the tips of his ears burning red, and his lips are begging to be kissed. The blooming marks over his throat soothe something primal in you.

Now all those vampires that stare at him as soon as he steps off the elevator will know they don’t stand a chance. When he returns to Anvil, his own company, your claim will follow, daring anyone to touch what isn’t theirs.

A flush of embarrassment runs through you when you realise Billy is also watching you. Quickly, you retract your fangs, and search for a tissue to remove the blood from your lips. You don’t want to upset him with the sight of it.

His fingers curl around your wrist as you reach for the tissue box on your desk.

“I ain’t afraid of a little blood, darlin.”

Your eyes darken as he takes your finger into his mouth, sucking away some of his blood that had found its way there. A growl claws in your chest, eager to break free and lay claim on him all over again.

Instead you kiss him.

He responds instantly, sucking his own blood from your lips which has a montage of thoughts and fantasies spilling into your mind. You want to scrape your nails over his body, and admire the red lines you would leave. You want to bite his hips, mouth your way over his adonis belt, you want to lick every inch of him.

You want to bite his thighs.

Homeland had sent you to oversee a training session at Anvil once, and Billy had been wearing a pair of shorts, which had almost been your undoing. Firm strong muscle, his skin flushed from the exercise, blood eager for the taking. You had almost broken another vampire’s jaw when you heard him make a crude remark about Billy.

You’re brought back to the present by Billy nipping your lower lip between his teeth. It’s almost cute, his blunt teeth trying to emulate the feelings you had given him with your fangs.

The two of you moan together, and nothing has ever sounded sweeter.

Then you freeze.

“Shit.” You hiss.

“What?” He asks you with a frown as you attempt to move away.

“Madani’s heading this way.”

He grins, leaning back in your chair as if he owns the place.

“And?”

You raise a brow at him, and he merely mimics your expression.

There’s a knock at the door.

“Thought your self control was perfect.” You hear her remark.

Narrowing your eyes at the door, you scoff.

“Fuck off Madani, I’m busy.”

At that moment, you cup Billy’s bulge, and he moans loudly. His eyes widen, and a fresh flush coats his cheeks as your eyes darken. You can feel Madani’s embarrassment through the door, and hear her hurried steps as she moves back to her office.

“Can I put my mouth here, Billy?” You ask coyly, squeezing his throbbing erection through the fabric of his trousers.

He whines.

“Wanna make you feel good.” He protests, grasping onto your waist weakly.

“Having you in my mouth will feel good.” You reason with him. “I want to taste you, Billy.”

He nods, loosening his grip on you so that you can slide down to kneel between his thighs, level with his bulge. You undo his trousers, and tug his boxers out of the way so that you can pull out his hardened cock.

“Such a gorgeous cock, Billy.” You praise, and he tips his head back to rest against your chair.

You take him deep into your mouth, almost the entire way, and the sudden warmth of your lips sealed around him makes Billy cry out.

“Fuck.” You moan lowly, and the vibrations have Billy groaning. “Fuck.”

Then you pull off him, only to lick over the length of his cock, smearing your salvia with his own arousal as you suckle on the head. The noises Billy makes provides ample encouragement, and you take him into your mouth once again.

This time, you nearly gag, and Billy grasps onto your head, hand fisting your hair as a means to ground himself. When you withdraw again, you’re gasping, but continue to lather his cock with your tongue. He whimpers.

“Darlin, I won’t last.” He warns you, knowing that the next time you take him fully into your mouth he won’t be able to stop himself.

You give his thighs a reassuring squeeze.

“Want you to cum down my throat, baby.”

Billy squeezes his eyes closed tightly, nodding in agreement.

When you take him into your mouth this time, you suck gently, coaxing him into climaxing as you rub soothingly over his thighs. His orgasm hits him hard, and he groans loudly as he spills into your mouth. You stay still for a long moment, swallowing his spend which pulls a soft whine from Billy’s lips.

He’s boneless as he sinks into your chair, his cock soft as you remove him from your mouth. He hisses as the chill of your office meets his sensitive skin. You continue to rub over his thighs, encouraging the tensed muscles to relax as you both catch your breath.

Even from your place on the floor, you can see the smile on Billy’s face as he leans his head back into the headrest of your chair.

Through the haze of lust, you hear the sound of the elevator pinging in the distance, and the scent of a familiar vampire stepping onto the floor.

“What is it?” Billy asks, watching you identify whoever had caught your attention.

“Carson Wolf has just got off the elevator.” You explain. “We might wanna clean up quickly.”

In a flurry of movement, you tug out a handful of tissues to clean up Billy. He takes them from you, smiling appreciatively.

On shaky legs, you manage to stand and open up a window, hoping to disguise the scent of what had just occurred.

When you turn back to look at Billy, he looks more or less put together. There’s a few splatters of blood on his shirt, and the flush isn’t gone from his cheeks, but aside from that he appears to be back to normal.

He stands smoothly, though he places a hand on the corner of your desk to steady himself as he moves away from your chair.

“Sit down there.” You command him, pointing at the chair on the other side of your desk, and he obeys instantly.

Settling down in your chair, you try not to think about how Billy had just been sitting where you are now. Instead, you open up the file for your upcoming op with Billy.

“You sure you wanna do this?” You ask him, tapping your finger against the open file. He looks down at the papers for a moment before he nods.

“Yeah, I do.”

“It might be quite intense.”

“I can handle it.” He states firmly.

Just as you’re about to explain exactly how intense it might be for him, there’s a knock at the door. Billy tenses ever so slightly, and you look over at him before you call out,

“Come in.”

The door opens, revealing your boss, Carson Wolf. You don’t look it, but you’re around the same age as him, and the two of you had known of one another for a long time before you started work at Homeland.

“Mr Wolf.” You greet with a casual nod. He responds with a small smile, before he turns to Billy.

“Mr Russo.” He holds out a hand for Billy, to which Billy stands to shake with a firm hand of his own.

Something unpleasant crawls over your skin as you watch another vampire touch Billy so soon after your claim.

“Pleasure to see you again, sir.” Wolf nods.

“Glad you were willing to help us with this.”

“Always happy to help, sir.” Billy says with a twist in his smile, and you can’t stop the bloom of pride in your chest at the meaning behind his words.

You study Wolf’s reaction as his eyes fall to Billy’s neck. It’s only natural for a vampire to sneak one glance, even when they’re trying to be professional. He steps back slightly, which you appreciate.

Billy sits back down, and Wolf looks over at you.

“I’ll let you get on with it then.” He remarks. “No doubt you have plenty to discuss.”

You nod in agreement.

“Yes we do.”

“Good work.” He adds, nodding between you and Billy.

“Thank you, sir.”

Wolf closes the door behind him, and you listen to his footsteps receding, before you look back up at Billy. The lack of aftercare he’s had concerns you.

“You wanna get out of here?” You ask him as casually as possible, not wanting to worry him.

Billy nods and pulls out his phone, which has a frown creasing at your brows.

“What are you doing?”

“Messaging my driver.”

“I’ll drive you home.” He shakes his head, blinking heavily afterwards.

“I’m not heading home. I’ll be going back to Anvil.”

“Billy. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“I’m fine.” He insists.

“The only reason you’re fine is cause you’re currently running on adrenaline. You’ll crash pretty soon.”

He pauses for a moment, assessing his body, and he seems to only just notice the way his leg is bouncing.

“Alright.”

Satisfied with his answer, you nod and begin to tidy away your files. Not looking up at him, you ask,

“What’s your favourite drive-through?”

“I’m not hungry.”

You look up at him sharply. He relents with a sigh.

“There’s a McDonald’s round the corner from my place.”

“Good.”

As soon as you pull up at the drive-through, Billy decides to act like a brat.

When you ask him what he wants, he crosses his arms and refuses to speak. The pause is so long that the server on the other end of the speaker believes you’ve disappeared.

You’re thoroughly tempted to buy him a happy meal. Act like a child, get treated like a child. You force yourself to remember that he’s been through a lot within the last hour, and that a simple question like ‘what do you want’ might be harder for him to answer.

So, you order for him, ensuring to ask for a few bottles of water and orange juice to help with his fluid and vitamin levels. Not to mention ordering whatever bakery product had the most dark chocolate in it - for his iron and sugar.

He gives you reluctant directions to his apartment building, and protests when you get out of the car with him.

You shake your head at him.

“I’m not leaving you alone until I know you’re safe.”

He sighs, but his shoulders are slumped a little more than usual, and his eyes look heavy. Since his hands are full with the food, he gives you his floor number so that you can press the correct button in the elevator.

You fish his keys out of his coat pocket, and unlock the door for him. As he moves to the kitchen, dumping the food down on the kitchen island, you trail after him.

“Not that I don’t appreciate all this,” He starts, waving a hand at the paper bags he had discarded. “But you can go now. I’m home.”

“Do you want me to?” You ask quietly.

He falters.

“It’s okay if you don’t want me to go.”

His lower lip wobbles ever so slightly, and your heart breaks as he swallows down his emotions.

“I’m fine on my own. Always have been.” He adds with a shrug.

“But do you want to be?”

“Do I wanna be alone? What kinda question is that?” He swallows hard, his throat bobbing and his cheeks flushing as he tries to hold back again. “No, I don’t.”

“Come here.” You say softly. Billy stares hard at the ground, not looking at you as he steps closer.

You make the first move. Sliding your arms around him, and pressing your face against his chest, right next to his beating heart.

“I want to stay with you, Billy. If you’ll let me.”

You feel him nod as he presses his face into your hair. Then his arms wrap around your body, holding you in a fierce grip.

“Don’t leave.” He mumbles pleadingly.

“I won’t.”

The two of you stay like that, Billy curled tightly around you, as you stroke down his back soothingly. It’s only once you remember that his food will be getting cold that you encourage him to relocate to the living room.

You ensure that he’s comfy, settled on the couch and offer him the food you’d ordered for him. Unsurprisingly, Billy is starving. He eats eagerly, and you decide not to make a remark about his attitude at the drive-through.

Once he’s had his fill, you can hear his heart rate slowing as his eyes droop. They flutter closed briefly when you slide a hand into his hair, massaging his scalp gently.

“You wanna nap, baby?” You ask in a soft voice.

His breathing hitches, before he’s nodding with his eyes closed.

“Come here.”

He obeys with his eyes closed still, shifting closer to cuddle against your side. His face presses against the crook of your neck, and you tug a throw blanket over his body.

He whines quietly when you shift, but you’re quick to reassure him, your lips brushing against his forehead as you speak.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

»»---------------------►

marvelmusing Tag List: @dreamlandcreations @blanchedelioncourt @idaofinfinity @slytherheign @ellooo0ooo @vixenofcourse @dumb-fawkin-bitch

Billy Russo Tag List: @blackbirddaredevil23 @rafaelakelley @theysayitscrazy @nyx2021 @skybridgerton @dragon-of-winterfell @chickensarentcheap @stardustmorozov @sweetwritingfanficfriend @witchcraftandwit @ladyofsoa @ily2lia

BB Characters Tag List: @rachlovesactors @noortsshift @aikeia

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo the punisher #billy russo x female reader #billy russo x y/n #billy russo x you #billy russo imagine #the punisher au

195 notes · View notes

augustheart · 2 years

Note

re jsa fistfight vs. retire post- Challenge of ranking: who needs to be Immediately Beaten the Fuck Out to Time-Out Corner. why? because I am seeking violence and I suspect the old guard are near the top. (also bonus points: top two jsaers who need to retire for their own health.)

assorted jsa members ranked by how badly i want to fistfight them:

alan. don't even think i could win i just need to attack him with vicious intent.

hawkman. fuck you hawkman you know what you did

rex tyler may be the world's first transmasc absent father but i'm about to become the world's first transmasc to beat up the world's first transmasc absent father

ted knight. yes i understand that the point of him is that he changes his ways and relearns how to be a father to jack. i don't care anytime i reread early starman '94 i want to kick his knees in

the spectre for what he represents and also for making me endure day of vengeance

power girl :( i'm sorry karen i know you would not do this if it weren't for geoff johns' sinful hand but i do think you should be punched for most of early jsa '07.

jay as a sign of the warrior's respect and also because he deserves to be punched in the face sometimes

ted grant as a sign of warrior's respect and also because he deserves to be punched in the face sometimes 2

hector gets dug up and i kill him again for the crime of being the most annoying bore in existence.

libby chambers ranks here because i give deadbeat moms a pass sometimes

slap al in the face for lilah sturges writing reasons

ma hunkel. i cannot win and i do not intend to i just think it'd be a good way to show affection to her. ranked so low because she's done nothing wrong and would break every single one of my bones

sand because i feel bad for leaving him out

mr. terrific but again, i would Lose, and then i would get his autograph and frame it

people who are generally spared: i have zero beef with charles and pieter, it's like the warrior's respect seen above but instead it's the falconer's respect. todd and jennie are safe because i like them. i could never hurt ty he is like a brother to me. al pratt is my short king representation so i have to give him a pass. and of course my best friend loves hawkgirl so i cannot lift a hand against her.

collective baby tier: grant, tom, maxine, courtney, jakeem, billy, i guess technically jen was on the team so her too. ranked below the spares because i would never hurt them whereas i could be convinced to fight the people above. minus ty <3

don't assume i forgot anyone for this list i either don't even feel the need to specify that i'm sparing them (dinah, kent nelson, so on) or hardly remember their existence in the first place (magog, so on).

top two people in line for retirement:

nate heywood. no further statement necessary.

rick tyler quit your Fucking superheroism career become an elementary school art teacher. while i legitimately think it would've been interesting if he'd actually quit circa infinity inc calgary murder moment and then never gone back, i don't think i want that to have happened. realistically i wish he'd quit in the mid 2000s and become a full time wifeguy. [insert that panel of rick telling roy that he's stopped taking pills and has instead begun injecting the substance he is addicted to directly into his veins and roy being like "ok. well. i will still be your sponsor" here.]

bonus: grant but not permanently. i think he needs to re-examine what heroism means to him, however at the end of the day i think he not only truly wants to be a superhero but finds meaning in using powers that literally mean self-destruction to help others. this could've happened offpage while he was staying with roy's family however it apparently didn't because then we got jsa '07.

#YES. KILL.#extended post #ask to tag #scarabaebutch

8 notes · View notes

batarangsoundsdumb · 3 years

Text

19 y/o green arrow: so uh guys- someone should probably get some alcohol if we're going to have a justice league party

18 y/o batman: that's a great idea!

20 y/o superman: yeah someone totally should!

everyone looking at diana:

diana who only has an id that says she was born in 1949: why are you all looking at me?

#and that's on the justice league is full of irresponsible idiots who would fight crime before they can even buy alcohol legally #i keep seeing all these 'haha teenage batman' posts and i raise you 'all of the justice league is under 30 and thinks everyone else is old #black canary joining the justice league at like 23 and she thinks she's the youngest but ends up being the oldest member after diana #(@ dc i see ur ollie is older than dinah agenda and i raise you dinah is older than oliver)#17 y/o barry allen is this 🤏 close calling dinah a cougar for getting with oliver #but he knows full well dinah will murder him for that #(how does barry become the flash in this au you ask? his neighbours have a methlab in their communal basement. next question)#this au is also so much funnier if they all think everyone is so much older than them #batman revealing his identity just leads to flash going 'youre 22? i thought you were like 40'#'WHAT THE FUCK WOULD MAKE YOU THINK THAT?'#'YOU HAVE THREE KIDS'#'SO..?#dc #dcu #dc comics #batman #green arrow #superman #wonder woman #justice league #the justice league #jla #dc incorrect quotes #bruce wayne #oliver queen #clark kent #diana prince #fave

4K notes · View notes

chronicbatfictioner · 3 years

Text

Exchanges and Compromises - Chapter 19

The third time Dick sneezed as he went by the kitchen, he decided to take action. Enough is enough. But he definitely was not prepared for what he would get a faceful of when he opened the kitchen door.

"Too much chili! Abort, abort! This is not a drill!" he choked as he closed the inner door and darted to the back door, opened it, and inhaled fresh air. "Good god, it's lethal in there!" he exclaimed.

"What even..." Damian muttered. "Grayson, there are only two ounces of chili in that Baiwang!"

"Is that why Alfred and Jason are wearing gas masks?" Dick demanded.

"This is to prevent our breath to get into the food, Richard. And they're just masks - paper masks. I can still smell the chili and all."

"What's a baiwang?" Dick asked curiously.

"Blood pudding," Alfred replied. "I must say, it is a... rather unique dish."

"Is it too late to be vegan, now?" Dick knew his face must have turned green. But Jason rolled his eyes.

"It's technically a kind of vegetarian, except for the goat blood. Do you know how hard it is to get blood around here? We had to go to a slaughterhouse, 'fer cryin' out loud. And now you're gonna insult my cooking??"

"'Technically', 'a kind of' bloody," Dick observed the pot that Jason was stirring from a respectable distance. "...those aren't likely things a TV chef would use to describe their creation..."

"It shall be a sort of soup, and the red didn't come from the blood. In fact, cooked blood would look like meat, dark colored," Damian explained. "Mother loved this..." he continued and stopped abruptly.

Dick immediately regretted all the nasty words he has said, and swallowed the rest that he hasn't said. "I'm..."

Damian, however, shook himself out of his melancholy quickly and added. "I requested Todd to make it, and it appeared that father is aware of it being my mother's favorite as well. And its cooking method. He promised he shall take grandfather and grandmother - as well as the brute - out of the house until we are done."

The sneezing from outside the kitchen broke their reverie. "Goodness gracious! How much chili is in progress here?" Tim squawked indignantly. "Now I know what you mean by lethal, Damian..."

"Imagine waking up from a night shift to that..." Dick grumbled, still.

"Seriously, you two are the whitest people to ever white." Jason scowled at them, paused, and glared at Dick pointedly. "...and you're not even white to begin with!"

"Hey, I might have Romani blood, but I was raised in the Owl's nest and they're full of white people!" Dick protested.

"Seriously, though, don't forget to leave some for my aunt Dinah. She loves spicy food." Tim hinted. "I reminded you of that already, haven't I?"

"You did, and will do, you hear that, brat? I'm gonna set aside a portion for a Ms Dinah Drake, the nice lady who likes spicy food." Jason told Damian. The latter scowled.

"You are trying to bribe her, are you not, Todd?" Damian retorted.

"Bribe her over what--" Jason started, but Dick leaped over the kitchen counter and turned Tim around and dragged him outside.

"How about you accompany me for some fresh air here, Timbers? Feels like my lungs are on fire!" he chirped. Kind of. He was thankful, though, that he'd turned Tim just in time for the kid to spin-sneezed and missed the pot by several inches. "See? I'm not the only one..." he added, waving to Jason's grumbled 'thanks for not sneezing into my baiwang, derp!'

Outside, once he was sure he was out of hearing range of those in the kitchen, Tim groaned out loud and slumped to the ground. "Oh I'm so screwed..."

Could be incongruous, could be case-related; but Dick's gut feelings said something else. "Well, I dunno, try scrubbing up nice and you could still get..." he wiggled his eyebrows and grinned mischievously.

Tim threw him a dirty look, and Dick mentally patted himself on the back. "What-ever." he snarled at Dick.

"Oh come on, Timmy! It's not like anyone would be mad if you're mad crushin' on him!" Dick finally started to laugh. "Your denial is... cute. But I think someone like him would want a direct proposal."

"Annnd... I'm officially lost. I don't know what you're talking about." Tim replied, straight-faced. But Dick has read enough people in his life to know a tell when he saw one.

"About six-two, two hundred pounds give or take, a whole load of muscle enough to bring down a pair of oak doors if necessary, black hair, blue-green eyes-- need I go on?" Dick hinted.

"What about that-- that sounds like Bruce, you know."

"Bruce Wayne has blue eyes. Not blue-green. Oh, wait, lemme make it exotic-like, teal-colored eyes..."

"I'm seriously thinking about murdering you and dump your body to the Gotham harbor, but then I worry for the other mutated harbor residents if they have to face your ghost."

Dick laughed out loud. "Oooh... kitten is crushin' hard! Look, lethal gas notwithstanding, we're doing alright. Come back by like, seven tonight, bring a bottle of good red or white wine, and dress up a little, but no suit. Just like it said in Alfred's pretty invitation. If it'll make you feel better, we all get the same invitation - in spite of us living here and all. So..."

"Remind me why we're doing this again?"

"So you can eventually have a real date with--" Dick chortled as he dodged a handful of compost Tim threw at him.

#Batless!AU #JayTim #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #Dick Grayson #Damian Wayne #Alfred Pennyworth #stray!tim #Talon!Dick #RedGhost!Jason #Birds of Prey

21 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 3 years

Text

Blacksad: Arctic Nation Review: Digging Two Graves

Welcome you beautiful technicolor rainbow. And today I continue my black History Month coverage, this time with one that was suggested by Kev, my patreon on patreon and the blog’s biggest supporter, who sent me a bunch of things I could review for Black History month and, loving this comic and feeling given the events of last year with George Floyd that have had rightful shockwaves ever since, it was perfect.

For those needing a refresher Blacksad is a spanish produced french released comic series about John Blacksad, a grim private detective in a 1950′s set world full of anthromphized animals. It has gorgeous art, endless atmosphere and utterly captivating stories. Last month I covered the first story, Somewhere in the Shadows, since this one was only number two and I could track the series evolution better, and I loved the series and could make room on the schedule so there was no real reason NOT to do it. And since i covered most of the series background that time, I can dive in quicker to this one. So join me under the cut to see how the series evolves and to see a black cat take on white supremacists with the help of a smelly weasel.

First things first.. the cover, which is from the original version and was lovingly reprinted in my copy, is goregous and simple: John grimly and camly carrying a scared child through a bilzzard past the wreckage of a plane. It’s instantly eye catching, our black furred hero in a bilzzard of white.. and also serves as a great metaphor for a story dealing with white suprmacy as well as our hero trying to find the child he’s trying to keep safe on the cover. It’s just perfect.

We open in the Line, a city in the arctic, with Blacksad morosely narrating how one day he’ll write his memoirs, as he figures they’ll sell well given the public’s grim fascination with murder. We soon find out why tha’ts on his mind as the comic “pans out”... to show a black bird with a long neck horrifcally and publicly hung in a hate crime. It’s an utterly ghastly sight I will not be sharing, but needless to say it sets the tone and the setting in one horrific image.

John’s interuptted though by the introduction of Weekly. Weekly is a local journalist who true to his name, only takes a bath once a week and immidetly pisses off john by being nosey, assuming john is also a journalist and casually remaking about this horror show being a hate crime. Despite this terrible first impression.. Weekly goes on to be John’s best friend and sidekick, providing some levity in his grim world for the audience, while as we’ll soon see being FAR more useful and competent than his demeanor and lack of hygine lets on.

For now though, John has to go meet his client: Miss Grey, a schoolteacher whose hired John to find a missing girl, Kaylie, one of her students. Those around the neighborhood are relcutant to look into it, including Kayle and the police, who as we’ll learn very soon are white suprmacists, simply blame it on the Local Black Claws gang. Miss Grey also fills us in on the line’s backstory: it was once a propserous suburban place.. until the local plane plant closed down, leading to a rise in crime and unemployment with the place slowly but surely falling into decay. Despite this she’s determined to stay and fight.. and John is touched by her noblility and tells her he will do everything he can. And while that’s a natural thing to tell your client.. it feels genuine, that John senses this woman’s deep resolute will to keep going, and feels for her as the ONE PERSON who cares a small child went missing and isn’t either ignoring it or simply being a racist dickhead about it. John may hide it under lairs of cynsim and grumpus... but he’s good man and as we see he’ll go to hell and back to do the right thing.

We soon properly meet the titular Arctic Nation... who are as you would expect, a white suprmacist group, calling yesterday’s lynching a necssary thing and spouting your usual horrifying rhetoric about a white world and stuff. The Arctic Nation are also made up almost entirely of Arctic Animals.. and honeslty that’s a way to do a white supermacy metaphor I never thought of, simply having the fur be black and white, and using the fact most arctic animals are by nature predators to give us some naturally intimdating looking antagonists. One of them also is clealry not Happy John’s around, nor that John rather than be afraid or look nervous in the slightest... is simply pissed as he should be and simply dosen’t give a shit.. and given assholes like this love attention and pissing people off, it probably makes him even madder. Good.

John runs into Weekly again, and while still not happy to see him, Weekly is nothing but friendly and offers peace and a warm drink in a cold land.. and John takes him up on it noting in narration that since they are clear outsiders here... why not? Any port in a storm and given the blizzard of white supramcey just outside, John can’t help but take refuge in a diner. There’s also a really nice touch in their drinks with John having a simple .. alchohol ( I don’t drink sue me) and Weekly having something called a burobon mlikshake . Weekly outlines that the Line is about to explode with racial tension with two diffrent suprmacist groups: The arctic nation , who he freely and rightly mocks and the aformentioned black claws.

Before they can continue though two of the goons from outside come in and harass an old black bird at the counter, saying can’t he read the sign.. before he’s revealed to be blind. They confront John next... who gloriously takes NONE of thier shit, wirly pointing to his patch of white fur, which indicates him as mixed race in this unverse and says does this count.

The racist asshole dosen’t take the hint that maybe this isn’t going to work and tries provoking john by threatning ot turn him into a coat.. and john insults his, and his whiteness and we cut over to the head of the white suprmacist rally asking the owner to call the police, the owner only relcutantly agreeing when we see the supremacist asshole fly into the bar.

So naturally we next see our heroes in the office of Karup, the local police chief, polar bear and not even hiding it white suprmacist who talks proudly about his confederate saber on the wall and asks if John knows who it belonged to. His response is priceless.

Damn.. it takes balls of fucking platinum, on both of them, to be called into an unapolgetic white suprmacists office and roast him to his fucking face. It’s what we should all do granted but still, props to both of htem. it also shows Weekly, desipte being kinda sketchy.. is every bit as brave as his friend, and takes these fuckers every bit as seriously. That is to say they both KNOW their in danger.. they just don’t CARE, feeling rightly that simply cowtowing to Karup like he wants is not worth thieir damn time, and that he deserves no fear, no respect and nothing he wants. Just mockery for clinging to an outdated and horrific set of ideals like all white supremacists then and now. Karup is forced to let htem off with a warning as his wife shows up.. and Weekly wolf whistles at her because awesome he may be he is not a class act and this is still the 1950′s where that was okay for some reason.

We next catch up to John that night where he’s taking in a driving movie involving giant ants.

He’s naturally here not to take in a good b movie, nor is he being forced to watch it by mad scientests, but here to find Kaylie’s mother Dinah, who agrees to talk to him after her shift.. and John grabs a peak at her ass while she walks away.

Dinah has good reason for not calling the cops though... as she puts it, she has no faith in white justice, and given the police chief had a fucking confderate flag in his office, and many STILL do today, yeah fair point. We also find out she used to work for Karup, so she knows damn well he won’t be helpful at best or use looking for as an excuse to lynch more innocent black men at worse. Of course John, while symaptehtic brings up something about Oldsmill, and gets rightfully slapped for it.

We next see John talking to weekly, who he’s just kind of accepted is his sidekick now. Their grocery trip is interupted by the claws, who show up, beat up the racist shopkeep.. and then harass our heroes, beating up weekly to get him to say their innocnet of the kidnapping. This however.. shows that while not AS bad as Karup, clearly.. their still not good people. Weekly GLADLY would’ve printed what they asked if they’d actually asked, and instead they beat him up to do so, and the person who did so dosen’t endear himself further by asking john “What happened to your snout brother?”. As with last time, his response is fucking perfect

He wisely backs off though is still confrontational about it. Weekly wonders if john really was going to shoot him, and my response is...

He absolutley would’ve. John asks if he’s really going to print that crap.. and of course Weekly is. That’s where the story is, and he points out he’ sa star reporter and his name apparently comes from coming in with a big story once a week. John isn’t amused.. but could use Weekly’s help and tell shim to keep an eye on Karup’s household for him since he can sneak in there and be far less notecable. And he agrees. I’ll go ahead and say it.. weekly was an invaluable addition to the story and a missing peace for Blacksad they needed: like robin to batman, he provides someone for him to talk to, a bit of badly needed levity, an dprovides blacksad an ally no matter the case or situation, and one who has every reason to help both because hteir friends.. and because it’ll get him a good story, and his background as a reporter gives good reason as to why he’s good at this.

Something else to note is John has also taken on more of a sarcastic streak as you can tell and I love it: instead of being grim all the time it gives a human touch to him.. while still making him utterly badass as he usually uses it to disarm an asshole flexing their power over him. It simply adds some shades to his already wonderful personality.

We finally meet Oldsmill who denies having anything to do with it, as the rumor is his heavily inbred son is Kaylee’s father and Oldsmill belivies it was karup since he was apparnetly married to a black woman once. Oldsmill is also a racist ass blaming the downturn in things on black people instead of you know, the plant closing. John has what he needed.. and has a good shot at oldsmill pointing out if he actually mixed races his son might of turne dout okay instead of a braindead inbred moron.

Weekly hides in the bushes at karups.. and soon finds his wife plowing the head of the arctic nation we met earlier, huk, behind his back. “I love this job!”.... dude.. no just.. no. Don’t watch people have rough sex that’s just.. no. But he found out more as tailing them afterwords, he found them at a table with Kaylee’s mom, clearly wanting her to keep quite for some reason with Dinah not wanting her to suffer. Naturally she’s John’s next stop.. but instead he finds her brutally murdered, her body twisted and him lamenting that someone so full of life.. has lost hers and even if he achieves his goal now.. Kaylee lost her mother. And involved in whatevers’ going on or not.. she clearly loved her kid and whatever she got caught up in she died.. simply for proioritzing her daughte’rs own saftey and wellbeing over it. She was also stabbed with what John suspects to be.. a saber. Hmmmm.

John has no proof.. but decides fuck it, and goes to confront Karup anyway. His wife speaks up against him as does Huk... but given Weekly told john about her taking Huk in through the back door yeah... that dosen’t go great. And after Choir practice, Karup beats the every loving piss out of Huk for it, and tells him before that that, now weekly's’ actually printed the story he said he was going to, it’s open season on him and blacksad.

So unsuprisingly, Blacksad suspects he’s been kidnapped when we catch up with John and interogrates the blind bird from earlier, whose trying to sell weekly’s camera, and successfully batman’s him into taking him to where Weekly is. Menawhile Karup confronts his wife.. who mocks him and has no sympathy and accuses him of being a pedophile like everyone else has. He takes it badly and tells her to get out and to no one’s suprise.. has an arctic nation flag in his drawer. I do not get what this was supposed to prove as we know he’s a white suprmacist piece of shit and that previous scene with Huk showed that he’s directing the nation from beihind the scenes.

While the Bird brings john through and John laments his time as a vetran, we find their headed for a nation meeting, complete with Klan style robes.. and Karup getting ambusehd. someone having put bloody children’s clothes in his trunk. Karup is hunt and while he clearly IS innocent, given Huk both presented the evidence and let’s face it it was either him or Karup’s wife jezebel, and I have no sympahty because not being a pedophile does not make him any less of a horrible abusive piece of shit.

Someone we DO actually care if they live or die next is weekly, whose terrified, the defiance from earlier gone.. which is fair as he knows he’s about ot die and dosen’t know John.. is right there, revealed via his paws as he prepares weekly to escape and has infilrated the nation in the robes. John’s next action is also utterly badass as he SWINGS FROM THE NOOSE, KICKS OVER THE BURNING CROSS THE NATION SET UP.

Huk escapes and unsuprisingly is behind the kidnapping.. and the Magpie from earlier knew it and tires to stop him and gets shot. John kills one of the white suprmiacists and makes his wya out, finding Weekly, who escaped as john instructed and the two find the bird man.. is not dead and he takes htem to Kaylee. He dies in a really tearjerking scene, clearly senile and clearly talked into this.

Naturally the next day, John reveals via narration that the Line’s remaining police didn’t give a shit about what happened, a racist paper actively comended it as “how justice should go” and that Huk escaped... and naturally John isn’t going to let that shit slide down the glass. Huk however is dead when he finds him having gotten his but clealry this dosen’t quite satisfy john.

John listens to the song “Strange Fruit” while dressing up all fancy and looking damn good I must say. He’s preparing for a funeral and Weekly tries to help his pain.. by offering him the shots of Huk and Jeezebel.. only John spots something and tells weekly to get all he can on Karups first wife.

Turns out the funeral is Karups... and John confronts the widow who tries to brush him off.. before tearing her shirt open to reveal a black spot.. which while a neat reveal.. GOD that’s fucking creeptastic. Seriously while this story is moving, brilliant and all sorts of things i’ll gush about.. it has some REALLY creepy undertones at times with John’s treatment of Dinah, Weekly taking pornographic pictures of two people without their consent, and now this.. I mean it’s not exactly unsuual for the time but you may want to not make your heroes look like sex monsters is all i’m saying.

We finally get the full story: Dinah and Jezebel are Karups children the product of his first marriage that was geninely loving.. until Karup turned bitter and racist and upon finding out she was pregnant drove his wife out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter and left her to die. ...... sorry I was just fondly remembering him getting his neck snapped by the noose. Anywyays their mom did surivive long enough to give birth but the sheer pain of well.. everything collapsed on her and she eventually passed when they were young. Both sisters wanted revenge and since Jeez could pass for white, she married her own dad, and got some satstifactoin over not letting him touch her, and got Kaylee into the house. So she seduced Huk, even if clearly by the panel sleeping with that piece of shit greatly hurt Jez to do, and used him to set up the fake kidnapping scheme to frame Karup as a pedophile.

As for why Dinah died.. if it wasn’t obvious by now Huk did it not realizing Jez and Dinah were sisters and took Dinah’s udnerstandable worry about her daughter.. as concern she’d squeal. His death and who did it should be obvious and given he’s almost as big a piece of shit as karup, only barely avoiding that because his murder wasn’t his own PREGNANT wife. Jez assures John it’s all over and her mother and sister can rest in peace.. but John cuts through this with one simple fact: “What about Kaylee?” Sure Karup deserved it.. but going so far int heir revenge cost a girl her mom, and the weight of this finally hits Jez who merley collapses saying “i’m cold” knowing that in the end.. her revenge wasnt worth it. And really that’s the center of the story: Revenge.. and how it’s ultimately hollow. To quote Mr. Miyagi from the karate kid on revenge, as I feel it’s UTTERLY relevant to this story “You might as well dig two graves”. The sisters COULD’VE had a decent life on their own, living as who they were in spite of karup, leaving the line behind when they could and taking Kaylee with them. Instead? While Karup and Huk rightfully died and those deaths are a good thing.. the arctic nation shows no signs of slowing down and likely didn’t losoe EVERYONE in the factory fire, a child is orphaned, Jez wasted her life as someone she wasn’t to get revenge on a man who didn’t even know she existed. While two very bad men died.. it cost two other lives and a child’s innocence to do so.

So we close at Miss Greys, having taken Kaylee in for obvious reasons. John encourages Grey to keep going, that maybe with someone like her.. this region might get better. While the adults are lost... maybe the children can be better. Though John sadly looks at Kaylee, after she pelts week with a snowball, and i’ts clear from both of their faces the events haunt them. While john saved her.. he still couldn’t save Dinah. We end though on a very lovely scene: as John and Week prepare to get the hell out of dodge their job done, Weekly, seeing John’s very haunted by the events reveals the real reason behind his name: the boys only think he changes his underwear once a week. And this gets a hell of a laugh out of john... and ends a very dark story with a very grim resolution on a hopeful note: Things may of ended terribly.. but with the nation weak.. there’s some hope at least things might get better... and sometimes a little hope is all you need. It’s also a nice show of how far the two have come: From John really destesting week.. to the two being the close friends they’ll be from here on out, there for each other no matter what. And it really shows in the endings: Last album ended iwth John morosely sinking back into the shadows. Here while not much happier.. it ends with him at least.. not alone.. and with some hope things will get better. They have to.

Final Thoughts:

Arctic Nation is a masterpice. While the sexist comedy bits have not aged well the story is THROUGHLY relevant, a story of revenge, prejudice and standing up to prejudice, and after the last four years of having a president blantly favor white suprmacists and corrupt cops while things only got worse.. seeing John stand up to that flavor of monster with bravey, wit and most importantly no fear, was UTTERLY cathartic. It’s a captivating story that keeps you hooked the whole time.

And while on it’s own the story is very good and stands firm, as the second adventure for john.. it improves on somewhere in the shadows in every way except the art, which was already perfect last time and is just as excellent this time and is easily some of the best comic book art period. But the narrative is far more intresting this time going from a pretty standard noir setup to a fairly unique one as while “hero is stuck in a town where he’s an unwelcome outsider” isn’t new, having that blended with white supremacy is brilliant and provides an unyileding wave of tension over the story, as our hero is ONLY not lynched right away because his enimies are being careful and trying to appear resonable when their just bigoted bullies with delusions of grandeur like all whit esuprmacists. Our hero is not safe, he is not welcome, but he WILL NOT give up on a child whose been lost and needs his help. It’s a far more gripping setup and the payoffs including the awesome warehouse climax and the huge reveal at the end, all feel oh so worth it but the journey is never boring. THe additoin of Weekly was also easily the best move, as while he probably wasn’t intended to be permenant, his goofball demanour, skill beneath that, and great dynamic with John add some levity to the grim nature of blacksad’s world, and give him someone to work off of so we don’t get all the exposition via the narration, allowing it to breathe and come about when needed rather than be a constant presence. While Somewhere in the Shadows was good.. Arctic Nation is a masterpiece, and teh series would keep that level of quality and nuance from here on out.

I’ll be taking a break from blacksad for a while, so I’m genuinely not sure when i’ll be getting to red soul as I have other projects I deserpately need to get back to in april first, but i promise he’ll return some day. For now if you liked this review, follow me for more including weekly reviews of ducktales and amphibia, a lena sabrewing retrospective and if you really like this you can chip in a buck or two a month on patreon. The more contirbutions I get, the more likely i’ll hit my stretch goals and I have some pretty neat ones so check it out, there’s a link on my blog. And see you at the next rainbow.

#blacksad #john blacksad #arctic nation #weekly #comics #furry #anthro #noir #darkhorse comics #french comics #black lives matter #black history month

12 notes · View notes

darling-i-read-it · 4 years

Text

Proposal

Roman Sionis x reader

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: mentions of murder

Author’s Note: It has been a bit since I wrote for Roman but I liked how this one turned out so I hope you enjoy it babe!

Requested: by anon, Roman sionis proposing to reader please?

Summary: the request!

Genre: fluff

(not my gif) (me too roman)

“This has to be perfect. If it is anything less than perfect someone is going to die. Multiple people!” Roman screamed at Victor, messing with the fingertips of his gloves. Victor nodded, looking over at the people that they were passing.

“Everything will be perfect, boss, don’t stress.”

“It better be.”

Roman passed Victor and walked straight up to one of your close friends. She was on the phone, obviously talking to you by the stance she held and held up a finger to Roman as he approached.

“Yeah, just making sure you’ll be back by eightish? I don’t want Romans panties to be in a twist if you’re late, you know how he gets,” she was saying. Roman leaned forward to hear what you were saying back and he heard your bubbly laughter.

“Yeah, I’ll be back by eight, I’ll text both you and him before I come in so that you had adequate time to prepare me a good drink,” you joked but both Roman and your friend exchanged looks, wondering if you knew of the plans that were going down.

“Alright I’ll see you then babe,” she said and then hung up the phone.

“You’re sure she has no idea?” Roman sneered and she held up her hands, nodding.

“I haven’t let one word slip. She doesn’t seem like she knows.”

“You better hope she’s surprised when she comes in that door later or else I’ll have your he-”

“Boss!” Roman turned to Victor and quickly walked over to see what was wrong.

Roman was going to propose to you that night. He had gotten everybody in on it, the whole charade. Roman was a rather dramatic man and while he wanted his proposal to be intimate he also wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong so he had to make sure everyone was in place and prepared for you to say yes to him.

There were a few things around the club prepared as they opened that night, the effects of Gotham nightlife in full swing.

You climbed out of your car or rather Romans car that he had bought for you. Your driver got out as well, helping you up the stairs into the Black Mask Club. As promised you had texted both your friend and Roman that you were about to head in and then the whole club changed atmosphere.

“Hey Y/N!” Victor called. You turned around and caught sight of him, a smile coming to your face as you floated over to him.

“Hey Vic, have you seen my wonderful boyfriend?” you asked, looking over the large crowd of people for the familiar face of Roman. You figured he would be doing business by the tables and would have at least come out to greet you but you couldn’t seem to find him which was a little off putting.

“Ah yeah, he’s backstage with the singers come on I’ll take you.” Dinah was on stage, singing some gorgeous ballad that you haven't heard her sing before. Victor shoved you before the stage.

“Didn’t you say that Romy was backstage?” you turned around and asked but Victor had disappeared in the crowd. You were confused, unsure why the hell Roman hadn’t just met you at the front like he did every night and why Victor had just left you in the crowd.

Dinah finished up her song and then you heard a large sound of clapping, just one person that was obviously beside a microphone. You saw Roman emerge from behind the curtain and give Dinah’s hand a kiss.

“That was wonderful birdie thank you,” he said with a smile. You raised an eyebrow as he grabbed the main microphone and caught your eye. The club began to quiet which it rarely did when it was this full in swing.

“Roman what are you doing up there?” you called but he pretended he didn’t hear you, just going on with whatever he was going to go on about.

“As most of you know, for a while now I’ve been seeing this wonderful, amazing, absoluetley fucking goregous girl Y/N here,” he said, all zazzy and up beat. You gave him a look and then he held out his hand to you. “Come here baby.” You gave him a look but decided it was probably best to just play along and took his hand, walking up the side steps onto the stage.

“Roman what-”

“Tonight is our anniversary. Three years ago, my darling killed someone for the first time. Don’t tell the cops that of course.” There was some laughter and you narrowed your gaze at him. “So I figured tonight was the best night to announce to the world that I want you to be mine. Only mine. For the rest of your life.”

When he got down on one knee the whole world seemed to stop. You covered your hand with your mouth, looking at the huge diamond he hadn’t gotten for your ring.

“Would you marry me?” he asked. You nodded, throwing your arms around him even though he only looked more cocky when you did that.

The club went wild, those too drunk to know what was going on going crazy and those who knew what was going on even crazier. You were on the ground together, him slipping the ring on your finger.

There was a new crime couple in town and you hear Harley and Joker had just broken up. Perfect timing.

Roman: @onebatch--twobatch @21stcenturywitchcraft

Ewan: @daphne-fandom-writing, @satanslov3r @records-and-stardust @broodybats @starwarsprequelfangirl @ah-callie @rai-strangebr @whyisgmora @fandxmnerd @ewanfuckingmcgregor @peterpstuff @stardancerluv

#roman sionis x reader #roman sionis imagines

115 notes · View notes

cinebration · 4 years

Text

Choose Where (Victor Zsasz x Reader) [Part 9]

Almost to the finish line!

Tagged: @im-just-one-of-the-avengers, @strangeaddiction1306, @vaaalexandra, @marvelenthusiast10, @obiorbenkenobi

Warnings: Violence, blood, language

Gif Source: rafikecoyote

Zsasz swept into the office, full of determined and relieved energy you felt palpably. “I’m getting the diamond.”

You were less pleased with the statement than you expected, though you were grateful Zsasz was more at ease.

“Harley Quinn called,” he added. “She’s got it.”

“I thought she had it in the first place?”

“She’s giving it up now.”

Unease slithered down your spine, sudden and cold. Swallowing thickly, you frowned.

To your surprise, Zsasz read the expression. His excitement waned. “What?”

You shook your head. “It’s nothing.”

He placed his hand on your shoulder, ducking his head to make eye contact with you. “Tell me.”

Sighing, you said, “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

He smiled. “It’ll be fine. Harley will hand it over, if she knows what’s good for her.”

You nodded, though you weren’t convinced. Zsasz squeezed your shoulder reassuringly and brushed a finger beneath your chin, forcing you to look at him again.

“I’ve gotta go,” he said. Sadistic glee gleamed in his dark eyes in anticipation of confronting Harley.

“Eyes on the back of your head,” you told him as he left.

He grinned.

Your guts twisted as the door shut behind him. Crawling in your own skin, you left the office and headed for the ladies’ room downstairs, hoping a quick splash of water would dispel the anxiety.

The bathroom door flung open, nearly smacking you in the face. Your hands slapped against the wood.

Dinah jumped, peered around the corner. “Shit. Sorry.”

She fidgeted as you told her not to worry. She nodded absentmindedly, glancing over her shoulder to look down the hall, one hand jammed deep in her jacket pocket.

You had only met Dinah a few times, mostly in the restroom. You both shared a hatred for Roman but suffered the unavoidable task of relying on his whims to survive. You had spoken with her enough to know something was wrong.

“Everything okay?” you asked.

She nodded curtly. “Have you seen Zsasz? We’re supposed to get something for Roman.”

“I’m guessing he went to get the car.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

You watched her hurry away. Foreboding pressed down on you, bowing your shoulders.

You made a decision.

Roman kept the cars out back. As Dinah climbed into the front seat of one, Zsasz in the passenger, you snuck behind one of the others and pulled the door open. Though Roman kept the cars unlocked, he kept the keys elsewhere.

Not a problem. Yanking out the wires beneath the steering wheel, you managed to get the engine started after a few tries. You were out of practice.

You nosed the car out and trailed after Zsasz and Dinah.

You should have known the swap would be at Amusement Mile. The only other place would’ve been ACE Chemicals, but given how she’d blown that up…

Clicking off the headlights, you ghosted to a stop a few car-lengths behind Zsasz and Dinah’s car and killed the engine.

The gaping maw of the Booby Trap’s facade made your stomach churn, the sightless eyes of the screaming woman staring into it.

Zsasz and Dinah disappeared through the mouth of the building.

Someone flew out the window.

You straightened, jolted by the sight. The body landed somewhere among the attraction’s thick hair.

The minutes ticked by as your heart thundered in your chest. You shifted in your seat, struggling to see through the thickening fog rolling in.

You’re just being paranoid, you told yourself. It wasn’t Zsasz. If anything, it was Harley.

A low rumble crept up behind you. Ducking in your seat, you watched as a helmeted person eased past on a black motorcycle. They dismounted and disappeared into the attraction.

Panic snaked beneath your skin. Struggling to keep it at bay, you fought the urge to leap out of the car and charge into the place. Or stand outside and scream a warning. You forced yourself to remain in your seat.

Ice shot down your spine, breath hitching in your chest.

You glanced up at the window of the attraction in time to see the body from earlier crawl back through it.

“Shit,” you hissed.

What to do? What to do?

You searched the glove compartment for anything you could use.

Nothing.

A deep roar built behind you. Ducking down again, you cursed as a cavalcade of vehicles drove past, lining up before the Booby Trap. Men in masks piled out in droves, surrounding a sleek vehicle ahead of them.

Roman stepped out of the car, his black mask in place.

Your heart fell into the pit of your stomach.

Everything happened fast. The men streamed in; a handful of women came out. Harley appeared distinctly, powder white in the darkness.

Roman and his men dragged a girl into his car, sped off.

Dinah screamed.

The windows shattered, raining gummy glass onto you. Your hands clapped over your ears as Dinah’s screech continued.

Harley zoomed past.

Dinah collapsed.

One of the other women jumped onto the motorcycle.

Silence.

You found yourself standing outside the car, your ears ringing. There was a woman leaning over Dinah. She didn’t notice you slink around the back of the attraction.

The funhouse design of the place grew more and more disturbing as you stepped over body after body. You ascended the wonky stairs to the room upstairs, your throat tightening. You opened the door.

A body lay facedown against an overturned sofa.

Dread drenched you in cold sweat. You slowly approached the body.

Bleached-blonde hair peeked out from underneath the body’s jacket. Just above the collar, a crossbow bolt stuck out of the body’s neck.

Undefinable emotions crashed over you. You found yourself on your knees beside Zsasz, staring down into his scarred face. His eyes were closed. You reached out, brushed the scars on his forehead.

Zsasz jolted, eyes flying open. You jumped, smothering a shriek.

Zsasz flailed, panicking as he felt for the bolt.

“It’s me,” you said, trying to keep him from pulling on the bolt.

His eyes rolled up. The moment he met your gaze, he stopped flailing. Panic in his eyes, he gripped your hand in a bruising grip.

“We’re gonna get you help,” you said, trying to keep the anxiety out of your voice. “Can you stand?”

Placing one hand flat on the floor, he pushed himself to his knees. You breathed a sigh of relief: no paralysis. Draping his arm over your shoulders, you maneuvered him to the door and down the stairs.

The woman and Dinah were gone.

You drove recklessly down the empty streets. Zsasz gripped your hand for dear life, his gaze on your face as he wheezed. Tremors wracked your body as the panic wreaked havoc on your nerves.

“Hold on,” you kept saying. “Don’t you fucking die.”

Screeching to a stop in front of Gotham General Hospital, you leapt out of the car, screaming bloody murder as you dragged Zsasz out of the passenger seat. Nurses took him out of your hands, wheeling him out of sight.

A third stopped you from following after them, paused as she looked at your face. “What happened to your ears?”

“What?” Touching your right ear, you discovered blood on your fingertips.

“Let’s get you fixed up.”

As the adrenaline subsided and the urge to scream out your agitation diminished, you felt yourself going numb.

The hours slogged by.

A nurse approached you two hours after sunrise. “Ma’am?”

You looked up, eyes grainy, a headache pounding at your temples from trying not to cry.

“He’s been out of surgery for a while. He should be waking up soon.”

Leaping to your feet, you raced to his room.

He looked helpless lying on the hospital bed. Thick gauze held packing in place on his neck. Your throat seized up.

Standing beside him, you laced your fingers through his.

He stirred, eyes fluttering open. They settled on you, hazy from the meds. He squeezed your hand.

Tears welled up in your eyes. Surprised, you wiped them away, wondering when you had cared enough about Zsasz to feel such overwhelming relief that he was alive.

He opened his mouth to speak.

“Conserve your strength,” you choked out. You knew he would be asking after Roman, about whom you had no news.

Instead, he reached up and placed his hand flat on your collarbone scar.

You stayed like that, holding up his arm when he couldn’t do it himself anymore.

Author’s Note: After some research, I discovered that crossbow bolts for the kind of pistol crossbow Huntress uses are roughly 6.5 inches (16.51 cm) in length. In the gif, it looks like 4–5 inches (10.16–12.7 cm) are sticking out of his neck, meaning only 2.5 inches max (6.35 cm) penetrated. The bolt also hit low in his neck, closer to his trap muscle. So, for the purpose of his fic, he had a good chance of survival.

#Victor Zsasz x Reader #Zsasz x reader #Victor Zsasz #Zsasz #Victor Zsasz imagine #zsasz imagine #Chris Messina #Chris Messina imagine #Roman Sionis #Ewan McGregor #birds of prey #bop #bop zsasz #birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn

123 notes · View notes

dilfdoctordoom · 4 years

Note

What do the JL think of Bette? Specifically Barry, Hal, Clark, Arthur, Ollie, and Diana

I very much love that you included two of my favourite characters here.

Barry:

Bette spent many of her formative years in Gotham, so you can bet your ass that this girl is ACAB

Now, I don’t know if you’ve been called a bastard by a thirteen-year-old in a red dress, but Barry Allen has

Life-altering experience

He spends an hour asking Bruce what he did wrong, why does Bat-Girl hate him? He hasn’t even spoken to her yet what could he have done

And Bruce just... the fun explanation that she hates all cops. Instantly. Oh you’re a CSI that must be fun, it doesn’t matter, it’s already on sight for you

Like, okay, in Gotham? Pretty much every cop is dirty. Gordon, Montoya & Bullock are the only ones that Bette knows aren’t & she still doesn’t really trust them

So she’s not gonna be particularly nice to Barry Allen & Bruce literally has to tell her to behave

(Kathy is very amused by it all)

There’s a moment where Barry thinks she just hates speedsters, but then she & Wally seem to be getting on great. Like, Kid Flash is awesome, cool fast guy. Flash is a cop & therefore she cannot trust him

Bat-Girl: I can respect you as a hero but I do not like you as a person

So, yeah, Barry’s, uh, iffy on her. He’s sure she’s a great hero & she seems nice to the others, but he’d really rather not work with her, even when she’s Flamebird/Hawkfire. Especially when she’s Flamebird/Hawkfire, then she’s got tasers & flamethrowers

Hal:

Very different from how she interacts with Barry

Mainly because she first meets Hal after Kathy’s died & she goes to Coast City as part of her whole ‘run away from her emotions’ thing

She’s always loved the beach & Coast is supposed to be so nice. Plus, they’ve got Green Lantern; they’re not gonna need her to suit up, are they?

And then there’s an incident with Manhunters & like, Hal’s got this handled, no doubt about it, but also, Bette is impulsive & has a massive hero complex & yes she does suit up & help out. She does it because it’s right, because she’s angry, just because

But Hal kinda freaks out? Because she’s a kid and yeah, that might fly in Gotham where Batman can keep an eye on her, but oh god, what if he was fighting Sinestro? That’s low key terrifying to him, he doesn’t wanna put a kid in danger

He’s still good with kids. Like, that’s canon, he’s just good with them. So he & Bette do get along & after he gets over the initial ‘please do not fight mass murdering robots you need adult supervision & idk if I qualify for that’, they do actually spend time together!

Mainly because Hal isn’t too comfortable letting a teenage vigilante who just experienced a massive lost be alone & honestly? He’s right. Like, Kathy has just died & Bette threw herself into an extremely dangerous fight... red flags all around, my dudes

So they do work together while she’s in Coast. She only stays a few weeks before she moves on, but she does kinda like Green Lantern?

And the feeling’s mutual. They don’t really keep in contact but Hal keeps an eye on the news to make sure she’s okay & not, uh, dead

They don’t actually meet face to face until a dumb Justice League party years later & then they discover that Bruce finds Hal annoying... he finds the concept of Bette & Hal even being acquaintances annoying... he’s given them the ultimate weapon. Bruce Wayne goes grey earlier and it’s because Hal & Bette spend an entire night pretending that they went on a massive space adventure, full of danger & peril, solely to drive up his blood pressure

Hal doesn’t look into her identity all that much, but thinks she’s fun. Anyone who annoys Bruce for fun is cool in his book

(And I know this is supposed to focus on his feelings about her but consider: Bette meets the Green Lantern of Coast City & he lets her stay in his shitty rundown apartment. Everything that can go wrong for him seems to, but he’s still there, making jokes and saving people and doing the right thing. His willpower keeps him going, even on the darkest of nights and maybe, just maybe, Bette’s stubbornness picked up a little bit of inspiration for somebody along the way)

(And maybe, maybe, she joins the fight against Parallax and realizes just how far her heroes can fall)

Clark:

Um, well, I absolutely headcanon that Clark gave Bette the name Flamebird. Like, told her the story, made a series of not-so-subtle mentions that she should take up the name...

So, yes, Clark knows Bette

She’s Bruce’s cousin, after all, and he’s his best friend. Of course, their paths would cross, especially with how often Clark seemed to work with Batman & Robin when they first started out

He’s worked with her a lot when she’s Bat-Girl & every single time, Bette is starstruck because oh my god, that’s Superman, she’s talking to Superman, she’s working with Superman

He tells her the legend of Nightwing & Flamebird when she’s a kid & she loves the concept of Flamebird. She’s only twelve at the time, but something about it clicks with her

And when she gives up on being Bat-Girl, but is still determined to be a hero, he suggests Flamebird

(Bette absolutely tears up at this)

They don’t really work together when she gets older, except on big, world ending disasters that require the entire Justice League’s attention, but he still sends her one of Ma Kent’s apple pies for the holidays

Clark’s just the cool uncle from when was younger

She stills freaks out a little every time he talks to her, though

She’s never gonna get over knowing Superman

Arthur:

It took me a while to think about this but, yes, Arthur likes Bette

Mainly because Bette is a friend of La’gaan’s. That’s pretty much how he knows her

He doesn’t even know she’s a part of the Batfamily for years, because she’s always seen with the Titans

So, like, he doesn’t really know her that much, but she’s a good friend to one of his sidekicks & La’gaan’s already made passing mentions to crashing at her & Gar’s place, so. Yeah. She got Aquaman’s seal of approval

Though Arthur is always gonna be entertained by how much teasing Flamebird is allowed to get away with. Most of the League may not be aware of her Special Cousin Privilages, he isn’t either, but it’s absolutely hilarious to see her tear into Batman at random

11/10, good friend to La’gaan, very entertaining. Would be better if she could keep a goldfish alive

Ollie:

Okay, so, Ollie is, like, shown to be nicer to the younger heroes, Kyle excluded because he’s dating his son, so she’s gonna be nice to her. Or, at least, Ollie nice. Hm.

He thinks she’s way too small when she first starts out because even when she’s eleven, Bette still looks like she’s nine, but she’s got two heroes looking out for her & with a kid sidekick of his own, he’s not in a place to judge

Aside from one poor team-up between Green Arrow & Speedy and Batwoman & Bat-Girl, where Ollie & Kathy absolutely butted heads, oh my god, they’d hate each other, he didn’t see much of her. He works in Star, she works in Gotham, when are their paths gonna cross

While she works less with most Leaguers the older she gets, she actually ends up working more with Ollie when she’s older

Mainly ‘cause she’s friends with Roy & Cass may be friends with Connor, but that doesn’t mean she can drive so sometimes she’ll get Bette to bring her to Star

Which is honestly what Ollie knows her most as: Batgirl’s older sister who’ll lend a hand whenever she’s in Star

She’s good with kids, efficient & a little showy, but he really can’t judge that last part. Got Roy & Dinah’s stamp of approval, though, & that goes a long way with him

They never, like, exclusively work together, but she’s good to call on in an emergency

He did do a double take when she called Deathstroke ‘uncle’ though because... well, look, at Flamebird. Now look at Deathstroke. Do you see his confusion? It only grows when Slade lets out the most exasperated sigh, mutters something about how he wishes he could kill her without Addie getting mad, and then Bette sticks her tongue out to him & makes some joke about the shitshow he married into

Well. At least his family will never involve Deathstroke

Diana:

Diana gave Bette the shovel talk

This is when DonnaBette is happening & close to figuring out each other’s identities & probably the biggest hint for Bette is Wonder Woman flying down to tell her that if she breaks Wonder Girl’s heart, she’ll have her to answer to

So. Diana’s first impression of Bette is Flamebird having an anerysm on a rooftop in Gotham because she just realized she’s dating Wonder Girl

The absolute dumbassary of DonnaBette, unparalled

Diana likes Bette, thinks she’s probably a great person, but it is her legal job as Donna’s big sister to make it clear that if anything happens to her baby sister, it means war

They end up meeting later, after Donna & Bette have had their mutual break-up, when Diana is working with Kate & Bette is still unable to form a full sentence. Wonder Woman oh my god, oh my god, her brain doesn’t work that’s actual literal Wonder Woman oh my go-

Bruce did later let it slip that after the Maxwell Lord incident, Bette was 100% on Wonder Woman’s side, which she honestly didn’t expect, but eh. Bette’s not as big on the whole no killing as her cousin

Diana mainly knows Bette in the capacity of her being Donna’s girlfriend

Definitely prefers her to some of Donna’s other partners ie Terry because I don’t csre what anyone says, that relationship was trash & I will not pretend that miss Diana Prince was okay with her nineteen-year-old sister dating a divorcee in his thirties that was also her professor

#bette kane #q & a #this is bad but it took me forever so idc

13 notes · View notes

queenofgotham800 · 4 years

Note

can u do a victor zsasz x reader where she’s with him when he dies and it’s really angsty and it’s the first time he tells her he loves her?

Last Words

(Victor Zsasz x Reader)

Warnings: Gramatical Errors, Death, Blood, Angst, Swearing

Summary: You are going on mission to save Victor Zsasz and you will do everything to save him. But maybe he will save you.

You two met on mission, he was working for his boss and you for yours. You were pointing guns at eachother, but that's just how friendship starts in Gotham, right? And that special friendship was growing into something more. The looks which he gave you through the time, that you were together outside, they weren't just about friendship. Neither of you never said to eachother words of love. Untill this day, you didn't knew why...

Being mercenary in Gotham was your everyday job and you had a big reputation becouse of it. But you wanted to leave the city as fast as you could. But there was problem. It wasn't much of a problem, just one hitman with scars all over his chest.

Your heart was beating fastly, after you recieved a call from Roman Sionis, who thought whole time you and Victor are together. He teased Victor about it a lot.

The actuall reason for which he called you was about your job.

"Listen to me, you have to kill Dinah Lance. I will pay and give you whatever you want," you heared him crying in background, and you looked on phone with frown.

"I will go after her, but I want to work for you," you said and Roman agreed.

You were already talking with Victor about this and both of you wanted to work more closely with eachother.

"One more thing.. Where is Victor?" you asked him before he managed to hang up the phone.

"He is with her. He could be in danger," Sionis said and hanged up. You still held the phone, your palms were sweating from stress. Two seconds later, you tightened grip around the phone and caught your head.

Your bag was ready, fulled with weapons and stuff.

"Just a minute Vic, I am gonna be there," you mumbled to yourself. You locked your doors, thinking if this is going to be the last time you were here.

Dinah Lance.. Just a plain, extraordinary singer.. Does she even know how to fight? You didn't knew. For you, she was never a threat, untill this day. Could she hurt Victor? Lost in thoughts, you wandered to your car.

You were afraid, second time in your life for someone else. At first, you didn't wanted to talk with Victor, becouse you were sure that one day, things could go bad way. You couldn't have friends or relationships, becouse you didn't risked just your life, but also lifes of your beloved. After your boyfriend Rick, who was murdered in front of you, you didn't let anyone near you.

But Victor's chockolate eyes convinced you otherwise.

And now, you stood in front of the circus tent. Armored, you were ready to enter. But you weren't there alone.

Silently, you sneaked inside looking for Victor.

He was right there, pointing gun at Dinah Lance with some kid. Harley Quinn was laying near them, probably paralyzed.

"Victor," you quietly gasped, acknowledging he is okay and he handled the situation well.

How you wished you would aproach him sooner in that moment.

Suddenly an arrow was shot to his neck and he tried to remove it. In the tent was now more people than you expected, but without thinking, you jumped to Victor, grabbed him and pushed to bathroom, closing and holding the doors.

"What the hell?" you could hear someone yelling outside, trying to open doors.

You ignored them, blocking doors with broom. Your weapons were outside and you both were trapped in small room.

Victor was breathing fastly, laying on ground, looking up, away from this world.

"Victor?" you whispered, holding his head.

"Yes?" he gasped, pulling out of his neck little arrow.

"Wait," you stopped him, patching up his wound fastly.

"We will have to aply new patch later. But this is good for now," you said, smiling at him.

"Why are you here?" he asked, glaring at you.

"Roman sent me," you were still denying your feelings, but you couldn't help yourself and hugged him.

Victor was surprised, but he hugged you back. After you parted he caught your cheeks and he was looking at you, speechless.

"I.. think.." he mumbled, "You are so beautifull."

You frowned your eyebrows, confused. He never told you this, untill this day. So you just smiled, leaning closer to him. That was the first and last kiss between you two.

He parted from you, when bullets came through the door, pulling you to ground, guarding you with his body. After that, it was quiet.

You were under his body feeling something sticky on you. It was blood. You thought they shot you, but when Victor smiled and told, "I love you (y/n)," you realized. With pain in heart and so many untold feelings you looked in his eyes filled with fear.

"I love you too Victor. You can't die.. Not now.." you silently cried, pulling him from you to look at his wounds. It was bad, he had at least 5 bullets in him.

You covered your mouth as tears were falling down from your eyes. Victor was looking on you, catching your hand. You were shaking, crying and you wanted to scream and kill whoever shot your love.

"Don't.. Cry.. I love you," he said, spilling blood from his mouth.

"I love you too," you whispered and caught his hand. He had no pulse.. He was dead...

"Victor.." you cried and felt how your phone beeped.

-I'll take care of it from now. -RBS- Roman sent you a text message.

-You are late.- you wrote him back and looked on Victor.

You felt hatred, anger, pain. You couldn't just sat there! But what could you do? Hoping that Harley Quinn, Dinah Lance and others are gone, you slowly opened doors. Second message beeped, you didn't even looked on the phone.

The room was empty. Covered with blood of your love, you went outside. There was no one. How long were you even upthere?

Sitting back into your car, you felt tears in eyes again. Victor was gone forever.

Memories with him were replaying in your brain. Things like when you were eating ice cream together. Or when you were dancing alone in Roman's club. When he smiled at you first time...

You looked on phone, checking messages from Roman.

-I'm sorry about that. If you want you can still work for me.- he wrote and you decided to call him.

You were taking break from your job. It was just too much for you to take.

But Roman wasn't picking up the phone.

Was he dead too?

3 years later

Birds were flying around you at Gotham cemetery, mostly crows. Victor used to call you crow on missions, since he couldn't call you by your name in front of enemies.

You changed your job, changed identity.. But you never forgot about Victor Zsasz. He was someone you couldn't forget.

After you left the cemetery, you pulled out from your car mask. When you put it on, deep feeling of anger was mixing with pain in your forever damaged heart.

It was time to find Harley Quinn and Birds of Prey. And nobody could stop you. Nobody could stop the Crow.

#birds of prey #victor zsasz #victor zsasz x oc #victor zsasz bop #victor zsasz imagine #victor zsasz x reader #victor zsasz fanfiction #Victor Zsasz x you

41 notes · View notes

lady-griffin · 4 years

Text

So, I just saw Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Really fun and very enjoyable. It’s a pretty great movie in my opinion and is just a fun “superhero” movie.

I feel like the word “fun” kind of undercuts this movie, but it really was fun and just a good film to watch.

I had a great time.

And I feel like you can tell this movie was clearly written and directed by women with women in mind. Which as a woman, I greatly enjoyed.

I’m sure this movie will probably rub some guys the wrong way, just because of that alone, but honestly it’s a good movie. I don’t think it alienates men or discourages them from watching it or enjoying it.

If you can’t enjoy this movie, because the characters aren’t “sexy” enough, then that’s on you.

And speaking of that. The Outfits.

Harley Queen and Black Canary have style, I want their clothes. Oh my god, do I want their clothes. Just so stylish and it works with who they are as characters.

Cassandra, Renee and Huntress have clothing that looks comfortable and works with their characters as well, and Renee and Cassandra’s clothes really makes them look like actual people and normal woman.

Which is nice! I like it when you have female characters who clearly are different and dress differently. It feels ridiculous when you have a show or movie or comic, where you're suppose to believe all these “very different” female characters all love wearing supery sexy stuff all the time.

I’m not against ladies dressing sexy, but it has to fit with the character and not just cause of the male gaze.

Also Roman/Black Mask gets some serious style points.

Bird of Prey is a fun, violent movie wear badass ladies beat and murder their way through Gotham City. Go and see it.

It comes highly recommended by this random internet chick.

Also, there isn’t an after-credit scene just a Harley Quinn voice over. The music is good in the credits, so if you want to stay, you can, but honestly you can skip it.

Spoilers Below

The movie does make a few choices that bug me. You know how in Suicide Squard, they spent like the first 30 minutes (maybe more) introducing characters.

This movie does that too. Kind of.

Honestly, now that I think about it, it does work a lot better here. Much better than I was initially thinking.

For one thing, the way the characters are introduced works with the plot and what’s happening and overall are pretty quick. For the main characters it’s fine. But Harley and her narrative kind of introduces everyone and their cousin.

But unlike Suicide Squad, this movie doesn’t stop everything to introduce a character with like a 2-3 minute character trailer/ad.

It’s not awul or anything, but I could’ve lived without it. It worked well and was humorous at times, but it did bug me to a certain degree.

And on that note, Harley has kind of Deadpool thing with her narration. I just think it was the wrong balance for this movie, it should’ve been in the movie either some more or some less and it probably would’ve worked better. It just seemed a bit off to me.

I kind of wished Harley’s narration was just in the beginning and in the end.

But let’s get into the characters

Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen Quinzel

If you enjoyed her in Suicide Squad, you will definitely enjoy her here. She’s fun, she’s wacky, she’s violent and crazy, and she does have a bit of a heart. She has a soft-spot for the kid.

It’s definitely Harley’s show. But I’m not mad at it. I think without Harley no way this movie (with the other characters) would’ve been greenlit. No way. But now, maybe...I’m certainly not oppose to the idea.

So while Margot Robbie is definitely making sure the spotlight is on Harley Quinn, the light does get shared.

Also her action scenes were so good, I mean she really gets to shine and it’s just awesome. Really amazing action scenes that really do the character justice I think, truly some amazing fight choregraophy. Just Excellent.

And honestly I just want a Gotham Sirens movie with her, Poison Ivy and Catwoman even more now.

Oh, and while not Bud and Lou, I love me some Bruce and Harley.

Black Canary/Dinah Lance

If anyone has watched Arrow and has been annoyed, frustrated, angry or sadden how that version Black Canary is not like Black Canary at all. Then I think you will love Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Canary.

I certainly did.

She’s not the star, but she has a nice on-going story of how she doesn’t want to follow in mother’s footsteps of being a dead hero. Basically she doesn’t want to get involved in anyone’s bullshit, but can’t help herself or is force to get involved.

They have a scene where they hammer that in a bit too hard. It was unnecessary, I felt like just by watching her scenes you get her story, without the details.

She has some amazing style. She wears a few suits and boy not only do I want her wardrobe but also goddamn, was she sexy. You can see why Zsasz was nervous about her stealing his boss/lover away.

I mean really the only negative thing I can say, is that she makes me hold a grudge against the Arrow show, because their version of Black Canary has got nothing on this one.

I would love to see more of her.

Huntress/ Helena Bertinelli

I greatly enjoy Huntress or the Crossbow Killer (loved that). I would say out of the other ladies (minus Harley obvi), she really does hold her own and her story while is as interconnected as everyone else’s to the main story, it just pops a bit more.

A badass assasin murdering mob bosses/ goons to avenge her family, who also happens to be one social awkward baby.

Loved that dichotomy. I laughed several times at that. Just great stuff.

It’s hard stricking the right balance in having a badass character and scenes/moments that undercut them for humor. And they struck it here. Really well done.

She was such a delight.

Really Mary-Elizabeth Winstead does such a great job as Huntress.

Other versions of her character don’t really seem to get the whole wanting to murder everyone who was responsible for her family’s death, in my opinion, because they also want her to be sexy. Here sexy isn’t really her thing and that’s more than okay with me.

The other birds think she’s a badass and I bet every other women (and hopefully some men) in the audience think so too.

I certainly want to see more of her, especially with Black Canary.

Also this Black Canary and Huntress and their dynamic come so close to ousting my favorite versions of them from Justice League: Unlimited. Which is a big compliment.

Renee Montoya

A cop with some serious issues, who maybe isn’t doing her best and probably has a drinking problem, but she’s trying okay. She’s trying.

She’s an intelligent detective who knows her shit and does not get the respect she deserves from her colleagues. Due to combination of both sexism and her own personal problems. Luckily for her she found some new colleages who have their own issues.

I certainly enjoyed that her problems at works seemed to be a combination of sexism at the work place, but not entirely, Renee is flawed. Wonderfully so.

Rosie Perez brings the more human element to this movie with her Renee and is a nice grounded contrast to the others. It’s also nice seeing her more grounded style of fighting.

Sometimes the scenes with her weren’t great. They sometimes felt forced, particulary the one with her and Canary and her trying to convince Canary to be like her mom. I could’ve lived without that.

That being said the movies has fun, pointing fun at her and basically saying she’s an 80s cop movie come to life. Which I liked.

Cassandra Cain

I like the character, don’t get me wrong, but this is not Cassandra Cain. And it does bother me as a huge Batman Comic fan. It just does.

I feel like they should’ve based her on some minor character from the comics or hell just created a new character. BTAS did that with Harley Quinn in 1992, so why the fuck not.

That would’ve worked so much better in my opinion. Sometimes rewriting a character works, here it feels odd. Because I don’t get why they decided to call this character Cassandra Cain.

Honestly, remove the Cain part from her name and you have a great little apprentice for Harley, who brings her own moxy to the table.

Ella Jay Basco does a great job holding her own as a screen partner against Margot Robbie. And she did such a good job protraying a street kid who thinks she can handle shit, to a scare kid who is way over head.

It was nice watching all these badass ladies keeping an eye out for Cassandra.

The characters reminds me a lot of Jade from Jackie Chan: Adventures. I mean both characters eat a valuable object and a bunch of bad people are willing to cut them open. Just saying.

If you’re a big fan of Cassandra Cain, I would suggest just ignoring the times they say her full name and try to think of her as a different character, named Cassandra.

Roman Sionis/ Black Mask

A murdering psychopath who thinks everyone and everything belongs to him. He’s power-hungry, cruel, violent and sadistic and is plenty messed up in the head. You see enough to get the picture and they don’t elaborate nor do they have to.

He wears some amazing clothes, by the way. I liked this version of the character a lot. Even when he’s being nice and friendly, you know that he can snap at any second (which he does). He does not have it together.

He doesn’t steal the show, but that’s a good thing. He’s a good villain, that allows our girls to be the perfect heroes/anti-heroes to his villany.

Victor Zsasz

Boy does he have it bad for Roman. He is very jealous and you know he wants to kill anyone who steals Roman’s attention away from him. A different kind of Zsasz, but enjoyable.

I love the rivalry between him and Black Canary, or what he percieves as a rivalry.

Female Empowerment/Some Reviews

So some reviews, I’ve seen basically say they don’t like this movie or have problem with it, because this kind of “female empowerment” has been done before and isn’t good or isn’t as good as it thinks it is.

And while, it’s not untrue that violent women willing to murder are not the greatest role models, I also am a bit annoyed at these reviews.

I mean, this movie does have a girl-power vibe to it without a doubt.

But it feels more like the message is --

Girl are Awesome. Here are some awesome ladies with varying degrees of violent tendacies, who are badass and who all should definitely know a therapist aside from Harley Quinn.

I don’t think girls have to violent to be badass, especially not in real-life, but I also don’t think female characters can’t be violent or angry. And 3 out of 5, weren’t starting anything or actively seeking violence at least not to the degree of the other two.

Also, it’s an R-Rated movie about a villainous comic book character...I mean, what were you expecting.

I understand the issue some people are having with this film, about women-empowerment and the celebration of violence and I don’t disagree with that.

In my opinion, the women-empowerment comes less from the violence and more from the fact that you had women as the center focus who were all pretty different and unique, and all of them had clear individual stories being told that created the plot of the movie.

For me, the movie was saying here are some awesome comic book characters who are also women, enjoy watching them beat and murder their way through Gotham City. Also enjoy them kicking several men in the balls, it’s quite fun.

I had great time with this movie.

So I hope people see it and I hope they have a good time.

#Birds of Prey #Harley Quinn #birds of prey and the emancipation of one harley quinn #birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn #Birds of Prey Spoilers #Black Canary #Huntress #Renee Montoya #Cassandra Cain #Dinah Lance #helena bertinelli #Harleen Quinzel

98 notes · View notes

moviemunchies · 4 years

Text

Birds of Prey Review

Comic book movies don’t have a great history with fight choreography.

Okay, yes, there are some spectacular fight scenes in Marvel movies, but seriously, how many of those are done with actual fight choreography? With actual actors or stunt people and not just CGI models? Because the most awesome fight scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are mostly CGI involving powers or lasers or the like. When it comes to actual hand-to-hand combat, Marvel movies are sorely lacking. I mean, yeah, those scenes exist, but they’re not good.

Take the fight in the street in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It’s full of close-ups and shaky cam, so you only have a vague idea of most of the moves they’re making. The first time it’s exciting to watch but every time afterward I remember thinking, “Wow, this fight scene sucks to watch.”

And to be clear, Marvel isn’t the only one to do this. All of Hollywood was doing it for about a decade, and DC movies did it too. The fight scenes in The Dark Knight don’t exactly show off choreography well either. I think that the comic book movie with the best fight choreography was, until this point, Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Until Birds of Prey that is.

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is a female-led comic book movie. Basically, because Margot Robbie’s got enough clout and her take on Harley Quinn was the most popular part of Suicide Squad, she helped put pressure on studio execs to get this movie made. So not only does it star Harley Quinn, it stars one of comics’ most well-known female superhero teams, the Birds of Prey. And it’s directed by a woman, Cathy Yan, which means that DC now has TWO released comic book movies starring and directed by women and Marvel hasn’t done that. Unless you count Captain Marvel, which had two directors, one of whom was a dude so I don’t really count that.

I’m not sayin’ anything, I’m just sayin’...

The Plot is a bit like this: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) broke up with the Joker. Thing is, her relationship with the Joker is part of what’s been keeping her alive, as no one would bother her as long as she’s attached to the clown who scares the stuffing out of everyone. At the top of the list is Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), aka Black Mask, a crime boss who runs most of Gotham’s underworld. Tangled up in this are Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a grizzled detective that’s building a case against Sionis, and Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollet-Bell), the singer at Sionis’s club who becomes his driver after he witnesses her beating the snot out of some crooks. Sionis is after a specific diamond which contains the secret to the Bertinelli crime family fortune, but that diamond gets jacked by a teen pickpocket named Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), and now everyone’s after her. And then there’s someone (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who is taking out prominent mobsters in Gotham City and everyone assumes is working for Sionis.

It’s a bit of a tangled Plot with several characters, and in truth it’s not helped by the fact that it’s told a bit out of order. Our narrator is Harley Quinn, and she tends to forget details, so she backs up and explains them in a way reminiscent of someone telling a story. And that makes sense, especially because Harley Quinn is explicitly an insane woman. But it can be a bit hard to follow who is doing what and when until it all converges about halfway through. It’s not a bad plot either, though its structure and shape kind of screws some of the characters in terms of screen time and character development.

Because, at its core, this is Harley Quinn’s movie. She gets the most screen time, narrates the story, and it’s mostly about her trying not to die. Which isn’t bad at all, but I would have liked to have seen more of Huntress, or watched Montoya solve more crimes, or Cassandra’s home life. There’s enough in the movie that you don’t feel like they’re ignored characters; they all have good scenes and distinct personalities, but I don’t think that they’re used to their full potential. It is slightly frustrating, because Harley Quinn has little to do with the comic book version of the Birds of Prey. But I can’t fault the film too much; Margot Robbie lobbied to have this film made, after all, and without her involvement as Harley I don’t know that it would have been greenlit.

What makes this movie stand out is that it’s got fantastic fight scenes. I mean, spectacular fight scenes. Chad Stahelski (as in, the guy who directed John Wick) was brought in to work on them, and it shows that they put a lot of work into them. They’re over-the-top, yes, and not like the gritty and rough action scenes you’d see in John Wick films; but they are glorious to watch and oh so much fun.

And this is a film where these sorts of scenes work. Part of what makes comic book movies not really conducive to great fight scenes is that they’re almost always about the fate of the world or some such thing; we don’t need kung fu, we need lasers and explosives and crap! But this is a film about taking on a crime lord who has a city in his pocket. It’s more low-key, and so of course we believe that a bunch of women who know how to kick ass can take down our villain and his minions.

Margot Robbie is loads of fun as Harley Quinn, which was expected I think, by most people who went to see this movie. As to the rest of the cast:

Ella Jay Basco injects a lot of likability in Cassandra Cain; she’s an in-name-only adaptation of the character, but despite that and being a pickpocket she shines as sort of innocent in the moral swamp that is Gotham City. Rosie Perez is a fantastic Montoya: a grizzled cop who wants to help but is limited by the system that rewards others for her work, and grew up watching way too many 80’s cop movies. Smollet-Bell does great work as Dinah Lance/Black Canary, a woman who wants to do the right thing but also knows that it’s not in her best interest. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does great with what she’s given, as the angry vigilante, but I really would have liked for her to have more to do.

As for our villains, Ewan McGregor is having a ball in this role. He’s a bit over-the-top and I think maybe it goes too far at times, but a terrible sleazy hate sink of a mob villain is the sort of antagonist a movie like this needs. And his right-hand man, Victor Zsasz, is played by Chris Messina with a lot more depth than I would have expected, but you still want to deck him because he’s a creep and a monster.

What makes this film really stand out though is that it feels like it was made by women. That’s a difficult statement to qualify, but watch the movie and you’ll see. There’s no objectifying shots of the camera lingering on cleavage or a woman’s rear end. The villains aren’t just violent mob criminals, they’re sexist creeps; and yeah, some of the behavior is exaggerated, but not all of it, and there’s a lot of problems that women deal with every day, like Montoya not getting credit for her work while her male partner did, and Sionis acting like the women in his club are there for his enjoyment, or no one taking Harley seriously unless she’s attached to a man everyone’s scared of. And hey, there’s a fight scene in which Harley throws Dinah a hair tie so that it doesn’t get in the way while she’s fighting.

But even if that all goes over your head, this is a great film. It has likable characters, fantastic fight scenes, and while there are some intense scenes (usually involving Sionis murdering or torturing people), it’s a fun movie. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying to pull a twist on its audience, play with your expectations, punish any of its lead characters, or deconstruct anything. It’s straightforward in what it wants to do and what kind of audience it wants to be shown to.

If you like comic book movies, or superhero, please check it out. If you love action scenes, you have to check it out. I know this movie might not appeal to everyone, but to those that it does, it’ll be fantabulous.

#Birds of Prey #Movie Munchies #Movie Reviews #Harley Quinn #Black Canary #Cassandra Cain #Renee Montoya #Huntress #Roman Sionis

46 notes · View notes

welcome-to-latveria · 4 years

Note

Hello, how's it going? I was hoping you could explain or compress the storyline of DCeased comics because they seem so genuinely interesting (( I saw your characterisation post it was awesome, you're awesome!!!)) and I don't know where to find the comics in my locality or even on internet ((it just says they are not available in my region :/ )) hope you have a good day, I love your blog!!!

Ahh thank you very much!!! And sure I'd love to explain DCeased for you!!!

(SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT)

Okay so basically there’s some virus infection thingy that turns people to zombies or whatever except it transfers from person to person via the internet (or just through a screen) and also from when an infected person bites someone else in typical zombie fashion.

When Superman sees this virus has infected Metropolis (which is where it started) he’s able to rush home to Lois, Jon and Damian (who was visiting) and destroy all the screens in the house to protect them. In the Batcave Bruce is protected by some firewall or something idk but Dick and Tim are elsewhere in the manor and are infected. Bruce fights them off to protect Alfred and is infected and the last page of the first issue is Dick taking a nice bite out of Bruce’s neck :/

Next issue and we see some other characters like Aquaman getting yeeted into the sea by zombies when he goes to check on a ship as well as Harley going to kill the Joker (supported by Ivy) but when she gets there he’s a zombie. Ollie, Dinah and Hal have gone camping together and Hal looks at his phone and is infected. Dinah kills Hal and his ring goes to her and she becomes a Green Lantern. Superman arrives just as this happens and then all of them are contacted over comms by Bruce (who has put himself in a Mr Freeze style suit to slow the infection) who tells them all what’s going on and how the virus is transmitted. Damian is also there to hear this and we get to the most emotional part of the issue where Damian hears Bruce break out the containment suit because the virus has fully taken over and:

(The transition from 'father' to 'dad' and Alfred cutting the transmission so Damian doesn't hear his dad die. Alfred having to kill his own son. Tears all around lads.)

Issue #3 and as if the last ending wasn't bad enough the opening to this issue murders me:

(Hasn't Alfred suffered enough??? And also Jon is SUCH a good friend. Tom Taylor really understands Jon & Damian's friendship and I love both of their portrayals in this series)

Some other stuff happens in this issue including showing Atlantis where Arthur and Garth have both been infected but Mera manages to escape. Harley also runs into infected Batwoman, Batgirl (Babs), Catwoman & Huntress but Harley survives. And as usual we get another emotional ending this time it's Clark having to kill his father Jonathan who had been infected:

(The 'but he was too late' and the 'he isn't here' bruh!!!)

In #4 a lot of stuff goes down but at least we get some good hugs:

After that it goes downhill quickly because Captain Atom has been infected and is gonna blow up so Superman & Wonder Woman have to fly his body up away from everyone but the blast still takes out Washington, Baltimore and Metropolis.

In #5 we learn that Dinah was able to save everyone who had gathered on top of the Daily Planet building (which is where most surviving heroes had gone) by creating a force field w/ her ring.

A couple days pass at the start of #5 in which they take down the internet & satellites and whatever else so that the only way the virus can spread is thru people. 2 sanctuaries r established - one on Themyscira & one in Gotham which is a huge jungle created by Ivy that nothing can penetrate. Then in the Fortress of Solitude they make a plan to build huge ships for everyone alive to leave Earth. A few weeks pass and they build the ships etc. AND THAT'S WHERE EVERYTHING GOES WRONG!! Martian Manhunter turns up (infected) and infects Barry. (When the series first started we learn Barry had isolated himself & Wally because they knew what would happen if they were infected i.e. they'd infect millions cos of their speed). Clark is forced to kill him in THE most horrific way ever which is basically him flying thru Barry's body. This causes Clark to also become infected and he goes to say goodbye to his family before he flies up into space to kill himself. However he doesn't get there in time and turns, so Wonder Woman goes to kill him w/ a Kryptonite sword along w/ Dinah & Cyborg. Wonder Woman gets infected and Superman escapes and follows the ships that r full of people who have left Earth (sidenote: Harley & Ivy choose to stay behind).

The result is that Jon has to face his father which he does w/ the intention he will die:

Luckily when he fights Clark the Green Lantern Corps arrive. Clark decides not to fight them and instead flies into the sun to 'drain' it meaning the solar system will die. The Guardians who arrived w/ the Green Lanterns decide that's probably best cos they can't destroy the virus but if the solar system freezes the virus will just lay dormant. They and the Corps move the ships of survivors into a new solar system.

Back on Earth, Wonder Woman has been trapped w/ her lasso by Cyborg who wants to know it there is a cure (note: everyone w/ the virus is dead and the virus is the one controlling their actions and speech). Wonder Woman tells Cyborg that he is the cure as the virus started w/ him (idk if I mentioned that cos its hard to explain but yh he was infected on Apokolips and dumped on Earth where it spread). As Cyborg realises he has to go to the ships and tell them, Wonder Woman escapes the lasso and decapitates him.

The story ends with the survivors looking out of their ship to see the new planet they will live in:

(This is only the main 6 issues of DCeased. You sent 2 asks tho so I'll reply to the 2nd one w/ what happens in the other series')

#if u wanna read it i DO reccomend piracy. readcomiconline.to is the best website for this 👀👀👀#anyways thx for asking cos i love this series a lot!!#dc #ask #dceased

9 notes · View notes

wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 4 years

Text

Psycho Analysis: Roman Sionis

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Birds of Prey is a fun, silly movie. So you’d expect a fun, silly villain for such a film, right? Well, we sort of get that… but this is an R-rated fun, silly movie, so the villain is going to cuss a lot and peel people’s faces off and be a raging psychopathic manchild. Roman Sionis, everybody!

Good old Roman Sionis, known to comic fans as Black Mask (he isn’t ever called that by anyone except Harley during his introduction, and he doesn’t even wear his mask until the end), is just an absolute raging lunatic. He gets mad at the drop of a hat, is creepily posessive of Dinah Lance, has a very close relationship with his murderous second-in-command Zsasz, and is just generally unpleasant to every single person who crosses his path.

But that’s par for the course for Roman Sionis, who is never really EVER portrayed as a charming, likable guy. The real question here is, is he an entertaining villain? Well he’s played by Ewan McGregor, what do YOU think?

Motivation/Goals: Roman is a relatively simple villain, but I think this works in his favor. You see, a big issue with Harley’s previous outing, Suicide Squad, is that the mission was way too high stakes despite the cast featuring a group of people who didn’t really have any powers beyond “fighting really good.” or “has weapon skills.” You’re telling me you’re gonna put Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang up against Enchantress and her army of ancient Aztec super-zombies? WHAT? Here, we have a street-level threat much more suited to Harley’s capabilities: Roman is just a very powerful gangster, and his goal in this movie is the simple “get this diamond that was stolen back to me so I can make fat stacks of cash.” That’s really all their needs to be here, a simple MacGuffin to drive along the plot to its various setpieces.

Performance: I love Ewan McGregor, so, really, he didn’t have to do much with the role of Roman Sionis to make him great. Still, this man went above and beyond despite having comparatively little screentime to Harley. Roman seems incapable of going a single sentence without cursing up a storm and is the epitome of a psychopathic manchild, tormenting people for the slightest of reasons. He forces a woman to strip and dance on one of his tables because she was laughing too loud when he was upset, and decides not to spare a girl’s life because she had a gross snot bubble on her face from sobbing while he had his crony Zsasz peel off her parents’ faces. As funny and hammy as he gets, the dude is a stone-cold ruthless bastard who has no line he won’t cross to get what he wants.

Final Fate: Cass hides a grenade on him and steals the ring, and then Harley kicks him off the pier while he panics. Before he even hits the water, BOOM! Never would I have expected to laugh out loud at the sight of Ewan McGregor being blown into bits, but this movie was just full of surprises.

Best Scene: I think that the honor has to go to his establishing character moment with Zsasz, as they cut off the faces of a family who crossed Roman, and then when Roman decides to spare the daughter, he notices snot on her face, says “Ew” like a petulant child, and has Zsasz cut her face off anyway. It’s a great way to establish that Roman is an awful human being no matter how you slice it, and firmly establishes that while, yes, he is a misogynist villain in a female-led blockbuster, his misogyny is just a tiny facet of how unabashedly terrible Roman is.

Final Thoughts & Score: So, this is gonna sound weird, but… Roman kinda reminded me of Justin Hammer. Hammer is a villain who I have greatly warmed to over time (mostly thanks to Nando V Movies on YouTube), to the point where I think he’s actually pretty funny but is held back from true greatness by the sloppy nature of Iron Man 2. The film was big, bloated, and didn’t know what to do with itself. And this film is KIND OF like that… but it knows what to do with Roman.

The movie has an undercurrent of female empowerment, so why not make the villain emblematic of things women have to overcome? Roman is creepy, misogynistic, and even a bit racist especially with his condescending actions towards Dinah. And he even throws a fit when she “betrays” him and decides to murder her. But the movie is smart so as to not make this hamfisted; the movie makes it entirely clear that even if you take away his misogynistic elements, Roman Sionis is just an utterly disgusting human being. Everything about him is just so hilariously vulgar and repulsive, but the way he’s performed helps lighten it and help keep him within the tone of the movie. He’s just dark enough and just hammy enough to work.

My big issues with Roman are mostly due to his utilization and the wasted potential, which is a problem that really hits a lot of stuff in Birds of Prey. He is great every time he’s onscreen, but his screentime is fairly limited, and then he dies at the end which robs him of any chance of coming back in the future as an antagonist. He actually functions great as a more grounded threat rather than some larger-than-life end of the world threat, but the fact he dies horribly – before even having his mask burned onto his face, even! - just kind of feels like a waste of a character. To be fair, Black Mask is not the best or most interesting Batman villain crime lord; we have the Penguin for that. But when you cast someone like Ewan McGregor and he’s clearly having a blast, it’s hard not to feel at least slightly bitter when he gets hilariously gibbed at the end.

Still, I can’t let Justin Hammer’s sacrifice go in vain; he walked so Roman could run, and Roman ran so that perhaps someday Hammer could sprint. Roman gets a nice, fat 8/10, which he definitely earns with the heaping helpings of ham he brings to the table, though he is held back at least a little by the wasted potential of his character.

But hey, if you want to talk about wasted potential…

Psycho Analysis: Victor Zsasz

I really like Victor Zsasz in this film. I really do. The angle they went with, the implied homosexuality, the actor… it’s all good stuff that helps make a disturbing character like Zsasz easier to swallow. But he gets hit with wasted potential harder than even Roman does.

Motivation/Goals: He’s Roman’s right-hand man, so basically his motivation is to do whatever Roman wants him to do. However, there is a bit of an implied thing between his boss and him; Zsasz seems undeniably irritated with the attention he lavishes on Dinah, and is very hands-on and affectionate with his boss. A lot of his later actions in the film and his cruelty towards Dinah does seem to stem from some place of anger towards her for taking Roman’s attention away from him.

Performance: I have to say, Chris Messina does a stellar job at portraying Zsasz as creepy and obsessive, and certainly showcases the fanatical loyalty he has towards Roman, making him something of a dark mirror to Harley’s former relationship with the Joker. I also appreciate that, despite not going with Zsasz’s original psychotic serial killer angle, they still made him a bloodthirsty psycho with a sort of nihilistic edge to him. Frankly, this might be the best possible take on a live-action Zsasz without things getting intensely uncomfortable.

Final Fate: This is probably the worst element of Zsasz: his death. Right before the climax he gets shot out of the blue by Huntress and then Harley just repeatedly stabs him with the arrow. And I have to make it clear here – Zsasz barely got to do anything. He never really poses any sort of physical threats to the heroines, never gets into a fight, and is never mentioned again after his death despite being very close to Roman (to the point where the two may have been lovers).

Final Thoughts & Score: As far as henchmen go, Zsasz is pretty solid conceptually. He’s established early on as a psychopathic enforcer of Roman’s gang, he has an eerie air to him, and he has a lot of elements from the comics you rarely see on Zsasz in other media, such as being blonde. Messina does a fantastic job at making the character seem like a competent killer in the employ of Roman.

But the key word is “seem,” because Zsasz frankly never lives up to his hype. Despite being introduced peeling the faces off of a family, he is just never utilized to his fullest extent. He’s kind of just there in a lot of scenes, and while he isn’t unmemorable or anything he never really does anything that makes him into a worthwhile addition to the franchise. He’s honestly just a glorified mook with a few interesting gimmicks to help set him apart.

I’ve gotta give him a 6/10. While he’s definitely a step above average, he’s really not anything amazing, mostly because the movie refuses to allow him to reach his full potential. He doesn’t have any great quotes, his most memorable scene really serves more to establish Roman than anything, and he is dumped and quickly forgotten right before the climax. He would easily be a 7 or 8 if the story treated him with a little more weight or respect, but he just ends up underwhelming despite having so much going for him, and it’s frankly a bit depressing. It’s just a very sad state of affairs for the character, especially when he managed to be more intimidating in the Arkham games despite the fact that he posed even less of a physical threat than he does here.

Well, while we’re here, let’s go over THAT Zsasz briefly.

Portrayed in the games by Danny Jacobs (who you may know as Sacha Baron Cohen's stand in on The Penguins of Madagascar. Yes, Zsasz and King Julien had the same voice actor.), Zsasz is never really a major antagonist and is, in all honesty, a pretty weak fighter; you can always take him down in one punch. The thing with Zsasz in the games, though, is that it’s always tricky to get to him, because he usually has hostages of some kind. In Arkham Asylum, he appears twice, and you need to use stealth to take him out before he kills his hostages. In City, he gets a much longer sidequest where he requires you to pick up ringing telephones and then glide to another one across the city within a time limit. Once you’ve listened to all of his messages, Batman finds out where his lair is, sneaks through it, and whoops his ass.

I certainly can’t say he’s the best villain in either game he appears in, but he’s definitely scary. His messages and game over screens are really freaky and unnerving, and the Riddler even requires you to find some of Zsasz’s work as parts of riddles… and by “work” I am of course referring to corpses posed in life-like positions. There’s also the horrifying little tidbit that in City, Zsasz actually does kill one of his hostages and there’s nothing that can be done about it; if you switch to detective mode in his lair, you can see a corpse at the bottom of the water in the room.

I think how creepy and intense he is really helps make him stand out among the more colorful characters in those games like Joker, Clayface, and Riddler, so I think giving him a nice 8/10 for his appearances is well-earned. I feel like Birds of Prey could have learned a few lessons from this portrayal; if they wanted to make him more creepy than physically intimidating, that could have worked well and it would have made his anti-climactic defeat a bit more plausible. Instead, they kind of tried this middle ground where he’s creepy enough and intimidating enough physically that it just feels like a letdown when he’s offed.

Oh yeah, did you know he appeared in Batman Begins? He had a brief cameo and didn’t do anything significant and looked like this:

Pretty sure he’d get a low score if he wasn’t just a quick little reference.

#Psycho Analysis #Roman Sionis #Birds of Prey #birds of prey (and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn)#Ewan McGregor #victor zsasz #Chris Messina #Danny Jacobs #Arkham series #Batman

28 notes · View notes

shining-red-diamond · 4 years

Text

Ch. 10: Something More Valuable

Cast of Characters//Ch. 1//Ch. 2//Ch. 3//Ch. 4//Ch. 5//Ch. 6//Ch. 7//Ch. 8//Ch. 9//Ch. 10//Ch. 11//Ch. 12//Ch. 13//Ch. 14//Ch. 15//Ch. 16//Ch. 17//Ch. 18//Ch. 19//Ch. 20//Ch. 21//Ch. 22//Ch. 23//Ch. 24//Ch. 25//Ch. 26//Ch. 27//Ch. 28 (coming soon)

Words: 1352

Pairing: OT8 x OCs, Hongjoong x Dahae

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: brief sensuality

A/N: Italics means they’re speaking Korean

Evening rolled around, and with everyone on different sides of the diamond situation Hongjoong had everyone eat with their significant others’, Yunho and Jongho eating alone. The crew typically ate together on the deck, but this was one of those rare occasions where they ate separately to avoid any heated arguments. Hongjoong wanted everyone to have a chance to cool down whenever everyone started taking sides. Although the crew had agreed not to argue in this situation, the captain wanted to avoid any slip-ups. He needed his crew focused on preparing for the quest. The necklace would be dealt with later.

It was Yunho’s turn to do the dishes that night. After each crewmember brought their plates and silverware, he immediately got to work.

When he was in the middle of rinsing the fourth or fifth plate, a hard knock sounded from the side of the ship. Yunho turned off the water, dried his hands on his apron, and left the kitchen to answer who was by the ship. He punched in the code for the door to open and found Dalia standing outside.

“Oh, hello, Yunho,” she greeting with a smile, her caramel skin glowing under the dim dock lights.

“Hi,” he answered as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Is the captain here?”

“Yes. Is something wrong?”

Dalia glanced behind her, and then looked back at him. She pulled a standard-sized, yellow envelope out of her jacket and handed it to him. “I could get fired for this, but I think you and the crew will need this.”

“What is it?” Yunho asked as he took the envelope. His hand lightly brushed hers, and he tried to blush.

“It’ll explain everything,” she replied. “But keep it safe. It’s a tool that will come in handy on your journey.”

Yunho tried to open the envelope, but Dalia stopped him. “Not here. Let the captain open it when you’re all alone.”

“Okay,” he nodded in agreement.

“I must go, but I’ll see you soon.” She pecked his cheek before dashing off into the night.

Dumbfounded with his heart picking up its pace, Yunho stood there frozen. He had just met the professor’s assistant yesterday, and he already had received a kiss from her. However, he didn’t know if should say he was in love with her. For all her knew, it could have been just the idea of having a pretty woman on his arm that sent his mind racing. Therefore, it could have been a crush.

Although he and the captain were raised by Hongjoong’s father, the boys were always taught to respect women and to cherish their future spouses as precious gemstones.

After finally regaining mobility, he closed the door and turned to the direction of the captain’s quarters.

Both Dahae and Hongjoong were silent as they busied themselves with their own tasks. Dahae was sitting in her chair by the coffee table and taking notes on what to do if certain animals attacked them in each location they would be exploring. The captain sat at his desk and was finalizing his route before calling San and Mingi to set it into the ship’s navigation system. The two typically made small talk as they jotted down their thoughts, but when Hongjoong was focused, a peep never escaped his lips. Some movements of word formations were there, but it was his way of talking to himself when the gears in his brain were turning.

A sudden knock on their door made them both jump.

“Who is it?” Hongjoong asked.

“Delivery for Kim Hong Joong,” Yunho’s voiced answered.

Dahae stood from her chair and went to the door. Once she opened it, a blushing and smiling Yunho stepped in, holding a yellow envelope in his hands.

“Are you okay?” Dahae asked.

“Y-Yeah,” the cook stuttered. “Uh…the p-professor’s assistant brought this.”

“Dalia?” She took the envelope and gave it to the captain, whom was now standing next to her.

“She didn’t tell me what was in it. She just said it would help us and to keep it safe.”

Hongjoong opened the flag and peaked inside. From what he could tell, it was a bunch of papers bound together with string.

“Alright,” he said. “Thanks, Yunho.”

The younger man bowed before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

“Is he okay?” Hongjoong asked as he placed the envelope on his desk.

Dahae chuckled as she moved closer to her fiancé. “I think when Dalia came by with whatever she brought, she must have kissed Yunho before leaving.”

Hongjoong met Dahae’a eye and smirked. “How could you tell?”

Her hand rested on his cheek. “Because you had a similar reaction when I first kissed you, baby.”

This made him chuckle at the memory. Back when it was just him, Yunho, and Dahae, he had invited her on the deck one evening to have a picnic under the stars. When they had finished their meal, he turned on Frank Sinatra for a slow dance. She had gotten caught up in the moment that she subconsciously pecked his cheek, and Hongjoong had turned into a blushing, giggly mess for about an hour afterwards.

Sliding his hands around Dahae’s waist, he whispered in her ear, “I think my kissing you skills have improved since, hm?”

“Have they now?” she giggled. “Show me then.”

Immediately, Hongjoong pressed his lips against Dahae’s in a passionate kiss. Her arms flew around his neck as their lips danced in a steady rhythm, and he pulled her closer to him. The kisses deepened, and Dahae felt her body heat rise. Her heart started racing when his lips trailed from hers down to the crook of her neck. Hongjoong returned to her lips, but before he could continue Dahae stopped him.

“Don’t you need to set the course for the ship?” she said.

“Right,” Hongjoong nodded.

Kissing her one last time, he let go, gathered his notes from his notes, and headed towards the door. Just before he walked out of the room, he turned back towards his fiancée and said with a wink, “We’ll continue when I get back, my love.”

“Since Italy is closest,” Hongjoong explained to the pilot and navigator, “we’ll start there. After that, we’ll head over to Egypt. Then we’ll head east to India, and then to New York. Colorado will be our last stop.”

San immediately used his compass and maps to calculate their path, and Mingi typed it into the autopilot system and set it to where he would drive the ship at a certain time the next morning.

“And I’ll talk to Dinah about setting up the weather protection for tonight and tomorrow,” Mingi added.

“Alright, you’re free to go,” the captain excused him. “I want to talk to you for a minute, San.”

Mingi left with his notebook full of pilot’s notes, and San stood straighter. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“How is Celestia feeling?” Hongjoong lowered his voice. “I don’t think Taeran meant to worry your wife about the whole necklace situation.”

“It’s okay,” San reassured with a forgiving smile. “She came and apologized after dinner. It’s just that Celestia and I lost a lot the night her family was murdered. All we had were some clothes, valuable items, and money her mother gave us. The necklace means a lot us but mostly her. It’s her way of feeling that she always has them with her.”

“I understand, but I want you two to know that we’re your family as well.”

“And we wholeheartedly appreciate it.”

San paused for a second, seemingly in thought. “I did discuss the matter with her again. She’s a little apprehensive about giving up the necklace, but if it’s a key to figuring this puzzle we’re all in then she’ll hand it over.”

Hongjoong just nodded. “Well, if we can, we’ll try to somehow get it back to you.”

San smiled. “Thank you, but if the baby comes before then, it won’t matter. Diamonds are beautiful, but it’s replaceable. Our little baby is much more precious to us.”

#foratiny #thekpopnetwork #atzinc #kpopuniversenet #kwritersworldnet #ateez #ateez x oc #ateez pirate au #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho

12 notes · View notes

msbeccieboo · 4 years

Text

Arrow 8x09 Brain Dump

It was...not all bad. I really want to like this. I love Mia, William and FTA. I want to enjoy BS like I did in S7. I want to see Dinah written consistently with any kind of actual character. Well, at least my love for FTA is still intact 😂😂

Mia

Kat was brilliant in this episode. Her leading lady really jumped out 😂😂 Her emotional moments hit the mark, and I think she juggled her post-Crisis new life with her old memories brilliantly.

We opened on her waking up in the Queen mansion(!), with a very yummy Diggle Jr in her bed, only it’s JJ not Connor 😱😱 She’s also surrounded by adorable family photos, showing that Oliver got his wish of her and William growing up together (and confirmation that the Olicity Love Cabin still existed!) Basically, she’s living the best life that Oliver could have wished for her, without him in it, of course 😭

Probably the most notable change in ‘new Mia’ (other than her being infinitely happier and living in a crime-free city) was her social poise. She’s been brought up in Oliver Queen’s old world, and is quite the socialite, only without any of the haughty frivolity that one might expect (I imagine we have Felicity for that 😍). She loves her life and her friends, and she defends them, especially in the face of Laurel, who seemingly does nothing but scoff at her lifestyle for the whole episode 😒 I loved her addressing the press!! That was pure Queen! Maybe the influence of a certain Aunt Thea?

Source: feilcityqueen

More below the cut…

Basically this Mia is smart and loving and happy, and Oliver gave her a warm and otherwise full life, save for finding her true purpose (which is gonna be vigilanteing, of course). So of course BS and Dinah rock up and upend it all 😂 I really liked how they made the returning of Mia’s memories a source of conflict, as well they should. It was so brutal to just return them with no preamble, to destroy what happiness Oliver had given back to her, just because, what? BS couldn’t complete her own fucking mission? (More of that later lol) Then Mia standing up to BS when she went as far as to mock Mia’s new world, just gave me life!!!

Anyway, with her memories restored, and bad guys to track down, of course Mia couldn’t resist her heroic calling and suited up, then proceeded to be the epic badass that we have grown to love.

Source: kathmcnamara

I loved seeing her struggle with her memories returning, and the guilt that they brought with them of not living up to Oliver’s legacy. At the same time, she appreciates what Oliver did for her, that all he wanted for his family and the city was to be safe and happy. She ultimately decides to remain the Green Arrow, taking up the guard of her city in her father’s memory, to protect the new world that he sacrificed himself to create.

Source: felicityqueen

We’d seen she’d developed her ‘street smarts’ in the flash-forwards, so I think she’ll end up bringing these together with her new social skills, and badass moves, and be an unstoppable force!! Hopefully that will include her old FTA team as well, and not just the two feathered ones 🙄

FTA/JJ

God this needed more FTA.

We got a small amount of William, more of JJ, what with him being Mia’s fiance (!!), and little more than fleeting glances of Zoe (!) and Connor. The disrespect!! 😂

William (who even knows his surname in this new life?) continues to hold my whole heart in his hands 😍😍

Source: oliverxfelicity

LOOK AT HIM!!!!💗💗💗

He seems to have been least affected in terms of his character, post-crisis. It’s implied that he’s running Smoak Tech, and that he and Mia grew up together and are basically each others’ ride-or-dies 😭😍😭

I truly hope if the show is picked up, that they increase the William content by a solid 1000% 😂 He brings so much heart and a certain humour and lightness, just like Felicity brought to Arrow, and Ben is such an amazing actor. The new show will need a William. BADLY. He really seems to have his shit together (in the very limited time we have seen him of course 😒), but I’m hoping that that doesn’t lead to Mia keeping her memories from him for long (although remembering who their Dad is, I’m guessing she could take a while 😂😂).

So JJ proposes to Mia at the beginning of the episode!!!! Apparently they are the love of each others lives here. Dig clearly learned from what Connor told him, and steered JJ away from becoming a murdering gangster...YAY! Although it seems that in doing so, our darling boy Connor ran into a few issues of his own 😫😫 It looks like there is no love lost between him and Mia, that he has been in and out of rehab, and is now somewhat of a bad boy 😏😏 But when they first lock eyes there is still definite history and heat there and, just HJJHDFVGDFK 🔥 BACKSTORY IS NEEDED!! Then at the end, JJ has his memories restored by scary-dude-in-cloak (who I was totally hoping would be Dig or Oliver tbh 😂), so I’m super interested to see how he copes with his dual memories!! So now Mia loves JJ, but knows he was evil and killed Zoe, and she hated Connor, but now remembers they had feelings for each other and that he is a beautiful soul, and all the shit is gonna hit the fan!!! I usually hate love triangles, but this is so exciting, with the good boy/bad boy switch up, and then the opposite memories being returned...YAAAAASSSS!! Although I’d like to make it clear that, whilst I’m going to enjoy the drama getting there, I am firmly in the SmoaknHawke end game camp!!

And as excited as I just got, all of this took up just about 5 mins of screen time 😫😫 It reminds me of what Arrow was lacking in its early episodes...heart and hope. They lucked into it with Felicity/Emily, but they have it here, ready and waiting, and are so far not using it.

Kat knows what’s what. This is the show we deserve.

Birds

There was a lot of bird action. Apparently in shaping a perfect future, Oliver saw fit that Mia never met BS or Dinah...this is why we stan 😂😂 Dinah has also seemingly been erased from the history books 😬, waking up after Oliver’s funeral (😒😭) 20 years in the future, so naturally becomes a bohemian, opens a bar and sings a lot. Cool, I’d probably do the same 😂😂 Laurel, it seems, went off to spend time with Sara, and has apparently become a solo time-traveller, trying to stop 2041 from becoming a really bad year. Righto.

Dinah was actually ok in this episode, if not hugely out of character, but that in itself has been inconsistent throughout the show, so here’s hoping that the zen-filled peacemaker that she was in this episode continues! Dinah’s new-found peace and bearability seemingly comes at the cost of Laurel being utterly awful. She rocked up in the future like Billy Big Bollocks with a huge chip on her shoulder, just sneering her way through the episode. She had such bitterness, disdain and anger directed towards Mia (and Dinah, at times) for no apparent reason, when they seemed to have somewhat bonded previously?! She spent the majority of the episode sauntering around looking down on everyone, portraying a bitchy-tomboy type, deeming anything vaguely typically feminine or not hard-moody-’badass’ as beneath her. This is not #girlpower. Fuck off.

Then we have that clusterfuck of a scene at the exhibition 🙈🙈 where BS tries to tell Mia that she used to date her Dad, before quickly correcting herself to “some version of him, anyway”, as if they were one and the same 🙄 Laurel’s continual need to imply that she knows, or has history with our Oliver is infuriating as hell. E2 Oliver died on the Gambit in his early 20s. Even if he was similar in character to E1 Oliver up until then, that person bears no likeness to the man he became. Her past with her ‘Ollie’ is entirely irrelevant to the man that was Mia’s father, who she barely even got to know at all save for a couple of episodes in S8. And not only the implication that she knew him, but then to actually try to trash him as well, to his kid?! All to push her idea that all versions of people are the same (which was refuted when JJ doesn’t even turn out to be behind the Deathstroke mask anyhow)? NO! At least Dinah and Mia were cringing along with us 😂

It’s just astounding, the turnaround they’ve managed with Laurel/BS. They already did the unthinkable in S7 and got a lot of people from this side of the fandom to empathise and warm to her, without pissing off her existing fans. I really did grow to like her in S7 (check my reviews, I still can’t believe it 😂), she was snarky, but not bitchy, and showed some heart and vulnerability. So it’s mind-blowing how they took all that growth and just obliterated it this season, and then even more so in this episode where she is just plain nasty and unlikeable.

I do think, however, that giving BS and Mia a tempestuous relationship from the off was a good idea, cos let’s face it, you can tell there is no love lost between them. But they could have made them clash in a better way than BS just being an arsehole to Mia for most of the episode. My best guess is her anger comes from Mia coming out of Crisis with a life untouched by violence, whilst her earth was still lost? (Was it? I can’t actually remember if E2 came back.) She can’t complete her self-appointed mission on her own and knows she needs Mia’s help to do it?? I don’t know. She had a lot to say about JJ supposedly being a ‘homicidal manic’...pot, kettle much?! She also seemed to find the notion of Mia initially wanting to just appreciate the peaceful life she had been given and not becoming a vigilante reprehensible, but why? BS is the one that needs to atone for past sins. Mia does not.

Stray thoughts

That cliffhanger!!! WHO TOOK OUR WILLIAM?!?!?!

The music was...not good. Especially during the fight scenes. Arrow was always so on-point with its score. I don’t understand how this can be so bad?! I did like hearing Mia’s theme in there, though, that was a nice tie-in the old flash-forwards.

Who is this Kevin that cheated on William? He must be destroyed!😡

Some of that future make-up was really something 😬😬 2040 is all about the severe/dead and unblended looks, apparently. The fashion was fabulous though!

The dialogue in the action scenes was soooo hammy.

Who is the mysterious, villainous “she”???

“Frack you!” and “I’m not interested in joining your Canary club” YAASS MIA 😂

William and Mia’s “pet rock” talk was super cute 😍

Oliver’s statue!! 😭😭😭

Hopes for the future, if series gets picked up:

Increased focus on Mia/FTA. We have such a fresh, interesting, diverse cast, with intertwined back stories ready to go for this show here already, waiting to be used. USE THEM.

A deadly outbreak of avian flu 😂🙊

Failing said outbreak...keep the birds in the background or MAKE THEM LIKEABLE. This is a chance for a clean slate!

I wanna see Papa Dig so bad. David had said we’d get to see 2040 Dig in Arrow, but looks like that isn’t going to happen now, and I’d just love to see how he is. I can also imagine David being entirely done, and not wanting to be a part of this, however, but a cheeky little cameo would be amazing 😂

SmoaknHawke to RISE 🔥🔥🔥

As it stands, I’ll watch if it goes to series, but for how long remains in question. I just know I cannot get on board with the faux feminist “heart/vulnerability/girly is ‘weak’! Let’s be hard/edgy/angry badasses and fight men and show the world we’re strong pow pow pow” narrative that BS in particular, but also the general tone of the show overall, is trying to portray. I really think that if the show is picked up that they should look to see what is working and what is falling flat on its arse. It’s in dire need of more heart and fewer birds imo, but we can have both, if they’d just write them as better people.

Thank you to the beautiful gif-makers 😘 Any uncredited gifs are mine.

💗💗💗

#Arrow 8x09 #Arrow #Arrow spoilers #Mia Smoak Queen #Green Arrow and the canaries #Arrow Season 8 #beccie's brain

36 notes · View notes