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whump-me · 6 months

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Whumptober Day 30: "Not much longer."

This is a standalone story in my original Mind Games universe, a modern-day sci-fi/fantasy thriller setting about ordinary humans with superhuman abilities and the people who want to use or destroy them. Full description in my Whumptober masterpost, which is linked in my pinned post.

This story contains: death whump, emotional whump, best friends, aftermath of torture, aftermath of interrogation, blood, broken bones

Words: 2800

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Isaac found James right in the cell the guard had said he was in. Isaac had needed to break two different bones to make the guard give up that information. He was glad it had turned out to be accurate. Otherwise, he might have gone back and broken a couple more.

James was here. That was where the good news ended.

He was a heap in the corner, a small sad pile of bloody fabric and bruised flesh. The bare cell—they hadn’t even given him a bed—smelled like old blood and new, as well as other bodily fluids that made Isaac’s stomach turn. Or maybe the sick feeling came from the odor of vomit, so thick Isaac could taste it.

The rough sound of James breathing through a broken nose was the only thing that told Isaac he was still alive.

The white tile floor was streaked with blood. Isaac left bloody footprints of his own on his way across the cell, but at least that wasn’t James’s blood but the blood of the people who had done this to him.

When he got close enough to see a small part of exactly what they had done to him, he drew in a sharp breath.

They must have figured out the fact that James needed to touch something in order to set it on fire. His hands were pulped, swollen, the dark purple-gray of old bruises. Not a single finger had kept its original shape. They were fat sausages twisted like balloon animals. His palms were misshapen blobs dangling from his wrists. Jagged red lines of infection crawled up his arms like they were trying to escape the worst of the damage.

Dried blood from his broken nose coated his the lower half of his face. Of course—they’d done that when he could no longer use his hands to wipe the blood away. One of his legs had too many bends in it. And everywhere on his body was a patchwork of red and purple and gray. They hadn’t left an inch of skin on bruised.

When Isaac crouched over him, he saw the other injuries—the ones that turned the roiling nausea into the slow, fierce heat of rage. He had a line of circular burn marks along one collarbone. Twin rings of electrical burns around his ankles—what had they done, wrapped him in wire and then shot a current through it? Someone had pulled out all the toenails on one foot. The sole of that foot was flayed raw, with blood and pus leaking from the open wound.

These injuries weren’t like what they had done to his hands—quick and panicked overkill to keep him from lighting them and everything around them on fire. They weren’t like the bruises, which could well have been delivered by a few bored guards looking for someone who couldn’t fight back. These were more systematic. They hadn’t just hurt him for fun. He had been interrogated.

But Isaac had already known that.

Still, seeing the plain evidence in front of him made him want to punch a wall, either that or curl up in the corner sobbing and never let up. He didn’t know which he wanted more.

He couldn’t afford to do either.

The first time he had met James, he had been crying. He’d been thirteen then, and still ashamed of being a crier. He had left that shame behind a long time ago. So he was the kind of guy who could tear up at a sappy song, or because someone had given him a sincere compliment, or because of a paragraph-long news story about a tragedy half a world away. So what? At least it meant he could still feel something. After everything he’d seen, he considered that a win.

But at fourteen, he’d been a long way away from that kind of enlightenment. You needed a thick layer of armor to get through being thirteen, and there was always some well-meaning adult waiting around the corner to tell him he didn’t have enough of it. So he had hidden in a closet on the third floor of the safehouse. There, he sobbed silently into his hands, willing his uncooperative body to just stop before someone got around to looking for him.

When the closet door had opened, a stranger had been standing on the other side—and not just a stranger, but a boy a couple of years older than him. Just about the last person he would have wanted to see him crying. But James had only sat down on the floor with him and asked if he wanted to talk. Never mind that they didn’t even know each other’s names.

And when Isaac said it was nothing—his parents were just a day late getting back from their latest mission, it had happened plenty of times before, it was fine, he was sure they were fine—James didn’t lecture him about how he should save his tears for something more important. And he didn’t try to tell him everything would be all right. He didn’t call him a crybaby or spit in his hair, either, which was about what he had grown to expect from boys James’s age.

He had sat with him in silence until Isaac’s tears had stopped.

Isaac hadn’t known it then, but James had lost his own parents just three days before. They weren’t dead—they had been taken to a PERI research lab, which was worse. James hadn’t even known about the Enhanced gene before PERI had come to his house. He hadn’t known there were other people out there with powers like his, let alone that his parents were two of them.

His parents had never told him why what they were hiding from, or why. They had never told him about the Psi Enhancement Research Initiative, and their mission to kill or control anyone with powers like theirs.

So James had understood Isaac worrying about his parents. He understood wanting to cry for them. He hadn’t told Isaac until much later, but he’d been jealous of Isaac that day. He had trained himself not to cry years ago, and it turned out he couldn’t get that ability back once it was gone. Even with his parents taken away to a fate worse than death, and him whisked away to safety too late by a group of strangers.

Isaac blinked away the memories, and the fresh tears that came with them. He shot a glance toward the open door. The guards would be coming soon. He didn’t have much time.

Moving James would worsen his injuries. But leaving him here would be worse. Isaac slid his arms under James’s wreck of a body as gently as he could. He winced as he felt bones moving under the skin in ways bones shouldn’t move.

James let out a soft moan of pain. He didn’t open his eyes.

“It’s okay,” Isaac murmured, even though nothing about this was okay. “It’s me. I’m here.”

He stood, James clutched to his chest. James was so light. How much weight had he lost in the mere two weeks he’d been gone? Had they fed him at all?

A shudder ran through James, like a full-body electric jolt. His eyes flew open. They were still the same startling blue as ever as they met Isaac’s.

He frowned in faint confusion. “Isaac?” he asked in a blurry voice. “Is that really you?”

“It’s me. I came to get you out of here.”

Instead of relief, James’s face creased in pain. “I… I told them things,” he whispered. His voice was threaded through with shame. “I held out as long as I could.”

Isaac already knew. He had known as soon as the PERI operatives had shown up at the safehouse in the dead of night, two vans full of them. There had been close to a dozen people in the safehouse that night. Three had made it out. Isaac was one of them.

“It’s okay,” Isaac murmured. “Don’t worry about that now.” He pulled James closer against him and hurried through the door.

It had been a strange sort of relief, watching the vans pull up in front of the safehouse, watching the gray-uniformed PERI operatives spill out. He’d been waiting for that moment for as long as he could remember. Other kids had had nightmares about the monster under the bed. He had woken screaming from dreams about PERI.

He’d been born to this life—literally, in the basement of a different safehouse, with his father missing and presumed dead after a mission. His mother had insisted his father would be the one to name him. He had gone nameless until a week later, when his father had stumbled through the door, bruised and bloodied and grinning in triumph, demanding to see his newborn son.

Isaac had grown up with that story. And all the implied fear that went with it.

His mother had been a telepath, and a strong one, which meant Isaac had never been able to get away with anything. His father had been able to see the history of any item by touching it, right back to the moment when it was made. They had met as children in a PERI operative training facility. By the time an Enhanced resistance group had rescued them, neither of them remember their old names from before they were abducted, or how to find their families. So the group had taken them in instead.

They had sworn they wouldn’t do to their son what PERI had done to them. They would let him have a childhood. They wouldn’t train him to fight. But when you grew up steeped in the fight, right back to the moment of your birth, it was impossible to imagine doing anything else.

James had taken the opposite path to the same endpoint. Before his parents were taken, he’d been aimless and adrift, without a sense of purpose. Which was exactly how a person should be at sixteen, Isaac thought, although he couldn’t imagine it himself. But just like there had always been someone waiting in the wings to tell Isaac he was too sensitive, there had been no shortage of people eager to tell James he needed to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. As if anyone could answer that question at sixteen. Anyone who didn’t grow up with only one option, like Isaac.

After his parents, tragedy had forged James into a weapon with only one target. First, it had been about blind grief. Then revenge. Finally, anger had tempered into fierce resolve—a desire to protect others from his parents’ fate.

His motives might have changed, but once he had found his path, he had never wavered.

Isaac was there with him through the whole process. They spent a lot of late nights talking about what they would accomplish side by side. When James was angry, Isaac mustered up anger to equal his—he had no shortage of losses in his own life to rage about. And when James’s anger became a deeper sense of purpose, Isaac echoed that back to him, too. He had felt that sense of purpose since before he could speak.

But one thing had never been in question after that day in the third-floor closet. Whatever they did, and for whatever reasons, they would do it together.

“I dreamed you came to rescue me,” James murmured against Isaac’s chest as Isaac left bloody footprints down the hallway. “Is this another dream?”

“No,” Isaac said without slowing his stride. “It’s real.” He tightened his grip a little more, then loosened it again when James let out a faint mewl of pain.

James’s breathing was unsteady. His heartbeat was thready against Isaac’s fingers. His face was pale and waxy underneath the blood.

Isaac sped from a fast walk to a jog.

“I’ll make up for it somehow,” James said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“Make up for what?” Isaac kept an eye out for guards. The coast was clear—for now. The distraction the others had created must still be working.

“For… telling them. Telling them about. About the safe house.” Even lying still, James sounded short of breath all of a sudden.

“Don’t worry about that now.” Isaac’s jog became a run. They were almost to the exit. Not much longer. But his heartbeat drummed out a command—go faster, faster, faster.

Because any minute now, the guards would see the distraction for what it was. Any minute now, they would come back and find the cell door open.

But that wasn’t the only reason he had to hurry.

“It’s really not a dream?” James’s voice was barely more than breath. “You’re really here?”

“I’m really here.”

“You really…” James paused to draw in a weak breath. “You’re really getting me out?”

Isaac hesitated before answering. From the moment they had met, he had never lied to James. And if he said yes, it would feel like a lie.

James wasn’t going to make it. Isaac had known it from the second he had seen him. Once he had lifted his too-light body and felt his thready heartbeat, he had known it was even worse than he’d thought. James didn’t have days. He had hours. Maybe minutes.

That was why Isaac had to move fast. If he couldn’t save James’s life, he owed it to him to at least get him out those doors before the end.

It wasn’t the rescue James had dreamed of, he was sure. It wasn’t the rescue Isaac had dreamed of. But it was still a rescue.

“Yes,” said Isaac, swallowing down a fresh burst of tears. Then he let out his breath in a long sigh and let the tears flow free. “Yes, I’m getting you out.”

James didn’t answer. His eyes were shut. He was already unconscious.

There, in front of him—the front doors, still unguarded. Isaac sped into a sprint, holding James close to keep from jostling his limp form too badly. He ran out the doors and down the driveway to where the others were already waiting in the beat-up truck.

He didn’t have to tell them anything. From the second they saw James in his arms, he knew from the looks on their faces that they understood. Without a word, they helped him lay Isaac down across the backseat. Isaac sat with him, cradling James’s head in his lap.

“Where do you want to go?” Millie asked.

“Someplace peaceful,” Isaac said, his tears distorting his voice. “Someplace with sunlight.”

They knew him, so they didn’t flutter over him the way some people did when as soon as they saw tears. And they didn’t try to tell him it was okay. They just let him cry.

And because they had seen James, and understood what was happening, they didn’t ask any more questions. They just drove.

They stopped at the end of the dirt road that led out to a small pond. Tall pine trees framed the pond, and a small dock led out into the still water, where a pair of ducks quacked and splashed each other. It didn’t smell like blood out here. It smelled like life.

Isaac lifted James as gently as he could and carried him out to the edge of the dock, where the sunlight could fall on his face. He sat and cradled James in his arms.

James was still breathing. But only barely. Each breath made his body tense like it took a monumental effort, and too much time passed between each one. His body was shaking. He didn’t open his eyes.

Not much longer now.

But Isaac had kept his word. He had gotten James out.

From now on, when he fought PERI, he would fight alone. He had never imagined that future for himself, not since he had known life with James by his side. Later, he knew, he would cry about that. But for now, he cried only for James.

Hot tears splashed down on James’s cheeks, tracing jagged lines in the dried blood.

James’s eyes fluttered open.

“Where… am I?” he murmured, his faint voice alight with wonder as he squinted up at the sun.

“You’re out.” Isaac’s tear-distorted voice was barely understandable, even to his own ears. “You’re free.”

“I’m free,” James said on a soft sigh. His eyes drifted shut again.

Isaac smiled through his tears.

It hadn’t been the rescue he had imagined. Or the ending he had hoped for. Not for this mission, and not for their friendship.

But their friendship had been worth it. And so had the mission. James was free.

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Tagged: @cakeinthevoid @gala1981

Ask to be added or removed from my Whumptober 2023 taglist.

#whumptober2023 #no.30 #“Not much longer.”#oc #fic #death whump #torture #my writing #my writing: Mind Games #my writing: whumptober 2023

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maxwell-grant · 2 years

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Ask Round-Up: May

Phew, okay, let’s try this again. A couple of notes to start off

-I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to really make this a monthly thing because, I hardly have much time to post at all, and besides I ended up starting an actual personal diary which, has been actually very useful, for my mental health, definitely would recommend it.

-Music theater’s taking a lot, a LOT, more out of me than I expected, it’s the biggest reason why I can’t post the way I’d like to given how time-consuming it’s been. But, I took up the course first and foremost because I needed an excuse to get out of home on the regular and put work into something that lets me build skills as a performer and connect with people and I’m definitely not dropping it now. It’s been particularly stressful the past weeks since they’ve been giving us tests and we’re being graded and, God, I did not miss this shit at all. But, fine, so be it.

-I really do like some of the assignments I get and I think they’ve been helping me overcome my creative blocks, it’s another reason why I keep going. I like to prove to myself I still have that energy and passion even if I can’t yet apply it where I really want to. At least, not yet.

-Don’t know why but, in some of my lurkings in the hearts of Twitter, I’ve been seeing a bit of an increase of people getting into The Shadow, people I follow at least, and that makes me happy. I even got to see people linking my blog in conversations where people ask about Shadow recommendations. I know in theory I’m supposed to play it cool about stuff like that but, I can’t, it fills me with too much joy for me to not share it with you.

(I’m not active on Twitter, nor do I particularly want to be. I mostly go in there for talking to friends and acquaintances and networking, and also because I needed to snatch up an account under my project’s name before anyone else did)

-I also don’t know why, but Mortal Kombat’s been doing circles around my brain again for the past weeks so, I guess if any of you want to ask me about my thoughts on MK-related stuff, be my guest.

Anyway, on with some of the asks

Anonymous asked: Did the trailer for PREHISTORIC PLANET leave you screaming with the raw ecstasy of "WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ... as narrated by Sir David Attenborough" the way it did me? (Or at least the PROMISE of same - hopefully a promise that will be delivered on!).

Not quite, but you can chalk that up to me being used to dissappointment when people say “the new Walking With Dinosaurs” to promote documentaries that absolutely cannot, and even shouldn’t, live up to that, and also, I’m not terribly interested in having a new WWD anyway, I rewatch the Walking With trilogy every year anyway. BUT, I will say that, the trailer I saw did look absolutely lovely and I’ve been yearning somewhat to rewatch this kind of stuff, and also, I deeply adore just how receptive people have been to the T-Rex family and I do not get tired of all the jokes about this take on T-Rex being the Hank Hill of T-Rexes. I also love that it’s gotten some people talking about other non-WWD docs I really enjoyed growing up, like Dinosaur Planet. So, yeah, very happy for this one, happy to see the love it’s been getting too, even before release.

(Art by ColinM_Art)

@mirrorfalls asked: Could you write - has there already been - a pulp story that contains no crime or death (not even the threat of it) whatsoever?

By sheer statistic probability, yes, but if we’re getting into specifics, you could actually argue that the most popular kinds of pulp magazines - those being the romance magazines, the railroad magazines, and the sports magazines - actually consisted largely of stories that didn’t have much to do with crime or death, at least not the way those are a constant in the kinds of pulps most people are familiar with. Pulp stories tend to be described nowadays as a genre, but pulp magazines were really a medium for whatever they could sell stories in. Unsurprisingly, the romance and sports pulps were easily the best selling ones and the ones that most endured even into the 1950s, and The Railroad Man’s Magazine lasted from 1906 to 1979, making it the longest-running and most successful American pulp of them all.

The railroad magazines absolutely did have tons of stories about crime and death, some even ludicrous and horrific to an extent that dwarfed the crime and horror magazines, but those were a part of what they were about, not the entirety of it. The railroad magazines were primarily focused on, well, railroads and trains, and the kinds of stories that you could tell about, or with, them. In a similar way as to how the development of airplanes in the 1910s (starting with Santos Dumont’s 14-Bis flight in 1906, eat shit gringos) led to the Air Aces / aviation genre, and the uprising in sci-fi following the debut of space travel, the development of trains and railroad was an exciting new technology and career choice, and this was reflected in fiction:

The focus on the railroad as the subject of fiction became genuinely intense, with an almost obsessive devotion to railroading techniques, equipment, problems and dangers.

Writers like Bedwell, L.Packard and Spearman developed a stable of characters that the regular reader could look forward to enjoying like old friends (In this respect, early rail-road fiction is reminiscent of long-running television series employing characters who do not appear in every episode, but whom viewers welcome back on their return)

One finds the railroad and its attendant phenomena - depots, diners, hoboes, boom-towns, ghost towns, strikes, speed, and sundry other matters - in prominent position. Whether the issue is the ugliest face of American racism, the most heroic actions of those who dreamed and accomplished some of the greatest feats of the industrial age, or the manner in which the railroad infiltrated and affected the American experience at almost every level, these writers have embraced the railroad in their work.

D.J Smith characterizes the railroad, in the era before automobile travel enabled easy escape to somewhere else, as a "glamorous" and "mystical force that represented a route out of the constricting boundaries of rural and small-town life: "The train, although it could be used to represent more sinister forces, was an almost spiritual symbol of life to many fluttering souls caged." - The Railroad in American Fiction: An Annotated Bibliography, by Grant Burns

There’s gotta be other examples, mind you, but these three are the biggest ones that come to mind. So, yeah, there absolutely were lots of pulp stories with no crime and death. Hard to tell how exciting they were because their records are very much neglected by historians and considerably more sparse even by pulp standards but, they had vastly bigger readerships than pretty much all of the others even after the others had all ended, so evidently they were doing fine.

Anonymous asked: Is there any brazillian character in american comics that you think is a good representation of Brazil?

Not really, no. I really did try looking for the sake of this post but came up short. But I don’t want to leave this question unanswered, so instead I’m gonna talk about a character who did come to mind when I thought of a Brazilian character in media that I do think of as pretty great representation: Theo from Celeste. I’ve been playing it recently and this game has made a tremendous impression on me, I cleared the first 7 chapters on one night following one of the absolute worst sick days of my life and I’ve been waiting for my controller to get fixed so I can keep playing because hoooly shit do these B-Side chapters grate my nerves to try and play with using a broken controller, but nevermind that, I wanna talk a bit about Theo. And I don’t think Theo “represents Brazil”, whatever that means (which doesn’t necessarily mean a positive thing), so much as I think he’s a great representation of a Brazilian character.

Obviously a big part of why Theo is so unlike the overwhelming majority of latino / Brazilian characters in videogames has a lot to do with the fact that he was designed by a Brazilian artist, a major portion of Celeste’s main development team (including it’s character designs, 2D animation, concept and promo art, marketing, script editing, etc) is comprised of a Brazilian team named MiniBoss. And it shows because, and I know this word gets tossed around a lot but, Theo is authentic. Theo’s design and personality are unmistakably authentic. He’s an extremely positive character integral to Madeline’s journey, the feather exercise the game teaches through him is genuinely something that’s helped me and my sister deal with crisis a little better, he’s a pretty fun character too, he has really excellent conversations with Madeline, he’s a really great guy and a great friend, but the main thing that sticks out to me about Theo is that he’s real in a way I don’t think I’ve quite seen before, at least in games (but, really, anywhere on non-Brazilian media, to be honest).

Much of Madeline’s design and character draw from her creator Maddy Thorson and she said as much, but looking at Theo’s character art in the Instagram profile made for the character gives me every bit the impression that Amora Bettany was drawing from somewhere close to heart when designing Theo and his own history. The character was apparently not born in Brazil outright (as he’s said to be American-Brazilian and dev Pedro Medeiros says he descends from a Brazilian family, which explains his English name) and apparently there was some confusion outright at first as to what kind of Latin-American he was but, no, even if the fact that he’s wearing the colors of the Brazilian flag didn’t tip you off, there’s no mistaking it. I honestly get a bit emotional looking at some of the art and dialogue for this game made for Theo, particularly when it involves his grandpa and sister.

I haven’t finished the game and I don’t know what happens in Chapter 9: Farewell as of yet, but Theo left such an impression on me, and such a positive one too. A character who is not a stereotype, not even really trying to consciously subvert stereotypes, he’s just a good character, a good person, and I never use that term lightly but I do think of him as great representation. There’s something very intimate, very warm-hearted and personal about Theo that’s worlds apart from the well-meaning-but-ignorant cartoons that tend to be Brazilian characters at best. Theo is not defined by his nationality, the game never even mentions it and it doesn’t have to. Would I have liked it to be more obvious? Not really, and not just because it’s not his story, but also because, I like having it be low-key. Theo is Theo and being Brazilian is part of who he is.

Theo went to the mountain following the steps of his vovô, not even really knowing why he was going and worried he’d never figure it out where he was going, where he needed to go, worried he’d never find it. And he ends up being right where he needed to be, to help Madeline, and to be helped by her in return. They save each other’s lives, yeah, but more importantly, they lend each other space to talk, to open up, to lean on each other for support, and to offer help, and we learn that post-game Theo decided to go home and be there for his sister while still keeping in touch with Madeline. Like Madeline, his journey continues past the mountain, but now he finds himself closer to where he needs to be. Where he wants to be.

Obviously not saying I’d want all Brazilian characters to be like Theo but, it’s just, so nice, so refreshing, to have such a positive character like this. He’s not even my favorite part of the game but he made a tremendously big impression on me. Even if he’s not from the medium you mentioned, I couldn’t really think of another character to answer your question.

#replies tag #ask round-up #personal stuff #prehistoric planet #dinosaur tag #pulp fiction #celeste #theo #celeste game

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saoirse1993 · 2 years

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just before 2019 ended, i made a promise to myself that whatever happen, i will watch redvelvet perform live on stage and i am more than willing to spend money just to see them because my friend and i have been hearing some news that pulp will be organizing a concert for them for the coming year, 2020. unfortunately, due to the pandemic it didn’t happen.

so days passed and we received the news that redvelvet will have their concert here in the philippines by july 22. i was so surprised, excited and confused about how things should go because of so many reasons. first, after pre selling of tickets, i checked online via sm ticket net and there’s no more available tickets and i kinda lost hope and that time i thought that maybe it wasn’t meant for me and so i just have to let it go. after 2 days i was thinking of it again so i tried looking for tickets online. i saw tickets available via twitter but all of them are overpriced and i don’t think i can afford it that time cause i’m saving for our boracay tour which is just a month before the concert and i still need to pay for my hotel accomodation. i thought of it for so many times, i was so torn if i should just let the opportunity go because i’d be spending too much if i will buy the overpriced ticket plus the fact that i don’t have anyone with me to watch it. luckily i remember that i’m a member of one group for redvelvet fans on fb. i saw tickets that are of reasonable price but then again, the dilemma is that i am alone and i know i can’t just pull anyone with me because of course the ticket is more than a thousand and it may not be a reasonable price. i thought of it again, even thought of bringing my younger brother with me and i’ll just pay for his ticket not until i came up to a very smart decision lol. i asked him and my mom to accompany me, we’ll eat dinner before the concert and i’ll give them extra money while they wait outside moa arena. good thing, it’s just beside mall of asia and the concert lasted only for 2 hours so it wasn’t really a long wait for them cause it’s just enough to roam around moa. and just a perfect timing, i saw a post on the group selling her upperbox ticket for the same price so i grabbed it right away. a wendy stan was a blessing to me, we talked at night and the next morning the ticket was delivered to me and i knew right there that my ultimate wish to see redvelvet is already granted.

so fast forward, 22nd of july came. a week before the concert, my mom would always remind me not to get too excited because it’s proven an d tested since elementary that every time i get too excited about something, i get sick few days before the actual date/schedule of the event. i had to help myself to clear my mind and forget about the concert so i just focused on my work.

the night came, i was a bit scared because i know there’s going to be a long line and i’d need a long patience. when i got into the arena, i walked slowly while i was look for my door 406. as i pass by the other doors, i got a quick view of the inside. it was dark and all i could see are the lights coming from the light sticts of the reveluvs and i git goosebumps. just when i got seated, i asked my self, is this really real? am i really here now? am i really doing this alone? it was a perfect moment for me knowing that i am alone and i made it there, it was like i unlocked a new door of possibilities. i was amazed.

we were all enjoying the performances of local artists, we were all steady not until they play the video of redvelvet on the big screen. everyone started shouting out of excitement thinking it’s just a teaser but we all went super crazy when a countdown timer popped up and after 10 seconds, we saw redvelvet finding their place on the stage. the crowd just didn’t know what to do for the first 10 seconds. all we did was to cheer and some cried out of happiness and i am one of them. when the music played and they started singing, i asked myself again the same question, what did i do to deserve redvelvet? i was literally crying out of happiness while singing a long with them, i took videos but most of them are messy because i kept looking on stage to slowly digest that the onle and only girl group i stan is right in front of me. they’re all gorgeous, they served us well with visuals and talent. i cheered and called them one by one with all my might. it’s something that i will never forget. i made one of the best decisions in life when i purchased the ticket, the long wait in line was all worth it and i wouldn’t think twice to do it again if ever they will have a solo concert here next time.

redvelvet was worth the wait, it’s with a great pleasure to stan and support them, i am a reveluv forever.

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everfreerene · 2 years

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Hi! I hope I’m not being annoying but can I please request HC of Mikey, Draken, Chifuyu, Baji, Sanzu and Haitani brothers when MC is their childhood best friend/crush and is the sweetest person ever, full of rainbows and sunshines

And one day they are walking home when they see a man harassing a girl (probably a year younger) and till the time the boys finish thinking (about what move would impress MC)MC had already beat that man real bad (he would be bleeding with half his teeth knocked out or shit) and then she’s being all shy with them

Sorry for such a long ask

I really love your writing!!

Brutally Lovable

A/n: Hello! Thank you for requesting and apologies that it’s late!

Warnings: Harassment, violence (reading beating someone to a pulp), swearing, mentions of blood

❝ He and you were practically together since you two were in diapers..❞

- His and your moms were high school friends who decided to let their children be each other’s playmates (your mom’s friend had a head start with their eldest)

- Loves the fact that you are so lovable, it makes him want to put you inside of his pockets where he thinks you would be safe forever.

- Whether it be you feeding the strays on the road, or you begging him to keep the puppy in his house because one of your family members were allergic.

- Although you’ve never really trained martial arts like them (or in some cases fought someone) thanks to your visual comprehension skills, you had his techniques memorized, from his stances to how hard he delivers his blows, you’ve got it all engraved in your body!

- And due to him declaring that he will be your ‘protector’. You’ve never really had to act on it.

- For that reason he had never really saw you fight, well until now.

Walking home with them was a normal occurrence in your long line of friendship, he basically barges in your school knowing that classes would be over. (He sometimes doesn’t even wait and just drags you out of class)

“Hey, hey N/n I got tickets for the amusement park! And I was wondering-” he stopped his when he realized that you had paused to stare at something,

Turning his gaze towards the thing you were looking at and saw a high school male wearing a white bosozoku styled uniform that said “SHIN∞JUKU MOEBIUS” at the back, and a middle schooler around Takemitchy’s (or Kakucho’s) age that was trying hard to push the bastard away.

“Come on just give me your number and I’ll leave you alone” the creep tried to bribe her.

‘This is my chance to show off my skills! N/n-chin will surely fall for me now!’ he gleamed, though he didn’t notice when you had placed your bag on the ground, or when you walked up the the fucker and delivered his famous attack at the back of his head, shocking the middle schooler that had saw you.

‘What should I use though?' While he was stuck in his fantasies, you were sitting on the creep, delivering several hits to the face,

Only came back to his senses when he was shook back to reality by the frightened middle schooler who looked at him with wide eyes and told him to stop you before you could murder a guy

↳ Bastard ignored her anyways, cheered you on during the process and only pulled you away when he deemed the scene satisfactory in his eyes,

↳ Challenges you to fight him every now and then, you think it’s for training purposes and he thinks it’s a cute way to hangout

- Manjiro ‘Mikey’ Sano, Keisuke ‘Edward’ Baji, Ran Haitani

↳ Sensible, listened to the middle schooler and pulled you away before another teeth could bust out of the delinquent’s mouth, (he got hit by your elbow in the process LOL)

↳ Attempted to scold you but failed when you pouted at him, treated you to your favorite food as a reward for the failed attempt,

- Ken ‘Draken’ Ryuguji, Chifuyu Matsuno, Rindou Haitani

↳ The dirt bag joined you in beating the guy up, the both of you only pulled away when the middle schooler threatened to call the cops on you both.

↳ Thinks that you two beating someone up could be a new hobby to be done together…

- Haruchiyo (Sanzu) Akashi

#tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo Revengers x y/n #draken x reader #draken x you #Chifuyu x reader #chifuyu matsuno x you #Keisuke Baji x reader #baji Keisuke x you #haitani ran x reader #haitani rindou x reader #Haruchiyo x reader #sanzu x reader #Mikey x reader #manjiro Sano x reader #tokyorev x reader

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absolutebl · 3 years

Text

This Week in BL

Sept 2021 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Bite Me Ep 1 (Viu & Viki) - A BL DRAMA ABOUT THAI FOOD IS OFFICIALLY THE GREATEST THING EVER TO HAPPEN TO ME. AND OMG IT’S GOOD! Chef Aue spots the boy/cook of his dreams, Aek, and wants to make Aek his protégé (and husband) but it’s not that easy for the boy in question. I think this is going to be a Korean-style slow burn, low heat, with strategic use of tropes. Sophisticated for Thai BL. Also, everyone wave at Gameplay! (We love him, okay?) Here are my thoughts on ep one. I won’t be doing a full recap because it’s on Viki (too hard to screen cap).

My Boy the series Ep 10 fin (Line) - I jumped back in to finished it out, seems to end on a cliff hanger and still has all the issues I dropped it for, so I’m happy is didn’t bother. Still, I feel pretty safe in saying NOT RECOMMENDED. (note there might be 2 more eps.)

- Love Area Ep 6 (is now being uploaded officially to Gaga at 2 eps a week) it seems to have become hard to find elsewhere as a result. I certainly couldn’t get hold of it. Still I’m happy it got distribution.

Siew Sum Noi ep 3- 10 eng sub 11-12 unsubbed (Drama Cool) - two fistfuls of tiny disasters, better then we have a right to expect, especially if you can make it to ep 4 (trust me, skip the singing). I like the northerner baggage and how the different characters handle the classism of it. IG is great at pining. The side couples (especially in the north) are super cute. There’s even an out gay character. Still, we are in major pulp territory with ALL THE TROPES including some homophobic and problematic ones. RECOMMENDED WITH SERIOUS RESERVATIONS.

The Yearbook Ep 8 fin (Line) - thank goodness that’s over. Honestly this could have been 4 eps instead of 8. Frankly, it could be one of Y-Destiny’s minisodes. And what the hell with that stinger? Just gah. It’s getting a 6/10 from me, RECOMMENDED IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO. And I really mean NOTHING. This is the BL equivalent of watching paint peal and feeling sorry for the wall getting exposed.

Don’t Say No Ep 5 (Line) - now this one I AM trash watching. We are in TT2 territory where it’s all a whole riot of nothing happening. DSN is like eating jello salad. I’m like...What’s going on here? Am I enjoying this? Sadly I think i might be. Do I hate myself for that? Wait, WHAT was that? Leon reminds me of Mark from Gen Y while Pob reminds me of Kaow from Brothers. This is a good thing, cute combination. Full on discussion of jello salad meets BL in the trash watch recap.

7 Project Ep 1 “Would You Be My Love” (iQiYi & YouTube) - it was fine, as expected SantaEarth delivered decent acting, great chemistry, and good kiss. Bullying isn’t a trigger for me so I thought this one was perfectly serviceable if not groundbreaking. I guess each one is going to be 1-2 hours (one couple) like the Close Friend series. So I’ll only be watching the BL & GL ones.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

- Friend or Lover (YouTube) Ep 6 - Taiwan’s quirky indie piece didn’t drop its final ep so far as I can find, but they don’t seem to be on a fixed schedule.

Love is Science? (BL sub plot Viki) Ep 11 - Taiwan finally brought back everyone’s favorite confident gay meets disaster bi and we are so grateful. OuWen, my love, I missed your adorable suits. Although, to be fair, I love Mark’s arty looks too. Anygay, other stuff happened to other people but we got another desperate confused grab and kiss from the disaster bi. Now we are all waiting to see what confident gay will do. Gonna be good.

Love Is the series (YouTube) Ep 1 - a cute soft new Pinoy BL I picked up because it looks like it might be sweet. Liking it so far but these ones can go askew easy. Still it seems like a fun indie studio. There is a poor seme/rich uke thing going on that I enjoy.

Peach of Time Ep 1, 2, 3 (WeTV & Viki not USA, I’m finding it on YouTube & DM) - Korean/Thai BL It’s sad out the gate so we know what we’re in for. Language is both Thai and Korean. Even I, who do not speak Korean, can tell that Jimmy’s accent is ADORABLE. Tommy plays a ghostly fairy godfather. Basically: Two boys, one of whom is dead, have to solve the sorrows that lead to that death as well as past family trauma. It has a very He’s Coming to Me feel that i (of course) like a lot. Although I am not banking on this one ending happily.

In Case You Missed It

I thought Thai BL Love Advisor was going to be a series but it turned out just to be a microfilm (c. 30min). It’s stylish, has a very Wes Anderson feel, and queer aura (rather than BL) and the subs are decent. It’s basically a pretty one act play with very few cuts and good production values. I got Nampu (Top Secret Together) vibes from one of them (a very good thing) but I found it a little dull. Good acting but a slow pace. Interesting twist ending and a more Korean feel than one might expect from Thailand right now. 7/10 RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Thai mafia BL KinnPorsche dropped a new teaser from its new studio. Much lower production values same main couple.

Red Devil and Heroine Su available with eng subs on youtube. It’s a microfilm Chinese GL version of Word of Honor.

Gossip

Any My Engineer RamKing fans out there? Anyway Perth (who is the sweetest cinnamon roll) has a two part series reacting to the RamKing scenes. Talay joins him for the second half. It’s great. They talk about BTS stuff like workshopping and acting with animals. Perth speaks in English, Talay in Thai, but there are good subs (Perth did ‘em.)

Korean BL My Sweet Dear that I reported on last week seems to be restaurant set. YES!

Queer Korean production studio Strongberry has a new microfilm coming out called A First Love Story. Trailer here. I’m looking forward to it.

There’s another new Korean BL in the works, The Tasty Florida. I’m a mite suspicious of this one, while it seems to be university meets food themed (my fav) the description and title do not inspire optimism. Will this be Korea’s first BL pulp? Maybe... Will I watch it? OF COURSE. Oh and Yoo Hwan, former leader of the Kpop group SPEED, is one of the mains. Does this make me happy. YES VERY. Here go watch SPEED do one of the greatest tricks in the history of k-pop at the END of Don’t Teese Me when they should have been exhausted. I’ll wait. Our boy is one of the three acrobats (white shirt or black shirt with white on the sleeves in that big trick, or pink hair high-flipping at the very end).

In other news, was that Korean actor in a kpop band a decade ago? I WILL NEVER LET IT GO. Never.

Thai BL Unforgotten Night (adapted from the y-novel Mafia's Bad Love) as been listed as in production. Office grunt Kim has been pining after his senior for a long time. To forget about him, he decides to have one night stand with a random stranger. That stranger becomes obsessed with him. Mafia man Kamol is kinky and (I’m assuming a Dom) and no one is able to satisfy him until Kim. I’m assuming this is a KinnPorsche knock off, but hey if that doesn’t get made who are we to look down on the Golden Bloods of the BL world? Stars Yoon (YYY) as the mafia Dom and Choke (Y-Destiny, he was opposite the boy who time-slipped) as the sub. Honestly the poster makes me think this might all be a joke:

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Slim pickings this week, @heretherebedork is doing a September V-BL rewatch and I’m IN, if any of you want to join us. My V-BL list is here. HTBD’s is here and is better.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

This week’s best moments?

Just them, being back. Smooching.

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lea-andres · 2 years

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just for fun, character analysis for Jerk? what about them is so appealing?

😍😍😍 It's been a hot minute since I've ranted about these two, huh?

I love the initial shock factor of the size difference. He's a massive polar bear, she's a tiny beetle. This was literally the thing that made the ship in the first place. I told @bitter-sweet-coffee we need to ship Jewel with one of the 6 foot tall Power characters because the size difference would be so delightfully jarring, and Izzy fucking delivered. 😂

But, they've got their similarities: the big one being they're both the impulse control to their crazy best friends (or at least they TRY to be). These two could relate SO HARD to the stresses the other has suffered thanks to the struggles of keeping Bean and Tangle alive. 😂 They also, if you choose to translate Bark's mutism as a symptom of social anxiety like I do, both suffer from some amount of anxiety, so they could provide some amount of understanding and comfort to each other on that front too.

Jewel could be scared of Bark upon first meeting him (we're exploring this aspect in my fic When the Day Met the Night, if you're new here and this is your first time seeing this ship or my antics 😂), but she'd come around when she realizes what an absolute gentle sweetheart he is. Like his and Amy's interaction in IDW, but with a romantic context, because I cannot foresee a situation where Bark WOULDN'T like her to some degree upon first meeting her. She's just too sweet and cute. 😂

They're a well deserved break from their usual crazy associates. While Jewel WOULD end up being the crazy one of the two (we'll get into why in a bit), she can't hold a candle to Bean or Fang, neither one of them can even come close to Bean or Tangle's antics, so they can actually relax for once and not have to be constantly on guard for something to explode or for Tangle to fling herself head first down a pit of spikes. And, if they're together and something crazy DOES happen, they know they can count on each other for back up. They're both used to this shit.

And both of them would complete each other so well if they were a couple, or at least friends. Bark gains a voice, figuratively AND literally. I've joked before Jewel's the "they asked for no pickles!" One of the couple, but she totally is. If she's not protesting to a situation/plan of action/how someone is treating Bark because it's what she'd say in that situation anyway, she's doing it specifically for Bark. She knows what he would say in that situation if he could (mostly because it lines up with what she would say herself anyway), and so she'd ensure Bark's heard by saying it herself. Doesn't matter if she succeeds or fails, Bark would appreciate being heard either way.

As for Jewel, she gets a spine, essentially. Much needed confidence and bravery when the going gets tough. As I mentioned before, Bark is HUGE. We've seen him go toe to toe with KNUCKLES on several occasions in the comics, the guy's a powerhouse. And he's significantly calmer than Jewel is in the face of danger. So when Jewel's got to go up against some threatening enemy, Bark would back her up, 100%. And people are going to take the two foot tall, very puntable bug seriously if she's got a 6 foot tall, pure muscle bear lurking around behind her, giving them a "fuck around and find out" look.

...And this is where Jewel becomes the crazy one. The power of "no one wants to touch me because Bark would pound them into a pulp" would go to her head a little bit, and Jewel would slowly (testing out the waters, seeing what she has the guts to actually say or do in each scenario) become a lot more confident and would talk back to her enemies more often. So she'd occasionally blindside poor Bark by responding to Eggman's ludicrous threats with "Why don't you come over here and DO IT?" Or by calmly telling Zavok to fuck off back to Lost Hex, but at least she's more confident in herself now???

Also, this is so minor, but it makes me so feral: warm blooded and cold blooded. JEWEL WINS THE WARM CUDDLES GAME, 100%. TRY TO TOP POLAR BEAR IN GIVER OF WARM CUDDLES, I DON'T THINK YOU CAN!!! Plus Bark strikes me as a physically affectionate guy (to make up for the lack of words 😂), so Jewel would just have an endless supply of warm cuddles. And he's so much bigger than her! She'd never get cold again, he'd make sure of that. 😍 My favorite is to envision them sleeping together (in the literal sense, not the NSFW sense!): Either Jewel's tucked into his arms like a teddy bear, or she's just curled up on his chest and he's pretty much her bed. He wouldn't hurt her, Bark knows his strength and can be very gentle with her. 😍😍😍

...Okay. Rant over, I think. Thank you for enabling me to brain dump about my rare pair! 😍

#jewel the beetle #bark the polar bear #jerk #bugbear #shipping asks #lea's trash writing #when the day met the night #sonic ships

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yunsoh · 3 years

Text

alrighty season 3 ep 2 thoughts. this post got ridiculously long so the rest is under a read more:

- literally i love every single time we see akito sleeping in this long and empty room. there’s something very encompassing about how empty it is + how the angle emphasizes it, especially when we can clearly see she’s sharing her bed

- shigure and tohru’s moments alone are always soo so sweet. their relationship so far is very much one where there’s a lot of affection between them (which ofc makes one of their biggest scenes together during the final act feel especially hurtful even though it’s a side of shigure we’re well aware of by that point -- it’s just something that tohru up until that point hadn’t witnessed, much less been directly confronted with. but i’m getting ahead of myself lmfao moving on)

- actually related to the above love tohru asking “wouldn’t i just be interrogating him?” and “the things kureno told me make me feel like i’m looking into a deep, dark well” just ahh i do love this background progression of shigure and tohru’s relationship and how it reaches a head when they have their talk about kyo later.

- this is perhaps unintentional but: having this shot of machi noticing yuki + clearly having some new feelings about him overlaid with/directly followed by momiji and tohru, where we still know momiji has an unrequited crush on her. yes it makes me laugh a little but it’s also fitting because at this moment in time yuki does not have a crush on machi in return + sees her only as a friend.

- it’s been mentioned but it bears repeating. why are they not progressing momiji’s height whatsoever lmaooo. funny because yuki and kyo have had gradual changes but they’re really just trying to make this growth spurt reveal super jarring huh. also holy shit he looks TINY next to haru in this shot. next

- the one kid in class asking hana to fuck the priyuki girls up but she’s like “actually i really don’t care” LMAO........ love her

- ugh i really love this moment with yuki.......... i think it’s been a while since we’ve seen the general student population (not just the prince yuki girls) still treat him in a revering way, now also in part because he’s the student council president but definitely still because of his reputation as the prince. this was something that was so deeply ostracizing to him early on in the series, and does still remind him of his loneliness -- but that loneliness isn’t crippling to him anymore, because now he does have friends who like him and who he can have fun with.

i’m going to write a bigger post on this later probably because this is a really important progression point in how yuki understands himself to exist in his school’s ecosystem + how his self-esteem is still developing.

- additionally i just want to say that this scene isn’t yuki suddenly falling for machi, or really something to be read as mutually romantic between them -- machi i think absolutely has a crush on him at this point (because he is. the only person who is actually nice to her and considers her existence aside from kakeru but moving on) but yuki’s perception of her at this moment is heavily tied to how he thinks of himself as a friend + whether he’s a worthy enough person to befriend. the fact that machi shatters those doubts for him in such an overt way is important.

- anyways machi is rly cute here i loooove that she’s comfortable being more expressive around him even though it’s mostly out of embarrassment LMAO...... she’s learning how to display her feelings and trusts him with that..... cute.

- also of note yuki putting his hand on the top of her head which is like... he’s trying to convey that he feels they have (or are starting to have) a trusting friendship with each other but it’s like. a bit too much for machi to handle omfg. honestly this goes in hand with way back when ayame patted yuki’s head in praise which was clearly something yuki didn’t receive much of as a kid, and i’m assuming machi also rarely if ever received that same sort of praise. what i’m saying is they’re both trying lmaoo

- also as usual shimazaki’s deliveries are spot on yuki is soooo fucking cute in this scene. “what? seriously? they’re even worse than the ones i made” he’s so casual and funny with her it’s so good

- okay the timeskip to sunset makes me laugh it makes it seem like tohru and kyo have just been waiting in that room alone for hourssss

- ugh how sexy would it have been if the brief flashback to kureno + the music overlay had been cut out here. like tohru seeing the birds and then turning to ask kyo what he would think if someone’s curse had been broken would have gotten the message across just as well + i think would have been more emotionally impactful.

- tohru’s expression here though is so good just. ugh. will say this point in hers and kyo’s relationship is just so tasty because he really is her most trusted confidant but she’s also so aware of anything that could be construed as him rejecting her or pushing her away, which now that she’s getting especially wrapped up in the family’s secrets...... it’s a thin line she’s walking w wanting to protect him but not wanting to push him away bc he’s resigned to what will happen

- this visual is so weeeeeird aoghjksd the screen being framed by her bangs. what. why

- hmmmm in general idk if the flower scene hit very well. it felt kind of awkward? kyo and tohru both seemed really stiff which is weird because literally just a minute ago they were animated pretty well tbh

- this post is already so long and i only JUST started the akigure part of the ep....... i’m so sorry

- machi and kyo both handing off white flowers to yuki and tohru respectively and then we’re hit with shigure giving akito a red flower instead. obviously because akito is symbolized by red camellias + to refer back to her memory of shigure giving one to her, but also just basic color symbolism -- white being more indicative of purity and new beginnings, red being something both passionate, evocative, dangerous.

- oh we’re back to the kids. it is not in fact akigure time yet.

- i loooove this tohru outfit so much she’s so cute in it. also ig it bears mentioning because i didn’t say anything about it last time, but the reboot hinting more directly to the audience that something bad happened to rin, rather than just her disappearing entirely, is def more overt than in the manga. that short scene of ren intercepting rin in the last ep was chronological yes, but in the manga we don’t see that happen until after we know that akito’s been keeping her in the cat’s room. so just by tohru mentioning that she hasn’t seen or heard from rin in a while, we’re clued in that something bad to her must have happened because of ren. which i don’t think is a bad decision honestly -- since ren is set up as the antagonist for this season, it might make viewers assume that ren did something bad to her, only for it to be revealed that it was akito and that akito is still becoming more and more unhinged. but that also ren is unhinged. disasters.

- “i’m sorry, i’m afraid i do have parents” this rly is just the mid-20s mood isn’t it

- mitsuru fucking hissing at shigure i cannot

- nakamura’s acting during this phone scene is so goooood oh my god. the LOATHING. honestly this alone just makes me crazy abt the insanity that is akito + kureno + shigure like jesus christ.

- kureno’s pitiful little “nii-san” after shigure obliterates his entire life. there we go

- honestly it’s funny how shigure’s expression looks when akito yells at him for sleeping with ren because for a moment it looks like he has NO idea what she’s talking about but then. nope. he fucked her mom.

- do like the little detail of akito pointing as she tells shigure to get out, but when he leaves he just turns in the opposite direction. like truly he has never followed orders to the t once in his life.

- this shot of ren is so fucking absurd oh my god. pls get ur male gaze directing out of here.

- “i... thought you forgot” man the way this is delivered feels really striking. i think because akito is never caught off guard in a way that surprises her in such a quiet way, or in a way that leaves her plainly vulnerable. like her vitriol towards him has to do with the fact that she feels he’s abandoning the bond they used to have (and ofc they bond they have through the curse), and that memory of him does act as a linchpin.

- it’s primo bitchy shigure hours. primo akito meltdown hours.

- this shot is soooo foreboding wow. straight up darkness. tho i kind of wish this shot was used instead for the “i want to crush her to a pulp” line, or at the very least that the shot for that line was just framed differently

- god they’re so fucking awful for each other. purely just a disaster duo. shigure taking control of the conversation + dismissing akito’s meltdown and emotional manipulation leaves akito feeling the only way she can have control over him is through seducing him since no other method works. the convo that has with her accusing him of sleeping with a lot of other women + her not knowing how to handle the fact that he slept with ren, and ofc the convo it has with her misogyny and how she views herself. they have this really vitriolic push and pull for control because akito doesn’t know what to do when she loses any control at all, and shigure’s grasping at what little control he can have considering how their power dynamics work with the bond -- walking away when she’s being manipulative, refusing to coddle her. like shigure’s wish for them to be on an equal playing field without the curse is a pipe dream because their relationship is just so, so damaged as is and is so heavily informed by what has already happened between them. takaya why did you have them end up together for realsies why did you--

- what is with the reboot team making akito break down the walls and doors all the time lmfao. bro the structural damage caused by this little 90lb disaster.

- i think i understand why they took it out (like maybe it would have been too overt with how they’ve set up the audience to expect something bad happened to rin after running into ren) but man they really just didn’t adapt one of the most haunting parts of the series huh. like this shot of rin being trapped inside the cat’s room right beside shigure thinking “i’ll be waiting for you” maaaan man!!

- okay addendum: apparently she is in the room. in hindsight i did notice this but it did not register as a person because i thought it was just a glare on the window 😭

#fruits basket #fruits basket spoilers #holy shit this post is long i'm so sorry LMAO..... i had so much to say

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moral-turpitudes · 3 years

Text

Golden Ring: Part 2

Trigger Warnings: Angst, Fighting, Swearing, Fluff, Gore, Smoking, Drinking, etc.

Word Count: 1,833

Characters: Thomas Shelby x Reader

Requested by: @captivatedbycillianmurphy (thank you!)

Summary: When the Shelby’s are on business, there’s no such thing as rest, not even for Y/N.

A/N: Totally had “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage The Elephant stuck in my head while writing this. (Also fun fact: they’re from the city I went to college in and they did a free show on campus once which was lit).

Part 1 | Part 2

Tommy drove through the late-night fog and along the dark roads that led to their warehouse, the wheels creeping by ever so slightly on the dirt covered streets. The gears shifted as he put the car in park and got out, and walked towards the old building.

He pulled out a cigarette and rubbed it against his lips as he walked further into the darkness, the only light coming from what he assumed were his brothers cigarettes in the distance.

“Aye, who the fuck are you?” One of the men asked, who was most definitely not his brother.

“I could ask you the same question. Why are you on my property?” Tommy asked, the light from a cracked window seeping in, illuminating the two men’s faces.

“Well if it isn’t Mr. Thomas Shelby. We’re here to take your stock. The weapons. The drugs...What are you going to do? Call your brothers? Make your whore of a mother appear out of thin air or something?” He asked.

Tommy sighed, straightened his coat, and took his hat off nonchalantly, flipping it around in his hand as he looked down at it, before landing a hard punch to the mans jaw.

His other friend quickly took off towards the door with two bags full of cocaine.

“I wouldn’t run if I were you mate. You won’t get far.” Arthur said blocking the door with John next to him holding a shotgun.

Tommy then grabbed his cap tightly and pulled his hand back, sending the razor blade straight towards the mans eye. He slashed open one of them to where he’d be barely be able to see out of it, and the other he cut out completely, leaving the man screaming bloody murder as he walked towards his brothers.

“Where are the other men aye?” He asked grabbing the man by his collar.

“By the cut, I heard them fighting so I stayed here with him.” He said pointing to his partner bleeding out on the ground.

“They aren’t there anymore, you little London boy. You don’t mess with the peaky fookin’ blinders and live to tell about it.” Arthur said inching closer to the young man.

He was shaking as he realized he was the only one of his gang left, his boss surely plotting his death the longer he stayed in Small Heath.

“I’ll give you one minute to run out of here, because I don’t think you’re worth killing just yet. You tell your boss that if he wants to do business he’ll come to me directly, or I’ll have to come to him, and he won’t want that.” Tommy said menacingly as he held the young man by his collar.

“Al-alright. I will, can you let me go?” He asked.

Tommy held him there for a couple moments just to watch him struggle before letting him go. The young man dropped to the ground and ran straight out, leaving his friend and other deceased gang members behind.

“Now, what did you lot do with the others? I’m not digging any graves tonight.” He asked, his eyes landing on John.

“Well Arthur beat two of them to a pulp. I told ya he would go feral.” John said giving a sideways glance at Arthur.

Arthur smacked him in the back of the head before he continued.

“Well John-boy shot one in the head, the other is drifting down the cut with 3 bullet holes in his chest. Do we have to fookin’ retrieve them now Tommy?” Arthur asked.

“If you don’t want the coppers to get on us again, then yes. I’d imagine it would frighten the women and children walking past the cut as well, we don’t want that.” Tommy said before heading towards the door.

He looked down at his golden ring before looking back at his brothers who angrily spoke up.

“You’re just gonna leave us here to do the dirty work then aye Tommy?” John yelled.

“I have some things to do. You’ve both buried worse, just make their graves deeper this time.” He said before looking at his pocket watch.

“It’s Y/N again isn’t it Tommy? Bastard can’t even handle a murder job without wanting to run home to his spouse!” Arthur said, chuckling as John smirked.

“You’ll understand someday Arthur. Just get to work or I’ll make sure you’re both buried with that gang of fools instead of buried in company work tomorrow.” Tommy said before stepping outside and lighting another cigarette before heading home.

Back at home, the sun was shining brightly through the bedroom window with you laying in it’s rays, the sun warm on your skin as you draped yourself across the sheets as sleep eluded you still.

Your eyes were tired, with dark circles starting to form as the thoughts danced around in your head at where your husband could be. It had been 3 hours since he’d left, not that time meant much when he was away, it always seemed to blur until he came home.

As you stared at the old stone fireplace, you could hear the door cracking open downstairs as familiar footsteps heavily echoed through the hall and up to the bedroom.

He cracked the door open as light as he could, not wanting to disturb you if you were asleep, but you moved so you were facing him as he entered the room, meeting his tired eyes and blood stained hands and face. His clothes weren’t much better off, knowing that would be a pain to wash out.

“You haven’t slept...” He said taking his cap off and looking at you. He undid his dress shirt and took of the suspenders that clanked as he set them down on the table.

“I told you I probably wouldn’t be able to, you know that my love.” You said as you curled up on the sofa, the robe around you shifting with your movements.

“What can I do to help ya then aye? I can’t have you passing out at work.” He said coming over to sit on the floor next to you.

You lazily ran your hand through his hair as he leaned into your touch. The blood from earlier still glinting off his face in the sunlight.

“Well you could go take a shower, you’ve become so used to being covered in blood you forget it’s all over your face.” You said giggling slightly, he smiled and you felt him laugh a bit as you dropped your hand to his shoulder, massaging it lightly.

“You’re right about that, do you want to join?” He asked, looking over to you as he smirked.

“Only after you’ve washed the blood off, and on one condition.” You said.

“And what is that?” He asked.

“You lay with me for a while since you’ve been gone more often than not this week...that might help me sleep, at least until we have to get to work.” You said.

He smiled and nodded in agreement before getting up to rid himself of last nights business. You reluctantly getting up from the comfort of the sofa to join him in the steaming shower not soon after.

Showers always made everything better in a sense, so after it, you had no trouble falling asleep in Tommy’s arms.

You awoke later to the sun shining even brighter than before, signaling the afternoon, and you felt his warm arms still holding you as you lifted your head up slightly to look at him. He looked peaceful when he slept, or at least when he slept near you. Other times he’d be wide awake as the sounds of shovels and the muddy tunnels plagued his mind.

You carefully got up to not wake him and looked at the clock on the wall, lightly ticking in the distance and your eyes growing wide at the realization.

“My god...oh no...not again!” You said hurriedly.

“Thomas wake up! Thomas!” You said shaking his shoulder lightly.

His eyes shot open and he sat up immediately, looking around the room for any danger.

“What is it Y/N?” He said groggily and calming down as he saw you frantically getting ready.

“We overslept! Polly’s gonna kill us! We can’t be late to another meeting...you know this.” You said scurrying into the bathroom as you heard Tommy swearing under his breath.

He walked in as you were doing your hair quickly and putting in minimal effort to look presentable. Tommy was shirtless and standing behind you brushing his teeth, with his pants and belt undone as he’d hurriedly thrown a new pair on.

“You can finish getting ready and I’ll wait in the car.” You said moving out of his way and slipping your shoes on and grabbing your coat.

That was always the one little thing he loved about you, as you would always get ready quickly which often came in handy when he’d steal you away before other meetings or parties, and you still looked remarkable even if you put in minimal effort.

Not long after you started the car, he was bounding out the door and climbing into the drivers side, giving you a quick peck on the lips before speeding off towards the shop.

You looked at the watch Tommy had gifted you a while back, it reading 12:30pm as you both headed towards the familiar streets. People looked on as Tommy sped slightly through the streets earning some concerned glances.

With a lurching stop, Tommy parked the car and help you out, letting you inside the shop first as he followed.

“Y/N...Thomas...nice of you to join us.” Polly said smirking at you both as you walked in to the packed meeting room.

Tommy shook his head as he gave your hand a reassuring squeeze before sitting down and lifting a cigarette to his lips, wincing as Polly loudly re-hashed some of the news and plans involving the business.

“Tom, the London boys boss is wanting to meet you. Your message was delivered.” Michael said, eyeing him as he lit his own cigarette.

“When will he be here? 3 in the morning?” He asked, yawning on cue as you smirked, remembering the annoying events of last night.

“Actually yeah...What? That’s what he said...” Michael said confused.

You and Tommy shared a knowing look, as he rolled his eyes back to his brother.

“Alright...tell him it’s doing me a disservice but I’ll meet him...with backup of course.” He said looking to John and Arthur, they seemed just as tired, and still wearing their clothes from last night.

“For fucks sake. As long as you bury him this time Tom.” John said.

Tommy smirked in response, turning his gaze to you as you lazily rested your head on your arm, Polly glaring at you until you straightened up.

As much as you loved your husband, it was a known fact in the Shelby family that the wicked never rested. So you sighed as you accepted your fate, knowing sleep would elude you once again until business was done.

Tag List:

(If you’d like to be added/removed just shoot me an ask/message!) :)

@msbzowy, @nofckingfighting, @aranoburns, @sighonahurricane, @ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes, @gaytommyshelby, @wowjeena, @fifty-shadesof-tommyshelby, @inglourious-imagines, @thebloodyshelbys, @tsolomons, @blinder-secrets, @reveparade, @shelby-fanatic, @ta-ka-shi-ma, @psychkunox, @peakyxtommy, @captivatedbycillianmurphy, @dreamwastakenx, @lovemissyhoneybee

#katiesfics #peaky blinders #peaky blinders imagines #peaky blinders oneshots #peaky blinders fanfic #thomas shelby #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby x y/n #katiesWIPlist

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notbecauseofvictories · 4 years

Note

Hi Sarah! My friend and I are starting a bookclub (as much as you can with two people who aren't pressed for deadlines) and I was wondering if you have any recommendations? (That is if you have time to rec anything!) We're starting off with Deathless and have Fitzgerald next in line somewhere but I def want to try to expand the genres we read and tbh from years of following you, I trust your judgement

I don’t...like giving recommendations? At least not directly, it seems like too much opportunity for getting it wrong. Everybody has their own tastes, after all, and even the best of friends don’t necessarily vibe with what you vibe with. (I’ve experienced this with multiple friends, so I know what I’m talking about.) Truly, one of the reasons that my whole “I’m going to get back into reading for pleasure!” push has been so successful is that I only bother with books that interest me, and stop reading when they fail to catch my attention.

But I’ve now read at least 60 books in 2020, which is approximately 60 more than I’ve read in the years prior, so I’m happy to share that. Below is my list of recent reads, beginning to end, along with a very short review---I keep this list in the notes app on my phone, so they have to be. Where I’ve talked about a book in a post, I’ve tried to link to it.

Peruse, and if something catches your interest I hope you enjoy!

2020 Reading List

Crazy Rich Asians series, Kevin Kwan (here)

Blackwater, Michael McDowell (here; pulpy horror and southern gothic in one novel; come for the monster but stay for the family drama.)

Fire and Hemlock, Diane Wynne Jones (here; weird and thoughtful, in ways I’m still thinking about)

The Secret History, Donna Tartt

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (here; loved it! I can see why people glommed onto it)

Swamplandia!, Karen Russell (unfinished, I could not get past the first paragraph; just....no.)

Rules of Scoundrels series, Sarah MacLean (an enjoyable romp through classic romancelandia, though if you read through 4 back to back you realize that MacLean really only writes 1 type of relationship and 1 type of sexual encounter, though I do appreciate insisting that the hero go down first.)

The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden (here)

Dread Nation, Justine Ireland (great, put it with Stealing Thunder in terms of fun YA fantasy that makes everything less white and Eurocentric)

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson (VERY good. haunting good.)

Tell My Horse, Zora Neale Hurston (I read an interesting critique of Hurston that said she stripped a lot of the radicalism out of black stories - these might be an example, or counterexample. I haven't decided yet.)

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society, T. Kingfisher (fun!)

St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell (some of these short stories are wonderful; however, Swamplandia's inspiration is still unreadable, which is wild.)

17776, Jon Bois (made me cry. deeply human. A triumph of internet storytelling)

The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey (deeply enjoyable. the ending is a bittersweet kick in the teeth, and I really enjoyed the adults' relationships)

The Door in the Hedge and Other Stories, Robin McKinley (enjoyable, but never really resolved into anything.)

The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley (fun, but feels very early fantasy - or maybe I've just read too many of the subsequent knock-offs.)

Mrs. Caliban, Rachel Ingalls (weird little pulp novel.)

All Systems Red, Martha Wells (enjoyable, but I don't get the hype. won't be looking into the series unless opportunity arises.)

A People's History of Chicago, Kevin Coval (made me cry. bought a copy. am still thinking about it.)

The Sol Majestic, Ferrett Steinmetz (charming, a sf novel mostly about fine dining)

House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (immensely enjoyable read, for all it feels like fic with the serial numbers filed off)

The Au Pair, Emma Rous (not bad, but felt like it wanted to be more than it is)

The Night Tiger, Yangsze Choo (preferred this to Ghost Bride; I enjoy a well-crafted mystery novel and this delivered)

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (unfinished, I cannot fucking get into Le Guin and should really stop trying)

The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo (enjoyable, but not nearly as fun as Ghost Bride - the romance felt very disjointed, and could have used another round of editing)

Temptation's Darling, Johanna Lindsey (pure, unadulterated id in a romance novel, complete with a girl dressing as a boy to avoid detection)

Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton (a strange, dark psychological portrait; really made a mark even though I can't quite put my finger on why)

The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (slow at first, but picks up halfway through and builds nicely; a whiff of Gone Girl with the staggered perspectives building together)

Stealing Thunder, Alina Boyden (fun Tortall vibes, but set in Mughal India)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant; The Monster Baru Commorant, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson (LOVE this, so much misery, terrible, ecstatic; more here)

This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone (epistolary love poetry, vicious and lovely; more here)

The Elementals, Michael McDowell

Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (didn't like this one as much as I thought I would; narrator's contemporary voice was so jarring against the stylized world and action sequences read like the novelization for a video game; more here)

Finna, Nino Cipri (a fun little romp through interdimensional Ikea, if on the lighter side)

Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey (engrossing, even if I could see every plot twist coming from a mile away)

Desdemona and the Deep, C. S. E. Cooney (enjoyed the weirdness & the fae bits, but very light fare)

A Blink of the Screen, Terry Pratchett (admittedly just read this for the Discworld bits)

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (not as good about politics and colonialism as Baru, but still a powerful book about The Empire, and EXTREMELY cool worldbuilding that manages to be wholly alien and yet never heavily expositional)

Blackfish City, Sam J. Miller (see my post)

Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan (didn't finish, got to to first explicit sex scene and couldn't get any further)

Prosper's Demon, KJ Parker (didn't work for me...felt like a short story that wanted to be fleshed out into a novel)

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik (extremely fun, even for a reader who doesn't much like Napoleonic stories)

Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone (fun romp - hard to believe that this is the same author as Time War though you can see glimmers of it in the imagery here)

A Scot in the Dark, Sarah MacLean (palette cleanser, she does write a good romance novel even it's basically the same romance novel over and over)

The Resurrectionist, E. B. Hudspeth (borrowed it on a whim one night, kept feeling like there was something I was supposed to /get/ about it, but never did - though I liked the Mutter Museum parallels)

Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang (he's a better ideas guy than a writer, though Hell Is The Absence of God made my skin prickle all over)

Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (fun, very much a throwback to my YA days of fairytale retellings, though obviously less European)

Four Roads Cross, Max Gladstone (it turns out I was a LOT more fond of Tara than I initially realized - plus this book had a good Pratchett-esque pacing and reliance on characterization)

Get in Trouble, Kelly Link (reading this after the Chiang was instructive - Link is such a better storyteller, better at prioritizing the human over the concept)

Gods Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips

Soulless; Changeless; Blameless, all by Gail Carriger (this series is basically a romance novel with some fantasy plot thrown in for fun; extremely charming and funny)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James (got about 1/3 of the way through and had to wave the white flag; will try again because I like the plot and the worldbuilding; the tone is just so hard to get through)

Pew, Catherine Lacey (a strange book, I'm still thinking about it; a good Southern book, though)

Nuremberg Diary, GM Gilbert (it took me two months to finish, and was worth it)

River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey (I wanted to like this one a lot more than I actually did; would have made a terrific movie but ultimately was not a great novel. Preferred Magic for Liars.)

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (extremely fun, though more trippy than Gods and the plot didn't work as well for me - though it was very original)

The New Voices of Fantasy, Peter S. Beagle (collected anthology, with some favorites I've read before Ursula Vernon's "Jackalope Wives", "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" "The Husband Stitch"; others that were great new finds "Selkie Stories are for Losers" from Sofia Satamar and "A Kiss With Teeth" from Max Gladstone and "The Philosophers" from Adam Ehrlich Sachs)

#from the bookshelf #Anonymous

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bradie-valentine · 3 years

Text

To Live in a House That is Haunted

By Bradie Valentine

The afternoon sun bakes me through the windshield as I drive towards Leah’s house. She hasn’t answered my texts in a couple of days. Not that unusual for her, even before this silence. And yet I’m still on my way to check on her. We’ve been basically inseparable since we bonded over our family troubles in grade three and this is the longest we haven’t seen each other since then. The quiet from her side of our friendship has gestated long enough.

When I pull up to her house, a wave of unease washes over me. The house looks almost the same as it usually does, but just slightly off. The grass is way too long and I can see a pile of mush near the mailbox, the storms of summer turning her mail into pulp. As I head towards the house, parting the long grass that tickles my legs, I notice the stack of oak she bought a few months ago. The wood is bloated and full of wet rot, another victim of the January showers.

Don’t get me wrong, Leah has always been quiet, reserved. But this is different. Besides the occasional ‘I’m still alive’ text, I’ve barely interacted with her in the past two months. I can’t exactly blame her though. I can understand why she hasn’t been feeling very social. Her husband, Brian, died two months ago; the death of Leah’s voice immediately following.

I was with her that day, the day cops turned up to deliver the news. We were in the lounge room, chatting about Leah’s upcoming carpentry projects when there was a knock at the door. Leah answered it, there was some muffled chatter and then a sorrowful screech, like an animal caught in a trap. I leapt up from the couch just in time to see Leah collapse in on herself. The strong statue of the woman I knew, reduced to a pile of discarded tissues; delicate and tear soaked.

It was a freak accident that killed her Brian. A bump on the head at work. Rushed to the hospital, and he was dead on arrival. We found out later that the knock had popped a massive aneurysm that was nesting between the folds of his brain.

I take a deep breath and rap on the door a couple times but Leah doesn’t answer. I pause for a few seconds, knock, pause again, and knock again. I pull out my phone and text her, a drop of sweat trickles down the back of my neck. The heat and worry working together to slick my skin. I try calling too, but the phone rings out. Usually I wouldn’t bother worrying over Leah, but since Brian, grief has metamorphosed her, leeching both her light and strength. I think I should go, maybe come back later, but then I notice the sound of music. Leonard Cohen’s deep voice emanates from within the house. I try the handle and it’s unlocked, as soon as I open the door I get hit with the foulest stench of my life, even worse than when I used to get paid to wash down animal cages at the local vet. The stench clogs my nostrils and makes my mouth water with pre-vomit saliva.

I call out to Leah and get no response in return. Covering my nose, I start down the hallway, passing picture frames filled with photos of the happy couple. I call out again and I still don’t get a reply. Oh god, I should have come sooner. As I approach the bedroom, I hear a buzzing. I can’t place it for a second, and then I realise, it’s flies, a swarm of flies.

It’s all making sense, her favourite album playing, their wedding anniversary is coming up. The stench of sickly sweet death crowding the hallway. Leah has killed herself and now a horde insects are busy getting comfortable in the rancid warmth of her lifeless corpse.

I brace myself, a few steps and I’ll be able to see the bedroom, the carnage Leah has made of herself. And then I hear a laugh, Leah's laugh. The fear mixes with confusion and I’m so disorientated, I stumble the last couple steps forward and then I see them.

Leah is lying on the bed, holding Brian’s hand. It takes me a second to realise that the swollen form on the bed is indeed Brian. The flies have made their home here a while ago. There is a split in Brian’s belly where the gasses of rot have burst him open. Maggots spill off Brian and wiggle across Leah, like they can’t even tell anymore where the death ends and the living begins.

I turn away and run for the kitchen. My stomach is roiling and lurching. I only make it halfway and end up vomiting on the floor. Bile and this morning's toast exploding from my mouth.

“Hi”

I look at Leah. She’s knobbly and bony where she used to be muscular. There’s a stain down the left side of her night gown. It’s yellowy thickness let’s me know it’s broken down fat that has leached out of Brian and onto her. As if he was trying to offer back some of the bulk that weeks in bed have taken from her.

I’m still gagging when she starts talking.

“I dug him up, after the funeral. I brought a shovel with me.”

“Why?”

“I was getting ready for the funeral and all I could think about is how he would be so lonely in the ground. You know how much he hated being without me.”

“Leah, this is fucking crazy, you know that right? I love you but holy shit. You need help Leah… you need serious help.”

She just turns away and walks back to the bedroom.

“Leah, stop! I’m serious.”

She doesn’t listen to me. I follow her down the hallway and watch her climb into bed next to the mass of degrading flesh in a burial suit.

The liquid of his body has seeped into the mattress and the carpet beneath their bed. No one is ever going to be able to scrub him from the carpet or the floor below. An oily stain has spread up the wall above him, a halo made from his desecration. Brian now has a permanence he never had before. I wonder for a second what will happen to this house after they’re gone. Who would even want it now?

“Go away,” She says.

“Leah please”

She stays silent, just staring at Brian’s empty face.

“This is beyond fucked up, I’m getting you out of here. If… if you don’t come with me, I’ll call the police. They’ll be able to drag you out”

There is another long pause, and I almost think she has forgotten I’m here. She’s so clearly out of it.

“Please… please just let me say goodbye” She finally replies, “I need to say goodbye. I didn’t get to say it last time, please“

She leans in close to the bloat and starts whispering. I feel like I’m watching something I shouldn’t. I head for the front door, for fresh air. As I’m walking through the house, I realise all of the pictures on the wall that used to be of parents and cousins and nieces have been replaced.

They’re all of Leah with Brian’s body. All taken in the house. In one, Brian is propped up on the couch. Leah is sitting straight, like she’s posing for a portrait. The self timer on her phone capturing a record of her depravity. The photos all vary in poses and states of decomposition. The latest one I find is of them in bed. Brian already shiny and slick, his body bloated and gnarled. Leah has an arm around him and her head on his chest.

The front door is calling to me, fresh air and a reprieve from the incessant vibration of insect life. I reach for the handle when I notice the frame right by the door. The photo is of Leah, Brian and I at their wedding. It was Leah's favourite of the night, the three of us caught in laughter together. I sigh and head for the lounge room instead, climb the couch and slide open the window, pressing my face to the fly screen, breathing deeply the outside air.

The light tap, tap, tap of Leah’s steps announce her presence in the hallway.

“It’s okay now,” she says, “I got to say goodbye. We can put him back and no one has to know. You don’t have to call the police or anything.”

“Leah, you dug up his body, I can’t just pretend like that didn't happen.”

“Please! If anyone finds out, they’ll put me away. I don’t want to be alone. I lost Brian, I can’t lose everyone else as well.”

She’s just standing there in her yellowed nightgown, hands wringing each other. Leah looks so young, so helpless, like she’s in third grade again. Actually, she reminds me more of myself when I was in third grade. Unsure, broken, needing someone to look after me. Leah was the one who took care of me then, she was my person. Now I have to be that for her.

“Alright,” I say, getting up from the couch, “you get the gloves and aprons, I’ll get the rope.”

Standing in the bedroom, decked out in aprons, gloves, and face masks, we stare at the pile of flesh on top of the mattress. Assessing the best course of action, I really stare at Brian. Once a man, a great man at that, he is now somewhere between human and object. Tender and fragile, a bag of rot. Meat, past its use by date. A spoiled egg, one sharp prod and he’ll pop like a runny yolk. We have to be gentle.

Next to the bed, we lay the blue tarp I grabbed from the shed across the floor. Leah climbs up beside Brian, the movement jostles him, shaking the fluid filling his skin, wobbling like an oversized hot water bottle. Bracing myself over the tarp we grab his arms and pull him towards the ground, our fingers sink into his raw sausage meat arms. He slips from our hands a couple inches from the floor, with a wet slap he hits the ground. We rear back, and Leah spews a startled cry. The gash in Brian’s stomach yawns wider and a rush of melted organs spill from his open body; a thick grotesque puff of odour erupting with it. Following closely behind, a swarm of flies and maggots escape his bodily cavity, startled from their reverie.

Shocked still for a moment, we spring to life and scramble out of the room and slam the door shut. Leah slides to the floor, moaning and crying.

“What do we do now?” She asks me.

Dropping to the floor, I gather her gently into my lap. Trying not to think about bits of Brian swill getting all over me, I pat her matted hair.

“We take care of you now, the way you took care of Brian, the way you’ve taken care of me. Whatever that means.”

“Okay,” she says, “okay.”

Once Leah is soundly asleep, I dial triple zero. The operator seems a bit surprised by the situation I describe.

“My friend dug up her husband’s dead body and had been living with it for two months, can you send an ambulance over?”

“Uh, yeah. Right away.”

Once again, Leah and I are startled by a knock at her front door. I’m the one who answers it this time. Leah stands at the end of the hallway, she must look frightening to these strangers. Gaunt and covered in sludge, sticky with the putrid stench of the death that was stewing in that once pristine bedroom. They’re gentle with her, she goes with them willingly. We finally get outside, the freshness of the crisp air disorientating. Leah stops and turns to me.

“I’m sorry for bringing you into this,” she says.

“Anytime,” I say.

We both laugh a little bit.

“Leah?”

“Yes?”

“You’ll be okay. Eventually, things will be better.”

“I know,” She says, “will you be okay, without me around?”

I think it’s a joke. Her, also trying to lighten the mood. I answer her seriously anyway.

“Yes, Leah. I think I will.”

#shortstories #shortstory #bradievalentine #originalwork #originalstory #writer #author

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thesetrashimagines · 4 years

Text

The Man Pt.4

A Peaky Blinders Imagine (reader insert)

Warnings: Fighting, blood, broken bones, losing of teeth, swearing, and a very vivid description of a bullet wound.

Illustration is from here. Creds to Jonathan McGonnell for the concept art.

Pt.3 Pt.5

Summary: The fights have begun.

AN: It’s another long one, sorry! Hope you like it though :)

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen!” You heard the microphone squeek to life then Peter’s voice boom through it. “I am so glad to see all of you here tonight! And look at all of those familiar faces!” Peter was the announcer tonight, said he didn’t want to go home to the missus all bruised up.

He went on his usually spiel about boxing and threw in some jokes here and there. You ignored him. Taking another look at yourself fully dressed, you were filled with anxiousness. Hercules was a lot bigger than you, but so was every man you fought. Most of their arms were the size of your head. You hopped from one foot to the other, to shake the feeling off. A series of knocks came from the door, “Adi? Nik is about to start.” You tossed everything back into your bag and went for the door. “Wanna go watch Nikki kick some arse?” Cal had the biggest smile on his face, “Yeah let’s go,”

Both of you walked to the front and saw a row of seats with some faces you recognized. The Shelby’s took up one end of the row, Finn sat next to the woman you saw at the store, ‘should’ve guessed she’d be here.’, then it was Polly, her son, the capped man, Tommy, and lastly Arthur. Sat beside Arthur was Theo and beside him was Dante. “You took long enough Adi.” “Bite me Dante.” He chuckled while you took the seat next to him and Cal planted himself in the unclaimed seat.

“Your lucky shorts?” Dante flicked his head to your shorts, “Yep.” You crossed your arms and leaned forward, “‘ello Theodore!” The large man shifted your way, and so did the Shelby’s along side of him. “Adi! Glad you joined us!” You smiled, “You know I wouldn’t miss one of Niks fights.”

Arthurs’ head poked out from behind Theos’ arm, “Ya think Nik will win?” You shrugged, “Can’t say. Don’t you want to keep it interesting?” “Why you know something we don’t?” Flashing a toothy smile you answered, “You’ve never watched Nikolai Elis fight?” He blinked, “That’s the Nikolai Elis?” Theo clapped a hand on Arthurs back, “Yes lad who’d you think we were? Amatuers?” Cal laughed and leaned over you, “Come on now Arthur you didn’t think Peter would be friends with just anbody?” The man stuttered, “I knew you lot were well known boxers but-”

Tommy interrupted, “Adonis, Cal. You haven’t met the rest of the Shelby’s have ya?” Looking to him you shook your head. “this is Pol, Ada, and John.” He pointed to each person, with a tight lipped smile you responded, “Hello.”

Cal waved, “Hi!” but your introductions got cut short by Peter jogging up to the mic. “Is everyone ready for a fight?” Cheers and whoops filled the arena. “That’s what we like to here! Alrighty, bring ‘em up.” Nik entered from the left side of the ring, you and the boys cheered for him. Dante called out, “You’ve got this one Nik!” He winked in your direction as a response. Then Isaiah entered from the right and most, if not all, of the Peaky Blinders stood up and cheered. “Kick his fucking arse Isaiah!” Finn shot a fist into the air which Isaiah returned. Then both Nik and Isaiah were called to the middle of the ring by Peter.

“Lads listen here now. I want a clean fight, this ain’t no backwater bullshit alright?” They nodded, “Okay so no hits to the groin, no stomping on each other, and no biting. Got that?” They nodded again. “Good! Ladies and gentlemen we have in the right corner, Isaiah Jesus!” Isaiah faced the crowd and rose both arms, “And in the left we have Nikolai Elis!” Nik waved an arm. “Okay let’s tap gloves boys and get on with it.” Both men stepped forward. Isaiah hit Nik’s hand and jumped back.

People started yelling immediatly. Isaiah jumped around for bit before taking the first plunge, almost as if he knew, Nik blocked the outstretched fist. They went in a circle, Isaiah went for another punch. This time Nik turned slightly and took it to his shoulder. Planting his feet firmly, Nik threw his first hit; punching Isaiah square in the face. The boy staggered back a bit, arms low to his side.

“Raise them arms Isaiah!” Arthur yelled. Isaiah’s arms came up to block his face, seeing his bare torso, Nik took his chance and hit Isaiah 3 times. Then he swung his arm back and delivered a left hook to the side of Isaiah’s ear. This time Isaiah jumped back and bounced on the balls of his feet to shake himself off. He watched Nik stand there in a defensive stance and stare at him. Isaiah ducked down and got underneath Nik’s arms. He punched over, and over, and over. You could hear Nik’s breath come out in puffs.

“The legs Nikki!” Dante added to your advice, “Fold him Nik!” Isaiah’s hits were getting weaker so Nik dropped his elbow into his shoulder. Then, while Isaiah had his back arched, Nik took a step and hooked his foot behind Isaiahs knee and pulled. The ring shook from the impact and the bell rung. Nik waited for Isaiah to get up before going into his corner. Cal stood and walked over to him, you could see them talk to each other then share a fistbump. Cal came back over and whispered to the 3 of you, “He’s gonna take him out this next round. Said he’s done playing nice after that kid tried to beat his kidneys to a pulp.” You all chuckled and focused back on the fight.

Nik stuck to his word. In the first few minutes he let Isaiah tire himself out, every punch Isaiah gave, Nik blocked. Then in just seconds Isaiah was out. Nik hit Isaiah in the gut causing him to hunch slightly, a right hook to his jaw, and an uppercut to finish him off. Isaiah rolled over onto his stomach and his blood dripped onto the floor. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Nik grabbed Isaiah’s leg and bent it towards his head. The sound in the arena was deafening but you could still hear the pained groans coming from Isaiah. He slapped the ring floor. Nik dropped his leg and stepped away from the boy as people came into the ring to help him stand. “And we have a winner! Nik Elis!” Peter raised Nik’s arm into the air. You all shot up clapping and cheering.

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Finn and Dante stood facing each other as Peter went over the same set of rules. Then bumped gloves. Right off the bat Dante hit Finn with a round of punches to the stomach. The quick attack took Finn off guard but he recovered and swung at Dante, hitting him in the face. You could tell that Finn had more of a ‘prefessional’ way to his fighting style. His throws were more thought out than Isaiah’s. Though his defense against kicks needed to be brushed up on. Dante saw this and went with everything he had. “He’s kicking the shit outta that kid.” You turned to Cal, “That’s gonna get him in the end.” “Good we’ve told him enough times to conserve his engery in matches.” Theo grunted in agreement and folded his arms, “ ‘e’s gonna get a good one to the face in a minute.” On que Finn hit Dante with a left hook to the jaw. Dante spat out blood and smiled. He was riled up now. The two of them dodged and blocked, their speed was almost equal, almost. Dante took a step to the left and Finn mirrored but as soon as Finn settled into his stance, he dropped. Dante had roundhouse kicked Finn in the face, Cal stood up and cheered, “Atta boy Dante!” At the call of his name Dante looked up and gave another bloody smile. In his moment of distraction Dante failed to notice Finn getting ready to kick his feet from under him.

Now both men wrestled on the floor trying to get the other into a lock. In the end Finn was able to secure Dante arm behind his back. Dante hated tapping out, you could see his mind go through every possible way to get out.

“Don’t let go of his hand Dante!” Theo called out.

While laying on the floor Dante held out a thumbs up. And with whatever strength Dante had left he used and got out from under Finn. Moving quickly, Dante put Finn into a headlock and gave him 2 punches to the face. Finn twisted himself out of Dante’s hold and threw a fist to the side of his face. Dante took a few steps back and Finn followed, he didn’t stop until he was against the ropes; he jumped backwards into them and allowed them to send him forward into Finn. Knocking both of them down, Dante put Finn into a leg lock. They lid there on the floor for a bit with Finn trying his hardest not to tap. Eventually he did. “Winner by forfeit, Dante!” You all stood up again and celebrated.

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There was a small intermission before the next match. “Cal!” Bonnie Gold came bounding over to your small group, “Bonnie!” Cal jumped up and hugged him. “We’re fighting next,” Cal nodded, “Yeah can’t wait to see what new tricks you’ve got” Bonnie said hello to the rest of you and began talking. His father came shortly after and said they had to get go. “I’m gonna get my arse handed to me.” You giggled at Cal, “Yes you are and I have front row seats.”

Nik and Dante came back to join you. Theo looked over and smiled at Dante, “Look at that lip.” Dante smiled back the best he could, “What you want me to give ya a kiss Theo?” He pouted his lips out, “Yeah Theo give us winners a kiss.” Nik joined in and started to make kissing sounds. “Oi piss off you!” Theo put his arms out to hold back the two of them.

From the microphone, Peter cleared his throat.

“As most people know these next two fighters have versed before,” Almost as to prove they knew each other, Cal and Bonnie climbed into the ring and wrapped their arms around one another. “You’d guess these two were married. Look at ‘em!” The audience laughed. Peter broke them up, “Get in your corners now, can’t spend the whole night holding each other.” He went over the rules again, “I gotta add an extra special rule for this one. Bonnie, you cannot go pulling Cal’s beautiful ‘air okay?” Cal secured his hair back and yelled out ‘thank you!’ while people laughed and Bonnie nodded. With both men in their corners, Peter stood back and signaled for the bell to ring.

They began side stepping around in a circle. Cal took the first jump forward and threw a punch towards Bonnie’s face but his fist made contact with Bonnie’s forearms instead. Cal went for the torso next, he landed a few shots before Bonnie swung and hit him in the jaw. The force of Bonnie’s hit almost made Cal’s head spin. Bonnie got him good. Cal took a few steps back and shook his head, a few hairs coming loose.

Then as Bonnie went to go for another hit, Cal stepped to the right and hit Bonnie with a combo; two punches to the ribs and one to the side of the head. Bonnie spun around quickly and threw up his arms in defense, Cal tried to kick him in the stomach but Bonnie grabbed his leg and shoved it forward, sending Cal onto his back. Cal didn’t stay down for long though, he threw his bottom half up and jumped once his feet touched the floor. Standing to his full height, he faced Bonnie again. Bonnie kicked Cal a few times in the ribs and Cal made sure to keep his hands high. While Bonnie was winding up for another kick Cal stepped forward and landed a hard punch to Bonnie’s cheek. This time Bonnie’s head swiveled. Cal took a moment to laugh but it was short lived because Bonnie punched him in the eye. He hit the floor like dead weight.

“Fucking hell Bonnie!” Everyone watched Cal curl up and cover his face, “Why’d you go for my money maker!?” Bonnie keened over in a fit of laughter. Cal scooted over to Bonnie and grabbed his arms then rolled on top of him, throwing as many punches as he could before Bonnie put up his arms. Bonnie did put up his arms but not in the way people were expecting, he put his hands onto the back of Cal’s neck and shot his knee up. Cal fell to the side and lid down on his stomach then shot a hand out and slapped Bonnie hard on the pec three times.

Peter ran over to see if Cal was really tapping out, “And the winner is Bonnie Gold!” Bonnie helped Cal up and then they patted each other on the backs. Cal was passed off to the medics and Bonnie hobbled along after them.

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“How’s Theo as a fighter?” Tommy’s voice made you jump, “Theo?” You turned yourself towards him and Arthur. “He’s as good as a guy that’s 226 centimeters tall.” Nik leaned forward to add on, “He’s light on his feet too.” Both men nodded.

“Isn’t Goliath Solomons’ nephrew?” Tommy looked a little surprised, “You know Alfie?” You scoffed, “Who doesn’t?” You mentally winced at the slip up, it probably wasn’t the best idea to tell Tommy that you’ve worked for Alfie before. Ignoring the look Tommy gave you, you turned back to Peter as he took to the middle of the ring again.

“You lot are going to enjoy this one. To make it simple, these men are giants.” Goliath climbed into the ring, “Goliath and-” Theo stepped over the ropes, “Theodore!”

Theo isn’t a agressive, or even violent, man. But watching him box would make you highly doubt that he wasn’t.

It didn't take long after tapping gloves when Theo threw his first hit. It was an uppercut and he landed it. There was a small space of time where Goliath was getting into his stance, and that's when Theo struck. The unexpected hit really threw Goliath off. He was stumbling a bit before finding his footing. He swung aimlessly at Theo, which Theo easily avoided.

Coming back from the dodge, Theo gave Goliath a left hook to his ribcage then another to his right side. Theo bounced back, ready for whatever was thrown at him. Goliath stepped forward, he seemed a little more in the moment now. Theo noticed and raised his arms and hunched, being taller than most of his opponents meant he had to crouch down more to limit the unprotected space of his torso.

Goliath jabbed at Theo's sides and even threw a few punches to Theo's forearms that were blocking his face. Wanting to tire out Goliath, Theo gave a quick succession of easy to dodge hits. Taking note of the shorter man slowing down, Theo knew his fist would be able to break Goliaths defense. So shifting his weight to his back foot, Theo swung his dominant arm forward straight into Goliath's forearms. And just as he predicted, his hand went straight through and made contact with Goliath's face. His entire head shot back from the force. Not letting the moment go to waste, Theo threw another left hook to Goliath's face.

You watched the tooth fly out of Goliath's mouth, "Knock his fucking teeth out Teddy!" You looked up to see Cal standing and hollering at Theo.

"Hey look there's the tooth," Nik nudged your arm and pointed down at the ground where the bloody tooth sat. "Should I pick it up? You know as a souvenir." You shook your head with a laugh, "By all means, go for it." Nik kneeled down and grabbed the tooth.

Looking back up to the fight you saw Goliath swaying. He wasn't gonna last much longer. Theo's light blue gloves had dark red smears on them and when he flicked his wrists, the blood went everywhere.

Theo's next few moves happened fast. His fist hit Goliath's stomach, which sent the boy waddling backwards. Then with another big wound up, he gave Goliath the winning blow. And like a sack of potatoes, Goliath dropped to the floor.

"Knock out!" Peter ran into the ring and put his hand on Theo's back, "And your winner is Theodore!" You and the boy were freaking out. While cheering you looked to the side and gave Thomas a wink.

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You were up next, the last fight of the night. You versus Hercules. The crowd was yelling both of your names, you tried not to let it get you worked up. Being nervous about these kind of things was bad ‘Come on YN you’ve done this thousands of times.’ Maybe it was the thought you might go too far in this fight, that you might hurt Hercules more than intended. ‘Stop thinking like that, you’re not gonna kill him.’ You slapped your face a few times to snap out of it.

“This has been the fight we’ve all been waiting for, Adonis versus Hercules! The fight between gods!” You cringed.

“Hey kid you’re up.” You smiled in thanks to the man opening the door and walked into the arena. Making sure to keep your shoulders back and head held high, you hopped into the ring and not too long after Hercules joined you. He had to be a little over six feet tall. With his strawberry blonde hair styled in a fashionable way and a stupid smirk on his face, he raised his arms to greet the crowd.

You looked around till your gaze fell on the row filled with your friends and new acquaintances. Cal, with his bruised face, hollered while Dante and Nik laughed, Theo smiled and nodded towards you. You gave them a smile and shifted your gaze to the Shelby’s. Ada and Polly were grinning, Finn and Isaiah were looking at you and talking to one another, John was leaned back in his seat with a smug look on his face, Arthur was grooming his mustache in thought, and Tommy just stared at you like he was trying to pick you apart. ‘The fucks his problem?’

“I’m sure you both have heard me go over the rules enough times tonight but-” Peter dragged on about the rules, “Now let’s have a good clean fight.” Hercules nodded and you looked at him expressionless. Peter gestured with his arms for you two to tap, then the bell rang.

You knew Hercules was going to go for the first hit, the confidence oozed out of him. You raised your arms in defense and danced around on your feet, you heard Hercules laugh before he followed you around the ring. You could tell that the fact you weren’t saying anything or showing any emotion was bothering Hercules. He let out a grunt then shot his arm out. Seeing his fist coming towards you, you ducked and went underneath his arm, ending up behind him. He turned to face you again and took another swing, you went underneath his arm again. You waited to see if he would pull the same move again or change his tactic. He didn’t. When his third attempt came towards you, you leaned to the side and gave a right hook to his head then, a straight punch from your left hand to his stomach. He let out a burst of air and hunched over slightly. You bounced around him then sent a swift kick to his back which made him take two steps forward.

You backed up to the other end of the ring. Again you watched and waited.

Hercules stood up straight and turned to look for you, his eyebrows rose when he noticed you were a few feet in front of him. He bounced on his feet and rushed to you, taking a step to the left you hit him in the ribs. Hercules stuck out his arm and turned around fast. His forearm smacking you in the face, your head whipped back and you could hear a few people let out an ‘oooo’. Going with his momentum, Hercules threw a punch to your stomach. You keened over and stumbled backwards, you stayed hunched as Hercules’s thundering steps came at you, he threw another hit to your side. You felt your stitches pop. But you ignored the pain. Hercules put a hand in your hair and went to hit you in the face but you pushed yourself back, out of his reach, and kicked the back of his knee. Now a good foot shorter, you put Hercules’s in a headlock and punched him the face. Two, three, four times you wailed on him before Peter and a few other men came to separate you from the bloodied Hercules. People were yelling at you saying how you were cheating, ‘How am I cheating by using his own move against him?’ You scoffed a laugh and stood in your corner. Nik came rushing over.

“Good play Adi!” He was smiling from ear to ear. “What’s the plan?” Meeting his eyes you shrugged, “Maybe knock the fucker out.” You picked up your water canister and took a gulp, “Well you got him good” Nik had his arms up on the rope leaning against them. “I know.” You watched his eyes widen, “Your side’s bleeding!” You put the canister back down, “I know. I already told the medics it’s just a small scratch.” Nik put his head on his folded arms, “I shouldn’t be surprised.” You ruffled his hair and smiled, “Stop worrying, I’ve got a fight to win.”

“Let’s get our lovely fighters back in the middle!” At Peter’s words Nik patted your shin and smiled back, “Good luck YN.” You stared at the back of his head as he walked back to his seat.

You stalked forward and looked at Hercules in the eyes then glanced up, his left eyebrow was split. “Alright we had a good first round, keep it up.” Peter dropped his hand between the two of you and got out of the ring. Hercules immediatley threw a punch at your face, no doubt trying to get you back for splitting his brow. But his fist smacked into your arms as you raised them to protect yourself. Hercules then threw a hit to your unprotected torso though before he made contact, you swung a right hook into the side of his face, making his head turn with it. He took one step to the right and you landed another hit to his jaw. He finally put his right arm up to block you. You could tell he was a little dazed so you jumped backwards as he swung about blindly. You wanted this to be a fair fight, you wanted everyone to watch you knock him out with nothing but pure skill.

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“He’s like a snake,” Nik looked to his side and saw that Polly had taken Theos seat. “Huh?” She smiled, “he reminds me of a snake. Sitting back and watching for his prey’s next move, and when the moment is right, he strikes.” Nik chuckled, “I guess so.” Cal looked at Polly in confusion, “Adi? a snake? Noooo, if anything he’s a puma. Stalks his food when he’s hungry and when he’s full, takes a nap in the sun.” Cal and the rest of the men laughed, “Yes cause if it’s anything that Adonis enjoys, it’s sleep.” Nik turned back to Polly, “If we’re being honest with you here Polly, Adonis has this, sixth sense almost. It’s like he knows what his opppenents are going to do. He can read anybody like a book.”

Polly raised her brows, “He can read people?” Dante leaned forward, “He’s like a dog, he knows when somethings up. It’s like his senses are heightened.” Next to Polly, Tommy spoke. “By the sounds of it, Adonis is an entire zoo.” Dante laughed and shook his head, “Now you’re getting the hang of things Tom!”

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You studied Hercules while he came back from his dazed state. His jaw was starting to get develope a welt and blood trickled down his face from the split in his brow, and his eye were deadset on you. There was anger in his eyes, you could see that from a mile away, he was mad you were beating him so easily.

The taller man got back into his stance and started walking in a circle which you copied. You started closing the circle and Hercules followed, now you were standing a few feet away from each other. Hercules smirked at you and in return you stared blankly. His fist shot forward and hit you in the cheek, you quickly put up your arms and tried to stand your ground but with the force behind Hercules’s punches, it was getting harder. You had to think fast. So you dropped to the floor, you weren’t near anything so Hercules couldn’t trapped you, it seemed like a good idea in the moment but of course something had to go wrong.

When getting to the floor your foot slipped, making you land on your back. The bottom of Hercules’s boot was all you could see. You raised your arms and blocked the foot, in the distance you heard the bell ding and people yelling. Wrapping your hands around Hercules’s leg you pulled him down and tossed him to your side but before you could get on top of him, arms pulled you back. “Adi I’ve got you mate, I’ve got ya.” Peter. You spun around, “If he fucking does that again Peter, I swear to God I’ll-” Peter put his hands up to calm you down, “I know what you’ll do Thomas told me and Nik what happened in the Garrison.”

You blinked at him a couple of times, “Oh...”

“Yeah oh. You have some explaining to do after this.” You laughed, “Of course dad.” You touched his arm and went back into your corner. You could hear the harsh whispers being thrown at Hercules. He diserved it after all, making an illegal move like that.

“One sitation to Hercules.” Peters voice was strick in the microphone. “In the middle please,” Peter looked between the two of you. “Kicking is off the table because apprently someone can’t follow the rules.” Peter was talking only to the two of you now. “You make that move again and you’re out, got it?” Hercules sighed, “Yeah I got it after the first ten fucking times you told me.” Peter’s jaw glenched. “Fight!.” He dropped his arm and left the ring.

You didn’t wait this time. You threw 3 quick hits to Hercules stomach. Then an uppercut when he bent over. With his head tilted back, you shot punch after punch into his ribcage. At some point you felt a bone snap under your gloves. Hercules shouted out in pain.

He grabbed one of your out stretched arms and bent it behind your back. He was gonna try and get you to summit. Thinking 5 steps ahead of him, you slipped your hand out of his and slid it up to just above his elbow. Your back was to his chest and then you bent your knees and started to pull. You put your other hand onto his neck when his head came to the side of yours and just like that, Hercules was flat on his ass in front of you with his arm twisted up.

He tried grabbing you with his opposite arm but with every move you would step just out of reach. You leaned down the tiniest bit and spoke into his ear, “If you move anymore you’ll dislocate your shoulder.” He scoffed and went to grab you again, “A small thing like you couldn’t do shit.” He started to get up.

You twisted his arm a little further and he screamed and grabbed at the shoulder joint, “You’re gonna break it!” You rose a brow, “I remember saying if you moved anymore you’ll be the one to break it.” He let out another yell, “If you think I’m tapping out, you’re fucking wrong!” You shrugged your shoulders, “Alright.”

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“What’s he doing?!” Cal was freaking out, “I don’t know...” Theo answered, “maybe he’s waiting for him to tap?” Dante let out some air, “After his boot nearly squished him? No he’s gonna break his arm.” Nik rubbed his face, “Adonis won’t break his arm.”

“You sure about that?” Nik looked to his right, past Polly and Tommy, to see John. “It’s a pressional fight, Adonis knows the rules.” John nodded slowly then looked back to the ring, Nik stared for a bit longer then followed suit.

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Guess you had to go with your first plan. ‘Knock the fucker out’

Hercules was on his feet but in a crouched position and still holding onto his shoulder. You felt the arm in your hold try to bend forward, ‘Maybe I should let him.’ You thought to yourself.

If you let go right now he could only do one of two things: Spin around and try to get at you, or, Stand up and try to get at you. You sighed, pulled back his arm just the smallest amount then dropped it. Hercules let out a yelp and held his sore shoulder. You didn’t move. “Get out of there Adi!” It was Dante, you felt the sides of your mouth curl at the thought of the 4 men sitting together and worrying over their ‘little brother’.

Hercules’s shadow pulled you back into the fight, he was standing up. It didn’t take long for him to throw a punch to your face. You knew he split your lip when it felt wet, ‘fucksake.’ You brought your hands up to your face and dodged the next swing. You noticed Hercules was only one of his arms to punch and was using the other as a blocker, this gave you an idea. Leaning away from his swing, you planted your foot behind you and used the power of your legs to throw a hook to the vulenarable part of his face. He staggered to the side. You stepped with him and threw another hook, his arms lowered a little and that’s when you hit him. Right in the center of his face, a sickening crunch filled the air and blood poured down his face. He started to fall back and you hit him again. Hercules eyes crossed and he slumped to the floor.

Peter slid into the ring and raised your right arm, “We have our winner! Adonis!”

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You were sitting in the changing room staring at your bruised face, “Could’ve been worse I suppose...” Just as you were about to pull off your shirt, knocks and yells sounded from outside your door. “Adi you bastard! Let us in!” You sighed, “Okay! Don’t get your panties in a twist Cal.” Opening the door you let the bodies flood in. Strangers were first to enter. Then the boys stumbled in; Theo, Cal, Dante, and Nik. Then some of the Shelby’s followed, Arthur, John, and Finn while Tommy, Ada, and Polly hovered around the doorway.

Next thing you knew you were being lifted in a bear hug and shook around, “Ahaha our little Adi knocked that fucker out!” You let out a wheeze, “Theo I can’t breath.” He dropped you and clapped a hand onto your shoulder, “You wrecked him mate!” You smiled, “That was the plan I guess.” Words of congratulations were said by mostly everybody.

Dante was sat on the counter, “I swear to God you were gonna break his arm.” You laughed, “It’s funny you say that cause Hercules said the same thing,” You squeezed through the crowd, getting patted on the back while doing it. You reached the mirror and looked at yourself again then to Dante, “I told him if he moved anymore he’d disslocate his shoulder. Then the cunt said I couldn’t do shit to ‘im.” You turned on the faucet and washed the blood, Hercules’s blood, from your face and neck. “Showed him didn’t I?” Dante chuckled and shoved you, “You did more than that Adi.”

You could hear Nik shooing people out of the room. “D’you know any of them?” You looked to the crowded hall, “No.” Nik pushed Ada, Polly, and Tommy into the changeroom, “Can’t have you lot fending for yourselves out there.” Ada laughed, “I don’t think anyone has said that to a Shelby before.” Nik put his hand on her back as he walked around her, “Well theres a first for everything huh?” John was glaring at him, “What’s that suppose to mean?” Nik was beside you looking over your injuries, “It means that not everyone has to be alone and fight against the world by themselves.” He turned your face towards him, “So philosophical Nikki.” He slapped your cheek lightly, “You don’t even know what the word means.” You pulled back in shock, “I do so!” Nik leaned on his hip on the counter and rose his brows, “What’s it mean then?” Theo opened your bag and dug around for a bit. “Don’t answer him Adonis, you’ll just embarass yourself.” Your jaw dropped, “Aren’t you suppose to be on my side?” Cal and Dante looked at each other and busted out laughing, “What’s got you two cackling?” Cal’s head was tilted back and Dante was holding his stomach, “Adi...” Dante gasped, “Adi...you should know,” Another wheeze, “We never listen to you.” Theo chuckled and walked over to you with a clean shirt in his hand, “Awe don’t pout little brother,” He pinched your cheek, “I’ll knock you on your fucking ass Theodore.” You swatted his hands away.

“Are you always bickering?” You all looked at Polly and Nik answered, “Only sometimes.” You broke eye contact and snatched the shirt out of Theo’s hands, “Do you think you could steal a med kit for me?” Nik pinched the bridge of his nose while Cal spoke up, “Do you want me to just go get one of their medics?” You shook your head, “No I don’t like ‘em”

“Why don’t you like ‘em? They’ll fix you up for free and you can stop stealing shit.” You looked at John, “They’ll half ass it and for your information I only went to the hospital in the first place because-” Peter opened the door. “What’re you yelling about now?” Nik faced him, “Adonis wants to snag a kit from one of your medics.” Peter groaned, “Adi we’ve been over this, they are qualified-”

“I don’t care! I couldn’t give a flying fuck if they’re qualified.” You turned to John and pointed a finger at him, “I also don’t have to explain shit to you.” Your fist clenched the fabric in your hand. “I need some fucking air.” You shoved Peter out of the way and left.

“Adi!”

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“Look what you’ve done now.” Dante said. “Me?! The fucking kid knows my team is legit!”

“Yes but you know how he is!” Dante had his arm out in the direction of the door, “And hows that?” Dante looked to Ada who was sitting on a chair across from him. “He’d rather do things himself. Trust me it took him forever to even let Nik come near him in a 100 mile radius with a fucking dishcloth.” Nik slouched on the counter, “He doesn’t have the best track record with doctors.” Peter huffed a laugh, “He doesn’t have the best track with fucking anybody apparently,” Peter looked to the others, “Did he tell you he broke into their pub?” He jutted his head to Tommy and Arthur. “Peter-”

“No Nik he’s hiding shit from us and I’m done with it.” Cal groaned, “Peter we know he’s into some dodgey stuff.” Peter gawked at Cal, “Dodgey stuff? Cal he killed three men and left on the fucking floor!” The room was silent for a moment. “Did he really?” Tommy looked to Theo’s hazel eyes, “Yeah.” He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess it makes sense.” Peter put both hands to his face and took a deep breath, “Please Theo, mate, elbrorate.” Theo pulled his shoulders back and spoke, “He leaves for weeks on end with no communication, he doesn’t own a single thing except for whats on his back, and the every growing list of shit he can just do. I don’t know how you never put two and two together Peter, but it’s pretty obvisous Adi isn’t just a boxer.” Peter seemed to calm down when the rest of the group nodded, “I guess I never thought of it like that.” Cal walked over to him and put his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “We never want Peter McFought to think to hard or you’ll blow a casket old man.” The room dissapaited into quiet chuckles.

“So he is an assassin?” Nik glanced at Finn, “Hes a handy man and we’ll leave it at that.” Finn nodded.

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You wanted to yell, you wanted to punch something, you wanted to break down. But you couldn’t, you wouldn’t do that to yourself.

The cold outside air burned your heated skin. You were at the back of the building in the small alleyway, it was quiet except for the rumble of cars in the distance. It was nice.

You leaned against the wall and ran your hand through your hair, taking a deep breath. ‘I need to leave soon.’ You pulled at your sticky red stained shirt and scoffed a laugh. ‘All I asked for was a fucking med kit. A med kit! And he acted like I told him I slept with his wife!’ You let out another scoff before the firey rage came back and you turned around to punched the wall a couple of times. The air stung your open knuckles, you watched the blood crawl down your fingers and drip onto the pavement.

“Adonis?” Your shoulders stiffened, “Yes Polly?” You heard her heels click on the concrete then felt her hands cradle your own, “Now there was no need for this.” You ripped your hands out of hers, “Don’t fucking tell me about what I need to do.” You looked down the alleyway, “I didn’t mean to snap at you.” Her hand touched your chin lightly and turned your head towards her, “I know love.” She slid her hand down your neck and settled it on your chest. “How ‘bout we go and get you all fixed up hmm?” You grabbed her wrist and dropped her hand then nodded, “Ladies first.” She smiled at you and walked back into the building, she looked over her shoulder once in awhile to make sure you were still following her.

She opened the dressing room door and waltzed in, “He’s alright now.” Everybody was sat down at this point. You could feel their eyes all on you as you walked up to the sink and started washing the dried blood away. “You okay Adi?” Nik had his head tilted trying to catch your gaze, “I didn’t mean to yell at all of you.” He smiled kindly and put a hand on your shoulder, “It’s alright mate we shouldn’t have over stepped.” You finally met his eyes, “No Peter was right,” You tuned to face the rest of the room, “I’ll just go see one of your guys.” Peter’s eyes widened, “Adi you don’t have to, I know how you feel about doctors,” You put up a hand, “Yeah well I’m gonna have to get over it at some point, so let me put on my big boy pants and get this fucking thing over and done with.” Peter stood up slowly and left the room.

“So why are you afraid of doctors?” Ada let out a groan, “Arthur you can’t just ask that!” He turned to face his sister, “Why not?” She glared at him, “Because it’s rude.” You attention was caught by the flame lighting Tommy’s cigarette. He took a long drag and let the cloud of smoke out.

“Adi?” You looked to Dante, “Hm?” He looked to the floor surrounding you, “You’re hands are dripping blood everywhere.” You flexed your hand, “Yeah they are. Hope you don’t mind a little blood Tom.” He let out another cloud, “It’s not like I haven’t cleaned up blood left by you before.” You laughed, “Yeah I guess not.” You sat on the floor, “You wanna know something? I still haven’t been paid for that yet.” He let out a chuckle, “No?” You shook your head then lid down with your arms propped behind your head, “Nope. Imagine that, getting sent into a gun smugglers barn, full of armed men, then getting chased and shot at, just to end up in a little pub with the fucking three musketeers trying to kill you.” You shook with laughter, “I couldn’t even keep the nice car either cause you lot shot it up.” John laughed, “What’d you expect? Just to leave?” Before you could answer, Peter and a man with a large bag entered the room.

“Mr. Adonis?” The medic looked around the room for you, “Get up off the floor!” You put a hand out and gave the ‘gimme’ fingers, “Help me up please?” Nik grabbed your hand and hauled you up, “Excuse me Mr. Adonis, I’m gonna have to ask you to please take off your shirt.” Nik froze, “Could we go somewhere else and do this?” His head whipped around to look at you, “Uh well sir there isn’t any better place than here.” He saw you clench your jaw then smile, “I’m gonna keep my shirt on thanks but, do you have any morphine in there? My stitches ripped open in the ring,” Everyone watched you pull up your shirt to just above the wound, “Oh shit. Yes, yes I have morphine.”

The wound was terrible. Just like you said the stitches were ripped open and the skin that once held the thread, looked torn, almost shredded. Blood was crusted around the wound in a weird oval shape while some was still wet and began to trail down your side slowly. You could tell that all the moving you did ripped the edges of the wound, making it longer horizontally.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” You looked up to Cal, “Feeling woozy?” He closed his eye and flipped you off. “Can I ask how you got this?” The medic handed you a small bottle of morphine. “It’s a gun shot wound.” He knelt to the floor and looked closer, “Are you sure? this doesn’t-” You finsihed the bottle and tossed it to the ground with a clank, “I’m pretty fucking sure yeah, cause I pulled the bullet out myself. It looks like that because of the fight. You know the stitches tried to keep it closed but then I got hit and it all tore open again.” You looked down at his head, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Adonis,” Peter growled out your name, “knock it off.” You looked to Nik and then jumped back, “Ow fuck! Don’t go sticking your fucking fingers in there you twat!” The man pulled back, “Sorry! Just tryna to make sure there isn’t anything else in there.” You glared at him, “I told you I pulled the bullet out myself. There isn’t any of it left. It was a clean shot from behind, the gun was shit so that’s why it didn’t blow all the way through.” The man on the floor nodded, “Okay I believe you.” You squinted at him, “Just stitch it up and get out.” Peter was about to say something but Nik put a hand to his chest and gave him a look that said ‘don’t’

The morphine had kicked in when he started to thread the needle through your skin, “Since the skin is ripped, the stitches are going to be fragile. Meaning no more fights.” You nodded. “No more fights, got it.”

“All done.” The medic stood up, “Good now leave.” You dropped the edge of your shirt and faced away from him. The door closed, “You’ve got some nerve.” You picked up the discarded shirt you threw in your earlier rage, “Yep.” You tossed the shirt into your bag and then you reached for your water cannister and did the same. “Arthur, Tommy.” You stopped yourself and looked at them, “Your money's over there.” You pointed to a briefcase that was under the counter. “It was nice to meet the rest of you,” You tipped your head towards the rest of the Shelby clan.

“I’m going home now.” You hoisted your bag onto your shoulder and left, still dressed in your boxing gear

“Why is he being so dramatic.” Cal scratched his beard, “He’s pissed off.” Dante scoffed at Nik, “Yeah no shit.” Theo stood up, “I’m going with ‘im” He left out the open door.

“Oh for fuck sakes.” Peter lifted his arms up and then back down. He crouched down and picked up the briefcase. “I hope this can help you forget about the last few minutes.” He handed the case to Tommy, “It’s alright Peter, we all have our moments.”

-----------------------------------------------------

When you got home you stripped out of your gear and put on a clean tank top and some briefs. You felt tired so you went upstairs and lid down in bed. After laying there for what felt like hours, you couldn’t fall asleep.

There was a thud downstairs then there was some harsh whispers. ‘Are they back?’ You stood up and walked down the steps. At the bottom of the stairs, standing in your livingroom was 4 men all dressed in dark clothing.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” Their heads shot up to you, then one of them held up a pistol to your head, “You’re the one who fucking killed my men.” He gestured his gun to the side, “So this is how it’s gonna work, you come with me nice and quietly and tell me who you work for or,” He cocked his gun, “I blow your fucking brains out right now.”

‘Fuck.’

And that’s part 4! I really hope you guys enjoyed this one, I sure did lol. I apologise if things are a little messy in some parts, I was sorta rushing the writing a little bit. Also I know that the Shelby’s are so out of character but I feel the need to tie them in every chapter so please forgive :(

In the next part though there will most likely be a lot of backstory for the reader (that do be you). Just thought I’d let you guys know so you have a little bit of an idea what’s to come next! As always, thank you so much for reading! <3

Tags: @finallyforgotten

#Peaky Blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders x reader #tommy shelby x reader #ada thorne x reader #john shelby x reader #finn shelby x reader #arthur shelby x ready #michael gray x reader #x reader #reader insert

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kbim · 3 years

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Every Hero Has Their End(SWF)

During hero training at U.A, Y/N gets a disturbing phone call from home. And Bakugou Katsuki is there to soothe them however he can.

Warnings: Death, Established relationship, Comfort

PSA: I will be trying my best to make this a Gender-neutral and Quirk-Neutral Fic.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28103730/chapters/69066837#workskin

I've found out that the world is the most peaceful whenever I'm training at school; Watching as my classmates shout encouragements to each other, and knowing that right now, we are all oblivious to the chaos and bloodshed happening outside of these gym doors. Oblivious to how fast heroes are losing their grip on what faith the public has in them, and since All Might has stepped down they are losing it even faster.

"Oi, dumbass. You just gonna sit there and mope like an extra or are you gonna let me beat your ass to a pulp?" And this was my favorite part, the unbreakable wall of angry optimism; Bakugou. When I looked to face him he had poor Izuku in a headlock and was practically dragging him on the floor, Izuku was muttering about some kind of suit upgrade or maybe it was All Might? With him, it's always one of the two. "Cause this shitty nerd won't stop holding back."

I quickly flipped bakugou off. "Ya know that you don't need to call everyone names, it just makes you seem more like a kid" As I walked up to the pair I peeled Izuku from Bakugou's grasp, letting him drop to the floor. "And haven't you bullied Izuku enough." I reached my hand out to help him up. As he held onto my hand I could feel Bakugou's glare, he always hated it whenever I did 'relationship things' with other people. Even though this was just me helping the beating bag up.

"Thanks Y/N" Izuku quickly quipped out as he started whipping the dust and dirt off of his hero costume, unaware that he was still holding my hand. I didn't really care, I knew it was just an accident but I could feel Bakugou's glare shift down to where we were touching. He quickly stomped over and grabbed my wrist, ripping ti away from Izuku's.

"Tch. I thought I told you to stop touching TRASH." As Bakugou pulled you towards him he made sure that the last word was directed at Izuku, making sure it came off harsher. Izuku took the hint and left, quickly finding his squad over the other side of the gym. I gave a soft wave in his direction, as I did I could hear Bakugou huff and puff.

"You really need to work on your passiveness, I and Izuku are just friends. You know I have no interest in our class-mates." I patted his chest as I walked by him, going to continue my endurance training. Even though I was daydreaming and not really training, as I kicked at the rouble I made Bakugou came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. placing my arms on top of his I leaned into him. "And don't worry, the term 'Class-mate' extends to all of the other classes as well." That earned a small chuckle from him.

"As your boyfriend, I have the right to mark you as mine, AND to keep shitty nerds away from you." He moved his hands away from me and turned me to face him, as I looked up to him I spotted multiple spots where Izuku had hit him. I would never say it to his face but, Izuku isn't the little weak kid that he knew before U.A. "And anyways I really wanted to fight someone on MY level." At that his face morphed into a large smirk, he grabbed onto my shoulders and threw me to the left. I wasn't prepared for such a movement and landed on my side.

"Dude, WHAT THE FUCK?!" Leaning onto my elbow, I looked at him. "You could at least give me a god damn warning" He quickly stalked over to me and stood over me.

"Nah."

Well, what a wonderful boyfriend... If he wanted a fight I'll give him a fight. I leaned back and kicked my legs up behind him, which kicked him over my head. As my legs held their momentum I flipped over to lay on my hands, laying in a lower push-up position. As he landed on his hands he activated his quirk and flipped to land on his feet unharmed. I went to activate my quirk to push me onto my feet but I found myself unable to use it. When I looked over to Bakugou he was wrapped up in Mr.Aizawa's capture 'scarf'. I got up to walk over to the pair.

"Y/N, you have a phone call. And next time please make sure to silence your cellular device during school, it interrupted my nap." He handed me my phone, which was showing an active call from my mother. "Now please don't make me have to get up again"

As he turned and started walking away he let go of Bakugou and deactivated his own quirk. "THANK YOU SENSAI!" I pulled the phone up to my face and quickly greeted my mother.

"Hey Y/N, h-how are you?" I could hear the presentation in her voice.

"Um, I'm a good mom. Not to rush you but what's with the call during school?"

"*Sigh* Well, I and your father just got the news that..... That ..." I grumbled, she knew not to call me during class and this was just taking too long.

"What do you NEED mom?" Oof, that came out kinda harsh.

"Oh, um. I just wanted to tell you, that. Your brother was fighting a villain downtown, and that. . . The villain delivered an a-a fatal blow to his head. And t-that when the other h-heros f-f-found him he w-was pronounced d-d-d-dead on arrival."

I heard my phone hit the ground, and I could feel myself drop to my knees. I don't recall telling my body to do so but my hand slapped over my mouth as I started sobbing. This couldn't be true, my elder brother had just gotten out of hero school and was fighting with the pros. They couldn't have failed him like that.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Y/N was on the phone Kirishima had walked over to me, scolding me for the 'unmanly' move I pulled on Y/N. Saying a true man doesn't attack like that. I didn't care too much about it, in the heat of battle, a hero does everything they can to stop the villain. He doesn't have to be manly about it, he just has to get the job done. As I peaked around Shitty Hair I could see you drop your phone and fall onto your knees. Tears were streaming down your face, I could hear the muffled sobs from all the way over here.

As I grabbed Shitty Hair's shoulder a pushed him to the side, with much less force as when I did it to you earlier. I couldn't control what pace I was going at but I felt my feet hit the ground as I ran towards you. When I got closer to you I slid onto my knees to slow myself down, it was quite effective If I must say.

"Y/N?! What's wrong? Why are you crying?!" I pulled you into my chest and reached for your phone. The screen was cracked but I could still see the call active. I brought it up to my face. "Who are you and what the hell did you say to Y/N?!"

"I-i'm their mother, and I-I h-had informed them t-t-that their brot-t-ther had d-d-died in combat with a v-vll--ian today." Oh Shit. I hung up the phone and wrapped my arms around y/n, they sobbed into my hero suit. When the others run up around us I tightened my grip onto y/n.

"As the class rep, I deserve to know when one of our classmates are in trouble" "Bakugou! What's wrong with y/n?" "Did they get hurt?" "Oh shit man" "What should we do? "What happened?" "Kacchan What happened? "I bet Bakugou said something to them." "Ribbit, I'll get Mr. Aizawa"

"Back the FUCK off, they brother just fucking died man." y/n tensed up and started sobbing louder. I followed my brow and squeezed them. "Shit" I moved you to rest against my chest sideways and moved my arm to hold your bridal style. I stood up and pushed through the extras and made my way towards the gym doors. I could feel their tears soaking my suit, they gripped and released the loose cloth as a stepped through the doors. I could hear the others call after me but I had to intention of stopping for them.

When I got up from my room at the dorms and placed them down onto the bed. As I laid down next to them I covered us both with the blankets.

#mha bakugou #bakugou #bakugou bnha #katsuki bakugō #katsuki x female reader #bakugou x fem!reader #bakugou x reader

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publickoccurances · 3 years

Text

Female companions react to Sole breaking up with them out of the blue: Part 1 ‘the break up’

Cait: Cait tapped her foot impatiently as she stared at Sole who was just walking through the front door. They were late. They had made such a big deal about seeing her to talk about something important and they were late.

“It’s rude to keep a girl waitin’ ye know?” She was joking of course. But the way Sole didn’t laugh or react worried her a bit. They looked rather serious. “What ye got a face like a slapped arse for?”

Sole sighed as they took a seat opposite Cait at the table, running a hand through their hair. “Sorry it’s been a long day... I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”

Okay this was worrying. Sole and Cait had been together for around a year now. And they never had serious interactions. The way Sole was speaking was odd. She didn’t like it.

She rose an eyebrow, her confusion was clear by the look on her face. “I were only joking love... is everything grand?”

Sole shifted slightly in their seat, eyes on their hands as they were unable to bring themself to make eye contact with Cait. This wasn’t a conversation they wanted to have. Yet they didn’t see any other choice.

See it wasnt that Cait had done anything wrong. She was perfect in Sole’s eyes. Rough around the edges but deep down she was good for them. But Sole just couldn’t keep this facade up anymore. Couldn’t pretend like they were content.

Their heart had been broken by the loss of their spouse and then the loss of Shaun. Cait had been helping heal them ever since. It had developed into a relationship. And a year later here they were. But they couldn’t lie to her anymore. It was time to be honest.

“Cait. I just... I need to get something off my chest, you know?” Sole began, finally looking up to meet her eyes.

Cait nodded slowly, suddenly she didn’t feel so good. She didn’t have anything witty to say. Not yet at least. She just watched carefully. “Spit it out then.”

Sole reached for her hand across the table. Resting theirs on top of it. “The time we’ve spent together has been amazing. I’ve enjoyed every second of it. Even when we’ve been getting shot at by raiders.”

Cait chuckled slightly at that. Yeah, Sole had seemed to enjoy their interactions with raiders a little too much. “Oh yeah? ye’ looked all serious just to tell me ye’ve enjoyed spending time with me?”

“No. No that’s not it.” Sole could feel a tightening in their throat. God they didn’t want to say this. But they had to. “I’ve been using you as a crutch Cait.” They admitted finally.

“What the feck are ye on about?” Cait blurted out, clearly very confused. She pulled her hand away, sitting up a little straighter, eyes narrowing. “How the fuck have ye been using me as a crutch?”

Sole took a deep breath. Here it goes. “Because I have. Since we got you off the drugs I’ve been using you to hold myself up. Okay?”

Cait suddenly stood up, eyes burning as she stared down at Sole. “Ye better start making some fecking sense here. Stop speaking in riddles and spit it out.”

“I’ve been using you Cait!” Sole finally snapped, pushing themself onto their feet. “I’ve been using you to keep me distracted from the fact my life fell apart okay? I was married. I had a kid. That all got taken away from me within the blink of an eye. And I’ve been using you to forget about them. To keep me standing. But I can’t anymore.”

Had that really been all she was to them? Had she spent a year of her life being a post for someone to lean on? Had every second been a lie?

“Ye’ve been using me?!” Cait demanded, rounding on Sole. It was taking every ounce of her energy not to swing at them. Using her? “Just like every other fucker in my life, ye’ve been using me?”

Sole knew what she was thinking. Knew there was a good chance she was going to start throwing punches. And in all honesty they deserved it.

“I’ve gone through hell and back with ye, and now yer telling me it’s meant fuck all?” At this point Cait was used to disappointment in people. But Sole? She really had thought they were different.

Sole nodded slowly. “Pretty much. Yeah. It meant nothing okay? You- you meant nothing.” It was breaking their heart to do this. They didn’t mean that. But maybe the easiest way to let Cait walk away from them was to be cruel. She was a person. Not a crutch. And if she stayed Sole would just keep leaning on her.

Caits jaw clenched, hands balled up into fists. That’s really how Sole wanted to act? Fine. Fuck em’. She didn’t need them anyway.

“Aye well... you enjoy yer pathetic life out here Sole.” She basically hissed, storming right past them.

She was done. She was leaving. She was out the door.

Curie: Curie hummed as she tapped away at the keys of her terminal. She was pretty entranced by the research notes she was making, but out of the corner of her eye she couldn’t help but notice her lover looking rather tense as they sat on the edge of the bed.

“Hmm Ma/Mon Cherie, you look tense.” She commented nonchalantly as she continued on with her work.

Sole sighed softly, rubbing the back of their head. Oh Curie. She was so sweet and caring, but she was definitely oblivious to the worries Sole had.

“Yeah I didn’t sleep very well last night.” They replied, standing up from where they had been sitting and proceeding to pace around the room slightly.

Curie frowned. Turning away from her terminal and watching Sole carefully. They were pacing. She had learnt that pacing was a sign of stress or nervousness, among many other mostly negative things.

“As’ something upset you?” She asked curiously, head tilting to the side as she watched Sole. She had been in her human form for over a year now, most of that time spent with Sole. But she was still learning how to be human. And one of the most effective methods of learning she had found was watching Sole.

“I-well...” Sole rubbed the back of their head again. It was a nervous tick of sorts.

Curie stood up, moving to stand in front of her lover. She was beginning to feel concerned. “Pacing around zhe room, inability to construct a sentence... this is signs of nerves, no?”

Oh god. She’d picked up on how they were feeling hadn’t she? Sole felt awful. She looked so concerned for them. They had to talk to her about what was bothering them. They had to talk to her now before it got worse.

“Curie I think we need to speak... about something important.”

Curie nodded her head, a smile spread across her lips. Yes speaking about important things was imperative. She was rather curious about what it was Sole hsd to tell her. Perhaps about an experiment?

“Of course mon amour.”

Sole gently took Curie’s hands and lead her to sit with them on the edge of the bed. God they didn’t want to do this. Curie had made them so happy. And now they had to end that.

“I think it’s safe to say we both live very busy lives.” Sole began to explain, looking down at the floor as they did so. “And we’ve pretty much been able to coexist with this.”

“I agree.” Curie nodded her head. Unaware that there was a subtle hint in what Sole was saying. “You are a busy protector of the people, and I am busy with my research.”

“Exactly.” Sole nodded. Assuming that Curie understood what they were getting at. “And well... a protector of the people should be out there. Wandering about to find people in need. Snd a researcher... should well... be doing what you do.”

She didn’t want to admit it. But what Sole was saying was rather lost on her. But she nodded her head regardless. “I agree... one cannot help protect others from danger if they are inside all day. And I cannot make advancements in science if I am not working.”

Sole let out a sigh of relief, assuming Curie had understood what they had been hinting at completely. “Oh thank god... I’m so glad you understand.” They wrapoed their arms around her. “And even though we won’t be a couple any more I hope we can stay friends.”

Curie suddenly felt an emotion she had never experienced before. Her whole body went cold. Stomach dropped. Her heart was racing. It was a little harder to breathe.

“I-yes.” She nodded slowly. Her and Sole were no longer a couple? Okay. That was a new development for her. But she just nodded again. “Yes.”

Piper: “Nat! Nat could you turn the radio down?! I can barely hear myself think!” The reporter called down to her little sister. She was upstairs working on a new article.

‘Ransom: First Hand Experience.’

The title was in the works but Piper was excited about what she was writing regardless. She had been held hostage by a group of raiders the other week. They demanded a 2000 cap ransom. But of course Blue had stormed the place and rescued her. She had found the situation extremely exciting, even when fearing for her life. Plus it was going to make a great article.

“Hmmm... maybe that bit is too explicit- but then again. A raider getting beaten to a pulp. Something romantic about it.” Piper thought outloud to herself, trying to figure out how to make this piece as captivating as possible.

Downstairs the front door opened, Sole walking inside.

Nat was the first to great her sisters partner. She had become fond of Sole, they were good to her and Piper. Plus they made her feel safe.

“You’re back!” Nat exclaimed, rushing over to give them a hug. She’d neve admit it but she was always scared when Sole went out to do a job they wouldn’t return.

Sole chuckled softly, giving the young girl a big squeeze. “Of course I’m back Kiddo. I was just delivering some supplies to Bunker Hill.”

Nat didn’t care what they had been doing. She was just glad they were back. “Piper told me all about how you kicked those raiders asses! I can’t believe it- well I can but still! You’re so cool!”

Sole smiled and shook their head. God she really wss turning into her sister. “She tell you about that huh?”

Piper smiled as she watched the exchange, walking down the stairs slowly. “Hey you... do I not get a hug?”

Sole smiled a little, moving over to press a kiss to her cheek, giving her a quick hug. “Hey- have you got a minute so we can talk?” Sole murmured, giving her the look that said ‘this is really important.’

Piper nodded immediately. “Yeah- of course Blue.. I’ll be upstairs in a minute.”

Sole nodded and headed up the stairs as they waited for Piper to come up with some sort of excuse to get her little sister out of the house for a little while so they could speak.

A few moments later Piper was joining Sole in her room, frowning slightly. “Why’d you look so serious Blue? What’s happened?”

Sole sighed softly, chewing on their lip. “It’s about what happened last week-.” They couldn’t even finish their sentence without Piper interrupting.

“Yeah? Great because I’m writing the article and I could use a statement from you!” She had suddenly forgot the intensity of Soles voice as she got distracted by the paper.

Sole shook their head, sighing softly. “No Pipes. This is important yeah?”

A slight frown spread across Pipers lips. Sole had never said no about her paper before. Never put something in front of it. This must have been serious.

“Okay...” She nodded slowly, sitting down on her desk chair. “Shoot. What’s up?”

“Last week. Getting that note. Having to find you.” Sole felt their eyes begin to tear up slightly. “Piper I thought they’d killed you. Thought I was gonna walk in there to find you dead.”

Piper sighed softly, rubbing her temples. It had been intense. But she hadn’t realised the situation had troubled Blue so much. “I can imagine- but it worked out fine. I came out of there without a scratch on me.”

Sole sighed, shaking their head. “Pipes that’s not the point. You were targeted because of me. What if it happens again? What if next time you’re not so lucky... what if next time they take Nat?”

Piper felt her heart twinge. She hadn’t thought about the fact that Nat could become a target just like she had been. But it wasn’t Blues fault. She didn’t blame them. “Come on now Blue- don’t think like that.”

Sole took a deep breath. “Piper I think it would be better for you and Nat if I were to leave. I love you. I love the life we’re building together. But I can’t risk you being hurt because of me.”

That had come as a shock. Piper had never thought Blue would be so scared for her safety they would leave. No. This was crazy. “Blue come on. Don’t be so drastic.”

Sole shook their head and began to walk down the stairs. “Piper I’m serious. I can’t do this. I can’t lose you to death too. I need to leave.”

Piper followed behind, starting to feel a bit frantic. “What? Come on Blue- can we talk about this?!”

“Piper I can’t. Look it’s over okay?”

Piper shook her head, grabbing their wrist. “Blue dont you dare walk out that door. You are not walking out on us like this- please.”

Sole pulled their wrist free of Pipers grip. Not even looking back at her as they opened the door. “I’m sorry Piper. I really am.”

All Piper could do was watch. Her heart breaking right there and then. “Blue if you leave me now, like this, I’ll never forgive you.”

#fallout #gaming #piper wright #bethesda #fallout 4 #fanfic #fallout series #fallout 4 companions #fallout headcanons #fallout companions react #cait fallout 4 #curie fallout 4 #piper fallout 4

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watching-pictures-move · 3 years

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Movie Review | Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992)

This review contains spoilers.

For the past few years, I didn’t spend a lot of time rewatching movies. Quite frankly, the thrill of discovering something new (and the risk that it might not be all that good) outweighed the pleasures of the familiar ninety-nine times out of a hundred. Yet this year, perhaps because it’s been so miserable on the whole, I’ve spent a bit more time revisiting films I’d already seen. In some cases, it was to relive the joy of seeing something I already liked or loved. But in other cases, perhaps because I’d been easier to please on average, I would go back to things I’d felt somewhat at a distance to in the hopes that I would finally be won over. Full Metal Jacket finally clicked with me (seeing it in a different aspect ratio did the trick) and I’ve warmed up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as much as I probably ever will. With that in mind, and prompted by a bizarre dream in which I watched it on Netflix in the wee hours of the morning, I ended up waking up stupid early and giving Reservoir Dogs another viewing. (The dream wasn’t terribly interesting, although it did involve me watching the new Scream, which had magically already been completed and was available on Netflix. There was a lot of yellowish, Fincher-esque lighting and Alison Brie got thrown over a railing at one point. As someone who enjoyed the fourth, I was upset by that turn of events, but dreams can be upsetting. In the words of the Shogun Assassin in Shogun Assassin, “bad dreams are only dreams.”)

I don’t think my opinion changed all that much with this viewing. I still feel that it’s one of Tarantino’s weaker films, lacking the confidence and depth of his next few films. I think Tarantino’s career is generally discussed as being split into his earlier, more story-oriented or reality-grounded films and his later, more indulgent genre pastiches, but I think this one lacks the focus that kind of discourse implies. The characters are barely fleshed out and the directorial touches aren’t as purposeful or effective as they would become in his later work. But at the same time, it’s still a stylish and highly entertaining affair, with a great cast giving some very good performances and delivering some punchy, very funny dialogue. It’s pleasures and limitations are obvious and have been better discussed by those more eloquent than me, so I don’t know how deeply I’ll delve into them. (On a side note, I felt a strange pang of nostalgia revisiting this despite it never having been a favourite of mine. It was very big among the internet crowd I first started discussing film with as I first got into the subject, so it’s hard for me to separate those feelings from the actual movie. I got the same feeling watching Boogie Nights a few weeks ago, despite never having seen that film until now.)

But what I did chew over a bit more this time around is how the movie positions the characters’ morality. We know that Tim Roth’s Mr. Orange is the “good guy”, the undercover cop who kills the psychopathic Mr. Blonde played by Michael Madsen. But at the same time he betrays the trust of Harvey Keitel’s Mr. White. Mr. White is sort of a “good guy” too, but foolishly risks his own fate and those of his associates as he bonds with someone who sets him up. Mr. Blonde is a sadistic psychopath but also extremely loyal, having refused to rat out his friends while serving a tough prison term. Steve Buscemi’s Mr. Pink is entirely business-minded and self-interested, but is that really any less honourable than the intentions of those around him? Chris Penn’s Nice Guy Eddie loves his father, Lawrence Tierney’s Joe Cabot, who is the closest thing to a paternal, authoritative presence in the movie, but both are also extremely ruthless, not to mention racist. Tarantino’s relationship with race is complicated (he’s been criticized for his use of the n-word, particularly in a certain scene in Pulp Fiction, and while I do enjoy his performance in that movie, I’m not sure I can defend a certain line of dialogue), but here the characters’ rampant use of racial slurs seems like a clear indicator of their (lack of) character. (These characters also freely use homophobic slurs, but such language was unfortunately a mainstay of macho dialogue at the time and doesn’t seem as pointed a comment on their natures.) Even when Mr. Orange praises the connection he used to get in with the criminals, another character is quick to point out that the connection is ratting out his friends. There’s some moral relativism in my argument here, but the movie invites that line of thought. Reservoir Dogs is about a bunch of lowlife crooks and despite the extent to which we may identify with them, it never lets us forget that.

In that sense, it’s in clear contrast to some of its influences. Ringo Lam’s City on Fire features the same plot but emphasizes the value of brotherhood between the criminals, so that the betrayal there stings extra hard. Tarantino highlights the meaninglessness of such appeals to solidarity. (Bizarrely, Tarantino has denied having seen that other film despite the hard to ignore story similarities. He even dedicated the screenplay to Chow Yun Fat and pulls the image of a dual wielding gunman in sunglasses from that actor’s oeuvre and has made a brand of pulling from his influences, so I’m baffled why he’d deny this one instance.) Jean-Pierre Melville’s work features gangsters in tailoring adhering to strict codes and conducting themselves with honour in dire situations. Tarantino points out the futility of such codes. His next film handles these dynamics even more elegantly. In Pulp Fiction, John Travolta’s character is a villain in one segment and a hero in another, while Samuel L. Jackson’s character reflects on the dishonourable nature of their work and decides to walk away at the end.

Where I think Pulp Fiction succeeds in handling that theme is that it gives us a sense of Jackson and Travolta contemplating (or failing to do so, respectively) their choices and having something resembling actual worldviews (however limited, as in the case of the latter). The characters in Reservoir Dogs in contrast are drawn in shorthand from gangster cliches so that our identification with them is limited. Mr. Orange should be our audience vantage point, but Tarantino fumbles a key scene in which he relates a made-up story to ingratiate himself with the other criminals. It should be about how Mr. Orange wins their trust, which would help make later speculation on his loyalty more dramatically potent, but in choosing to actually depict the proceedings in the story onscreen, Tarantino makes it about the cuts and shot choices he energetically deploys. It’s not a badly directed scene on its own, but the wrong one for the movie. Yet in other scenes, like the opening in the diner, he’s able to elegantly paint character detail while letting us enjoy the surface pleasure of the dialogue. Mr. Pink refuses to tip as an extension of his business-minded nature. Mr. Blonde volunteers to shoot Mr. White, jokingly revealing his bloodthirst. Mr. White takes things too personally (”You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize”). Joe Cabot struggles to remember a name, implying that his criminal instincts are slipping. The movie shuffles its timeline in the vein of The Killing to draw out these contrasts between the characters and to build to a tense and memorable climax, yet had more of the individual character moments been as deftly handled as this first scene, the film might have landed with me more strongly. That being said, there’s a nonzero chance I’ll come back to this in a few years, hoping it will finally click.

#film #movie review #reservoir dogs #Quentin Tarantino

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caribouwritings · 4 years

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Sub-Zero

I was only three when my older brother Eddie died. He had a brain tumor; he died a couple weeks after my birthday and a couple weeks before his.

He did just as he told our mom when he said, “I stay four.”

On June 27th, my big brother was gone at age four.

***

My parents tried to give me a happy life. They gave me privileges that some kids are not as lucky enough to have (such as a vacation almost every year). Despite what the therapist had said when the event happened, I was damaged and it was only a matter of time before it would all show in forms that got glossed over repeatedly.

I didn’t just lose my brother, I lost my best friend, my protector, my guide… I lost my Eddie.

Although I can now say it and not think much of it, I still cry at the thought I was cheated out of a big brother to teach me the ropes and take my hand when I was scared.

Senior year of high school was the hardest. I was graduating (on that day fifteen years later) and my brother did not even make it to kindergarten, which he was so excited for because he’d get to ride a bus; His favorite thing in life besides me, our family, Scooby-Doo, and Donald Duck was anything with an engine.

I outlived my brother who knew what he wanted (it could’ve changed in time, but it would still involve cars and trucks), and I had panicked. I believed people when they told me I would be a great English teacher. I wanted to be a writer, but everyone kept saying I am a teacher at heart. There was just a couple teeny tiny (major) problems: I hate school (and still do), I am very selective with what I choose to read, and I don’t talk unless I want to or need to.

Kudos to those who teach, but I’d rather not go back. School for me was where I had my individuality constantly beaten out of me, I was bullied by other students for who I was, have been accused and associated with things I am not, and my mental health got worse.

However, being non-confrontational, I just nodded my head and let myself be pushed to a major I did not want and watched as I slowly went downhill, and crossed paths with someone a little bit before graduation who is just like me… sort of.

I was looking for some new games to play that are like Street Fighter II. While watching a Top Ten Best Fighting Games of All Time video on YouTube, the channel (Watchmojo) ranked a video game called Mortal Kombat (2011) at number two, right next to Street Fighter II which placed number one. When I saw the game on clearance at Walmart, I put it in the cart with the plan to take over the unused Xbox 360 in the living room bought by my parents’ for the Kinect feature. My mom did not care anymore, she was just grateful that the expensive gaming system collecting dust under the TV stand was finally being used.

I played through several kombatants (yes, with a ‘K’, most ‘C’ starting words are replaced with a ‘K’) in the Ladder Fights and Test Your Luck challenges for hours enjoying the blood and gruesome moves.

I oddly kept finding myself drawn to Sub-Zero, the blue ice assassin (don’t call them ninjas, they find it highly insulting). I didn’t know why though; I couldn’t figure out why I thought the man with ice powers was intriguing. Curious by nature, I did what I do with everything else I found fascinating, I dug for all the information I could find. It didn’t matter how useless and random, I wanted to know everything about the world of Mortal Kombat, and I now know a huge chunk of it.

Sub-Zero’s real name is Kuai Liang, and he was originally called Tundra. He is the younger brother of Bi-Han, the first Sub-Zero in the series, and Kuai Liang took the name Sub-Zero after his brother’s death to honor him. That was the only similarity I thought we had, but I was so wrong… I was so wrong.

Mortal Kombat is super violent. The two ice powered brothers are best known for a fatality where they rip the head and spine out of their enemy opponent, both parts still attached together like a twisted party trick (and this is also the main origin to the ERSP rating system in video games). I am not even strong enough to lift a twenty pound puppy without nearly dropping the stubborn Shepard Labrador mix back on the ground with a thump. Plus there’s the other stuff on the surface: blonde Caucasian female with an olive shade of green eyes, a bubbly persona and pink girly appearance, versus a dark haired Chinese American male with icy blue eyes, a cold persona and super violent history.

“He is just a video game character, he is not real. You don’t need to care this much for this fictional character.”

I know that. Kuai Liang is not real, but his story is real to me.

Kuai Liang went through hell. Everything bad that could have happened, did happen to him. He lost his brother when Scorpion—the wraith of the NetherRealm (and the franchise’s fan favorite character)—killed him in retaliation for killing the whole Shirai Ryu clan, his kind-hearted wife, and innocent baby boy (spoiler alert, it wasn’t Bi-Han at all! Scorpion was tricked into killing an innocent man!). Wanting to avenge his brother’s death, and avoid the Lin Kuei’s new cyber-initiative their Grandmaster was keen on, Kuai Liang and his best friend, Smoke, ran away to find the answers to what happened to Bi-Han. Right when our new Sub-Zero nearly has his revenge and is to kill Scorpion, he is stopped and surrounded by members of his former clan who have been converted from human to cyborg; despite the robotic outsides and still human insides, they are brainwashed to obey like full-fledged robots. He is taken back to the clan and suffers the same fate of being turned into a cyborg and is renamed LK-520, then sent after Smoke who managed to get away. Lucky for both of them, cyber-Sub-Zero is knocked unconscious and Smoke gets help from his new allies to reset Kuai Liang, but although he gets his control back, he is now stuck as a mashup of man and machine. Until (in a rushed scene of the game) he is killed and his soul is sent to the Netherrealm where he is rebuilt from what is left of his remaining bits of human organs and bone inside his robotic shell. Although human again, he is now under the mind control of the sorcerer, Quan Chi (spoiler alert! He’s the real person behind Scorpion’s suffering!), and is now working alongside both the man who framed his brother and the man who murdered his brother, along with several of his new allies that died as well. In the tenth game, he is freed from Quan Chi’s control by being in the right place at the right time (and by also being a fan favorite character too).

That should be the end of it, but it’s not. This is right before I realized how perfectly Kuai Liang’s life parallels mine. This is before I read the comics.

Like I said, I get invested in stories to the point I want to find out everything I can. When I found all three volumes of the comic series on Amazon, I couldn’t resist and I bought all three.

When UPS came to deliver the package, I brought it straight to my room plopping the brown cardboard box on my bed, and cut the tape open with a pink mechanical pencil. I didn’t care for the other two books I bought (except enough to hide the one I bought for my little sister’s birthday in the closet) because there they were. Volumes one, two, and three were at the bottom of the box under giant green bags of air that are satisfying to stomp on and give unsuspecting siblings heart attacks, but that was unimportant in this moment. I took the three volume books out and spread them on my bed, and dived right into the unknown; into the rebuild of the Shirai Ryu, the second generation of klassic characters, and what happened to those who lived or were brought back like Sub-Zero.

Sub-Zero, at this point, was my favorite character. In volume two, however, there was a shift in my view of him. In that shift, he became my number one favorite character ever and sealed his place into that spot permanently.

Kuai Liang had become possessed by a cursed dagger in the previous volume, and it continued into volume two. Scorpion (he is a good guy now… sort of) and his apprentice, Takeda, go after him and get the dangerous dagger back, but the curse makes it hard for Scorpion to reason with Kuai Liang. Scorpion becomes frustrated and the two fight to what they believe to be the death, until Takeda manages to get the dagger away. Kuai Liang exhausts out all the remaining evil within him, and then is left standing there perplexed by why he is there and what is going on. It doesn’t matter to Scorpion though, he still beats the bewildered young Sub-Zero to a bloody pulp and leaves him to die.

Kuai Liang rethinks his life as he lays their bleeding out, so when Bo’ Rai Cho (ew, trust me on this one, just ew) comes to him to help him get back on his feet, he asks him, “you haven’t figured out what all these events mean? Why I’m here?”

Kuai Liang’s answer is, “I must commit hara kiri…”

There. There it is. Right there. That is the line that made me see I am more like Sub-Zero than I thought I was.

We lost our older brothers, we lost our individuality, we were beaten, we were bullied, we were brainwashed, we took orders, we went down wrong paths, we battled the world, we battled ourselves, and we took so much of a beaten that we laid in our own blood, sweat, and tears thinking “I must commit hara kiri…”

What is hara kiri? To simplify, it is suicide.

I remember putting the comic down on my stuff animal infested bed and staring at the lavender colored walls, looking at the big picture. Sub-Zero is a strong warrior with ice powers, and he hit rock bottom. He may be physically stronger than me, but he is just as broken and weak as me on the inside. He put up a shield, hiding behind his anger just like I hid behind my smile.

I picked up the comic again, and skipped frantically through the pages of volume three just to get to Kuai Liang and find the answers. What did he do and how did he survive to be in the next game?

It is complicated and complex, but the answer is different based on how you interpret his story. I obviously interpreted it well, because I am here. I am okay.

#caribou speaks #caribou originals #caribou essays

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