#just now noticing that it looks a little like the Hunger Games symbol

[duckytree]

current bat games au lore

ok so here is part of what we have so far:

jason is no longer from district 2, he was originally a scrappy orphan from 12; he changed his name to "RED" after lazrus therapy and becoming a gladiator

Nightwing has a notorious reputation in the capitol as vain and bitchy. he constantly gets procedures done to look as young and beautiful as possible and will actively sabotage the new tributes' relationships with the capitol citizens. in reality, he is trying to protect the younger victors from being sexually exploited by putting himself on the front lines as the sex symbol

tim is the newest victor of the games. his mentor was barbara and they are both secretly working for the anti-capitol resistence.

damian is the political baby of a strategic union between talia and bruce to unite their clans without drawing suspicion from the government on why they're working closely. his parents are both big players in the capitol.

the al ghuls are the tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists of the capitol who believe the revolution is nigh. but instead of underground bunkers they prepare for the apocalypse by training their children in several warrior arts

bruce's alter ego is batman, political terrorist who is working behind the scenes to take down capitol corruption (good luck buddy)

the capitol has a capped maximum on how much wealthy citizens can donate as sponsorship because otherwise bruce wayne would sponsor all the kids in an effort for them to live

when jason was thrown into the arena, he had no living mentor and had to fend for himself. batman secretly helped him with tips and advice on how to survive

Nightwing tried to talk bruce out of sponsoring jason in the arena. it wasn't out of cruelty; he just thought it would be a better investment to sponsor a child who is more likely to live instead of a starving little boy from the weakest district bound to die. bruce sponsored jason anyway

bruce's parents were assassinated for the treasonous act of believing district citizens deserved human rights

jason's abundance of sponsorships made him a target in the arena. he got really messed up and had to go through a brutal, traumatic, and experimental rehabilitation called the lazarus project. he came out of it brain damaged and now most of his body consists of lab-grown flesh or robotic parts. (notice his fake eyes and how most of his body is covered up)

the hunger games are like the annual SuperBowl. for the rest of the year the capitol citizens enjoy entertainment like celebrity escorts (Nightwing) or gladiator games, which is basically the WWE but more deadly and no predetermined winner (RED)

gladiators all have a number that is worn by players and fans alike. most gladiators wear theirs on their armour but RED wears his as a corpse identification tag on his ear

tim purposefully makes himself seem boring and unlikable so that the capitol will allow him to go home rather than stay at the capitol like nightwing and RED.

tim is probably on like 10 different government watchlists

damian keeps nightwing around as a friend/babysitter, since he gave every other one he had a mental breakdown

damian keeps jason around as a personal weaponsmith/arms instructor (hired by talia)

talia and bruce have split custody of damian

nightwing and RED are top-celebs in their fields

bruce's name is brucellosis I'm sorry that's just the way it is

bruce stopped sponsoring for a while after jason's injury cause he blamed himself

hunger games sponsors are like gambling or horse race betting. if your sponsored victor lives you get more money back. but it is so costly with such high stakes that most people don't do it

nightwing volunteered for some random kid who he had no connection with because he has no self-preservation and is kinda self sacrificing like that

nightwing's mentor was starfire. he had a massive crush on her and she'd pat his head

RED has a tense relationship with bruce and Nightwing but also trusts them more than anyone else

there are more but they require more context and characters so hang tight. suggestions welcome! just dm me in my inbox

#nightwing #red hood #red robin #robin #batman #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #bruce wayne #brucellosis wayne #batfam #hunger games #hunger games au #asks #duckytree

[vivilove-jonsa]

The Stranger's Bride

For Day 2 of the Jonsa Halloween Event: The Stranger - Pumpkin - Full Moon

(This is just a little something because I'm tired of outlining the next book tonight and the spooky season brought this to mind❤️)

It's nearly nightfall.  Sansa wishes they hadn’t waited so late for the ceremony.  The moon hides behind the clouds like a child playing peek-a-boo, eager to spoil her surprise.  She breathes in deeply and checks her reflection one last time.  A picture-perfect bride with auburn hair and a fragile, haunted beauty stares back.  He will be eager to bed her once the feast is over and the Wolf will be eager to feast in turn.  She’s been dutiful all her life but, tonight, duty dies. 

The music swells as the massive doors of the sept open.  All guests turn to watch her coming down the aisle in her ivory and grey cloak, embroidered with the direwolf, the symbol of the Stark Family.  Every man in her family has the beast tattooed over his heart from the age of sixteen when he swears the oath.  So silly.  As if a tattoo makes a man into a fearsome beast.  What does her groom have tattooed over his heart?  A dragon?  Perhaps so though she knows he is the son of her long-dead aunt.  

Outwardly, this looks like a happy occasion but the bride knows better.  The men are all armed and ready to spill blood at a moment’s notice should something go awry.  And, the women present either look at her with pity (if they have sense) or envy (if they have none.)  One thing is agreed though - they all think she’ll be lucky to survive one year as his wife.  

Sansa ignores the stares, holding her head high as she walks with measured grace, letting her blue eyes sweep over the images of the gods above the altar.  She could relate to the Maiden’s plight or seek the Mother’s comfort or Crone’s wisdom today.  

But there stands the Stranger.  

How fitting when she is to wed a stranger today, the ruthless new underworld boss of the South, Jon Targaryen.  They say he is a cold-blooded killer. It's rumored he can't be killed. Nonsense. All men die.

When she dares look at him, his dark eyes burn with fire, reminding her that his family’s favorite method for eliminating their enemies is burning them alive.  Gruesome but effective.  The Starks prefer the old ways.    

“He will never harm you,” Father had said when he’d told her of the arrangement he had made with the now-deceased Rhaegar Targaryen.

“There is little you can do about it if he does.”  Father knows it to be true even if he prefers to pretend otherwise.  She’ll be his wife and under his power. At least, that’s what they all think.  

“A marriage between our houses will bring peace.  It’s better for business.”

Business.  That is the name of the game when you’re born into the mob.  Arranged marriages are still popular in their world, a way to broker peace.  The Northern Families had needed peace badly enough for her father to barter his oldest daughter away.  

Through stained glass, the moon winks at her from behind the clouds and that familiar, savage hunger unfurls.  Not yet, not yet.  She clutches her tummy, hoping to mask it as maidenly nerves.  

Father grips her hand a little tighter, the tiniest sign he’s not the emotionless ice man everyone believes him to be.  Is it a desire to comfort her that prompts him to do it?  A warning to her not to run?  Or fear of what may happen this night?

The endless walk to her groom is over before she knows it and her father's protection ends. It's fine. She can protect herself. 

The septon starts to speak and the rustling behind them tells her the guests are taking their seats.  What a show they may have if those clouds can’t contain the moon a little longer.   

But a cold, scarred hand slips into hers, drawing her from her murderous thoughts.  The darkness of his eyes is not as profound up close.  The grey reminds her more of her father’s with flecks of lilac visible in the candlelight.  

His lips twist into a wry but undeniably fetching grin.  She would prefer if he’d been plainer.  No other appetites would be raised if that were so. 

“Good evening, wife.”  They are the first words he has ever spoken to her. They feel like a caress meant to calm.

“Good evening,” she murmurs in reply.  She is well known for her courtesy after all.  He is handsome. Perhaps she will let him bed her before she allows the wolf to-

“You smell…”  He lets the words hang and she wonders if he means to insult her here at the altar as they are being wed.  Her eyes snap to his and those mesmerizing eyes have changed again back to something dark and unfathomable when he finally finishes the sentence.  “Delicious.”  

And, it’s then that she hears it in his voice, that rumbling growl his civil mask can’t contain as the moon emerges from the clouds.  She knows that sound like her own heartbeat. His thumb sweeps across her wrist, setting her pulse to pounding and drawing an answering growl from her own throat.  How curious.  

"You smell... dangerous," she says, testing.

He smiles, showing her his sharp teeth. Oh. Her groom is a stranger to her but they share an unexpected kinship. 

Old Nan had always said she would recognize another with the dark gift without ever uttering a sound.  She was right.  What an interesting discovery to make on one's wedding day. She can't wait for the wedding night.

#jonsa #jonsa halloween #jonsa halloween 2023 #jonsa fic

[nerdypotatoe5]

The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes SPOILERS (BOOKS AND MOVIES)

ok so I'm sure that by now everyone has seen the posts about how brilliantly Suzanne Collins wove her prequel into the story.

So this will also be such a post. Not a particularly detailed one but hey xD

Anyway - AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

I adore how before Lucy Gray disappears, she tells Snow - I'm going to look for katniss. And then 64 years later, Katniss Everdeen wins the 74th Hunger Games with the meadow song, with a Mockingjay token and by cleverly playing the system (even if it wasn't her intention).

Of course, this reminds Snow of how he played the system in Lucy Gray's favour, he remembers that song from 12 and the Mockingjays that sang after Lucy Gray disappeared.

The parallels are brilliant! And every time that I think about them, I'm once again reminded just how much and why Coriolanus Snow despised Katniss. Not only was she a symbol of rebellion, but she also carried symbols from a past that he wanted to erase. And sure, no one else alive that can hurt him in the capital remembers, but what if someone digs just a little deeper, notices and checks something that appears to be just a little off?

And with so many coincidences surrounding Katniss, is it really a wonder that he assumed that a ghost of his former lover was coming to haunt him from the grave?

There are definitely more parallels out there but I'm currently too tired to think of them xD.

God, I love the world of the Hunger Games. It's so brilliantly written with wonderfully written characters that make me want to continue peeling back their layers just to see what makes them tick. Suzanne Collins truly wrote a masterpiece.

Also I did really enjoy the new movie. I ended up watching it in a language that isn't my native language and was pleased to have understood the majority of what was said xD. The fact that I had read the book previously definitely helped! XD

The sound track was to die for though! Everyone's singing was beautiful. Rachel Zegler's voice really haunted some scenes and gave me chills on more than one occasion. Hearing Can't Catch Me Now during the end credits was great. I've seen some people say that it really explained what happened to Lucy Gray after she disappeared and yeah, I can see where they are coming from. I just really liked how the lyrics tie the end of the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with what happens in the Hunger Games. Olivia Rodrigo did a brilliant job with the lyrics.

Ok so this rambling has turned into a review. 😅

Anyway, my only complaint is that we did not see a lot of the Covey in the movie and that the connection between Katniss' dad and the Covey wasn't hinted at.

Having said that, the fact that Katniss' dad taught her those songs and how to hunt wasn't something that was mentioned in the Hunger Games movies (from what I remember of them) so it makes sense that that was left out.

Overall, the movie was amazing. Would recommend - 9/10.

The books are of course a very steady 9.5/10 for me xD.

At some point I'll probably need to make a post about the actors that played Sejanus and Dr. Gaul. They were fantastic! Having said that, the whole cast was really well cast and everyone played their role really well. I was very satisfied with the casting and with everyone's performance.

#the hunger games #suzanne collins #ballad of songbirds and snakes #Kind of a review #kind of a rant #Kind of a meta #I'm not fully sure how metas work #If someone can explain #Please do

[wetbloodworm]

doodled this a while ago and decided i want it here. gta au ivan! mostly i wanted to draw some of his tattoos. i’ll probably never design his full arm sleeve but i like the mix of blue for his prison tattoos and the black for the new ones he got to fill out the sleeve.

on a design note, i very specifically don’t give gta au ivan the little white highlights i put in people’s eyes usually, at least when he’s not interacting with someone he loves and actually conceptualizes as a fully realized person. he’s smiling and cheerful when interacting with most people but his expression is flat and i think i’ve described him as having dead eyes before lol. losing the eye highlight is just an indicator of that! i think it’s fun. i also specify gta au ivan because, while in other AUs he’s always more open and expressive with people he’s comfortable around, his default expression otherwise is... not so dead, lol. you can tell the difference between a ‘this is just what my face does’ smile or an ‘i’m actively smiling at you to be polite/friendly’ and a real genuinely happy smile with all ivans, but gta au ivan doesn’t mask quite as hard because he barely recognizes other people as people. it’s a combination of not caring enough about other people to even consider that he should look less off-putting and of not wanting to show how he actually feels. gta au ivan is WAY more emotionally closed off and has chosen to switch off the part of his brain that feels compassion for most people. he still goes along with a lot of the social rules he’s learned and the part of him that cares about how people are treated/cares about being polite isn’t completely dead, but for the most part people are basically objects and tools and toys until he gets to know them well enough for something to click in his brain.

(gta au ivan fascinates me don’t mind my rambling)

WAIT i drew a comparison before! okay this is even older and it was done pretty quickly so don’t worry about it

in the second one he’s got the eye highlight, a wider smile, and the smile actually reaches his eyes. subtle differences because it IS a fairly subtle shift, a lot of people wouldn’t notice it, but it’s there. i just think these details are fun.

losing the eye highlight it something i use a lot actually to depict something being Wrong or to indicate that the facial expression isn’t genuine. not always, because sometimes the style just doesn’t require the highlight, but the more detailed the drawing is the more likely i’m gonna use that indicator. now that i’m talking about it i’m putting some examples under the cut because it’s my blog and i can go off topic if i want

warning, lots of pics here so it’ll get long

hunger games AU charlie! the one where they’re crying gets the highlight because they’re not masking. in the other two they’re acting cheery for the camera after an extraordinarily traumatizing experience so the highlight’s gone to indicate those smiles are absolutely not genuine lol

another hunger games au charlie. genuine emotion but that emotion is ‘doing just really bad right now’

dnd au charlie in their sunny mask! this one is just a style choice partly because this was a quick sketch and i left their sclera as pure white instead of off-white, which would make the pure white highlight not stand out as much. how can you tell when it’s a style choice and when it’s symbolic? well. uh. uhhh. anyway more examples

another hunger games au charlie, i’m in that folder rn lol. eye shine in the first one because they’re acting but doing alright, no eye shine in the second one because. y’know. trauma.

just posted this one lol but another example! genuinely happy vs boiling over with rage and grief

symbolic vs style example. highlight stands out more on the left drawing than it would on the right drawing. it’d get lost on the little one, and it’s not as detailed to boot.

symbolic choice here. angery and trying to hide it even if he’s failing lmao

making vs genuine expression, but both get the highlight because asya’s still trying in the first one and she’s not completely closed off emotionally.

also masking but she was caught off-guard and isn’t trying as hard

first two lacking the highlights are style choices, bottom two with the highlights are symbolic. EXTRA highlight in the bottom left because extra happy, bottom right she’s just real emotional. it feels obvious to ME that the top ones are style choices but i don’t. know how to articulate the reasoning.

OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK

#ivan tag #reference tag #reference tag for the highlight talk and examples #gta au tag

[the-truest-sentence-i-know]

don't know how long it's going to take to feel okay (but i know i had the best day with you today)

Fandom: The Hunger Games

Characters: Katniss Everdeen, Mrs. Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, & Haymitch Abernathy (gen fic)

Rating: G

Summary: Katniss cuts her hair and begins to heal.

Word Count: 1k

ao3 | ff.net | wattpad

Katniss looks in the mirror. Her eyes are tired as they always are – as they have been for years really. It is just that now she has time to really look at herself with no disaster on the horizon. Her hair is in its usual braid; it’s the way she has worn her hair since she had grown too old for two braids. It has been as much a part of her as her stubby fingernails and her chapped lips.

But not so much anymore. Like so many other parts of herself, it became part of the symbol, the image.

The more time passes, the more she feels that she was never truly the Mockingjay. She had portrayed the Mockingjay for a time, and in turn it had taken parts of herself as its own.

In the mirror, she can see the bits that are hers and the bits that are now the Mockingjay.

She holds the scissors to the base of the braid before she fully knows what she is doing. She runs her fingers down it one last time, takes one last look in the mirror and –

Snip!

The braid lands with a soft thump on the floor. Katniss stares at it for a long moment before looking back to the mirror. Her hair curls outward slightly around her ears and when she moves her head, it feels much lighter. It makes her face look a little rounder, a little softer, but she can’t tell if she looks older or younger.

Her mother gives a little gasp when she passes by the bathroom and sees her. “Katniss, what–?”

“I thought it was time for a change,” Katniss says, uncertainly.

She sighs and almost smiles and reaches out a hand for the scissors. “It’s uneven, here, let me.”

Katniss obediently sits on a stool, keeping still as her mother snips around her ears and at the nape of her neck. She pulls the foremost strands down to check that they’re even and then lets them spring up again, tickling her cheeks.

“There you are,” she says softly and almost smiles again – closer to a real smile this time. “I don’t think you’ve had your hair this short since before you started school.”

“Thanks, mom,” Katniss says and lets herself be enfolded in a hug.

When her mother pulls away, she brushes a curl behind her ear. “You should show the others.”

“Mom, I don’t think Haymitch will care that I’ve cut my hair.”

She just gives her a look and Katniss sighs.

Katniss finds Peeta in the garden behind his house. He is kneeling on the ground, hands in the dirt, entirely preoccupied. She just watches him a moment, leaning awkwardly against the fence.

When he does notice her, he smiles. “Did you do that yourself?” he asks, standing up, wiping his hands off on his pants and coming towards her.

“My mom helped even it out,” she says.

He nods. “It looks nice.”

“Thanks.” She looks at the garden and then back at him. “What, um, what’re you doing?”

“Planting potatoes,” he says gesturing at the pile of small potatoes on the grass.

“Oh,” she says.

Katniss wonders if this is what it’s going to be like with him forever. Awkward small talk with the person who probably knows her better than anyone else.

“My mom was wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner tonight,” she lies. Her mom would be happy to host of course, and she didn’t have to tell her that she passed it off as her idea.

“Oh, sure,” he says. “That sounds nice.”

“Great.”

“Is Haymitch coming too?”

If it had been her mother’s idea, she would have extended the invitation to Haymitch as well. “Yeah,” she says. “I need to ask him yet.”

Peeta nods. “I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Yeah, see you.”

He steps closer to her and for a moment she thinks he’s going in for a hug, but he just tugs lightly on the foremost curl, like her mother did, and lets it spring up again. He smiles softly and then goes back to his work.

It’s not until she is halfway to Haymitch’s that she remembers how, in the first Games, right before they started to eat the berries, he had stroked the end of her braid like he wanted to remember what it felt like.

The memory gives her hope for them.

Haymitch is lounging on a chair on his front porch.

“Did you burn your hair off again?” he asks as she walks up the steps.

Katniss rolls her eyes. “My mom wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. Peeta’s also gonna be there.”

“Will he also be bringing baked goods?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“He probably will, he’s such a polite young man,” he says. “Sure, I’ll go.”

She gives him a sarcastic smile. “Great.”

As she walks away, he calls after her, “Hey sweetheart! The haircut looks good!”

She waves. “Thanks, Haymitch.”

Her mother is, of course, totally fine with the unexpected dinner party and makes sure to invite Hazelle Hawthorne and the kids as well.

Dinner ends up being chaotic and disorganized and wonderful. Everyone brings something along: Peeta brings soft rolls and something in a box she isn’t allowed to look in that probably holds dessert; Haymitch brings homemade moonshine that she refuses to drink; and Hazelle brings fresh greens that Rory and Vick collected.

Katniss is content to sit back and have the conversations happen around her. Peeta is speaking to Posy, who is positively preening under his attention. Rory and Vick are arguing over a competition they had had in the woods earlier that day. And her mother is actually smiling as she bustles around, playing hostess.

Haymitch, who is seated beside her, leans over and says, “I don’t wanna scare ya, but… you look like you’re having fun.” He checks her forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”

She pushes his hand away and rolls her eyes. But then she looks out at the table, the warm light, and the happy faces all around her. When she looks back at Haymitch, she knows he can feel it too. He just nods and raises his glass.

“To the always-lovely Dorothy Everdeen,” he says. “For hosting us all!”

Everyone follows suit, shouting out their agreement, and her mother blushes and tells them to stop, that it was no trouble at all. Peeta catches Katniss’s eye across the table and nods at her. And Katniss smiles back.

#the hunger games #katniss everdeen #thg #thg fic #thg fanfic #hunger games fanfic #mrs everdeen #haymitch abernathy #peeta mellark #hazelle hawthorne #my writing #wattpad #amwriting #ao3 #ff.net #fanfic #mine #oneshot

[sanctificetur]

as valerie hears about draegan also eating the goldfish in the pond, she is quite shaken ; and also angry he had disturbed her peaceful nature.

she remembers he looking quite deranged and merciless in his eyes, as he drank from the blood bag; shoulders shuddering as he ripped into it with his fangs.

as she had backed away from him, he hears a movement, thinking at first it was an enemy to attack him or take the blood bags from him. he glares at her, unseeing, she holding her hand to her mouth to cover her muffled scream. after a moment, the red of all-consuming bloodlust clears in his eyes.

he picked up her butterfly 🦋 pendant that had fallen to the ground with his bloodied hands, holding it out to her. perhaps not deciding to mention, he had eaten butterflies before, similar to the butterfly type she likes.

he notes her scared to come closer to him until they continue on with their conversation. they talk a little bit further in the car park for half an hour. yet they couldn’t just stay there ; lunchtime was halfway over, till class started and someone could see his bloodied state. although valerie knew they may think it was an early halloween costume, of a male carrie, it was still dangerous.

so they go to an abandoned classroom, she helping him sponging off the blood with soap and water from the small sink in the corner ; having some knowledge of healing, as her mother was a nurse.

he places the pendant into his pocket, as he starts to recount about his time in the capitol. and sitting down across from each other on the same table.

‘ you were experimented upon?! and why did the capitol do that to you? ‘ she says, concern in her tone, and adjusting her oval wine rimmed glasses to her nose.

he nods, the pain of his past overwhelming him, feeling guilt in harming humans in the past, and now fed from blood bags and animals…yet tried not to be so noticeable. as he was worried about attracting attention and being found out by hunters. he describes a bit on his time at the capitol.

president snow had ordered the capture of him, and tributes from past hunger games. they had shackled them in their cells, and experimented on them, cutting them with knives, electrocuting them with water, and various other methods of torture to see how much they could endure, to way past their breaking point. this continuing, during the sugar falls event marissa was in.

he had finally escaped, breaking the chains, with the help of the others ( peeta, johanna, annie ), and ripping into the neck of guards who shot at them in trying to stop their escape ; they not expecting the captives to feel that much boiling fury and hatred in their study of them, fury and indignation that ran deep in draegan’s blood.

draegan then says, ‘ I know you’re scared, val, but I am here, ‘ he taking the pendant from his pocket, and extending his arm out across the table to give to her.

there had been no electricity issues, other than him breaking out of the cell ; walking through the ground. enochian and chinese rune symbols on the wall, painted delicately in black quill 🪶 celestial sparks ( fireworks ) glinting and falling like gold tinsel drifted around him in a quiet hum.

valerie thinks his gesture may be genuine, yet still quite cautious. draegan had seemed a lot like a demon, but one with a good heart. taking the pendant from his outstretched hand, fingers brushing a bit longer on his hand.

#valerie ic. #writing. #draegan ic.

[shay-scribbles]

Dove’s Eye (2020) 

Since starting work, it’s been kind of hard to do art like I was doing before. So it’s kind of nice that I could get back into it, even if it is a little late for something this bloody. 

#blood #animal death #arrow #blood splatter #gold #artwork #art #digital art #dove #animal #just now noticing that it looks a little like the Hunger Games symbol #bird #archery #red #yellow #white #bull's eye #dove's eye

[signedaiko]

Royalty [Tarn x Reader x Overlord]

Reader is Cybertronian Femme | MTMTE Based

Recommended Song - Dernière Danse by Indila

'You have got to be kidding me.' It had been thousands of years since you had last heard anything from this mech. Why now?  A large ship paced below my own smaller one, housing only a crew of 30 or so cons. I would recognize the peaceful tyranny from anywhere, I was more so unsure of why they were here. Tarn was not one to warn anyone of his endeavors if he intended harm.  I had more reasons to be worried when I noticed Deathsaurus ship pull over top and another much smaller one behind me. Something was up for certain. Standing in the front navigation section of the ship I waited for any kind of hail or notice.  Beep! Beep! The incoming call on the front radar flashed, and I was quick to answer. A cross-section of three faces appeared, mine along the bottom part. Tarn was accounted for on the top, to the left was...Deathsaurus, and to the right...Overlord? This was more than strange.  Hiding my discomfort behind my mask, I tilted my helm upwards. "Hello, Tarn." Quick and to the point would suffice, my patience was running thin. "Happy to see I was invited to the little group chat." A jestful throw, I couldn't help myself. Deathsaurus seemed to crack a small smile, and I had my own forming behind the faceplate, I knew he was the least of my worries tonight. No one else had spoken yet, and I was beginning to contemplate pressing the panic button.  "I have a proposal for you, y/n."  ~~~~~~~~~ It didn't take long for my ship to lock itself into place atop the tyranny, latches keeping it from floating off. There was business to attend to, so I dropped my crew off on Deathsaurus' ship first; they had plenty of friends there and it would hopefully help manage the rising stress levels visible on the ship's AI health data.  When I climbed into the great Tyranny, I was face to face with none other than Vos. We had met before, in not so similar circumstances. I still had some holes hiding under my faceplate courtesy of him.  His unfamiliar tongue broke the silence and he moved to rushed me over to where I was presuming I would meet the rest.  One step at a time, I got there faster than I'd of liked. The smaller purple con didn't seem to care for my discomfort and rushed me into the large room. A table was in the middle, and around it? The entirety of the DJD,  the murderous Overlord, and the sweet Deathsaurus.  All eyes were on me,  the grip my own servos had behind my back became near painful as they pulled in an attempt to reduce stress. I had encountered each on their own before, why was it so hard to do now? "Y/N! Come join us." Deathsaurus smiled and motioned for me to stand next to him, which I did in haste. He was the only one I trusted enough here, I had been a part of his crew long ago; we were good friends now.  "So," There wasn't much to speak about, the deal was already sealed. I supposed Tarn just wanted to intimidate me into staying with them, "You got a new arm."  The words bounced around my head as my arm instinctively moved into my vision. It looked near identical to my other one; aside from its newer paint and finer shape. It was more the insinuation behind the words that bothered me.  'Wouldn't have needed it had it not been for your mistake.' I bit my tongue, careful y/n.  "I didn't exactly have a choice." That's where the wall between the conversation finally worked, and Tarn turned to his crew to begin discussing something about security. My optics finally trailed up the largest threat of the room, meeting his red ones that framed a smirk.  He treads carefully to a door, and I followed suit. The door closed nimbly behind us and freed me from the nervous breakdown I was about to have in there. It was so terribly awkward when you sat in a room full of old acquaintances, friends and enemies alike. What kind of high school reunion was this? "Never expected you to have made it so far, y/n." Overlord found his voice, purring out my name while he led us on our stroll. I used to know him well. "And clearly you took to some changes."  His remark wasn't wrong. Last we met I was a scientist under

the cons, a shy nobody with a bright colour palette and hope for a better world. Now? I looked dull in comparison to then- however, I myself glowed brighter than any star now.  "Seems I made a name for myself out there, and you did too?" Less of a question than a statement, but I wouldn't help but wonder what he had done to get here. I've heard whispers of his designation over the many years since we last spoke.  A shift of air caught me changing stance, pressing a blaster to the mech's stomach; his servo inches from my neck. He had become predictable too.  "Feisty~!" His grin looked sick, he looked like a psycho. I wasn't about to play cat and mouse with him though, his games were for children. My servo pulled something from a compartment I had on myself,  dangling the device before his very optics.  "And to think I was going to give this to you." I teased, swinging it back and forth. I would have my own fun. His servo moved away from my neck to snatch the device, and for once I could have sworn he was impressed.  "How?" The device was a kill switch; many existed! But this one was for a particular person, a certain one that stood before me. I knew he would want it; even if it could no longer harm him.  "By stealing it from Megatron." A sharp voice cut through, it was angry. We both turned to see Tarn and his crew behind us, Kaon's hands were crackling with electricity.  "You would be mistaken," I dared, stepping closer to the DJD all to everyone's surprise. I had survived them once, I would do it again. "For he gave it to me."  My servo moved to my faceplate, pulling it off with a click and a hiss. Below my optics was my mouth, and nothing more. But on the inside of the plate? A special insignia sat, revealed to the rest.  "By Primus..." I heard Overlord take a sharp intake of air, before a deep chuckle reigned, "This whole time we have had royalty onboard?" The insignia of the Royal Sciences Division, or the R.S.D. It was a Decepticon logo, however, the top of it had a golden crown decorating it. The symbol of a long-forgotten crew that served right by Megatron, awarded for the advancements made by mechs and femmes of every flavour.  It didn't take long for the tension to drop, and I had finally stopped right in front of Tarn, looking him straight in the optics.  "Consider yourself lucky." A smile formed, servo pushing my mouth guard right back into place where it belonged. In the world of war, I outranked everyone in the room. I did not want to reveal it so soon but... It was better now than after the torture.  Considering the silence of my dismissal, I stalked back over in the direction of my ship, removing myself from the room. Overlord watched my figure disappear with a sudden glint in his optics, a hunger I failed to notice.  It seemed both Tarn and Overlord had something new of interest.

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Art by - Exodus Requested by - Perth Word Count - 1,318

#transformers #idw #x reader #transformers x reader #oneshot #transformers oneshot #mtmte #mtmte x reader #lost light x reader #maccadam #more than meets the eye #tarn #overlord #tarn x reader #overlord x reader #tarn x reader x overlord #tarn oneshot #overlord oneshot #mtmte overlord #mtmte tarn #idw tarn #idw overlord

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Mia Deserved Better: An Analysis of RE8's Themes/Symbolism

Foreword: I would like to thank @lepusrufus for posting about both Mia and Miranda, and at one point directly saying that Mia deserved better, which is a large part of what caused me to start examining her role in the canon story. Now, I will say that this post, like some of my previous explorations of Village (such as my attempt to determine Donna's age), will not be the best organized. My ADHD makes such things rather difficult for me. However, I have tried more than usual, and have broken up this "essay" into several distinct sections. Still, I am worried that my thoughts will not be as concise or coherent as they were inside my head.

Under read-more for length and spoilers for RE8: Village.

Introduction:

Village is, inarguably, about parenthood. Is it a horror game? Yes. Is it also science fiction? Also yes. But is it still, at its core, a story, and therefore contains imagery, symbolism, and themes? Yes. Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with Mia deserving better. My proposal is as follows: While Village is overall about parenthood, it is more about motherhood than fatherhood. Furthermore, Mia's background + actions from the previous game tie her story directly with Mother Miranda's, making their potential interactions massively important to the story... and could have served the theme beautifully. The missed potential in her involvement in the story is honestly a little bit absurd.

Now, let's examine each of the Four Lords + their sections, as the beginning of analyzing the game's theme.

Lady Dimitrescu + Castle:

Ah, perhaps the clearest (albeit unimportant) bits of theme within the whole game. We are immediately presented with another parent, with three daughters she loves very, very much. Initially they work as a team to capture Ethan, easily overpowering him. When they do split up, each still has dialogue regarding their family members. Each of the daughters expresses a desire to be like their mother/make their mother proud. Lady Dimitrescu herself gets very upset every time one of her daughters perishes, and delivers some important dialogue about this in her final confrontation with Ethan.

To paraphrase, Lady D says that Ethan has done something unforgiveable, caused damage that can never heal, and deserves to die before his daughter. That last part is interesting, in the sense that Lady D seems to believe that outlasting your own child is a fate so terrible that she would not wish it upon anyone, including the person who killed her daughters.

Throughout her dialogue and actions, Lady D serves as an important figure of a living mother. What do I mean by that? Well, the only other mothers we see in game are Mia and Miranda. The former doesn't show up until almost the end of the game (seeing as the "Mia" at the start is not actually the real Mia), while the latter does not have a living child, and her behavior has (presumably) changed quite a bit since that loss. As Ethan goes through Castle Dimitrescu, he watches (he causes) Lady D to go through what Miranda did all those decades ago. When we see her loss, when we experience her loss, it is something we connect with, even comparing it (as Lady D does) to Ethan's loss of Rose.

For the more visual side of symbolism, we can turn to Lady Dimitrescu herself. She is very tall, is visibly older than the majority of the Village cast, and has a fairly classic (old-school) motherly look. Everything about her reinforces her position as an example of a mother, especially when she's with her daughters and becomes such a strong figure of protection. Her height allows her to seem the caretaker for her children, even though they are scary/intimidating in their own right.

Donna Beneviento + Waterfall House:

Yes, the baby/fetus/monstrosity is part of this. No, it is not the only bit of thematic work in this section of the game.

To begin, you can find out that Donna is officially the adopted daughter of Mother Miranda. Her birth parents are dead, implied to be from especially tragic causes (more than is the norm when it comes to "orphan making"), and she has suffered greatly from it. We see that she has been seemingly neglected by Miranda, and is incredibly isolated. The tragedy of her loss, along with the consequences presented by it, are something to keep in mind further down the road, when we inevitably deal with Ethan's own death.

One of the consequences of the environment Donna was raised in is, arguably, her reliance on Angie. While interpretations of their exact relationship (aka how much control Donna actually has at any given point) vary, the two very clearly have something akin to a mother/daughter vibe. Alternatively an older sister/younger sister sort of thing. This shows in the way that Donna holds/carries Angie, as well as the contrast in their demeanors. Moreso, the fact that Donna gave a part of herself to create Angie is almost enough to make the symbolism nonnegotiable.

We also see that Donna has a strong understanding of family/family dynamics, through the way that she uses her powers to manipulate Ethan. She dissects his connections to Mia and Rose, taunts him with the lengths he's willing to go to save his child, then shows him a grotesque version of parenthood: The aforementioned fetus monster. Does the monster represent Ethan's fears, or Donna's?

What if the monster is how Donna sees herself, in some way, perhaps thinking that it's her fault her parents died? Bit of a stretch, but it's not a keystone of my theory, so I'm just throwing it out there. We could, however, go a step further and ask ourselves if Donna has noticed the way Miranda neglects her, and the fetus monster is how Donna thinks Miranda sees her. A baby, true, but grotesque, so terribly imperfect compared to her "real daughter" (Eva, obvs).

Regardless, the monster presents an ugly side of parenthood. It shows us the blood, the hunger (with the way it repeatedly attempts to swallow Ethan whole), the wailing. If Lady D shows us the love of parenthood, the bond, Donna in turn shows us the hate, the misery. Everything that one must endure to reap the rewards of family.

Lastly, we get one last bit of symbolism with Donna's death: We play a game with Angie. A childhood classic, hide and seek. Ethan chases her down repeatedly, stabbing away, seemingly only hurting the doll. But what happens when he kills Angie? It turns out that he killed Donna. You kill the child, you kill the parent. A reinforcement of the connection that comes with parenthood, along with another notch in Ethan's family-murdering belt (not saying that he's the "true antagonist" or anything, just keeping track for one of my later points).

Moreau + The Reservoir

Let's get the worst possibility out of the way: Moreau, weakest and sickest of the four lords, lives in a reservoir, where he is relatively safe. To defeat him, you have to drain the water, forcing him onto dry(ish) land. Paired with the main ideas of his section (which I will detail after this nightmare), one could theorize that he's meant to represent birth itself. Again, he's safe in his ("womb") water, and becomes vulnerable when he leaves (like a fragile newborn). Kinda gross, in my opinion, and also not a strong enough connection for me to care much about. It was merely an interesting (albeit horrifying) enough thought that I felt it warranted sharing.

Moving on to the big stuff with Moreau: He's a baby. Evidence: Whiny, has difficulty moving around, struggles to adapt to his growth, throws up a bunch, loves his mother very much, cries for his mother when he's in trouble, etc. Although Mother Miranda does not care for him, he clearly cares for her, and plays yet another role of an abandoned child (like Donna). Without Miranda there to protect him, he perishes terribly, crying out for someone who does not care to answer.

Hearing him cry out for Miranda, over and over, only for her to continue ignoring him is a key piece in the build-up to our confrontation between Ethan and Miranda. The game, in many ways, centers around the comparison between the two. In my humble opinion, Mia should have been involved in this comparison, as opposed to supplying the solution to the result of said comparison. Yes, I know that was a lot of words that don't mean much yet, but trust me, I'm getting there.

Heisenberg + The Factory

Ironically, of the four lords, Heisenberg is the most similar to Mother Miranda. In his massive factory, he is alone except for his numerous experiments, the results of decades of playing God. In comparison to Ethan + Mia, Heisenberg represents artificial parentage, or more accurately, the artificial creation of "life". While the others Lords also performed experiments, they used living subjects. Heisenberg instead chose to use corpses, which he then "brought back to life" with cybernetics + his powers, a somewhat futuristic version of Dr. Frankenstein.

Together, Miranda and him show a rotten side of parenthood (whereas Donna + Moreau showed us the uglier side of the children themselves). To put it simply, they are bad parents. They throw their "children"/experiments into the fray, uncaring, using them as pawns for their own greater gain. The most important part of this is that Heisenberg offers to "help" Ethan: By using Rose as a weapon. In his act of refusal, Ethan demonstrates one of several important distinctions between himself and Mother Miranda. Where she is willing to use her "children" (read: lives that she is responsible for) as tools, he is not.

Miscellaneous Symbolism/Imagery:

The old hag is one of my favorite parts of Village. She's seemingly nuts, has a crazy old lady laugh, wears bones that make soothing bone noises when she moves, and she draws lots of symbols in the dirt. If you look closely (I can provide screenshots if anyone desires, but it will take a bit of work to get them onto my computer), she's drawing one of the most iconic images in the titular village: The winged unborn. This symbol acts as the key you build up after every fight with a Lord, understandably called the Unborn Key (which turns into the Winged Unborn Key). Whether this counts as foreshadowing towards the hag's identity reveal is technically irrelevant, but I like to think it does.

In essence, you build up the key, this depiction of an infant, to progress in the game. The more wings it gains, the closer you are to your goal of rescuing your child.

The cadou itself is very clearly fetus-shaped. Furthermore, the only place within the human body that we know it ever gets implanted is in the "tummy" (thanks Moreau), aka roughly where someone's womb is/would be. Every infected person we see presumably had the Cadou implanted there (though I think it would be interesting if implanting it in different spots caused different mutations. of course, that is a discussion for another day). To become immortal, you have to "bear" a "child". Does it get more direct than that?

Mother Miranda gained her immortality in part for her grief at the loss of her child. She embodied the despair that Lady D spoke of, becoming an eternal source of anguish. Just as the loss of a child is a wound that lasts forever, so too would Miranda last forever (well, until Ethan comes along).

Mia is a loving mother, who puts up with the BSAA making her move across the world, deals with the complications of having a mold husband and mold baby, and has proved herself (see her section in RE7) to be an immense badass. Previously I had forgotten that, and even embarrassed myself in the comments of another person's post by implying she wasn't a tough, ass-kicking machine. Y'all remember feral Mia? People talk about "poor Ethan's arms", but sometimes we forget that Mia was one of the people who did a number on them. Furthermore, she's one of the only living people (from outside the village) to have any connections (pun intended) to Mother Miranda. They worked together, although possibly not directly, on Evelyn. If anyone in Village has a chance of really understanding Miranda's plight, or knowing the truth behind it, it would be Mia. Yet we don't see them interact a single time. Which leads me to the next section...

Conclusion On Theme + Missed Potential:

Okay, okay, so it's pretty obvious at this point that, as previously stated, the game's theme is parenthood. Every section has its symbolism, the story is very obviously about a man trying to rescue his daughter, etc, etc, but what's the point? Is there a lesson, or a more focused interpretation of the central theme? Let's take one last step back, and focus on something I've mentioned a few times now: The comparison between Ethan and Mother Miranda.

Recurring dialogue from Ethan, Alcina, and Mother Miranda all point towards the developers acknowledging that the characters are similar, but there's nowhere near as much conversation about it as I would like. Several times we have the antagonists ask Ethan how he's so willing to kill someone else's child, or prevent them from (essentially) doing what he's doing (aka saving his daughter). While Ethan responds with a mix of "well you started it" and "aghhh fuck-a-you, bitch", there's a much more solid, unspoken difference: Mother Miranda sends her underlings to kill, so that she may revive her daughter. Ethan kills (read: does the work himself) to get his daughter. The difference is much bigger, and more important, at the end of the game, when we realize just how far it goes. Ethan dies to save his daughter. Time and time again Mother Miranda has killed others for her work, but in the end she is stopped when someone willingly dies to stop her.

Where does Mia come in? Mia, the badass mother, the one who once worked alongside Mother Miranda, should have been the nail in the coffin. She is the one who survives, who lives on to raise Rose, she is the silent solution to Ethan's sacrifice. Miranda, you fool, what could you have accomplished if you had held onto your makeshift family? Through Mia (and Chris, to a lesser degree), his "loss" becomes a victory. There's a certain poetic justice that comes with Rose's full family being instrumental in saving her, when Miranda so readily spurned her own family.

Mia could have had an actual conversation with Miranda, their history giving the latter a reason to actually listen. I'm not saying that Miranda would have changed her mind/plans, but the conversation would have been a well-needed contrast to Ethan's "arggg what the fuck is happening, I only have two reactions to things. agg fuck you". Additionally, I feel that Mia (who was captured and had to endure who-knows-what) deserves the opportunity to be the one who points out Miranda's mistakes, who delivers the final "fuck you" to her. More than that, she's the one at the end who can say that hey, maybe she can understand some of what Miranda did. Was there anything her and Ethan wouldn't have done to save Rose? As much as Ethan is a foil to Miranda, Mia could (and should) have played a similar role.

When so much of the story and symbolism revolves around Miranda's experience as a mother, it only would have been fair to shine a light on her equivalent. Her better.

There's more I wanted to say/feel like I didn't properly get across, and I might add more to this at some point, but it's 5:40 AM right now, and I'm starting to feel like my brain is slowing down, so... Feel free to reblog/comment and add your own thoughts!

#mother miranda #mia winters #ethan winters #rosemary winters #resident evil: village #re8 village #god what do I tag this as

[itstimetotheorize]

The Signal Towers forever unfinished meal, a sudden loss in control

We have always theorized that the tower eats the souls of the viewers until they  are left as nothing more than empty husks who are ready to take their own lives. The viewers... are forever meant to be lost within the tvs perfect false world, until they are fated to pay the ultimate price for their viewership, the price being of course... their bodies and souls!

 Fans have always suspected that the bodies of the viewers were sucked through the tvs in order to be added to the giant flesh mass within the tower, However, later on, many of us began to speculate that the viewers might have only been added to the body of a much larger creature and that the giant eyes seen near the end of the game were never part of the various viewers  within the pale city, these giant eyes...could very well have been an entity of their own!

 If this mass of flesh and eyes was the true culprit behind the destruction of the pale city then perhaps despite its many victims, the thin man was the one exception to its hunger. Due to its reliance on the thin mans powers, many of us had assumed that the eye chose to keep him locked away deep within its many layers of walls, halls, stairs and  rooms in an effort to corrupt his mind and force him to do its terrible bidding .

 And yet something doesn't make sense...of all the enemies that were seen throughout the game, the thin man was the only one shown with a thin and frail body. The hunter, the teacher, the doctor and the viewers were all quite fat when compared to the thin man, but why? Everyone within the city was fated to be fattened and distorted until the time came for them to be consumed by the tower, so why was the thin man the only one who was so... thin?!....unless....his fate was not much different than theirs.....but still different in its own way...

Where am I gong with this?... well, when we see thin man, he is noted to spend the majority of his life sitting in a tiny room somewhere deep within the tower.

 As thin man ages over time, several of us began to notice something odd, something that was so obvious to begin with that we didn't even bother to question it at the time....The tiny room that held the thin man prisoner... may not have been just a room!...but else could it have been?

well, before monos power was used to restore the eye entity to its original tower  form, the area he was trapped in was technically still nothing more that a part of its body!.

Considering that mono fell deep within the depths of towers flesh, this room could very well have been symbolized to  not only be monos life long prison...but a space that would forever remain empty...a space that could never be filled by just anyone. If we think of the tower as a body with its own organs in the form of different rooms,  then what if the tiny room we saw mono imprisoned in...was symbolized to be the Towers own stomach!.

Many of us had originally theorized that perhaps the thin mans energy and soul  were no exception to the eye entities wrath. If this is true then this would mean that unlike the rest of the viewers who were forced to wait until their time came to be fully consumed by the eye, the thin man was forever doomed to be slowly eaten away by the tower as his power was used to send out its transmission to the rest of the world!. If the room is truly the towers stomach then this would mean that with each passing year, the tower slowly ate away a little more of the thin mans body and soul, until eventfully, he became nothing more than the thin, frail old man that we saw him as in the game. The thin man...may have been truly trapped within “the belly of the beast” this entire time!

However, unlike the rest of its victims, its possible that the eye restrained itself from adding the thin man to its fleshy body, why exactly would it do that? because it needs the thin man to continue living of course!. It is the thin mans power that allows it to spread its hypnotic spell throughout the tvs of the world

So then, what if unlike the rest of its victims, the eye looked upon the thin man not as a dish that should be eaten whole, but rather as a meal that should never be finished! After all, If it is to continue in its never ending desire to feast upon the world, then it needs the thin man to exist and allow its vicious cycle of consumption to continue. Rather than leave the thin man to the same fate as the other residents of the world, the eye could very well have chosen to throw a piece of him up, out of its stomach and back out into the world in order to feast upon his newly born flesh and soul over and over again, that newly born form being of course...MONO.... and as he continues to relive a new life outside the tower, the one piece of his “remains” continues to suffer within the tower itself.

Yes, it truly seems as though nothing can stop this horrific force of flesh and eyes, the world is forever there to be consumed by it, through the use of others.... nothing can ever hope to stand in its way, it is in control …or is it?....

On April 1, 2021, the twitter page became increasingly active , however, it was not acting like its normal hauntingly scary self as it presented a “new game”

Naturally this was supposed to be an April fools joke to the public. However, despite this, many fans began to question why the twitter needed to act as someone else... just to present a joke? it could have very easily done this with out changing its tone.

As the day went on and as we continued to view a variety of goofy replies, something bizarre occurred, once April fools day came to a close.

The original twitter page was coming back!... but something felt off... rather than take back the twitter page to its original form, it was almost as if it was struggling to take back the account from some foreign entity. For those that do not have a twitter page or have gone through every single comment on the account, you should know that many of us have come to realize that the holder of the account could very well have been the flesh void within the tower, in other words, the twitter page was a representation of  the eye entity itself communicating with the public!

As April fools ended, the original twitter page took back control of the account...albeit in an a horrifying manner.

Naturally, the strangeness didn't end just then and there, of all the things to say to the public to explain the sudden and bizarre change in the twitter accounts activity, the original twitter page simply stated that a “rogue signal” interfered with its communication. 

Despite the fans delight in welcoming back the original twitter and being done with April fools, the twitter decided to instead continue with the recipe contest in an effort to select a winner. As the contest ended the twitter revealed to everyone that it had  taken everyones joke recipes and had tried them out for itself. In an ironic turn of events, the twitters favorite dish was revealed to be a mono’s soup!...what's most peculiar  about its choice of dish was how it commented that this soup was “Nearly as good as eating the real mono”!

 If the twitter page is a representation of the eye entity within the tower and if the tower is truly feasting upon the viewers of the world... then does this mean that  the thin man is also just another part of its meal?...maybe..... And I know what you are thinking, “this was just an April fools joke, just something to make fun at”...but what if it wasn't?...ever since the release of little nightmares 2, the twitter page began to hint at certain details of the game in the form of cryptic messages. 

The twitter page has even stated to us, on multiple occasions, that it lives to make us suffer, it is the one who is in control and we are nothing more than soon to be residents of its world that will be infected with escapism,

There is no way of escape....and yet... how was it that  a “rogue signal” was capable of interfering with its control? unless....something BIG interfered!?.... but who or rather what could have possibly been powerful enough to resist or even fight against the eyes control? Of all the times to present such a  struggle for control, why chose now?.... unless....has their been a shift in power within the  little nightmares world?... If so, then what the heck is it, or rather, what caused it!?  We may not know what it was right now, but something lead the eye entity to lose its grip on the false reality it had maintained for thousands of years......was it mono?... or is it something  that has just entered the range of the pale city?..... I guess we will just have to wait and see...for now that’s just a theory, a little nightmares II theory!

#little nightmares #little nightmares 2 #little nightmares II #little nightmares mono #little nightmares 2 mono #little nightmares II mono #little nightmares six #little nightmares 2 six #little nightmares II six #the thin man #little nightmares 2 the thin man #little nightmares II the thin man #little nightmares theory #little nightmares theories #little nightmares 2 theory #little nightmares 2 theories #little nightmares II theory #little nightmares II theories #little nightmares the all seeing eye #little nightmares the eye #little nightmares 2 the eye #little nightmares II the eye #little nightmares 2 the black tower #little nightmares ii the black tower #little nightmares 2 the towe #mono and six #six and mono

[cto10121]

you’re oversimplifying the argument surrounding the darklings hunger for power. i agree, alina isn’t alina without her powers. but it’s quite clear that the darkling is willing to prioritize the use and commodification of her powers over her agency and personhood. his main goal was to orient alina towards his political cause so he could use her powers, the feelings came after. when it became clear that alina would choose a different path, the darkling threw her independence and right to consent out the window and collared her to harness her power as his own. this is a clear indication that he prioritizes that utility of alinas powers > her. the argument that “alina is not alina without her powers!” in this case makes little sense because you’re somehow implying that the darkling’s primary motivation for pursuing alina was because he liked her for who she was, which is just as inaccurate.

Okay, this is where we have to be clear which Darkling we are talking about, book!Darkling or show!Darkling. Because there is a clear difference between the two and how their motivations and actions were written and we cannot move forward without acknowledging the changes and the (bad) writing that plagues the Darkling re: motivation.

Because for better or worse, unlike book!Darkling, show!Darkling makes little to no distinction between Alina the person and Alina the Sun Summoner. Even in his language he uses mostly Alina or Miss Starkov, depending on the situation and context; post-Episode 5, he uses Sun Summoner with Ivan and the other Grisha, but (revealingly) Alina with Zoya. He constantly looks straight at Alina during her light demonstrations and not her light, even when others do. “I have seen you for what you truly are, and I have never looked away. I never will” betrays the core of this attitude and it does ring true (Barnes at least confirmed it to be a non-manipulative line). To the Darkling at some level, Alina and the Summoner are one and the same. It’s even questionable that he even planned to control her power with the amplifier from the get-go; it reads more like he expected (delusionally?) Alina to see his side of things and understand why they should keep to the Fold for now. It reads more like a decision he took only after Alina left him, which he construed as a personal betrayal and a break of trust (from his POV).

Yes, he did plan to use the Sun Summoner for his own devices because, well, he knew her as only the Sun Summoner in the beginning—just like most if not all the characters in the show. She had political significance to him and others. But that he started to see her as more than that is pretty evident even early on. I won’t lie, I did laugh at the “are you sure?” consent request—oh, yes, control her power via amplifier without her consent, but for sex, surely not!!!—but again, it reaffirms the theory that show!Darkling’s original intentions were most likely to let Alina kill the stag and take over its power and then reveal his plan to expand the Fold. It would even explain lines like that incredulous, cold, and even judgmental “You would give up your gift?” Ep. 2 line after Alina offers to transfer her power to someone who would use it—not the type of reaction someone planning to do exactly just that would have. You’d think 500 years of existence would give you a finer appreciation of irony.

Does this mean that since the Darkling initially planned to use her that his eventual falling for her is therefore less pure/inferior to Mal’s love? Yeah, if you have a black-and-white “only love based on and arising from pure motivations is valid!!!” type of view. Does this mean that since he wouldn’t have looked twice at Alina had she not been the Sun Summoner, his love for her is less pure? Well, considering book!Mal 1) did not even notice Alina romantically until after she was taken to the Little Palace and 2) definitely had tons of trouble accepting Alina as the Sun Summoner in Book 2 before magically becoming warmly supportive in Book 3, I’m not too fussed over splitting logical hairs and playing the what-if fanfic AU game at ridiculous levels (“Voldemort would never look twice at Harry Potter if he weren’t a wizard destined to destroy him!! He just hated him because of the prophecy, it’s not true hate!!!” *le sigh*). Also, what about Nikolai? He, too, initially viewed Alina as a symbol of hope, used her for his gain, and proposed a strictly political marriage for alliance. Doesn’t take away from the fact that he did come to like her for herself and it sure did not stop most of the fandom from simping for him hard or shipping him with Alina.

I’m frankly too old for purity tests; kindergarten was a long time ago for me, you see. We may enjoy fictional villains for their nigh-omniscient, well, villainy, but in the real world and in fiction that seeks to portray its messiness, you never have as much control as you think you do, no one does. Power and privilege are very much relative. And above all, things never go according to plan. The fact that the Darkling initially viewed Alina as the Sun Summoner to play a key part of his plans does not take away from the fact that he did honestly fell for her and came to see her as more than just the Summoner. He did do wrong in trying to control her, definitely, but for reasons I’ve explained, it’s not as revealing of his true view of her as you’d think. “I’ll relax,” as he tells Zoya when he rejects (!!) her advances, “when I have Alina.” Not Sun Summoner.

(Also, as a bit of a P.S., much of my original post was not so much about the Darkling as the fandom’s own cleaving of Alina from her powers. I get that Bardugo’s narrative almost encourages the reader to view Alina’s powers as something apart from Alina, powers that corrupt her or could, but I must question that artistic decision, especially since 1) it contradicts the established magical system so damn hard and 2) magical male heroes like Harry Potter never face the prospect of losing their power or having their power be controlled by another or even being “corrupted” just by using their power. I really resent that sexist double standard. If Harry weren’t a wizard, he would not be Harry. If Alina weren’t the Sun Summoner, she would not be Alina.)

#i come anon #the darkling #shadow and bone #shadow and bone meta #darklina #hopefully i cleared up some things #ask #anon

[madmansan]

28 days

Fantasy au - Demon!San x F!Reader

Trigger Warnings

Blades, scars, gore, violence, blood, swearing, death, murder, kidnapping, slight mentions of suicide.

Day 2

.

Your eyes slowly opened as the blazing sun rises above the walls of the Labyrinth. You shuffled slightly, trying to stretch out your limbs, when you heard voices behind you, and instantly retracted them, hoping it just seemed like you were moving in your sleep.

"The child you took yesterday. The one from Aldbarrow. That's her sister." That was San's voice, but the other was completely unfamiliar.

"You're going against your duty, San." The other voice belonged to someone more soft-spoken. It was cold, sinister and, despite the aggravation in their words, very calm.

"I'm aware of that, your majesty." San responded. Your majesty? You stayed completely still. You thanked the Gods that they hadn't realised you were awake. "She was so confident I almost felt bad for her, so I gave her a chance, but she most likely won't make it."

"I think it's a dumb idea." Another voice piped up. This one was slightly higher, and a lot closer to you. "You could have just stuck to your job, but you can't even do that, can you?" He let out a gentle laugh, his voice a lot closer than before. Slowly, you opened one of your eyes to see him leaning against the tree in front of you. He was just as beautiful as San, with a jawline so sharp you were sure it could do some lethal damage. "Although," he laughed to himself, "it's not like we haven't seen you do it before."

"Shut it, Wooyoung! Not everyone's job is as simple as kissing the ass of the king." San said, the more vicious tone he took completely paralleled his usual teasing one. The demon against the tree, the one you assumed was Wooyoung, laughed loudly at San, and flicked his longer black hair out of his face.

"That's enough." The Demon King took control of the two bickering boys, masterfully, yet his calm tone never strayed. "San. If she's yours and you want to play this little game with her then go ahead. But don't you dare let her step foot near the castle. Do everything you can to prevent it."

"I will, your majesty." San said, his voice a lot lower than before.

They weren't going to kill you. Not now anyway. You could only assume it was because of the demon's etiquette San had told you about. However, if he was going to start trying even harder to stop you from getting to the castle, you were going to have to be more resilient.

Footsteps moved towards you, and you watched as Wooyoung turned to join the Demon King. The two of them walked ahead of you, towards the wall and you could only catch a glimpse of the King's huge hooded robe before he disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke, followed swiftly by Wooyoung. It gently floated to the ground before fading away, leaving you and San alone in the clearing once more.

                                      ❁

You lay "asleep" for a little while longer, making your act more believable.

After slowly opening your eyes, you stretched your limbs and sighed satisfactorily. San sat against the tree trunk by your legs, staring blankly at the wall. You wanted to tell him you heard everything, but you didn't know what he would do if you did. You decided not to risk it.

You sat up and shuffled next to him. "Encounter many demons last night?" You asked, leaning forward to face him. Of course you knew he had met the king and the other one, but he surely had to have seen more whilst you were asleep. You didn't ask this just out of curiosity, you may just find out what you're up against in here.

He didn't take his eyes off the wall, but he did respond. "No. There was a mob of humans at the entrance, so they were all gathered there. Being the main guard, I did have to leave you for a moment to go and see what was going on. I saw a huge crowd with torches, guns and daggers. One called out for you and Roslyn." Your eyes widened. It was stupid of you to think they wouldn't come for you.

You moved yourself across the floor so that you were now facing him. His gaze only drifted to you for a moment before returning to the wall. "She said she was your mother." He let out a muffled giggle that eventually turned into hysterical laughter. "And here I was thinking no one cared about you! Your whole village came out to find you!" His laughter continued when he noticed how quiet you had become.

The whole village had come out to look for you. The. Whole. Village.

The whole village that said you were the reason for Roslyn's disappearance. The friend that stopped you from saving her. The mother that blamed you, hated you, and didn't want to believe you even existed. They all came for you.

You couldn't help but wonder if Hongjoong had joined them.

"She was looking for Roslyn not me." You said, bluntly. You knew she wasn't looking for you. She may have tried to stop you from entering the Labyrinth before, but after her outburst you could hardly say she still cared about you.

His laughter began to fade being replaced with confusion. "You seem so sure of that? Do you not like her or something?"

You didn't know how to answer. You hated her for blaming you, for ripping up your work and ignoring your grief. But you didn't hate her, you couldn't hate her. She was still your mother.

"It's complicated." You mumbled, looking away from him.

"How so?" San's tone was less condescending. He sounded genuinely interested.

"She blamed me for Roslyn's disappearance. She blamed me for it when it wasn't my fault at all. I was just as heartbroken as her but she didn't care."

"Aha!" San cheered, a smirk crawling onto his face. "So that's why you're here! You're trying to prove her wrong! Die a hero and she'll respect you again." He sighed with a triumphant smile, "I knew no one in their right mind would enter here just to save someone they thought was dead."

"That's not true!" You said in protest. "I was going to enter the Labyrinth whether Roslyn had gone in or not! I always wanted to see what it was like. I'm writing a book, remember?" Fury bubbled inside you at his cockiness. "And, by the way, if I was so keen to die, do you think I would have made this deal?! Do you think I would have come this far?!" San nodded his head in thought, contemplating your argument. You took a deep breath in an attempt to calm your rage, "I know no one in their right mind would do this. But I'm not in my right mind, I never have been. I was desperate to enter the Labyrinth, my mother called me crazy. I wanted to save Roslyn and my best friend told me to give up; to stop being an idiot." You sighed, "I'm here because I felt guilty and I was confident enough in myself to save Roslyn. I'm not giving up. Not now. Not ever. It's all for her sake."

Your shoulders slumped, your eyes suddenly finding the floor the most interesting thing to stare at as they filled with tears. A gentle hand was placed on top of yours and you looked up to be met with the softened gaze of San.

"Wow.", he said, "You really are bat-shit crazy." He smiled at you, but it wasn't teasing or evil, it was tender and comforting.

He stood up abruptly and pulled you up at the same time with complete ease. "Alright then, my lovely heroine, you lead the way."

His grin had returned to his usual flirty one, but the memory of that moment you shared didn't fade. His gentle hand on yours, the sympathy in his dark eyes and the welcoming smile all remained inside your head as a symbol of hope in the death trap that you had found yourself in.

                                       ❁

You prepared yourself for the next leg of your journey, the image of San smiling genuinely through your tear-blurred vision not leaving your head for a second.

He stood at the entrance to the clearing, as you searched through your bag, making sure he hadn't stolen anything from you. Especially your dagger.

Several impatient huffs left him. "Oh look! Is that the blood moon rising!"

You rolled your eyes at his petty sarcasm. "You can't be too sure." You smiled to yourself, "Especially when it comes to you." You lifted your gaze to see his sharp glare before returning it to your bag, a proud smirk on your face.

That's when you spotted the food you gathered before leaving for the Labyrinth. "Huh?" Eating hadn't crossed your mind since you entered, you hadn't even felt hungry. "San." he looked over at you, "Why don't I feel hungry?"

He closed his eyes with a sigh, resting his head against the wall, "Haven't I told you enough about demons? Are you not satisfied?"

You shook your head with a wide smile, "A few random facts aren't going to make a very informative book."

He sighed again, "Without your knowledge, and without even sensing it, you are already under my control." You raised a brow and cocked your head, prompting him to explain further. "No matter how much you say you're not interested in me or how much you think you're in control, you're lying. It's human nature to be completely and utterly submissive to us, to the point where we are the only thing that can nourish you." Your cheeks started to heat up with embarrassment, which, much to your disdain, made San grin from ear-to-ear. "I take away your hunger, I take away your thirst, I stop you from getting ill. I stop you from dying from anything that isn't me. Remarkable, don't you think?" It was his turn to cock his head, waiting for your answer.

"Remarkable indeed, if not slightly disturbing." You said, suddenly very uncomfortable with not being able to feel normal human feelings.

San gently laughed, "I think it's rather romantic."

You looked at him like he was crazy, but he only smirked, his eyes half-open and still managing to stare right into your soul.

You sighed heavily, turning around to find the tree gone and in its place two doors. You walked up to them to inspect their intricate details. One was a deep red, with spirals that curved around the golden door handle and around the edges. The other was made out of a rotting wood, the mossy green paint hardly there as most of it had chipped off.

You tried the handle of the red door but it wouldn't open. You tried again with the green door but it had the same result. "What?! They must be here for a reason? Why can't I open them?" You tried to use the handles of both doors again but neither of them opened.

"Aaah! Those doors? You have to knock to open them." San said over your shoulder. You whipped you head around at him with a questioning glance before returning your focus to the doors. You knocked gently on the red one but it didn't open. You turned back to San as you gestured to the door with a face that said 'See? Didn't work.' "Well, you have to knock harder than that! You think demons are that polite? No. We command doors open with our knocks."

You huffed, turning back to the doors once more. You made a tight fist and slammed it down on the door three times, before it flung up, a freezing cold wind rushing from behind you and down the long, dark corridor in front of you. You placed your hands up to the door frame to stop yourself from being pulled into its depths.

The wind faded as it wailed further down the hall, leaving you breathless and shivering. You swallowed hard and turned to the other door, knocking harshly and then leaping to the side to avoid another onslaught of wind. However, you were surprisingly met by welcoming birdsong.

You looked up to San who looked at you slightly bored and you cleared your throat, moving back in front of the doors.

On the other side of the red door was a dark, thin hallway, with a leaking roof. The small broken windows on the one side reflected a white light onto the wooden floorboards below. The cold chill returned as you stared into its unending passageway.

You slowly pulled your eyes away and looked into the other door. It opened to a beautiful forest, the trees taller than the Labyrinth walls, a stream gently running through them, the calming birdsong. It all felt too inviting. Far too inviting.

You looked back to San, "It's a trick, isn't it?" You asked.

He shrugged, "All I know is that if you enter through one of the door ways, you won't be able to come out again."

You looked back to the doors, eyeing each one cautiously. "But, I'm guessing both lead to the castle, right?"

San was silent for a moment before he piped up. "Depends on how you look at it. For example, one way could lead you straight to the castle and the other could throw you off track for a bit but then it's up to you to get to the castle. But if what you're trying to say is that they both lead somewhere in the Labyrinth then, yes, they're both still within the Labyrinth walls, and will most likely, I suppose, lead you to the castle."

You sighed, "You made that far more complicated then it needed to be." You didn't have to look at him to know he wore a prideful smirk. "Okay, so it's a battle of wits. That's fine. I can do that."

San scoffed, but you paid him no mind. "Okay. The spooky corridor seems to be the one that people would most likely avoid, but then that would surely seem too obvious, so that means that the spooky corridor would be the right choice, but then again that could be a double bluff....ugh!!! This is so irritating!" You groaned, giving up quicker than you had hoped.

San started laughing at you as you slumped to the floor. "Y/n, you're overthinking it."

You stood up again and looked at both doors, "Can you give me a hint?"

San rubbed his chin, humming in thought. He walked up to you and placed an arm over your shoulder, "What will I get from helping you?"

Now, it was your turn to think. "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

San laughed, taking his arm off your shoulder and walking up to the doors. He leaned against the wall inbetween, "Take a look at them, and decide which one you think is safer. As simple as that."

"As simple as that?"

"As simple as that."

You thought for a moment. If he was trying to stop you from getting to the castle before, he would be trying a lot harder now. After his run in with the king he is going to try and throw you off track at every chance he can get. You were sure of it.

Nevertheless, he did say that both ways would inevitably lead to the castle, one taking a lot longer than the other, but that wasn't really that big of a concern. You were only on day two after all.

"Very well." You strode up to the green door, looking into the gentle forest environment that lay beyond it. "I'm going in here."

Before you could step inside, San grabbed your wrist. "Are you sure you want to choose this one?" He leaned in closer to your ear and whispered, "You might just regret it."

You shoved him away with your free arm, "I'm going. This is the door I have chosen. Feel free to follow me. I won't be bothered if you don't."

He let out a small frustrated huff, as he followed in behind you.

You admired your surroundings, it was just as beautiful as it seemed from the other side of the door. Your happiness soon faded when you turned around to see that the door had disappeared. Leaving San laughing to himself so hard it echoed through the surrounding trees and off into the wilderness that lay ahead.

"I can't believe you actually chose this door!" His statement was followed by more laughing, "The other way would have taken you straight to the castle in under two hours! Now look who's the idiot!"

Were you annoyed? Yes. Extremely so. Were you going to let him know that? Not a chance.

You smiled, "Oh well, we'll have to go this way then. Come on." You started to walk away, humming to yourself, but it was soon interrupted.

"What?!" San roared from behind you. You let out a small laugh to yourself. "Are you seriously not annoyed?!" He yelled at your back.

"Should I be?" You shouted back over your shoulder.

"Of course you should be!" He stomped up next you and stared you right in the eyes. "I tricked you! Outsmarted you! Why are you not angry?"

"You didn't trick me. I made the decision. That was my bad. I'm not gonna be angry at you. Besides, I'll still get to the castle. Might take me a bit longer, but it's best not to dwell on it." His jaw dropped in utter disbelief, and, with a slight surge of confidence, you placed your finger under his chin and closed his mouth for him.

You walked away giggling to yourself, as he swiftly followed behind you, mumbling curses and mimicking your previous comments.

                                       ❁

You had been walking in the forest for a couple hours, whenever you tried to ask San something he just ignored you. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If anything it was quite relaxing.

The stream rushed passed as a gentle breeze rustled the branches above. Little balls of light with lacy wings darted passed you, and inbetween the trees. You longed to know what they were, but you knew San wouldn't tell you in his tantrum state.

You looked over your shoulder at him, and he quickly looked away from you, rather flustered. You smirked and looked back in front of you, catching the shimmering stream in the corner of your eye. You knew it would be best if you didn't irritate him further, but there was something so entertaining about it.

You placed your bag down on the ground by the stream and sat against a tree close by. You reached into your bag and grabbed some of the food, unwrapping the cloth and taking a bite. You weren't hungry, you actually felt very full, but you still forced yourself to eat it. You were rejecting San's power over you.

"What the hell are you doing?" San finally said, glaring down at you with deadly eyes. You only saw it through the corner of yours, refusing to give the attention he seeks.

"Finally talking, are we?" You replied calmly.

San sat down in front of you and you further craned your neck to watch the stream instead of him. "I'm eating whilst admiring the stream. Is that such a problem?"

"No. But why are you eating?" He muttered, trying to cover the rage that was building up inside.

"A girl has to eat, has she not?"

Suddenly your eyes were pulled away from the stream by San's forceful grip on your jaw.

"Spit it out." He said, punctuating every word. His eyes were darker than you had ever seen them, "Spit it out!" He yelled, but you unconsciously swallowed it, no one had ever yelled at you like that and your heart beat started to race.

He threw you to the floor, leaving you a shaking, spluttering mess. He breathed deeply, "How dare you mock my power?" He crouched down by your head, before grabbing a fistful of hair and pulling your face up to meet his. "Why won't you just submit to me?!" He moved closer, "Huh?!"

You had to get to the castle, that's why you couldn't submit. Wait, why am I going to the castle again? Your eyes widened, and you only managed to slip out a small 'Roslyn' before he dropped you to the floor again. You clutched at the grass underneath your palms at the thought of her. She was slaving away to a powerful demon, whilst you were just messing with one. You hated to admit it but you were having fun and getting him angry was making you feel certain feelings for him that you had only felt briefly with Hongjoong, except this time it was in overdrive. You had submitted to San but not in the way he expected. It had happened again. You had forgotten about Roslyn, but you weren't even in a trance this time.

No more games. Roslyn was all that mattered, and you had forgotten about her all because you wanted to tease a demon. You should have been at the castle straight away. You shouldn't have played San's pathetic games. You shouldn't have forgotten that all he sees you as is food, and not a potential love interest. You were appalled, but only with yourself. Fighting against his demon nature and his starvation must be so hard. Where has your compassion gone, you fool.

"I'm sorry, San." You whimpered from the floor, as tears started to roll down your cheeks. "I'm really sorry. I forgot all about Roslyn. I just wanted to mess with you since it was so fun seeing you get worked up. Yet, you still held back from eating me even when you could have." You clutched your hair desperately trying to cope with your realisation. "I never even thanked you for making this deal! I'm just as weak as all the other humans. I'm sorry for thinking I was better than you. I'm really not. Not at all."

"No. You're not." San replied calmly. You unclenched your hands and steadied your sobbing slightly, looking up at him the same time he looked down at you. He sat on the grass next to you and motioned for you to get up with his head. Your arms pushed you enough to sit up without the support of the them, but your shame made it hard to look at him. "However, you're not like other humans. Not at all." Your eyes widened and you cautiously raised them to his. "The amount of people that come to the gates from other villages and instantly submit to me is practically uncountable. They don't try to strike up a deal or fight back. Sure, it's nice, but it does get boring. Y/n," he placed a hand on your jaw and gently caressed the new bruises with his thumb, "I haven't met anyone who has made me feel so angry and threatened before. You were so determined, and no matter how much it pissed me off that you stabbed me, I couldn't deny that I was impressed." He took his hand from your face. "That's why I made this deal. I gave you this chance and best be sure that I'm gonna keep my end of it, having been starved and all. So, don't you dare give up now."

"Thank you, San. And, once again, I'm sorry." He nodded his head, but he wasn't being rude. It was more of a "no problem" nod than an "as you should" nod.

You sat in a heavy silence for a moment, the air so tense, it was almost suffocating. You felt the need to break it, but San's hand flying up into the air stopped you. He caught one of the little flying orbs by the wings.

"Heal her." He commanded, letting go of the wings and letting it flutter around your head. The pain in your jaw eased as you watched it zoom off into the woods once more. "Don't think I did that because I like you. I just knew you wouldn't stop complaining about it if I didn't heal it."

"What was that?" You ignored him, eyes trained on the pathway it left on, and mouth wide open.

San followed where you looked before returning his gaze to you. "One of the many types of forest sprites. Those ones heal." He laughed gently, "Let me guess? Remarkable?"

"Quite so." You said, in awe of the lack of pain you felt.

In the reflection of the stream, you saw a red blob surfacing. You looked up to see that the moon was entering the sky.

You stood up immediately, "What?! How can that be possible?!"

San joined you, squinting at the new blood moon growing larger over the tree line. "Huh. Looks like it's becoming night."

How could the day have gone by so fast? You looked at him completely perplexed but your face soon dropped when you saw how scared San looked like he had just seen some sort of untold horror. You grabbed his shoulders and made him face you. "San. Why is it night?"

He looked up at you, "I-I think we should find you somewhere to stay." He started heading off and you quickly caught up.

"San, you can't just say that. You have to tell me why the day has just vanished." You yelled, but it didn't seize his walking. "San!"

"The Demon King knows you're here. Of course he does. But he doesn't want that. So he's pushing forward the days so that you have less time to get to the castle. Or ... at least that's what I think."

You sighed, still pushing your legs to their limit to catch up with his pace. "Surely that would be a good thing for you?-"

"No." He sharply cut you off, stopping in his tracks. "If the King knows where you are then all the other demons are going to know where you are, and that means that we're gonna have quite a few guests tonight and I'm not dealing with that. So you better start moving your ass or I'm gonna start dragging you."

You quickened your pace rushing after him.

                                       ❁

It wasn't long before you stumbled upon a small wooden cabin in the middle of some larger trees. The sun was setting fast and you instinctively ran up the creaky staircase to get to the door.

San almost materialized in front of you. "No. Not this one." He whispered.

You stared at him in utter bewilderment, "You have to be the most confusing person I have ever met!" He shushed you with a finger on your lips.

"Quiet. She'll hear you." He said quietly, but this time with more emphasis.

You slapped his hand away, "So first you wanted me to find a place to stay. No. To hide. And now you're telling me I can't when there is a perfectly good place right here."

"No, y/n, you can't go in there! I won't be able to protect you!"

"That's enough. This my best shot at surviving right now. So, I'm entering!" You gestured to the right with your head, "Move." He did.

You knocked on the door, the shrill of the night time bugs echoing through the trees. It was darker than the first night, only a few beams of deep red penetrating the canopy.

You looked out in to the black wilderness. Demons could be watching you right now and you would have no idea.

The door opened gently. On the other side stood a small old woman, her long messy hair was tied in a loose ponytail that draped down her back, which was clad in a tattered knitted cloak.

"Good evening, ma'am. I'm ever so sorry to intrude, but me and my fri-" you looked over to see that San had gone and you quickly looked back to the old woman, "uh ... I need somewhere to stay for the night." She eyed you with caution and you knew you would have to find a way to convince her. "I have demons after me and need to escape."

She opened the door a bit more and stood slightly taller, "And how do you know that I am not a demon?"

"Hope, ma'am." you said, "Only hope."

"Very well," she said, "And how am I to trust you?"

"You are just going to have to, ma'am. I have no way to prove myself, so if you don't trust me I won't force you."

She smiled, and opened the door fully allowing you to enter.

Inside the room was a bed with ragged sheets, a wooden table with a single chair, and a large expanse of cupboards hanging open on broken hinges.

Inside them were varying bottles full of different coloured liquids and other types of herbs and spices. There was no sign of real food, which meant that she was still affected by the demons within the forest. That, or she fed off humans. No. She wouldn't have questioned me intensely if she was. She's obviously scared. Best make a good impression.

"So, how long have you been in the Labyrinth." You asked her as she fumbled with some of the things in her cupboards.

"About seventy years." She said, quickly turning around to face you. "What about you?"

"Two days. How on Earth did you survive all that time here?" She looked worried, and she went back to fixing the jars and bottles. "Why did the demons not kill you?"

She was silent, you thought you had pried too far, when she slowly looked over her left shoulder. The shoulder that held a bite mark that you hadn't noticed before.

"There are many weird wonders in this world, and I have been subject to many. But the worst has been that boy."

Your interest was definitely peaked, but you tried hard to suppress it, and covered it with a more sympathetic look.

She continued, "I entered the Labyrinth in hopes of dying. I had no friends, and my family hated me. There was more to it than just that, but I'll keep it short. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of that suffering. But that boy ... he knew. He knew I wanted to die and so he ... "

You placed a hand on top of hers, "Take your time. You don't have to tell me if you don't wan-"

"No!" She yelled, slapping your hand off of hers. "That boy took a bite out of my soul that I will never retrieve. He took my humanity and my small chance of happiness. This-" she pointed to the bite mark, "This converted me into one of them. However, I did not obtain their abilities, only their thirst. He banished me to the woods, knowing that no human would ever get this far, for me to quench that thirst, or-" she pulled the dagger from your bag, "to end my suffering."

She placed the handle of the dagger in your hand and the blade to her neck. You looked at her horrified. You couldn't kill someone, not even if they were begging for it.

"No way! I can't just kill you!" You yelled, trying to pull the blade away.

She held your arm firmly, causing you to stumble back into the cupboards and a jar to fall down and smash on top of your hand that lay on the desk below. You pulled your hand away and fell to the floor. There were shards of glass sticking out at jagged angles from your skin, your blood covering the rest of it.

You looked up at the old woman to see her staring at your hand, her eyes turning from her warm hazel to a bright red.

She pounced on to you, pinning you to the floor. Panic rushed through you body as she tried to reach for your bleeding hand, her jaw dislocating so she could gape her mouth even wider.

You stared into her eyes and saw her plee, her desire to die, and the pain she was going through by not having control over her actions. It was unbearable.

You grabbed the dagger and stabbed it right into her neck, watching as she fell backward choking and spluttering on the blood that gargled in her throat. Tears fell from her eyes as a peacful smile graced her face. She dropped to the floor, completely lifeless, but the joy she felt was still present in her eyes.

"What have I done?" You whispered, completely horrified. "Please, forgive me."

A slow clap sounded from behind you, and you swiftly turned to see the demon from the clearing. Wooyoung.

"What a spectacle! I think I might just shed a tear." His laugh echoed around the small cabin and you stiffened with fear.

Your breaths quickened as he took slow steps towards you, crouching down and taking a good look at your face.

"You're such a pretty thing, I'm so annoyed San got to you first."

San. Where was he?

You swallowed, "Where is he?" You asked, pulling your face away from Wooyoung's as he inched closer.

"He ran away as soon as you entered the cabin. Couldn't bare to face her again." Your heart started racing. Was San the boy that made her suffer like this? "Or should I say isn't allowed to."

You took a heavy breath, the whole situation hurtling you into an almost unbearable state of fear.

"You know, if I knew any better, I'd say you actually like him." He teased, his body never stopping from following you along the floor, trying to get as close as possible, only to have you shuffle away.

"Well, do you?" You asked, feeling quite perturbed by his baseless assumption.

"Do I what, baby?"

"Know better?" He laughed at that, moving in closer and smirking when you tried to move back and were met with the wall.

"I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a human attracted to me by my demon charm. However, since I hardly ever get to see any, save the children the Demon King enslaves, I've never got to experience it."

He moved in closer to your face, his lips grazing yours. You looked away, "Why don't you see them often? Don't you work at the gates?" You knew he didn't from the conversation he had with San in the clearing, but he couldn't know that.

"I did, but the King was so impressed by the state I put that old hag in that he invited me to join his royal guard." He said, grabbing your chin, making him face you again. You were oddly relieved that San wasn't the one that ruined the lady's life. "Come on, baby. San is a weak guy. I'm so much better than him."

His lips came in contact with yours for only a second before a familar voice, and one you have been waiting for, piped up from the doorway.

"Wooyoung." His head whipped around and you could only move your eyes to see San as your jaw was still in his grip. "I don't remember giving you permission to have a taste of my girl." Wooyoung laughed, standing up and walking over to him.

San stood only slightly taller than Wooyoung, his demeanour powerful and raging. "I'm glad you could join us, Sannie!" He grabbed his cheek and San quickly slapped it away.

"I'm sure you wouldn't like the King to find out that you forgot about our little demon rule?" San said, his eyes narrowing with a sharpness you hadn't seen before.

"The etiquette? It's more of a guideline, don't you think?"

"No, I don't. I don't think the King does either." San's voice lowered, "I also don't think he'd like the fact that you said that."

Wooyoung laughed again but it soon faded when he noticed that San's seriousness was unchanging. "He wouldn't believe you, San." He teased him, but he remained unphased.

"Of course. Why would the King believe the all seeing guardian of the gates, hmm?" Wooyoung's confidence started to falter and San's teasing smirk disappeared, "Get out."

He didn't need to be told twice, as he barged past San's broad shoulder to leave the cabin.

You sat in silence, watching as San crouched down to the old lady's body. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "May you rest in peace, you will suffer no more."

You moved your body up next to his, "Wooyoung said you knew her." San didn't take his eyes off of the body.

"I lost my job in the royal guard because of her. I said that Wooyoung should have just eaten her, and let her die. I suppose I thought it was too cruel. But my opinion went against the King's and I was forced into Wooyoung's previous job. I'm sorry I left you, there was a charm placed on this cabin that made sure I couldn't enter. They knew I would go and kill her. Didn't mean that I couldn't see her, of course. All the pain, the teasing of other demons. I even tried to bring her parts of my kills to try and nourish her, but they always faded to nothing outside. But, hey I tried, right?" He let out a sad laugh, before looking at you. "You probably think I'm soft now, and you would be right." He looked at the ground shamefully.

"Don't say it like it's a bad thing. I think that's a beautiful trait. I love people like that."

You took his hand and placed it in yours. You didn't know what you were doing, but comforting him just felt right in that moment. "You did the right thing, San."

"So did you. Thank you, y/n."

He looked down and noticed the blood still dripping from your hands. "I'll heal that. Then, I'll clean this up and you should rest."

Your eyes followed him as he went into the cupboard and grabbed one of the bottles, opening it and pouring it onto your hand. The blood cleared up and the glass came loose falling to the floor. The scars, however, still remained.

San took your hands in his and lifted you from the ground. Your legs felt slightly weak and you took hold of his arms firmly.

He placed you gently down on the bed before heading to the lady on the floor. He picked her up and left the room, only to return later without her. He looked different though, his skin wasn't as pale, his eyes less dark. He looked almost human.

When he went to go and clean the blood and glass off the floor, he had returned back to his normal look.

Whether it was just your mind tricking you or not. San definitely wasn't as evil as you thought. His personality shifts so drastically, yet his softer side seems more genuine. You couldn't wrap your head around it.

"Let's not make it a habit to stare at me before you go to sleep. It makes me feel too exposed." He said, stoically, turning back to his work.

You managed a small apology, relaxing back into the bed more.

You let your eyelids fall closed, but sleep didn't seem to take you as quickly this time. There was far too much to recover from. Physically and mentally. You don't understand anything well enough to overcome it. However, there is one thing you know for certain.

This Labyrinth is going to make you lose your mind.

.

To be continued

.

Author's note: HOLY LORD! This chapter is very long, so thanks for sticking with it to get here! Thank you very much for reading! ❤❤

#ateez headcanons #ateez #ateez imagines #ateez reactions #ateez x reader #ateez scenarios #ateez san #san x reader #san x y/n #choi san

[katnissmellarkkk]

Okay, onto my liveblog for chapter two of The Hunger Games :

Katniss’ flashback to falling out of a tree and being unable to breathe is such a good analogy, I steal it all the time in my own fics.

I wish the boy who held her up so she didn’t fall was given a name? Katniss just can’t provide names very easily, can she? 😅

“The odds had been entirely in her favor. But it hadn’t mattered” is actually an amazing quotable moment, someone make an edit pronto 👏

No one’s happy when a twelve year old is chosen but ya know. As soon as that kid turns thirteen, off with them! Fair game! 😭😂😅🙃

Hmmm how many of these kids knew immediately Katniss would volunteer for her sister? The way there was a boy ready to catch her before she fell and the way they all just cleared a path for her...

Katniss’ love for Prim had to be prominent because the other kids all seemed to be aware she would volunteer and Katniss claims this is a completely radical, unheard of thing to do. Sooo yeah. Her school peers probably noticed her a lot more than she realized.

Ooo. I just noticed the word choice in “district twelve hasn’t had a volunteer in decades”

Was there a point in time when Twelve had volunteers?

Awww the mayor being sad that Katniss is probably gonna die because he knows her as Madge’s friend 😭😩🤧.

Awww Katniss got presented a medal when her father died, I forgot 🥺🥺🥺

“Bet my buttons” is the worst phrase in history 🤨😐🤭

I like that Katniss’ dead father still has a reputation around these parts 🤧

Helps my fic writing brain to clock it for future reference

Maybe I’m just not nice but I don’t see how Prim is so wonderful that no one can help but love her. Like idk. I feel like this is just Katniss’ bias leaking through. Which is fine it’s better than some clinically detached narrator I hate those FYI

Omg everyone is saluting Katniss and she’s realizing people adore her 🥰🥰

Also ... does this mean Peeta did the three finger salute to her just before being called himself? Idk random thoughts, ignore me.

Katniss is in danger of crying. If this was me, I’d just be sobbing on the ground already.

Haymitch , the og rebel. Looking right into the cameras and calling the Capitol out.

Also ironic how the first thing Haymitch says to / about Katniss is “I like her!” when he spends the rest of the series pretending he, in fact, does not.

“Oh no, not him” is such a love interest introduction, y’all. Gale never stood a chance.

I like how Katniss considers it bad luck for her that Peeta was called 😅. Like... already taking ownership of the boy, sweetheart?

I feel like this is a good time to remind people that medium height is like 5’10. Stop headcanoning Peeta short. Poor Joshy though.

I like how she has never spoken to Peeta but describes the way his hair falls in waves over his forehead 😭🤧

Seems like Katniss thinks Peeta took being called relatively well.

“He has two older brothers, I know, I’ve seen them in the bakery” why is she already trying to defend herself to the audience like “I wasn’t really paying any attention to Peeta Mellark I just happened to notice he had brothers because I saw them once okay?”

Omg Katniss just outright asserting that Peeta’s middle brother definitively won’t volunteer for him. Girl, you just said you don’t know him or his family 😅😅😅.

“Why him?” Still has such a destined, soulmates feel to it. I know they weren’t destined and that’s what a lot of people admire about their relationship but the writing here has always had such a “this guy right here is her soulmate” slant to it, I’m sorry.

“He’s probably forgotten our only interaction. But I haven’t. And I know I never will.” Still continuing with the soulmate-y narration here, Suz Suz, I see.

Oh my god I don’t even remember this line but it’s so sad 🥺🥺🥺🥺🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧😩😩😩😩😩

“The numbness of his loss had passed, and the pain would hit me out of nowhere, doubling me over, racking my body with sobs. ‘Where are you?’ I would cry out in my mind. ‘Where have you gone?’”

I’m so sad now. 😭😭😭

I like that Katniss said “no amount of pleading from Prim” would affect her mother’s depression, as if Katniss easily believes that her own pleas don’t matter but her sister’s are what’s impossible to ignore.

She really needs to stop putting Primmy on this pedestal though it’s not as cute the second or third read around.

“I suppose now that my mother was locked in some dark world of sadness, but at the time, all I knew was that I had lost not only a father, but a mother as well.” I feel like this is just criminally undiscussed. Katniss didn’t know or understand or grasp what depression even was. Like it’s hard enough for kids to forgive parents who abandon them to mental illness when they’re aware what mental illness is. Let alone if you’re just stuck for months / years, not knowing that your mother was sick, instead thinking she just stopped caring for you.

Omg Katniss saying she couldn’t let Prim go to a community home 🤧. Selfless of her. But also sister worry about yourself.

I’m just kidding, I know it’s her character to only be concerned with her little sister above all else.

Mr. Everdeen hating how coal dust settled on everything in the Seam is such a small but interesting detail.

Omg so the meadow is a common place to find corpses of those who starved to death? We maybe should stop romanticizing it.

I like that Mr. Everdeen took Katniss places with him but was like “Hmm, imma leave Prim home, she isn’t cut out for the hunting life”

Idk Katniss being too afraid and shy to go to the Hob without her dad is such a little kid thing though.

Katniss explaining that she was essentially in the merchants backyard

She was essentially dying in Peeta’s backyard 🤧

Wow, I forgot how blatantly violent Peeta’s mother was

Maybe it’s just Katniss’ perspective but every interaction is just her screaming

Aww, his mother called him a stupid creature, why don’t I remember this.

This is so sad omg.

Poor both of them.

One’s starving to death, the other’s utterly abused mentally, verbally and physically.

What’s a weal?

I always read that word as a welt.

Ok I googled it, it’s a big red swollen mark.

So same thing.

Omg now Katniss is saying Mrs. Mellark hit him with an object weapon. This just keeps getting more and more.... sad.

Honestly I haven’t read the books cover to cover since I was a teenager, some of this is a surprise to me.

I always wondered though how that bread was any good, it literally fell onto the wet ground. 😟🤢

Aww, Katniss saying Peeta would get a full beat down if discovered that he burned the breads to feed her 🥵🥵🥵

Okay but if his mother hit him with an object and his eye swoll up and blackened the next day, that could be another reason why he tossed the bread in her general direction and didn’t look at her. I know it was so he wouldn’t be caught by his mother but also he probably couldn’t even see clearly where she was.

The dandelion symbolism 🤧😅😭🥳

Her sarcasm 🤣🤣🤣

Katniss just keeps comparing Peeta to the loaves of bread 😅😅😅

Also she keeps calling him warm and solid and steady

I’m starting to think unconsciously she was already finding herself attracted to him even here.

Him squeezing her hand reassuringly and her chalking it up to a nervous spasm 🙃

I hope when they got married they got a nice screencap of this shot of them on TV facing the crowd, shaking hands.

Make a nice anniversary photo.

Okay, that’s all for my thoughts on chapter two! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

#thgagain #also yes I used a Jen gif leave me be

[cosplayinamerica]

Medieval Sub-Zero :  west_coast_ccprops93

The character I cosplay is an original concept Sub Zero from the video   game series Mortal Kombat. I reimagined him as a medieval character   complete with armor head to toe, sword, shield and of course a knight’s helmet that resembled the menpo mask depicted in the video games.

There  are elements of samurai, Roman, Viking and medieval European influences.  The character I created spawns from a love of all my favorite fandoms  such as Lord of the rings, Fantasy RPGs like Skyrim and the Witcher  series. Mortal Kombat on the other hand has a deeper place in my heart  since it was major part of my childhood and a video game that my brother  and I bonded over. We both equally know all the lore to each character  and together have played and beaten almost every game in series over the  years.

Sub Zero was always a character I gravitated towards growing up. His   combos in the game were brutal and worth taking the time to learn, and   of course his ice powers (who wouldn’t love that?). His story line is   incredibly interesting being the grandmaster of a mystical Ninja clan   called the lin Kuei.

Sub Zero to me is a stoic, formidable character and  his presence always reminded me of someone of nobility such as a  knight. Of course that is not the main reason why I chose to go  medieval. all my cosplays including work I’ve done for others to an extent have been original designs. This has allow me to be more creative  and free with my builds instead of stressing to replicate for accuracy.

I had my first fan reaction from a couple of people that recognized me  from the previous year.  As soon as I took off my helmet they shouted  “omg it’s the Kenobi guy from last year!, we can’t believe you out did  yourself this year”. This was at a small event located in Temple, Texas  that I attended with a local comic con.  Other than that to my surprise  I’ve received lots of love and admiration from the online cosplay  community and my peers.  

Normally it’s tricky to change up a character  online then to receive negative reactions from people. Luckily the  people I communicate and engage with are for the most part other  cosplayers and makers who accept originality.  I absolutely cannot wait  to attend a convention this year and get dehydrated while looking  awesome!

THE OUTFIT

The entire costume revolves around a basic male armor template Purchased from Evilted.com and a basic knight helmet template from my friend   Ashen Warrior props. The rest is completely free hand using Eva Foam.  

Over the course of 2020 I started off first by building the chest armor.  I loved the aesthetic of Sub zero’s shoulder armor from Mortal Kombat  11.  By complete accident from a incorrectly measure forearm piece fit   perfectly atop the shoulders. Continued from there and added the   noticeable arch that swoops up towards the neck. I didn’t know at the   time but eventually it would cause issues for mobility when wearing my   helmet. I loved the look and  continued to keep the shoulders the same   despite movement complications.

 From there I Made my own MK dragon  symbol stencil, slapped that on the chest using Eva foam and called it  good.  The lower torso was missing something so I added interlocking  armor that also covered my waist. I did this after browsing concept art  and paying homage to the classic ninja Tabards depicted in the video  games.  I continued to add layer after layer through the year.

As I  stated before there was no clear vision for what this costume would look  like in the end.  Eventually I would complete the armor just by doing  free hand foamsmithing.

Late 2020 and the beginning of this year I  decided to retire my original sub zero costume and recycle the  materials. That was my first costume but it felt right to use the  materials for this evolutionary step in my cosplay journey. The original  costume was made using parts from a cheap sub zero costume from Spirit  Halloween, cotton fabric, a leather bomber jacket from a yard sale and  whatever I could find.

These were the missing pieces to Medieval sub  zero and added layers of details that sold the character and satisfied  my creative hunger.  The shield and weapons were also done free hand and  referencing random pictures from google. I learned a lot from doing  costume and prop weapons commissions through the year.

Keeping the costume comfortable, form fitting but also provide full   range of motion for posing and traversing crowds.  This forced me to   slow down and think before I made, making sure that each  piece   interlocks correctly. I don’t use any software on computers at the   moment (it’s something I should definitely be doing and would save me a lot of time). Now it’s my most detailed and comfortable costume to date.  

My wife and I recently did a photoshoot at a local state park. We hiked  a mile or two up and down hills and across creeks. Other than being hot  under the armor which is expected I was absolutely comfortable. The  hardest part was really taking the time to build something durable that  should last many conventions and hikes through the woods.

DISCOVERING COSPLAY

My awareness of “cosplay” and prop making didn’t start until late 2019.  Before then for years my brother and i would dress up together for  Halloween. We both have always customized our costumes since we were  young. We were very close growing up and what kept us tougher through  our parents divorce and other hardships in our childhood was video games. We grew up very poor but our imagination was rich. We spent our  childhood acting out our favorite characters. Then using sticks as lightsabers so on and so forth.

Flash forward 20 years. What motivated me was a Sub Zero mask my brother mailed to me as gift. I had just moved to Texas from Oregon  with my  wife and daughter. During that time, i slowly sunk into a deep  depression and a bad place mentally. I felt isolated, alone and lost. I  was away from my childhood town, friends, family and all that i knew.  I  contemplated suicide which was something I struggled with for years.  This was something I’ve dealt with all my life. I have PTSD and  depression from events in my childhood and teenage years. Each day is different, I’m either really happy or fearful , anxious and angry. I am  always in fight or flight mode.    

Well, my little brother sent in the mail a cheap Sub Zero  costume and a really expensive mask out of nowhere as a gift.  The  costume was too small and there were aspects of it that I did not like.  

Sure I was appreciative that he gave me a costume but I knew I could  remake it. So with no costume making, sewing or cosplay knowledge at  all. I set out to make a Sub Zero costume and was determined to make my  brother proud. I borrowed my wife’s grandmothers sewing machine and went  for it.

Taking apart the original armor pieces, a leather bomber  jacket and whatever I could find I made something out of shear will.   After that I felt confident enough to make my brother a costume as well  but this time using Eva Foam.  I spent weeks researching and overspending  on materials from Amazon.

Eventually we both had our dream costumes and I  was so proud ( mind you they were terrible) but we thought we looked so  badass and worth taking out.  That same year he flew out to Texas and  we attended our first convention together and first time  portraying our  favorite characters. It was a dream come true. Having people  complimenting and taking pictures with us was mind blowing, we felt like celebrities for a day. Two bothers from a small town now in a large convention amongst thousands of people, a community that embraces dressing up and expressing your fandom.

Prop making has changed my life in ways I never  thought it would. Personally it unlocked this creative and artistic  passion I never knew I had. I’ve always been creative but not focused.   It’s a hobby that keeps me sane and happy. It’s a beautiful and  wonderful way to express one’s self.  Keep making, painting, sewing or  doing what you love.  Hardships in life are unavoidable but your own  personal happiness is always in your control. I still struggle to this  day but now have an outlet creatively and a community of  friends /colleagues.

https://linktr.ee/West_Coast_CCPROPS

#sub zero #sub zero cosplay #Mortal Kombat #mortal kombat cosplay #cosplay feature #cosplay interview

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 3--Hunted.

 Most of you lovelies already realize this, but my thoughts tend to zig and zag quite a bit, lol.  So.  To save some of you the headache and spare you from seeing spoilers you’d rather not see yet, I’m again placing them behind a cut.  

First things first.  I have totally turned into Yvette Nicole Brown with her TWD notebooks, lol, and I’m not even sorry.  I just felt like it would be fun to go back when the final episode is in the books and see how well my thoughts from these early episodes line up with what I’m feeling when we say our (not-so) final goodbyes.  

But that’s enough about that. Let’s get to this thing.  

It really is insane how very much I love Melissa McBride.  Just hearing her doing the previously on TWD recap voiceover makes me ridiculously happy.  

Cole!  Dude!  We hardly knew ya.  

Not gonna lie.  That first shot of Maggie in all the chaos reminded of a shirt I’ve seen.  It says--”Well, well, well.  If it isn’t the consequences of my actions.”  

I have to hand it to Angela and the rest of her team.  These opening scenes--on all 3 episodes--have been BOMB so far.  They really hook you in right away.  At least IMHO.  

I realize I’m behind the game on this little tidbit, but how much do I adore the fact that Dog is now in the opening credits?  

Okay.  Alexandria might look like it’s been on some kind of post-apocalyptic bender but all our girls are looking beautiful as ever.  Maybe it’s Maybelline, lol.  

I love to see Kelly and Carol still gravitating toward each other.  It really speaks to each woman’s heart.  Carol wants to make amends so badly and Kelly just has the most lovely, warm, forgiving heart.  

Carol’s point about Alexandria still needing the horses to help with the heavy lifting and pointing out the walls and rebuilding won’t matter quite as much if they’re limited by their  hunger and what they can physically lift on their own isn’t wrong.  But I’m sure the same viewers that were okay with Daryl and Co. going out on Maggie’s suicide mission (using the same reasoning) and saying it made sense for the bigger picture will pretend not to recognize that the same element is there in Carol’s desire to go out there and look for the horses.  You know.  Because it was Carol’s idea and not that of their fave(s).  

Aaron, Man.  Or maybe I should say Angela.   You just had to put a pit of dread in my belly mentioning Buttons like that.  RIP, Buttons.  You deserved better.  I’m still traumatized.  

Look at all the babies bonding.  Look at RJ getting to sit at the big kid table.  

“My mom always comes back.”  She damn well better.  Those babies need her.  Until she does, though, Uncle Daryl and Aunt Carol (and Aunt Rosita and everybody else) are going to be there.  

Anyway.  Poor RJ.  He barely ever gets any lines, lol.  

Hershel and Judith are obviously the mini-adults in this group and baby Rhee is already more cynical and jaded than his sweet daddy was until they reached Alexandria and the wheels started to come off.  

So.  Does Maggie just think everybody’s already dead here or what?  Hmm.  

You know.  Any building can be creepy AF when the lights are off and it’s dark, lol.  Any building.  

So much darkness so far this season.  I’m going to have to invest in some blackout curtains.  I just know it.  

Where are all those stairs leading?  Why am I thinking of Hitchcock?  Am I mixing up my scary, suspenseful movies?  Probably.  

Of fucking course, Maggie dropped her flashlight.  Thank goodness she had that lighter at the ready just before Ghost Face Reaper took a swipe at her.  

Is that Father G with a screwdriver impaled in his thigh?  Listen.  These people deserve a Mega Bottle of pain killers and a week just vegging out in a soft, luxurious bed.  

All these horror movie tropes.  Some of them are cheesy, yes.  But I’m totally here for it.  

LMAO.  That’s it, Maggie.  A good old punch in the nuts works every time.  

Alden really is having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.  

Negan is still Negan.  Self-serving and looking out for number one.  But I believe the man really does feel the group is his group too.  He’s like that long lost, sketchy uncle nobody wants to acknowledge much less invite to the dinner table, but that bond?  However thin?  Is there.  

I am both hating that Maggie is being forced to work with the man that murdered her husband (my baby Glenn) and finding it fascinating the lengths she’s willing to go to survive.  This your plan, Angela?  

Rosita and Carol!  How sad is it that the last really significant scene I can remember the two of these women sharing was way back?  Before Rick and Co. attacked Negan’s outpost and Maggie and Carol were subsequently taken?  If only the show had done more of these kind of scenes.  

How much do I love all the girls working together?  Gimps would never.  They’d all be stuck back at Alexandria minding the kids and the community.  

Shallow aside--Rosita is so pretty in this scene.  

Rosita being worried about Carol honestly makes my heart hurt, because it’s about damn time more of them actually did.  Her saying Abraham is trying to tell her something in her dreams is interesting.  Angela sure loves her dreams, doesn’t she?  

Where are Daryl’s dreams, hmm?  No.  Seriously.  I guess they want to give some viewers plausible deniability until the bitter end.  

“Really?  We’re just gonna go toward the screaming?  Cool.”  Hahaha.  You know.  Even the smart people in horror movies sometimes bite it, Negan.  Just saying.  Maggie really does need to “stop running up the staircase” when she could just run out the front door though, lol.  

Poor Duncan.  I think you could have been another Tyreese, Jerry type for me.  

WTF does this show have against horses?  Those poor creatures.  

Kelly is totally me right now.  I’d be freaking inconsolable.  

Carol needed that hug.  Thank you, Magna.  From the bottom of this tired fangirl’s heart, thank you.  

Why give us that beautiful, golden shot with the horses when you’re planning to stab us through the heart later and twist the knife.  Oh.  Yeah.  That’s exactly why.  

Oh snap!  Father G’s delivery when he tells that Reaper “I’m not.  God isn’t here anymore.”  Cold as ice.  

Judas.  That the Reapers’ work.  Or.  Damn.  Either way, that’s harsh.  

Back to what Alden was saying.  All these oprhaned children.  Who’s going to take on Adam if he dies?  That poor kid has had a rough go of it.  Knowing that, makes you wonder what Alden was thinking volunteering for the suicide mission.  

Omigosh.  There went Agatha.  Terrible way to go.  Right, Beatrice?  

I’m sobbing.  Carol with the horse.  That hurt my baby so much but she hurt herself for her family the same way she has been doing since the Prison.  Melissa Mcbride?  When she cries, I cry.  Every effin’ time.  Aaron being there just made it hurt more.  But at least someone was there to see how and really take in how she continues to break pieces of herself off to keep her family as whole and safe and happy as she can.  

Rewinding a minute--that Magna and Carol conversation.  I get Magna’s reasoning too.  I do.  But Angela is just making everything so dire right now so that the sun when Connie is ultimate found shines a ltitle brighter.  

Those babies know they’re eating horse.  I could never.  

That’s got to be a different Coco.  She’s even smaller.  But she’s gorgeous.  

Fucking finally.  Angela having the other characters notice after an eternity of being blind to it, just how much Carol sacrifices of herself for them.  It’s so long overdue and I imagine Rosita’s even more worried for Carol now.  It’s a shame it’s taken 11 seasons.  My baby’s had blood on her hands trying to keep her family safe and whole and happy and fed for a long damn time.  So heartbreaking watching her try to scrub the blood away.  

Sweet, sweet hug that Kelly gave Magna.  She’s such a sweetheart kid sis to all of them, isn’t she?  

Interesting place of refuge.  A gutted church.  A visual symbol, Angela, of where Maggie and the rest of our people are now perhaps?  

“It’s easy for you, isn’t it?  Being reckless with sombody’s life...”  Maggie.  Maggie.  Those words would have hit so much harder if we hadn’t spent the majority of the last 2.5 episodes watching you ignore sound advice just because it came out of the mouth of somebody you (justifiably) hate.  

But will Alden be there when Maggie and Negan get back?  That is the question.  Or will he eventually Lucille himself?  

That little bit of lineup Negan music to remind the audience of Negan lovers and sympathizers that he once took great pleasure in murderously swinging a bag at people’s heads was a nice, subtle touch there.  Like agree with her or not, Maggie  is literally left to rely  on the hope, however small it is, that Negan has changed just enough that he won’t try to finish a job he taken on years before--killing what’s left of her.  

Oh lawd.  Next episode sees the return of a character literally nobody asked for.  How excited am I not?  

Dog better not be harmed or so help me.  

Now for Angela’s weekly explanations of WTF she/there were thinking because they been doing this plausible deniability thing so long some people out there watching with biased, muddy stan glasses can no longer separate head canon from canon.  

Is Maggie worried at all about Daryl or does she just assume his superhero powers are in full effect in this episode?  

“You can’t really say it wasn’t going to happen anyway.”  Not Angela pointing out that simply laying the blame for literally everything bad that ever happens at Carol’s feet isn’t the answer.  Say it louder for those in the back.  Alpha was going to do what Alpha wanted to do.  

“There is love there.  There is respect there.  However, there’s also frustration...”  You damn skippy.  Friendships and human relationships are complex AF.  Like Carol. She’s honestly one of the most complicated characters on this show and any show, IMHO.  That’s what makes her so memorable and such a lightning rod for discussion.  

I know I might be in a minority, but I really feel like they need more of those little scenes between the kids to keep things real.  

Kang saying she always feels like she’s going to get murdered in a staircase or parking lot is relatable, funny, and sad all at the same time.  It’s a girl thing.  

Why is Carol’s story giving me Dark Knight vibes?  Like I feel like she’ll gladly shoulder the burden of their distrust, their hate, or their judgment as long as the hard choices she makes keeps them safe.  And she’s still ultimately going to come back to save their asses even when they forsake her.  Just like Bruce Wayne/Batman.  Am I reaching too far, lol?  Because sometimes I do that.  

Anyway.  This is the third episode of the season and the third episode in a row that I mostly enjoyed.  I don’t know if I’m just so relieved and happy to have all the characters and my show back or what, but overall?  I’ve been pleased with the episodes and found something to love in all of them.  

There’s a much stronger horror vibe woven throughout Season 11 so far.  I feel like it’s a return to the roots of the show and I like that.  Literally none of the characters are making perfect choices and this viewer is here for it.  My only complaint so far is there hasn’t been enough Carol but what we’ve been given has felt like a gift and significant in a way that Gimps’ version was not.  Also?  I really hope the trend of the ladies working together and supporting each other continues because they rule the TWD world, lol.  

Hope you enjoyed at least some of my TWD word vomit.  

Until next episode.  

#The Walking Dead #Season 11 #TWD spoilers #things that make me smile and cry #for reasons #my heart

[contre-qui]

Book 15 of 2021: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel by Suzanne Collins

(audiobook, read by Santino Fontana, 16:16; YA, science fiction, dystopian)//(ebook, 517 pages; YA, science fiction, dystopian)

“The show’s not over until the mockingjay sings,” she said.

“The mockingjay?” He laughed. “Really, I think you’re just making these things up.”

“Not that one. A mockingjay’s a bona fide bird,” she assured him.

“And it sings in your show?” he asked.

“Not my show, sweetheart. Yours. The Capitol’s anyway.”

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel to The Hunger Games Trilogy, and I was a little skeptical going into it. Why wait so long? What more is there really left to say? Are you trying to backtrack and add in all these details to excuse Hunger Games characters or retroactively change the contents of your own books? But it was actually really solid! Collins is a really talented writer, I was just worried about the necessity of the information we'd be receiving in this prequel. No worries, though, because it was actually really interesting and did provide a lot of context without excusing  or even justifying certain characters' later behaviors in the main trilogy. It didn't feel like a cash grab at all, which I was very excited about.

This prequel follows Coriolanus Snow (a.k.a. the future President Snow) as a student in his late teens. The 10th Hunger Games is about to commence, and the Head Gamemaker wants to try out something new: a mentorship program. Twenty-four top students from the Capitol Academy, including Snow, are chosen to mentor each of this year's tributes. More changes to the games are made as the Gamemaker takes the students' advice and opinions, and this is where we start to see the Hunger Games as we know them from the main trilogy begin to take shape. This is high-stakes for Snow, however, because a win for his tribute could secure him a scholarship to the University - something he could never afford on his own. His family is struggling, about to lose their lavish apartment, and Snow decides he'll do whatever it takes to win. He comes face-to-face with the reality of being a tribute just ten years after the end of the rebellion. Opinions towards the tributes are not positive. They are seen as symbolic representations of the rebels who killed Capitol families and bombed Capitol buildings. Snow has held these beliefs for years too, but now he begins to develop feelings for his tribute. His attempts to secure her place as the Victor take him down questionable moral paths and force him to reevaluate what he is or is not willing to do to save his family.

I know some critics questioned the choice of Snow as a protagonist for this book, but I thought it was interesting and added a lot of context to his decisions and reactions in the later books. As a teenager, he obviously doesn't have all of the cold-heartedness that he did when we saw him sixty-four years later, but there are a lot of things that clue the reader in to what he will later become. This is his origin story, in a way. While it does paint him as somewhat sympathetic because we learn his motivations, the contents of this book certainly don't excuse his later actions or attempt to glorify them. Personally, I love a flawed protagonist, and the moral gray area that was covered here made for an interesting read. Snow was a surprisingly reliable narrator - he was able to look at his actions objectively and understand that, while potentially justified, they weren't the morally correct thing to do. I thought his justifications made for interesting reading, however. I would say that this book is not as emotionally compelling as the main trilogy, but it's definitely very interesting and adds a lot of world-building and context for lots of different things that come up in the main trilogy. While I liked it, I think this book would be most interesting to fans of the main trilogy, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to people who haven't read/enjoyed those books. I will say that reading the prequel made me want to reread the main series, which is probably an indicator that Collins did something right. I enjoyed this more from a contextualization and background perspective than I did from a story perspective, but it was a gripping enough story that I wasn't bored. I was kept pretty well on the edge of my seat for a lot of it, and I didn't notice the length at all. There were some places where I thought it was going to be cheesy or feel like Collins was trying to hard to reference The Hunger Games, but generally those moments resolved in a satisfying way, and even when they were a little cheesy they still provided context for Snow's actions and reactions later in his life.

Trigger warnings for discussions of war and death, character death, injury/illness, medical/hospital scenes, bombings, snakes/snake bites, violence, weapons, guns, and hanging.

My final opinion: If you're a fan of the main trilogy, you'll probably enjoy this. If not, this isn't the way to get into it.

#contrespeaks #books of 2021 #a ballad of songbirds and snakes #suzanne collins #the hunger games #bookblr #science fiction #sci fi #dystopian #ya #ya literature #a ballad of songbirds and snakes: a hunger games novel #book reviews #book recs