#‘he just kills drug dealers and thugs’ | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

singingcicadas · 6 months

Text

Why are Autobots just as bad as the Decepticons?

Why? Some people seem to be under this impression that the Autobots have some kind of original sin that makes their cause morally inferior to that of the Decepticon 'revolutionists', for Reasons:

1. Autobots are bad because they were part of the old oppressive government.

Okay but it was literally Optimus who came up with the name, when he stormed the Senate demanding for autonomy? Sentinel took it for his own use. Optimus was a fugitive under Sentinel. He was doing vigilante work against the government.

2. But Optimus was a cop and served Zeta. Cops are bad and Zeta was bad so Optimus was just as bad.

Well Optimus only worked with Zeta because Zeta hid his true colours at first and seemed a decent progressive guy. He and Megatron killed Zeta when that turned out not to be the case, thus ending the oppression of the old government.

What did he do as a cop that’s so unforgivable, besides the occupation itself? He wasn’t making political arrests for the government (he treated Megatron with respect and lauded his polemics, he sided with rebel bomb planter Hot Rod) or persecuting people based on their class or function. He threw the cops who did that in jail (sorry Whirl), he got help for the people on the streets instead of arresting them as per government protocol (Drift). The only arrests he was shown to make were either thugs harassing defenceless citizens (the guys beating up Drift), illegal drug and arms dealers (Swindle), murderers, and terrorists. Notice how they’re all Decepticons. Because that’s what the Decepticons were to Cybertron’s society.

— Like it's important to note that there's never been a sweet point in Decepticon history where they were true upright freedom fighters, dedicated to nothing but emancipation of the people. That idealized version only ever existed in Megatron's writings. The Decepticons didn't start out well-meaning and turned bad somewhere along the way, they've always been a ragtag gathering of degenerates from the dregs of society looking for a venue to excerise violence and embrace their pursuit for chaos and power. They were warmongers. Terrorists. Thugs. Weapons traffickers. Opportunists. Sadists. Bloodsport enjoyers/profiteers. It’s those people who were the targets of Megatron's recruitment speeches when he promised them that he'd turn the planet into their gladiatorial arena. It’s those traits that were coveted, sought, valued by the Decepticon ranks. Revolution of the oppressed lmao, aside from Megatron himself, there's not one honest-to-god true proletariat or bottom class in the Decepticons' upper echelons. Soundwave, Ratbat’s lackey. Starscream, criminal tax swindler. Shockwave, mad scientist (with a specialization in body experimentation) and former sketchy Senator. Honest work got you as nowhere in the Decepticons as in the Cybertron social ladder.

This is an example of political persecution. By a team of sanctioned torture police created for this explicit purpose. For literally every bad thing the government did, the Decepticons have done something to one-up them. Think functionalism is bad? How about let's conscript everyone into a combatant and if you don't want to fight you can die. Painfully. Social stratification? How about a military hierarchy for the entire society based purely on might makes right. Empurata and shadowplay? Forced frame alteration and body experimentation. Lobotomy. Grooming. Vamparc ribbon that sucks the life out of an entire city's worth of people? Burn up the planet and massacre half its population. Unlawful treatment of prisoners? Pick from the menu of anti-personal bombs, live incineration chambers, multi-year torture marathons, or a DJD custom treatment. Persecution/neglect of the unfortuate mechs who ended up on the streets? Just throw them straight into the smelting pool to make into something useful instead. Expansion and colonism? Imperalism and genocide ftw. The Decepticons were worse than the old government in practically every concievable way.

3. But Optimus was violent as a cop.

Yes he was violent towards the Decepticons, a Decepticon specifically, Swindle, an unrepentant repeat offender, because they were using innocents to bomb cities and conquering citystates and Megatron must be stopped before the situation got any worse but Swindle just won’t spit any info. Like obviously his actions were wrong but they weren’t completely unfounded considering the circumstances, certainly not comparable to an equal level with the Decepticons who regularly torture prisoners for the entertainment. The most he's guilty of is paying evil unto evil and meeting violence with violence.

4. Autobots were perpetrators of the injustices of the society because they didn’t actively fight against it.

That’s not true, Optimus fought against it by using his position to help people as much as he possibly could; a lot of his work went against government orders. Rachet fought against it by running his clinic at Dead End. Impactor fought against it when he stood up for Rung. The outlier vigilante team fought against it, they risked their lives to help the Decepticons with Optimus when they stole the fake matrix bomb. Hot Rod fought for Nyon. They all fought by allowing themselves to grow beyond the societally imposed prejudices, by focusing past the rightful anger at being born into such a cruel world, by trying to become the best people they could under the circumstances and extending kindness to others no matter how difficult their own struggles. It's the entire society that's dysfunctional and has been dysfunctional since the beginning of history, individuals should not be held responsible when they're just trying to make the best out of the life they'd been given and not maliciously harming anyone along the way.

5. But that doesn’t count as actually fighting if they didn't get engaged in outright war.

Uhhh I’m sure that’s the justification Decepticons used when they were doing join or die massacres but okay I guess.

And then there’s the grand finale：

6. “Autobots are bad because wars are bad and they fought a war.”

The Autobots didn't want to fight. It was the Decepticons who declared war on them. They were literally forced into it. It was either that or accept Megatron’s peace through tyranny. And there is a massive difference between deaths/violence/destruction/resource appropriation that’s justified by military necessity and the excessive use of force like killing and torture for the funsies only the latter would be considered a war crime omgggg people please stop spamming the word war crime

Anyways this line of reasoning need to go and duel it out with the previous one because they are contradictory.

The Autobots are by no means perfect but to make them comparable to the Decepticons is just. I dont even know. It's like putting a piece of white paper with a black dot on it beside a piece of black paper and saying they're the same colour. No. The black paper didn't even start out white. Of course not everything is going to be that clear cut in war but acknowledging the presence of those grey areas doesn't mean you can equate the values of right and wrong.

And also associating the Decepticon movement with freedom fighters is buying into their propaganda. Megatron never gave a shit about anyone's freedom other than his own.

'Peace through tyranny' is a pretty self-explanatory phrase come on

#transformers #idw transformers #maccadam #optimus prime #Megatron #The black dot is Prowl-shaped

63 notes · View notes

shrowded-eng1ma · 1 year

Text

Zatanna dating a S/O that has venom (sorry for another Zatanna post, I love this woman)

Sfw

As you can probably imagine, your relationship is interesting.

You, tired from dealing with a alien saying the weirdest shit imaginable, and a powerful magic user that also more or less says some wild shit.

But it’s also good, Zatanna could step in and take care of you if you and venom get TOO villainous.

Venom is 50/50 Zatanna, he dislikes how she tries to stop you too from doing heroism his way (which is literally killing the enemy) but he also likes how she helps him make you suffer.

Venom also likes it when you don’t care about what he does to others, hates it you are empathetic towards others, and LOVES it when you agree with his way.

Zatanna, well she’s a literal magician so she could just mind fuck venom’s and your ideologies.

But she won’t do that, she has hope in you and your.. alien companion, that and your her lover, she doesn’t want or even like to manipulate/erase someone’s mind/memories/or life.

Zatanna provides venom with unlimited chocolate, it one way to keep the beast tame.

Zatanna loves to be the big spoon with you, especially whenever venom tries to take you away from her (not like that… maybe?)

Venom has possessed Zatanna once, he doesn’t like it.

Because of your circumstances, Venom is more like his movie counterpart, but is still a-bit unhinged.

Because of having to live with three people, with one of them literally living inside you, your always fucking tired and barely have any energy to do Jack.

Because of this, Zatanna would often help you relax through massages, magical shows, or a nice cold shower (shower cause I hate baths)

While Zatanna would realize your emotional troubles, venom would be more insensitive, course he still cares about you (in his unique way) but he’s a alien who needs to depend on another person, he himself is annoyed he can’t live his life the way he wants.

Luckily for you, Zatanna is able to put venom to sleep using magic. So when you want peace and quiet you got to her, ask her to do his magic, and lay in a nice cold bed with a small smile.

Zatanna watches you sleep… so does venom.

During mission’s you and Zatanna would be separated. Zatanna with magical enemies, you with the mafia, thugs, drug dealers, and so on.

Venom does sometimes allow you to be the hero, but it’s 65% him being the hero.

And my favorite— incorrect quotes!!

Y/n:I hardly slept last night

Venom: When you can’t sleep, it means someone is thinking about you. Someone who loves you

Y/n: Who would be thinking about me at 3 a.m.?

Zatanna: [Heterosexual panic]

Venom: I feel like doing something stupid.

Zatanna: IM STUPID!! DO ME!!

Y/n: venom said that, not me.

Zatanna:Oh… don’t do me

Venom:THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!!

Zatanna: Hey, you wanna bang?

Y/n: …

Zatanna: I meant hang.

Y/n: …

Zatanna: Actually, no, I didn’t.

——

Nsfw

Zatanna is a switch, she’s too if your to tired to give a fuck, she’s bottom when you give a fuck/when you have angry sex.

She always puts venom to sleep when you two are having fun, but you still have venom’s powers. So you have the long tongue, The ability to make your body longer and bigger, I think you get it.

The average rounds you two go for is 5. But the highest amount of rounds is 8, it’s when you were angry, annoyed, and frustrated.

If your a boy, you make your cock big enough to make a outline on zatanna’s belly. If your a girl, you do the samething the boy does, gender neutral.. I honestly don’t know.

Because of venom’s powers you are able to shapeshift your body and stretch it out. You make enough cocks to fill ALL of zatanna’s holes, while your mouth works on her neck.

When shes top, she loves to overstimulate and sent your orgasm. Zatanna also makes herself a temporary cock to fuck you with.

You often have morning sex.

You and Zatanna once fucked ontop of a apartment roof.

Zatanna is quite literally a sex detective, she knows your kinks/fetishes/and when your horny, when you’ve pleasured yourself, and everything else.

Okay I’m done with this.

#zantanna zatara #Zatanna x Reader #Zatanna x Male Reader #Zatanna x Female Reader #Zatanna x Gn Reader #dc comics #dc comics x reader #venom symbiote #marvel #marvel x dc

109 notes · View notes

fishtre · 2 years

Note

Why do you not like Jason as a crime lord? I don't think I've met any fans who don't. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to. Thanks.

Thanks. Loaded question but who reads DC comics and doesn’t love to rant once in a while?

People who want Jason to be a crime lord are a mixed bag, anon. From my experience, some are nostalgic of when Jason was a villain; they want this to be the hill on which Jason fights Bruce & co (and dies on). Some are just severely naive fans. Some are fans who want Jason to stars in gangster stories, etc... Nothing that interest me.

1. I'm okay with Jason killing traffickers and dealers, but not him becoming one. That’s an actual deal-breaker for me.

2. I don't want to see Jason becomes what he hates for no reasons.

Beating dealers and crime lords, making them afraid to deal drug to kids... Jason achieves nothing as a glorified drug dealer that he can't accomplish as a vigilant. Affiliating RH to organized crime is more of a dead weight and a moral liability to his character than anything else.

Also, anyone who think Jason is an actual crime lord in UTRH is basically telling me they don’t have enough reading comprehension to read/watch UTRH or a dictionary at this point. (More about that below the cut if you care.)

3. Jason being turned into a crime lord is not going to magically solve how DC portray him.

DC will never let a crime lord be the solution to crime their heroes can’t be, or imply that what Gotham need is a "good crime lord", or that such concept even exists... That shit is irl harmful. Such direction can only validate DC when they'll portray him as a scumbag or a cautionary tale; "he who fights monsters become the monster" and "Batman was right about Jason being a bad apple all along".

I hope this delayed answer clear things, anon.

A crime lord is someone who run and lead a criminal organization for profits. It’s the literal definition. Aside when Jason shortly takes over Penguin’s club during Rebirth RHATO, calling him a crime lord is a misconception or simply an informed attribute. UTRH never refers to Jason as being a crime lord. The flanderization happens after UTRH and my best guess is that DC went there to mark a distinction for their readers. So, they do not confuse RH (a vigilant but also a full-fledged villain for the rest of post-crisis continuity) and the ideal(ized) vigilantes Batman & co, whom readers should root for.

So, yeah... Jason isn't a crime lord in UTRH.

The only thing Jason leads there is his own operation, much like any vigilant. He blackmails actual kingpins into paying him so they stop working for BM. A "subscribe to my protection and policy or die" sort of deal. Then he kills and arsons underlines and stocks of the traffickers he didn't rope in. The goal is to weaken Black Mask’s empire, N°1 crime lord in Gotham and it's not to overtakes him.

RH has no hands in the drugs operations or business. He never touches that. He has no plans for some expansion or unification too. The actual crime lords in the story regards him as a madman, a big bully and a thug. He would have let that kingpin he roped in by force get burned alive by BM’s men if he didn’t have to pretends and keep BM’s manpower divided.

I can't remember or care to check if the whole "regulate the drug market to control it” is fanon or also a direction that pop-up later in post-crisis. But UTRH!Jason isn’t leading a criminal organization. He’s leading a scorched-earth policy. There's no regulation of anything aside the "no child rule", and RH never claims such. He’s stirring shits in Gotham’s underworld, pocking at a hornet's nest, to get Batman's attention. UTRH is the story of a ghost coming back to haunt Bruce/Gotham.

If you go with the movie version, Jason also stirs things so BM pulls Joker out of prison and get his hands on the clown. Potentially, this is why Jason use the moniker of RH. If BM goes to Joker for help, it’s because he thinks Joker may know who RH is, or is behind all this, since the clown once used that alias himself.

RH has no regard for any criminals involved, while actual crime lord Jason entails that Jason employs and works with a bunch of people who makes a living of smuggling and selling drugs. That he makes a profit over addictions and trafficking and he feeds that industry on some level. Regardless of how you justify this choice or not, he becomes an active wench in poisoning society and not just the underworld.

That's a BIG side-step from what RH does in UTRH, and worse, in complete contradiction with his character or motives prior to his death.

Drugs, thugs, dealers destroyed his childhood, his mother's life and jeopardized his by proxy. Jason doesn't idealize criminals or heroes. He doesn’t see anything moral about being a vigilant and thus don’t see a point in Bats’ “being better than them” mantra. Moral =/ Justice. His whole schism with Bruce steams from that.

So no, I’m not enthusiast about seeing Jason work with people he loathes, or turn into something he hates. For no real gain, again because he can do the same as a vigilant not affiliated to the drug business.To be clear, DC will never let him solve crime, obviously, but if turning Jason into a "he who fights monsters become the monster" villain so the moral can be "Bruce was right all along" isn't the point, going back to UTRH or crime lord Jason is not a viable direction.

That's about cover my thoughts on the subject. :p

#reply #jason todd #didn’t plan to answer this at first #but i'm tired

160 notes · View notes

thedegu · 17 days

Text

Hey you

Yeah you!

Do you like weird fantasy?

Do you like delisabled queer Austic characters?

Do you like the found family trope?

Do you like dnd shenanigans?

Well I might just have the story for you!

Tales of Vaistra act I: a Confluence of Inconvenient Circumstances. Is up on ao3! Check out the first chapter here, then click the link in my pinned post!

It updates twice a week, I have all of act I written act II is just being wrapped up now and act three is in the outline stage.

You know when something bad happens to you, and you aren't even surprised or upset anymore? Because that day was already shit. Like you go out for a coffee, and at first you can't find your wallet; then you see your cat pissed in your shoes; Then, you step in a muddy puddle on your way. So, by the time you pick up your order and immediately drop it on your way out, you aren’t even all that upset. You can lie down and cry or just laugh at the ridiculousness of everything and move on.

Now, imagine that, but literally every day of your existence. That's how my life has been for all of the twenty-three-odd years I have been on this green planet. I'd say right now, I'm at my second lowest after someone I trusted tried to murder me. On this second-worst-day of my life; fire rained down on an inescapable prison island I was working through a life sentence on for some light human trafficking and less light murder.

Now, I know that sounds bad, but the human trafficking was moving people over the border of Totsi and Surakarta. People who would have had a difficult time taking that vacation otherwise, and I just so happened to be in ownership of a cart with a false bottom. The murder, well, when the guards checked the cart I was using, people panicked, swords were swung, guns shot, and spells cast. Honestly, it was a miracle only one of those cops died, and that’s just because he tripped and ate shit cracking his head open.

More likely, I’m only on Maru over some normal maximum security prison on the mainland because I’m a Binder. And you see, dear reader, binders, as a profession, especially in Totsi, are a bit illegal. Excuse me if you've never heard of the job; even on Vaistra, we’re few and far between, maybe one or two per quarter million, give or take. If you have heard of us, it’s probably with the concept that we are thugs, drug dealers, pimps, and the like. I mean, I don’t personally fall outside of that description, working plenty of security and moving products during my tenure, but being a binder doesn’t mean you work illegal jobs. A binder is just as likely to own a pawn shop or run a horse stable as any of our better-known exploits.

What makes a binder a binder isn’t our additional work. It is how we get the power to do said work, and that tends to be the part that makes the people in power nervous.

We're folks who temporarily contract great forces beyond our comprehension. Beings that exist outside of space and time, not gods, or at least living gods, but spirits, archfae demons, and even great Heros of the past. People don't become binders unless they are already royally fucked, because you’re more likely to get yourself killed or imprisoned than improve your life once you start using this particular type of magic. So, only people who are already desperate become binders. Correlation versus causation and all that. That same desperation tends to lead people down illegally traveled roads.

That's too much of a tangent, fuck where were we? Oh yeah, the fire is raining down on Maru. Well, let me backtrack further than that for context.

I had landed on Maru about three weeks earlier, and I was already working on an escape plan as soon as my feet hit the sandy shores of the tiny, overgrown island off the coast of Totsi. There weren't guards outside the sleeping quarters and no fences or towers in sight, just the one U-shaped stone building that held the few staff and the few hundred prisoners. A deep rainforest rubbed against the back of the structure, and rough boat-smashing currents cut off only but the largest of the Totsi ships.

Creating a raft did cross my mind, a solution so obvious that I knew I couldn't work. Because 1: those previously mentioned boat-smashing waves, and 2: all of the fresh water on the island had to be imported from the mainland and was heavily tracked by the guards. It took the better part of four days to get to the island from the mainland, even on one of the Totsi’s powerful ships. So, to play it safe, I would need at least a month's worth of water saved up if I were to try the raft idea. Which would be difficult, to say the least.

Unless I befriended someone who could purify salt water….

Enter Sashara, A.K.A. Sash. She was shipped in on the boat after me. She was small, slightly shorter than myself, and probably half my weight. Her skin was tan-brown, sprinkled with freckles, and framed by wavy brown hair kept under a black scarf. She looked so much like a lost puppy, tearily explaining to any guard close enough to her that it was a mistake, that she didn't mean to trespass, and that her charges were way out of proportion to her crime.

It was surprising to see someone from Zabisrakh this far out. Zabisrakh is the newest desert nation on the western continent of Huabeth. While friendly, its people preferred to stay within their borders, though that would be more than a bit of hypocrisy from a Massuraman.

Sash, herself, was bewildering to watch. With her nervous eyes and fidgeting hands. Saying the worst possible things to the worst possible people.

And they say I'm bad luck.

“Ah, is your skin okay?” she said as she bumped into the biggest guy on the island. To be fair, his skin was fucked; red scales jutted out of his cheekbones and ran from the crown of his head down his spine. Two horns projected from his forehead and back over his bald scalp. Sharp claws, teeth, and vestigial wings also revealed his draconic heritage. Revazi was a man of few words and the apparent personal bodyguard to one Eriana Rakena, a noble from Lucegon. Honestly, she scared me more than Revazi. I can take a punch, but I don't know how to predict a Necromancer.

Erina watched, sitting at a table nearby, her expression bored with her porcelain skin, perfectly dry in the humid heat. Her black lace dress was mostly disassembled, but she still looked ready for a gala. Erina’s expression stayed stoic as Sash stumbled over herself, and Ravazi's gaze burned into her like his draconic lineage.

“You know what? Forget I said anything. Your skin is perfect—what's your routine? What products do you use?”

Okay, this had gone from entertaining to pathetic. It was time to play Hero. I walked up, put my hand on Sash's shoulder, and gave Revazi one of my world-renowned grins. “Heat stroke, am I right? Let's get you some water, Sash.”

“Wait, who-” I pulled the girl along, away from Revazi and Erina. My grip was gentle enough that she could get away if she really wanted to, but my glances back told her not.

Once in a somewhat private area between two outbuildings, I finally stopped and let the girl go. Leaning on the wall, I looked at her as friendly and charmingly as possible. Which is to say very friendly and charming.

“Who are you-- how did you know my name?!“ Sash looked terrified, and her fingertips crackled with magic. I did not know how powerful she was, but I figured by her face she'd never taken a punch before. So, if worse came to worse, I'm not above hitting girls.

“My name is Omolale,” I explained with a grin. ”I'm just trying to help you out. I'm guessing this is your first time in prison, then?”

“Ah yes,” she says, looking more embarrassed than appropriate. “Look, I didn't know that those flowers were protected—I needed them for a spell!“

I nodded along like I actually cared. ”hm, I'm sorry you went through that; listen, Sash- stick with me from now on. I'll keep you safe.“

Sash fidgeted and looked away. When her gaze returned to me-- her eyes stuck at the side of my face, caught in front of my left ear, where something was missing. She caught herself staring and met my eye, and I grit my teeth for the question I knew was coming next.

”You're Masuraman?“ she asked, skirting the actual question. It's not the worst way someone has put that thought; there was no accusatory 'Where are your beads' or 'What happened to you?' Though questioning my heritage outright was a bit of a punch in the gut in a different way.

You see, the Masuraman people are people of the land. No gods, just the spirits and fae, known as the Emi. Ask any kid to draw a Masuraman, and they'll draw a tall, thin, dark brown person with the beads of our heritage braided into their hair. Now out of all those things, I am just gifted with dark skin and the inherent magic of our people; I’m 5'5 on a good day and built like a brick shithouse; double chin, broad shoulders, and an award-winning smile that's all a part of my charm.

With the missing beads and bum leg, I’m just about one of a kind.

It's still rude to mention it.

“Yes, I am Masuraman,” I say, trying not to show how guarded I felt. Sash smiled then, a real bright smile showing all her white teeth.

“Thanks, Ale,” she seemed to let go of some of the tension she was holding. “I ah really don't know what I'm doing here.”

no shit.

“Yeah, it's okay,” I laugh. “Stay away from that big guy, and you'll be good."

#writrblr #my writing #writing #original story #dnd #dungeons & dragons

2 notes · View notes

clawsnoir · 2 years

Text

alright, finally found some spare time to write about my favorite girl. let's talk about selina in the batman 2022 & what's driving her attraction to everyone's favorite emotionally repressed asshole vigilante.

under a cut, because this is going to get long - apologies in advance!

selina kyle is incredibly perceptive. this is an innate ability of hers, as well as a learned one. taking people/situations at face value can and will get you killed on the streets, to say nothing of the consequences that kind of naivety can bring when you're delicately navigating the criminal underworld the way that she is.

when she first meets Batman, she knows him by reputation only. he's a vigilante with a taste for vengeance - and while his biggest claim to fame is putting away a serial killer, he spends most of his nights pounding street level thugs into the concrete and throwing them in jail. selina, a street level drug dealer, is definitely aware of this fact and responds appropriately when confronted with him in person for the first time. she's startled, wary, then curious...and lastly, defiant, when he just stands there and continues to stare at her. she doesn't know what his deal is, and when it becomes clear that he's there looking into annika, she's less concerned about figuring it out and more worried about what exactly he's planning to do.

which isn't to say she isn't attracted to him - she's not as obviously affected as he is, but the pull is there.

their first contact in the mayor's mansion reveals quite a bit about him to selina. his unwillingness to hurt her, his surprising protective streak, and his unexpectedly naive assumptions about her motives. he's not the unfeeling monster he's painted himself as - and selina, who knows a thing or two about using disguise and theatre/performance as a means of survival, recognizes his damage as being similar to her own.

let's talk about the performance that is Batman. bruce is Batman is bruce, but he is not yet at a point where he has self-actualized and reconciled the two halves of his identity. this is important, because selina has yet to meet him as bruce; all she knows is the Batman.

the Batman has total control of his environment, he's highly logical and unaffected by emotion, he's powerful and authoritative, a dominating presence that strikes fear wherever he goes. (this is how bruce wants to be seen, and he's been successful thus far) selina is into that! like, I cannot stress how much she is into that, even as she enjoys poking fun at him for his stoicism. but she also can tell that it's a constructed persona, and the glimpses of the man beneath are intriguing to her.

there's also the outfit which, um...it's fetish gear. let's all be honest with ourselves, it's fetish gear. do not @ me with 'tactical this' and 'military that' because it is literally kink. shout out to zoë for confirming that selina thinks his entire getup is dead sexy and is part of why she's into him in the first place. freaky recognizes freaky, is what I'm saying lmao. his big bad bat persona is the perfect complement to her coquettish sex kitten.

so while selina is into the batsuit and the dark avenger thing bruce has going on, she's also curious about and drawn to the man inside of it. he's a dick towards her, no doubt about it, but it's never really /about/ her, it's about his own issues. selina knows this. she cuts him a lot of slack, but she also isn't afraid to stand up to him and cut him off when he oversteps her boundaries.

he's positioned himself as someone who's cleaning up Gotham's filth, looking out for the little guy, punishing evil...yet he's not really doing any of that effectively when they meet due to his tunnel vision methods. when she calls him out on his naive and limited worldview, she's trying to help him, to make him better.

& yes, part of why she falls so quick is due to how lonely she is. her affinity for strays says it all. is she perhaps a little too eager to trust him and throw her lot in with a virtual stranger, one she has never seen the face of? maybe. do bruce and selina have a history of falling in love at first sight and being each other's only exception when it comes to the walls they put up to keep others away? they sure do!

to steal from my fave @cityhalloween, selina wants batman to prove he's the man she thinks he is. a protector. the kind of man who uses his power and influence for good. the complete opposite of the men she's been surrounded by her entire life. is it a little unhealthy that she's more attracted to his potential than anything? a little bit, yeah, but who cares.

selina and bruce are very, very different; but inside they are one and the same. two broken kids playing animal dress up to distract from the pain, single-minded and solitary, coming to life in the dark where they feel free to be themselves. it's all about the recognition of the other, seeing parts of yourself in the beloved and loving them when you can't love yourself.

it's a genuine and pure connection. the relationship itself is um...not quite functional, as they both have a lot of character development to go through before they're fully realized versions of themselves, but the love is real and true.

#batcat

86 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 1 year

Text

American politics-watchers tend to look across the Atlantic, to Europe, for analogies to our own history. But the better analogy has never been to the US’s east, but to our south, in the Latin American democracies. It is those countries – our hemispheric neighbors – that share more of the US’s foundational pathologies.

Like us, they were founded on early violence that casts long shadows over our subsequent attempts at equality and pluralism: chattel slavery and the dispossession and genocide of indigenous peoples. Like us, they are host to racially and religiously heterogenous populations, aspiring to national projects based not so much in shared ethnic identity as in shared ideals. And like us, these Latin American nations have an authoritarian streak, one that has historically been encouraged, both tacitly and explicitly, by the US itself.

So in one sense, you can mark the events of Sunday, 8 January, in the Brazilian capital of Brasília, as another instance in our nations’ grim twinning: as far-right supporters of Brazil’s ousted ex-president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the main buildings of the federal government’s three branches – smashing windows, stealing and vandalizing – it seemed that Brazil has had its own January 6 insurrection.

And the would-be beneficiary of the botched coup, the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, is in the US himself, shacking up in Orlando at the behest of the man who inspired January 6, former US president Donald Trump. On Monday, the day after the riot, Bolsonaro reportedly checked into a Florida hospital, supposedly complaining of stomach pains.

Information about the nature of the Brazilian putsch, and the extent to which rightwing Brazilian elites were involved, is still emerging. It’s not clear, for instance, how much Bolsonaro himself knew about the violence ahead of time; it’s not clear how much the rioters were in communication with Bolsonaro, either before the former president fled the country last month, or in the weeks since, from his station in Florida. It’s not clear whether Bolsonaro had allies in the legal establishment, as Trump did, who were willing to bend the law or help form post-hoc justifications for a coup. It’s not clear, as it isn’t clear in the United States, how much coordination there was between the booted thugs and their ringleaders, who did the rioting on Sunday, and the suit-wearing snakes in Bolsonaro’s camp. It’s clear that there was a riot and it’s clear that it was meant to restore a far-right leader to power after an election that he lost fair and square. It’s not clear just how much plausible deniability the Florida man now has.

Bolsonaro has long reminded American observers of Trump, and not only for his far-right politics and indifference to democratic checks on his own power. When he was sworn in in 2019, after a corruption scandal and heated partisan impeachment swept his leftwing predecessor out of office, Bolsonaro offended Brazilians as much with his policy positions as with his foul mouth.

He seemed perpetually on, always inciting anger and hatred at outsiders, but also always trying to shock and titillate his cadres of frighteningly loyal fans – something like a cross between Mussolini and Howard Stern. After an unremarkable career as a legislator, when he ascended into national prominence, he was suddenly churning out scandalous little soundbites. He said, “I would be incapable of loving a homosexual son.” He declared a female political rival “not worth raping”. He praised the military dictatorship, called for the torture of drug dealers and encouraged violence from the police forces. “A policeman who doesn’t kill”, he once said, “isn’t a policeman.” In pictures with his fans, Donald Trump flashes a gleaming grin and shoots the camera a thumbs-up. Bolsonaro likes to pose for pictures making a gesture like he’s holding a machine gun.

The violence, too, had some uncanny similarities. The rioters in Brasília stormed the government buildings after camping outside military headquarters, evidently hoping to encourage a coup. When the army failed to join them, they marched to the presidential, congressional and supreme court buildings, carrying Brazilian flags, many of them decked out in the far-right’s colors of yellow and green.

While the January 6 rioters had a particular procedure they were trying to disrupt, and a particular person – Mike Pence – they were attempting to intimidate and persuade, the Brazilian rioters seem to have been less direct in their violence, perhaps hoping to force a transfer of power by the mere force of their presence. Like their American counterparts, they trashed the buildings and pissed on the floor; the Guardian’s Tom Phillips reported that members of the mob defecated in the presidential press room, perhaps in a signal of Bolsonaro’s attitude toward the media. And like the Americans, they seem to have had at least tacit support from the police. If the American mob was disproportionately full of cops and veterans, the Brazilian mob was met with conspicuously little resistance from the federal district’s security forces. The governor of Brasília, a Bolsonaro ally, has been suspended from his office by the supreme court over his suspected role in aiding the riot.

But one massive difference is in how the Brazilians have responded to this threat to their democracy. In the aftermath of the January 6 violence, the Biden administration reportedly balked at pursuing an actual impeachment of Donald Trump, stymying Democrats in the House who wanted to pursue an aggressive accountability strategy; in the years since, the Department of Justice has repeatedly dragged its feet, passed the buck, and seemed unable or unwilling to do anything other than passively allow Trump and his inner circle to sabotage the democratic process with impunity.

Not so with the Brazilians. The new leftist president, Lula de Silva, immediately denounced the mob as “neo-fascists,” and was willing, with clarity and candor that would be unthinkable in an American politician, to honestly tell his countrymen that they cannot trust all of the police forces. By Monday, photos were being published that purported to show the Brazilian rioters in police custody in a huge warehouse. The federal Brazilian forces, said David Adler of Progressive International, were “interrogating insurrectionists one by one and drawing up charges for their crimes”. The show of police force against rightwing violence, and the promise of legal accountability for the crimes of conservatives, served as a stark reminder: there are lots of ways that Brazil is nothing like America at all.

#I don't fully agree with her final two paragraphs but that's besides the point

18 notes · View notes

outpouringstorm · 1 year

Text

quotes I have saved for my essay on racial profiling:

“When it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man will always win.” (Lee, 220)

“‘This is exactly what They expect you to do,’ Momma says. They is with a capital T. There’s Them and then there’s Us.” (Thomas)

“DeVante’s got a point. What makes his name or our names any less normal than yours? Who or what defines ‘normal’ to you?” (Thomas)

“‘You said it yourself, he thought Khalil was a drug dealer,’ Daddy says. ‘A thug. Why he assumed that though? What? By looking at Khalil?” (Thomas)

“‘Right. This all happened because he’ -I can’t say his name- ‘assumed that we were up to no good. Because we’re black and because of where we live. We were just two kids, minding our business, you know? His assumption killed Khalil. It could’ve killed me.” (Thomas)

#terrifyingly.txt #the hate u give #to kill a mockingbird

2 notes · View notes

hiddenpxpercuts · 10 months

Text

Was that [FROY GUTIERREZ]? Oh no no, that was just [CARL GALLAGHER], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [SHAMELESS]. They are [NINETEEN] years old, use [HE/HIM], and [ARE] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

Carl has been in D.C. for two years.

Carl is seen as the trouble maker in Season 1, after almost facing expulsion. In Season 2, his love for selling drugs starts when his grandmother Peggy convinced him to get prescription drugs to make meth. Carl’s delinquent side is somewhat on hold in Season 3, but he does end up shaving his head due to Frank convincing him he has cancer. We see Carl's first love interest, Bonnie, in Season 4, but their relationship ends when Bonnie disappears with her family to an unknown fate.

Carl's interests include drinking, weapons, explosives, and death. Carl does seem to actually be a relatively good child, however he is heavily affected by a completely dysfunctional childhood and family. Nonetheless, he cares deeply about his family, including his father Frank, despite the latter’s complete and utter failure as a parent and role model. In his adolescence, he detaches from Frank though he continues to love and show concern for him at times even when angry with him.

In Season 5, he uses his nephew, Chuckie, to deliver drugs but gets caught when his half-sister Sammi notifies the police. In his trial, Fiona wants him to grovel, but he instead insults the judge and doesn't name his drug dealer, which lands him a year in juvenile prison. He didn't mind as he wanted the experience to boost his reputation. Due to his refusal to snitch, he is accepted by his dealer's gang.

After his release from juvie in Season 6, he adopts a thuggish attitude and believes he is too cool for most things. His new way annoyed his family and friends who told him to stop but he ignored. He also tries to impress his new love interest Dominique Winslow though his ways cause her to rebuff his advances. Once his juvie friend Nick kills someone, Carl is then traumatized by the event and throws away his thug behavior, becoming more like old self though silent. Because of this, Carl ends up gaining the affection of Dominique and forms a relationship with her.

Following Dominique cheating on him, he bonded with her father and decide to better himself by joining military school. Carl became even more serious in his return from school, as seen when he cooked for his family and was respectful to his grandfather Bill Darrgen while taking his suggestion more. Carl has also shown to be afraid of ending up following his families pattern of alcoholism and drug abuse, but also believing that it will catch up with him at some point and that low level jobs are the best he can achieve, though he has also shown determination in trying to rise above this.

Carl Francis Hashish Gallagher i

#death tw #cheating tw #hw: intro #is it time for me to get the killing bat?" carl gallagher

0 notes

childrenslitbookreviews · 10 months

Text

The Hate U Give

Title 7: The Hate U Give

Genre: Young Adult

Target Age Group: 15+

Summary:

Starr lives in a rough black neighborhood but goes to a nice school with white kids. One night, she flees a party with an old friend, Khalil, when gunshots go off. They are pulled over by a cop who mistakes her friend’s hairbrush for a gun and shoots him to death. This is the second friend she has seen shot to death and she is only sixteen. Riots start when word gets out that Khalil was unarmed. Starr just wants to hide and for everything to go back to normal. However, over the next few weeks, she sees how Khalil is portrayed in the news as a thug drug dealer who deserved to die. Starr decides to speak up for Khalil and make sure he is not just another statistic. She testifies for the District Attorney, but it ultimately changes nothing and the riots start all over again.

Justification: I have seen this book featured in many Young Adult recommended lists and we have carried it on our bookmobile out to poor neighborhoods in Houston for several years now. When I realized that it had won the Printz Award, I knew that I had to see what impact this book could have on me.

Evaluation:

First, the characters have complex motivations. Her father is a former gangbanger and son of a notorious gang leader, however he goes straight when he is able to make a deal with his father in prison to get out of the gange. He also believes in the tenets of unity and helping out fellow black people in need from the tenets of the Black Panthers. Davante used to sell drugs for King, but stole from him to get his mom and sister out of the bad neighborhood when his brother was shot and killed. Garden Heights is not a “bad neighborhood”. It has extremely lovable characters who make amazing cakes and help each other out when they are going through tough times. No one in this book is just a gang member, just a scared teenager, or just a cop protecting other cops. However, this doesn’t always come off as believable. It feels a little too convenient that there is a cop with a heart of gold willing to protect kids from a gang leader, a former gang member with a heart of gold looking to protect kids from going back to that way of life, and a whole neighborhood willing and courageous enough to snitch on the most powerful gang leader there.

Second, Starr has a complex inner world. At first, she is shocked that an old friend is just suddenly dead. She feels guilty that she wasn’t able to stop it, didn’t spend more time with him, and didn't admit her feelings for him sooner. She feels ashamed that she is dating a white boy because it feels like she is betraying her race and turning her back on her culture. She feels afraid to speak up because she has seen how cops mistreat her father for her testifying in front of the DA, her friends will treat her differently, her boyfriend will treat her differently, and the gangs will see her as a snitch. But with encouragement and talking with her family, she is emboldened to speak up for Khalil and be his voice when he can’t defend himself. She is emboldened to call out microaggressions and racist comments from former friends. She is no longer scared into submission to keep the status quo intact.

Third, the author, Angie Thomas, doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to violence. Thomas portrays Starr as crying and throwing up every time that she has to relay the death of Khalil. She is traumatized by seeing her other friend, Natasha, killed when she was just ten years old. The bad sides of living in Garden Heights are not glossed over. There is a deep sadness and awkwardness around the drug addict mother. The desperation of poverty seeps into everything that the neighborhood touches. But somehow the people keep going about their daily lives showing strength through perseverance and unity. They support the neighborhood even while acknowledging its inherent danger that’s bad for young kids to be around.

References:

Thomas, A. (2017). The Hate U Give. HarperCollins Publishers.

0 notes

channelnahas · 2 years

Text

Snow on tha bluff 2

Snow on tha bluff 2 movie#

Snow on tha bluff 2 crack#

The director, Damon Russell, initially coy about what was real and what was scripted, now emphasizes that “Snow on the Bluff” isn’t a record of actual events, that it’s just another lo-fi indie film, like “The Blair Witch Project.” Nothing to see here, officer. Because the footage is so raw, they say, the Atlanta police sought it as evidence in some criminal investigations. The makers of “Snow on tha Bluff” flip that reasoning. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 397,000 album. Coles new single 'Snow On Tha Bluff' was the first 08.23.91 Chance The Rapper Criticizes J. She mad at these crackers, she mad at these capitalists, mad at these murder police. Although wed stop short of calling this a beef, J. I scrolled through her timeline in these wild times, and I started to read. My IQ is average, theres a young lady out there, she way smarter than me. Often makers of feature films using a documentary’s tools - hand-held cameras, jumpy cuts, ambient lighting, fragmented narrative - say they do so to approximate reality. Cole released KOD, his last solo studio album, back in April of 2018. Niggas be thinkin Im deep, intelligent, fooled by my college degree. No one seems to have a steady job, and there’s no shaking the sense of wasted souls in a forsaken sector of society.

Snow on tha bluff 2 crack#

This riveting account of thug life - the unglamorous, impoverished variety - is punctuated by constant profanity and undecipherable slang, occasional violence, steady drinking and weed or crack smoking. “They say drugs kill you,” he says to the camera, before disagreeing: “They help you out. We also learn about Snow’s business: selling drugs that are largely supplied, it seems, by ripping off other dealers at gunpoint during late-night raids. So we tour the Bluff while he introduces his crew, his baby mama and two toddlers, his grandmother, the street corner where his brother was fatally shot. The dealer, Curtis Snow, steals one other thing too: the idea of filming everything he does.

Snow on tha bluff 2 movie#

Writing about it then, Filmmaker’ s own Brandon Harris described the film as An incredible combination of found footage, no-budget. Released January 5th, 2011, Snow on tha Bluff stars Cat Erickson, Adrienne Lockett, Curtis Lockett, Brandon Snow The movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 19 min, and received a user score of 61. After debuting at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2011, Damon Russell’s Snow on Tha Bluff had a small theatrical release earlier this year. 3 min read The notorious rapper, Jermaine Cole, came out with a rap song called Snow on tha Bluff in midst of the racial climate today in the United States.A dealer approaches the car, smoothly talks his way in, directs them to a secluded street, then, pulling out a handgun, robs them of their money and - why not? - the camera. 25 New Faces, Curtis Snow, Damon Russell, Snow on tha Bluff. From the start of “Snow on tha Bluff,” which runs without any introductory credits, this jolt of a film drops into a you-are-there crime scene: Three college students - one manning a video camera - drive into the Bluff, a run-down neighborhood in West Atlanta (actually, run-down is being kind), looking to buy drugs.

#Snow on tha bluff 2

0 notes

arty-shadow-morningstar · 3 years

Text

Graveyard Siblings (4)

I am sorry for not posting in a while. School is a total bitch. Here is part 4 of a fic that is not a fic.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)

-------

Tall Marinette.(I admit I might be projecting a little here.)

One day, she took out something from someplace high and the whole family realized that ‘holy shit when did you get so tall?’

Bonus if Jason comes back from a long mission and had a wtf moment because she was wearing 6-inch-heels and met his eyes with them on.

“Pixie?!”

------

You know how Bruce has the identity of Matches Malone to infiltrate the Gotham Underground.

While Jason does the drug deals more street crime stuff, Maria uses an excuse of being the representative for Red Hood excuse to mingle with the rich people who does crime on the side (Penguin), she uses it to go to black market auctions and buy some of the lost miraculouses which got into the hands of black market dealers.

Jason knows about it and acts as her ‘bodyguard’ anytime he can or sends one of his henchmen to be one with a death threat if she gets a single scratch on her.

Bruce is unaware of this. Or is he?

------

Mari helps with running WE since she is a little less busy with the vigilante side of things.

It started with Tim panicking about deadlines and Mari offering to help, to Bruce and Tim bullying the board to have her as co-CEO.

She has to be that and head of Afterlife. So she is very busy. Doesn’t know about what comes next….

------

Somehow the class comes to Gotham for a trip. It has been 3 years since her death.

Mari has changed her appearance since the day she left Paris. She has highlights in her hair after a ‘sibling bonding day’ with Jason. Her hair is kept short for convenience and not in pigtails. Along with her tall height and more confident aura, she is almost unrecognizable.

She rides a motorcycle too.

The class waits in the lobby for the tour and in walks this badass woman with aviator sunglasses, leather jacket and designer clothes which was all MT brand, making a lot of people swoon.

She takes off her glasses and walks past the class. Checking stuff on her phone and sipping coffee in her other hand.

She seems familiar but they couldn’t figure out why. (All except Chloe, Alix and Felix who are snickering in the background.)

Lila sees her and comments on how she must be a criminal with the way she dresses. (Lila internally freaks out because were her eyes messing with her? Because she looked a little like Marinette. Also jealous of the new arrival for stealing all the attention.) Alya takes the bait and calls security to ‘arrest’ her.

They just laugh. The class doesn’t understand, speaking in confused French.

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

“I am Maria Todd-Wayne, also known as designer MT. CEO of Afterlife and co-CEO of the very company you are in. I am allowed in here. Don’t judge a book by its cover.” she said in perfect French.

“But Lila told us you can’t speak French.”

“Who?”

“Lila Rossi, your friend. She told us that you and MT were dating.”

“Me dating myself. Okay I love myself because self-love is a thing but that is a whole other level. MT are my initials. Anyone who has a brain could have figured that out or at the very least do a Google search. I am not sure where your friend got that notion.”

“Hey, Bean, come on. We have a long day ahead of us.” Tim reminded her.

“Goodbye but cease the rumours or you would be escorted off the premises.”

As they rode up the elevator, “Tim, why are they here?”

“They are the lucky winners of the Wayne Enterprise Young Prodigies Contest. Why, Maria?”

“Lucky, huh.” She muttered under her breath. She might as well tell him. They are the Bats and they will find out anyway. “They are from my old class, the one you know…”

“Oh. Want me to send them back? I can do that if they are making you uncomfortable.”

“Nah. Too much to deal with. And it is unfair to send them back over a petty grudge. Besides, I could have some fun.”

“Anything that Bruce and I should be worried about?”

“I swear no killing. Just because Jason came back from the dead, hell-bent on killing. Doesn’t mean I am too.”

“Cool, just don’t do any property damage or traumatize our employees.”

“I might need you to erase some footage later and tell Bruce about this.”

“Some brownies, my favourite coffee cake, the ‘special’ brew and you have yourself a deal.”

-----

So basically she just showed up around where the class was ‘by coincidence’.

Talk to a few people and take them out of earshot of the rest of the class.

End the conversation by saying a few things only they and her would know. Insides jokes and secrets. (I pick her old childhood friends like, Nino, Kim and maybe Sabrina)

Uses Trixx to turn into a walking dead version of her 15-year old self and disappears as they freak out about how she knew that secret/story.

Freaks them out further by appearing again in front of the whole class and pretending not to know their previous conversation.

Mari manages to get Lila alone.

I should also say that Lila thought that her curse was making her see MT as Marinette.

It terrifies Lila when she finds out that MT is actually Marinette, not dead but alive after all this time and apparently living the high life she wanted. This fact made the Italian swell up with jealousy.

“I hope you are not lying about me again, Lila Rossi. Like you always do.”

“What do you want with me? I swear I didn’t say anything else about you.”

“Aw, Lila. Don’t recognize me?”

Maria flickers and Ladybug is in her place and later, the Marinette that appeared in her bedroom and back to normal.

“You! How? Why are you here? Why can’t you leave me alone?”

“Why not? I mean you did take away nearly all my friends, my parents and made my life a living hell. If you think about it, I am just repaying you the same favor. How are the others? Treating you well?”

“What did you do to me, you bitch?”

“I just put a curse on you. The ghosts of your past will haunt you until you stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop Lying, Liar. They all feed and grow in power from your lies. I wonder what would happen in a few years if you kept this up.”

“You think you can get away with this. This is war and I have already beaten you once.”

“Oh Rossi. This isn’t a war. It’s a death sentence.” With that she disappears.

Lila tries to tell her class that MT is actually Marinette. She is met with crazy looks. Some of them look like they want to believe her but don't because they don’t want to look crazy too.

Oh. Adrien wasn’t on the trip because his mother didn’t want him to go to the crime capital of America although the crime rate has gone down a little due to Hellbat curing some of the city’s bad energy..

Right after Lila told the class about MT, Scarecrow came to steal some Wayne tech and the class got caught in the crossfire. So later, it was brushed off as Lila seeing things due to the fear toxins.

-----

Joker made the mistake of kidnapping her. Once was enough to never try that again.

(It involved the use of nearly all of the Miraculouses, old and new. He was thoroughly humiliated at the end of it and his picture by the time Hellbat was done with him was on the Batfam’s Christmas Card. Like I said she doesn’t kill but making them beg for death was okay.)

It coincided with Jason’s Birthday and the video of the incident was ‘the best birthday present ever.’ The uncensored version was watched at the next undead siblings bonding day. Damian included.

After hearing a few rumours about what happened, most criminals were glad for Hellbat’s rare appearances. (which happens once a month and during really busy time of the year)

There was a time where Penguin was carrying out one of their plans and when Hellbat showed up, all of their thugs surrendered instantly. (No Batman did not pout at the fact that this French girl was more imitating than him.)

Scarecrow used his newest batch of fear toxin on her during the first year after she died.

He was astounded to see her still standing and she later proceeded to beat the crap out of him while being under the toxin’s influences.

He has tried to stay out of her way since then.

She saw Scarecrow as Hawkmoth and said a lot of things in French which scared everyone because she said it with so much hate, anger and in a very menacing tone that everyone is like ‘I am not touching this.’

It took Red Hood and Nightwing to restrain her from further beating Scarecrow up.

He was one of the people who sympathised with the Joker after the Incident.

The next was Riddler being so arrogant in his plans and managed to get Hellbat and Spoiler into a death trap.

“You know I have a few regrets in life. And my final one is that I got captured and am now going to get killed by a walking fashion disaster.”

“Hey! I made this myself. I will have, you know.”

“You have a brilliant mind but no sense of fashion at all. When I get out of here, I am going to burn that thing with you in it, for your crimes against fashion.”

“What is wrong with it?”

Cue a lot of roasting of Riddler’s costume and Spoiler adding more fuel to the fire.

They manage to escape while Riddler is crying on the floor, having an existential crisis.

The thing was no one knows why Riddler was silent the entire week after encountering Hellbat and crying when anyone mentions it.

They now think Hellbat is the scariest one in the Batfamily, second to Batman and tied with Black Bat/Orphan.

The few who find out what really happened in the warehouse that night. Blackmail material on the Riddler.

Three ( four if you count Penguin) of Gotham’s biggest villains of the Rogues Gallery scared of Bats’ newest addition. Hellbat was not someone they wanted to mess with.

---------

Magic crisis stuff. Like a world ending event thing. Dr. Fate says they need the Miraculous jewels but the last mention of them had been in Paris a few years ago and had vanished since then.

Costantine looked at Batman. “You know who you have to call.”

Batman calls Hellbat. Who hasn’t been introduced yet to the JL.

“Ah. Bats. Not that I question your authority or anything but how can your newest ‘ward’ help us?”

She takes off her helmet and reveals her face and more importantly, her earrings.

Tikki comes out of her hiding place.

“I am the current Guardian of the Miracle Box and wielder of the Ladybug miraculous during Hawkmoth’s reign in Paris a few years ago. Any other Questions?”

“Oh great Guardian. Tikki. It is an honour to meet you.”-Wonder Woman, who else.

“You too, Princess Diana. Pass on my regards to your mother.”-Tikki

A huge face-off and the big evil is defeated.

WW asks abt HM and gives a horrified face at the end of her story. Nearly everyone who eavesdropped on the conversation was.

"Forgive me, Guardian for not aiding you in your hour of need.”

“It’s okay. I understand that there are other crises, world-ending ones that JL have to take care of. I am better now. Mostly.”

“I doubt it with those revenge schemes I found lying around. But she is getting there with her therapist.”-Batman

“I hate you, Dad.”

“Did you just call him Dad?”

“No….”

“Do you see me as a father figure?”

“I see you as a nuisance with how nosy you are with my personal business. So you are more of a bother figure.”

“I see you as part of the family too, Daughter.” (Got that reference anyone?)

“Jason was the one who adopted me.”

“Legally you are adopted by me.”

Maria with Pikachu surprised face because nobody told her that. “My life is a lie.”

-------

(Part 5)

#graveyard sibling #platonic jasonette #maribat #mlb x dc #platonic daminette #platonic timinette #some class salt #lila salt #lila bashing #joker doesn't look good here either #platonic! jasonette #siblings jasonette #platonic timminette #marinette and stephanie teaming up to rip into Riddler's costume

573 notes · View notes

vintage-writes · 3 years

Text

Don't be Reckless | Dazai x Reader|

Pairing: Osamu Dazai x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Summary: You have been paired up with Osamu Dazai to smoke out drug dealers but things quickly take a turn for the worst and Dazai is injured.

Warnings: FLUFF, so nothing hectic but it does get a little steamy in the end. Mild Swearing.

Word Count: 2931

A/N: This took long to write and it is a lot longer than my usual work but it is cute and I feel very alone now. Also to those who write Dazai, how do you do it??

____________________________________________

A drug bust. A simple drug bust.

A group of thugs were illegally selling the stuff to some of the local gangs and it is being redistributed to some of the high school and college kids around the area.

Find them. Find the Stash. Arrest them. Confiscate the stash. No more drugs circulating around schools.

It’s honestly a small request for the agency which often deals in much larger cases so you were nominated to investigate it. You’re relatively new and the experience would be really good for you.

Thus, you were paired with Osamu Dazai. According to Kunikida, he could use the fresh air.

You spare a glance out the window and take note of the setting sun. The light casts deep dancing shadows across the walls. The air feels cold and wet as you take careful steps across the damp bricks. You and Dazai had left the Agency in the early morning and it’s already rapidly approaching evening. Ranpo said we’d be finished by lunch.

A simple Drug Bust. What a joke.

You pad lightly down the dingy hallway. Each deliberate step is cushioned by the moss that appears to have rooted itself on the bricks. The stench is suffocating at best. Dazai had gone off on his own as soon as you stepped inside the dilapidated building. He didn’t explain much, just said that he was going left and you should go right, and that you needed to wait by the east wing. Then he sauntered off leaving you alone.

Asshole

You come across a fork and debate if you should turn left or right. Two pairs of footsteps sound off at the end of the hall on the left. Two people. One pair sounds heavy and reverberates against the walls while the second almost scuffles along with the first. You reach for the gun at your belt. The weight of it resting against your hand gives you a feeling of comfort.

Two men step out from the end of the hallway. You slink back further and cover yourself in shadows. You hope they are enough to cover you completely. A man with a crew cut has his hand wrapped around the other's arm as he appears to half lead half drag the man across the floor. You’re too far to make out his expression but the stark white of his face lets you know that he’s absolutely terrified. On closer inspection you can see that his other hand is bent at an odd angle. Perhaps, you and Dazai were not the only ones investigating the place. Assuming that Dazai is actually investigating and not lounging around somewhere while you did all the work.

The man opens a side door and yanks the smaller man into the room before following suit. The world has become deathly still once again. Not a sound to be heard. They’re the first two people you’ve seen since entering this damned place. After a minute of silence you emerge from your corner and creep down the hallway. Dazai’s instructions pop back into your head and you hesitate.

They may kill the cop.

Pushing Dazai’s words to the side, you stride forward and give chase.

___

You slip into the room and crouch behind a broken conveyor belt. You slip the gun off your belt and into your hands. Show time.

“Boss, I found this idiot sneaking ‘round back”, the bigger man says. A man steps out of the shadows dressed in a white lab coat and cocky grin. The ringleader walks forward with an air of arrogance, each step sounds deliberate and confident. He has dark eyes and long shoulder length hair. You can't help but think he has very handsome foreign features.

“Is he a cop?” the leader asks. The large man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a badge and presents it.

“That’s the second one today”, he frowns as he carefully inspects the badge. His long hair falls in gentle waves around his face as he peers down. He then waves a dismissive hand, a frown gracing his handsome features, “The other one is being pursued as we speak. Once he’s been handled we’ll leave. Gather your men and tell them to inspect the surrounding area.”, he turns his attention to the man kneeling on the ground, “Asahi, was it? Tell me, who did you come with?”

Asahi pauses. “No one”

The leader smirks and waves his hand towards his subordinate who swiftly grab Asahi. Taking his remaining good arm in his hands, he twists it. Asahi cries out. The leader simply smiles coldly before he adjusts his glasses for dramatic effect.

“Who did you come with?”

Your mouth goes dry. Where’s Dazai when you need him? Is he the other cop being pursued? Step in now or wait?

The man in the lab coat begins to circle around Asahi who has said nothing but whimpers in pain instead. The leader steps in front of your hiding place with his back turned towards you, still facing the cop. You make a decision. Dazai isn’t here to help you or hold your hand. You grab onto your gun more firmly, you begin to rise, ready to step out.

The doors at the other end of the room fly open. The swing against the walls with a loud bang and you immediately duck back down. Heart in your throat. Who the fuck? Two men step forward both escorting the same man across the floor. He puts up no fight and simply allows himself to be dragged into the room. Hands tied behind his back. They force him into a kneeling position. However, he remains unbothered as a lazy smile graces his features.

Dazai.

This fucking idiot.

Four men. Two hostages. And You are only equipped with a gun.

“Found the other cop.”

Dazai grins, “I’m not a cop.”

Like they care

The man in the lab coat steps forward, ignoring Asahi who’s still kneeling in the other man's hold and instead approaches Dazai. Dazai’s posture is calm as he lazily scans his environment. His eyes briefly roam over your position.

He says, “I believe I’ve arrived just in time.”

You clutch your gun tighter. Dazai never discussed anything beforehand and you can only think that surely none of this is going right.

An explosion sounds off in the distance and the building shakes. Dazai makes a face of confusion but the glint in his eyes speaks of mischief, “That is exceedingly unusual.”

A smile curls over your lips. Guess he wasn’t lazing around after all. The man in the coat finally drops his cocky grin. All traces of arrogance vanishes. He turns to his subordinates. “Go! Move! Find whatever worms have stumbled across our hideout. Kill anyone you don’t recognize. Take whatever leftover stock you can find and leave”, he shouts.

He spins towards the man still holding the cop, who’s gone completely white from fright. “Not you. You’re going to get me out of here safely. You can dispose of the two cops.”

The man nods and reaches into his jacket. Absolutely not. Somehow having Dazai in the room fuels you with confidence. You waste no time before you spring out of your hiding place. You charge towards the larger man who pauses in surprise as you suddenly rush in front of him. Before he can equip his gun you slam yours into his temple. He stumbles backwards but gathers himself quickly. He charges forward but every painstaking lesson with Fukuzawa flashes before your eyes. Before anyone can react the man has already landed heavily on his back, hands cuffed together.

“Now who the fuck are you?”

You turn towards the man in the lab coat. The boss no longer looks as in control as he did a few minutes ago. He pulls out a gun and points it towards Dazai who narrows his eyes at him before he flashes you a look of warning.

“How many of you are there?!” He demands.

You look around you and pull a face of mock concentration. “I believe there’s three of us here.”

“FUCK YOU!” He takes a step towards Dazai and jams the gun into the back of Dazai’s head. The gun in your own hands feels heavier.

“How many are you?”, he says, voice like steel.

“Drop your gun and I’ll tell you.”

“Only if you drop yours first. Or would you like to see who has the faster trigger finger.?”

You, would in fact, not like to find out. Your earlier confidence begins to fade away. You drop your gun on the floor. He doesn’t budge and simply glares at you and then the gun. You understand and kick the gun forward, far enough so that it’s out of your reach. The man smiles in a way that makes you feel as though he is unhinged. Perhaps, he is.

He steps away from Dazai and towards your gun. He kicks it away so that it clatters against one of the pieces of old equipment. Suddenly, Dazai who has been complacent this whole time stands up and rushes towards him. The ropes around his wrist seem to have disappeared. He leaps forward and the man spins around and fires off gunshots, maybe eight? Panic seizes you and you let out a cry of panic as you spring forward. The leader turns to you with wild eyes but only empty clicks sound from his gun. You immediately grab him and force him to the ground. You hastily cuff him before looking up for Dazai.

“Dazai!” you shout. You leave the man on the ground and run towards him. Dazai stands casually with a smile on his face but his right hand touches his shoulder.

“That was close”, he comments drily as he moves his hand away and inspects the blood. “Just a scratch.”

He grins at you and then walks towards the cop on the floor. “I imagine you arrived alone. Not a very smart move on your part.”

Asahi nods, “Thank You, I’ll call back up and arrest them.”

Dazai turns away from him and heads for the door, “No need. I’ve already called in my own back up. Y/n, Kunikida arrived on scene roughly five minutes ago with Tanizaki and Atsushi.”

You nod silently. He’s acting so calm. And true to his word, the others had shown up with the police in tow. The situation was neatly resolved and you handed over your findings to them. By the time the whole situation was completely resolved, night had descended onto Yokohama and the breeze was chilling.

____________________

“Dazai, what was that?” you ask.

Both of you had left earlier than the others and had met up at the agency. The clock steadily ticks towards 10pm. Your movements feel sluggish but you are wide awake. The events flash behind your eyes on loop. The repetitive gunshots firing in your ears. Dazai looks over at you with a confused look. “A drug bust?”

“Not that, why did you run at him? He had a gun in his hand, he could’ve killed you. Heck, you already got injured. Why would you suddenly rush him like that?”

Dazai simply shrugged. “I knew he wasn’t going to actually hit anything fatal. He could barely hold the gun properly. He wouldn’t have killed me even if I was standing right in front of him with a target between my eyes”

“Don’t be reckless, Dazai.”

“Speaking of “reckless”, why were you there?” I told you to head to the east side of the building and yet you were prancing about the headquarters right into his hands. Romanoff is a dangerous man, he would’ve killed you immediately. Also, I do believe you charged a villain with a gun today.”

Romanoff? Where was this information earlier?

“Nothing even happened on the east side, no one was there, why does it even matter. And don’t you dare compare what you did to what I did. The difference, Dazai, is that that man didn’t have his gun in his hand yet and I did. The difference is also that Yosano can heal whatever injury I walk out with while her gift will never work on you.”

“She can’t fix a corpse”, he seethes at you. You pause. Your face has gone completely red and you can’t believe you’re even arguing with this intolerable man. He’s already been hurt, how much more does he want?

“I wasn’t going to-”, you suddenly pause. Something isn’t adding up.

“Suddenly at a loss of words”, he taunts.

“No”, you eye him carefully. This man is a genius. Out of all your joking and sniping at him, you’ve seen him work. You’ve seen him come up with incredible plans and predict the enemies movement as if they were all nothing but pawns on his chessboard. So why?

“Why did you want me on the east side of the building?” you ask. “When the police were inspecting, there was nothing there. No one was there.”

Dazai says nothing. For a second the only thing that can be heard are your shallow breaths.

“Why did you send me away? Were you going to handle it by yourself?”

Dazai lets out a dry huff of laughter. “You think too much. I thought the ringleader would try and escape that way and then you would’ve been able to catch them off guard.”

You step towards him “But all of the vehicles were on the right, that’s what you blew up.”

“Most leaders will have a second escape route if they’re smart.”

“No one was there, Dazai.”

You walk towards him and he doesn’t move, but only continues to smile with eyes that hide a million little secrets. Perhaps if you stare at them long enough, you will finally unlock his secrets.

Finally you stand in front of him and reach a hand to grasp the corner of his jacket as he moves back. The material is surprisingly soft in your hands. You stare up at him and his warm eyes meet yours, for once it feels as though a layer of his armour has been stripped away.

“Don’t run away.” you whisper, he’s so close that you fear a harsher sound may break him. That he may recoil once again back into his shell and shut you off again.

He glances away from you and chuckles.

“I’m not made from drywall", you joke lightly, “I can support you, you don’t have to hide me in a corner.”

He doesn’t face you when he responds, “I’m well aware, Little miss detective.”

“I don’t think you are”, you chuckle. You release his coat and reach up to cup his face in your hands. You force him to look at you. Your light smile disappears when you meet his eyes. They are burning. His eyes darken as he watches you, the next layer of armour stripping away when he says, “That was really dangerous, what you did today.”

“Not as dangerous as what you did, I hear they were chasing you all over the place.”

He frowns, “It’s different when I do it.”

“I don’t think so.”

He huffs and leans forward. His ice cold hands reach for you as he cradles your face in his hands. Oddly enough, the cold feels good against your burning cheeks. He brings you closer to him as he leans down towards you.

“You are so frustrating.”

You narrow your eyes at him and playfully frown. “Me? What about you and your vague ass instructions, you know, maybe if you-”

Soft lips press against your own. He steals your breath away along with every last one of your words. His hand that was cradling your face so gently has slipped around your waist as he pushes you flush against him. He’s cold. He’s so cold and you wrap your arms around him. He doesn’t always have to be cold. He doesn’t always have to be alone.

You finally pull away and gasp for air. His eyes burn with intense emotions and he immediately begins kissing your jaw. He nips at your neck before sucking the skin aggressively. His tongue rolls out his mouth as he laps at the area before he moves on to the next. You burn. A shiver runs down your spine and you want him closer. You want to dissolve and drown in him. It’s been so long since you’ve felt like this. His teasing smirks and dry comments have annoyed you to no end and yet he’s here with you against the wall with his long slender finger digging into your hips in the most intoxicating way. You wish for nothing more than for this man to devour you whole. Your hands have tangled into his hair as you tug gently. He groans against your neck and his hand moves further down to grab your thigh rubbing small circles.

“Don’t tease me”, he whispers as his teeth graze your ear.

“I’m still mad at you.”

“Then let me apologize, Belladonna.”

__________________________________

193 notes · View notes

smolbeanieee · 2 years

Text

Promise? Promise. | Two

mafia! au

pairing: taeyong x fem!oc

genre: angst & tiny bit of fluff

masterlist

taglist <3 @popsuhcle @sunny-nyu

“The tenants said they been causing chaos and keep messing around with them these few days.” Mark finishes his explanation about the thugs in their area when Taeyong ask for the updates of the week during their weekly meeting with all the members at their base.

It’s been their routine since the group established. Weekly meeting about any news or problems arise in handling any business in their town—let it be about tenants of their buildings, drugs or weapon dealings, gambling or even corruption arise among the businessmen.

“Did the tenants gets hurt or anything?” Taeyong concernedly asked, eyes never left the long table occupied with all 23 men in the room as he leans back on his chair, hands running through his hair.

“Luckily they’re weren’t hurt, but they were threaten instead.”

“Threaten?”

“Those bastards said they will kill the tenants if they don’t give them the proctection money.”

Taeyong scoffs upon hearing, can’t believe the thugs had the nerves to mess around, scaring his people especially in his town. He clasped his hand together on the table, slight smirk appears on his face “Then, we should threaten them too. You know what to do right?” Taeyong asked Mark, throwing all the attention to his younger brother as Mark just nods knowingly.

“Got it, hyung”

“Great. Now did we missed anything else? Kun hyung? Johnny?” Taeyong asked, eyes narrowed down to the table where his all 22 trusted men sitting, who are also close enough to be considered as his brothers as they just shook their heads with few people mumbling no’s as response.

“As for now there’s no problem for emergency support but one thing I wanna highlight. Stop coming into the medical room if you’re just having small cut. My eyes on both of you.” Kun said as he makes eyes contact with Ten and Yangyang across him, making everyone in the room let out a loud laugh that echoes throughout the room.

“Okay, we’re not doing it again.” Yangyang said sheepishly as Ten just smiles, knowing that messing around with Kun is a fun things to do other than handling weapons.

Taeyong chuckles upon watching their antics teasing each others. It liven up the mood in the base. His eyes then trailed down to his next right hand man “John? Anything you wanna add up?”

“Nah, I’m good. Just want to update that everything in US is good. All the dealers paid their money on time and the business there is all good and safe. And for the mules we caught last week, we already handled him properly.” Johnny smirked knowingly to Taeyong

“Good to hear that. Just make sure no trace left behind.” Taeyong reminds as Johnny just nods, acknowledging his leader’s words. “Then, we’ll end our meeting today. Good job everyone.” Taeyong said, indirectly ended the meeting, making the others men starts walking out of the room, finally feels relieved when the intense meeting ended. His tracks stopped when Taeil called out for him

“Taeyong, can we talk for a moment?” Taeil asked as he take the nearest chair, motioning Taeyong to sit down along with him.

Surprise with the sudden request from the eldest members of the gang, he sit down next to him. He knew something is wrong as Taeil isn’t usually behaving like this. “Why, is there any problem with our supplies?”

“No, it’s not about the supplies. Remember the what Mark said just about the thugs?” Taeil said, his mind can’t stop worrying if what he guess comes out true.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Actually I just knew about it last few days and turns out the thugs were sent by someone else. Apparently he’s the new mafia gang.” Taeil said, lips quivering, holding back his nervousness.

“Who?”

“Jooheon” Mentioning his name alone makes Taeil wanna throw punches on him, remembering after what did he has done to his sister.

Taeyong shocked hearing that from Taeil, not expecting the man would be in mafia. He only knows Jooheon is supposed to be trained under Moon’s family but Jooheon betrayed them instead. “Wow that bastard is now has his own mafia gang?” Taeyong scoffs.

“Yeah and I think he got quite a huge numbers of members under him. Plus, he's messing around in our town. Don’t you think he got other ulterior motive other than meddling with our business here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I felt like he’s planning something. I meant, Jiwoo just settled everything here less in a few months and Jooheon already messed around in our area. The timing isn’t so coincidentally. I sensed something bad would comes up if we didn’t take care of his men properly” Taeil explained

Ah so it’s about Jiwoo, Taeyong thought. He understands where did Taeil comes from—because which older brother isn’t worried about his sister when her ex-fiancee who had done something awful to their family comes back. Taeyong didn’t knew much of what has exactly happened but he knew things really get ugly back then when the chaos happened.

Taeyong thinks hard on what he should do. Isn’t about Jiwoo alone, it’s about his area he’s been taking care of—the people, the business and deals he made with the businessmen all around the town. He didn’t want to risk anything if Jooheon did any nasty things in his area.

“Have you done any search?” Taeyong asked, turns his attention to Taeil who seems less shaken than before this.

“Yeah, i’ll send the details to you after this.”

“Sure, just let me know if you need anything. I’ll asked Doyoung to help you.” Taeyong said, giving Taeil a warm pat on his shoulder as he gets up from the seat.

“Yeah and Taeyong-ah?” Taeil called before Taeyong could made his way out from the meeting room as he stopped at the door, turning his head to Taeil, eyebrows raised, subtly asking in confusion.

“You know I trust you so much right?” Taeil said as Taeyong just nods his head in agreement. “Then, can I ask you a favor?”

His words makes Taeyong confuse for a seconds but then shocked when Taeil finally burst out the words he’s been keeping to himself.

Even though few days passed since the dinner, Taeil’s words keeps on ringing in Jiwoo minds for couple days and it’s bothering her. She can’t help but to think about what her ex-fiancee done to her, to her sister especially—it terrifies her.

Brushing off her mind, Jiwoo picking up all the brushes she has used up for her painting, putting it back to the right place. Sighing to herself as she take a look around her art studio.

A place where her dad didn’t knew about it.

A place where her dad oppose of her being herself.

This is where she’s comfortable to be.

Free from all the dirty jobs that her dad asked her to get involved.

Her train of thoughts were disrupted when she heard familiar loud voices coming from the entrance of the studio as she making her way to the commotion. Jiwoo’s frown softens when she recognizes the faces of the owners of the loud voices. Both of the man carrying few boxes into the studio while bickering with each other, not noticing she staring at them.

“Ah why did you bring so many things?” The tallest man grumbles as he arrange all the boxes he brought up in one place.

“Hey, I’m moving out from China, of course they will be a lot of things, you idiot” Minghao, the Chinese man replied as he helped Mingyu with the boxes, stacking it properly before going to arrange it later in his studio room.

“I thought you will arrive this evening?” Jiwoo asked, slightly startling the men in process, making both of them turns their attention to her.

“You scared me! How long have you been standing over there?” Mingyu asked, dramatically calming himself down as if he saw a ghost.

“5 minutes ago? Anyway Hao, how’s your journey? Is everything good?” Jiwoo fondly asked the younger man.

Mingyu and Minghao, the two men Jiwoo met during her transfer in university to Japan when her dad sent her away. At first, Jiwoo didn’t trust them at all—thinking they might be some men that her dad sent to monitor her during her study, but after some deep investigation she did herself, it turns out they just a bunch of kids who comes from rich family who decides to pursue their studies abroad. But it took Jiwoo for a while to becomes friends with them, especially putting trust in them because it will put Mingyu and Minghao in danger if they know she’s from mafia family. Hence, it took Jiwoo for a while to open up about herself.

Surprisingly, both men take the news really well as they assured her that nothing serious will happened and asked don’t worried much about anything. The friendship gets deeper when they discover Jiwoo is also interested in arts and painting that matches with Mingyu and Minghao liking too—which leads the trio to open up with their own studio once Jiwoo comes back.

So here they are—welcoming Minghao who just comes from China after he decides to settle down in Korea after so long. Jiwoo and Mingyu gladly welcomes him as they agree to run an exhibitions art one day with their own arts and photography by Mingyu.

“He’s here means he’s perfectly fine during the journey” Mingyu sarcastically replied, earning a soft punch on the shoulder from Jiwoo, making Mingyu jokingly acting as if it hurts before going back to putting Minghao’s boxes at his own studio room.

Minghao chuckles watching his friends playfully arguing with each other “Everything’s great! I’m so excited that I can’t fall asleep in the flight”

“But you still have to take a rest, it’s been a long journey. I’ll helped with the arranging later. Don’t worry.” Jiwoo assures him

“You don’t have to! I’m glad enough you let me move in, so I don’t want to burden you, plus you’re the owner here.”

“This is OUR studio, not just mine.”

“But you still paying half of the rent for us” Minghao whisper, almost inaudible but it didn’t go unnoticed by Jiwoo

“Hey!” Jiwoo shouts, tries to grab Minghao but he slyly escape from her side

“I’m going to take more boxes down there!” Minghao shouts as he runs away.

“You’re early today. Did you sleep here or what?” Mingyu asked right after he comes out from Minghao’s room.

“Is 11am the new early Kim Mingyu? I came here at 7. I didn’t want to bump with anyone when I go out.”

“I guess your dad makes you do something ridiculous again?” Mingyu prediction never went wrong as he knew Jiwoo, especially about her family.

Jiwoo chuckles upon Mingyu’s guessing. He always knew where to hit the spot that hurts so much. “Oh god, don’t make me start it. I don’t want to talk about it” she said, making both of them laugh at the situation.

———

“He what?!” Jiwoo’s voice echoed throughout the living room.

This isn’t what she expect to hear from his parents when they called her for great news, is what they said.

“Taeyong said he wants to marry you” Her dad repeat.

Jiwoo knows exactly what her dad said at the first place.

She fucking heard every words

She just couldn’t believe her ears.

Letting out a disbelief laugh, Jiwoo scoffs.

“What did you guys think I am? A doll that you easily order me around?” Jiwoo asked, she swear her lips gonna bleed soon from biting it so hard as she’s been holding herself up from blowing up again.

“This is for your own good.” Mr. Moon said, staring right at his daughter who has standing in front of him as she runs her fingers through her hair in frustration.

“One more time I hear that words again, I swear you not gonna see me again.” Jiwoo had it enough. She felt like she’s gonna throw up if she heard it more.

Jiwoo’s mind runs with so many thoughts—why they didn’t consider with her feelings? why they insist on the married so much? She barely talked to Taeyong and now they wanna put her in this fucked arranged marriage shit just because of the gang? In her mind, Jiwoo has mentally cursed to everyone.

Can’t take it anymore, Jiwoo’s mind pop out some idea.

“If I can’t make you stop the wedding, I’ll do it myself.” Jiwoo said, making the family shocks with the sudden boldness from Jiwoo.

Taeil stands up from his seat the couch, grabbing his sister’s arms to stop as she takes her belongings.

“Hey, what do you mean?” Taeil curiously asked, grabbing her shoulder, asking for clarification as he nervously glances to their dad over her shoulder

“I wanna meet with Taeyong, I’ll convince him to cancel the wedding by myself.”

93 notes · View notes

scandalsavagefanfic · 3 years

Note

Hello! I am a huge fan of ur writing. I've loved everything I've read of yours. I've read alot of what you've posted, except for a couple of the tags that are squicky for me (so I'm very thankful you tag very thoroughly). No judgement for the squick, it's just not for me. & when I'm having a bad day, I usually just go thru ur ao3 and find something to reread. I think about Therapy's Bruce & Jason every damn day. While I obvs appreciate ur darker more "problematic" content (I really vibe with some of the themes you write about bc of my own trauma, & so it's very cathartic to read about in a fictional setting), I am truly a sucker for ur more happy content. The Happily Ever After verse also lives in my head rent free. Idk more wholesome stuff just seems more special when you write it. Anyways. I would die for you. But the point of this ask is cause I'm curious as to why you don't like Urban Legends? I'm sorry if you already talked about it here or on twitter and I missed it. I was just wondering because I really enjoy your take on things and would love to hear why you dislike it. I've been enjoying it so far personally, but I am always open to DC comics criticism.

Aw thank you so much! I'm so flattered by everything you just said. You're so sweet ❤❤❤❤❤

I haven't talked about Urban Legends here or twitter (I haven't been very active in either place lately. Just a lot going on and no energy 😔) but I'm happy to do it here.

Before I start though, I just want to add a standard disclaimer and make it clear that if you like it, there's nothing wrong with that and you don't have to let me ruin it for you lol. Like what you like.

That said, since you asked...

I said this when I was talking about it on discord, that there is a difference between hope and expectation. I always hope that a new story centered on Jason (or anyone really, but things have been especially egregious for Jay for 15 years) will be good or at least treat the character with a minimal level of respect (to be honest, the bar is super fucking low). But my expectations always temper my hope, to keep it from getting unrealistic. Because my expectations are based on experience.

The long history of Jason Todd, since even before his resurrection, has been one of retroactively trying to make him "a bad seed" in order to absolve Bruce of any responsibility in his death.

I don't even expect DC or their writers to start honoring the fact that Jason was not an angry, reckless Robin (and less of the later than Dick or Tim and definitely Damian). There plenty of ways that retcon can be folded into his history and be compelling and sympathetic. And if they're going to stick with that retcon, I'm only asking that they do it in one of those compelling and sympathetic ways because Jason was 15 when he died, heroically, in one of the most selfless acts in comics, to save a woman who literally handed him over to be brutally murdered. He was 12 when Bruce plucked him off the streets, he'd been homeless and fending for himself for at least two years. I personally think that Jason's story hits harder for him and Bruce if their original, canon relationship, of Jason as starry-eyed and eager to learn and absolutely devoted to Bruce and Bruce to Jason, is preserved. But Jason's origins does leave room for a meaningful interpretation of him as angry and frustrated at the lack of meaningful results of Bruce's methods.

And that's really where my irritation at stories like Batman: Urban Legends, Cheer and Batman The Adventure Continues has it's roots.

Every time one of these stories comes out, I think (or hope, rather) that this will be the one that remembers and respects the origins of the Jason and the Red Hood, that takes into account the changed sensibilities of comics readers in the 30 years since Jason's death and the subtle, 20 year, retroactive campaign to make him the "bad Robin". The "born bad" trope is played out and literally no one likes the message it implies. That some kids are just bad eggs and there's nothing parents or the adults around them can do. Especially when it's played as the kid's fault. If Jason's time as Robin is going to be characterized by anger, then it should be rooted in anger at the social injustices he witnessed as he grew up in an impoverished, crime-ridden, area and the horrors he faced raising himself when every day was a battle for survival. There are topical, meaningful, stories to tell with that backdrop.

But those are never the stories we get.

⚠⚠ Spoilers for Batman: Urban Legends, Cheer ⚠⚠

I'm particularly disappointed in Urban Legends because for the first issue, it looked like that was the kind of story we were going to get. I was put off by the first flashback of Jason being mesmerized by Bruce's guns, and I got that feeling in my gut that it was a bad sign. Jason depicted as impatient and overconfident and the scene with the guns is heavy-handed foreshadowing that got my spidey-sense tingling. I had a inkling then (in the first three pages) of how this story was going to play out, but it was early and I could still see many narrative paths that could lead to a satisfying story. My concerns were soothed somewhat and the little flame of my hope fanned, with the flashback of Alfred scolding Bruce, with Barbara's concern for Jason. A bit of worry returned with the way Jason ruthlessly pursued an addict who didn't appear to be a dealer and with the ending of the issue. The stuff with the addict sat wrong with me but the ending was tempered some by how despicable Tyler's dad was written. The scene was clearly set so that the reader could sympathize with Jason's decision and the scene with the addict could be brushed aside as a side-effect of comics over-the-top need for constant action, so I still held hope.

Issue 2 made me uncomfortable and it's where my hope starts to take a backseat to my expectations. I can dismiss Jason's self-deprecating internal monologue as unreliable narration, except that the flashback reinforces his thought process to explicitly show that it's not unreliable narration, and should be taken at face value. Jason faces physical abuse at the hands of his mother's drug dealer and when the flashback continues later, Jason kills the drug dealer. To be clear, this is a pre-Bruce Jason. His mom is still alive. He's like... 10. He kills this guy for shoving his head into a wall and implying Jason's mother paid for her drugs with sex. This is a scene that serves a single purpose. To show that Jason has always been prone to violence.

In the spirit of full disclosure, there is the small chance the drug dealer might not be dead. But the story obviously wants the reader to think he is, and it hasn't done anything to change that yet.

Starlin already did this story with The Diplomat’s Son in 1988 and he did it infinitely better. AND that’s still technically canon. So now I’m supposed to believe that Jason lost his cool bad enough to kill two douche bags before his sweet 16? Like it’s totally normal for abused kids raised in poverty, who’ve led hard and heartbreaking lives to just... haul off and kill people? That’s bullshit, and when taken with the Jason in the third issue, who is little more than an idiot thug, this story is really doubling down on some fucked up stereotypes.

Which brings us to the most recent issue. I went into this installment with very low expectations. I thought this story was going to be about Jason, through this experience with Tyler, a young boy with a similar background to Jason's, coming to the realization that Bruce's way is the best way and that Bruce did his best by Jason.

That would be annoying (in no small part because it takes increasingly absurd levels of plot armor to keep Bruce's no kill rule relevant, let alone irrefutably right). But I can probably live with that, if only because maybe if Jason officially falls back into line with the Bats crusade, maybe I'll get stories that treat him with respect, stories that don't relegate him to comic relief, dumb brute, or a background body with no lines in a story about the Joker burning Gotham (like Jason would just fucking stand there quietly for that).

And that may still be where the story is going, Jason realizing Bruce is right.

But holy shit do I not have the right words to describe how fucking insulting and gross issue three is.

From start to finish--including the flashback--Jason is written as cruel and fucking stupid. Like straight up dumb.

The entire issue is Bruce explaining the fucking basics to Jason like it's his first day. And Jason flies off the fucking handle and terrorizes a doctor he knows isn't a part of making the Cheerdrops, beats the shit out of some random addicts, and finally, when he can't accomplish anything on his own because he's a dumb brute he calls Barbara for help and rushes in with no information where he's promptly incapacitated and must now wait to be rescued by Batman.

This panel is the least of the issues sins but I can’t screenshot the entire story but it’s representative of the tone for the whole issue (and retroactively tainted the prior two issues).

This is beyond insulting. The only conclusions Jason comes to in this issue are the ones Bruce leads him to by talking to him like he can’t make the simplest connections. And like... in this story Jason can’t make the simplest connections.

This (and the Jason throughout the entirety of this issue) is a far cry from the Jason we fell in love with in Under the Red Hood, who was competent and strategic and intelligent enough to seize control of Gotham’s underworld from Black Mask (who’s no fucking slouch, he’s the first and only person to unify organized crime in Gotham) AND elude and manipulate Bruce until the time and place of his choosing.

This is a far cry from even the Red Hood and the Outlaws Jason who is competent enough to fight the League of Shadows and Ra’s al Ghul (among very dangerous and skilled others) and smart enough to create antidotes for mind control nanotech viruses.

As he should be, by the way. Jason Todd is one of the best, most comprehensively trained fighters in DC’s stable of non powered vigilantes. He’s not irrational or hot headed. He’s pragmatic, tactically minded, and patient. He’s a detective. Right now. Has been since he was 12. Bruce doesn’t have to make him one because he already is.

Jason is not a stupid thug who uses his fists because his brain doesn’t work. And I can’t tell you how so very exhausted I am by this narrative.

This is actually the most egregious example of Jason’s skills and intelligence being not just undermined but dismissed entirely. Even Morrison’s Jason had some degree of competency.

The one, single redeeming factor of this story is the art. It’s beautiful. And Marcus To is a godsend he seems to be one of only a couple of artists who remember that Jason was a child when he was Robin and I’m literally only buying this book because of him.

Anyway, I’m sorry. I didn’t want that to come out so... um... passionately lol. I’m just very very tired. My intention with this isn’t to ruin it for you, if you like it, that’s fine.

But this issue shot this story to the top of my "Vehemently Despise” list. 1) Batman: Urban Legends (Cheer), 2) Battle for the Cowl/Morrison’s Batman and Robin, 3) Batman The Adventure Continues.

I hope the next issues somehow salvage this dumpster fire. But I’m not expecting it.

(Damnit. That sounded harsh again. To reiterate, I’m not trying to judge anyone who enjoys it, I just personally hate it and you asked me why lol 😅)

#Batman #red hood #batman: urban legends #nice art #shit story #or at least shit characterization #jason todd deserves better #this response got long and I didn't edit it #please forgive any errors #and/or unclear spots #spoilers

320 notes · View notes