#Just because he still has trauma doesn't mean he's unhinged or that he lost his sanity | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

metisket · 6 months

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book recs request ❤🖤❤🖤 🙏🙏🙏 in this case, book recs that you feel have inspired your writing style, or inspired your fics somehow?

Hmmm...this is a fun one but a tough one, because I'm not sure I'm really self-aware enough to know the true answer here. But I'll try! A lot of books/authors I believe shaped my writing style did it when I was pretty young, so we're getting some YA over here.

Robin McKinley

I must have read The Outlaws of Sherwood a dozen times between ages 10 and 15. I love me a hero who literally doesn't want to be here and got conned into this by pushy, well-meaning friends. Marian was the most badass Marian I'd ever encountered. Random, complicated, weird side-characters, my beloved. Cecily somehow speaking directly to whatever was unhinged about my own childhood feelings about my gender. Flawless, 10/10, should really re-read to see if it holds up.

This is not to minimize the ridiculous number of times I read The Hero and The Crown, The Blue Sword, Beauty, and Deerskin, because I also read them So Many Times that they've probably become a part of my psyche. Literally none of her heroes want to be heroes. But they've been informed that they are. Apparently. Ugh. Love to hate that for them.

Lloyd Alexander

I also re-read The Chronicles of Prydain at least once a year for many years. It has almost certainly messed with my mind. I was especially unhinged about The Castle of Llyr, because Princess Eilonwy. The best, the worst, the angriest princess. Love and respect. Taran I could take or leave, particularly during his Taran Wanderer phase (I was less sympathetic to his growing pains than I was to Eilonwy's), but The High King was a fantastic payoff, loved everything, no notes.

...Damn, I need to reread this series, also.

Lois McMaster Bujold

I didn't read The Vorkosigan Saga until college, but it immediately hit my brain hard. Fantastic characterization. The way she writes trauma and recovery from trauma, amazing.

Miles. What a character. What a mess. What a problem. He is only a little guy, literally and figuratively, and he's going to do his best to convince you that he didn't mean to offend that guy, set that building on fire, or end that empire. You know. Like a liar.

Sarah Rees Brennan

My number one fanfic influence--her style of writing is so delightful that, particularly when writing Harry Potter fic, I'd sometimes find myself paraphrasing her. I had to Sarah Rees Brennan-proof my fic to make sure I wasn't being an accidentally plagiarist, because her turns of phrase would just go subliminal in my brain. This honestly may still be happening, and if it is, I'm so sorry, Sarah, it's not on purpose.

My favorite of her books is In Other Lands, the story of a boy who is whisked away to magic school in magic land and is extremely annoyed to find himself there. Like why. Why is the plumbing medieval. Why don't phones work. Why is this magical Sparta.

...He's not wrong, is the thing. But he won't bend and he won't break and he won't leave, so apparently he's just going to have to fix the world himself. God help everyone! Love him. Love his friends. Love the entire world and setup and every single side character.

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

I have been informed that you can see the Pratchett and Gaiman influences in my writing. I think this is a lie people have told me to make me feel better, but you know, I Want To Believe. So I'll include them.

Pratchett: Love for virtually the entire Discworld series, with an especially fondness for the Watch books and Susan. Still obsessed with Vetinari after all these years. What if Machiavelli but chill, though.

Gaiman: Lost track of how many times I've reread Sandman. The characters, the coolness, the weirdness, the meta! Especially obsessed with Death. Just someone being very calm and collected in the face of all kinds of horrifying nonsense. I admire that. Love nearly all of his books, but my favorite is probably Anansi Boys. Bet your stupid family drama doesn't involve gods. Or at least. I hope it doesn't.

Erin Morgenstern

I'm cheating by including her, because she didn't actually influence my writing, I just WISH SHE HAD. She can't, sadly, because my outline game will never be that strong. I know my limits. But DAMN. ENVY.

Both of her books are without flaw, but I did love The Night Circus just that little bit more, probably because I am weak to a circus. I firmly recommend The Starless Sea also, though, because it features an Unhinged Library. The characters and settings and descriptions--delightful.

But the best part is the WAY the stories are told. They're not chronological--they're like little intricate puzzle-boxes, where you open one panel, and there's a story, and you open another panel, and there's a different story, and by the fifth panel, there's a story that connected to the first panel, but also a little to the third panel, and--

LOOK, I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT. It should be confusing, but it isn't. It's perfect. Just the right amount of information at the perfect time connecting to other pieces of information in a complex, interesting, deeply satisfying way. I would kill to be able to do this. Kill. I actually tried to do this in 'Mirror Image', and I had to give it up, because the level of incoherence was off the charts. ffffffffffff howwwww does she dooooo eeeeeet.

Anyway, I think those are the big ones. Special mentions to: Tom Holt, a deeply weird writer who strongly influenced one fic in particular (Some Confusion, DGM), Patricia C. Wrede, because Dealing with Dragons in general and Cimorene in particular got to me, and Dennis Lehane, because a) his historical fiction is inspiring, and b) I love his handling of The Unhinged Friend in the Patrick and Angie books. The best unhinged friend. He booby traps his own home. Love him. What is wrong with him? We'll never know.

#book recs #robin mckinley #lloyd alexander #lois mcmaster bujold #sarah rees brennan #terry pratchett #neil gaiman #erin morgenstern

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weebsinstash · 1 year

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And if one of the batfam just so happen to develop not-quite-so-platonic feelings for the reader, so be it :)

Honestly I've consumed Batman media but when it comes to comics and the lore of the Robins and all that, I'm remarkably uninformed, but the one I'm leaning towards the hardest, besides Bruce obviously, is Jason

I mean, for the sake of informing those not in the know, the original first Robin was Dick Grayson and after he became older, Batman found another protégé in Jason Todd, but at some point Jason is kidnapped by the Joker and horrifically tortured over the course of i think its a full year, beaten with a crowbar, and presumably killed with the "evidence" sent to Batman who believes he's dead and, never finds Jason, who is resurrected with the Lazarus Pit (something something evil league of assassins and also the mother of Bruce's blood son Damian is here, Talia Al'Ghul)

Eventually Jason comes back to Gotham as his own antihero identity, Red Hood, and he has his own take on justice greatly varying from his mentor: he now uses guns and even kills when he deems it necessary. And when Jason and Bruce finally meet and Bruce finds out Jason was alive this whole time, Jason's reaction is "I wasn't mad you never found me. I'm mad you let Joker do that to me and you still let him live" like he was deeply wounded by this betrayal and has to be basically rehabilitated back to being a hero (and also that performance is by Jensen Ackles which I never knew until today lol)

So I can just only imagine the levels of unhinged if Jason gets over his, you know, constant killing and is finally back to being like somewhat relatively normal and a vigilante again and then you have a situation like "oh Reader is kidnapped and hurt by the Joker too, maybe even sexually assaulted" and when Jason finds out it just triggers him being Red Hood all over again. I can imagine him wanting to take you away from this horrible life and this man (Bruce) who keeps getting everyone around him hurt and still doesn't have the balls to get the job done, at least in Jason's eyes

I remember watching this scene from Death in the Family and thinking about, what if Jason is just sitting there in that bed having this angry monologue and his thoughts shift to Reader and he has no hatred or animosity towards them at all, in fact, he's horrified. Why is Bruce risking your life by bringing you into this sort of lifestyle? So the man doesn't love Jason OR you? And he makes the decision that you're only going to get hurt if you stay with "the family" as it now disgusts him to even call it that

Like can you even imagine the rage and trauma and anguish he would feel if you know, the Batfam is gathered around and welcoming him back, and then, after everyone else has gone, you come into the room and you're just an absolute mess, shaking at the sight of him, instantly crying. "I wanted to keep looking for you," just absolutely weeping "they told me you were gone and I needed to move on but I kept wanting to at least-at least find your body and they... they...!" And Jason finds out, well of course YOU never could have rescued him or killed the Joker, because Jason's disappearance and 'death' was the last straw that finally sent you into a mental breakdown after dedicating yourself to Bruce's "mission" and you're not even allowed to leave the manor by yourself anymore and he can tell by looking at you that you've lost so much weight and not in a healthy way

And just like that, Jason readjusts his plans. He is not the only one who is going to escape from this mansion tonight. He feels rage boiling his blood as Bruce finally realizes you've spent so long in his room talking to him and one look at your puffy eyes and ragged breathing and the man decides, well you're just simply too overwhelmed to keep talking to Jason right now, you better go eat dinner and get some rest. And Jason grits his teeth as he sees you just, relent, as if you're used to not even having an option, still crying and obviously not wanting to go, still wanting to see him and touch him and talk to him and know he's still alive, but Bruce says to go, and so, you go.

And Jason would rather die a second time than let things end here.

#honestly im kind of considering this angle for a sequel to doubt but i also have another idea for how reader can do stuff there ;)#yandere stuff #sinprompts

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maedaeme · 7 months

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OUGH ALRIGHT magni backstory ramble time under the cut. was putting this off just in case i wanted to make changes but now i'm committed.

and later im not going to be able to stop myself from rambling abt his companion connections at length so i'm dropping this here as the starting point to keep me CONSISTENT.

refers to mild act 2 spoilers because I need to be a little bit unhinged about things. currently in act 3, but i'm saving that for later because there is so much happening. anyway

bullet point backstory bc it's 11 pm. what up.

used to be a priest(ess) of lolth. raised among devout lolth-sworn, which of course gives him baggage he doesn't even realize exists until like halfway through the game.

'i had a normal childhood' - guy who very much did not have a normal childhood. am i projecting my religious trauma here. who can say

very committed. basically used serving lolth as an elaborate excuse to get away with whatever selfish whims popped into his head

worked alongside two other, equally terrible priestesses under the mutual understanding that they were only 'allies' until they could stab each other in the back

last one standing is loth's fav. you know how it is

did in fact get stabbed in the back when one of them uncovered a secret of his and used it to oust him

fully accepted he was going to get sacrificed to lolth. was pretty chill with it, actually. as far as he was concerned it only made sense.

the priestess who ousted him decided it would be meaner to banish him to the surface instead

she was correct.

became SO INCENSED at being told he was not a worthy sacrifice that it became ALL he cared about

like. he refused to wrap his brain around it, so he just went 'fine, i will claw my way up from the dirt and eat bugs or whatever and i WILL become so fucking impressive that when i come back DOWN here you will HAVE to sacrifice me. that's how good i'll be.

'also maybe i'll trans my gender while i'm at it bc at this point I Have Nothing To Lose'

lost ability to use magic in the middle of this and just refused to think about the 'god abandoned me' implications

knew nothing about the surface. broke into places, stole, and murdered to survive. discovered life was easier if you got good at lying, just in case you got caught stealing. and he was already Very good at lying.

once he got it all figured out, he fell into organized crime VERY easily, while still secretly holding onto his General Disdain for everyone around him. this was not hard to do. people are shitty to you when you're a drow.

spent a couple decades fighting, stealing, and occasionally murdering if you paid him or annoyed him enough. mentally tucks away all of the crimes he does as 'for lolth' even though he's lowkey aware that's not how that works. there's a bunch of complicated stuff going on in his brain up there and he is avoiding all of it.

basically he starts the game an expert manipulator who FULLY expects to just eventually murder these people he keeps picking up because it Has to be that way, except thru act 1 he. doesn't. and then he starts to get used to them. enough that at camp he starts to drop his Eternal Performance, which everyone initially writes off as 'magni being weirdly dismissive and blunt for some reason' until late act 1 when they realize 'oh wait. that's what he's REALLY LIKE. he was LYING.'

his feelings towards the companions and himself and his goals get incredibly complicated. sometimes he sucks. sometimes he doesn't. gale makes him ask himself questions he does not want to know the answer to, but he can't just let it GO now that he's asking them. the people around him are trusting him with their deepest secrets and desires and it is FREAKING HIM OUT because he doesn't know how to do anything with secrets except destroy. so he drops the act further thru act 2. except they're still doing it. because they know what he's like by now. and they know that sometimes! he refrains from doing the mean selfish thing! because they wouldn't like it! and he hates that he feels that way and is occasionally halfheartedly mean and petty later like it's going to make the uncomfortable taste in his mouth go away but he is forming attachments to these people and there is NOTHING he can do about that

anyway. i'm going to shake my laptop later re: gale being asked to Explode by his god and how it forces magni to look literally his Only Driving Goal For Decades (getting eaten by spiders) in the face and ask himself if that's really what he wanted, but i'm in full hyperfixation mode. also he just rly loves astarion. he can't say that word though. feels wrong in his mouth

it's also put him in the weird act 3 spot of being the person who has already ASKED himself the hard questions that everyone else is now asking. he is, for the first time ever, somewhat the reasonable one. which means he's gotta accept he thinks differently about things than he used to. which he doesn't like. but he's embraced the softness, he just doesn't want you to mention it.

and sometimes he just goes and stands in a cold lake at 1 am so he doesn't have to think about anything. you know how it goes

#pointless post #mae plays bg3 #i'm so sorry this is so long. thank you for humoring me. bless u

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kira-the-whump-enthusiast · 2 years

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hey hi, no intentions to intrude but i saw you reblogged one of my posts tagging it as #oc isaac! I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like to hear about him, if you're willing to ramble (i like listening to people talk about their OCs). if not, then that's okay! have a nice day ☆

Holy shit. This isn't intruding at all holy shit I love talking about my OCs. Especially Isaac he's literally my favorite OCs. I'm literally so happy right now like this is hard to express in words. I am typing at the speed of light. I love asks about my OCs please everyone send me asks about my OCs.

Anyways! Ahem! A little bit of infodump on my favorite bastard!

Oh yeah. CW for like. Serial murder. Cannibalism. Torture. Failed executions. Solitary confinement. Starvation. Excessive amounts of suffering. So, so much trauma. That kind of stuff! There's probably more that I might be forgetting.

Longggg infodump under the readmore btw. If anyone reads it all I adore you also.

Here's some art of him! My friend made this for me <2

So, Isaac! He's like one of my favorite types of fictional character: unhinged arrogant men who are incredibly broken. Isaac has like two main motivations: he wants power and control, and he doesn't want to be hurt. And these are also very influenced by incredibly excessive amounts of hubris and anger.

A little bit of backstory: Isaac is an immortal shapeshifter, and he was born in like 1600s France (or the fantasy equivalent depending on the universe I put him into). He's transgender, which very much sucked for him in 1600s France, because 1. he was not allowed to live as his true gender and 2. people seen as women were not treated very nicely in 1600s France. Isaac was going to be married off to someone he didn't choose- so he ran away instead. And almost immediately afterwards he got into a duel and almost died. A last-minute deal with a deity saved his life, because he received his immortality and shapeshifting powers. The cost was that everyone he knew forgot about him- so he just went to the woods and lived there for like 150 years. Eventually he returned to society tho. However during that period of time in the woods, Isaac was completely isolated, and that warped his worldview very much. He thinks that he's above like all humans because of his powers. Combined with deep-seated resentment at humanity because of the restricted life he once led, Isaac decides to take it out on people by like. Murdering them. And then cannibalizing them afterwards. He looks down on people so much and he's desperate for a feeling of power and control, and murder and cannibalism gives him heaps of that. And then after like 50 years of that he gets caught. And his captors attempt to execute him, but it doesn't work since he's immortal. And they try everything. Hanging, beheading, drowning, immolation, garroting, just about everything. Isaac was alive and conscious for every one of them. So yeah, trauma! And eventually they decided to immure him (lock him in a cell, brick up the wall, and leave him to die), because he'd have to die eventually, right? Well, he didn't, and he spent about 200 years in a cell. A dark cell in a basement, with nobody else inside. His first escape attempts were futile, and eventually he lost the strength to even try escaping. Isaac may be immortal, but he still needs food and water to function normally. So it was just torture for him. He suffered even more knowing that he was there because he was subdued. Isaac knew that nobody would ever come to save him. He feels ashamed that he ever wanted someone to save him. Eventually he escapes because the prison above gets demolished. It takes him a while, but after finding food and water and getting to rest, Isaac does fully recover physically. His powers ensure that he'll never even have a scar. He returns to killing people anyways, because Isaac will never learn. Being left to rot in a basement cell changes him quite a bit, ofc! He's incredibly angry that he was bought so low, and he takes it out extra on people by committing more murder. And he's incredibly afraid of people and how they could hurt him now, although he'll never admit it. Isaac tries to pretend nothing ever happened to him, but he still sleeps with the lights on, and he hides food in his clothing, he's always eating or drinking something, and he flinches when someone gets too close to him. He's gone through so much shit, especially cuz of his own actions, but his pride prevents him from doing any self reflection, so he will keep digging his own grave further and further and further. Isaac does not have the ability to swallow his pride and reconsider what path he's taking, or seek help, and he doesn't try to be a better person cuz he doesn't think he needs to be.

And yeah! That's the Isaac infodump. It's just about every piece of information about regular Isaac. Should I reveal this in my writing instead of a tumblr ask? Probably. Will I post this anyways? Absolutely.

#oh I haven't talked about the um #torture AUs #quite a bit of the posts in the oc isaac tag are torture AU isaac #I'm very normal as you can see #anyways welcome to my whump blog #oh I should tag this with useful stuff #whump #oc isaac #technically I didn't mention some of the backstory events #midnight meal is a canon part of his backstory #yeah. I love putting this man through incredibly traumatic events #my ocs <2

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skloomdumpster · 2 years

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Don't you think that we fell into that "teenage drama" trap when we found out that Andeas was raised from the dead or are we going to stick to the idea that he was prevented from dying by Ben who as being a healer lied to his friends that Andy had gone because of taking pity on him or actually being an ally of Rosalind too and then somebody else found Andreas and gave him proper treatment?

Hi Anne!

Honestly, this is going to be a little long. Also shsfkdsdfk the Evil Ben theory is everything lmao

I do think we are already a teenage drama, is what Fate sets out to be from the get go. There's levels of unhinged plot and conflicts that wouldn't fly on a serious HBO drama, but obviously they work in Fate.

We lean onto cliches from the start. Bloom is the "special one", the fairy daughter+maybe princess+lost flame left on Earth, who now returns and aces pretty much everything. So it would be disingenuous of my part to go around saying we're not a teen drama who relies heavily on cliches.

That said, there's a difference between a teen drama with stakes and one without them. This does not equal good writing, but it's one of the many aspects that amount to it.

Teen Wolf is a TV show that, during an extent of it's run, had stakes. This does not mean amazing writing, it's just a simple fact. A main character was killed and stayed dead. The others characters had to deal with that grief. A main character was possessed and hurt their friends. They had all to deal with this trauma and it, ultimately, led to the plot of s4 and s5.

Many many critics can be made about HOW that was done, but one point remains: It had stakes. When a character gets a slash across their chest in front of you, you ARE at the edge of your seat, because it's a show that actually kills their characters or, at least, lets them deal with the repercussion of being brought back and the consequences of their decisions.

Supernatural is a YA tv show. It started out as a show with stakes, ended without them. It's an ongoing joke in tumblr that no one dies on Supernatural and it's true, but only to an extent. From seasons 1-5, the "strongest" seasons of the show, yes the characters were brought back. But bringing someone back from the dead was a big deal, one that demanded time, one that impacted those involved. Major characters were killed off and that was it.

It was only when the show started bringing characters back every other episode that it became a joke, became something we, as an audience, don't even blink to.

So yes, Fate already brought Andreas back, but, so far, it's been treated with the gravity it requires. We've already spent a part of s1 building up to his death and season 2 will, if well done, have to deal with THAT. Bringing Farah back too could be well made? Absolutely.

Sure it could! But in order to be well done, in order for the show to still hold stakes and for us to still be worried about the well being of our favorites, it would require the show to dedicate a lot of time to her resurrection and its impacts. How it affects the girls, how it affects Ben and Saul, how it affects HER... And in a show that's already introducing two more characters, hardly developed their five mains in season 1 and has three entire villains to explore, I just can't see them doing this any justice.

Bringing Farah back would be fanservice, one they might still do because they realize a lot of people are watching for Eve Best, but fanservice nonetheless. Narratively speaking, the show doesn't need her back and it would actually be detrimental to the main winx' girls storyline.

#fate the winx saga #fate: the winx saga #mymeta #farah dowling #andreas

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dmclemblems · 2 years

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ngl joe zieja saying “i hate this fucking route” about cf after seeing dimitri’s death scene with dedue is so cathartic

that man ain’t even played dimitri’s route yet and he still nopin’ out on seeing dimi die with a smile on his face and dedue being there for him as he dies

bless

#tbh I 100 percent didn't expect him to see my comment about that ending #bc I thought he was focusing on the game but then he was like #I'm seeing talk about a special ending and I was like OOP but like look #I'm so happy he got the ending bc I don't expect him to ever play the routes twice (on stream or not)#and with how he's felt throughout this route I feel like that ending fits for him better #I think in general it fits the route better anyway bc Dimitri wasn't unhinged in that route #Just because he still has trauma doesn't mean he's unhinged or that he lost his sanity #it actually makes less sense to /not/ get that ending bc it's like wait he wasn't unhinged ALL THIS TIME #and now suddenly he is? it would work in AM but not in CF #and I feel like that CG ending only exists to try to justify Edelgard ''having'' to kill him #bc like literally you get the option to spare Claude and she offers Rhea survival via surrender #she also considers this in a question way back like when students approach you to ask a question #but she doesn't even consider sparing Dimitri and straight up says at the start of the battle not to leave anyone alive #least of all King Dimitri so like... she can offer Claude and Rhea survival but refuses by any means to let Dimitri live #I really can't see the CG ending actually making sense for any reason whatsoever except #to try to make Edelgard look justified in killing him bc generally speaking most players are gonna get that ending #Joe probably would have too if I hadn't mentioned it in the chat and he hadn't been looking at the chat at the time #like it's understandable that most players get that one but the CG ending makes it seem like they just needed a reason to #make Edelgard need a reason to kill Dimitri i.e. randomly make him unhinged when he showed /no/ signs of that the entire route #imo the alternate ending with Dedue is the only one that actually makes sense bc he was still dying with all friends having died already #and he wasn't in a state to be looking for survivors. Dedue found him first and he still failed at everything he wanted but #died more at peace in that version when it was the exact same situation. in the CG they just kinda #made it look like Dimitri was the bad guy and Edelgard was right in killing him but it still doesn't fit with that route #in both situations he still lost everything and was dying and didn't know even Dedue was still alive until Dedue found him in the alt ending #so he was going to die sane either way in that ending. not that I think Joe would have liked Edelgard /any/ bit more #if he'd gotten the usual ending but I'm rly glad he got the alt ending bc it fits more with Dimitri's canon and isn't just #there to justify Edelgard. another case of bad writing honestly bc it was just thrown in in a situation that made no sense for Dimitri #but also it makes me very glad to see Joe being upset abt the route bc of how sad it is and how much sadder that ending makes it #also hey my brain can i write a post in peace without you running 1000 MPH and turning into a rant in my tags???

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tropiyas · 3 years

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(my longest analysis post so far, get ready)

I don't know how to write about this in a way that's not too weird, but recently, Dungeon Meshi has been good at making you feel uncomfortable. I really appreciate Kui for challenging the reader like that - it shakes you out of auto-pilot and is a sort of "speed bump" for the story beats if you're reading too fast, and makes you appreciate the manga as a whole:

The main villains of the story are established to be the Demons (in DM's fantasy setting, they are an eldritch entity a class above regular sentient species/monsters that the main characters deal with). Rather than eating other creatures or people, their main food is desire - they come from an alternate dimension of infinite mana where desire doesn't exist, so they set up in the titular dungeons to cultivate+feed on adventurer's desires (for gold/fame/immortality/etc).

This is all very abstract, of course, compared to eating fantasy creatures based on IRL organisms - how would you "eat" someone's desire? A standard approach would be a creature sucking on/eating someone's brain, which is the typical organ you'd think of with regards to a person's desire. But that's too realistic and rooted in biology, so Kui decided to make it much more physically disconcerting.

So far, we've seen two demons feast on a persons desire, and each time it was very disturbing - the demon pins down the victim, phases into the victim's abdomen, and starts eating away at the desire. The act itself is depicted very physically, but the victims don't experience any bodily harm, they're just screaming at the demon because they know they're losing part of themselves and can't resist (one of the first things a demon eats is a victim's desire to resist). To me, it 100% reads as an allusion to sexual assault and definitely made me shift uncomfortably as I read and digested what the author's showing me.

Okay, so with these moments, Kui definitely wants to tell the reader "Demons are definitely the bad guys in this story, they should not coexist with our main dimension if their entire diet relies on cruelty to sentient peoples." But how do exactly do you stop demons? The Elves, being a long lived race, seem to have decent experience with dealing with dungeons and defeating demons before they become too strong.

In DM Chapter 74, Kui hits us with ANOTHER set of uncomfortable moments since our protagonists are dealing with a demon that is about to become too strong (it just ate a ton of desire and is about to be unsealed from its tome, two events which we've never seen before). Mithrun, the captain of the Canaries (a demon-hunting party of elves), is the victim pictured above, who somehow managed to survive his encounter because the goat left him with a desire for revenge against demons. So, Mithrun is unhinged and wants to stop the current dungeon's demon by any means, and when he finds out that our main half-elf protagonist Marcille is in possession of the tomes containing the demon, he's ignoring all boundaries.

Mithrun is a victim of a demon, and wants to stop Marcille from being another victim, but his mix of desperation and trauma (I headcanon he's lost the desire to be sensitive/kinder to other people which ends up w/ shit like this) has resulted in even more unsettling behavior that STILL makes the reader go "woah, shit dude" even though we're on his side! Kui's basically reaffirming "the demons are a severe enough threat that someone with personal experience with one is going this far to stop another."

Mithrun's party members end up pulling him away (which makes sense, none of them even know if Marcille has the tomes on her person, and they want to defuse the situation). This gives Marcille just enough time to release the demon, and I'll let these last few panels circle back to what I meant at the beginning of this post.

This new tone is a far cry from the beginning of the manga, which was 90% whimsical adventures about eating fantasy foods. BUT, the best part of Kui's storytelling is that she's still keeping to the theme of eating (this yoked up motherfucker is just trying to devour his next meal even if it is Bad), so the progression between the light/dark moments of Dungeon Meshi is totally natural as the conflict revolves around who eats whom.

#dungeon meshi analysis #dungeon meshi spoilers #dungeon meshi ch 74 #ask to tag #dungeon meshi

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takerfoxx · 2 years

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Arcane, Season 1, Episode 4, "Happy Progress Day!", First Impressions!

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during this show's creative meetings.

No recap today. Don't need. Just want to jump straight to the point.

And that point is Jinx.

As predicted, there was a time jump, and there is no Powder, only Jinx. I was curious how the show would handle her. In the game, the music video, the comics, and the animated shorts, Jinx is very much a, "LOL, SO RANDOM!" character who loves explosions. She's violent, she's wacky, and she's endearing. But one thing she isn't is serious.

THIS Jinx though, this Jinx straight up lives in a society.

Yes, she's still loony, colorful, childish, and loves dah boom boom, but now that there's an established reason for her being that way, the show has opted to take her trauma and mental illness very seriously, albeit hyper-stylized. And what we get is a character who is entirely unhinged, deranged, but still tragic. The scenes with her hallucinations, seeing the mannequins of her dead friends (hi Mylo), and how thoroughly she is forever locked to that moment when she lost her family was both heartbreaking and highly disturbing.

And as we saw with her fight with the Firelights, Vi occupies a very large part of her mind.

One downside to this being an origin story is there's little hope of a redemption arc or any sort of reconciliation between her and Vi. I predict some kind of team-up/near reconciliation, only for it to get ruined and for things to end with them trying to murder each other to death. Or something.

BTW, that Firelight leader got a lot of focus. Ekko, is that you?

In other news, Silco now basically runs Zaun (which has become a cool cyber-punk undercity) out of what looks like Vander's old tavern, but with what's going on up above (more on that later), his potential for expansion is becoming increasingly limited. And while he still obviously cares for and values Jinx, he is growing frustrated with her instability becoming a liability. And, uh, I'm just...gonna hope her straddling his lap was just her being weird and not...something else, okay? Because there's disturbing, and there's...that.

Also, what did she inject into his dead eye? Was that shimmer? Is he ill? Is she controlling him somehow? It has to be significant.

Meanwhile on topside, Piltover is now even more steampunk and looking just grand! Jayce and Viktor's hextech has revolutionized the city, and they've figured out a way to safely replicate the teleportation spell that Ryze used to save Jayce and his mom, creating instantaneous travel to and fro from Piltover. But they're not done, as they now have found a way to create a more stable version of the hextech crystal, one that could be used for more than just transport.

Okay, I want to talk a little about Jayce. Dude has done really well for himself, to the point where's he's the town mascot, basically. I mean, he has his own face on his coffee mug! That having been said, I'm a little concerned that they'll do something that I feel wouldn't be appropriate here: and that's to do the whole "Kid of lowly (sort of) birth with big ambitions makes it big but forgets where he came from and is called out for his arrogance!" You know the story.

And the reason that I hope they don't go that path is because...Jayce really isn't doing anything wrong. Like, sure, he's proud of his accomplishments, and certainly enjoys the prestige that it brings him, but he's still the same nice, thoughtful guy he was before. He steals away from hobnobbing with the elite to go hang out with Caitlyn. He jumps through several hoops to try to help her after her demotion. He wants Viktor on stage with him to share in the glory. He credits his family's past as toolmakers in his speech. He actually listens to Heimerdinger instead of Mel and doesn't reveal the new crystal prematurely. And when the crystal is lost, he takes responsibility and advocates for the solution that will save the most lives.

Like, the dude hasn't messed up. His ego hasn't gone to his head, his ambitions are tempered, he's listening to the people he should be listening to, he's going out of his way to credit and help the people who got him where he is, he hasn't forgotten where he came from. So what lesson does he need to learn?

(and I don't mean that as a criticism, as if I feel he's too perfect, as he's still a very likeable dude. I'm just saying, if they did hit him with a humbling character arc, it really isn't warranted)

Now, I'm not saying he's going to go through that kind of arc, I'm just saying I'm picking up on a lot of signs that things might be heading that way. Hope I'm wrong.

Also, Viktor. Dude. You do not look well. Is that what leads to his eventual falling out with Jayce and heel turn? Was he hoping that hextech could lead to a cure, and Jayce stalling the project could be fatal?

If I do have one criticism, it's that how did Jinx know about the new hextech crystal? She gets told to chill out by Silco, has a meltdown in her lair, and suddenly she's pulling a heist to steal it. I feel like there was a missing slide there.

Though, hey, you think that maybe Silco is going to replace his dead eye with the hextech crystal, maybe use that to stave off whatever infection he's dealing with? Well, those who have already seen the whole show already know, but I don't.

And finally, we finally get the long awaited meeting between Vi and Caitlyn! Looks like Marcus threw Vi under the bus in the end after all. I mean, she was the culprit, but him saving her gave me the impression that he'd take pity on her or something, but nope. Anyway, with how much attention this ship has gotten, I'm sure we're in for all kinds of subtext. I don't think it becomes text here, as I haven't heard anything about it, but in a post Catradora world, I do hope that season 2 just runs with it. We all want it.

#arcane #league of legends #lol #jinx #silco #jayce #viktor #caitlyn #heimerdinger #vi #reaction

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 4 years

Text

The Best Things ~ J.V. (part 12)

A/n: I would like to apologize for not marking warnings on each part like I should have been. I get too excited to post and skip over them on accident. I’ll do my best to add them from here on! Also, I was adding the warnings as I wrote but then they didn’t save so I tried to remember them as best I could. If I forgot anything, I sincerely apologize.

Warnings: Recounting past trauma (physical abuse, homophobia), explicit talk of death, badly handling others’ trauma, light smut (foreplay: slapping, choking, degradation, daddy kink, handcuff restraining, brat/dom dynamic, punishing, teasing, masterbation)

Word Count: 5200+

MASTERLIST

The air was so thick with tension that a knife could have cut through it. No matter how much Harley was fighting his instincts to lounge and be himself - the self Jeremiah was used to, at the very least - he felt like he had to be the self he used to be. The one Bruce was expecting. Jeremiah knew Harley was trying too hard, and Jeremiah was far too easy to read - which meant that Bruce knew too. So Harley sat there trying to behave and Bruce sat there brimming with suspicion and pain and hesitation and Jeremiah sat between the two boys, wishing this had never happened and he could just escape the two brothers who seemed seconds from either running or fighting.

Echo, as if sent from God, walked into the room with a pitcher of water. They were at Jeremiah's instead of Wayne manor as Harley had absolutely no intention of being back there or anywhere near Alfred. The butler was far too good at accepting change, which meant that the man might pick up on the fact that Harley was no longer Y/n and the whole thing would fall apart. Honestly, it seemed like so much work. Harley wasn't sure why this plan was so important but Jerome was feeding off of it so Harley did it anyway because he'd said he would. If this is where Jerome lead, Harley would follow.

"So," Echo cut into the silence as she walked around pouring drinks. "How is everyone this evening?"

Harley smiled at her, amused. She was poorly hiding a sort of awkward expression that was dashed with a little humor. She was mocking them in her head; Harley could almost hear what she was thinking. A bunch of dumb boys sitting around a table unable to swallow their pride. Idiots. "Oh you know," Harley mumbled casually, shrugging. "Indulging." He motioned to his food but his words were obviously directed at the ambiance.

"Having a good time?" Echo asked.

"Not at all," Harley immediately answered with the same casual, chipper tone. Jeremiah choked on his drink as he laughed at the exchange. The humor delivered saltiness in Harley's voice and the passive aggressive mocking in Echo's had always been an exchange that could make Jeremiah chuckle at least a little. Echo and Harley were very good at banter and it lightened the mood significantly every time they went at it. After all, it was just in good fun. Bruce seemed to relax as a smile curled everyone else's lips. "So... Harley." His lips seemed to want to reject the name.

Harley's smile dropped. Hearing Bruce call him that made him uncomfortable. Not just because he was nervous about Bruce not calling him Y/n as he had all up until this point but because he had cut Bruce out of this new life very purposefully and now... he was in it anyway. "Yes?"

Echo sighed and left the room as she sensed Harley jerk back, even with her attempt to loosen everyone up. Jeremiah focused on his food. Bruce looked at Harley but Harley did not look back, instead choosing to stare at the door Echo had gone through. "Why Harley?"

That was an easy question. "When I was in Arkham, a few of the guards used to beat the shit out of me every single day to try and convince me to be straight." Harley looked Bruce in the eye when he said this, completely calm. He had long since gotten over it. "They even put me in isolation to keep me away from people who might protect me or care about me."

"Jerome." Bruce didn't form it like a question.

Harley answered anyway. "Yes. But see this is a smaller world than everyone thought and my therapist, Harleen Quinzel, became my friend instead. She's like me, but for girls." Bruce nodded, accepting that. "They couldn't kill me without having to mark me as a loss. That and they'd have lost their punching bag. To teach me a lesson, they killed her. And then made sure the TV that was never supposed to be on the news would be on the news, on just the channel and at just the time that would allow me to see her bloody, bruised, cold, dead body strewn out for the public to see. And no one gave a single shit because no crimes in Gotham get solved unless someone important is involved. And even then- well, you know first hand."

Bruce's expression grew very dark. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't," Harley purred, still eating as if he was talking about the weather.

Jeremiah has stopped eating. "People are really like that?" His voice was small and his eyes moved to Bruce, his hands tightening around his silverware as if picturing Bruce's face cold and dead and staring at him through a TV. Bruce felt his eyes and looked back to Jeremiah, but the red head averted his gaze to Harley instead. "I mean, people really act like that just because of... how someone loves?"

Harley nodded, swallowing the food in his mouth. It tasted like sand but he kept eating it. It made him feel powerful to while the others in the room had forgotten their food altogether. Although... Perhaps he hadn't chewed it as well as he thought because it felt as if it had gotten stuck somewhere along the way. A thick lump had lodged for a second and a sick feeling had settled in the bottom of his stomach. He hadn't thought about that image in so long... the daily bearings and the isolation and the one ray of light he'd gotten being extinguished and displayed because he had dared to be himself and therefore allowed her to do the same. Because they were different than how most people were.

"Do you know who did it?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah." That didn't seem to be the answer Bruce was expecting. "This isn't great table conversation," Harley eased, changing the subject. "But that is why I go by Harley. Do you like it?"

Bruce shrugged. "Do you still go by Wayne?"

Internally, Harley sighed. "Harley Quinn."

At that Bruce nodded. "You're not coming back are you?"

Harley laughed dryly. "You're not very good at casual, light conversation are you Brucey?"

"Don't call me that," Bruce snapped, body going stiff.

Rolling his eyes, Harley sat back in his seat. "Why not?" It came out harsher than Harley had meant it.

Meeting hostility with hostility, Bruce got angry as well. "Because that's what Jerome called me, and after how many times he tried to kill me it's not a name I like."

"Get over it," Harley sneered. "It's just a name and we're in Gotham. Trauma is kind of a part of life here. Adapt or get trampled."

Bruce jerked back. "Get over it? Since when are you...?" He trailed off, as if hesitating, before his face set and he finished his sentence with a much harder tone. "Like Jerome."

Harley felt his knuckles turn white. "Stop saying that like it's a bad thing." "It is!" Bruce hissed.

Harley shot to his feet, dropping his silverware on the table. Jeremiah flinched but Harley didn't notice. Bruce did. "Look, Jerome is fucked up and dark and broken. He doesn't have a grip on reality or know how to human because he wasn't fucking treated like one. He killed people. He was crazy and insane and unhinged and dangerous. Yeah! You know what else he was? He was understanding and accepting. He got why people lived their lives differently than he did and didn't really judge anyone, ever. He thought they were boring and chose to live differently, sure, but he lived to make people laugh and have fun. Maybe his sense of fun was fucked up, but he genuinely just wanted people to laugh along with him for once. He didn't hide who he really was. He wasn't ashamed. He didn't shun me and shove me in a corner and try to change me. He accepted who I was. He CELEBRATED me. I'd rather be with him than at this stupid fucking dinner or anywhere near you because I'm not some poor gay boy who needs saving. I'm strong and I matter and I FINALLY love myself, and you won't ever take that away from me because you see self respect and see Jerome because no one taught you that you are more important than everyone else. I refuse to sit here and let you try and turn me into some pathetic whiny brooding mess who's never happy because my priorities are fucked up. I won't be you. That isn't my goal anymore."

The room was dead quiet. For a long time, no one said anything. The brothers just stared each other down until Bruce shook his head. "Perhaps this was a bad idea."

Jeremiah pinched the bridge of his nose. "You guys are idiots." The other two in the room looked at the red head with shock. "My brother is dead, and honest to god it's a relief that he is. He's out of my life and I'm safe from him. I never had the chance to have a real relationship with him. I used to read the newspaper about your family and think that you guys were some kind of dream. Two brothers that loved each other despite everything and parents that were like... actually good people on any level." He sighed. "Obviously I was wrong. You're too busy trying to make him how he used to be." This he directed at Bruce. "And you're too busy hurting and bottling up your emotions and pushing everyone away to let anyone care about you or see the real you." This was for Harley. Jeremiah didn't stop when both other boys went to speak though. "Just shut up and make this work because you guys are the only true family you each have left. Harley, you grew up and I have to say you wear your changes very well. You're happier and sturdier and if someone isn't happy about that then they're insane. Right, Bruce?"

The Wayne boy hesitated before giving in. "Yeah. I am happy for you. I should have started with that. I just... I'm scared for you."

"Why?" Harley demanded, exasperated.

"Because I don't want you to become Jerome. I don't want you to end up like that. I don't want you to be some criminal, when you used to be the best person I knew. You said your life goal used to be being like me? No. I wanted so much to be like you. You couldn't speak about a huge part of you, but you accepted it with the knowledge no one else ever would. I refused to even look at the fact that I'm attracted to guys until you and Jerome got together and then..." his eyes shot to Jeremiah and then back. "Things happened and- and you were always so bright and happy and free. Like a bird in flight or- something." He shook his head. "You were inspiring, Y/n. Seeing you like this... it looks like you've been broken. And I just want to bring back that light you had before. When you seemed so much happier."

"I'm not broken." Harley looked at the boy who was supposed to be his brother. The boy who used to be his best friend before one lie after another had pulled them further and further apart until they were on completely opposite sides. Secrets had torn their relationship up into so many little bits it could never be repaired. They were just too different now. "I'm not lost or struggling. I'm just not... sitting there and pretending all the bad things aren't happening. The friends I have now actually like and respect me as a person, not just because I'm Y/n Wayne. I'm myself, proudly, and I wear my experiences as a reminder of what I can endure. Things hurt less. What you see isn't some poor boy waiting to be saved. It's darkness. And maybe that scares you, because you're used to hiding your darkness. But darkness, Bruce, isn't a bad thing. Darkness is what makes us who we are. Like everything it can be used as a weapon, but Darkness itself isn't dangerous. What you do with it is."

Bruce considered that for a long time. "That... is a good point."

Jeremiah released a breath. "So... truce?" The boys looked at each other before shrugging. Harley sat back down. Jeremiah seemed pleased. "Okay, now lets talk about something a little more pleasant."

"So you mean literally anything other than what any of us have been up to recently?" Harley sassed. Jeremiah shot him a look. "Okay fine whatever." He searched for some light conversation. "So you guys are like boyfriends now or what?"

That seemed to make Bruce and Jeremiah both blush and the air in the room cleared significantly. Harley pulled off being cheery and invested as he teased and prodded and asked questions and engaged. Things almost seemed like they used to be when Bruce and Y/n would sit with their parents and Bruce mentioned a girl and Y/n would go off about how he was going to be the best man or the world would surely end... but Harley wasn't Y/n and Jeremiah wasn't their parents. This wasn't Wayne Manor and as good of a server as Echo was, she wasn't a butler. She wasn't Alfred.

Under the light tone, Harley formed a plan. A plan he carried out as he and Bruce began to hang out more and more as time passed that night and stretched for a while. Jerome became nocturnal in favor of being awake when Harley finally returned at home. The boys would spend some time together and then sleep and then Harley would wake up and go out and spend time with Bruce and Jeremiah again. Slowly the time with the other boys began to cut into Harley's time with Jerome and both he and Harley were getting restless. They'd begun arguing about it.

"Stay in tonight," Jerome whined.

"Bruce wants me to come back to Wayne manor tonight." Harley sighed, an odd expression on his face. "I've finally earned his trust and am getting along with him - as much as it pains me. I think Jeremiah is talking to him when I'm not around, convincing him to behave and respect my boundaries. He calls me Harley and has stopped expecting me to be the person I used to be. I don't know, I think he'll be enough to convince Alfred though I might have to try a tad harder." He rubbed his forehead. "Soon I'm sure I'll be chummy with them again and that'll definitely lead to interacting with all of Bruce's friends - which will be a whole other adventure of its own."

Jerome huffed. "If you're going back to Wayne manor, won't Bruce want you to move back in?"

The thought had occurred to Harley if he was being honest. Where did he draw the line in being buddy buddy with his brother again? Where did he stop things? How far did Jerome want him to go? "Probably," Harley voiced, shrugging. There was a long pause. Jerome was more guarded than he usually was and it set Harley on edge. When the red head did speak, it was in a dangerously quiet tone. "Would you go?"

"W- would you want me to?" Harley was distracted by the way Jerome's Adam's Apple moved when he swallowed.

Jerome hummed. "So this is still about what I want?"

That made Harley defensive. "You think I'm dealing with my arrogant brother because I want to?" It had a biting edge to it.

"And what about my brother?" Jerome pushed.

Now Harley was confused. "Jerome I did all of this for you. To convince them you were dead so you'd be free to have some free time and then make your grand entrance whenever you wanted to. I did this because you asked me to." Jerome rolled his eyes. "You've been gone a lot. You come home... lighter. You enjoy your time with them."

"I'm sorry, you WANT me to come home miserable?" Harley sneered, his hands coiling into fists.

Jerome's eyes darkened. Harley realized what was happening. Before he could react, Jerome's hand shot out, fingers curling around Harley's throat. Jerome pressed his boyfriend against the closest wall, his face close and words sharp like knives. "You're getting angry again. Talking to me like that, as if I'm one of our dumb brothers or that blonde idiot Jeremiah carries around. You might have been gone for a while now, but SURELY not long enough to have forgotten to respect me."

Harley gasped, eyes fluttering closed. Jerome's grip wasn't dangerous but it could go that way if Harley wasn't careful. Jerome only ever got like this when he was frustrated. Usually when he was bored and wanted to do something other than sit around. To be fair, he was cooped up which was something he HATED to be. He hated feeling trapped. And on top of that Harley had been spending less and less time around the place. It was a miracle the redhead had behaved so long. Harley had spent more nights with Jeremiah, talking to Bruce so late into the night and fake catching up and playing nice that it was just easier for them both stay at Jeremiah's. Alfred had even gotten used to a simple text from Bruce letting the older man know where he was and that he was safe. If Bruce wasn't home by 10pm Alfred had come to expect that he wouldn't be back at all. It had become a sort of habit.

Perhaps Harley had been a tad neglectful.

He sighed, letting his guard down and releasing all the tension he'd gained from being around Bruce. Jerome didn't deserve this. "I'm sorry, you're right." Jerome didn't let up. "Oh so you shoot me puppy dog eyes and say sorry and that's supposed to be it?" Harley could feel his insides warming as Jerome grew closer, the air in the room slowly becoming infected with sexual tension. The sudden mood change was hard for Y/n to switch gears to, even though he was immediately eager. "You've forgotten who you belong to."

"I-"

Jerome's hand tightened on Harley's throat, cutting off any attempt to speak. "What was that?" Harley coughed a little as the initial shock took him off guard. His eyes fluttered but he could still breathe which is what mattered. "Come on, Harley. Come on, Y/n." Harley jerked at the name. "Is that what you want me to call you? Is that who you want to be?"

Harley wasn't dealing with that shit. His body jerked, arms wrapping around Jerome. He pulled hard, twisting to turn Jerome around so he'd have to let Harley go, or risk hurting his arm. As predicted, Jerome let go. Harley twisted their bodies with extreme force, pushing Jerome's face into the wall aggressively. "What the fuck did you call me?" He growled. The words were raw from his throat being a little sore. It made Jerome smile. "Answer me. Now." Harley let his free hand thread into Jerome's hair. He pulled, the red head squirming underneath him as it began to hurt. "I said, now."

"I called you Y/n," Jerome answered softly. His tone was half reluctance and half defiance. He didn't want to answer Harley like he'd been told to, but saying the name again did give him power.

Harley leaned back, pulling Jerome away from the wall just by his hair. He dragged him over to the bed. "Kneel. Now." Jerome was giggling as Y/n hurt him, getting off on the pain. "NOW, Valeska!" Jerome smirked, taking his precious time with following the order. When he was down, Y/n maneuvered his face into the bed. "Stay there. If you move, I will know and you will be punished. I will be back in a moment." He left Jerome there, ducking out of the bedroom to the trunk in the bathroom, shoved in the closet. He opened it, pushing around some things they'd collected in their time together. This was the stuff they used when things got more kinky. Handcuffs Jerome had gotten from cops even before he and Y/n were together. Rope from a construction sight. Some things were specifically from sex stores - stolen of course.

Ignoring most of it, Harley grabbed the handcuffs and went back into the room. He returned to see Jerome had indeed moved. In fact he was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his hands. He was smirking at Harley, a dare in his eyes. The red head seemed to be expecting Harley to lose his shit, but Harley didn't. Instead, he got very still, thinking. That seemed to actually make Jerome nervous.

Slipping the handcuffs into his back pocket, Harley slowly approached Jerome. His eyes cut into Jerome's soul, his jaw so tightly shut that Jerome shivered. "What, you think you're going to look at me and-?"

Jerome didn't get to finish his sentence. Out of nowhere, unexpectedly, Harley backhanded Jerome, causing the sitting boy's head to snap to the side. The red head was shocked, but found his stomach twisting with the familiar sensation of arousal. This wasn't like when he was a kid. Harley was calm and controlled - even his hit was direct. There was a safety in the way that Harley controlled himself. Jerome didn't fear him. It left room to enjoy what was happening. Harley gripped Jerome's jaw, bringing the red head's brown eyes around to meet his. "What did I say when I left the room, Jerome?" Harley not using a pet name in a sexual situation made Jerome shift nervously. Was Harley actually mad? "You told me not to move."

Harley released a breath, smirking as he got turned on just by getting Jerome to answer his question without being pushed. When Jerome was being bratty, he refused Harley any amount of control. So when he let up even the smallest amount, it never failed to excite Harley. "And what did you do?" Unwilling to let Harley win twice in a row, Jerome shrugged. Harley slapped him again. The red head blinked, breathing sharply outward as he felt the stinging on his face. "I moved."

A hum came from Harley as he stood, crossing his arms. "You know I had to punish you for using the wrong name, but it was going to be pretty light. Now..." Jerome shivered under that look - like Harley was trying to figure just how to kill him. "I'm going to take your clothes off Jerome. If you fight me, you'll get immediate punishment do you understand?" Jerome nodded. Harley rose an eyebrow.

"Yes, Daddy."

That seemed to please Harley. He stopped glaring at least. First Harley removed Jerome's shirt. Then he gently nudged Jerome, and the redhead followed the flow and laid back on the bed. Harley then removed his pants, and his socks one at a time. Slowly. Jerome felt himself get antsy. "Do you want something, baby?" Harley asked evenly.

"I'm fine," Jerome responded.

Unfortunately for him, his erection gave him away. "You don't want me to do... anything?" Harley asked again, pausing to look at Jerome very carefully.

The redhead looked back for a long time, a battle happening between the two men. Jerome lost. "Jesus Christ Harley, touch me."

That got Harley to smile. "Ask nicely J, or I'm going to have to punish you." Jerome went to glare but Harley reached up, threading his fingers through Jerome's hair and pulling roughly. "Listen here bitch, I'm not here to mess around. You're going to listen to me or you're going to regret it, understand?" They had come a long way since having sex in a cell and trying to keep quiet. Back then, Harley had fumbled and blushed a lot and been overwhelmed very easily. Back then, Jerome would stretch out, getting comfortable as he bossed Harley around - a true power bottom. Or, he would top, and then he'd get very soft and quiet and affectionate... Well, compared to how he usually was when he was impossible to please and degrading to an extent that had driven Harley insane.

Now adays, things were different. There was a huge power play between the two men constantly, and endlessly pushing buttons. What would often happen was that Harley would be a bit of a brat but otherwise let Jerome blow off steam, unless it was a day that Jerome desperately wanted Harley to "take hold and ruin" him. A direct quote from the ginger. On those days, Jerome did what he did best: he kept talking. He said all the things he knew would piss off Harley the most, like calling him by his old name. He would make Harley snap and then Harley would retaliate exactly how he wanted.

Not today.

"Fuck, you're such a baby," Jerome grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I'm bored with you playing daddy, I already know all your moves and we both know that you're just going to give me what I want anyways. You're a soft top, Sweetheart." He was smirking, proudly flaunting the power he usually had over Harley.

Today though, Jerome had pushed him too much. After all the shit he'd gone through with Jeremiah and Bruce, hearing Jerome call him Y/n had pushed him in a way that had sent him over the edge. And if he was being honest, he had his own frustrations. He wanted to run free as much as Jerome did and break things and scream as loudly as he wanted and sock his stupid brother in his face any time he dare even mention Jerome's name in Harley's presence. He was tired of behaving. He was tired of feeling like some toy. He was tired of being used. He was really, REALLY fucking tired of being ignored, too.

Harley's smile was dangerous. Jerome looked at him, unsure of what was going through the other boy's head. "You know, you have a little too much attitude for someone who's currently desperate for me to touch him. You want something from me? You need to learn some respect." Harley reached over, grabbing Jerome's wrist and forcing it toward the top of the bed. It happened so fast that only when Harley had used one cuff to get Jerome's right hand, and then had threaded the second cuff through the bars at the head of the bed, did Jerome react.

"HEY!"

At the outburst, Harley didn't hesitate to slap Jerome again. The redhead gasped, body shivering. He would absolutely never admit it, but this kind of aggression had always turned him on, when he was comfortable with the person. He'd wanted someone to be like this with him for ages, but not many people were willing to go far enough to please Jerome Valeska. By the way Harley was looking at him right now, this time might be different.

"I didn't give you permission to speak. Granted, I didn't tell you to shut up either so I'll be forgiving, but if you shout at me one more time you will regret it." He gripped Jerome's other wrist, cuffing that as well. Now Jerome's hands were over his head, trapped by the cuffs and the bar. "If you want to say something, I want you to address me first. I will allow you to continue then. Or I will not." Jerome hesitated, then nodded, intrigued by this side of Harley even he had not the pleasure of exploring before.

What came next surprised Jerome. Harley didn't take him right there, rough and hot. He didn't move slowly around and tease until Jerome wa a desperate mess of begs and whimpers. Harley didn't touch him at all. In fact, he moved off of the bed completely. He left the room even, returning a moment with a chair. Only then did he undo his own clothes, only lowering his pants enough to allow himself access his erection. He didn't even pull his pants off all the way! Jerome felt completely exposed, tied up and naked for viewing pleasure, when Harley was so far away and completely dressed.

To Jerome's intense frustration, Harley sat down on the chair and began stroking himself, eyes on Jerome. Harley's eyes were wide and lust blown, his tongue flicking out every once in a while to wet his lips. After a while, his eyes fluttered shut and his head tilted back just a little as a small moan came from him.

Jerome shifted. He was getting uncomfortable with how long he'd been hard without being touched, and watching Harley be like this was not helping. Jerome really liked to be involved in sexual acts. He had gotten rather pouty anytime Harley was caught masterbating, and there had been an unspoken rule that Harley didn't really restrain Jerome for stuff like this. If Harley wanted to be touched, Jerome would touch him. They both preferred it that way. This was ridiculous, and frankly rude. Jerome wasn't going to give Harley the upper hand. This was a low blow and he wasn't going to let Harley get away with it.

As Harley continued though, getting more into it and completely ignoring Jerome, it was becoming increasingly hard to keep his mouth shut. Trying to play it off like he didn't care as much as he did, Jerome finally spoke up. It had seemed an eternity for him, but it had actually only been a few seconds and Harley had to swallow his smile to not give himself away. "Okay Harley, very funny. Let me touch you. I'm sorry I called you the other name. You know I can do this better than you can. Let me out." When Harley continued to ignore Jerome, the cuffed ginger raised his voice. "LET ME OUT!"

"Why?" Harley growled, eyes finally on Jerome again. "Because you told me to? Because you asked me to?" He stood, pulling his pants up again. "I'm not your little bitch Jerome, you're mine. You want to kill someone? Fine. You want to steal or break something? Fine! But you don't call me by that name. You don't mess with me, because I'm all you got. If you want me to leave, you ask like a big kid."

Jerome's lips twitched, slowly rising into a smile. "Are you actually mad at me?"

Harley grinned. "No, not really." They both cracked up, losing it for a few extended seconds. Then Harley cut off and Jerome faded into quiet, soft chuckles as Harley began to speak. "I respect you, J. My little joker." He moved towards the bed, caressing Jerome's cheek. The ginger leaned into the touch, his eyes closing. He fed off of the contact, as if it was a drug or he was starving and the gesture fed him. Harley smiled softly. "You gotta respect me too. You don't have to piss me off to get me to break you, joker. All you have to do is ask me nicely, like a good boy. Do all the bad things you want. But not to me."

A sigh escaped Jerome, and then he finally gave in. "If I behave will you let me out? I want you to touch me. Please."

That pleased Harley. "That's what I wanted to hear." He leaned back a little, eyes scanning Jerome's exposed body. "I will let you out. And then it's time to play for real." His eyes glinted with a darkness that made Jerome jerk in expectation. Needless to say, Harley didn't disappoint.

Story Tags: @wanna-plan-world-domination

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