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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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IOTA Reviews: Lies

You guys ready for almost twenty straight minutes of Angstdrien Depreste? Neither am I.

Let's get into the third (chronologically the second) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Lies (Oh, I get what they did there).

We open with Marinette struggling to decipher the grimoire she inherited from Fu, before two of the Kwamis screw around and play a video about Adrien.

Jesus Christ... it hasn't even been an episode since she broke up with Luka, and the writers are already back to making her simp over Adrien again. And this part of the episode takes place during “Truth”, where she's still dating Luka. This is supposedly meant to show her conflicting feelings regarding both Adrien and Luka, but it just comes across as yet another joke about Marinette simping over Adrien because the writers have forgotten she has other interests outside of her hero life.

And here we go. The writers are going to go out of their way to make the audience feel bad for Adrien in this episode by showing how tough his life is. What do we see him do that is allegedly so exhausting? He models for another statue, goes to a photoshoot, and then goes to some drama class where he repeats some phrase (I think it's supposed to be a warmup, but it's never explained why he's there in the first place). That's it. This is his definition of an “endless day”? Oh yeah, his life must be soooooooo hard.

Adrien is a rich white boy who is the son of one of the biggest names in fashion across the world, has legions of fans, an honest education, and is also one of the most beloved superheroes in the city while not having to struggle with the same responsibility his partner has. But no, Adrien's life is much harder than anyone else who has suffered this past year. It's yet another trick the writers are pulling to make people feel bad for Adrien instead of criticizing his behavior. I'm sorry, but I find it a little hard to relate to someone whose biggest problems amount his diamond shoes being too tight.

Good lord, I'm not even a minute in...

So Adrien transforms into Cat Noir and heads off to patrol. Keep in mind that the first part of this episode takes place during the events of “Truth”, so we see how he reacts to Ladybug not showing up for patrol. He waits for a while before he starts, but not before leaving a message for his partner.

Now, this moment honestly could have worked. What doesn't make it work is the air quotes Cat Noir starts off with. If he had said something like that honestly and kept his feelings a secret, it could have shown he understands the burden Ladybug has to bear now that she's the Guardian, but doesn't want to worry her. The problem is that the way he phrased the first sentence coupled with the air quotes make it seem like he doesn't care about what Ladybug has to deal with now, and only wants her to spend time with him.

You think I'm being overdramatic or I'm just jumping to conclusions? In the very next scene, Cat Noir actually tries to see if Mr. Ramier is emotional enough to get akumatized into Mr. Pigeon again just so he can see Ladybug.

This is just... why? Why would any of the writers expect the audience to feel bad for Cat Noir here? It's one thing for him to miss Ladybug's company, which is natural considering how much time they spend together, but wanting to start a life-threatening situation just to see Ladybug just isn't cool. What makes this any different from Chloe causing a subway to go out of control so she can save it herself, or Lila intentionally akumatizing herself and working with Hawkmoth just because she hates Ladybug? If you can find a reason other than “because the plot says so”, I'll want to hear an explanation.

So Cat Noir goes to Le Grand Paris to drown his sorrows in alcohol with his favorite drink, a White Russian without the vodka and coffee liqueur. Also, instead of cream, it's skim milk. And speaking of Chloe, we see her get into a brief squabble with Sabrina over missing a bag she has underneath her shoulder, and Cat Noir gets excited again at the prospect of getting to fight an Akuma, but thankfully, the situation is resolved fairly quickly.

Ignoring how unheroic this makes this supposed “superhero” look, I have a quick question. SHOULDN'T CHLOE BE IN PRISON RIGHT NOW? She essentially committed treason against her country by willingly conspiring with a terrorist. I get that everyone in Paris was paralyzed at the time, but did Ladybug not tell anyone what happened? How is she not in trouble? Did her father pardon her or something? Is she not even going to do any community service? You would think given how much Astruc hates her, Chloe would be forced to face more consequences for her actions other than losing her Miraculous permanently. Hopefully, “Queen Banana” will shed some light on Chloe's situation, but I'm not exactly holding my breath on that.

But yeah, Cat Noir actually gets excited at the prospect at fighting an akumatized Sabrina, while ignoring how cruel Chloe's being to her, because I guess it's a day that ends with a “Y”. Remember when Adrien actually called out Lila and compromised with her in order to get Marinette back into school? Good times.

Cat Noir keeps calling and leaving messages for Ladybug, but changes his mind as soon as he sees Kagami, because he has the attention span of a puppy looking for someone to play with. Adrien stares at his phone's wallpaper of Ladybug, implying he still has feelings for her, and is then informed by Nathalie that his fencing class with Kagami was moved back by an hour. In reality, it was a trick by Kagami to get the two to spend some quality time together.

They choose to hang out in the art room because, get this, Kagami has always had a passion for drawing. Of course! That explains why it's never been mentioned in any earlier episodes, not even the one where she attended the premiere of an animated movie, which is a similar form of art. It's almost like the writers wanted to have Kagami do something that doesn't involve swinging a sword around. It's a good reason, mind you, but maybe if it was foreshadowed more, I would be more open to it.

Kagami says that she loves drawing because “art never lies”. Because it's not like someone can draw something completely inaccurate to what's actually being depicted, much like a certain character who likes to make up stories of people she knows to get others to like her, right? Kagami also says that her mother doesn't let her draw because she doesn't think her art isn't good, even though she's blind. Because when it comes to parents in Miraculous Ladybug, they're either amazing people who love their children, or they're emotionally abusive pieces of garbage who make you wonder why they even had kids in the first place. There is literally no middle ground. Maybe some of the writers have daddy issues?

So Kagami decides to draw a picture of Adrien, but wants him to give her a more “natural” pose instead of the standard model poses he usually gives.

Okay, this scene is raising so many red flags, the dialogue might as well be in semaphore. Where the hell did this side of Kagami come from? Why is she so controlling and forceful all of a sudden? In fact, why is she so obsessed with Adrien being “perfect”? The two made jokes before in the past (Desperada), and even spent half of the Season 3 finale playing around with Marinette? Why is she now Little Miss Serious?

Also, Kagami is really overstepping boundaries with Adrien here. Like, to a seriously uncomfortable degree. I get she isn't good with social cues, but how can she not see how anxious Adrien looks while she forces him into a pose, all while saying how wrong he is for doing what he sees as “natural”? This is not what a healthy relationship looks like, and spoiler alert, this isn't exactly why they even break up at the end of the episode.

Before the two can kiss while they're actually at fencing practice, Adrien is forced to leave Kagami to help Ladybug fight Mr. Pigeon (which means the narrative basically gave him what he wanted for no reason), leading to the same scene where Ladybug almost kills him, while he jokes about how he likes how angry she gets, and she apologizes for something that wasn't her fault. Just remember, he flirts with Ladybug right after he left his girlfriend to join her for an Akuma battle. The same montage from “Truth” happens, only it's Adrien missing opportunities to be close with Kagami, culminating with the little Kitty Section concert that happened right before Luka got akumatized.

While the two wait for their rides, Adrien accidentally drops the charm Marinette gave him all the way back in “Gamer”, which Kagami picks up. When he sees an Akuma flying, Adrien soon heads off to fight him, saving Ladybug from blowing her cover. After the events of “Truth”, Adrien apparently heads to Prince Ali's birthday party (yet Rose isn't there for some reason), meaning the second half of this episode takes place immediately after the previous one, even though it's been established that Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth needs time to recharge.

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After Cat Noir flirts a little with Ladybug again, he heads off to the party to meet up with Kagami. When he had to leave to fight Truth, Adrien claimed that he left something on the Liberty, which Adrien later claims was the charm Marinette gave him. Kagami soon realizes he's lying about something, and doesn't take it well.

There's a good performance from Kagami's voice actress here, and it's a nice parallel to Luka, who also feels a sense of betrayal when Marinette can't be honest with him. But this scene does tie into the problem with Adrien and Kagami in this episode, and I'll get into it towards the end.

Kagami storms off, and is immediately akumatized by Shadowmoth, turning her into Lies.

Like Truth, the design here is really forgettable. The design is all white and gives Kagami a haircut that looks like it belongs in The Jetsons, but that's it. The one thing I like about her is the way her powers work. Instead of going from victim to victim, Lies creates an energy dome that slowly grows and paralyzes anyone has lied before in the past, which is basically everyone who comes into contact with it. It's a pretty interesting idea, and it means that Ladybug and Cat Noir have to rely more on strategy while avoiding any contact with the dome.

Adrien transforms into Cat Noir and charges into action, with Jagged Stone offering to help out.

I don't think you can say the same for your family, can you, Jagged?

Cat Noir tells Jagged to get to a safe place, but much like his one night stand with Anarka, he refuses to pull out, so he gets paralyzed by the dome, along with everyone in the building.

Ladybug meets up with Cat Noir and immediately summons her Lucky Charm, a remote control drone. Since it hasn't lied, it can go into the dome and be used as surveillance while Cat Noir distracts Lies. While it seems like nobody inside the dome can touch Lies, Ladybug realizes that Fang, Jagged Stone's pet crocodile, hasn't lied either, so she uses the drone to lure him out of the building.

Cat Noir thinks of a way to distract Lies by doing what he always does to increase the tension.

You know, I thought of a little game we could play. Why don't we count how many times Cat Noir sacrifices himself this season? So far, the Cat Noir Self-Kill Counter is at 1, but I'm guessing it will be higher the longer this season goes on.

So while Lies is distracted by Cat Noir's unconscious body, Fang runs over and breaks her corrupted object, Marinette's charm. So after using Miraculous Ladybug, Ladybug runs over and, for good reason, I may add, scolds Cat Noir for recklessly sacrificing himself yet again.

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You know if this plan failed, not only would Shadowmoth get your Miraculous, but Ladybug would be all alone, you idiot! And we're supposed to find this reckless endangerment funny!? Seriously, Ladybug smiles at Cat Noir's stupid little quip as he still flirts with her right after he got into a fight with his girlfriend.

The next day, Adrien apologizes to Kagami, but she says she can't trust him, not as a boyfriend, and not as a friend either. And here is the problem with the Adrigami breakup. Like with the Lukanette breakup, it chooses to focus on one detail instead of the other, and glaringly obvious detail. The episode is trying to say that the whole reason Kagami and Adrien can't work as a couple is because of Adrien keeping his life as Cat Noir a secret. In reality, both of them have problems that they need to work on before they consider dating. Kagami has shown herself to be a massive control freak in this episode because of her own vision of what Adrien is like, showing she doesn't respect his boundaries or beliefs.

And Adrien? Where do I begin?

Adrien clearly shows several signs that he hasn't moved on from Ladybug with how much he flirts with her, even before he and Kagami got together, and there's the fact that unlike Marinette who realizes how she can't have a love life, it doesn't feel like Adrien actually learned that lesson.

We are supposed to see Adrien focusing on his secret life as Cat Noir as the responsible thing to do, and that like Ladybug, he needs to prioritize being Cat Noir over dating. The thing is that this episode has only showed how he doesn't take any of the hero stuff seriously. Throughout the episode, he treats being Cat Noir as a fun pasttime, when it comes to craving Ladybug's attention to the point where he's just short of causing an Akuma attack out of desperation until he sees someone else to spend time with, constantly flirts with Ladybug despite how annoyed she can come across, doesn't understand any of the stuff she has to deal with now that she's Guardian, and will sacrifice himself all so Ladybug can do all the work for him. He doesn't care about anything unless he gains something in return. It doesn't matter if lives are in danger, he thinks his personal feelings are more important because his civilian life is sO hAaArRd.

At one point when we were all kids, we all wanted to be superheroes because we all thought the idea of having superpowers and the freedom to do whatever we wanted sounded awesome. But that's not what being a hero is. We never thought about the responsibility that comes with being a superhero. One of the main themes of superhero media that we all watched growing up was that they would help us to learn right from wrong, and that sometimes, personal sacrifices have to be made for the greater good, and our feelings just aren't that important in the grand scheme of things. Whether we learned this lesson from Superman, Spider-Man, Sailor Moon, the Power Rangers, or even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, what matters is that by the time we reached the age of these heroes, we would have a similar moral compass so we would understand why these heroes would make some of the choices they did, and we would be able to make similar choices if we encountered situations like the ones they went through.

Part of growing up is realizing that being a superhero isn't all fun and games. Sometimes, you need to put your own personal desires aside to make sure nobody gets hurt because of something you did or didn't do. We are currently in the fourth season of this show, and after 82 episodes, Cat Noir has still failed to learn that lesson. He doesn't understand that even if his “true self” is clowning around, that's not how a hero acts. You don't see Batman or Captain America acting this way, and you don't see real life soldiers or emergency workers acting this way either.

And that's not even getting into the fact that this is the same problem the Lukanette breakup had. Even though Marinette had a valid reason to break things off with Luka because she realized being Guardian was more important, the narrative framed it like she was still into Adrien, no matter if she was making an effort to get over him. Likewise, even though both Adrien and Kagami have issues the narrative refuses to actually acknowledge, they frame it as Adrien's hero life was ruining their relationship, when in reality, the reasons for both the Adrigami breakup and the Lukanette breakup should have been flipped. “Truth” should have been about Marinette coming to terms with her new responsibilities as the Guardian, and “Lies” should have been about Adrien realizing he needs to work on his own personal issues before he considers his feelings for Kagami or Ladybug.

So the episode just ends with Ladybug and Cat Noir saying that even if they have to keep secrets about their identities, they can still trust each other. Also, before Kagami dumped him, Adrien reaffirmed his feelings for Ladybug (the only time they were actually referenced outside of flirting and his phone's wallpaper), which implies that Adrien is going to continue to pursue Ladybug, having learned nothing from this whole episode.

You know, after watching both this episode and “Truth”, and seeing how it undid two of the major changes from the Season 3 finale, does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all? Does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be a optimist about this? Hell if I know, this episode's honestly worse than “Truth” was.

Put aside your feelings on the Adrigami breakup, the pacing here was awful. Because the writers thought it would be interesting to have some continuity for once by having it take place right after “Truth”, the timeline is incredibly confusing. Can Shadowmoth just create more Akumas at once without having to recharge? And shouldn't Ladybug and Cat Noir be exhausted from having to fight two Akumas and a Sentimonster in one day?

Even then, about half of the episode was spent following Adrien as he whined about how hard he supposedly has it, proving despite what Astruc continues to state, he is far from perfect, and like what he loves to say about Chloe, refuses to change. Wow, that's so interesting. And we're supposed to feel bad for Cat Noir and be mad at Ladybug for missing their patrol, forgetting everything she's been going through in the last week, considering how Gabriel just fixed the Peacock Miraculous, suggesting that the events of “Truth” and “Lies” happened not too long after “Miracle Queen”. Even the Akuma fight wasn't that interesting because it was crammed into about five minutes thanks to everything else going on in this episode.

In an attempt to make the audience sympathize with him, this episode only made me loathe the way Adrien is portrayed even more. Seriously, he reaches “Frozer” levels of unlikability in this episode. Maybe he'll get some much needed character development, but given how much Astruc will put him on a pedestal and ignore his flaws, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.

But I still don't see the point of spending so much time building up this relationship for two seasons just to end it as soon as they hook up. At the end of the day, all Lukanette and Adrigami amounted to was filler. It was a way to get in some romantic scenes for the fans while the writers continue to drag out the Love Square drama like a taffy puller. And now that Luka and Kagami have served their purpose, watch as Astruc and the other writers start to slowly remove them from the narrative until they appear about as often as Nino does now.

After all, why care about anything in this show that isn’t related to the Love Square? It’s clear none of the writers do.

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null-whump · 4 years

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It’s whumptober baby

I’m so excited for this you guys don’t even know

Warnings: Restraints, stabbing/cutting, knives, whump on a character who appears to be a minor but is not actually a minor (Felix is called ‘kid’ by other characters)

Word Count: 1,900

Whumptober Prompt – Waking up Restrained

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The first thing I noticed was the cold, and the wind. Then, as I slowly became more aware of my surroundings, the coarse ropes around my wrists, and a hard, rough surface against my back. I forced my eyes open, blinking away the heaviness of sleep that lingered unnaturally on my mind. My vision was blurry, but I could make out trees, a flickering light, and – people. Four of them, moving indistinctively. I pulled at my wrists, craning my neck in an attempt to see the bindings. I was tied, standing upright, against a tree, my arms pulled behind me. I realized I could hear the people speaking, arguing, it sounded like.

Four people, and I knew one thing for certain – Varren was not among them. I wouldn’t put it past him to tie me to a tree in the middle of the night, but he was gone. Away on a three-day trip, alone. So where was I, and how did I get here?

“Hey, jackasses, he’s awake.”

Great. He sounded friendly. My vision slowly started to clear, enough to see two of the figures approaching. One of them grabbed my hair and roughly pulled my head up, knocking it against the tree in the process.

“You said he would stay out for longer,” the first figure, man, said, glaring accusingly at the second figure, who was holding my hair – a woman, I could tell now, with brown skin and long black hair.

“I said that it would last six to twelve hours. Besides, he looks pretty out of it.” She turned her attention to me and waved her hand in front of my face.

I flinched back, as much as the hand in my hair would allow, and the woman laughed.

“Jumpy, are you?” She teased. “That’ll make this more fun.”

The man glared at her back. “You’re not here for fun,” he emphasized. “You’re here as hired help.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it,” she shot back, releasing her grip on my hair. “How else are you planning to get anything good out of him?”

I looked between the two of them, taking stock of their appearance now that my vision was nearly back. The man was tall and muscular, with short blond hair and a scar down the left side of his face. The woman was shorter, and a maliciously eager light danced in her eyes. It reminded me of Varren. I hated it.

“Would you two shut up?” A third voice, a woman, interjected. “The cat has ears, you know.”

The woman rolled her eyes and turned away. The man hesitated, glancing me over once more before following. I looked to where the third voice had come from and identified another man and woman sitting by a fire. Four of them, one of me. Not great odds.

I considered my options. On the one hand, did I really want to escape? Whoever these people were, and whatever their intentions were for kidnapping me, they must dislike Varren, and that was enough for me to have some good feelings towards them. Even if they had knocked me out and tied me to a tree. Maybe I could even help them.

On the other hand, all it would take for Varren to realize what had happened was a quick check inside my head, something that was all too easy and that he enjoyed doing when I least expected it. And when he found out I had even considered helping these people, whoever they were…I shuddered.

“Enough arguing!”

My attention was pulled back to the group as the second woman, tall with blonde hair, shoved past the others and towards me.

“We’re on a time limit,” she said to her companions. “If we want to get this done, we need to start.”

The blond man looked away; his mouth set in a hard line. The second man, a shorter figure with brown hair and the beginnings of a beard, stood from his place by the fire. “Tali’s right,” he said to the blond. “You don’t have to like it.”

He approached me alongside the blonde woman, Tali. The dark-haired woman hung back, an unsettling grin on her face. I found myself shrinking back, but with the tree behind me, I didn’t have anywhere to go.

“We’re not going to hurt you unless we have to,” the man said, as if that was supposed to be comforting. “Give us what we need, and we’ll all be happy.”

I decided it was about time I said something. “Who are you? And what do you want?”

“Hey, we’re asking the questions!” Tali snapped.

The man held up a placating hand. “It’s alright, Tali. He has a right to know.” He ignored Tali’s eye roll and continued. “This is Tali, as I’m sure you’ve guessed. My name is Jace.” He gestured to the blond man. “That’s Tali’s brother, Rolf.” He pointed to the dark-haired woman. “And of course, Avis.”

“Now that we’re done with introductions,” Tali said, “could we get back to what’s important?”

Jace smiled disarmingly. “Of course. Now, if you cooperate this will go much smoother for all of us,” he reminded me. “All we want is for you to help us steal something from Varren Evrenden.”

He said it so confidently, so casually that for several seconds all I could do was stare at him. “Oh, is that all?” I asked in disbelief. “You didn’t seem to have any trouble kidnapping me, why didn’t you take what you want then?”

Jace shook his head. “Not possible. He keeps this item with him at all times.”

“Help us get it, and we won’t have to hurt you,” Tali said, though it sounded more like a threat than a reassurance. “It’s a charm, one of a kind.”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” I told them. I wasn’t lying either – whatever ‘charm’ they were after, Varren had never shown it to me.

Tali scowled. “Don’t make this difficult.”

“I’m telling the truth,” I insisted. “I’ve never seen any charm!”

“You’re his familiar!” Tali shot back. “Why wouldn’t he tell you about it?”

I nearly laughed out loud. “That doesn’t mean anything to him!”

“He’s telling the truth,” Avis chimed before Tali could respond. “The kid is worthless.” She shook her head. “There goes your one plan.”

Jace frowned. “You’re sure?”

Avis laughed. “Am I sure? What did you hire me for? He’s so easy to read it’s pathetic. I thought cats were supposed to be good at telepathy, but here we are.”

I clenched my jaw. A high-level empath, I guessed, high enough to tell when people were being truthful. I was so used to having my guard down around Varren that I hadn’t even thought to mentally shield myself.

“We can still use him.” Rolf, who had been observing silently, spoke up. “Maybe the witch will negotiate when he hears we have his familiar.”

“Didn’t you hear me?” I asked. “He doesn’t give a damn what happens to me!”

“I find that hard to believe,” Tali said. “Every witch I know has at least some sort of attachment to their familiar. Why should Evrenden be any different?”

The absurdity of it nearly made me laugh out loud. “Do you not know anything about him at all? I’m probably last on the list of things he cares about.”

Tali looked to Avis. “Is he lying?” She demanded.

Avis shrugged. “No. Either he has really bad self-esteem issues, or Evrenden is a heartless bastard. Which we already knew.”

Tali turned back to glare at me, as if it were somehow my fault that Varren was a sorry excuse for a human being. “We can still use him,” she decided.

“Oh?” Jace inquired.

“If we can surprise Evrenden when he doesn’t expect it, we’ll have a chance at overpowering him.”

Rolf shifted uneasily. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

“Agreed,” Avis said. “I didn’t sign up for a suicide mission.”

Tali scowled at the two of them. “What else do you suggest?”

“We all know I’m only in this for the money,” Avis said. “Don’t ask me to solve your problems.”

“An ambush is the best option we have.” Jace looked apologetically at Rolf. “Sorry, but once again, your sister is right. We must take the risk. Our employer will not be happy if we return empty-handed.”

“At least someone is thinking clearly.” Tali turned back to me. “Alright kid, start talking.”

I didn’t let myself entertain the thought of helping them. Ashamed as I was to admit it, I was more afraid of what Varren would do to me to let the potential good outweigh it.

“I’m not telling you anything.”

Avis smirked. “Guess we’re doing this my way.”

I felt a shiver of fear make its way up my spine as she approached, and consoled myself with the thought that nothing she had planned could possibly touch what Varren had already done. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt, though.

Tali and Jace stepped aside. Rolf looked away. I got the feeling he didn’t exactly approve of Avis, or her apparent penchant for torture, but he also wasn’t doing anything to stop her.

“Last chance,” Avis taunted, pulling a knife out of her belt.

I didn’t say anything. She stepped closer and held the blade against my face, the sharp edge barely digging into my skin. It was cold against my skin, and uncomfortably close to my left eye.

“Cat got your tongue?” She smirked. I suppressed an eye roll. “You have quite an adorable face,” she mused, digging in the knife ever so slightly. Not enough to draw blood – not yet. “Not a single scar on it.” She leaned closer, too close, and I was pressing myself further against the tree despite knowing it was useless. “I can fix that.”

She twisted the knife sharply, and I hissed in pain as it cut a line of fire down my face. Warm blood flowed down my face, catching in the collar that was still around my neck. It hurt, but not bad.

“A fun warmup,” Avis said brightly. “I like to start small.” She flipped the knife in her hand lifted to my shoulder, this time not waiting at all before plunging it into my shoulder.

I cried out, my vision going white for an instant. I shut my eyes tightly and forced myself to breathe, but it was hard when I swear I felt the knife hit bone.

“Hey, stay with me.” I felt a hard smack against my injured cheek and forced my eyes open. Avis was still smiling. “That’s better! Feeling more inclined to talk now?”

I clenched my jaw and glared at her. She seemed unfazed. Then she took hold of the knife and twisted, and I must have screamed but all I was aware of was white-hot pain – I didn’t know it was possible for a knife to hurt this bad – then it finally stopped and I struggled to breathe through the feeling of the knife that was still in my shoulder, all while Avis stood there, grinning.

“Having fun yet?” She moved the knife, no more than a centimeter, and I shut my mouth against a whimper. She leaned close again, jostling the knife as she did and causing more pain to shoot through my body. “We’re only getting started.”

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#whumptober2020 #no.1 #waking up restrained #OC #fic #writing #stabbing tw #cutting tw #knives tw #my ocs: felix #my ocs: avis #whump #nonhuman whumpee

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limpblotter · 6 years

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Night Suns

a/n: I can finally stop being a fake fan and indulge. (also to preface, my warmups are uneditted and unstructured compared to fuller pieces. Spell checks, topic structures are all to the wind, this is all freeform, free hand, on the spot writing that takes me about 10-20 minutes)

“Good work tonight, Will!” The theater head clapped his hand against Will’s shoulder and smiled. “Get some rest after, you deserve it! A packed house…” He sounded as though he was still in disbelief.

Will was too. He felt as though he was walking the fine line of a dream, in moments he’d wake up in his shitty cot, in the shitty inn owned by that woman who was just perfumed a little too much. Sleeping there stung his nose but alas it was his home for the moment. “G’night, good sir.” William smiled politely watching the man walk off with his hands in the air.

“Packed house!” He exclaimed again to the emptying streets of the night. Will felt the same but he contained his limbs to his side and allowed his mind the liberty of convincing him that this was in fact a reality. His dreams were real…as far and as fast as they came, he was alive and well in the midst of all his dreams and realities. In the seas of uncertain amity with theater he was…truly, alive.

Perhaps more the reason he did not want to return to his “home”. A bed, a period at the end of this fantastic sentence and William longed for more. The curtains were drawn and the stars were out, like the remaining lights casting down from the stage ceiling. William still felt the thrill of standing in the midst of it all.

In the quake of brilliance, a sharp gust of nightly wind ran up his spine and followed by a voice than ran through his temples. “Well, well, well if it isn’t the man of night? Waiting for a standing ovation?” Snark and sarcasm dripped from every syllable. “Or perhaps are you waiting for the curtain to raise again? The taste of fame left its mark on your flesh and like a hungry whore you’re standing along the sidelines of the street waiting for your next hit?”

Kit Marlowe tossed a blond curl behind his ear as he waltzed out with a bottle instead of his famed entourage of open ended lovers. Run on sentences of one night stands and fragmented hearts subjected to verb-less night’s absence of the subject. Marlowe was a genius but the kind Shakespeare never aspired to be. For the genius came with a curse, many assumed Kit made a deal with the devil.

He was brilliant, Will had no inclination to deny him that. When Kit wrote he wrote like he simply breathed it. He wrote pieces that were twisted enough to make people retch simply from thought. He wrote helplessly that would warm the coldest heart in the midst of war. He could make people feel whatever he wanted yet he, was emptied and it was almost transparent to William.

And only William.

He was lonesome, surrounded by fans, politicians, lovers…he was thirsty with every bottle he downed. He was restless no matter how much he slept. And he was depressed no matter how many times he laughed, smiled or fucked.

And Kit was good at one other thing other than writing. He was good at the game of temptation. “You know Will most people go out for a night cap after a great performance, why not join me?” Will rolled his eyes, predictable bait. Had he been a more clueless man, a more doe eyed traveler he would have fallen face first into Kit.

Heaven knows Will would have fallen face first for a man who held a pen like he did.

“I rather not” William kept his eyes away from those hungry pupils, laid deeply against the bags along his eyes. “I’m actually riding the high down from tonight, I’m sure sleep with will come for me soon and I will welcome her sweet embrace as should …” He turned his head to give Kit an authoritative look. His breath froze in his lungs as he caught notice that Marlowe had come closer to Will.

Closer than he had thought, so close that now Will was half amused how he didn’t sense him. How he didn’t feel his breath so close to his neck. He was bewildered but not completely thrown off, Marlowe moved like a ghost. An angry…hell driven ghost.

“’As should I’ you mean?” He tilted his head with a malicious smirk that made Shakespeare’s stomach quiver with illness. “Lecturing me Will? Are you worried about my wellbeing? Afraid your mentor won’t make it to your next project?”

“You know that isn’t why I care, I care because you’re my…”

“Your what, Will?” Kit circled around Will, it was harmless, there was a skip to his step but his eyes? Those eyes were narrowed like a big cat in the midst of a hunt.

“Friend, colleague, fellow human being who’s wellbeing is a reasonable concern for any other considerate human.”

“How infantile can you be if you believe humans ever are “just concerned” for another without no motive.” Marlowe rolled his eyes then stood directly in front of Will. Hands to his sides but Will felt on edge. Any moment he was going to move in and Will would flinch from his touch. He had to.

Fight the draw that was Marlowe. The darkness that wanted to swallow up every star in the sky. Not because he was the embodiment of darkness but because he was strong enough too. Kit was strong enough to pull the moon from its orbit. Strong enough to pluck stars from the sky like grapes and consume full flames whole. Lips that could part and entire oceans would follow suit.

“Maybe that’s why I like you.” Kit spoke softly, a strange and foreign somberness in his voice. It sounded almost…fragile. “There is still…a child’s spark in you…its not hidden in your manhood, you wear him proudly on your sleeve. Like a heart…kindness…” He mused, reaching out almost to touch him but his fingers barely stroked the space between them.

William felt it, as his eyes followed Kit’s hand and the first thought was ‘touch me’.

He felt the heat of anticipation kill him like lines waiting to be delivered. Will could spend hours rewriting this scene and each one would end with Marlowe having Shakespeare every way he wanted him. In anyway, and Will would not complain. He would not stop him. In Shakespeare’s play, Kit already had him.

In reality, Marlowe smirked, watching Shakespeare’s dazed gaze follow his hand. He could snap and break him out of his trance or worse, enchant him more and bring him home. However, Kit had a soft spot for the young, up and coming talent. A soft spot for his work, for his glee. “Be careful William.” Kit purred walking around Will, stopping short to brush shoulders with him. “You should run home to your sleep mistress, for the night is filled with troubled, restless souls that wouldn’t think twice of eating you whole…”

“Perhaps…I belong out with those wondering souls.” William argued back only to get a condescending chuckle.

“Trust me William, you don’t.” Kit was already walking off towards a silhouette of a man waiting for him down the cobblestoned street. A shadow that made William’s heart sank back to sickness and unease. “The sun has no place where the moon hides with her beasts.” Kit blew a kiss towards William. “What was that line I adored from your last draft?”

“”Parting is such sweet sorrow…’”

#shakeslowe #william shakespeare #Kit Marlowe #christopher marlowe #will on tnt #mlm #ficlet #fanfic #drabble #fanfiction #warm up #here we go

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