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whump-captain · 2 years

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No. 10 - Poor unfortunate souls

Taser | Whipping | Waterboarding

850 words | OC: Ghost Ambulance

is this a heist au? who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ im also not super happy w/ it esp for a day with such good prompts but once again, and i cannot stress it enough: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the whump came out good and that's what matters lol

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CN: stun gun use, electrocution, burns

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Three things happen at once:

The electronic lock beeps an approval.

A voice from behind shouts: "Hands in the air!"

And Cutter spins around to face the security guard, just in time to see her aim.

Then he feels two hits to the chest. He looks down and follows the zig-zagged lines back to the taser gun in the guard's hands. Just in time to see her finger squeeze the trigger.

Every nerve in his body explodes. Muscles lock, wrenching his spine backwards. The current burns through him like a strobe light, pain sizzling away his vision, then hearing, then thoughts. A strangled, guttural groan forces its way out between his clenched teeth that feel like they're going to crack from the strain. Another impact rattles him as his rigid body hits the ground. He's on fire, convulsing, every tendon threatening to snap.

The three seconds stretch to an eternity in Cutter's scorched consciousness. Then the current stops. But his body keeps seizing, his head slams against the ground over and over again as the pain, like an afterimage, remains in his muscles as lethal, excruciating tension. The air cracks like fireworks, the sound of overloading synapses.

He can't tell how long it lasts. It feels like minutes until the blinding fog dissipates and finally he can feel that this battered body is his again. He's gasping, small whimpers escaping his throat with every desperate inhale. His fingers feel slick; he must have clenched his fists hard enough for the nails to draw blood.

Senses return to him like a movie image fading in; it's all there but feels distant, like he's still separated from the lobby by a screen. But he knows there's no time. Pushing through the ache that lingers like a fresh bruise, he turns onto his side. With a groan of effort, he puts a hand underneath him but immediately his head spins. His newly returned vision swims away again and he lays there for a long, painful moment, forcing deep breaths into his lungs. Something stings him right through the ribcage and he realizes the taser's electrodes are still embedded in his chest. They stick out like bizarre insects, framed by rings of dark soot where they have singed his shirt. The thin rigid wires trail down and tangle with each other. The smell of burnt cotton mixes with that of burnt skin.

Cutter winces as another crack pierces through his head, point blank into his eardrum: his comms earpiece, he realizes. The discharge must have fried the electronics. Elaine is going to be so mad.

A gloved hand appears suddenly in front of him. As if summoned, the huntress herself is leaning over him, face haloed by the backlight. Cutter lets her pull him up; everything wobbles around him again but he manages to catch an unsteady balance.

"Are you okay?" Elaine asks, her eyes fixed on the two electrodes sticking out of his chest. That and the gun itself, abandoned on the floor, make the story clear.

"Yeah." It takes him a moment to answer, but it's mostly the truth. His chest aches like he's been punched and his breath comes choppy. He counters Elaine's tense frown with a smile. "How's my hair?"

She raises her eyebrows - and so has to stop frowning. "It's fine. Your shirt is not."

"A good shirt, too," he muses, picking at the charred fabric. From under it shows the angry red of damaged skin which he has no desire to inspect closer. The sight of the electrodes embedded in it makes his head spin again.

When he grabs the first one, Elaine puts a hand on his shoulder blade; bracing. He yanks it out like pulling a tooth, gasps at the sharp pain - but it feels good to toss it away. A tiny ribbon of smoke trails it as it skids across the polished floor.

Cutter's hand wavers when he reaches for the next one. It's instinct, the body refusing to cause itself more pain. The electrode's surface is still hot between his fingers, the sensation blurring together with the burning on his chest. Blood sticks his skin to the barbed metal. Why is this so difficult? He has to close his eyes, slowly exhale so that the dizziness goes away. He grits his teeth and rips the second electrode out with a grunt.

The sudden motion sends him swaying again but Elaine's hands keep him steady. Though any touch feels now like a fresh bruise on his aching body, he leans on her. All he can do is wait until the world stops reeling around him and his vision finally clears. Even then, the ache remains in his limbs like a leaden, sizzling weight. Suddenly, he feels very, very tired.

But looking down at Elaine's questioning, still worried face, he can't help but grin at her. They'll both be fine. How could they not be, when they're here together? A small hitch like this could never be enough to throw them off track. Not them.

He crooks his head towards the newly unlocked door.

"Shall we?"

#whumptober2022 #no.10 #taser #oc #writing #stun gun #electrocution #captain's stuff #captain's ocs #ghost ambulance #¯\_(ツ)_/¯#<- don't know if i mentioned that #idk if i want this to be an au bc the dynamic between them seems to be 'we've been through so much shit together and we're ride or die #which fits w/ the main canon #but to be frank it would be Very Funny if it was the heist au and they had literally just met #and elaine is like gotta help my fellow heist crew member so we can carry out the plan #but at the same time cutter's like 'f is for friends who steal things together :)'#complete vibe mismatch #for comedy

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thehonestreader · 3 years

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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Rating: F

It’s been years since Orisha had magic, years since the Raid occurred and King Saran’s army swept through the land, leaving every maji dead in their wake. Since then, Zelie and her family have managed to scrap by, always fearful that one day they won’t be able to pay the diviner tax on her. If that happens, she’ll be arrested and sent off to a labor camp that will likely lead to her death. Such is the fate of most diviners, the children of maji, now. It’s one day when Zelie goes to the market to get more money to cover this tax that a desperate girl grabs her and begs for her protection. From that moment, Zelie’s life will take a turn. Now, tasked with the overwhelming responsibility of bringing magic back to the world, Zelie and her friends will go on a dangerous adventure to undo that damage that was done so long ago.

This book has only done one thing for me and that’s to remind me why I stopped reading YA books. Pretty much everything I don’t like about most YA books is condensed into this one story and notched up to eleven. I struggled so much to just fight and get through this. I practically had to force myself to pick up this book and read more than ten pages at a time because I wasn’t enjoying it at all.

It’s been a while since I’ve given a book an F, which means it’s back to the bullet point review style since I refuse to write a paragraph for every single one of these issues.

1. The writing is so bland, especially when you consider that this is a fantasy novel. I expected so much more. More characterization, more world building, more rules to the magic system, more detail in general. The writing is the source of all of my problems. It’s the main hub and everything I mention after this just spirals from it.

2. These are cookie-cutter characters. There’s not a single unique one in this bunch. If you’ve read any mediocre YA book, then you’ve seen these characters before. They’re dull, they’re lifeless, they don’t have much going on beyond the surface level stuff.

3. All character voices sound exactly the same. The chapters are split between Zelie, Amari, and Inan, and if it wasn’t for their names being at the beginning of each chapter, I’d have no way of telling them apart.

4. The plot is painfully predictable. I saw every single major plot point coming from a mile away, and knowing how this story was going to go step by step for over 500 pages was absolute torture for me.

5. Dumb things happen to get the plot where the author wants it to go. As soon as a character would make a dumb decision, I knew what was coming. This ties back into point #4, but the fact that these decisions are so STUPID adds it as its own bullet point. Example: Zelie and her gang only have five days to get somewhere vitally important to their mission, but they stop to have a party. Because plot. And then the Bad Thing happens because they stayed. Oh no! Who could have seen this coming???

6. Character motivations and decisions make no sense whatsoever. Or they change constantly and are never explained in a way that’s believable or satisfying. That’s if they’re even explained at all. I have a ton of examples for this because it occurs all the time, but I’ll use the moment when Zelie has a chance to share the scroll’s magic and turn the people around her into maji. She thinks it’s the greatest idea ever until, uh oh, for some reason it’s not anymore and she doesn’t want to do it because magic is dangerous. But if you feel that way, Zelie, they why are you still trying to bring magic back to the whole world?

7. The “love” story. Oh my god, the “love” story. This might be the worst relationship like this I’ve ever had to experience in my life. It’s worse than any insta-love trash piles I’ve seen in the history of all terrible insta-love stories. It takes a less than a page. A page! This was the point in the book where I took the longest break in reading because I just couldn’t anymore.

8. Amari’s whole character introduction is extremely flawed. In her first chapter not only are we introduced to her, but we see her being spurred on by the death of her best friend and stealing the magic scroll. Amari is the epitome of what goes wrong when authors tell instead of show. First of all, I don’t know her as a character when she does all these things, so her decisions make no sense to me. And all this stuff about Binta should have been in separate chapters at the very beginning, that way I could actually see the relationship she and Amari had instead of just hearing about it afterward. That could have made Amari’s actions feel less fake when she steals the scroll. But no, all these memories of Binta happen after she’s dead, and I don’t feel the emotions the author wants me to feel since this is about some character I never even knew. And worse, Amari comes off as whiny because of it.

9. A majority of Amari’s chapters should have been given to Zelie. They’re together the entire time, and most of the time when Amari is narrating it feels like the reader is missing out on something. Especially when it comes to the magic and the mythology of this world. I don’t want Amari telling me these things because she doesn’t know anything to begin with. If Zelie had been narrating those chapters it would have been an easier way to work on defining this magic system.

10. For the first half of the book, Inan’s chapters should have been condensed down or just cut completely. He says the same thing every single time. “Duty before self. I force my magic down. Kill the girl, kill magic. Curse her and her silver eyes.” Nine chapters of this. So unnecessary.

11. The ending doesn’t make any sense at all if you take even one second to think about it. This is the only place I have spoilers so skip ahead if you don’t want to know how this story goes. So at the end when Zelie and her gang go to the magical island, Saran and his army are already there. But...how? It’s not said that Zelie gave him the location of the island. And even if she did, why would she not warn her allies that he’d be waiting for them when they got there? And on top of that, Saran managed to capture her father in less than a day and transport him to this island? How? HOW? Mama Agba should have seen that coming, no? But she’s mysteriously absent because...plot. Nothing clicks and it’s the final nail in this coffin for me.

I think the author had good intentions but she couldn’t execute. She talks about why she wrote this book and how seeing news about the murders of people like Mike Brown and Philando Castile made her feel angry and helpless. I absolutely applaud her for wanting to speak out against institutionalized racism and the murders of people of color at the hands of cops. And I’m glad that diversity is finally, finally getting into main stream books. It’s been too long and it’s great that books with POC characters are getting their time in the spotlight. But I’m not going to praise a mediocre book just because it has diversity and was written with good intentions. I’m not going to hype this up when I don’t think it deserves that hype.

-Review by C.M.

#children of blood and bone #tomi adeyemi #ya #young adult #teen #fiction #fantasy #book review #f

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callingmrsbarnes · 7 years

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Prize!

Sorry this took so long! I’ve been having a few issues with tumblr so I hope this works!

Aesthetic

season: autumn | winter | summer | spring

occasion: christmas | easter | halloween | thanksgiving

time of day: early morning | morning | afternoon | night time | dead of night

element: earth | wind | fire | water

Marvel

job: Member of the Avengers but work part time for Stark Industries – that’s where you got your start with the Avengers. You worked closely with Tony Stark, perhaps in a business role before joining the team. You’d also work in public health in lower class districts, offering advice and helping out.

General

ship: Bucky Barnes – I was originally going to ship you with Steve but I feel that at the end of the day, he wants a cookie cutter life. I also was thinking of Clint but I felt that your heads may clash at times so for the sake of this, I’m shipping you with Bucky since he fits most of the criteria (I believe).

best friend: Wanda Maximoff – although you’d be close friends with all of the Avengers team.

secret admirer: Sam Wilson

enemy: Besides the obvious, I feel like you’d have a love-hate relationship with Peter Parker. Maybe you’d just find him really annoying from time to time but you also feel the need to look out for him.

With Your Best Friend

how you became best friends: You and Wanda share a lot of the same values and sometimes she just needs someone who will go out and have an adventure with her or just stay at home and watch a movie. You’d befriend her after she first joins the team, feeling bad for how she ended up where she was but you’d soon find out that the two of you got on well together.

most likely to be found: Cooking food together (you make something from your country and she’ll make something from hers) and then finding a spot somewhere quiet to eat it and gossip.

how they feel about you and your ship’s relationship: Wanda would be pretty hesitant at first, watching Bucky like a hawk and feeling a bit nervous about the whole situation but I feel after a while she’d warm up to the idea. Although, I think she knew that Bucky knew that if he did anything wrong he’d get his ass kicked.

what the talk they gave your ship was like when you first started dating them: It’d be a mess – Wanda would keep swapping between English and Sokovian but Bucky got the message.

who forces the other to watch movies they’ve already seen hundreds of times: Wanda

who tells the worst jokes: You

who accidentally exposes the others secrets: I don’t see either of you doing this

who always falls asleep first when sleeping over: Wanda

who gets the other in trouble: Both of you

With Your Ship

how you met: You probably guessed the answer but it’d be through Steve. You would be one of the few people Steve trusted to introduce to Bucky and he’d be right in doing so.

how you got together: Even though you’re a bit cynical, I could see you being so understanding of Bucky. You wouldn’t force him to open up and when hanging out with him, you wouldn’t be doing so with a worried look on your face and you’d treat him like you’d treat any other friend – he’d also be the type of person not to try and pry into anyone’s life so, on a weird level, that made both of you trust one another more. You two would probably just get together after the sexual tension between the two of you got too much and you’d just throw yourselves at one another.

who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling/vice versa: You

who starts the tickle fights: Bucky if he knows you’re angry at him

who starts the pillow fights: Not really much of a thing but you would hit him with a pillow every now and then

who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile: Bucky – he finds comfort in seeing you sleeping peacefully

who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1am in the morning: B U C K Y. You’d also hear him cursing at the microwave and telling it to be quiet.

who comes up with cheesy pick up lines: Bucky

who licks the spoon when they’re baking brownies: Both of you have a bad habit of this

who draws little tattoos on the other with a pen: Don’t tell me you wouldn’t draw on his metal arm with a sharpie because who wouldn’t

who convinces the other to fill out those couple surveys in the back of magazines: You – for the lols

Christmas

who cuddles the most: Bucky

who takes too many pictures: You

who decorates the house: Joint effort

who starts the food fight while making christmas dinner: Bucky – he’d get impatient

who puts on the christmas albums first: You

who wakes up first on christmas morning: Bucky, but mainly out of habit

christmas movie you watch: Elf

christmas song you sing: Step into Christmas by Elton John

Miscellaneous Christmas Stuff

who you kiss under the mistletoe: Pietro Maximoff

who kisses you on new years: Steve Rogers

who you wear matching ugly christmas sweaters with: Thor (I feel like he’d enjoy doing it too)

who you get into the christmas spirit with: Tony Stark

who gets drunk and confesses their love for you: Bruce Banner

Halloween

gets scared and clings the other in a haunted house: You

makes a cosy bed fort to cuddle in: You

spends all October trying to scare the other person: Bucky

goes all out with the Halloween decorations: You

who cuddles the most all night: Bucky

wants to go trick-or-treating: You

gets overly excited about trick-or-treaters but ends up scaring them: Bucky

collects cool looking leaves: Bucky (“whoa, look at this sweet leaf)

steals the others sweets: Bucky

commentates the horror movies because they’re secretly scared: Both of you

Miscellaneous Halloween Stuff

who tries to scare you with scary stories: Sam Wilson

who you get into the Halloween spirit with: Rhodey

who you compete with at bobbing for apples: Natasha Romanoff

who you watch horror movies with: Wanda Maximoff

who accidentally wears the same costume as you: Tony Stark – wouldn’t be an accident though

who you get lost in a corn maze with: Clint Barton

Harry Potter (I swap between eras!)

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

blood type: muggle born | half-blood | pure-blood

quidditch position: beater | chaser | keeper | seeker | N/A

hogwarts era: newt scamander era | marauders | trio | next gen

wand core: unicorn hair | phoenix feather | dragon heartstring | veela hair

General

ship: George Weasley – but I could see you being with Remus Lupin too

best friend: Hermione Granger

secret admirer: Harry Potter

enemy: Lavender Brown and the Patil sisters

With Your Best Friend

how you became best friends: Hermione doesn’t like to have competition when it comes to academics and when she found out you were the one she was competing with for top of the class, she decided to introduce herself to you. It turns out you two got on really well.

most likely to be found: At Hogwarts you’re usually somewhere down by the lake or the courtyard

how they feel about you and your ship’s relationship: Hermione tried to be good about the relationship but she struggled to see what you saw in George. She thought you were too good for him but when she saw just how similar the two of you were and how much he adored you, she decided that maybe it was an okay decision.

what the talk they gave your ship was like when you first started dating them: Hermione didn’t exactly get a ‘talk’ in because every time she went near George he’d run away.

who forces the other to watch movies they’ve already seen hundreds of times: You

who tells the worst jokes: Hermione

who accidentally exposes the others secrets: You

who always falls asleep first when sleeping over: Hermione

who gets the other in trouble: Hermione – she does hang out with Harry and Ron, after all.

With Your Ship

how you met: Through school and Quidditch. George would see you as one of Ron and Hermione’s dorky friends and didn’t think much of it but when he saw you on the Quidditch pitch and then later sticking up for what you believe in, he couldn’t believe his luck.

how you got together: George is definitely a persistent guy; maybe he asked you out a few times and you said no because you thought he was an idiot (and he is) but eventually you gave in after seeing him look out for a few younger kids against some rude people. Eventually, the two of you would just end up together but it’d be a slow and almost sweet/cute process.

who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling/vice versa: George

who starts the tickle fights: George

who starts the pillow fights: Again, George

who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile: Sort of fluctuates between the two of you

who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1am in the morning: George because what the fuck is a microwave

who comes up with cheesy pick up lines: Look, all of these are just ending up being George

who licks the spoon when they’re baking brownies: HIM

who draws little tattoos on the other with a pen: Both of you

who convinces the other to fill out those couple surveys in the back of magazines: You – just kidding, George

Christmas

who cuddles the most: You

who takes too many pictures: George

who decorates the house: You

who starts the food fight while making christmas dinner: George

who puts on the christmas albums first: You

who wakes up first on christmas morning: George

christmas movie you watch: Home Alone

christmas song you sing: Last Christmas (this would be sung very dramatically)

Miscellaneous Christmas Stuff

who you kiss under the mistletoe: James Potter

who kisses you on new years: Charlie Weasley

who you wear matching ugly christmas sweaters with: Luna Lovegood (she’d have the best sweaters, let’s be real)

who you get into the christmas spirit with: Ginny Weasley

who gets drunk and confesses their love for you: Harry Potter

Halloween

gets scared and clings the other in a haunted house: George

makes a cosy bed fort to cuddle in: You

spends all October trying to scare the other person: George

goes all out with the Halloween decorations: George

who cuddles the most all night: You

wants to go trick-or-treating: George

gets overly excited about trick-or-treaters but ends up scaring them: George

collects cool looking leaves: You

steals the others sweets: You

commentates the horror movies because they’re secretly scared: You

Miscellaneous Halloween Stuff

who tries to scare you with scary stories: Sirius Black

who you get into the Halloween spirit with: Dean Thomas

who you compete with at bobbing for apples: Cedric Diggory

who you watch horror movies with: Fred Weasley

who accidentally wears the same costume as you: Angelina Johnson

who you get lost in a corn maze with: Hermione Granger – it was harder than you both though

Star Wars – Again, I go between eras

era: original | prequels | new age

force sensitive: yes | minor sensitivity | no

weapon of choice: blaster | lightsabre | electrostaff | ship mounted weaponry | n/a

General

ship: Poe Dameron

best friend: Leia Organa

secret admirer: N/A

enemy: Basically any member of the First Order

With Your Best Friend

how you became best friends: Just pretending that this is an alternate universe and you and Leia are around the same age, the two of you would become friends when you hear her give a speech and you commend her on being such a brilliant person. She’d love it and the two of you would just hit it off.

most likely to be found: Exploring wherever you’re being held up – so, people actually can’t find you most days

how they feel about you and your ship’s relationship: Leia would be a little protective but overall would be thrilled that the two of you are together. She’d adore Poe so she’d be happy that out of anyone, you were with him.

what the talk they gave your ship was like when you first started dating them: I don’t think Leia would be one of those people who give a ‘talk’.

who forces the other to watch movies they’ve already seen hundreds of times: Leia

who tells the worst jokes: Leia

who accidentally exposes the others secrets: You

who always falls asleep first when sleeping over: You

who gets the other in trouble: Leia

With Your Ship

how you met: You’d be partnered on a small mission together and he’s quite a loud character and doesn’t find it difficult to make friends so you’d become close quickly.

how you got together: I think both of you would realise your feelings for one another around the same time but you wouldn’t really do anything because with the First Order and whatnot, you didn’t really see it to be a good time to try and be together. However, when Poe got hurt and captured, you kind of went ‘fuck it’ and decided it was now or never.

who accidentally pushes a door instead of pulling/vice versa: You

who starts the tickle fights: Poe

who starts the pillow fights: Poe

who falls asleep last, watching the other with a small affectionate smile: Both of you have done this

who lets the microwave play the loud beeping sound at 1am in the morning: You

who comes up with cheesy pick up lines: Poe

who licks the spoon when they’re baking brownies: You

who draws little tattoos on the other with a pen: Poe

who convinces the other to fill out those couple surveys in the back of magazines: You

Christmas

who cuddles the most: Poe

who takes too many pictures: Poe

who decorates the house: Both of you

who starts the food fight while making christmas dinner: You

who puts on the christmas albums first: Poe

who wakes up first on christmas morning: Poe

christmas movie you watch: The Nightmare Before Christmas

christmas song you sing: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Miscellaneous Christmas Stuff

who you kiss under the mistletoe: Finn

who kisses you on new years: Luke Skywalker

who you wear matching ugly christmas sweaters with: Omg I can totally imagine you making a matching sweater for BB-8

who you get into the christmas spirit with: Rey

who gets drunk and confesses their love for you: Han Solo

Halloween

gets scared and clings the other in a haunted house: Poe

makes a cosy bed fort to cuddle in: Poe

spends all October trying to scare the other person: You

goes all out with the Halloween decorations: Poe

who cuddles the most all night: Both of you

wants to go trick-or-treating: Poe

gets overly excited about trick-or-treaters but ends up scaring them: You

collects cool looking leaves: Poe

steals the others sweets: Poe

commentates the horror movies because they’re secretly scared: You

Miscellaneous Halloween Stuff

who tries to scare you with scary stories: Leia

who you get into the Halloween spirit with: Obi-Wan

who you compete with at bobbing for apples: Cassian Andor

who you watch horror movies with: Rey

who accidentally wears the same costume as you: Luke

who you get lost in a corn maze with: Finn

#I love this #it's perfect thank you #about me #vividimagines #personal #submission

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