Could you please write on hero x villian (single parent troupe)? :D I love it sm!!
Just the idea of (either hero or villian) getting all friendly and warm with the other's kid
And the other, at first being like UH UH NOPE STAY AWAY FROM MY KID but soon, after some time of bonding,
the other is the only person they can trust with the safety of their child?
Mmmmm delicious trope yesyes…
(No reposts but reblogs appreciated <3)
New Recruit
Hero tapped their feet against the concrete flooring of Villains basement idly. Hardly paying any attention to their surroundings or the situation they were in, it was all too familiar. They were here a lot.
Ever since Villain got into the whole “kidnapping” thing, Hero had been a frequent visitor at the Villain estate. At first, it was frightening. Then, it turned more into friendly chatting and tea time than business and torture. Hero had nothing against that.
The large door finally began its opening—weirdly enough Villain was ten minutes early this time, that was new—but instead of Hero’s nemesis striding into the room, only a small head poked its way through the door frame. One of a child, a young child, ten at the most took a few nervous steps into the room before closing the door quietly.
Hero blinked in shock, the kid was a mirror reflection of their greatest enemy. Same nose, same eyes, same curious nature… just younger. Had Villain invented some sort of age regressing potion? Was this the same Villain of many years ago?
Lost in thought Hero hardly noticed the child puff up their chest and walk stiff-legged to a stop in front of them. Eyeing them up and down as they furrowed their brows slightly in an attempt to seem menacing. Hero had to stop the small chuckle from escaping their lips at the display.
“Who are you?” Despite the child’s best efforts to seem scary and in charge, their voice came out like a high pitched squeak as they shook a little in their stance.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Hero smiled, finding the younger one quite amusing, but the child didn’t back down.
“Are you Parent’s new lover.”
What.
“The other one isn’t coming back so are you the new one.” There was a slight look of disappointment that crowded the poor kid’s face. They looked upset, as if they had watched their parent go through many heartbreaks and tissue boxes, but was clueless as to how to help.
Parent must have been Villain. That was the only connection that seemed fathomable in this case scenario, besides Hero had known that Villain had a long line of past lovers behind them, so it was only reasonable that this child in front of them was Villains and not the villain themselves.
That was definitely new to Hero. They had never known Villain had a child, and Villain most likely would’ve kept them that way and out of harm for years to come if they had had the chance. Unfortunately for them, this kid was very curious and determined to save their parent’s broken heart.
Adorable. Hero couldn’t help the flutter of pride in their chest for the kid.
Hero contemplated telling Villains child the truth, they surely didn’t want to lie to them and con their way out of this situation—Hero had a feeling that would do more harm to the kid than good—but the truth wasn’t all that easy to explain either. And telling the kid that their only parent is actually a wanted criminal was probably not very smart and Villain would surely have their head for it.
But without having to dwell on it much further, the rushed footsteps of who Hero assumed to be Villain stomping down the stairs towards the basement sounded and Hero found themselves sure of their answer.
“Yes. I am.” Hero was confident in their tone for such a rotten lie, but something in their heart pounded again when the kid broke out into a grin and the stress seemed to evaporate from their shoulders. They were starting to grow fond of this kid and co-parenting with their longtime crush Villain was becoming more and more endearing by the second.
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you know, with hindsight now what it is I really do think a more literal reading of c!techno's chat would have helped his characterization a Lot
and mind you, this was originally intended to be the case, and very well may have been intended all along even if it wasn't usually emphasized within the lore
and don't get me wrong, I Get why it fell out of favor within the fandom. it coincides with a Very storied ableist trope that demonizes DID and disorders adjacent to it, and Can be spoken about in a way that is essentially indistinguishable from it depending on the word choice.
but the thing is ! not only does it not Have to be an allegory for DID, I straight up don't think it is At All.
because we Know what it's an allegory for. It's His Chat. there's technoblade playing the game, and there's the thousands of people watching with expectations and wants that he's compelled to meet (or, at the very least, pacify through Entertainment).
and this makes much Much more sense when conceived of as Supernatural. be that spirits, gods, demons, or anything that could fill that role. separate entities that, for whatever reason, only techno can sense the presence of and be affected by.
and of course, to an extent this is true for all creators. everyone had an audience that they were meant to entertain and the choices they made were influenced by that fact.
but technoblade came in with a Very distinct set of expectations that heavily impacted the choices he was Expected to make and the kinds of stories that he could tell. he was more or less a living legend in real life just as much as he was in roleplay, and these things were inherently connected.
and it's like !
when c!technoblade says he was peer pressured into killing tubbo at the red festival he Is technically talking about what happened within the roleplay. schlatt was demanding it from him, there's a sort of pressure there. but schlatt was also the dictator they were set to kill, and techno has never had any trouble fighting people he considered a dictator before, and certainly not Schlatt of all people.
but he WAS being peer pressured By His Audience. by thousands of people, most of which were demanding blood Because It Was The Expectation, because it'd be Fun.
out of universe technoblade made the decision he thought would be the most Entertaining, and he was right! consistently he made choices that would let him do the most bombastic Spectacles possible. And It's Great. he's Excellent at pulling dramatics and making a compelling scene that give other people room to work off of. in that sense I'd consider techno an Excellent actor, and I have to imagine that he was fun to work with.
the problem is when you then have to justify it from an in character perspective, grounded in those mushy things like Feelings with characters that can be traumatized and sustain lasting damage, Especially Without acknowledging the out of character incentive.
mind you, it's not Impossible to Create a backstory that could justify it. why a character as consistently powerful and feared as technoblade would feel pressured to kill an ally by someone he not only Can kill but Wanted To Kill. why a character as seemingly secure and in control as technoblade would lash out the way that he does to perceived betrayal, and yet consistently puts no weight onto having killed and permanently scarred an ally that trusted him.
what that'd need is tragedy. a storied history of being hurt and having to survive. building up To an untouchable god from a much much more vulnerable position. Long Lasting trauma that's lead to this deep insecurity and paranoia. and that's Possible and that's Compelling.
but it's just not in the text.
not only did we never learn basically Anything that c!technoblade was up to pre-series, we actually know Less by the end than when we started because of the sbi retconning.
it's a Theoretically Possible interpretation that's technically never Contradicted by canon, but would have to be created by scratch. it's a compelling idea for a fan fic (and one I'd like to read) and it's compelling for a theoretical recontextualization of the character, but it's just not In The Text.
meanwhile, we have the video above.
we have the Objective Fact that technoblade's decision making was often subject to the rule of cool (very Very effectively) to entertain his audience.
and most compellingly, these concepts Don't Need To Be Separate. in fact, in my opinion they're Stronger when you put them together.
because the thing is. it's Difficult to imagine techno as ever being in a vulnerable position. he is just Objectively more powerful than everyone else on the server, both in real life And within the lore. How could he have ever been afraid when he was stronger than anyone and everyone combined? when we saw with our own eyes that techno could face nearly the whole server at once and win.
but he Is a tragic character, at least he's meant to be. and that tragedy makes much Much more sense as something Inward.
technoblade as a character who Needs connection, who Needs stability, who Needs security, who Needs friendship and community and Love. but Lashes Out, Obliterates to the core of the earth, because of something that's not only out of his control but that other people Cannot Understand.
how do you explain to a child that you killed their best friend because a chorus of the undead called for his blood and you (in all the glory that he'd idolized) were unable to do anything but comply? how do you explain to that child that you beat him senseless in a pit as the restless dead jeered and laughed?
That's interesting. That's Compelling.
technoblade is idolized like a god, feared like a force of nature, and in an instant cut himself off from nearly everyone who'd considered him an ally. and that seems to be a pattern, over and over and over again. he's left isolated, and in return he faces retaliation, and in return he's always Waiting for retaliation.
and what do you say to someone who wants to kill you for being a monster? that it's Fine Actually because you only did what you did because you have a curse that compels you to? that the supernatural guided you to destroy their homes and kill their people? (rip jack manifold you will be missed)?
That Doesn't Quite Help Your Case.
technoblade as someone who is beholden to this literal cycle of violence and Loses those things that could ground him, community, stability, People, as a result. who Tries to overcome this very fact (to become a better person, in his own words as per the clip above), but is pulled back into it as a consequence of his own actions.
that's a tragedy !! that Makes Sense. that allows him to be Both this force of nature that other characters have to survive And A Person Who Is Hurt By The Same Conflict.
"I'm a person!"
that fear of dehumanization makes So So Much More Sense when you see technoblade as someone who Already fears himself. who fears being a monster, who fears losing control, who has faced isolation again and again and again.
and, importantly, it doesn't have to be anyone else's Fault.
by making the source both Internal and Completely External (something that none of the other characters have any awareness or control over), you can Have techno as a tragic character without demonizing anyone else Or erasing the impact that c!techno had on them.
and in that sense, it Can be an allegory for mental illness, but not in that direct "oooooh how scary he hears voices" kind of way that people fear it looks. but in that sometimes people Will do things that can hurt others while not feeling in control. anger and mania and paranoia, things that you can't always Control and yet that impact that you have on other people still Matters.
and the answer to that is, often, vulnerability and accountability.
I think a lot about technoblade isolating himself so near entirely from the rest of the server, and slowly gathering a support system Back by the end. and I Really Do think that framing of it through this lens is a Very impactful way of breaking it down.
tubbo, tommy, wilbur, ranboo, niki, I think they'd All understand not feeling in control. lashing out, maybe even feeling justified in the moment, but hurting people they care about and furthering their own isolation.
There's Something There, and it's already In The Text. it just needs to be expanded on.
and why not do that ourselves now?
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