#like forcing him to confront the fact that he's repeating the actions of people he hated and maybe understanding that lbh (and even sy)
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Tricky or sorry ?
Pairing: Young!Peacekeeper!Coriolanus Snow x Peacekeeper!Reader
Résumé: Fluff ? It takes a ballad into the woods for Coriolanus to realise that he absolutely despise how much he likes you.
A part of a story I miiiight post one day ??? I kinda understand why people says he’s crazy but still I think it’s more complicated than that ? Please feedback is appreciated !
“I don’t think we should be here.”
“It’ll be fine. No one know about this place.”
“Still!” you cried, clinging to his strong arm as you eyed the path you’ve just taken, trees closing behind your two form. “It can be dangerous, I don’t really like it.”
“What do you even like?” His question, which wasn’t aiming for an answer, was said so condescendingly that you frown, glancing at the unwavering look on his face which was looking forward.
You pinched his arm and let go of it, halting and crossing your arms with a pout. Still looking at the path before you, Coriolanus rolled his eyes at your antics before facing you. His lips twitched. It shouldn’t be charming, in fact he should be very annoyed, take your arm and force you to walk next to him until you’ve reached your destination. So why was he not submerged by this dark force who kept on telling him to crush everyone who would disobey him? It was there, the thoughts were there. But his fingers were itching for a different reason. How he wished he could simply wipe that expression out of your face by making you kneel before him.
“I’m sorry, okay?”
He wasn’t. He was just amused and was having a hard time hiding it. He was very well known among his squad for being ‘Poker face’. But now, even you could tell he was almost making fun of you and your actions.
“Don’t apologize if you don’t mean it, I feel pitiful…” you frowned, offended at his poor choice of words and obvious lie.
“Look – can we just, walk?”
It wasn’t in his habits. It may very well have been the first time he stumbled upon his choice of words. Or not. He did talked to you before, it might have been the third or fourth time. He did not like it. Did not like how you were making him feel so childish, just like you were. Did not like seeing your eyebrows furrowed because of his doubtful and careless courses of actions.
Silent, you joined him and walked beside him, blindly following him wherever he was taking you. He should have been content to have you walk by him again, but he wasn’t, not entirely. Why weren’t you taking his arms, just like you did before. It was problematic.
Coming to a halt, you following suit, he gazed at you, seemingly lost in his thoughts. What should he do? Someone else would have been confronted, belittled or classified as ‘threat’. And you were classified as a threat. But the blond couldn’t help himself. He appreciated every hours and every minutes spent with you. You both were nothing more than Peacekeeper, and yet, with you, it seems like those days spent here were less annoying and painful, like they were before he met you. So the blond could not just act on his impulse and slam your head in a tree, like he imagined doing so many times before, when his feelings towards you were more confusing than enticing.
“You good?”
It was sickening. The way you still worried about him despite being the one who was hurt. And maybe that’s why he liked you so much. Because he knew that even if he dragged you along the ground, you would still look up at him and ask him if it his not hurting.
The mockingjays whistled high in the trees, their eyes turned toward your intertwined silhouettes. You stood still with red cheeks wide eyes and let out a shaky breath at the warmth which was engulfing you.
“I’m sorry.”
It was nothing more than a whisper, you almost missed it and only felt his hot breath in the crook of your neck. But like an echo, the mockingjays repeated it in the silent forest. It was haunting: the noise, the setting… Yet, you still welcomed him in your arms, hugging him back. He was genuine.
Or he tricked you into thinking that he was.
Or he tricked himself into thinking that he tricked you.
#coriolanus x reader#coriolanus snow#coriolanus x you#the ballad of songbirds and snakes#hunger games prequel#ballad of songbirds and snakes#coriolanus fanfiction#coriolanus snow x reader#coriolanus snow imagine
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The paradoxical nature of Qilby: part 2
Going back to the end of the previous part where I declared Qilby an autism icon, it came to me the realisation that autism is really the only way to justify some of Qilby's actions and odd behaviour; as a big brother and autistic person myself I also would force the people I care about to engage in my interests, I understand on a subconscious level that what I am doing is wrong, but I just care about it so much that I need to share it with them at all costs.
(Even though I would never go as far as starting a war with another species just to force my race to go on a family trip with me).
And like, no offence to Yugo or the Elatrope council but it is my theory that all the Yugo haters have begun popping up due to some people head cannon that him and his family is inadvertently ableist, which (although I might agree considering their dynamic and who their mother is) I don't think it's completely warranted; as someone else pointed out if mental health and psycho analysis existed in the Krosmoz then Nox would have never come to be; if somebody explained what autism is to Yugo then maybe he would be more lenient on Qilby (or maybe not, after all he is his brother), Nora also doesn't know about autism but she is more accepting of Qilby's oddities even if she doesn't like them, and Qilby SURE AS HECK DOESN'T KNOW WHAT AUTISM IS.
Side note: Shinonome is not necessarily autistic, since my sister understands me perfectly and she isn't on the autism spectrum herself, but she clearly has inherited her more passive personality from her mother while Qilby has probably taken more from his father meaning that even if she was she probably wouldn't go about it in the boisterous manner of his twin.
However all of this is just a head canon and not the focus of this post. What I instead want to point out and analyse is the list-like approach of Qilby to anything and how that reflects the way many autistic people approach mostly every conflict in their life. Let me explain:
The way this list-like methodology works is entirely centered around a priority system, so basically Qilby schematizes in his head what he needs to do and say in which order and he has to follow it religiously in order to get anything done, so like on his to do list there is:
First: Confront Adamai and Grougal. Second: Get Rushu's army and alliance. Third: Confront Yugo and Phaeris and take them out. Fourth (interchangeable with third): Get the Dofus. Fifth: Go the Emrumb to get the children. And Sixth: Leave the planet.
And he has to do them in this order because this is the way that he has envisioned them.
This is also reflected in the way that he goes about science and space travel: he reaches a planet, discovers his species, analyses them, classifies them, compartmentalizes them, collects some, rinse and repeat in the next world.
And finally, I want to bring up his two most famous sentences of season 4 to showcase how this priority based thought process carries on to his speech pattern and family view.
"My dear Yugo, we are brothers, before being enemies"
See?
Qilby realises on his relationship list that Yugo is its enemy, but that before that he is its brother, that's what has the biggest priority for him in this moment and in general. But that's not even the most interesting part:
"Farewell Yugo. My brother, my king."
This phrase of course has been plastered all over the fanbase, but like.... did anybody ever think about how weird this sentence is? You would expect Qilby to say brother as his last word, as a final acceptance nod to the fact that deep down he does care about Yugo. But no. Instead he says:
"Good luck"(the situation's dramatic, so he's giving Yugo an encouragement as the first thing)
"My brother,"(Yugo is his demigod brother born from another Dofus)
"My king."(lastly, Yugo is also his king, as sentenced by Chibi in a previous life)
Qilby could have just called Yugo brother as his last word to show that he cares, but instead he decides to call him king, a title that means very little to him on their relationship chart, to show that he values him so much that he is going to use a term that means very little to him just to let Yugo know that he is willing to acknowledge the part of their brotherhood that he doesn't care about as a substitute acceptance nod to the aspect of their dynamic that he values the most.
<<<<Previous part
Oropo analysis
#wakfu yugo#wakfu season 2#wakfu qilby#wakfu season 4#wakfu adamai#wakfu grougaloragran#wakfu phaeris#wakfu shinonome#krosmoz#ankama#autism#autistic traits#autistic trauma#wakfu nora#wakfu nox#wakfu eliatrope#wakfu chibi#wakfu
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Chapter 2 - Escape
Pairing: Kate Bishop x Fem!Reader
Summary: Kate's past comes crashing down on her when Kingpin's mafia makes her their new target.
Warnings: Invasions, murder, mentions of death, I put the slow in slow burn, cursing, fighting.
Word Count: 1.2K
I Chapter One I Chapter Two I Chapter Three I Chapter Four I Chapter Five I Chapter Six I Chapter Seven I Chapter Eight I
I Masterlist I
The bold phrase was on repeat on Kate’s mind, mingling with a flood of questions racing through her thoughts.
“Because I’m your only chance at survival.”
If the stranger was her only chance to survive, why was that? As a matter of fact, how did she even get the information Kate would be in danger? Was she trustworthy or leading the archer into a trap? The stranger’s attire mirrored that of the invaders she had killed, sparking uncertainty and suspicion in Kate’s mind, overshadowing any semblance of trust she might have harbored.
Positioned in front of the archer as a shield, gun in hand, the stranger exuded calculated confidence. Kate’s protests were stifled by fear of the gun’s deadly potential and her own survival instincts. She realized she had little choice but to obey and hope for the best. She also had an agenda of her own. Once the woman gets her out of the apartment, she’ll bolt.
They slowly make it out to the corridor, where another man waited hidden in the shadows. They get jumped by someone that was built like a distant relative of Hulk’s. Both the guy and Kate had little time to process as the woman between them react, a kick between the legs had him on his knees, whimpering before she took his head and smashed against metal railing with such force, it bended. Dazed, the man barely had chance to respond before he was shoved down the stairs with ruthless efficiency. Her swift and decisive actions hinted at a deeper knowledge of combat tactics, even more deadly than the invaders swarming around.
Bullets pierced the air, prompting the stranger to retrieve her gun and usher Kate back to the relative safety of the bedroom. Kate’s heart pounded in her chest as she grappled with the gravity of the situation. How many adversaries were they facing? Was escape even possible?
“Fuck.” She complained in an angry sigh, breathing heavily.
“Do you think we can take them?” Kate asked, starting to believe that it wasn’t so bad that the stranger was there, saving her. Yes, she was shady and killed two – possibly three – people with ease, but there was no way she would get out of there alone.
“Now’s not the moment to make questions, but yes.” The woman hissed, her urgency justified by the noises coming through: the invaders were strategically moving to be able to get both.
The archer almost groans at the rudeness but chooses silence over confrontation. Observing the stranger’s tense demeanor, Kate sensed an undercurrent of desperation beneath her steely exterior as she tapped her vest and got a hold of something unclear.
“How long can you hold your breath?” The woman’s hand grazed Kate’s arm, prompting a surge of adrenaline as she braced herself for the unknown.
The whispered question was serious, Kate wasn’t. And in the face of danger, she impulsively used the stranger’s words against her. “That’s a question.”
“Bishop.” The woman says, more serious than before.
“I don’t know!” Kate’s mind raced, grappling with the unexpected query. “Thirty seconds?” She ventured, uncertainty tingeing her voice.
“It’ll have to do.” the stranger replied tersely, revealing a bomb, and issuing swift instructions. “This will make it difficult for them to see us, but when it explodes do not breath in or you’ll pass out. When I run, go to the door to the rooftop and hide, I’ll be behind you. Got it?”
Kate gives her a short and fast nod, pulse quickening as she absorbed the gravity of their predicament.
The stranger nods and pulls the pin, holding it for a second before throwing it high. The explosion rocked the apartment, casting chaos and confusion in its wake, fog rapidly gaining space as the invaders screamed downstairs. Kate stopped breathing and followed as the woman rushed outside, shooting someone that was coughing on the steps.
“Run!” The stranger commanded, her voice the only thing grounding Kate in the chaos.
Kate sprinted with a newfound sense of purpose, her senses heightened by fear and desperation. She wanted to curse herself and the way she double checked if every door was locked before sleeping, until she turned the doorknob and saw the way to her freedom. There was nothing and no one in the rooftop but darkness, she sought refuge behind a weathered air conditioning unit, her breaths ragged and shallow. Moments later, the stranger appeared, her presence a welcome reassurance amidst the turmoil.
“C’mon, we don’t have much time.” Her savior urged, extending a hand to Kate.
Gripping the stranger’s hand with trembling fingers, Kate allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. As they fled down the fire escape, Kate’s mind buzzed with conflicting emotions. Fear warred with relief, uncertainty mingled with gratitude.
Kate regretted many things in life, and still being weak despite years of training was one of them. Blindly following someone that so easily kills, hopping on a motorcycle with an unknown destination, all while praying it wouldn’t lead to a trap, only added to her list of regrets. It was stupid, she should’ve run away already.
Their destination, an abandoned warehouse, did little to ease her unease.
“Are you trying to get me alone to kill me?” Kate half-joked as they entered the dusty and dark place, removing the helmet as the stranger closed the door behind them.
“Don’t you think I could’ve done that already?” The woman's tone held no trace of amusement, revealing a simmering impatience as she maneuvered her bike deeper into the warehouse.
Seeking answers to quiet her racing mind and pounding heart, Kate pressed further. "Okay, then explain to me how someone I don’t know was out to protect me, dressing just the same as the people who attempted to murder me?"
The other remained silent at first, leading them to a secluded room that – once the door was open – stood out amidst the warehouse's dilapidated surroundings. Clean and organized, it held a backpack, and two sleeping bags. The stranger moved with familiarity, retrieving a powerful flashlight from one of her many pockets and illuminating the room before starting to shed the glasses, helmet and balaclava. As she turned to face Kate, the archer was struck by her beauty despite the disheveled appearance and traces of blood – that clearly wasn’t hers – on her face.
But now was not the time for such thoughts.
“Long story short, you managed to piss off the king of New York.” The woman stated matter-of-factly, her gaze as serious as her voice as she removed her bulletproof vest. “You thought you could use your family’s company to search here, hack there and no one would notice or care because you’re a star athlete that barely has time to breathe between maintaining a 4.8 GPA and competitions for an overwhelming amount of sports.”
Kate lifted her chin defiantly, attempting to mask her uncertainty with her usual unwavering confidence. "I have no idea what you’re talking about."
The woman emitted a dry chuckle before meeting Kate’s gaze once again. “I suggest you start jogging that memory of yours, Bishop, because the bounty in that pretty head of yours is enough to move an entire army.”
Kate's throat tightened at the revelation, feeling cornered and vulnerable, the echoes of her past struggles resurfacing once again. Under different circumstances, she was now Derek Bishop facing the barrel of a gun.
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#crimsonthreads#kate bishop x fem!reader#kate bishop x reader#kate bishop imagine#kate bishop x female reader#kate bishop fanfiction#hailee steinfeld#kate bishop#mcu#hawkeye
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Saw your comment on the end of the agreste arc not being originally planned. What makes you think that?
(you bet I wrote like half of this, then had to do something else, and forgot it in my drafts. sorry it took so long)
In short: Because of how unsatisfying and thematically insulting it is.
In longer: The reason for that is because the very set-up of the story - and the conflict to which the show keeps returning time and again - is left unresolved.
The beginning of the story, whether or not "The Bubbler" was meant as the pilot, establishes the parallel conflicts between Marinette-Adrien-Gabriel and Ladynoir-Hawkmoth. Specifically, what it establishes is that the one thing keeping these conflicts from being solved is the secret identities.
On the larger story level, it's important to remember that Hawkmoth's stated goal isn't to beat Ladybug and Cat Noir, but to get their miraculous. In every scenario he has succeeded, he did so because he discovered their identities, not because he grew strong enough to defeat them in battle. Their identities are the key, and Gabriel knows it, and so, eventually, does Marinette (jury's still out on Adrien, who is still sore about it in the S4 finale). Conversely: It is vital for Gabriel to keep his own identity secret, because the moment it's out, he can expect Ladybug and her extended cavalry to come pounding on his door.
The secret identities are also the one thing keeping the two personal stories from being resolved: The Love Square and Adrien's troubled relationship to his father. Until S5, these are both kept in a narrative limbo: the source of repeated conflict that finds no final resolution because the moment they do, the relationships involved will change so fundamentally that every episode after will find them unrecognisable.
(this, by the way, is not a bad thing, no matter how much the fanboys on youtube and reddit moan about "filler" and "dragging the plot out". The show was conceived to be watchable in any order, and until "Kwami's Choice", what little change happens is so inconsequential that it hardly ever affects the story on the episode level.)
As The Movie well showed us, the identity reveal is the dead man's switch forcing the story to conclude. When Gabriel and Adrien know, both their character arcs will come to a head: Gabriel will have to choose between his son and his wife, and the outcome of his choice will finally give Adrien the answer if he can continue hoping to have his father back, or if he has to find the belonging he so longs for elsewhere.
The LS reveal meanwhile being far more vital to Marinette's character arc, and as "Ephemeral" would have us believe, crucial for her having a relationship with either of Adrien's two personas.
TL;DR: THE ONE THING THE AUDIENCE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE EPISODE ONE, IS FOR ALL IDENTITIES TO BE REVEALED - FOR ADRIEN AND MARINETTE TO KNOW THAT THEIR LOVE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MUTUAL, FOR GABRIEL TO KNOW THAT HIS SON HAS BEEN REBELLING AGAINST HIM ALL ALONG, AND FOR ADRIEN TO KNOW THAT HIS FATHER'S UNNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR HURTS MORE PEOPLE THAN JUST HIM.
What we get instead is the least important reveal in this triangle - the Gabriel-Marinette one. Neither of them gets to change their mind about Adrien and re-evaluate their actions based on his knowledge, and Adrien never gets any resolution of the numerous problems he had with them both. The boy whose whole character arc is about winning his agency away from a father who has total control of his life down to his body and his mind ends the story as the in absentia bargaining chip between his father and his girlfriend, never knowing that this confrontation even happened. In fact: if the lore from "Ephemeral" still counts, Adrien's entire character arc was un-made, since Gabriel specifically requested to be remembered as a good father, and allegedly wasn't such a jerk when Emilie was around.
Since the show never did come out and say in words that Adrien is a sentimonster, and since being a sentimonster is compeltely unproblematic now that Felix is a good guy, I don't expect that this will be a story point in future seasons. Marinette made the choice to bury Gabriel's sins, and the show has never disagreed with her decisions except in the cases where it was blatantly obvious that she'd learn a lesson by the end of the episode.
Gabriel's story is over, Adrien will never know, and I refuse to believe that the people who made the two of them father and son did so with the intention of never letting that have any meaning.
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An Argument Against Stede Dissociating In Episode 9
personally i dislike the idea that Stede returned to Barbados and the Bonnet estate in a dissociative haze because i think it subtracts from the narrative in a way that allowing instead for 'stede made his decision consciously, while seriously impacted by being retraumatized' does not. i say that for two reasons:
stede's narrative arc gets wonky, lacking proper parallel to let him confront his decisions and their impact
if we take episode 9 from a place of, stede, having been retraumatized not only in the form of witnessing a man die (this time, truly independent of stede's actions because i would argue that stede did in fact murder nigel, even if in a second degree sense, but chauncey being drunk and tripping into shooting himself is genuinely stede *actually* just being nearby when he died which - these writers! this writing! aaaargh!!!) but also in having all of his worst fears and insecurities struck with pinpoint accuracy RIGHT before, chooses to return home and leave ed behind because he thinks it will be better for him -
what we get from that is stede *making his great mistake again*. stede leaving ed becomes true and proper parallels to stede leaving mary and the children, becomes stede running from his family to run towards a family, all over again, it becomes an actual cycle that stede has to break, rather than a one and done event.
if stede is in a full dissociative episode when he goes back to the Bonnet Estate, then he doesn't make a conscious choice, he doesn't choose to go back to his old place and his old life and consign himself (and his family) to the misery of an angry man in your house, he's just a victim of chauncey badminton and all the people like him who hurt stede.
and that makes the narrative bad.
because what the narrative does with stede by having him make this choice is it forces him to confront possibly his greatest flaw - the selfishness inherent to that kind of deep self-loathing, where you completely dismiss the feelings and thoughts of other people because you are so convinced that you and you alone properly know what those other people need and want and that you can make decisions on their behalf because you are so uniquely specially different that no one else can understand you and if they think otherwise they are wrong and lying and foolish - by making him repeat his abandonment.
by making us sit in ed's anguish at being abandoned, we are forced to imagine *mary and the children's* anguish at being abandoned. at having stede uproot their lives without so much as a word of warning. it invites us to see that what stede did might have been good for him and necessary for him to achieve happiness, but the hows of what he did made it cowardly and corrosive.
when stede is actively making a choice, even one influenced heavily by trauma and self-loathing, the narrative is telling us - through the action and the fallout - that ghosting people fucking sucks. that running away from your problems will only bring them right back to you, worse than they were originally.
that the only way out is through.
that wherever you go, there you are, still stuck with yourself.
and i like that narrative, actually.
2. it makes stede a passive participant in this break up with ed, which makes the whole thing unbalanced
the other reason i dislike the whole, stede just dissociated all the way home thing is that, it makes the whole thing unbalanced. like i mentioned earlier, it means that stede is essentially just a victim in this situation, without agency as a character. it means him going home is just one more thing chauncey badminton did to stede, and it makes it so that him thrusting himself back into his family's lives is as much something violent that's happened to HIM as it is something violent that's happened to THEM.
and i really don't think that's what the narrative is going for.
stede going home forces his family, who have already dealt with the harm of his abandonment, the emotional violence of his careless disregard for their feelings and his place in their lives (do you ever think about how stede wrote to mary, but not his children. how mary felt about having to deliver all of the news to her two small children, that their father had abandoned them to pursue his own happiness, because he could not be happy as a part of their lives?), the social violence of being associated with a known criminal, to live through it again.
to have the wound torn open. to have him once again disregard their wants and feelings in favor of once again pursuing emotional satisfaction - this time, the emotional satisfaction of hurt, because make no mistake, stede is not trying to be happy when he returns home. he is not trying to find peace. he is hurting himself, and he graduates to hurting mary, being passive aggressive and pointed in and snide, because he is miserable with his choice and wants her to be miserable.
(i will never stop thinking about how he says if he can give up the sea, surely she can give up 'dishonest' title - surely if he can give up his beloved life, she should have to give up hers.)
the narrative is making a point that stede makes these unilateral decisions and they have direct impacts on other people's lives and it uses the hurt that stede's abandonment causes ed - the grief, the misery, the drowning - to once again show that stede's actions have consequences. his choices have consequences.
if the narrative were instead writing that stede *didn't* make a choice, he *didn't* leave ed, he was a victim of circumstance and trauma and never ever wanted or intended to leave ed -
then he's really just set dressing, and it will put ed in a position where, unlike mary, he can't even have the full emotional satisfaction of confronting stede, because stede's response will be, i was a victim, i didn't mean to, i hurt you but it was an accident -
and that fucking sucks. that would fucking suck. it happens in real life, it's true, but i think it would weaken the narrative substantially if we see that ed is held to account for the people he hurt, which he should be, but stede is off the hook for it, really, because he just had no choice, he was a passive participant in his own life. stede actively making these choices means that when stede actively undos them, when he completes the fuckery and goes back to sea,
if stede made his choice, even under partial duress of trauma, then the narrative is taking strong, decisive turns, and showing a coherent narrative - that stede's life has had this pattern, his behavior has had this pattern, and he is finally breaking the pattern. he succumbed to his worst self and worst habits, but overcame.
his dissociating adds nothing to the narrative beyond making stede a victim who didn't get to actively participate in the decision that blew up his life.
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i'm new to the tekken lore and wanted to ask someone who has more in-depth understanding of the characters, so, why do you think kazuya was so sombre after finally killing heihachi in tk7? the dev team could have had him do the dopey smirk at the camera as a homage to tk1 but he does nothing of the sort and instead looks on, seemingly contemplative, into the lava. all his other endings in the series has him laughing maniacllay or smiling in glee as he kills or dispatches members of his family.
Kazuya and Destroying Heihachi
hey welcome! always exciting for more people to get into tekken lore! I am always here to delve into Kazuya's mind. he's my favourite character and i love thinking about what might be going on in his head.
Kazuya's victory in Tekken 7 is the first time he's had a canonical ending in a Tekken game since the very first installation. The only thing that comes close is his Tekken 4 ending, though only the first portion of this is canonical, not his victory over Jin (or maniacal cackle). So despite seeing lots of his maniacal laughter in endings over the games, these predominantly represent the victory of his 'evil' machinations, and fall a little more into some of the cartoonish non-canonical endings. Lee and Heihachi also have a lot of endings like this. They more represent cartoonish power fantasies of the characters than fully accurate representations of their in-character actions. If faced with the opportunity to tie all of his relatives to a rocket and golf ball them into space, Lee probably would not do so, for example.
So the real question is, what has changed between the first game and Tekken 7 for Kazuya to treat this end for Heihachi very differently? Kazuya aged 26 was arrogant, proud, and believed himself to have just brought down the most tyrannical force in his life. He is gleeful, relieved, hopeful, about to inherit an empire - everything in his life is finally going right. Tekken 7, aged 49 Kazuya can never feel what 26-year-old Kazuya felt again. His paranoia and wisdom is such that he will now probably always be prepared for the worst. He will be ready on the off chance that Heihachi somehow survives to make his life hell again. He will never believe he is done and never relinquish the power that makes him feel secure from this threat.
He's older, and more tired. He's not expecting anything much to change in the wake of this victory. But it's also momentuous for him. Killing Heihachi gone from being something he bided his time through childhood to achieve to something he's built his entire adult life towards to complete. He hid himself in a laboratory and subjected himself to extensive experimentation and testing just to try and make sure he was ready next time he faced Heihachi. He is lucky to be alive in the wake of his loss to Heihachi in Tekken 4 and knows so. So there is a weight and gravitas to his actions this time around that is four decades in the making, and very different to the cocky, self-assured him that thought he was done with this aged 26.
Kazuya also tells us himself why it's different this time. He repeats Heihachi's maxim: "A fight is about who's left standing. Nothing Else." There's a finality to this statement, like he's finally able to let go of this chapter of his life. He claims there is no further meaning to his victory beyond the fact that he has won. He's not here to revel in it this time, it is just the case that he was superior. He has surpassed Heihachi and Heihachi has become an irrelevance to him (or so he claims). Personally, I think things will get a lot harder for Kazuya from here on. His entire identity has been built on trying to confront and defeat his father. And with the exception of 2 short years, in which the extremes of who he could be were clashing for dominance, he has never had a chance to discover who he could be outside of trying to survive Heihachi. So I think that sombre tone he takes at the end is also because this is a hugely important part of him that he is destroying. He is breaking a cycle that is key to his own identity. It's not something he can smirk off like a younger him might have been able to, because it's something so momentous to him.
There's also been an emphasis throughout the final fight between Heihachi and Kazuya of 'human vs demon' verses 'human vs human'. Heihachi exhausts all of Kazuya's devil forms until the two have to fight human-to-human. This is a very deliberate choice to allow Kazuya to have the personal closure to the injury done to his 5-year-old self. He defeats Heihachi not as something monstrous, but with his own human strength in the end. The personal stake in this fight and honour associated with it being, at the end, a fight human-to-human is being carried through into the way Kazuya disposes of Heihachi's body. There is a modicum of respect to it that both honours and parodies the way that Heihachi disposed of Kazuya in Tekken 2. Kazuya defeats Heihachi with the same weapons Heihachi used: his fists and the Mishima martial arts he taught him, speaks Heihachi's own lessons back to him, and drops his body into a volcano as Heihachi did to him. So Kazuya both becomes his father and mocks him in a way. Tekken 7's intention in starting and ending with that Oscar Wilde quotation ("Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them") is to highlight the way Kazuya has become all the things he hated in Heihachi. The quotation begins by being about 5-year-old Kazuya's condemnation of his father, and flashes up again at the end of the game, just after Jin has said only he can kill Kazuya. So it is about Kazuya's single-minded path to destroy Heihachi turning him into everything he despised, so that Jin now passes judgement on Kazuya as Kazuya once did Heihachi. It's also a forwarning that, if Jin isn't careful, this too will be his path.
So that lack of a smile at the end to me is really because Kazuya is taking seriously the threat he's destroyed, which has held this tyrannical power over him for almost all his life, but partially also because he has become the very thing he was destroying. It's no longer a joke because he's walking into that mantle of everything evil Heihachi was, and embracing it as his own.
Briefly, I also want to say that this is a moment of great grief and closure for Kazuya. We run through a short montage of the many times in his life when he's suffered under Heihachi and hear all the mockery Heihachi has heaped on him and all he's taken from him. This is the game clarifying that Kazuya's original hatred for Heihachi came out of deep love for his mother. We've seen Kazuya's flashback moment where he sees Heihachi standing before him, and sees him with the same eyes he saw through as a child. This scene is really important to me for characterising Kazuya, because it captures the essence of someone who essentially set his life goals at five-years-old and had to grow up then, and really hasn't had a chance to become anything more since. His whole life has been seeing what that child saw. And then we flash through all the times since then that he's suffered - things that happened after that smirking victory after the first tournament. So I think we can also attribute his change in attitude to Heihachi's death to that raw frustration, hatred, and grief as this torment finally ends for him.
#you tapping me on the shoulder and me dropping 1000 photos of kazuya mishima#kazuya mishima#tekken thoughts#tekken lore#asks#heihachi mishima#tekken 7
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October 7th, 1993.
There was a harsh bite to the chill in the castle as winter loomed. With two more classes on his plate this year, Mattheo was throwing himself more into his studies to keep on top. Not that he told anyone that. Theo and Blaise were under the impression that he was in detention for a scrap he’d gotten into during potions, but Snape preferred to deal with the teen as little as possible. The fewer people knew about his little spot of haven in the library, the better.
There were footsteps in the aisle behind the bookcase he’d been leaning against, halting his movements with his quill over his notebook. There were sniffles and the thump of another body settling against the shelves. Mattheo tensed, grip tightening on his quill. He’d have to leave, somehow, without being caught in the action.
As he twisted to push himself up off the ground, he peered through the shelves above the hardbacks. Shit. Even without his need to keep tabs on everyone he met, he’d probably recognise the back of that head anywhere. He turned back, leaning his head back against the shelf and weighing his options. He couldn’t just leave her like that. Nobody would. That’s what he continued to repeat to himself as he closed his journal. “You okay there, Bishop?”
The witch sniffled again, her breaths coming out ragged. At first, Mattheo worried she might not have even heard him or was having a panic attack. “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was back here. I can leave. I’ll leave.”
He heard shuffling and panicked. “Wait!” Quiet again. “I can’t in good conscience let you leave here in tears.” He’d never seen her cry before. Not on the platform at King’s Cross, not when students were being petrified, not even when she fell from her broom during Quidditch.
“Do boys have a conscience?”
Mattheo smiled imperceptibly at the sourness of her tone. He’d been forced to grow up so fast, the teenage woes of his classmates amused him. “I don’t know. Why don’t you talk to me and find out?”
There was a moment of quiet once again. Maybe she was questioning whether she could trust him. He was used to it by now.
“I punched Cormac McLaggen.”
Oh. Mattheo had to fight a laugh. McLaggen probably deserved it, but the last thing Mattheo had been expecting from the witch was to hear that she’d punched her own boyfriend. He’d pay good money to have seen it.
“You punched Cormac?” He couldn’t help but sound impressed. He was, but now wasn’t the time.
“In the face. Outside Flitwick’s classroom. He…I caught him with someone else.”
Oh. “Wanker.” Mattheo muttered under his breath. There was a hint of a smile in the witch’s laugh that had Mattheo’s fingers itching to grab his quill and draw it. He leaned his head back against the shelf and sighed. “You shouldn’t waste tears on guys like that. You’re probably not even the first. You can’t take it personally.”
“So…you’ve never cheated?”
“It’s not a ritual activity, Bishop. Not every guy you meet is a cheater.” His flings didn’t even last long enough. It was an unwritten agreement that most girls usually got with him to see what it would be like ‘flirting with danger’. Mattheo didn’t mind. He didn’t care enough to let it hurt him.
“Right, sorry. That was stupid. Just…there’s a lot of rumours about you.”
He shouldn’t have been surprised that the rumours had reached her. It did surprise him that that was the one she was most inclined to believe, rather than the lies that he was some insane sociopathic murderer like his father. “Cheating is for assholes too cowardly to confront the fact that something isn’t working out. It’s not some ‘bad boy’ agenda, which I never signed up for. Nobody should be made to feel like they aren’t enough.” That being said, he hadn’t had much of a chance to be a cheater, but it didn’t seem like something he wanted to do. What could be worse than being the reason for somebody’s tears?
“I just thought I was smarter than that.” She sniffled.
Being the reason someone couldn’t see their self-worth. That was worse. Mattheo fucking hated people like that. “You are smart. You just…don’t expect to be let down so easily.” Mattheo couldn’t help but be in awe of what that must feel like.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t smart enough.” There was a self deprecating scoff from behind the bookcase. “So desperate to be deserving of love that I fell for the smallest branch of kindness handed to me. I just…didn’t expect it to feel this way.”
“It’s not supposed to feel good.” He leaned his head back against the shelves and frowned. How could she ever think that? He was the person who could never be loved, but she glowed too brightly to be anything like him.
There was another long moment of silence, though Mattheo could vaguely hear the sound of turning pages. “Have you ever loved someone who mistreated you?”
“I’ve never loved anyone at all.” Mattheo confessed. He didn’t know why he did. It probably made him sound just like his father. Juliette didn’t question it. He liked that about her. “Did you love him, then?” The very thought left him unsettled.
“I think I just wanted someone to love me. I wanted to feel chosen,” came a defeated whisper from the other side of the shelves.
Mattheo had to close his eyes to prevent the swirling emotion in his chest from manifesting into something real. There was nothing worse than not feeling chosen, something he’d had to deal with his entire life. I’d choose you. Mattheo opened his mouth to speak, but then another voice spoke out from behind the bookcase.
“There she is! The entire year is talking about how you handed McLaggen’s ass to him.
Kingston Chance. Satisfied that the witch was now in the safe hands of someone more qualified to be giving advice, Mattheo took the opportunity of distraction to make his escape.
***
There was a ringing in Mattheo’s ears, blocking out the jeers of the surrounding crowd. It was all he could hear, along with the Gryffindor’s words reverberating in his head. Girls like that are easy. They just need you to pretend you see them. And yet, despite the internal noise, Mattheo’s face was the portrait of calm composure.
“Just let me explain.” Cormac offered, trembling. His left eye was puffy and purple. Mattheo really needed to stop thinking about how good it must have looked, seeing Juliette cuff him in one fluid motion. “Oh, I’ve heard everything I needed to hear.”
In seconds, he had McLaggen up against the wall, feet dangling helplessly below him. McLaggen had got a couple of hits in, but it felt like weak vermin compared to his animalistic fury. “You stand there acting so fucking tough, but you’re just another elitist dick.”
His fist found refuge in Cormac’s cheek, splitting skin. It wasn’t enough. Nothing he did now would change anything, but the dakrness had taken over. Mattheo’s hands had closed around McLaggen’s windpipe before he’d even realised what he was doing. A voice in his head hissed in encouragement. It would be so easy. Cormac’s face purpled so easily in his hold. Every pathetic wheeze was a release of wasted oxygen. Not long now. He should draw it out, try to make it last. A minute for every broken heart. Every tear shed at his expense.
McLaggen was flailing less and less, his pitiful gasps coming in fast and furious. It wouldn’t take much more pressure, he just had to-
“I said snap out of it.” A voice snapped in Mattheo’s ear. His grip slackened as he was hauled away from McLaggen, but the hiss that suggested he’d scratched Cormac’s throat in the struggle satisfied him.
“What in Salazar’s name was that, Riddle?” Dani pushed him to sit down on the couch in the common room. Theo took a seat on the arm of the couch and tutted. He was one to talk. There was a dull ache above Mattheo’s eye that was fast growing into a throb. He was grateful when Danielle approached with the common room first aid kit. The last thing he wanted was to match the asshole.
“Look, I get you’re the Slytherin heir or whatever, but you shouldn’t go punching every asshole.”
“Maybe she shouldn’t date such an asshole.” Mattheo uttered under his breath, and he could’ve sworn Dani purposely pressed the swab harder against his wound. “Do nice girls always go for dickheads?”
“Do guys always go for girls they can’t have?” Dani arched a brow and Theo snorted.
“Well, guys go for you.”
Mattheo tensed at the words, not wanting to get in between another sexual tension-filled argument, but Dani didn’t even bother to look at him.
“I’m not unobtainable, Nott, I just have standards.”
Theo glanced away, his jaw tense. Mattheo was staying out of it, instead letting Dani patch him up without further complaint. “What happened to finishing fights but not starting them?” The blonde asked, her movements gentler than they’d been moments prior.
“He cheated on Juliette.” Maybe it said something about the fact that the two didn’t even need to press further about who he was talking about. They were too busy exchanging looks with one another.He seriously hated when they did that.
“Did she ask you to beat him up?” Theo asked, and Mattheo turned a dark glare on him.
“She didn’t ask for anything. She had it handled. I just heard him talking about it when I was walking past. He got what was coming to him.” His friends were still looking at him in disbelief. “I was just trying to help. Merlin forbid I try to play the good guy.”
“If you say so,” Dani shrugged. She had finished cleaning the wound now and was packing away. “She’s a nice girl, Mattheo. But nice doesn’t get you anywhere. The best thing for her is to avoid people like us. People like that have their lives planned out from the moment they’re born. Best not to interfere. She has friends. She doesn’t need you.” Mattheo’s hands tightened into fists. They were right, he knew they were right. He wasn’t a hero. He’d been told the opposite his entire life. Juliette Bishop would have been just fine without him. It wasn’t like she’d ever acknowledge him again.
“Just try not to lash out again? We thought you were going to kill him.” Dani laughed, the sound like a breeze.
It only made Mattheo’s stomach churn at the memory. Mattheo’s aunt always said that the past didn’t matter, so long as he could be proud of who he was now. Could he be proud of himself for playing into the story that had been written for him?
“If they want to believe I’m a monster, let them. I wasn’t fighting for myself.”
“Then try not fighting at all. I’m going to the dorms. Listening to Binns drone on has given me a headache. Not that it’ll be a problem, but don’t smile too wide. You’re lucky that lip doesn’t need much healing.” Mattheo nodded and thanked the blonde, grateful that she and Theo had been there to stop him.
Theo moved from the arm to sit beside him, watching Danielle’s retreating form. “Do you get the feeling there’s something she’s not telling us?”
“She’s a girl. There’s probably loads of shit she doesn’t tell us.” He shrugged. He was no therapist, and he certainly wasn’t an expert on women.
Theo’s brows furrowed, his teeth teasing his lower lip. “She’s been getting sick a lot lately.”
“It’s flu season. Listen, she’s probably just using it as an excuse to hide herself away with Greengrass and gossip about us. Girls do that sort of thing at this age.” He’d heard Blaise say something along those lines.
“She’s hiding something. She’s not the only one either.” Theo’s gaze was so unusually intense, Mattheo flinched away. “You gonna tell me what happened back there?”
Nott wasn’t usually so observant, but when he was, he was uncannily accurate. Mattheo felt his walls rise, and he stood up, walking over to the mirror above the fireplace to check out his split lip. “You were there, weren’t you?”
“And we’re concerned about you. We didn’t think you were going to kill him. You were killing him. I’ve never seen you like that before. It felt like you disappeared. If we tell Snape-”
“If I tell Snape I’m hearing voices in my head, I’ll be on the first train out of here. It’s nothing I can’t handle myself.” Mattheo didn’t want to think about that. He had to see it through to the end. Dumbledore was only giving him one chance.
If he couldn’t be a hero, the least he could do was refrain from ending up like the villain.
Theodore appeared at his side, watching him in the mirror before he held up a bottle of firewhiskey. “Life’s semi-natural painkiller.”
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Bonfire - R.C
Rafe Cameron x fem!reader
trope: enemies to lovers
tw: swear words, gun being mentioned, someone being punched, rafe 😻
☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★
The bonfire blazed on the beach, casting a warm, flickering glow over the revelers. You, along with JJ, Pope, and John B, had hosted the party, celebrating under the moonlit sky. As the night wore on, you couldn't escape the fact that Rafe Cameron, the epitome of Kook privilege, was among the partygoers.
He sauntered over with a smirk, a beer in his hand, and a patronizing glint in his eye.
Rafe's voice was laced with arrogance as he said, "Well, well, look who's here, trying to fit in with the Kooks' lifestyle."
You met his gaze with a steely glare, unimpressed and ready for the battle of words that had become all too common between the two of you.
You retorted with a sharp edge to your voice, "I'm not trying to fit in, Rafe. I'm just here to have a good time, something you could learn from us."
The tension in the air grew thick, and the audience around you began to take notice, curious to see where this would lead.
As the argument intensified, you and Rafe took a step closer, so close that you could feel each other's breath, the space between you almost disappearing. The electric charge between you was undeniable, and the intensity of the moment hung heavy in the salty beach air.
Rafe continued his condescending tone, "You're just jealous because you pogue losers have to scrape by."
You shot back, your voice dripping with sarcasm, "Jealous? I'd rather have real friends who have my back than be surrounded by people like you."
The verbal battle escalated, and before long, you and Rafe were yelling at each other, trading insults like fiery barbs. The bonfire's crackling became a backdrop to your heated exchange.
Rafe's words were a caustic retort, "You're nothing, Y/N! You'll always be beneath us."
You fired back, your voice filled with defiance, "I'd rather be nothing than be you, Rafe, a spoiled brat who's never had to work a day in your life."
Just as the confrontation reached its peak, chaos erupted at the bonfire. Topper had punched John B, and the party quickly spiraled into a full-blown brawl, diverting everyone's attention. You and Rafe were forced to put your argument on hold as you joined in the chaos or attempted to break it up, but the undeniable tension between you remained.
You turned your attention to Rafe with a pointed comment, "Control your psycho friend, Rafe."
Rafe responded with a smug smirk and a biting remark, "I can't control him any more than you can control being a pogue."
Your temper flared, and without a second thought, you took a step closer to Rafe, your eyes narrowing.
You demanded, "What did you just say?"
Rafe, unfazed by your proximity, repeated his taunt with a condescending grin, "I said, I can't control him any more than you can control being a pogue."
In an instant, your frustration turned into action. You clenched your fist and threw a punch at Rafe's cheek.
With a defiant glare, you challenged him, "Would you like to say it again? I didn't hear it the first time."
Rafe, his cheek stinging from the punch, held back a smirk and even managed to sound somewhat amused.
"What I thought, asshole."
The tension in the air was thick, and your confrontation had reached a new level of intensity. The heated exchange had taken a physical turn, leaving you both even more conflicted about the complicated feelings simmering beneath the surface of your fiery exchanges.
As the heated confrontation with Rafe reached its climax, you decided to diffuse the situation before it escalated further.
You urged your friends, "C'mon, guys, let's go."
But before you could steer your friends away from the chaos, JJ, in a moment of mischievous spontaneity, fired a shot into the air, making everyone at the bonfire party panic and scatter.
The loud noise startled the partygoers, and people began to disperse in a frenzy. You couldn't help but roll your eyes at JJ's impulsive move, muttering under your breath.
You commented with exasperation, "And we were supposed to be incognito."
Despite the unexpected turn of events, you and your friends regrouped and made your way out of the chaos, leaving behind the pandemonium of the bonfire party.
☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★
au/ I need s5!
#fanfic#rafe outer banks#rafe cameron#rafe x reader#rafe imagine#rafe cameron imagine#rafe obx#outerbanks rafe#outer banks imagine#outer banks x reader#outer banks icons#outer banks#jj mayback imagine#jj mayback x reader#jj maybank#jjk x reader#sarah cameron#sarah cameron imagine#obx imagine#oneshot#obx fanfiction#obx cast#obx fic#obx#john b routledge#x reader#drew starkey#drew starkey imagine#drew starkey x reader#:☆*urmoonie.:☆*
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Memories - Nezuko Kamado x fem demon reader
Before any of you gets the idea to tell me that my request rules are stating that I don't write out of the perspective of another species ... it's different with this oneshot because it's a demon reader and the anime is literally DEMON Slayer. Just wanted to clarify that beforehand.
summary: You came to a village for food, not for the memories you were confronted with instead.
warnings: it's Demon Slayer, you should know what you're getting yourself into
word count: 709
Author's note: Feel free to check out my Masterlists and make requests. No reposting please! Reblogging, comments and requests are always appreciated <3 If you like the story/my writing, please don't be shy to say it via comments or asks! It takes you a few seconds and might make my day. It's the best appreciation you can show to a writer you like.
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I did not know when I had had my last meal.
The town I had lived in had been occupied by another demon who had been way stronger than me. Luckily I had somehow managed to escape, but soon that would not matter anymore as my strength faded more with every step.
Hence I forced myself to move on until I finally spotted my savior, another village. It was small, but right now I could not care less.
My body took full control and started devouring the villagers. Their cries only edged me on as I lost myself in a blood rush.
When I came back to my senses I was laying on the ground. The scent of an unknown demon was right beside me.
Without wasting a second I attacked it fearing that it would beat me if I waited too long. But to my surprise the exact opposite happened. Despite the fact that my teeth were buried deep inside her arm, she did not move. Was she already dead? No. What was up with her?
Confusion filled my entire being.
Slowly the adrenaline subsided and I was able to think clearly again, although this demon's actions still did not make any sense to me.
Suddenly a blade appeared in front of me making me jump back a bit.
“Nezuko, are you alright?”, the boy holding the sword addressed the demon.
How odd. They did not fight against each other?
A weird feeling crept up inside of me. Since I had been turned into a demon I had never felt it.
“It seems like you calmed down. Your scent tells me you're more at peace”, the boy declared.
I was not sure how to react. Should I attack him? How had I even ended up in this situation?
My eyes moved up to the still dark sky. Enough time until sunrise.
“Why aren't you attacking the demon behind you?”, I wondered.
The boy's eyes turned soft and yet incredibly sad. “Nezuko's my sister. She protects humans. So there's no reason to kill her.”
“Why didn't you kill me then?”, I noted.
“I want to ask you something. What do you know about Muzan Kibutsuji?”, the boy asked me.
A deep feeling of fear settled inside me as my whole body started shaking. “I can't tell you.”
He wanted to respond something, but I did not even give him a chance to. Instead I repeated that I could not tell him.
“What an overpowering scent of fear”, the boy mumbled.
Suddenly Nezuko touched my hand and the fear slowly decreased again.
“You killed a lot of people”, the boy recalled. “Sorry, but I can't let you live.”
“I never wanted to kill them! Please, just let me go”, I begged him.
But my head had already been separated from my body.
I felt myself crumbling apart when an image popped up in my head.
“Nezuko.”
My words were nothing more than a whisper as memories were flooding my mind.
I remembered. I remembered everything.
How Tanjiro and I had met in the village because he had repaired my broken door. How I had accompanied him to the mountain to thank him with a special family recipe meal. How I had met Nezuko and immediately fallen in love with her.
We had spent years together.
I felt Nezuko's lips on mine, felt her touch, her soft skin. We had been so young back then. Innocent and pure, not wasting a thought about the cruelties going on in the rest of the world.
And now we had both turned into demons. Killed by my unofficial brother in law.
Somehow I felt sad and yet relieved. The agony of being a demon was finally over. I could rest in peace until Nezuko would join me someday. Hopefully it would take a lot of time until that day, but I was already looking forward to it.
“I'm glad that I got to see you one last time. Tanjiro. Nezuko. It's me. (f/n)”, I whispered weakly as tears were streaming down my face.
I felt Nezuko's hand caressing my cheek.
I smiled at her. “But you already knew that, didn't you, Nezuko? Thank you.”
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Getting Passive Protagonists to Act
Many beginning writers struggle with protagonists who are too passive. The plot seems to constantly be happening to him or her, but the protagonist doesn’t take an action to make the plot happen.
Ideally, when an event happens to a protagonist, the protagonist responds by taking an action that influences the next event, which then influences the protagonist, which then influences an event—and on and on. But that can be easier said than done. Especially if you have a protagonist who prefers to live life passively.
This could all get confusing, though, because in story structure, almost all protagonists will more or less become more proactive. But for the sake of this post, I'm talking about protagonists who are characteristically passive. A protagonist who may want to kick up his feet in a hammock with a glass of lemonade and watch the world deal with its own problems. How do we write a story about that guy?
Many people will tell you that you can't--you must change the character.
But that is not wholly true.
It's true in a good story, we need the protagonist to act--especially at key moments--but that doesn't mean he innately yearns to act.
Often the best solution in dealing with a passive character is to strengthen the stakes. Let me explain.
Anyone will Act with the Right Stakes
The stakes are potential consequences; they are what are at risk in the story. We often think of them as negative things (someone's life may be at risk), but they can also be positive things (the opportunity to be taught by a professional in your ideal vocation).
Stakes are important because if there is nothing at risk, then what happens, doesn't really matter, which means what the protagonist does, doesn't really matter, because it doesn't change any outcomes. The story only matters insomuch as we understand potential outcomes. The protagonist's choices only matter if they affect the outcomes.
For example, we only care about Frodo destroying the Ring because we know doing so could rid Middle-earth of Sauron’s evil. If we didn't know that, what happened with the Ring wouldn't really matter. And what Frodo did wouldn't carry any weight. (You can learn more about stakes in my article "How to Write Stakes in Storytelling.")
When struggling with getting a passive protagonist to act, (almost) always look at the stakes.
No Stakes
Make sure that you’ve at least laid out stakes. Sometimes writers feel like the stakes are obvious, so they don't mention them. Just as bad, if not worse, the stakes may be too vague. And definitely worse: nonexistent.
If the protagonist doesn't have anything clearly to gain or lose, why would she act? If what happened to the Ring didn't change something, why would Frodo go to Mount Doom? Why would any of us do anything if it didn't make some kind of difference?
In a case like this, clear stakes need to be on the page.
Let's look at some examples of what one might consider passive people within the context of their stories.
Shrek wants nothing more than to live alone on his swamp. If there is nothing at risk, is he really going to go on an adventure to rescue a princess? Probably not.
In The Edge of Tomorrow, I think it could be argued that the protagonist, Bill Cage (played by Tom Cruise) is somewhat passive in relation to the main conflict. The story is about him fighting in a war against aliens, but he has absolutely no desire whatsoever to enter combat--in fact, he's a coward. You think he would sign up to be the first in combat out of the goodness of his heart? No way.
In Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow, protagonist Vash would rather spend all day, every day eating donuts, playing with kids, and helping out the person down the street. He'd rather live life under an alias than face the fact he's the only one capable of standing up to the antagonist and saving the human race.
If none of these characters ever had anything at risk, then they would have never taken the actions they needed to, to move the story forward. They would have been forever passive.
In short, they only acted once there were stakes.
Wrong Stakes
If there are stakes on the page, and the character still isn't acting, then chances are they are either the wrong stakes (things she doesn’t care about) or the stakes are too small (the potential consequences don’t pose a real threat or a meaningful gain).
If they are the wrong stakes, you need to think about what the protagonist cares about and put it in jeopardy. We all care about something--whether that’s a reputation or a pet.
For a passive person, you might need to dig deeper and brainstorm longer to figure out what it is. And if you are having trouble, keep in mind that it's also possible the passive protagonist wants something for someone else or his environment. Maybe she's satisfied drinking lemonade and getting picked on, but she's not okay with her kid getting bullied--that's not something she can let happen.
Shrek mostly cares about living alone on his swamp. If his distant neighbor is at risk of dying in loneliness, Shrek's likely not going to do much about it. The best way to get him to act, is to put his home and lifestyle at risk. He will be willing to take action to save that.
Bill is afraid of dying (it's part of what makes him a coward). If he's put in a situation where he could die, he'll be forced to act.
Vash is obsessed with saving people. Children, friends, innocents, criminals. It doesn't matter who. He doesn't want anyone to die. If no one is at risk of dying, then it's unlikely he will be drawn to fight his antagonists. Almost always he is led to act because someone's life is at risk.
Small Stakes
If the stakes are too small, you need to make them bigger by making them broader or more personal.
Even the most passive person is unlikely to feel passive with a gun pointed at them. Unless they have a death wish, in which case, you could have the gun pointing at a loved one, or you could threaten torture. Even people who have a death wish don't want to be tortured. Almost all of us will act if the stakes get big enough.
Alternatively, you can promise an opportunity that is too good to pass up. If all I want is to live out my life on a hammock by the beach sipping lemonade, then maybe the best motivation is the promise of getting that. Maybe I'd be willing to act, if it ensured that.
It's bad enough for Shrek to have a few creatures come on his swamp, but the fact that countless numbers of them will be exiled to his swamp, is even worse. This is a big enough issue to get him to act--he decides he must visit Farquaad, which moves the story to the middle.
It's bad enough to die once, but it turns out for Bill, that he has to die over and over and over again. He also has to go on the battlefield over and over and over again, too. He keeps repeating the same events. This is enough to get him to try new tactics (and really, what other choice does he have?).
It's bad enough that Vash can't save everyone. But when it turns out the antagonists plan to destroy the whole human race, well, he can't live out life in donut-filled peace, playing cops and robbers with tykes. He has to act.
Inaction Stakes
If your passive character still really does not want to act, it's worth keeping in mind that inaction is an action--it just needs significant stakes. There needs to be negative ramifications for the protagonist not acting. Ideally, eventually these negative consequences get so big or so personal, that the protagonist has to do something about it.
For example, at one point, Vash decides to live under an alias and do nothing. He decides to be inactive. Unfortunately, this results in an entire town getting wiped out by the antagonist. Doing nothing has steep consequences. He needs to at least try to do something.
This can become a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation--where "damned if you do" at least carries a small chance of success over "damned if you don't."
At one point in Edge of Tomorrow, Bill decides to do nothing. He even goes to a bar to drink in the middle of the day. Guess what? He still has to repeatedly die. Whatever he does, he ends up dying, and having to repeat that time frame. He can either be endlessly in a tortuous loop where he dies, dies, and dies, or he can keep trying to fix the situation. On the surface, it seems like he has a lot of options, since he gets to make different choices each time he repeats the day, but 99% of them lead to the same outcome. So in reality, he has very few choices. Act and maybe die. Or don't act and keep dying.
Limit Options
Related to the last one, one way to push a passive character to act, is to limit her choices and the outcomes. In fact, if we want to take this to the real world, studies show that the more options people have, the less likely they are to make a choice--or even make a good choice.
Like Bill, when there aren't really any options, the protagonist will be pretty much forced to act. Either keep reliving the same torture or try to do something about it.
Add to it some kind of countdown or convergence, so that the protagonist has a very limited window to act, and she'll have to do something.
Stakes Reveal Character
How the protagonist acts when there are things at risk, will reveal what kind of person she is.
In this sense, one might argue, that by strengthening the stakes to get her to act, you are changing her character after all.
Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that you are now revealing who she truly is.
Whatever the case, it can become an argument of semantics.
Similar things can happen with the term "passive."
Just understand the concepts and the tools.
The Reluctant Hero
In most, if not all cases, a characteristically passive protagonist will create a reluctant hero. Shrek doesn't want to save Fiona. Bill doesn't want to win the war. Vash doesn't want to confront the antagonist. They just want something to not happen, more than they want to do The Thing™️.
In this sense, while the passive protagonist will ultimately still be acting within the plot (which is necessary to write a good story), he or she may still yearn for passivity.
Of course, the character's arc may possibly shift that yearning by the end.
And it should go without saying, that pretty much all these same tricks will work for passive side characters, as well--when you need to get them to act. For example, in The Office, Stanley is characteristically passive. He pretty much sits in silence and does crossword puzzles. But when pushed far enough, he will back talk his boss. And when he wants something bad enough (like a free pretzel on pretzel day), he'll actually act.
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(google translate again, yeah)
(I forgot to thank you for the last answer, I really didn't know that the drama used the music of my compatriot, it was a pleasant surprise for me)
I don't know if anyone has asked you this before, but do you think JC was good with WWX as a kid?
I mean not just their childhood, but the time of their training in Gusu.
I really love JC, and I understand perfectly well that he is the most dick in character, but I love him precisely during my studies at Gusu, I can not give any arguments that then JC was directly GOOD to WWX, but he is clearly cared a little about him and even ... worried? at least that moment after the punishment where JC helped WWX get to the room...
Yay - I'm so happy to hear about Stravinsky :)
Hahah loving jc as the dick that he is is the way to do it! go for it. :) also, sorry this was so delayed I wanted to reread the Cloud Recesses arc so it would be fresh in my mind before answering.
In terms of jc the Cloud Recesses arc is perhaps the most 'mellow' we see him aside from the Lotus Pod Extra but for me it's still impossible to find him a worthwhile person. I can already see the faults in his character that I know will only get worse as he grows older. Canonically I don't see how he would have any friends studying in the Cloud Recesses if he didn't come as a package deal w Wei Wuxian. I mean I doubt jiang cheng would have any friends without WWX period. In fact jiang cheng doesn't make any friends over the course of 13 years. He's also unable to find a wife bc of his temperament and behavior...
What we can glean about their relationship in the Cloud Recesses arc (and even the Lotus Pod Extra) is that any time WWX gets a kind word or understanding from someone, jiang cheng scoffs at it. Any time someone shits on WWX, jc is there to agree, to relish the idea of WWX being punished, and shit on him some more. He would be an immensely exhausting person to be around. He doesnt believe in WWX's ideas and ingenuity, (as NHS does for example), he doesn't believe WWX is hurt, he always assumes the worst of him, he doesn't believe LWJ might like WWX. The only thing he ever seems to believe is that WWX will dishonor YunmengJiang and that WWX should be punished. So for a kid who supposedly wants his father's approval so badly he instead constantly acts like his mother's mouthpiece/minion. He reprimands WWX like he's trying to become Madam Yu 2.0. I see jc stans all the time being like oh he had to keep WWX in check bc WWX was such a lOOooose canon, for the good of the Clan!! lol listen JFM didn't give a f...about WWX's behavior (in his letter to LQR) why are you so concerned? JFM would have preferred for jc to try & save his peers in the Xuanwu cave or at least to understand why that was the correct course of action rather than for him to just sit in front of the class in the Cloud Recesses and tell WWX off for giving LQR as good as he got, while actually still breaking the rules himself but eschewing punishment.
salt up here, quotes below :
Even when Nie Huaisang picks up on the fact that WWX is being treated unfairly by LQR, jc dismisses it and piles on WWX instead.
Nie Huaisang said, “Old Man Lan really seems like he’s coming down especially harshly on you. Every time he reprimands someone, it’s always you.” Jiang Cheng grunted. “He deserves it. What kind of answer was that? He can get away with saying that sort of nonsense at home, but he had the nerve to say it to Lan Qiren’s face. He was practically asking for the old man to kill him!”
But does WWX get away with ANYTHING in Lotus Pier? When we know he is punished constantly for EVERYTHING? This is jiang cheng fully being his mother's mouth piece. It's not something WWX would get away with, it's something jc knows JFM wouldn't mind. Which is why he's so pissed off. Which begs the question if JFM would not be upset with WWX's behavior why does jc need to criticize him? Again :
A dark expression shadowed Jiang Cheng’s face, and his voice was filled with anger. “Why are you so proud of yourself? What is there to be proud of?! Is being told to get out some amazing accomplishment? You’re making our entire clan lose face!”
and his glee at the idea that WWX will be punished leaves a bad taste in one's mouth considering how WWX was perpetually punished in Lotus Pier by jiang cheng's mother for... existing.
Jiang Cheng smiled grimly. “Now that you’ve thoroughly offended both Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren, you’re basically dead tomorrow. No one’s going to clean up your corpse either.”
and again
Without the old one, only the young one remained. This would be easy to deal with! Wei Wuxian rolled off the bed and laughed while putting on his boots. “Heaven’s charmed clouds are blessing me with shade.” Jiang Cheng was beside him polishing his sword with loving care when he decided to spill cold water over Wei Wuxian’s head. “Just wait until he gets back. You can’t escape punishment.”
Where others like NHS see value in WWX's thoughts
Nie Huaisang thought for a while. “Actually, I thought what you said was very interesting,” he said, not entirely able to hide his envy and yearning.
jc is always dismissive of WWX's ideas. These are inventions that WWX realizes. Demonic cultivation in the first conversation and The Spirit-Attraction Flag and The Compass of Evil in the second:
“Enough,” Jiang Cheng warned. “Whatever nonsense you spout, you better not head down that sort of dark road.”
-
Changing the topic, Wei Wuxian said, “If only there was something like fishing bait that could draw the water ghosts in. Or, something that could point in the direction they’re hiding, like a compass, that sort of thing.”
“Lower your head and watch the water,” Jiang Cheng said. “You’re letting your fantasies run wild again. Concentrate on looking for water ghosts like you’re supposed to.”
“Hey, mounting swords and flying was also only a fantasy once!” Wei Wuxian said.
He's also a hypocrite. Because even though he berates WWX for misbehaving, he himself breaks the rules. He drinks, he even goads WWX into buying liquor, the only difference is that he doesn't get punished for it, and he doesn't feel like coming forward and getting punished for it :
Naturally, Jiang Cheng was too embarrassed to talk about what Wei Wuxian had been up to. After all, all of them had egged him on to go and buy alcohol, and they all deserved to be punished as well. He could only speak vaguely. “It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s not that bad! He can walk. Wei Wuxian, why haven’t you gotten off yet?”
It's no wonder WWX is so impressed by LWJ's integrity in spite of his social status, when he's clearly used to the other dynamic :
“Lan Zhan, I really admire you,” Wei Wuxian said sincerely. “After I told you that you had to punish yourself too, you actually did it. You didn’t let yourself off at all. I can’t argue against that.”
A dynamic which is shown repeating in the Lotus Pod Extra where WWX is the only one to get punished for sunbathing, and which repeats here when Wei Wuxian here stops jiang cheng from confronting Zixuan over YanLi's honor (and jc's) and does it himself.
Zixuan :“Why don’t you ask what about her could make me satisfied?” he said in return.
Suddenly, Jiang Cheng rose. Wei Wuxian pushed him away and stepped between them, smiling coldly. “You think you’re very satisfactory? As though you have the right to be so picky!”
Zixuan: “If she’s unhappy, then let her break off the engagement! I certainly don’t cherish your wonderful disciple-sister. If you cherish her so much, why don’t you take it up with your father? Doesn’t he love you more than his own son?”
After hearing the last sentence, Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed, and Wei Wuxian was no longer able to contain his own fury. He flew at Jin Zixuan, his fist raised.
WWX takes the punishment alone. Same way he offers to do when he hurts himself falling from a tree because jc threatened him with dogs. meanwhile jc is gleeful to see him being punished.
[Wei Wuxian] was kneeling on the stretch of pebble road to which Lan Qiren had assigned him when Jiang Cheng walked over from afar and mocked him. “You’re kneeling so obediently.”
“It’s not like you don’t know I have to do this all the time.” Wei Wuxian’s voice filled with schadenfreude. “But this Jin Zixuan guy, there’s no way he hasn’t been pampered and spoiled rotten since birth. No one’s ever forced him to kneel, I’m sure of it. If he doesn’t wind up crying for mommy and daddy today, I’m not named Wei.”....
Wei Wuxian "...It’s a good thing you didn’t do anything.”
“I was going to. If you hadn’t pushed me away, the other side of Jin Zixuan’s face would be hideous too.”
“Stop it. His face is uglier for being lopsided."
WWX is happy to have spared jc from getting into trouble but jc makes the whole thing about himself anyway (like everything else ever) and is upset JFM would rush over for WWX - in his mind. Even though JFM clearly had to rush over to meet with Jin Guangshan not to coddle WWX in any way.
"Jiang Fengmian had never rushed to another clan in less than a day because of him. Regardless of whether what happened was big or small, or good or bad." Never
WWX on the other hand tries to be observant of jc's feelings and reassure him & distract him from his moods :
When Wei Wuxian saw Jiang Cheng’s melancholy expression, he thought he was still upset with what Jin Zixuan said. “You should leave. You don’t need to keep me company any longer. If Lan Wangji comes again, he’ll catch you. If you have time, you should find Jin Zixuan and watch his pitiful kneeling.”
Later in the book after nearly dying in the Xuanwu cave WWX leaves his sick bed to run after jc and comfort him after his mother's rant, even though WWX had to listen to his parents (and himself) being slandered by YZY. jc doesn't spare any thoughts for how other people might be feeling or suffering. His entire perception of the world is centered around himself. To him even WWX's greatest fear doesn't generate empathy, only amusement or later on a form of torture.
From that point onward, they made trouble everywhere together, and if they encountered a dog, Jiang Cheng would always chase it away for him, then enjoy a peal of derisive, unbridled laughter at Wei Wuxian’s expense beneath whichever tree the boy had leapt atop.
he grew up on the streets, often having to fight for food with vicious dogs. After several bites and chases, he gradually became extremely scared of all dogs, no matter the size. Jiang Cheng laughed at him because of this quite a lot of times.
This brings me to the last point. jc's resentment of WWX's interest in Lan Zhan, or in a serious friendship outside of him. I see so many ppl say that bc WWX fought he was kicked out of the Cloud Recesses early... but was he?
Jiang Cheng was somewhat taken aback. “Lan Wangji? What was he doing here? He still has the nerve to come see you again?”
“Yeah, I think his bravery is laudable if he still has the nerve to come see me. His uncle probably told him to check on me and see if I was kneeling properly.”
Jiang Cheng’s instincts were sending him ominous signals. “So were you kneeling properly?”
“I was then,” Wei Wuxian replied. “But I waited for him to walk away a bit, then took a tree branch, lowered my head, and dug out a hole in the dirt near me. It’s the pile right by your foot—there are ant tunnels there. It took me so much effort to find them. Anyway, I waited for him to turn back and see my shoulders shaking. He had to have thought I was crying, so he came back and asked. You should have seen his face when he caught sight of the ant tunnels!
“…” Jiang Cheng said, “Why don’t you just get the hell out and go back to Yunmeng? I bet he never wants to see you again.”
Thus, that evening, Wei Wuxian packed up his things, got the hell out, and went back to Yunmeng with Jiang Fengmian.
Repeatedly throught his stay in the Cloud Recesses even while NHS was observing that LWJ's behavior around WWX was strange and unique, jc was telling WWX he is hated and bothersome. When WWX wanted to apologize to LWJ jc is completely dismissive of it :
“He hates me already? I was thinking of apologizing to him,” Wei Wuxian said.
“Oh, so you want to apologize now? It’s too late!” Jiang Cheng said derisively. “He’s exactly like his uncle. He thinks you’ve been wicked ever since you were an embryo, so it’s beneath his dignity to pay you any attention.”
Later on when WWX mentioned wanting to invite LWJ to Lotus Pier jc categorically says no.
“Jiang Cheng had on a stern expression, “Let’s make this clear. I don’t want him to come, anyhow. Don’t invite him.”
BONUS
jc also always doubts WWX. He suspects him immediately of wrongdoings. He doesn't believe that getting hit with the discipline ruler in Cloud Recesses actually hurt him until LXC confirms that WWX might take more than a few days to heal. He doesn't understand WWX is in actual trouble from the Waterborne abyss and assumes he's fooling around luckily Lan Zhan is there to rescue him:
The disciple’s lower body had already been swallowed by the black whirlpool. It spun faster and faster, and he continued to sink deeper and deeper, as though something hidden beneath the water was pulling down on his legs.
Mounted on Sandu, Jiang Cheng had risen calmly until he was about sixty meters above the whirlpool before he looked down. Filled with displeasure at what he saw, he shouted and dove down. “What are you up to now?!”
The suction force inside Lake Biling grew ever stronger. Wei Wuxian’s sword was optimized for agility, and consequently, its strength happened to fall just short, and they were nearly pulled to the surface of the lake. Wei Wuxian steadied himself and held on to Su She with both hands.
“Someone help! If I can’t pull him up soon, I’ll have to let go!” he shouted.
Suddenly, the back of Wei Wuxian’s collar tightened, and his body was lifted into the air. He twisted his neck and saw Lan Wangji holding him up with one hand.
He maintains this same mindset when he tries to whip LWJ and WWX as they're attempting to leave Lotus Pier after the ancestral hall confrontation when WWX passes out.
Is jc evil in the Cloud Recesses ? No. He's just an annoying, basic, disagreeable asshole who doesn't bring anything positive to someone like WWX. People like jc become obsessed with kind, outgoing, generous people, people who don't set boundaries on what they give and what others take in their friendships. Even though they're dependent on them for their social interactions, because who else would socialize with them willingly, they resent them in equal measure, but at the same time they wouldn't be drawn to another selfish, self centered piece of shit person like themselves.
On a personal note, even Cloud Recesses jiang cheng is someone I would exclude from any personal friend group. Friendship with him is adding a minefield of jealousies and snide comments to every interaction. Things that then others will need to compensate around because he won't compromise or empathize w issues outside of his own concerns.
Translation source : x
#This is long af because I wanted to have one post where I included everything#I’ve bitched about jc’s behavior in the cloud recesses for a long time so it was time to put down the quotes#mdzs#Cloud Recesses#Lan Wangji#Wei Wuxian#Nie Huaisang#jiang cheng
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A Comedy of Errors: The B-Team vs. TEA
You know it's funny, sometimes, how history repeats itself. How many of you knew there was in fact a full on Hermitcraft war all the way back in Season 1? Oh, there was chaos before Grian alright. Have an "abbreviated" summary of events, and see for yourselves just how little our favorite characters have changed.
Part I: The Setup
Biffa2001 is a chaos gremlin. He's has already shown earlier in the season just how bold he can be with threats (however empty) and interfering with other people's stuff. Biffa decides that holding everyone's bases hostage for diamond blocks isn't chaotic enough for him, so he goes in and closes down every shop in the bazaar under threat of foreclosure.
Biffa also has a best friend, our beloved Xisuma. X finds out that his shop has been closed and instead of confronting Biffa goes after DMAC, whom he discovered has not only "illegally" reopened his own shop but has been buying up and undercutting Xisuma's own prices on enchanted iron tools for weeks. (In the meantime, DMAC covered Biffa's entire base in iron golems in retribution for closing the emporium).
Biffa and Xisuma decide that too much shady shit has been going down on this server lately, and that they need to be the ones to bring down the hammer and stop it. They form "The Agency" (later TEA for Tea Eaters' Alliance) and their first target is not DMAC, but GenerikB's Hermits Hurtin' Hurdles from way back at the beginning of the season. The gauntlet has been long abandoned at this point, having been bested by both Joe Hills and Hypnotizd, and parts of it have even been torn down to make way for a slime farm. The Agency decides that it's far too dangerous to be left standing, and bricks the whole passage up with wooden fences. A few days later they return while GB is still out with food poisoning following his vacation. Having decided that the Hermit himself is dangerous to the well-being of the server due to his nasty habit of having a literal hit list, they punish him by filling every air block in his entire underground base with the same wooden fences.
GB, obviously, is pissed. He comes back from his illness to find he's been quarantined, spends several hours trying to tear down the fences by hand, and finally with a heavy heart resorts to burning them. He bricks off as many of the offshoot farms as he can, rescues what important materials he can find, and sets fire to the inside of his base-burning out not only the fences, but nearly a year's worth of carefully placed wooden structures and decorative leaves.
Now effectively homeless until he can hire Topmass to build him a new base, GB decides he needs backup if he's going to go up against The Agency. Within a week the other half of the B-Team (Bdubs, of course) and the "Goon Squad" (Skyzm, Pungence, and Juicetra) join the server and descend on The Agency's respective bases like flies, leaving their calling card: Several extremely large cobblestone Bs.
That, obviously, is not enough. While TEA is building their diamond-studded headquarters at a sit e offshore from Xisuma's base, GB puts up a new shop in the bazaar: The Angels with Bent Halos Foundation, where one can become an "involunteer" and donate their items to the poor and needy of the server (himself. He's just stealing Biffa's stuff.) He also decides that Hypnotizd is a suspiciously neutral party, and sends the Goon Squad out to the remote reaches of the server to investigate his massive, technologically advanced base...
Part II: The Escalation
Enter Joe Hills, and the errors with him. Joe realizes his shop has been closed a few months too late, and misreads the "B" on the sign as meaning "B-Team" regarding recent events. In a fit of righteous anger he griefs the AWBH foundation. The next day he realizes his mistake and very quickly shifts the target of his rage, beginning construction on a courthouse in which he plans to put TEA on trial. Meanwhile TEA builds their own shopfront in the second floor of the bazaar, a sort of police station in which neutral parties can leave complaints and report crimes.
Before Joe can realize his mistake and clean up the mess he made, Juicetra arrives at AWBH and assumes that TEA is responsible for destroying it. He rushes upstairs and leaves a very strongly worded message in their dropbox before bricking up their own shop, "a taste of their own medicine".
GB follows up close behind. Unlike Juicetra, he knows who vandalized the shop and leaves a report formally suing Joe for the damages in the form of an involuntary donation-forcing TEA to work on his side. (He also leaves a second report complaining about the noise from the chickens that X hid in the walls of the bazaar, but that has little to do with the situation).
The turnaround time on the complaints is mere hours. TEA arrives on the scene of the crime to help GB clean up the mess and retrieve his missing items from Joe's shop, and promises that justice will be done. In possibly violent ways.
Part III: The Suspense
The Goon Squad senses the impending "shit's about to go down" and retreats to the mountains, building a secret hideaway for neutral parties to use when bits start to explode. Topmass and his build team finish GB's new base in creative mode (we'll talk about the implications of that later). Hypno pokes his head into the rest of the server for about 0.2 seconds and sees that Bdubs has involunteered the decorative emerald blocks at his nether tunnel, but shows little interest in the whole affair. The neutral parties begin to take sides...
Part IV: A Long-Expected Party
Weeks pass, and nothing is heard from either side of the conflict. And then, a spark.
The Agency receives intelligence containing the coordinates of the Goon Squad's base, and deeming them a higher threat than either the B-Team (due to the substantiated squashing of GB's base) or Joe (who hasn't been seen on the server for weeks due to the birth of his child) decide it's time they paid their due. It takes a reasonable level of hunting, but eventually they are able to track down the coordinates and...redecorate a bit. Just to remind the Goons that the Agency is watching.
It takes a few days, but Skyzm discovers the vandalism and on his own swears revenge from the Goon Squad. Word then reaches GB-famous for his fairness and generosity and certainly not killing people-who is righteously angered by the Agency's actions and leaves the Goon Squad a voucher for an involuntary donation to them such that justice might be done.
A few days later, the Goons come back to the hideout and in a familiar move, angrily burn the vandalism out from the inside. They proceed on a tnt-fueled rampage through all of the little marks that TEA left on their home, and in a final act of revenge vandalize the police station as well as the neighboring TEA-owned Tnt shop and chicken farm.
Here's where things take a turn for the IRL. Juicetra enlists the help of his fanbase via Twitter, and asks them one fateful evening if they have the coordinates or approximate location of the TEA headquarters (which, you may recall from several paragraphs ago, is a) full of diamonds and b) severely lacking security). But before the nosy fans that had scouted the location during the world tour could spill the tea, Xisuma catches wind of the possible heist and very quickly moves the diamonds to a safer location. Only he forgot to tell Biffa. Responding to the emergency call of “someone stole our diamonds!!” results in awkward apologies and a trip to view the damage to the police station, and then…to do nothing about it?
Unfortunately, this is pretty much where the story ends. The server was wrapping up at this point, and two weeks after the last installment both members of the B-team left for good. Two of the three members of the goon squad remained active until the very end, but the third was too preoccupied with FTB to focus on any shenanigans. Joe Hills did return from his baby-related hiatus, but the courthouse went unused. And the tension regarding the dictatorial Tea Eater’s Alliance dissolved.
For now.
See you in season 2! /t
#hermitcraft#season 1#that’s it I’m done#I spent eight hours today trying to do this in video form#but YouTube was Not Having It#and I think my computer might be toast#literally#so you’re stuck with one final essay!#we land in season 2 tomorrow morning#see you there!
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Black and White and Red All Over
(NOT A PROMPT)
Civilian thought that she was marrying a hero, but discovers that he’s actually a villain (make him evil hahaha)
I have a feeling I don’t have to say this given the request but…this one is a little dark.
TWs: murder mentions, murderer (main character), discussion of death (not of main characters), forced marriage, threats, domestic abuse (not physical though there is a wee bit of manhandling)
******
“I thought I told you to stay out of this room.”
Civilian gasped, chest tightening with her too-large breath. She spun in the computer chair, facing the person she once called her lover. Once, as if it weren’t every moment before she walked into this room. Now she wasn’t sure what to call him.
“The door,” she said, “was left wide open. I was just looking for a key since I know you usually leave it locked.” And this was the truth; Civilian really had been looking for a key. It wasn’t in plain sight, but you know what was? The items in her lap. “What are these? Why do you have a bunch of crime cut-outs?” After receiving no response, Civilian asked, “Are they related?”
Of course, Civilian did her best to not assume the worst. Villain must have been a private investigator, a…an agent or something. Maybe she wasn’t allowed in this room because this was all classified; the investigation itself was secret. But- well, these were casual murders. Casual. They weren’t- dare Civilian say- ‘important’ deaths. Not state senators or presidents or monarchs from around the world.
Licking his lips, Civilian’s fiancé stepped into the room, pushing the door shut behind him until it made two soft clicks. The room was small, and reasonably so seeing as it only served one purpose. “This is my trophy room.”
Trophy room? Civilian tried to imagine he meant these- these clippings were all cases her fiancé was on, that he had been working on them and that’s why they were here. But then…why newspaper clippings? Those weren’t released until there was a gruesome report made. And even if he kept the clips as trophies, wouldn’t he want news which revealed the case was closed- that the culprit was found and being punished?
“I- I saw all of these on the news, Villain. They weren’t- they haven’t been solved.” The news station was good at keeping the community updated. Something terrible happened, they covered it, they kept up on it until all was well. There were updates nonstop. These…they were all still mysteries. So, what did Civilian’s love mean, ‘This is my trophy room?’ What does he mean?
“Yes?” Villain chuckled lightly, throwing Civilian into a deeper fit of confusion- and now worry. “And I should hope they’re not solved anytime soon.”
“What do you- Villain. Villain, what are these?” Civilian stood from the chair, waving the paper stack back and forth in the air, not caring to look at how the corners caught the air and nearly flew out of her hand.
Villain only laughed again. Didn’t he already tell her what they were?
What to do, what to do? Villain could try to play it off, continue to act into this charade he already lived in, or…or he could have fun. Tell Civilian the truth, make her brain spin like a carousel gone wrong, if only to watch, and if only to soak in the fact that he himself was the cause of such a reaction.
“What’s black and white and read all over?”
“Wha- I’m not in the mood for riddles right now. Tell me what this is.”
Was she in the wrong here? Civilian did walk into the room Villain asked her to stay out of, the one he even locked. But didn’t that justify her actions? He locked it. Why did Villain feel such a great need to keep Civilian out of this room?
If it were for simple privacy, he would trust Civilian not to go in- though maybe this fact affected their compatibility more than Villain’s suspicious actions. Civilian ignored the possibility, continuing in her suspicions. This was big enough that he needed to lock it, which meant it was surely something dastardly, something Civilian should know about before marrying Villain.
“Oh, come on. Three guesses. It’s the answer to your question.”
Civilian knew the answer. She’d only heard this riddle a billion times. “A newspaper. I already know that’s what this is. I want to know-”
Villain interrupted, “You’re wrong.”
“What do you mean I’m wro-”
“Red. The colour red- a noun, not a verb. Though I suppose you are still right, in your own way. Not in mine.” Villain walked with a shoulder forward, walking sideways, dodging Civilian as he stepped right passed her, plopping down in his computer chair. “What is black and white and red all over?” he asked again. This time, he answered the question himself, “The newspapers detectives tried to confront me with before I killed them.”
The statement was so blunt that Civilian couldn’t believe it- no, no. She couldn’t process it. “The newspapers detectives confronted me with,” she repeated in a whisper, her eyes seeming to be glued to the clippings in her hand, when in reality they were unfocused.
“You missed saying the best part.” Villain’s mouth bunched up to one side in disappointment. “Before I killed them,” he said again. “You didn’t even flinch at that part, yet you couldn’t say it. Denial, maybe?”
Civilian shook her head, her free hand reaching behind her until she grasped the doorknob. She tried to turn it, to fling it open before running out, but she only found herself facing the closed door as she swivelled on a heel and stepped forward.
“Thought you might try to do that. Can’t let you spread the word around, right?”
The door was locked. Of course, all it would take for Civilian to open the door would be to twist that little bar on the knob before opening the door, but it couldn’t be done in time before Villain reached out, grabbed Civilian’s arm, and pulled her away from her only escape. Civilian couldn’t scream, couldn’t speak as she was spun to the other side of the room, back striking the wall. She was frozen, placid in her fear.
“I can’t tell if I regret telling you yet. We were about to wed- that could have been interesting. Say”- Villain smiled- “how about we still marry? Might be nice to come home to a wife who I can tell the most fun stories to.” He laid a hand on Civilian’s cheek, as if he really did love her, as if she could still foolishly love him. “And how entertaining for you to learn how to get away with murder- if you ever wanted to.”
“I would never,” Civilian managed, but it was rasp. With a sudden bout of manic determination, she pushed Villain’s hand harshly off her cheek. She only swallowed when he smiled, a soft reminder that he was a murderer- not just a murderer. Villain was a serial killer. Civilian would have taken a step back if she weren’t already pushed back against the wall.
“Well, even if you have no wish to, you tell people what I do and you’ll be imprisoned, too.”
She wouldn’t be imprisoned. “I- I have nothing to do with what you’ve done.”
“Not what I’ve done,” Villain said. “It’s what I’m doing. And anyway, no one would believe the girl who lived with a murderer, who married him after knowing. And I don’t plan on hurting you, so it’s not as if anyone could prove I forced you into this life.” He shrugged. “Of course, there are other ways of forcing a person to do what you want. I could kill more. You have two younger siblings.”
#NOT A PROMPT#request fill#1236 words#civilian x villain#villain x civilian#hero x villain#(same universe)#hero x villain snippet#hero x villain drabble#hero x villain story#death/murder mention#forced marriage#threats#domestic abuse#manhandling#betrayal#deception#you guys see what I did with that riddle?? :D#Black and White and Red All Over#writing#writeblr#whump#whumplr#whumper#whumpee#villain whumper#civilian whumpee#queue
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Andrew Showing The Foxes His Love Through Actions.
All through “All for the game” we can see how Andrew shows his love through actions. I believe that Andrew does care for his teammates and I know I; m not the only one, so I wrote this. (Also, I will just forget about the choking scene because N*ra did their relationship so badly, like- ugh, that’s for another time)
Tw: Curse words, references to the foxes pasts, punches, vomit, Riko, mentions of scars, mentions of nightmares, mentions of panic attacks, mentions of past self-harm, probably many spelling and grammar mistakes.
Allison.
It happened during a game, the foxes were winning and the other team were getting exasperated because they could not get past the backliners and if they could, Andrew would not let them score.
During the last minutes of the game, a player from the other team made Allison trip on purpose and “accidentally” kicked her.
Everyone else were too far away from them.
Except Andrew.
When the referee called the fault, Andrew was already there, punching the guy resulting in him taking a step back and falling to the ground.
As the referee gave him a yellow card, Andrew extended his arm to help Allison up.
And if he asked Renee how bad the injury was, no one had to know.
Matt.
When Matt was visiting his mom during summer vacations, they decided to go shopping, there he found the most adorable hoodies. It was orange on the outside and the inside had a really soft and warm fabric, which was white and had orange paw prints. But the best part was that the hoodie had fox ears.
Matt obviously bought nine of them.
“Disgusting.” Andrew had said, which Matt had obviously expected, so he thought nothing of it.
Everyone wore them, Aaron had given his to Katelyn, except Andrew.
But when winter came, Matt saw Andrew get out of his dorm room with the hoodie on, pulling it tighter against himself when a cold air blast came.
“Not a word.” Andrew deadpanned, pointing at Matt, when he noticed him, before leaving the tower.
Matt smiled the whole day.
Dan.
During one of their dinner bankets, the foxes were placed into pairs and told to socialize with the other teams. The pairs were meticulously design so that ‘the monsters’ (minus Nicky) interacted. This meant every ‘monster’ was placed with an upperclassmen. Andrew got Dan.
So when they Dan were talking to some players from Penn State, the Ravens decided to join.
They began talking sh¡t about Dan’s time as a stripper.
Andrew didn’t say or do a thing, knowing Dan was capable on fighting her own fights, she is the first female captain on Exy, but he does stand to the side, throwing a death glare to them.
But when one of them decide it’s a good idea to slap her in the butt when she is distracted....Andrew intervienes.
He grabs the Raven’s wrist, twisting it before pushing him into a table.
Dan is surprised, to say the least, but she knows that the Raven will get a worst fate if she leaves Andrew like that.
Calmly, she tells him she is okay and that the Raven didn’t touch her and that he can look and see for himself.
The latter does the trick, Andrew turns his murderous glare at Dan so she turns in place extending her arms showing him that the Raven did nothing to her.
Andrew calms after a while and stands up, glancing at the Raven one more time.
The rest of the night Andrew does not leave Dan’s side until they head back home. Dan attaches herself to that memory forever.
Renee.
Renee and Andrew sparred at least once a week, more whenever Andrew was having a bad day.
Such as that moment, Aaron’s trial was just around the corner and Andrew was not having it.
He went to Bee’s twice but it still wasn’t enough, so him and Renee spared.
But today was a specially not good day, Aaron’s lawyer had said that he’d have to speak about what happened that day.
Renee knew that Andrew was far more on his head than n the present so she wasn’t mad when Andrew threw her down to the mat and her hip bumped onto the floor.
For the first time since they spared that day, Renee saw Andrew actually see her.
His eyes were wide, probably surprised of what happened so she reassured him that she was okay and that it didn't hurt much and that she’d had much worse before.
But he didn’t listen to her and got off the mat.
Renee stood up and went for her water bottle, thinking that Andrew had gone to let out some steam alone.
But then he came back with an ice package in hand and gave it to her.
Renee thank him, placed it on her hip and sat near him while he starred to the distance in moral support.
Nicky.
Nicky wasn’t one to get sick often, but when it happened, he really got sick.
So when one day he wakes up with a headache and all of his bones ache, he knows he’s in trouble.
Not wanting anyone to be worried about him, Nicky tries to stand up, just for a blast of nausea hits him and he has to run to the bathroom before he pukes on their bedroom.
When he is done throwing his guts out, he brushes his teeth and walks out to the kitchen for a glass of water. But when he gets there, a water bottle is out with a bottle of Pepto-bismol beside it.
In the middle of his confusion, Andrew and Aaron appear with a thermometer, a blanket and pills.
“Go lay down,” Andrew says with an uncharacteristically softness in his tone.
Nicky complies and walks towards the couch, Andrew protectively trailing behind him with his phone and a blanket.
“I don’t have any class today, Aaron has two in an hour but then he’ll be back. Tea?” Nicky is perplexed at this attention given by his cousins so he is only able to nod and think who were these people and what did they do with his cousins.
The rest of the day, the twins (mostly Andrew) take his temperature, give him his meds, cook for him and help him out whenever he needs it.
Nicky sleeps with a smile that day.
The next day, he feels much better, but because the sickness messed with his feelings, he has an urge to hug his cousins.
He asks for permission and surprisingly, Andrew says yes.
Nicky keeps the hug fast and makes sure he doesn’t make Andrew feel trapped.
He still cries at the memory.
Aaron.
Out of all the foxes, Aaron is the one with the most difficult things to study. He is in fact studying pre-med.
So during the finals week, he is the most stressed.
There is this one class in which Aaron has been having the most trouble with and if he doesn’t pass the test, he’ll have to repeat the class. So to say that he was stressed was an understatement.
He begins studying for that class a week and a half before the exam is and the day before the exam, he skips gym, morning practice and afternoon practice.
He studies for the exam the whole day and had to be reminded to take breaks for the bathroom and meals constantly.
He is also forced by Andrew to sleep when he woke up at 3 am and Aaron was still awake, studying.
Aaron keeps thinking of the material as he tries to sleep, and isn’t able to until 4 am, he dreams on the material the whole night.
When he opens his eyes, he sees that the sun is much higher than usual, worried, he checks the time on his phone just for his fears to be true, his alarm didn’t sound and he slept through the whole exam.
He doesn’t even care to change and runs to the building. The door to his classroom is closed and the professor is not there.
“Can’t stop thinking about the exam? Me neither.” He hears one of his classmates say behind him.
“I didn’t even do it.” He says through his teeth.
“What do you mean? I saw you there.”
Aaron is confused so he asks more classmates if they saw him, and all of them said that yes, they saw him there.
Hurriedly he got to the tower and confronted Andrew if it was his doing and if he did the exam for him like they did in high school.
“I did.” was Andrew’s only response before walking out.
Aaron got a B⁺ a grade much better than if he had done it by himself.
Kevin.
After Riko died, his and Andrew’s deal could be done, but they had grown close, they had passed so much time together since Kevin escaped Evermore.
Neither of them would say it out loud, but they were each other’s best friend.
So when Kevin learned that his things would be thrown away from the Nest, he went into a spiral.
But when Andrew asked and Kevin couldn’t say why, Andrew made it his mission to know.
Neil had a few assumptions, but when he had been at the Nest, he had been too focused on his injuries that he wasn’t a good resource.
So Andrew contacted someone he never thought he would be speaking to. Jean.
Jean told Andrew of Kevin’s old bedroom and the things Kevin had to hide away from Riko because if he found them, Kevin would be punished. Yet he didn’t know what these secret things were.
Thankfully, Jean knew where the hiding spot was.
The next day, Andrew took the Maserati in the early morning without a word (Neil knew but he had to act as if he didn’t), and made his way to Evermore.
Once there, he had to sneak inside, but given that the Nest was desolated for classes it was easy.
When Andrew got to where Jean had told him where the hiding spot was, he found a small shoe box.
Opening it, he found three things and Andrew immediately understood Kevin’s spiraling.
When he got back to the tower, he directly went to his dorm. Inside were Neil, Nicky and Kevin watching a game.
Andrew signaled Neil and the latter made Nicky follow him out.
“Where were you? You missed morning practice,” Kevin said as soon as they were alone.
Without a word, Andrew took the shoebox out of his bag and carefully gave it to Kevin, who took a shaky breath at the sight of it.
As soon as it was in Kevin’s hands, he opened it and carefully took the three things which were the last things he had from his mother.
A woman’s ring, a record player and a photograph.
Tears immediately sprang from Kevin’s eyes and Andrew decided he would give Kevin his space.
“Thank you,” Kevin said as he opened the door, Andrew just nodded feeling a weird warmness in his chest.
Neil.
Andrew shows Neil his love in so many ways, helping him out during panic attacks, reminding him that he’s safe, holding his hand, kissing him, sharing a cigarette in the roof, stroking his hair when they cuddle and so much more.
But the most important thing Andrew does for Neil is letting the latter see his vulnerability and trust him with it.
It starts with simple things, Andrew letting Neil sleep with him in the same bed, cuddle together, sit on Andrew’s lap (and vice versa), etc.
But it slowly begins to increase, let Neil stay whenever he gets a nightmare and/or a panic attack, let Neil take care of him when he gets sick, let Neil cuddle on top of Andrew, let himself seek comfort in Neil, Andrew letting Neil take his armbands off, see and touch them.
It takes a long time, but Neil doesn’t mind, those little things are more than enough for him and he doesn’t expect more from Andrew, but welcomes this little things and holds onto them with all of him.
Bonus:
Wymack.
Wymack is always threatening his foxes with running marathons and says that their personal stuff is over his pay rate, but oh doesn’t he care for them.
He works hard for them so they can have good things and safe and comfortable area for them, that’s why he had the walls on the showers made.
He loves the foxes, and they love them too.
One morning, he had to organize some piles of paperwork, but he had a stressing week and the night before he hadn’t been able to sleep good, so after a while of organizing paperwork, he decides he deserves a break.
The foxes are supposed to be in class so he doesn’t expect them until the afternoon. He goes to the lounge and lays down on the couch to “rest his eyes”.
He falls asleep almost instantly.
Andrew had forgotten something on the court after their morning practice so he decided to go now, he had finished his classes and knew that Wymack had to organize some paperwork, he was surprised to see the old man asleep.
Andrew could remember his initial fear of the man when he saw him the first time, he was tall, broad and serious, but he didn’t let it show. He had been waiting for the man to do something to him, but instead the man had respected his boundaries and didn’t ask when Andrew broke into his home in the late night and made himself a pot of hot cocoa (which had been bought for this reason).
So quietly, Andrew went to Wymack’s office and organized his paperwork, marking those who were missing one or two things with a post it and leaving right after he was done, not expecting the man to know it was him.
When Wymack woke up and walked back to his office he was surprised to see that his paperwork was organized. He mentally questioned who it was but when he read the post its he immediately knew it was Andrew, he knew all of his children’s handwritings, and made sure he bought Andrew’s favorite chocolate ice cream.
Abby.
Abby was the first one, apart from Bee, to see his scars.
The first time she had tried to say something but she had seen something in his face because he didn’t and let him place the armbands back on.
After that she looked away when he took them off and just glanced at them for a second to make sure there were no track marks before turning around again so he could put the armbands back on.
(She knew there would not be track marks, so she just looked at them so there would be no new ones, he cared for her foxes.)
And during the physical exam, she made sure not to touch him more than necessary.
Abby checks on Bee asking if he’s okay, she never expects an in depth answer, just a confirmation and she feels relief when Bee tells her that he is getting better.
On one of his sessions with Bee, she suggests Andrew that he should tell someone about his scars, preferably someone who has already seen them.
Andrew knows what Bee is trying and Bee knows that Andrew knows and Andrew knows Bee knows that Andrew knows.
In the end, he does tell Abby. He keeps it vague and watches her reaction, waiting for a small expression change, but thankfully Abby just listens, and shows no pity, knowing that Andrew would hate it and does not comment.
When he’s done, she just nods and thanks him for telling her and when Andrew leaves, Abby lets the tears she had retained out.
She keeps the truth guarded with her life, glad Andrew trust her enough to say this.
Bee.
It is not a secret that Andrew sees Bee like his mother figure, out of all the woman in his life she was the only one that he didn’t feel the need to be unlike himself, she loved him just the way he was.
It was scary at first, his mind supplied that it would be just like Cass, he just had to wait for the other shoe to come down.
It never did.
So he found himself driving to her office when he needed to understand something or he was just not in a good mental place.
He would also call her when he didn’t have the energy to move.
She was on one of his sides during Aarons trial, helping him keep his cool when he felt like he needed to punch something.
When it had been his turn to say his testimony, he had looked at her and Neil, remembering that they would be with him and that they would show no pity to him.
So the day before Mother’s day, when him and Neil were shopping for clothes, and he saw a coffee mug in the shape of a bee hive that read “To the Bee-st mom” he had to buy it.
The next day he arrives to her office and leaves the cup before leaving without a word.
It fills Bee’s heart when she reads it but knows best than to comment of it on their next session.
But if she uses it everyday and it becomes her favorite mug, no one has to know.
Look at me posting three days in a row, I’m proud of myself ngl. Anyways, have this, hope you like it, I tried my best and this is honestly the longest “headcanon” I’ve ever written.
#all for the game#aftg#headcanon#andrew minyard#the foxes#allison reynolds#matt boyd#dan wilds#renee walker#nicky hemmick#aaron minyard#kevin day#neil josten#david wymack#abby winfield#betsy dobson#andreil#the foxhole court#the raven king#the kings men#Andrew Minyard shows his love through actions#This is much longer than I anticipated#The foxes are a family#Wymack is the foxes dad#Abby is their mom#Except Andrew's she's more like an aunt to him#Bee is Andrew's mom#This took me more than an hour to write#please be nice to it#Also
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hey! how knowledgeable are you on stephanie brown? because i got in a bit of an argument with a dc fan on reddit who claims she's all these awful things, but im still relatively new to steph and i want to see what was true and what wasn't. link to screenie right here: https://ibb.co/vh6CYCJ
these may be matters of opinion, but even then, i'd like to know your take. i haven't read her firsthand often enough and i trust your judgement over this random redditor who seems to have some sort of blonde-woman related trauma left untapped.
I'm not necessarily the most knowledgable on her in the world, but I do know a decent amount because she's one of my absolute faves and I love her
But ohhhh boy that screenshot is a lot.
I will say that several of the things this person brings up are based in canon but are taken in the worst faith and framed in the way that makes her look as bad as possible, if that makes sense? It’s ripping things away from any context, because there's a very clear bias against her here.
I'll go through it point by point under the cut
First of all though before digging into this, I want to make it clear she was a 15 year old for the majority of the things this person is talking about. Like just pause for a second and remember she’s a 15 year old victim of abuse. That is something that I think factors into a lot of her behavior! Anyways, I kinda while doing this got into a ranty 'talking at you' format in response to the person who wrote all that, so don't take any of this as me yelling at you who asked the question/you anyone reading this.
"She always acted entitled" - Saying Steph is entitled is absolutely ridiculous to me. Stephanie grew up with a very unstable childhood due to her dad frequently being in prison and her mom dealing with a drug addiction, living in a lower class part of the city. Tim is entitled. I don’t mean that as like a bad thing about him, but he is based on his living situation, she is not. She has wanted life to be better for herself and her mom, and is determined about that, but she is not and does not act entitled.
(Secret Origins 80 Page Giant)
"and stubborn" - I will give you stubborn though, that one is true. She’s stubborn as hell! I don’t really see that as a bad thing though, pretty much every bat is stubborn?
"demanding that Batman and Robin accept her untrained ass" - Steph may have been untrained in fighting but she's shown to have exceptional gymnastics skills from the start, and at one point Bruce even says that with the right training she could be as good if not better than Tim (in Robin #88)! So like... her realizing she enjoys trying to be a hero after she tried it out to deal with her personal business, so she looks to the local experts… and is determined about it… how is that a bad thing? It’s also not like she walked up to them and said ‘im perfect as i am let me in’ what she wanted was a chance to be a hero. But she also wasn't even really looking for approval, either, not having Batman's blessing was never going to stop her. ("So excuse me if I don't jump when you bark, Batman." in Robin #16) Later when Bruce does bring her in to train (and she also gets to train with the BoP) she's excited! She’s stubborn about wanting to be in the hero business, but it’s not like she’s unwilling to work for it.
"advocating leaving criminals to die because they 'deserve it'" - She’s a 15 year old who grew up knowing firsthand how dangerous Gotham criminals can be because of her dad, of course off the bat when they’re in a dangerous situation where any of them could die (because that’s the context here, this is in Robin #35 where they’re trapped in some super dangerous snow) she thinks they shouldn’t go back for another criminal who just tried to kill them and should instead save themselves. But she also literally WITHIN THAT SAME ISSUE then says she realized she learned something after listening to Tim and trying to save the guy! In the same issue! Characters in a story aren’t supposed to be perfect from the start… they learn things along the way???
(Robin #35)
"trying to steal from the shops they just stopped from being burglarized" - She’s 15 and doesn’t have a ton of money. She was gonna take two sodas, and when Tim said not to do it she paid with very little fuss. They stopped people who were robbing the place at gunpoint for prescription drugs. If you can’t understand the difference in severity between those things like… I do not even know where to start. (this situation is in Robin #56 btw)
"forcing physical affection onto Tim despite his visible discomfort and repeated objections (not even stopping when he told her he had a girlfriend)" - This one I will give you because she did cross boundaries with all that! But I do also want to clarify that she didn't start coming onto him until after Tim kissed her first (in Robin #5) while not telling her he had a girlfriend. That doesn’t excuse her later actions but for the first issue that she’s coming onto him from her perspective he expressed interest and she was just returning it! She even specifically says 'Maybe I should pay you back for saving my life the same way you paid me' (in Robin #16) before kissing him. That first time she kissed him unprompted was under essentially the same circumstances he kissed her unprompted, and she literally did not know about Ariana until after the fact. From that point once she knew about Ari she definitely should have backed off and she didn’t, that’s a very fair thing to criticize about her as a character. But Tim lead her on first, and I feel a lot of people like to casually forget that when talking about this situation. The way this is phrased of ‘not even stopping when he told her-‘ implies she was repeatedly doing the bad behavior before he told her, which is not the case. She still did bad things here but don’t misrepresent the situation.
"And lashing out at Tim, her mother, and her classmates in violent fits of anger" - Every comic book character lashes out at other people for the sake of drama like, I dare you to come up with a well-known superhero character who hasn’t done shit like that to a partner/family/friends in a moment of high tension/stress?
"She treated the girls around her like they were stupid bitches" - frankly this ones a little too vague like, I'm not sure off the top of my head exactly what they're talking about? in that era right around her pregnancy and stuff I really don't recall her being mean with other girls? I could be forgetting something I guess but the closest I can think of is a bit after this period of time when she has the confrontation with Greta in Young Justice but that was Greta attacking her first, not the other way around.
"got insanely jealous if Tim so much as expressed concern about another girl" - Steph getting jealous and thinking Tim was cheating isn’t that crazy when STEPHANIE BASICALLY WAS THE OTHER GIRL DURING TIM’S LAST RELATIONSHIP? Tim has cheated a little bit before! Tim cheated on Ari with both Jubilee from Marvel (during a crossover thing where he even mentions Ari specifically so it’s not like this was out of continuity/a setting she wasn't an issue or something) and also with Steph. While most of the kissing between them was Steph coming onto Tim which I wouldn’t count as cheating on his end, he did still kiss her which I would count. Not to mention that the jealousy thing (I imagine they’re talking about the instance with Star, the girl who taught Tim to skateboard, this arc of stuff starts in Robin #80 and continues for a few issues) is happening during the time she’s dating him while she still doesn’t even know his real name. He literally has a whole other life she doesn’t know about, and is someone who has initiated romantic moments with other girls while in a relationship multiple times before! With that in mind I don’t think a 16 (she's def 16 by this point) year old girl being kinda paranoid about how he interacts with girls he might know in his civilian life is that unreasonable? The later big instance with jealousy is the Darla situation- where Steph sees Darla kiss him and gets mad about it (and doesn’t talk to him about it) and thats what prompts her to become Robin. The important thing to remember about Steph in this time frame is that DC decided she had to die and they wanted to make her Robin first to drum up more attention for that death. They were doing ooc things with her to set those pieces in motion, and that needs to be taken into account. I think her getting upset about seeing something like that isn’t even ooc, but her using it as motivation to become Robin and not even saying anything to him about it is. In the earlier instance where she’s upset/jealous about Star, she does communicate to him what’s going on at least a little bit on the rooftop after they’d saved her. She makes it clear the thing she was upset about is that she feels like she can’t trust him because she doesn’t really know him while he knows everything about her, and that’s why she thinks he’s cheating. Her reaction to the Darla thing is not in line with how earlier in canon Steph would have handled the same situation, because they wanted her to die and needed a way to explain her becoming Robin.
"and expressed that jealousy by accusing him of cheating and throwing things at him" - I just addressed the cheating stuff but the throwing things was fucking slapstick oh my god this is a comic book for kids/teens like. ah yes this is horrible abuse in this little funny montage of how Steph wants him to leave her alone because she’s mad at him and he refuses to give her space
(Robin #82)
I don’t think anyone at DC or even in fandom would/should try to argue she’s perfect, because she’s not! And I don’t want her to be because perfect characters are boring. Steph is flawed, Steph has been compared in canon to Robin-era Jason by Cass & Bruce
(Detective Comics #790)
And I think these highlight some of her very real flaws that are an interesting part of her character. These plus her stubbornness and determination are part of what makes her her.
And for fuck's sake the world was mean to her, and to act like it wasn’t is just blatantly ignoring a lot. A criminal father who made her life really difficult (‘when my dad was mad at me he’d lock me in the closet!’), that time she got kidnapped for two weeks and her mom had left her (a 15 year old) alone at home so long she didn't even find out it happened (in text Steph says Crystal was visiting friends, a lot of people interpret that as her mom possibly being in rehab for her addictions again), that whole thing about how one of her dad’s friends tried to sexually assault her as a child, also just how due to her dad's work sometimes criminals would be living in their house (Literally the fucking Riddler at one point!), the fact that we as an audience watched her get tortured for several days because a plan she tried to enact to prove herself backfired since Batman didn’t trust her with important information (something Selina even calls him out on in her internal narration), like… sorry but in what way is all that not the world being mean to her?
She was Robin, she dated Robin, she likes Eggplant (because purple would've looked stupid), and makes jokes. She’s also impulsive, headstrong and determined, and wants to prove to herself and others that she can be more than just the daughter of a shitty criminal, that she can actually be a force to do good in the world.
She’s a complex character, and nobody is required to like her, but to act like she doesn’t have a single redeeming trait is ridiculous. You could write a paragraph like that with the worst moments of basically any character and make them look like shit if that's what you were setting out to do.
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First Touch - Luke Patterson x Reader
Luke x reader - it’s the scene where Julie talks to Luke before the Orpheum show but instead it’s the reader planning to tell Luke how she feels before he “passes over”
(gif is not mine)
She knew she’d regret the decision as soon as she made it.
But as she paced back in forth in my room, hands tingling, she knew that there was no way that I could see his face again that night. After Luke had lied to her face for weeks about their fate, Julie was the one who had to come into her room last night and tell her exactly what would happen. The words clung onto her chest, making it hard to breathe as they nibbled at the surface. What really hurt was the fact that the boys didn't have the guts to tell her themselves.
“So you’re telling me that they have to leave no matter what?”
Julie nodded, placing her hand on the girl’s thigh. She could feel that there were tears already brimming in her eyes, but when she looked over to Julie’s glossy reflection, she completely lost control.
“Why didn’t they tell me? Why did you all keep this a secret?”
She could feel her voice raise in intensity as her mouth spat the question, causing Julie’s shoulders to tense. She grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently to soothe the aggression she just caused. This was not her fault Y/N, remember that. Julie’s shoulders fell back down as she began to to speak again.
“Luke told them not to. He said you’d be better off finding out later,” Julie’s thumb rubbed against the skin by my knee, a calming technique she’d picked up from our mother. “But I couldn’t hold it in anymore, you deserve to know.”
I pointed her face to the ceiling, hoping that the ceiling fan above me could do its best to dry the tears flattened against the surface of my face. I had always thought that Luke had cared about me, maybe not to the level that I cared about him, but enough to be let in on his disappearing act. Luke had no reason to hide this from her.
“Why would he want to keep this from me?” she finally asked, wiping a fresh tear from my face. “Wouldn’t he want me to say goodbye?”
Julie sighed, rocking their hands back and forth. Y/N had always told her that her silence was wide enough to draw fear from even the strongest person. It swelled with intention, and hesitation. The girl cleared her throat before repeating the question. Julie chewed on her bottom lip before finally speaking up.
“It’s complicated Y/N, you should ask him yourself.”
Of course she’d encourage healthy conversation. She groaned as she fell onto her back on the bed below her. Julie followed suit, nestling her head in the crook of her sister’s neck, snuggling to her side.
Now it was the night of The Orpheum show and she still hadn’t tried to find Luke throughout the week. In fact, she instead avoided rehearsals all together. Every afternoon Julie would knock on the door and ask her the same question.
“Are you doing it today?”
She’d shake my head, pushing my glasses back onto the bridge of her nose with a sigh. Julie would lean in the doorway with wide eyes, but Y/N would just shake my head before returning back to her notebook. As the door closed, she’d finally let herself breath evenly again.
She was writing to him.
Two people can play this avoidance game, so she decided that she was going to stoop as low as he did and avoid confronting him in person. Instead, she hatched a plan to leave him a note in the pocket of his flannel before he left for him to read wherever he was. There was so much that she had to say, she just wanted to make sure she got it right. More importantly, she wanted to wait until the last moment so that he had to sit with it.
Yes. It was harsh, but as she sat there with boiling tears streaming down her cheeks she couldn’t just sulk with the feeling any longer. She had been the vulnerable one this whole time. Never pushing him when it came to talking about his parents, but opening up to him about her mother. Not forcing him to give her hints about new music, but brushing away his constant need to climb into her room weekly to peek into her lyric notebook.
She understood why his walls were up, and he understood that he did the stupid things he did because he cared about her. But this, this was the last straw. She could not simply let him walk away from her forever without letting him know that his actions caused her pain.
The idea of explaining the connection of what she felt when she was with him seemed exhaustive. It was months and months of moments that had spiraled out of my control until I had fallen completely into him. So I decided to start from the beginning, but to keep it short. The letter began with the moment that I had stumbled on Julie talking to herself in the garage.
Her pen hovered over her own name at the bottom of the page for a moment. She moved the utensil up to the top of the the scribbled handwriting with clear purpose. She began to scratch out the first line of text but paused again as the ink hit the paper. Dropping the grey tube onto the surface below, she brought her hand up to the top of the crease and tore out the page. She folded into a perfect square before taking a deep breath.
As the pressed the seam one last time, she heard her father call her down the stairs for dinner. She leaned back to lift the pillow up off of the top of her bed, placing the piece of paper on the pastel yellow sheets below before setting the it back down. She sighed once more before lifting herself off the best and making her way to the door.
As soon as the girl turned the corner, Luke poofed into the room. He looked around for any sign of her, but the girl was nowhere to be found. Giving up, he fell onto her bed, bouncing everything in around in his vicinity. The pillow below his head was obviously one that Y/N used regularly, his head falling closer to the surface of the mattress than he’d like.
Lifting his head off of the feathered material, moving to a seated position. He leaned backward, grabbing the square with both hands and raising it up. His eyes fell from the mint cover to a small square back on the bed. Luke threw the pillow to the left, hands reaching for his new object of interest. He looked to the left and right before unraveling the note.
His eyes soared across each line with ease. The skin on his bottom lip tearing away from his mouth as he dug into it. His gaze lingered on a particular word at the end.
Loving.
His first thought was to lash out at Julie for betraying their promise, but it was shortly replaced by his need to get to Y/N. His fingers gripped the paper tightly at his chest as he took a deep breath. As he sat still, he began to hear footsteps in the distance. Jumping in place, Luke frantically worked to get the paper folded back down to its original square shape. He replaced the pillow and then rose to a standing position. With a snap of his fingers, Luke was out of the room without a word.
Julie spun into the room, humming to herself as she walked toward the bed. Scrunching her brow in confusion, she leaned her head out the door.
“Where did you say your glasses went?” She yelled loudly down to her sister.
“They should be on my bed!” Y/N yelled back in annoyance.
Julie rolled her eyes as she turned onto her heels and re-entered the room. She couldn’t see the clear frames anywhere on the soft comforter. As she inched closer, she began to lift things out of the way to make her search easier. As she lifted the pillow on the righthand side, a small piece of paper flew at her chest. Dropping the soft rectangle onto the bed, she leaned down to the floor to pick it up.
She unfolded it slowly and carefully. As it unraveled, she began to read the words on the page. Her eyes fell left to right hastily as she got increasingly angry. She locked her jaw as her gaze fell onto the line that said ‘you are a coward, Lucas Patterson.’ She had to admit, her sister had a talent for writing something brash and harsh in the most poetic way imaginable.
“Hey did you find,” Julie’s hands collapsed around the paper at the sound of the voice. “What are you doing.”
Turning to face her awaiting punishment, she saw that her sister’s face was already redder than the fireplace in their living room. Her hands were balled at her hips as she began to march toward the younger girl loudly. Julie arm swung around her back to hold the paper out of reach as her sister entered her personal bubble.
“I asked you to find my glasses, not to snoop through my things.”
Julie straightened her torso, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the older girl with shaking shoulders. She knew her sister could knock her flat out in a minute, but she had to speak her mind before it was trampled to the ground.
“And I asked you to talk to Luke in person,” She brought the paper back out to her chest. “This, this is cowardly Y/N.”
Her sister was visible vibrating with anger at this point. Y/N let out an anguished grunt, squeezing her fingers against her palm. But within a second, Julie heard the sound of crying come from the other side of the room. She rushed over to her sister’s side, catching her falling shoulders in her arms. She walked the girl over to the bed, sitting next to her on the edge.
Julie rubbed her hand against Y/N’s knee, soothing her with light singing as she settled her tears. Finally raising her eyes back up to meet Julie’s, Y/N chewed helplessly at her bottom lip.
“This whole time Jules, this whole time I’ve waited for him to be honest and truthful with me.” She sighed as a hand grazed against her raw cheek. “And he couldn’t even do it to say goodbye. I don’t even know what the point there is in talking to him. I know I’ll never get the truth.”
Julie stayed silent for a moment, listening to her sister’s sharp breaths. Her hand tapped against her skin a few times to gain her attention. Y/N’s bloodshot eyes met hers again.
“I know. I know that it’s been difficult,” Julie said looking right into her eyes. “Luke isn’t an easy person to talk to. But I cannot stand here and let you wallow forever without the possibility of speaking your mind. I know how heavily that weighs on you. Sure, you cannot control what he says, but I feel like you DESERVE to speak your mind to his face and breath easier at night.”
Y/N nodded, but she didn’t speak. What could she possibly say at this point. She knew Julie was right, but her anxiety weighed her body down like a cinderblock sat straight on her chest. The racing thoughts were cut off by her father yelling for Julie from the first floor.
“It’s not too late for you to come to the show tonight,” Julie reminded her.
“Maybe,” Y/N replied softly, keeping her eyes toward the window.
She heard the boxspring creak as Julie got up from the bed, and the door swing shut as she walked out of the room before she looked to her right. She couldn’t cry again. There’d been too many tears that night already. Instead, she rolled onto her bed, staring at the ceiling with the note to her chest.
****
She woke up in a cold sweat. Leaning over to her left she saw that the clock said 8:30 p.m. She was too late. She couldn’t put the note in his pocket before he left, and she couldn’t say the words to his face either.
He was gone.
Y/N sighed to herself as she got up out of bed and leaned forward to turn on the lamp. Looking out the window, she stared at the garage with wide eyes. If she couldn’t say goodbye to him in person, she’d at least say it out loud, hoping, praying that maybe he’d hear it out there somewhere.
She threw on her jean jacket before walking toward the door. Closing it behind her carefully, she raced down the stairs and out the back door. The sound of crickets and nearby sprinklers were the only noise to fill the air as she walked the short distance to the practice space.
As she entered the dingy, dark space she flipped on the lightswitch. As the soft yellow hue filled the room, she brought her hand out to her back pocket. Bringing the now deformed note into her hands, she quickly untangled it. She cleared her throat before beginning to speak. The shake in her throat note waiting long to appear.
“Luke,
The moment I met you, I thought that I’d absolutely hate you. My sister made me sit on the couch as called all three of you to appear. I remember meeting those bright green eyes and knowing exactly what they were capable of. But as the smile grew across your face, I knew I was a wasn’t a match for them.
You could have made it easy for me. Left it as a simply, fleeting crush entirely based on looks. However, you had to go and make me feel your presence. After the performance, Julie expected you all to disappear out of sight for me, but after the last note fell from my sister’s lips....you stayed.
I knew at that moment that we’d have a problem. You had the ability to be there at a moment’s notice. You, being as inquisitive as always, found your way up to my room every night. You, lacking the ability to be subtle, would spend that time drilling me with questions. You forced me to know you.
You were no longer a figment of my sister’s grief, you were a permanent structure in mine.
I didn’t ask you to listen to the lyrics I’d written the last time I had to say goodbye. I didn’t ask you to run to my side before my tears had dried over some stupid test or audition. You brought yourself there every single time.
I cannot believe that you would leave without telling me. I cannot believe that you’d choose to never see me again instead. You’re a coward, Lucas Patterson. A spineless coward.
I’ll never forgive you for making me feel. I’ll never forgive you for making me dream again. I’ll never forgive you for ripping that all away from me at a moment’s notice.
But I’ll never regret loving you.
- Y/N”
The sound of her name on her own tongue felt almost as painful as the knot lodged in her throat to hold back her tears. She refolded the paper, eyes staying forward, set on the darkness that surrounded her. She waited another moment before turning around.
Her walk back to the house was cut short by a hoarse voice exposing itself to the light.
“Y/N?”
She stopped cold in her tracks, turning around on her tiptoes. There he stood in front of her, swollen and pale as ever. Her anger turned right to worry as she took several steps toward him with wide eyes. She leaned her head to the side, shaking it back and forth.
“What- how are you,” She scrunched her nose in confusion. “How are you here?”
“The Orpheum,” He began, already losing the race with his breath. “Wasn’t our unfinished business. So we came here to wait it out until sunrise. We didn’t want to worry Julie.”
“Should I even be surprised that you’re side-stepping yet another conversation?”
Luke bit down on his bottom lip, arm reaching out to touch her for a moment before his brain reminded him that he couldn’t reach her even if he wanted to. She took a step back, crossing her arms at her chest.
“The nerve you have, Luke Patterson,” She rolled her eyes at him. “To not even have the guts to properly say goodbye to Julie. She’s the one who brought back your love for music. She’s the one who put herself on the line for you with out dad, our friends and everyone else. And you repay her by LYING TO HER? I’m not even upset about what you did to me anymore.”
“Y/N,” His voice strained, his eyes boring into her. “I never meant to hurt anyone.”
“Well you did.”
Luke ran his hands through his hair, sighing. As his head rose back up, he held his stomach in his hand as he made his way toward her.
“Y/N, I’m sorry. I’ve never had anyone who’s put me first. I’ve always forced their in front of my own,” He started, a small smile on my face. “What was I supposed to do with a stubbornly perfect girl who forced me to give in?”
Y/N held her gaze to the sky, tightening her hands around herself. His eyes stayed on her as he took a few small steps forward, standing right in front of her.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you that I was leaving,” His words bringing her watering eyes back to his face. “I just knew I couldn’t take staring at that exact look in your eyes.”
He shook his head at her, tears streaming from his face now. “I love you, so much, Y/N. I never want you to hurt because of me. I was selfish and cruel, and I’m so sorry that I didn’t even think of the consequences. Again. I’m an idiot and I’m selfish but I am, so in love with you and I can’t think straight.”
Y/N’s lips parted as she gasped at those last words. Y/N fell back a bit in shock, tripping over her own feet. Luke rushed toward her, arms wrapping around her waist before she could hit the ground. Silence filled her air as she tried to understand what was happening.
Her brought her back up to a standing position, bringing one hand up to her face. His fingers grazed harshly against her cheek as he pulled her into him. He heard her open her mouth to speak, but crashed his lips against hers before she could get a word out.
The room filled with color as their lips moved together harmoniously. Y/N was the first to pull back first, eyes falling around his features for a moment before her hand reached out to touch his face.
“I feel stronger,” Luke said in a gruff voice.
“What just happened?” Y/N asked just above a whisper.
Luke tightened his grip around her hips, pulling her closer to him. He shook his head rapidly before letting out a giggle.
“I don’t know, but I just want to do that again.
His lips fell onto hers at once, Y/N melting into his touch instantly. They moved in sync for a moment before pulling away. Luke leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers.
Y/N heard grumbling coming from the corner of the room. Turning to her left, she saw Alex and Reggie stumbling toward them. Alex held a pinched expression as he leaned against the piano.
“We don’t have to make out with her too, do we?”
Y/N leaned against Luke’s chest in a fit of laughter, feeling him join her as his chin rested on her head.
.
.
.
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#luke patterson x reader#luke patterson#julie and the phantoms#jatp#jatp fanfiction#luke patterson imagine#luke patterson fanfiction
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