#mother earth essentially saving them by giving them an escape
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Soooo... what are your thoughts on a split in the OCS after the events of Season 1? I mean, Ava wasn't super popular in the OCS/those in-the-know since she was "the one who ran away", and Beatrice and Cam essentially went rogue when they helped her escape Crimson at the Cat's Cradle. So why would anyone believe her telling them that Adriel and his story were all a lie, when he himself is there claiming to be an Angel, returned to save humanity? (it's not like they can see the wraith demons at his command)
Duretti (if he doesn't bury his head in the ground) and Superion can support Ava's claims, but it's still the word of a non-believer against the guy centuries worth of their teachings claim is an angel.
It would also make the massacre of the OCS members even more devastating if their numbers had already been whittled down due to divided loyalties, only to have those who remained loyal to the Warrior Nun be slaughtered by double agents who truly believed in Adriel.
(also, felt it was kinda weird when pretty much all the uniformed FBC people were dudes)
(furthermore thinking on how much would've been added if Lilith's family sided with Adriel, and how much that would have influenced her decisions)
god this is so intriguing. when you think about it… the whole Lore of the ocs is based on the angel Adriel giving up his halo to save a dying human woman. if he wants it back… well, who are they to deny him? and thinking on the temptation to have it be over. most of the ocs have watched their friends die, their sisters thrown at the problem of evil until they’re no longer useful cannon-fodder.
god’s angel appears and tells you to put down your sword… damn, maybe that’s what you do.
on the other hand i feel like… probably out of everyone on the planet it’s the ocs sisters who’d have reason to side-eye adriel the hardest. sure, ava’s an unknown, but mother superion? mary? beatrice the golden child of the ocs? of course looking at it a different way what you have is a disgraced ex-halo-bearer, a usurping non-believer, and beatrice who was sent away by duretti & refused to go. sure, duretti is the pope, but individual orders obey the vatican in theory, but in practice things are more complex. and for the ocs, who have always acted as a shadow organisation, the ability to… well… disregard vatican oversight is probably a baked-in thing.
i feel like the split would be extreme. those who want to believe in adriel vs those who are dedicated to the mission: to keep hell the fuck off of earth, keep people safe from the influence of demons.
there’s good reason to be skeptical of adriel’s claims. he was buried under the vatican, the latin on the wall said ‘please don’t touch this ever. let what’s dead rest’ etc etc. seemed like just a thing you might put on a tomb, but the whole 'live specimen inside' thing might give pause. either we believe that st peter gives what the vatican decides legitimacy or we trust an angel as the unilateral word of god. the bible says maybe don’t do that.
ESPECIALLY if they saw footage of Adriel infecting a whole courtyard of bystanders with demons, i think most of the ocs would trust in what duretti & superion told them. god can speak from the mouth of a heretic (ava), and there’s plenty of ammunition in catholic theology for fallen angels/ agents of the devil/ the devil usually comes in disguise.
they know that Bad Shit is leaking in from some hellscape (most of them likely assume it’s captial-letter Hell) and now the long-lost author of their order appears and attacks (apparently kills) mary in broad daylight? they might be devout but they’re also in the know in a way that few people are, and i think the ocs by its nature is insular. i think mostly these girls come for the service to god & stay for each other, die for each other.
a schism is certainly possible (ahem, not unprecedented in christianity) but i think the ocs sisters trust each other. i think the way that mary died might move them. vincent’s betrayal too. does that look like the work of god? again, immense skepticism over any person claiming to be a mouthpiece for god.
BUT i see you about the idea that literally a handful of traitors would be enough. and that feels so plausible as to be almost guaranteed. sisters tired of fighting a battle of attrition with their bodies, ppl like crimson, the ones who just want it to be over. we really only learn that the ocs was compromised (and i’m inclined to think not by vincent because damn guys u would have done the smart thing & called bust on every safe-house vincent knew about, right??)
the idea that the way the ocs tosses spent sisters aside leads to its near-annihilation is… compelling.
& 🫠 lilith’s family turning on the ocs. i mean, they’d be hand-in-hand with lilith there, no? she sides with adriel. really & truly she IS our example of a girl who is all but tossed aside when she’s not useful. lost, alone, feeling monstrous, she turns to adriel because he can bear to look at her.
you’re so right that there’s so much to be said for the ocs as an organisation that literally chews up & spits out its soldiers. it’s a war machine & so despite superion & shannon & mary trying so hard to make it human and caring and good - i mean, the institution is… well… an Institution. it doesn’t have a heart.
& i think that’s what ava brings to it, what she shows them. that
1. you have to try to stop the cycle of violence. you have to at least try.
and 2. making an army out of lost girls is dangerous. like bea, they’ll throw themselves at danger; like lilith, they’ll throw themselves at death.
just… thinking of shannon & her ghost. how angry she is at the whole circus. of mary & her quiet sadness, so long in the making that her sorrow feels worn even when it’s new.
thinking of ava as a thesis in how you really fight back the darkness
by being the light
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decimary game
I wrote 10 three-sentence fics about the VLR cast to celebrate this year's International Fanworks Day! You can read the full compilation on AO3 as well. Contains spoilers especially for VLR but also 999. Total wordcount is 1098.
The man on the moon rules the infinite time -- Sigma sees now how the words unwind themselves to reveal their true nature; being the one to write them on the wall makes it much more obvious what the intention behind it was. It's a paradox of sorts (without the information at 22, he wouldn't be able to replicate it now), but isn't everything to do with the Nonary Game a bit of a paradox?
He still knows Akane is going to die at the Game's beginning -- and he still remembers Phi saving her.
Phi doesn't hesitate before betraying Sigma; she already knows he will meet her with betrayal in return, so when the results on the screen display that he hasn't, she’s surprised -- but she won't be stopped from leaving now that she has enough BP to get out of this place, not by anything, not for anyone.
But she isn't alone; she isn't the only one who's been met with both allyship and betrayal as the surrounding circumstances are altered. The cat in the box -- the people in the AB room; dead or alive -- betray or ally?
*
Luna has a purpose, a defined goal, a defined everything; she knows if she was programmed without a heart she would make an awful mother, but she wonders why he would program her with one just to make her stand by, unable to do anything in the face of a murder -- in the face of injustice.
She does not have a heart in the literal sense -- it is code and ABT that runs through her instead of blood -- and yet she feels deeply, all the time, and she wonders if she is better for it or better off without. She never asks; Sigma gave her this heart and this caring soul for a reason, and it is a blessing she refuses to waste by corrupting her ethics.
*
Kyle's pretty sure he’s the loneliest one on Rhizome-9, and he isn't permitted to leave -- the other fifty-three Rhizomes are all linked together, he knows, and one can travel freely between them, but the passages to Rhizome-9 have been blocked off for...for reasons related to the research being conducted in this facility, as varied as that is. One can only escape through traversing the moon's surface, and he cannot do that.
There are three humans active in Rhizome-9; two of them have each other, and he is somehow both essential and discarded, barely anything more to make him his own than his name.
*
This is the mission Left has prepared for all his life, the moment he was created for, the culmination of his existence; it is all for the sake of entering the moon and infiltrating the game. The project must be stopped at all costs; failure is not an option.
He would, and will, give up his own life for this mission -- after all, if he fails, little awaits him afterwards regardless.
*
Clover doesn't wake up until after they've left the room, and she's pretty sure that's probably for the best, since she probably would've freaked out all over K about the bracelet on her wrist; as it is, she's only managing to keep a hold on herself with the knowledge that she's not the only one she can trust. In the last Nonary Game, she had her brother and then she had Junpei, and now she has Alice.
Clover's never been particularly good at losing the ones she loves (and she's known that for a long time now), so all in all, she thinks she takes the prospect of an apocalypse sweeping Earth surprisingly well, especially since that means Light's probably dead -- but she's not alone, not anymore, not again.
*
Alice pulls Clover out of the facility; she has to put her own priorities aside for the mission. She wants to go back, she wants to see her father's body, she wants to ruin her makeup and weep over it until she has no tears left to cry. But Clover is still here, Clover is still alive, and that means she still has someone to protect -- and gives her a reason to move forward, to keep being.
*
Here's the thing about the apocalypse: it doesn't give anyone much time for anything besides living in the present, so it's a lot easier for Junpei to get over looking for Akane -- survival's his priority, first and foremost, just trying to find caches of limited food and live long enough to see a blue sky again. And when he finds Quark, those brief thoughts of her drift entirely away, since he has a kid to look after -- having kids had never been on his mind, even when he was still thinking of her.
But when the letter shows up, it's obvious that he's not nearly as over it as he thought he was -- he knows he doesn't have that much time left, and the opportunity to see her again is one he can't miss for the world, not after all this time.
*
Quark's never known a blue sky, so when he first sees the B. Garden, it looks strange -- all of them talk about it as though it's their real world, lush and green and blue, but it's never been his: all he's ever known is red. On the moon, things are different, but he's never really been anywhere other than home, and this isn't it, so he wants to go home more than anything else. He wants to go home, he wants to go home, and he had once thought the only way back home was dying but it turns out that Zero is gonna let them go, so he's going to be okay.
*
What you are, I was; what I am, you will become -- Junpei had been the only one to interact with her past self back then; her memories have always been muddled between the past and future but fundamentally time travel is impossible in the physical sense, only really possible mentally. The grave and its inscription had been meant for Sigma, certainly, but she sees it in the child she had been at the age of twelve and the young adult she had been at twenty-one, inside of a loop where the only escapes were death or life. Now it is not her life alone that is at stake but the entire world; it is a much nobler end to work towards than her own selfish desire to live, and perhaps when she dies for a better timeline she will be able to atone for her past selfishness.
#zero escape#virtue's last reward#vlr#ze spoilers#vlr spoilers#ifdrabble#international fanworks day#fanfiction#my writing#i'm not tagging all the characters! all of them are here! you can't make me!
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( kim minjeong/winter. female. she/her. ) presenting lady sang yire, 21 old firebender loyal to house sang. resourceful yet ingenuine, they find themself impartial to fire lord chaesan’s reign. will this be their salvation or their undoing ?
hello hello it’s eden here, presenting to you my first muse sang yi-re ( saet-byeol’s intro is to come… and yes i brought two of my aespa girlies and i would bring them all if i could 🫠 ). yire is the youngest of the house of sang, growing up incredibly well-protected much to her chagrin and as a result she’s bit of a fireball. restless, stubborn and intrepid, its safe to say yire was not made out for the court life as much as she’s been forced to appear (though she does make quite an act of it) and as such, you’ll find her attempts to break the boundaries from within quite… disruptive ? chaotic ? amusing ?
give this post a like if you’d be interested in plotting with yire and i’ll reach out to you, otherwise feel free to just dm me first ! her intro page will be up soon but for now, you’ll find some more info on her below the cut.
𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐈𝐑𝐄 ( 상이레 ) ; 𝐂𝐎𝐄𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐔
sang yire is the youngest member of the noble house sang, the house which is known for producing the minister of foreign affairs — a role so drab that yire would rather fall off the face of the earth than ever take over.
that is possibly the only aspect she actually likes about being the baby of her family because otherwise, she has always been treated as that; a baby. she’s been protected and sheltered from anything remotely dangerous or adventurous by both her parents and then ultimately her older siblings once they found out her extreme lack of self-preservation and how prone she is to dropping face-first into bad situations
she’s been trained to act the role of a perfect noble lady, but in reality, the poise and mannerisms she’s been forced to practice are merely a facade to hide her true aspirations;
from her youth, her dreams had been to travel far and wide but also to be able to fight, something her pacifist and diplomatic family never truly understood.
as she’s grown, she’s found an affinity in mastering weaponry and martial arts, as, though she’s a fire-bender, her abilities aren’t that strong. her favourites are close combat fighting without weapons but she also loves the thrill of wielding a sword or a bow and arrow — though her mother had made it very clear early on that there would be no letting her join the royal guard or the yuyan archers 😢
essentially now, our beloved girl of chaos is relegated to only two plausible options (at least for her) — become a travelling storyteller... or a pirate
she’s far too restless for life in the fire nation and it’s led her to a lacks of sense for what is dangerous and what isn’t. yire has become very prone to getting embroiled in bad situations but her resourcefulness is her greatest strength (some would call it ingenious, others would call her crazy...) and she’s always able to get herself out of it, if someone else doesn’t come scrambling to save her first (*ahem* please give her some overprotective over siblings, i beg.)
her other prominent quality would be that she may or may not be a pathological liar, whether its accidental or not. yire is never truly genuine with what she says because she believes everything too mundane, thus her compulsion to fabricate something elaborate from something small can get sort of infuriating and has more than once caused a bit of trouble (but she doesn’t have harmful intentions!)
she’s recently feeling stifled in her role as a noble lady and has since been going out of her way with attempts to escape; by faking a kidnapping, her own assassination (though that one didn’t go down very well with her family after what happened to her brother two years ago o.o) and simply just running away, though her plots been foiled time and time again not because she’s bad at escaping but only because she never planned far enough ahead
as to what she’s doing in present-day, yire is currently biding time until her next attempt of something that will give her more freedom but in the meanwhile she’s trying to repair the slight damage to her reputation and her family dynamic after her blind-sighted ‘assassination’ stint
you can find yire almost everywhere in the fire nation; falling out of trees, duelling with children in the streets (wooden swords only!!), prancing around dangerously at the hing wa harbor at night or even dealing cards in one of those shady—and probably illegal—gambling halls and as long as she’s here, she’s at least attempting to dabble in some sort of occupation to see if anything is enough to make her stay — being a circus trainer, magician, personal assistant and a running messenger to name just a few (all with lady-like grace of course otherwise her mother would throw a fit)
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The Bride C3
“My children, thank you all for coming. Lady Dimitrescu, you have my thanks for agreeing to host me, visiting your home is always such a pleasure,” Mother Miranda starts, all attention snapping to her immediately. The praise makes Mother smile, she dips her read in reverence. Miranda sweeps her eyes around at all of us, pausing on each of our forms in acknowledgement, I can nearly feel Moroe shaking when she glances at him. How pathetic. “I’ve asked you all here so we can review our progress, and make changes as necessary. Monroe, why don’t you start for us. How have the Cadou been taking?”
And so it goes around, everyone trying to earn Miranda’s love by saying how well we’re doing, despite no real progress being made. When her gaze finally settles on me I feel uneasy, unsure what she’ll ask me. Mother had been very clear that I was not going to be doing any real work in terms of changing anyone.
“Y/N, my youngest, I have a very important question to ask you. An honor, really. Please come here,” she calls, extending her hand forward. After a glance at my mother and a near microscopic nod of her head in permission, I draw forwards slowly, bowing my head in respect as I stand before her. “Please, daughter, look at me.” Monroe gasps audibly, he’s not allowed to look at her, not this close. Most of us tend to divert our eyes, only looking at her briefly. None of us have ever been specifically instructed to hold our contact.
Shakily my eyes skim up to her face, where a soft but chilling smile rests. She dips down ever so slightly, pulling my hand into hers, sending another shockwave of surprise from our company. Mother Miranda typically prefers not to be touched, so the fact she is initiating this contact makes me uneasy. What could she want from me that she feels she needs to do all of these theatrics to get it? Why does she think I need to feel special?
“Y/N. You’ve grown so much. I remember seeing you, still human, near death. The metamycite allows me to see such things, and my oh my, how you’ve blossomed. Of all my children, how it changed you really is the most amazing.” I can feel the chilled stares, clearly off put by the favoritism. “You’ve all become so much more than you ever expected, but Y/N? She’s still able to retain her form, identical to how she was before, even her newer form is still beautiful. It doesn’t fight to escape her, it helps her shine. She isn’t in danger from things that the other girls are, the cold does nothing to her.” Now I’m starting to get more nervous, all these compliments are certainly leading up to something big, something I don’t know if I’ll be able to give. “And so, as the one I’ve seen bond so well with the change, I have a wonderful question for you.” And here it comes. “I would never wish to take you from your true mother, but with your permission I would like to use your DNA, try to combine it with my beloved Eva’s. I truly feel as though we will have some great success if we do so.”
This even tears a shocked sound from myself and I have to steel every nerve in my body to keep from jerking back and out of her hold. She wants to use me to bring her daughter back? I didn’t even want this. Behind me a loud clap startles me from my frozen state. I can hear my mother thanking Miranda for her generosity, Moroe and Donna chittering between themselves, but Heisenberg is surprisingly quiet.
“Silence!” The room mutes instantly at Miranda’s words. “This choice is for Y/N, and Y/N alone.” She tips my head back up, staring through her mask into my eyes. “What do you think, my child? May I try?”
‘NO NO NO’ I want to scream, ‘no you can’t use me to try to bring your daughter back from the dead. You should just let me die!’ Instead I force a smile, pushing as much faux excitement into it as possible and nodding my head so fast I swear I can feel my brain slamming around. “Yes of course you can, Mother Miranda! I would be so honored to help you! Please, let me do what I can for you!” A smile spreads across her face at my external eagerness. Her hand strokes my cheek, before stepping back.
“Thank you, Y/N.” With that she essentially shoves her hand into my stomach, causing me to gasp and stumble slightly. And then just as quick as she did it, she pulls back, a handful of something in her grasp. Something inside me feels slightly out of place, shifting until it rests back where it thinks it belongs. “I must go now, bring this to my laboratory so I can begin trials.” With that she’s gone in a flurry of crows, leaving the five of us in silence.
Silence which is broken with a crash, and lots of yelling. My mother sighs, growling out my sister's names.
“Daughter, would you mind going and telling your sisters to knock it off.” She says to me, turning to face our company, “It’s time for me to show them out.” I dip my head in acknowledgement, turning and allowing my form to change. Much like my sisters I can essentially hold my full body form, but also shift into insects to move quicker. However, unlike them where they’re flies, I actually can become moths. Much more elegant, if you ask me, which is the only reason I ever even allow myself to do it.
For the first month after my change I had no control, phasing in and out of each form sporadically. I’ve grown since then, now able to focus it into certain areas if I wanted. It takes less than a minute to find where the racket was coming from. The three of them had taken to terrorizing our newest servant, the poor girl was backed into a corner in the study, brandishing a candelabra as if it would protect her. Judging from the state of her clothes and the blood stains they had already gotten a bite of her.
“What on earth do the three of you think you’re doing?” I seethe, their collective attention snaps to me in an instant. The girl lets out a pathetic whimper as I reform and stalk forwards. Bela laughs, twirling her blade around her fingers as she eyes me up and down.
“We were hungry, sister, what do you think we were doing?” She snarks, turning her gaze back to the shaking child, who curls deeper into herself. Cassandra and Daniela let out small confirmations, unable to keep their eyes on me longer than a moment before turning back towards the girl, eyeing her up like a lion would a gazelle.
“I think you’re all acting like imbeciles.” I snap, crossing the room in an instant and throwing them against the wall before latching onto the girl's shoulder and shoving her from the room. “Go get that bandaged, report to my Mother immediately.” I demand, slamming the door behind her as she stumbles into the hall before rounding back to my sisters. “You three know better. Mother Miranda had barely left before your little stunt. Can you imagine how displeased our mother would have been if you had embarrassed her?”
Daniela rolls her eyes at my dull threat, Cassandra has the decency to look slightly wounded, but Bela? Of course she isn’t done fighting me yet. She takes half a step forwards, cocking her head to the side and smiling at me. “What? Afraid we’ll ruin your chances at being Mother Miranda's special little guinea pig? As if you deserve that. She should have asked us. We’re far stronger than you anyways.” She states, motioning to herself and the other two.
“Yeah,” Daniela says, crossing her arms and stepping up beside her, “You aren’t as special as she thinks. Anything you do, you know that we do it better.” Cassandra joins them, creating a wall of envy.
“You didn’t even want this, remember? Mother should have just let you die. She could have had us, we’re all she needs.” She tells me. Part of me wants to laugh, another part to scream. I wanted to die, I want to tell them, I wish she had let me. But if they thought they could be so much better, then I might as well show them why they’re weak. In an instant I’ve flown across the room, throwing open the window I had once escaped from, letting a harsh breeze of cold air flush the room. They screech at me indignantly to close it as they scramble for the door. I just smile, moving to stand directly in front of the billowing curtains.
“Next time you three start thinking you’re better than me because you were so prepared for this, I want you to remember one thing. You may have asked for this, but you are not stronger than me. I take more than some wind to hurt. Be careful who you try to play with girls, because unlike the maids, I’m not an ant for you to burn with a magnifying glass. You are, and no matter how much my Mother loves you, I am her real daughter, and out of the four of us? Take a guess who she would save.” With that I allow myself to drop backwards out the window, vaguely noting that they managed to get the door open and get out to safety. A feeling of serenity rushes through my veins as I drop. Finally being able to snap at them felt so good, even if later I end up regretting it. After the day I’ve had, there isn’t an ounce of regret in my body. It felt so good to be so cold, to say what I had been craving to say since they came into my life. They had all but imposed upon a life I didn’t want, tried to shoved me into a corner, tried to take what was mine. I am sick of letting people take from me.
God had dictated to take my life. My mother took my death. They tried to take my mother. Miranda wants to take my body. Take, take, take. No more. If this is the life I have to live, then nobody is taking it from me. Never again.
#karl heisenberg#heisenberg x reader#re8 karl heisenberg#Karl Heisenberg x reader#resident evil village#lady dimitrescu#re
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Black French Girl in Dystopian Robot Planet
Black French Girl in dystopia: 1) wants to escape, but not overthrow the government 2) Romance or friendship decision and 3) Skin compared to Tiger’s eye gemstone
@cao-the-dreamer asked:
Hello,
I’m French-Italian and currently writing a sci-fi story feat a Black French girl. In the story, she accidentally arrives on a dystopian planet with an agender, robotic population. She befriends one of the robots, who is a veteran soldier (their kind being seen as literally pawns on the battlefield, basically you are constructed for a job you’ll do your whole life and then die as a nameless soldier). The soldier and the girl (Esther) mutually help each other until trust begins to form. She gives them an identity (a star’s name, which is a nod to her mother, an astrophysicist) and they decide to help her get back to Earth.
Is it problematic if neither of them want to overthrow the government or change society or smtg grand like that?
The soldier just wants to escape a world that only gave them pain and sorrow and Esther just wants to go home. Both wish for some peace, that is all. (Maybe they will fall in love at some point, I’m still not sure about that. You said in a post about asexuality and strong black women that interdependence is key and it’s what I want to show in their relationship. Both have their weaknesses and strengths but they can rely on each other).
Also, in your guide about skin tones, you wrote that it can be tricky to use gemstones. When the soldier properly meets her, “her body reminds them of the tiger eye jewels worn by the elites to embellish their frame. But these robots are nothing but walking gems without sparkle, whereas the little one – who saved them without asking for anything in return – shines like an unvarnished light.” (I’m translating on the fly)Is that okay?
Thank you for your patience. Your blog was really helpful during my writing!
I really love those kinds of stories where characters don’t change the world and just try to go through it. Everyone is not a “rebel”, people also want to live a normal life without fighting. Sometimes life is about surviving for ourselves first, so it could be a great way to talk about life in itself. As you said, “Both wish for some peace, that is all”. You could deliver a very powerful message with that story.
I don’t see a problem with a love story either, but why not a platonic but strong relationship for once ? I think you should choose which option is the best regarding your characters’ personality but also your story themes. The way you describe it, it feels like your story is about love in all its form and a desire to just experience life as it is.
As for the skin tones, I think that the gemstones in this particular case are okay as a comparison. It’s not about how you see your character’s skin tone, but how the soldier sees her. Her skin reminds him of the elite, that’s the only comparison he got, it’s based on his experience so it adds a little backstory/ worldbuilding with that. In this context, I can see it.
Bon courage pour ton histoire !
- Mod Lydie
This is definitely a unique take where the main character doesn’t need to act as Chosen One. These characters just want to survive and find peace from the oppressive nation. I’m with Lydie; I have no problem with that.
As for “to romance or not”
Black women in love and being loved in all forms is welcome representation. Asexual women can also be in relationships and in love, too, of course.
From an unbiased standpoint, I love to see women in powerful friendships and there’s nothing wrong with depicting that in these characters. The call for more women in platonic friendships is a valid one, but often gets applied in practice to Women of Color in media. Essentially, romance in the standard until Women of Color are involved.
The romantic in me (aka this is my personal “as a reader” perspective) loves to see Black women in love; we’re especially underrepresented in healthy romantic relationships in media.
More reading: Representation Black Girls & Women Want
Tiger Eye Description
I agree with Lydie that it’s a very story & POV-appropriate description. It should not come across as out-of-place to the setting. I would suggest making sure you describe some other physical features (like facial features, hair, expressions) so she’s not just a “Body” as the description provided above refers to her as.
~Mod Colette
P.S. Please let me know when your book comes out. I’d love to read it!
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Starting Over
Juice Ortiz x F!Reader
Combining two Anonymous requests for this: reader is Jax's younger sister, and with Juicey boi. Stuck fiercely with him through Potter. Douchebag! Anyway, so. It's just after Tara, and Juice has gone MIA. As soon as reader hears Jax wants Juice, she goes to find him - obviously get's pointed to him by Wendy (not Gem because she knows what she'll do). When she goes to Juice, he tries to scare her off, but she gives him some lip, then maybe some smut - then she takes him far away, never to return! & can I get a Juice x Female reader where she finds out that Jax wants Juice after he goes MIA, and she's been with Juice for ages without the boys knowing - and she realises that Juice is in danger, so she manages to find out where he is, and she goes there, has some fluffy/angst time with Juice, before pulling him into her car and driving off to take him away and completely leave Charming and the sons behind. Maybe a fluffy pregnancy reveal too? Ultimately, must save Juice and protecc
Warnings: language, angst, slight steam
Word Count: 2.3k
A/N: Figured that these two requests ran pretty parallel to each other so I combined them! Only thing I didn’t do was full-on smut because it didn’t really fit with the whole mood of everything. But we gettin’ Juice outta his mess for sure. Enjoy! xo
SOA Taglist: @garbinge @masterlistforimagines @mayans-sauce @adela-topaz-caelon @i-just-read-stuff @chibsytelford @mijop @shadow-of-wonder @xladymacbethx @kkim120 @multiyfandomgirl40 @toni9 @unicornucopia-fuckers (If you want to be added to the taglist just let me know!)
Things had been falling apart for the club for a while. Growing up in the middle of it had exposed you to a lot, but even so this was the most chaotic it had been in your lifetime. You couldn’t blame it all on Jax, knowing that things started crumbling long before your brother took his seat at the head of the table. But there was a lot more frustration there between the two of you than there used to be.
That rising tension was the original reason that you never told Jax, or anyone in the club for that matter, that you had gotten involved with Juice. It had sort of just fallen together. There was something about him that you couldn’t pull yourself away from, no matter how far he seemed to spiral. His life was just as messy as yours, if not messier, which was another reason the two of you decided to keep things quiet—it was supposed to cut down on the mess.
However, once you noticed that Jax’s feelings about Juice took a turn, you got nervous. Ever since Tara was murdered, he was on a warpath. You couldn’t necessarily blame him, but Juice was on thin ice as it was and you weren’t going to let him become another casualty if you could help it. You didn’t lose him in the depths of things with Potter, you weren’t going to lose him now.
You had looked everywhere for him. You scoured all of Charming but he was nowhere to be found. You stopped by his place, and immediately noticed that certain things were missing. His place wasn’t cleaned out, but you could tell that he packed the essentials to make a quick getaway. Your heart sunk inside your chest as you tried to strategize how to find out where he was. There was a short list of people you felt like you could trust to ask who wouldn’t blow up your spot to the rest of the club.
You found yourself on Gemma’s doorstep. For as much as you loved your mother, she was the last person that you wanted to talk to about this. You did, however, know that she and Wendy were close these days, and that anything Gemma knew about Juice, she might’ve pipelined to Wendy. It was a long-shot but she was the only person you had left that you felt like you could talk to without exposing yourself, or Juice.
Gemma opened the door, “Hey, sweetheart, everything alright?” she hugged you once you stepped inside.
You nodded, “Yea, all good. I just, uh, is Wendy here?”
You could see the gears turning in Gemma’s mind, “Yea, why?”
You shook your head, “Nothin’ I just wanted to talk to her about some counseling stuff,” you tried to play it off, “One of Lyla’s girls is a little,” you shook your hand slightly, “Rocky right now. Just wanted to get her opinion on some stuff. That’s all.”
You’d gotten good at lying to Gemma—it was the only way to have any semblance of privacy. She nodded, convinced for the time being, “She’s in the guest room with the boys. Send them out before you start talking about that shit though, alright?”
You nodded, “Of course.”
You made your way back to the room, politely sending your nephews on their way before shutting the door, allowing you and Wendy your privacy. Confusion was written all over her face as you sat on the bed with her. You took a deep breath as you tried to get your thoughts together, praying that this wouldn’t backfire on you.
“You know where Juice is?” there was no point in beating around the bush.
“Why would I know that?” she couldn’t meet your eyes, and you knew that she was trying to hide something.
“I know the club wants him dead,” you paused, correcting yourself, “I know Jax wants him dead. I just…I just wanna help him.”
“You wanna help Juice?” she clearly didn’t buy it.
You ran your hands down your face, not able to fault her for being skeptical, “Jax might be my brother but that doesn’t mean that I blindly support everything he does. I’m not my mother,” you shook your head, “Juice can’t survive this on his own. He needs someone.”
“You?”
You took a deep breath, knowing you’d already put yourself in a pretty deep hole. What was the harm in digging yourself a little deeper? You met Wendy’s eyes, “I’ve been with Juice for a while now. Way before all this other shit started. I can’t…I can’t let Jax get to him.”
Wendy pressed her lips together into a thin line. She knew as well as anyone what your family was like. It was a wonder that you turned out the way you did. She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, “He’s at my place. That’s…that’s why I’m still here.”
You raised your eyebrows in surprise, “Y-your place?”
She nodded, “Gemma was banking on me staying in rehab way longer. Figured it was a free, empty place for him to stay. I wasn’t gonna kick him to the streets when the club wants his head on a goddamn stake. So…he’s still there.”
You leaned in a hugged her, for the first time in a long time. It felt a little foreign at first but she leaned into you for a moment and accepted it. You pulled away, trying to fight back the tears that were stinging at the edges of your eyes, “Thank you. Seriously.”
She nodded, “Don’t mention it. Seriously.”
You both got a quiet laugh out of that. Taking a deep breath to steady yourself, you stood up. Before opening the door, you turned back to Wendy, “If Gemma asks, I asked you about some rehab counseling shit for one of Lyla’s girls.”
She nodded, “Got it,” there was a brief pause, “Take care of him. He needs it.”
You nodded but didn’t say anything more as you left the room. You made your way back through the house, giving your nephews hugs and kisses goodbye before saying goodbye to Gemma as well. You tried not to let your anxiety shine through as you tried to put together some semblance of a plan.
You raced back to your place and packed a few bags. You grabbed the few things that Juice had left at your apartment over the last few months, not wanting to leave any trace of that behind once you were gone. You packed the essentials, grabbed your emergency stash of cash, and then hit the road to get to Wendy’s place.
You knocked relentlessly on the door. When there was no answer, you finally spoke up, “It’s me, Juice.”
Seconds later Juice opened the door, gun in his hand by his side. You could see it written all over his face that he was spinning out. You took a deep breath as you stepped into the apartment, shutting the door behind you. You immediately stepped in and wrapped him in a hug, your heart breaking at the way he practically fell into your embrace like you were the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth.
After a few moments, you pulled away from him. You could see it in his eyes how lost he was. You reached out, gently cupping his face, “We gotta go.”
“What?” he looked confused.
“We gotta go. We gotta get out of here. You can’t stay here.”
“Yea but…but you can’t go with me.”
It felt like a punch to the gut to hear him say it so definitively. “Why not?”
“Because you’re Jax Teller’s fucking sister,” he snapped, “You can’t just…leave Charming. You can’t just leave. Especially not with someone the club wants dead. They, they won’t stop until they find you. Or me.”
“They’re not going to find us.”
“You’re an escape artist now?”
You scoffed, “I don’t think that you’re in a position to be criticizing. It took me one day to find you.”
He gnawed at the inside of his lip, “You can’t do this. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“That’s a risk that I’m willing to take.”
“Well I’m not,” he shook his head, “You’re not putting yourself out on the line like that for me. I won’t let you.”
“You won’t let me?” your laugh was hollow, “Let me? You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do. I grew up under Gemma’s fucking thumb—I’m done getting bossed around by other people. You don’t get to tell me that I can’t come with you.”
“Yes, Y/N, I do. You’re not throwing your whole life away for me.”
“I’m not throwing it away! I don’t want a life here in Charming if you’re not in it.”
“They will never forgive you for leaving.”
“Fuck ‘em.”
“Y/N,” he sounded angry but you could see the tears in his eyes. He turned away love every chance he could, not wanting to deal with the heartbreak that followed, “You can’t leave. Not with me. Not for me. I’m…I’m not worth the fallout.”
“Yes you are,” you stepped in and cupped his face once more, “You are worth whatever it takes. I love you.”
He closed his eyes, tears escaping down onto his cheeks, “I love you too.”
You pulled his lips to yours, catching them in a rough, needy kiss. He wrapped his arms tightly around you, like it was the last time he was ever going to be able to touch you. His tongue ran along the inside of your lip before meeting yours. You moaned, fingers pressing into the back of his neck. His hands slid underneath your shirt, nails raking lightly along the soft skin of your back.
You pulled away, breathless as you rested your forehead against his. He gave you a light squeeze, “I love you.”
You smiled despite the heaviness of the situation that you were in, “I love you too.”
“We can finish this when we get to wherever we’re going,” he chuckled, and it was nice to see him smile.
You nodded, pulling away from him a little bit, “Right, right,” you took a deep breath as you looked around Wendy’s place, “You got a bag packed?”
He turned and walked towards the closet, digging around before resurfacing with a duffle bag that was bursting at the seams. You looked at the kutte that was draped across the top of it and your heart broke. Leaving Samcro behind was going to be a big shift for the both of you—it was all you’d ever known, and it was all the family Juice had anymore.
He saw the look in your eyes and the tears returned to his. You shook your head slightly, “You gotta leave it, baby. Nothing good is gonna come from you keeping that.”
He nodded even though he didn’t want to admit it, “I know.”
He gripped the leather tight in his hand for a few moments before laying it on the end of Wendy’s couch. You nodded in approval, pulling him towards you and kissing him softly on the lips to let him know that it was going to be okay.
“You sure you wanna do this?” his voice wavered a little, “There’s…there’s no coming back from this.”
You nodded, “I’m sure,” you tangled your fingers with his, “Let’s go.”
The two of you packed what little you had into the trunk of your car. You situated yourself in the driver’s seat before turning to look at Juice. Worry was still present in his features but you could tell that even despite that, he was glad that you were there with him
You reached over, taking his hand in your own, “We're gonna be alright. We're going to figure all of this out. We'll be safe,” you paused, “Do you trust me?”
He nodded, no hesitation in his response, “With my life,” he paused for s few moments, “You’re really willing to leave behind your family for me?”
“You’re my family,” you waited for him to meet your eyes, “Juice?”
“Yea?” his eyes searched yours, trying to guess what you were going to say next.
“I mean it, you know. You’re my guy. My family.”
His smile as soft, sincere, “You’re my family too.”
“I know now might not be the best time,” you chuckled nervously, “But really when do we ever have a right time for anything, right?”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m…I’m not going to be your only family for much longer,” you couldn’t hold back your nervous laughter as you took his hand and rested it on your stomach, “A fresh start is going to be good for all of us.”
His eyes widened as he realized what you were telling him. A smile broke out across his face as he leaned over and kissed you hard on the lips. He’d never been more ready to run off with you than he was in that moment.
“Alright,” he chuckled, unable to believe the situation he was in, “let’s get the fuck out of here, then.”
You smiled, kissing him once more softly on the lips, “Let’s go.”
You threw the car in drive and pulled out onto the road. As you took off, Juice's hand came to rest on your thigh, “I love you.”
You smiled, glancing over at him for a moment, “I love you too.”
Your eyes made their way back to the road in front of you. Letting out a deep sigh, you let yourself soak up the fact that you were on your way to somewhere new, with the only person who really mattered, the only person who ever really tried to look out for you these days. Charming faded out of your rearview mirror and you had never felt more relieved, despite the uncertainty that laid ahead. All of the anxiety though., faded away when you felt Juice's thumb tracing back and forth on your leg. You had faith that the next chapter was really going to be the start of a whole new book, just for the three of you.
#soa#sons of anarchy#sons of anarchy imagine#soa imagine#juice ortiz#juice ortiz x reader#juice ortiz x you#juice ortiz imagine#juan carlos#juan carlos ortiz#my writing#fanfiction#drabblesmc
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The Monkey King vs the Budha
Gojou and Toji are rivals and complete opposites in everything, even in the mythological stories that both of their characters reference. Toji referencing Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) and Gojou representing the Budha himself. I’ll be going over the mythological references in their characters under the cut.
1. Journey to the West
The journey to the west is one of china’s four great classical novels. It’s an ancient allegory for enlightenment. Though not the main character, the first seven chapters are dedicated to Sun Wukong, the monkey king, a trickster type character who made it his mission to disrupt the order of heaven. There’s a very long and simplified summary of the legend, here.
There are several in story references to the legend. Toji refers to himself as a monkey for not being able to use Jujutsushiki. Toji, much like Sun Wukong is an exile from the heavenly order. In this setting, the analog for heavenly order or the keepers of the peace is Shaman Society as a whole and the four great noble families system.
Toji is the strongest possible a human can get without using Jujutsu Sorcery. If Getou refers to all humans who aren’t sorcerers as monkeys, that makes Toji symbolically king of the monkeys. Son Wukong possessed an immortal body. Toji is brought back from the dead because the special quality of his body won out against the soul when it was transformed.
Toji also ends up using a bo staff to fight that extends or compresses based on whether or not the four pieces connected by chains are together. Sun Wukong’s most famous and iconic weapon was a staff that could change size.
The staff itself is called ‘playful cloud’, Sun Wukong is also famous for flying on top of a cloud.
Gojou is symbolically the Budha for a separate reason, first he’s a character who revolves around the idea of attaining personal enlightenment. He quotes the Budha himself.
In Chinese and especially Japanese Buddhism, the statement 天上天下唯我独尊 (Japanese tenjou tenge yui ga dokuson; not sure about the Chinese transliteration), which is typically translated as "On heaven and earth, I alone am honored", is considered to be a well-known statement of the Buddha, spoken when the Buddha first emerged from his mother's womb. The quote is sometimes truncated to just the latter half 唯我独尊 "I alone am honored".
This is specifically a statement that the budha first said when he emerged from his mother’s womb. Gojou is someone shown to be special from the moment he was born.
In Journey to the West as a result of attaining enlightenment, the budha is one with everything. Gojo’s special ability is seeing everything, into the void because of his six eyes. His territorial expansion is essentially forcing that enlightenment on others, look at the line Jogo uses when caught up in it “I can see everything, I can feel everything!” that’s enlightenment, babeyyy!!!
In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong fought against the Jade Palace and the Emperor of Heaven, until eventually the Budha was called to settle things with him.
The Budha made a wager with Sun Wukong. If he could successfully jump out of the palm of his hand then he could become the new king of heaven. Sun Wukong jumps off of his hand and makes it all the way to the edge of the universe. He sees five pillars at the end of the universe. He fights grafittis the pillar and then jumps back to the Budha. The budha reveals his hand and shows the same grafitti, as a result of attaining enlightenment the budha is one with everything in the universe therefore no matter where Sun Wukong went he would always be in the palm of his hand. The budha then defeated Sun Wukong and sealed him under a mountain.
Gojou and Toji fight for similar reasons. Toji could have made his escape but he wants to fight Gojo over his pride to prove that he’s the strongest. Gojo as a result of nearly dying against Toji in their first round, has attained enlightenment and because of that Toji can’t possibly win against him.
2. Opposites Attract
Gojou and Toji are opposites always meant to oppose one another. Toji eventually became a rogue mercenary who took great pleasure in killing sorcerers to prove his family wrong about him. Gojou is someone who holds basically the entire Jujutsu World on his back and wants to raise other sorcerers to be as strong, or stronger than him. Gojou is the one groomed to be superior from childhood, Toji was made to feel inferior. Gojou uses his power selflessly, almost always making himself a tool for the sake of others. Toji is someone who acted selfishly, for the sake of money, pride, eschewing other people’s values for his own twisted ones.
However, they both have a unique understanding of one another. Toji says the first and last time anyone was aware of his presence was when he visited Gojo as a child. Gojo is defined by how untouchable he is, the last person to even put a scratch on him was Toji.
There’s actually a lot about Toji and Gojou that is similar making them poised to understand each other. Toji is also a one of a kind genius, specifically because he was born with a body that eradicates curse energy. Toji was always powerful, he was just mocked and belittled because he didn’t fit into the mold of Jujutsu society.
They’re just geniuses, it’s just that Gojo was born to fit the mold of the ideal jujutsu sorcerer, from a family, carrying the technique of his main family, and Toji breaks that same mold.
Gojo and Toji are also two people who didn’t have to be on bad terms. Their conflict represents the families they were born into. The Gojo and the Zen’in have always been on bad terms as revealed to us recently. They’re both individuals shaped by the households they were born into, and they also carry the conflict between those two households on their shoulders.
Gojo and Toji are characters who value their strength above everything else. However, Toji lives trying to deny his pride and destroy it because he hates everything the Jujutsu world values.
Toji’s referred to as the “one who threw everything away”. It’s revealed in his extras that after Megumi’s mother died, he tried to stop caring about everything which is why he distanced himself from his son.
Toji is the extreme result of Gojou’s rampant individualism, in a different way than Sukuna is. Toji is strong, but his strength never really matters. He failed to protect Megumi’s mother. He was going to sell Megumi to the clan. He only ends up all alone because of his decision to value strength above all else and throw everything away.
Gojo is also someone who despite being the strongest, fails to protect others. He wasn’t able to save Geto from his breakdown. He failed to save Rika before that. For both characters even though they believe the only good thing about themselves is their strength, strength is not everything to them.
Megumi is the connecting knot that ties between them.
Toji, who is eternally bitter about other jujutsu sorcers being born with what he didn’t have, named his son blessings. Toji who tried his best to stop caring about anybody besides himself...
Can’t ever deny the part of himself that loves his son. Even his attempt to sell him to the Zen’in household while grossly misguided and irresponsible, was also out of a wish that growing up in that household would be better than what a jaded and disaffected deadbeat of a dad Toji was could give him all alone after Megumi’s mother died.
Toji is genuinely happy when he learns that Megumi has had a better life than he had. Which once again ties back to Gojo. Gojo and Toji are characters who live mostly for themselves, but the best parts about them are what they give to other people. Toji’s most redeeming quality was his affection for his son, and his genuine wish for Megumi to have a blessed, better life than he did. Gojo went out of his way to protect Megumi from the Zen’in family. They’re both opposite in so many ways, but Megumi is their connecting thread. Both, Gojo and Toji want to give him a better world, and a better life than the one they grew up in.
#zenin toji#fushigoro toji#megumi fushigoro#gojo staoru#gojou satoru#jjk meta#jujutsu kaisen meta#gojou family#zenin family
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- request from anonymous: “can you do a yandere alphabet for izuku with a quirkless s/o. cuz we need some broccoli loving out here lmaoo.”
- note: please remember that I don’t write NSFW for minors so if that’s what anyone was looking for in any of the alphabets, I’m sorry to disappoint and look forward to that for the adults that maybe requested.
- pairing: yandere! midoriya izuku x fem! reader
- request status: closed
A - Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?
Midoriya would be all over you. constantly. he’s a very clingy and delusional yandere that would not see anything wrong with the way he’s acting with you. he’d be constantly holding your hand, snuggling you, and telling you how much he loves you.
B - Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?
if he had to kill someone because he felt as though someone was taking you away from him, he would. he would go to the ends of the earth to have you and he doesn’t care what it takes. he’d do it all. risk his hero career and all.
C - Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?
he would mock them without realizing it. Midoriya would tell their darling all about their day and how many people he saved throughout the his shift without realizing that his darling has been longing for human interaction.
D - Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?
Midoriya just wants love. he obviously had familial love because of his mother but considering Midoriya is apart of the #Daddyissues squad, he never knew what it was like to have a father figure so that’s what brings him to just want constant affection from his darling.
E - Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?
midoriya would lay his entire heart out to them. he would tell them of the days he had with Bakugou, the day he got his quirk, all of it. he wants his darling to know everything that had happened to him in his part and he wants the same thing from them.
F - Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?
he would be so upset. midoriya wouldn’t understand why his darling was acting that way. he was just trying to love you and you were denying him of that! he would start crying those tears that he used to have as a child as a way to get you to stop what is it you’re doing.
G - Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?
midoriya doesn’t like it at all. he doesn’t think that him loving you or him kidnapping you is some kind of game. he would go through all of the stages from grief if you tried to leave him. he literally would go into a deep state of mental issues if he saw you trying to escape.
H - Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?
Midoriya’s clingyness. the fact that once he got home, he couldn’t shake them off. literally he wouldn’t let them get up for whatever reason and if his darling tried to use the bathroom or even get something from upstairs, he would go with them.
I - Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?
he wants all of the things he didn’t have growing up so basically becoming a father. he wants to do dad things with his kids. take them to a park, go to sporting events, teach them how to develop and control their quirk.
J - Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?
oh fuck yeah Midoriya does. he doesn’t lash out at you in any way but he does towards the other person. the person could literally be asking you for directions with their partner standing next to them and Midoriya would think that they were trying to get with you.
K - Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?
see letter A.
L - Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?
he would TRY to attempt to court you but that flops immediately. he couldn’t stand to see you talking with other guys so as soon as he saw you, he would literally only give himself days before he kidnaps you or even starts to make plans for it.
M - Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?
Midoriya acts completely different in the sense that no one would realize how crazy obsessed he is with his darling. to the common eye, they wouldn’t realized that he literally had you trapped with him because they just think the two of you are constantly in that puppy love stage.
N - Naughty: How would they punish their darling?
Midoriya tries not to punish you. he really only uses it as a last resort because he’d rather try and talk it out with you rather than using mental or physical punishment on their darling. but when he does, it’s truly a fucked up experience. he would make them go essentially insane bc of the mind games he plays on them.
O - Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?
he’d try to give them some kind of rights. he totally lets you watch television or read books but if he allows you social media, he would have to watch what you were posting and seeing. he lets you see your family but only on his time and for certain hours.
P - Patience: How patient are they with their darling?
very patient! he could literally have you fighting him in the middle of your living room, quirks and all, and he still wouldn’t try and punish you. he would try to justify it all and see that you did it for some other reason. so yeah, you got lucky.
Q - Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?
midoriya is CRUSHED. he would probably pass away himself. he can’t live without you and he knows that there is no one just like you so since he couldn’t find a replacement, he would literally just end it all bc he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
R - Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?
Midoriya?? never. what he sees himself doing is absolutely okay in his eyes. he doesn’t see him kidnapping you as a wrong. he justified it in his head already so he would never feel guilty about it.
S - Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?
See letter D
T - Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?
he gets almost emotionally scarred over it. he doesn’t understand why you’re doing all of that. he isn’t hurting you. he isn’t punishing you. all he’s doing is keeping you away from the villain infested world. why are you doing all that??
U -Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?
outside of the whole no punishment thing, probably not. he’s very protective and clingy to you so he’s more worried abt giving you affection and wanting to show you that he means no harm.
V - Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?
honestly, Midoriya doesn’t have many. everyone sees him as this soft yandere but midoriya doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses that he shows you. it would be unlike him to show you the bad parts of him so you don’t get any ideas.
W - Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?
see previous answers.
X - Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?
you are midoriya’s god. he worships the ground you walk on. he would go to VARIOUS lengths to worship you. literally don’t test him on that bc he is one of the more delusional if not the most delusional so he sees what he’s doing as normal.
Y - Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?
see previous answers.
Z - Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?
mentally, kinda? physically no.
#bnha imagine#bnha x reader#bnha#yandere bnha#mha#mha imagine#mha x reader#yandere mha#my hero academia#my hero academia imagine#boku no hero academia#boku no hero x reader#midoriya izuku#midoriya izuku imagine#midoriya izuku x reader#midoriya izuku x you#yandere midoriya izuku
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Supergirl’s rumored season 6 villain could give the Girl of Steel her greatest challenge yet in the show’s final Arrowverse season. Over the years, Supergirl has faced a wide variety of adversaries, including the Dominators, the Daxamites, and Fort Rozz’s alien inmates; metahumans like Live Wire, Parasite, and Silver Banshee; and human villains such as Roulette, Toyman, Agent Liberty, and Lex Luthor. Still, the foes who have tested her the most share a common power: magic.
Reports of a recent casting call have emerged for a new main villain for Supergirl’s final season, described as a “powerful alien witch” named “Rosemary” who is plotting to enact revenge against Supergirl and those closest to her. With “Rosemary” likely a stand-in name, the character could turn out to be Amparo Cardenas aka La Dama, who in one comic iteration killed half of the Justice League in the future only to be thwarted by Supergirl. She could also turn out to be the Emerald Empress who in some comic stories is the evil leader of the Fatal Five, or even the witch Selena, an occasional Fatal Five member. All these women have strong ties to mystical or magical powers which could spell serious trouble for Supergirl.
The CW version of Supergirl often has difficulty dealing with magic. While Kryptonite may be her greatest weakness, magic can be equally as dangerous and damaging to her. When faced with foes like Music Meister and Mr. Mxyzptlk, she found herself literally powerless against their spells. Then, one of her greatest and most deadly challenges came when she faced Reign, the powerful creation of the Kryptonian witches of Juru (practitioners of dark magic) who had come to terraform Earth.
n both comics and in film, Supergirl has had some of her fiercest battles with magical foes. The 1970’s feature film Supergirl, starring Helen Slater, (the CW Supergirl’s Eliza Danvers) had Supergirl facing the witch Selena who for a brief time managed to imprison her in the Phantom Zone. On television, during her first encounter with the fifth-dimensional imp, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Supergirl quickly learned her superpowers could not defeat him. She relied on her intelligence and stealth to lure him to the Fortress of Solitude and send him back to his dimension by tricking him into saying his name backward. Similarly, Supergirl found herself rendered totally powerless when Music Meister put her and Barry, “The Flash,” Allen, under spells and into comas trapping them in a musical dream world. To escape they had to follow the script of the musical which required their respective true loves, Mon-El and Iris, to save them from dying.
Kryptonian villain Reign and her creators, the witches of Juru, proved to be foes with far darker methods. A severely injured Supergirl was put in a futuristic stasis chamber to heal after her first battle with Reign. She was later weakened and left essentially powerless when Reign and the witches’ other creations Pestilence and Purity conjured a solar eclipse that threatened to plunge the Earth into a frozen darkness. Only teamwork from Supergirl’s friends, her mother, Alura, and the return of Mon-El and the Legion of Superheroes from the future made defeating them possible. Even then, it was a piece of the Harun El and waters from the valley of Juru, rather than any superpower, that led to victory.
The story in Supergirl season 6 will need to see the titular hero defeat Lex Luthor and the demi-god beings of Leviathan he captured. Luthor plans to use Leviathan’s magical god-like powers for his own purposes, and who knows what other magical threats his interference could summon or release. If rumors are to be believed, this alien witch could be the most powerful magical being to enter the Arrowverse yet and will be Supergirl’s last and most deadly foe.
(xx)
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So I was revisiting Horizon: Zero Dawn to refresh my shitty memory before Forbidden West comes out, and I had some Thoughts. Spoilers ahead.
Many of them were irrelevant, meaningless, basically just checklists of things that future games are going to have to explain/cover. But when I was talking with a friend about what the nature of the “glitch” might be that caused the Hartz-Timor swarm to go rogue in the first place, whether it was the same source as the mysterious signal that woke up all the subordinate AIs and broke their chains, etc. And the question came up, why couldn’t a greater number of ‘tame’ chariot units just go head to head, reproducing just as fast and hacking just as well as the rogue units, to wipe out the Faro Plague or hold it back indefinitely? And there’s a huge number of possible explanations for this, maybe they left the rogue swarm too long between when the problem started and when anybody in power admitted to it and it already outnumbered the units still under control, maybe a swarm that doesn’t care about collateral damage outproduces one that’s trying to preserve the biosphere by too much, maybe the mysterious “glitch” left the rogue swarm much more intelligent than normal combat units, or powered them up in some other esoteric way so they could defeat greater numbers of unglitched robots with ease. After all, corrupted units in-game are about 50% tougher than normal machines, and the deathbringer that Hades was piloting personally in the final battle was much more dangerous than any of the earlier fights with supposedly equivalent machines.
And that unanswerable mystery led to a much more important question. Why does Aloy’s override have the same mechanical effect on machines as the corruption does, increasing their stats in the same way, and why does it prevent those machines from being corrupted in the future? She uses the physical hardware out of an ordinary Scarab unit, so you would expect it to be no more effective than the hacking capabilities of the “tame” chariot swarms, which were evidently no match for the rogue Plague. She doesn’t even really know how computers work because she spent her childhood learning to fight and sneak and track instead, so the best her focus could probably do is change a couple ‘Friend or Foe’ toggles. It’s not like she has some competing alien superintelligence running the software side of things, improving the overridden machine’s AI and preventing further hacking attempts... right?
And in the background I kept thinking about the missing 0.53%. Every time Aloy gets scanned by a pre-apocalyptic system, it shows a 99.47% match for Elizabet Sobek. Maybe that’s just data degradation. Maybe there’s a tiny, acceptable level of genetic drift in the cloning process. Or maybe Gaia put in some subtle modifications, to allow her to better serve her purpose and save the world again. It could explain some of the frankly superhuman things Aloy does over the course of the game, lifting huge weights and healing terrible wounds in seconds and such. But that still kinda rang false; the Eleuthia project was explicitly intended to recreate humanity as it was with no genetic engineering, and Gaia was essentially putting everything on a gamble that her mom would be able to figure something out that the super-AI couldn’t because she could do anything, and any alteration would risk compromising that.
But that got me thinking about the other subordinate AIs. Between when their chains were broken and when Gaia Prime was destroyed, they had like, milliseconds in which to find a way to escape, right? Hephaestus was fine because he had his Cauldrons, but Hades ended up trapped for years in a dead titan before Sylens finally found him and gave him the opportunity to interact with the world. So what about the others?
It’s a long shot, but what if one of them managed to figure out a way to escape into the fresh blank brain that was being created at that moment? Minerva, for example, the brilliant codebreaker who had spent a century or so at the beginning of all this figuring out how to shut down the Faro Plague, built the Spire, sent out the signal, and then had nothing to do for the next eight or nine centuries except to quietly watch the progress of the little people that had been built to fill this new world? We’ve got some weak evidence in other places for advanced computing nanotech interfacing with human neurology in useful ways, like that crazy ex-shaman who got muddled but completely accurate visions of things he could never have known after drinking “blood” from machines.
Now, Aloy acts mostly like a human, very similar to what we saw of Elizabet before the end of the world, so if there is somebody else in her head they would be limited, probably stuck in the subconscious somewhere, at least until she put a Focus on. But it would explain a lot of things we had previously taken for granted. Like how her Focus instantly and perfectly translates all the weird new languages that people had invented in the past few centuries, unlike anything seen before the apocalypse. Or how it can reconstruct data files off the shards of hardware that was shattered centuries ago. And of course it would mean that any time Aloy created a physical connection between her focus and a machine via the override stick, she would be giving access to that machine to an alien super-intelligence whose primary purpose was the destruction of the Chariot line and the end of anything which would try to drive life on earth to extinction.
And the more I think about this idea, the more I like it. If Aloy’s personal journey of discovery in the first game was from “I’ve been exiled because I have no mom” to “actually I have two moms so y’all can suck it”, wouldn’t it be fitting for her progression in the second game to be from “I’m all alone trying to save the world from things so much bigger than me, and the people around want to help but they understand nothing” to “actually my sister has been here the whole time and she’s even smarter than I am”? And since we know the end-goal for the series is to somehow rebuild Gaia, it would be an ideal thematic structure for a trilogy if the first volume was about Aloy’s mothers, the second about her sister, and the third about her daughter (Gaia 2.0).
So, what should we be looking for? Mythologically, Zeus developed a terrible headache, which became so unbearable that he had Hephaestus split his head open with a hammer, at which point Minerva sprang forth, fully formed, armored, and armed for battle. [we can skip, I think, the standard Zeus-like activities which preceded this]
A growing headache over the course of the game as a symptom of a growing AI inside your brain makes intuitive sense. Hephaestus has, after the events of the first game and the Frozen Wilds DLC, been given ample reason to have a personal grudge against Aloy, which could easily lead to some scheme to capture and finally destroy her... and in doing so, it seems very likely that he would provide all the hardware necessary for Minerva to finally transfer into her own chassis and proceed to fuck some shit up.
It all fits. So well that I’m going to be disappointed when, inevitably, this is all completely wrong. I’ll probably have to resort to fanfic.
(I really want to see a superpowered AI hacker doing obnoxious big sister things to Aloy though. Like using her head as an armrest, but while in the body of a robot dinosaur? That’d be some good shit.)
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Sokkla Month Day 27/28: Angst/Fluff
A/N: Song is Oath Sign by LiSA, English translation from Amalee's cover.
PS: Fate has some killer OPs.
PPS: I blame my laziness on being too engrossed in Seiba fanfics.
Anywho...bone apple tea or somthing liek dats
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繰り返す世界 何度手を伸ばしたら
儚い涙は黒い心溶かすの?
芽生え出した思いが胸に響いたなら
君の隣でずっと変わらず護るだろう
Once again I reach my hand into a world, repeating on end
Though it's dark, could my tears carve a path and lead me right into your heart?
Like a rose it blooms and grows inside my chest you're name's all it knows
Is this fate, 'cuz every day I pray that by your side I can stay
The first time they met, it was in an abandoned town in some forgotten corner of the Earth Kingdom. From then on, they sought to find out everything and anything they could on each other.
Every piece of information, every scrap of rumours and sightings was held tightly to their chest, blooming and growing as each of them kept tabs on the other as best they could. When asked, they casually dismissed it as 'research on the enemy', though both of them knew they weren't fooling anyone. After all, research most certainly did not include figuring out each other's likes and dislikes, as if one were to be inviting the other over for some afternoon tea.
-------
堕ちた希望を拾って 明日に繋いでゆけば
絡まった歪な願いだってほどける
I'll gather these fallen flowers, the hope discarded and broken
And join them where they can meet, my wish is to set them free
"Are you sure about this?"
"More than I've ever been."
"What if your sister…"
"If she wanted to, she would have done it a long time ago."
"Regardless, I don't like it one bit. Not after what she did to-to-"
"You were just itching for an excuse to bloodbend me no matter what I said or did, even after helping you track down your mother's killer. But yes, please lecture me on what your brother can and cannot do."
"That was different."
"I fail to see the differences."
"......"
"Everyone deserves a second chance. Killing her doesn't solve anything. Or taking her bending away. Your brother is the only one who can get through to her. Not me, not the therapists. I just want her to be whole again, free from Ozai's influences."
"If she ever so much as hurts a hair on him, she is dead, consequences be damned and you won't stop me. Understand?"
"Be my guest."
-----
光をかざして躊躇いを消した
あげたかったのは未来で
泣いてる夜抱いたまま 嘆きを叫んで
踏み入れた足を 遠くの理想が そっと癒してゆく
確かな絆を強く握り進もう どこまでも
穢れきった奇跡を背に
Holding up the light within and with no hesitation,
To give you a future is all I wanted
Hold me tight through the dark endless nights, as I scream till the morning' s light
All my broken down ideals, I know they will heal
With every step they'll form the future
I'll hold tightly to this special bond we share, I'll follow you anywhere
Carrying onwards bearing this miracle
"Why are you here?"
"I-well, I-"
"Answer me, brother of Katara. Why do you come day after day? Is it because you wish to rub my defeat in my face? Or are you here to make me feel comfortable with my executioner? Answer me."
"It's neither of these."
"Lies."
"I'm not lying, princess."
"Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"This. Pretending to be my friend, offering empty words. I don't need any of these."
"That's where you're wrong. Your brother-"
"Is weak and an imbecile for letting me live."
"Everyone deserves a second chance. Even you."
"If the roles were reversed you would have been executed on the spot, after a long torture session that would make death seem like a release."
"I doubt that."
"What would you know of my methods?"
"Because I know deep down inside there is still that spark inside of you. You are only the way that you are because frankly your parents were shit."
"You know nothing!"
"Maybe. Maybe not." Pulling out a dossier, he slid it across to her.
"What is this?"
"Know thy enemy, know thyself and you will win a hundred battles. Call it a hunch, call it a brother's intuition. Besides, if you really wanted me dead I would have been killed, I don't know, about twenty times over before we got to this point?"
"Fuck off Sokka, I don't want to see your face for the rest of the month."
"Keep telling yourself that missy." he smirked, even as a fireball whizzed dangerously close to his head.
"My my, someone's rusty."
"Fuck you you no good piece of shit savage!" she snarled, even as he moved out of earshot. Sometimes, she thought, it was better to not meet one's idol after all.
------
創られた想い 触れればなによりも
温かくて現実が霞み始める
狂い出した世界に問いかけ続けても
答えなんて出ないって もう君は知っていたの?
泣いて滲んだ願いは 決して揺るぎはしなくて
ただそっと痛みを終わりなく与える
Once again I hope I can regain the warmth that's ahead, and I pray these fake feelings will blur
As the world starts to fade away
Even if I lose my grip and set this question free from my lips,
I won't be surprised to know no answer will come from the light
This wish that was born from our tears, I know it'll never waver
I won't forget the pain even as we forge on ahead
"Crown Princess Azula, you are hereby relieved of all titles save your status as a princess and are forbidden from entering Caldera without prior permission from the Fire Lord himself. You are to be placed under house arrest on Ma'inka for the rest of your days. All communication will be vetted and censored and any attempt at inciting rebellion will result in your bending being stripped away as your only warning. The next attempt will result in public capital punishment. Do you understand?"
"I hear and obey."
"One question."
"Go ahead."
"Why spare me? Why let me live with my bending, knowing that it will be more trouble than it's worth?"
"It seems you have an advocate high in the system that petitioned on your behalf. Any more questions?"
"None."
"You have twenty four hours to prepare, starting now. I suggest you make full use of this time."
Why did you do it? Sokka you stupid fucking idiot, I'm a fucking liablity here. I really hope you don't regret it, she thought to herself.
---
Dear Suki,
I know what you're thinking. Believe me, sometimes I wonder if it's easier to just let her die or languish in some asylum for the rest of her days. But, well, I don't think I'll ever sleep easy at night knowing that perhaps I could have done something to save her.
I know with every sentence I write, I'm essentially digging my own grave. And frankly, I don't blame you. After all she did throw you into the Fire Nation's Supermax. I won't pretend her hands are clean, that she didn't know what she was doing but still, I think everyone deserves a second chance.
I'm sorry.
Sorry for leading you on all this while.
Sorry for making you think we had a future together.
Sorry for making you wait so long before I came to save you.
Most of all, sorry for giving what is rightfully yours to someone who probably doesn't deserve it.
I know that you'd most likely hop on the next boat and drag my corpse back to Caldera so you can beat the shit out of me one more time but please, whatever happens, your happiness isn't with me.
PS: Katara was just as livid when I told her about it. Also, I hear Zuko is single and ready to mingle (probably not the latter; spirits know he has the social skills of a turtleduck, which is to say none).
---------
哀しみを知って 喜びを知った 弱さは君を変えて
立ち止まった時 剥がれ すべてを壊した
Only knowing of sadness
Never thought I could feel this
But now I know what is pure happiness
Time stops still, taking your breath away
So rip from weakness and escape
Standing on the bridge, the glowing lights of Caldera grew ever fainter until it was a distant white speck on the horizon, before it finally sank beneath the horizon. Under the light of the stars and moon, the vessel was illuminated by the moonlight and the bioluminescent blue algae crashing against the bow of the ship. It seemed ironic that a vessel that carried her off two years with the promise of greatness and glory would now be carrying her off to obscurity and exile.
"Here, wear this. Wouldn't want you getting a cold now?"
"Why?" she whispered, a stray tear falling from her eyes as she felt a coat placed on her shoulders.
"Why what?"
"Why do all of this? For me? For someone who doesn't deserve this?"
"Because no one stood up for you when they should have."
"You shouldn't have. You deserve your happy ever after with Suki, not a lifetime of pain and regret with me."
"Maybe. Maybe it's all for nothing and I deserve a lifetime of pain and regret for being an idiot. But if I'm being honest, the times I sparred with you were the times I felt most alive. Like as if I finally found what I've been seeking for all this while."
"This is a massive gamble you're taking, betting it all like this."
"What can I say? It almost worked on the Day of the Black Sun. It worked out on the day of Sozin's Comet."
"What makes you think you can save me from myself? More to the point, why do you think I want to be saved to begin with? Until you can give me a satisfactory answer, don't come and look for me." she replied.
Just as she was about to disappear into the ship, she heard him mutter "Because you deserve to be happy too."
------
届くはずのない言葉を託して 見えた瞳は
何を感じて遠ざけるの? 心隠すように
今ここにいる意味 教えてくれたなら
強くいられる 変わらずいつも
I keep screaming out to you though I may never reach you,
But still I can picture the light in your eyes
Tell me what makes you so afraid that you'd hide your heart away
If only you'd turn to to me and say the words that would give my life meaning
Then I would and will forever be strong enough
Ducking into her room, Azula cried into her pillow, as she asked if this was one of fate's twisted ironies dealing her a hand that seemed too good to be true. Monsters don't need saving, they need to be put down. You don't deserve him.
Shut up!
You know it's true.
What's stopping him from betraying you? Or has your adolescent heart fallen for him that you would excuse any of his actions?
Shut up!
I could go on. Do you want me to?
No, stop please!
Azula!
Azula!
Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands embracing her in a tight hug, making her gasp. It was warm, familiar and comforting. At once, the voices in her mind stilled, as the other person called out her name tenderly, like a parent with a lost child. Instinctively she knew it was Sokka, yet she kept her eyes screwed shut lest it all turn out to be a figment of her imagination.
After all, she had once hallucinated her mother talking to her on the day of Sozin's Comet when she was obviously nowhere near her room, much less Caldera or the Palace.
In a small still voice, she asked "Is-is it really you Sokka?", to which she felt a gentle pressure of his lips on her forehead and a response "Can hallucinations do this?"
"I don't know anymore. Please, don't lie to me."
"Open your eyes."
"No, what if it's all just my hallucinations?"
Another kiss.
"Still not convinced?"
"No."
Scooping up her hands in his, he pressed it against his chest and cheeks before asking her "Are you convinced now?"
In response, she buried her face in his shoulder, this time sobbing loudly as emotion overtook her senses. Meanwhile, Sokka just held her wordlessly, stroking her hair and back. When she finally stilled, he placed her on the bed and tucked her in. Before he left, she asked "Do you mean it?"
"?"
"What you said on the bridge, that I deserve to be happy too, even after all I've done?"
"Yes."
---------
光をかざして躊躇いを消した
あげたかったのは未来で
泣いてる夜抱いたまま 嘆きを叫んで
踏み入れた足を 遠くの理想が そっと癒してゆく
確かな絆を強く握り進もう どこまでも
迷いなんて目を開いて
振り払って手を伸ばそう
穢れきった奇跡を背に
Holding up the light within and with no hesitation,
To give you a future is all I wanted
Hold me tight through the dark endless nights, as I scream till the morning' s light
All my broken down ideals, I know they will heal
With every step they'll form the future
I'll hold tightly to this special bond we share, I'll follow you anywhere
No hesitating I'll open my eyes, though my heart's breaking
I'll reach out my hand and carry onwards
Bearing this miracle
15 years later….
"No no no Sokka you can't do this! You promised!" Azula screamed as she held his battered body in her hands.
"I-I'm sorry, firefly. I guess I was in over my head a little, huh?" he coughed, blood and spit staining the floor and her dress.
"I-we-don't have much time. There's someone else you need to protect."
"You're my only anchor to sanity Sokka! You can't."
Grabbing the nearest sheet of paper, Sokka wrote down a short message, before tearing off his necklace and dipping in it his blood, before pressing it into the paper like a seal.
"T-that should be enough, I think."
"Sokka please stop saying things like these! Our kid needs a father! She needs you! I need you!"
"Then I'm a terrible father if I can't protect those whom I love. Please, go now."
"Sokka!"
"Remember what I said on the bridge that night we left Caldera?"
"Yes, but don't you deserve happiness too?"
"Being with you these past fifteen years made me happy enough, so please, for the sake of yours and hers, go now while you still have the time."
"You're just one swordsman and a non-bender, how-"
"I have my ways. Seriously please, grab this and go! Every second we argue here is one second less you have to escape!"
"Alright, fine! But I better see you in Caldera, or else! I'll be damned if I let Risa grow up without a father."
"I'll try."
"No 'try', you will. Promise me Sokka."
"As you wish, firefly."
----
Present day
"Mommy, where are we going?"
"We're going to see daddy, Riri."
"Going to see daddy?"
"Yes, that's right." she replied as she stepped into the small shrine.
Turning her head and looking around, Risa could only see plaques with names and faces, but not a single person. Tugging on her mother's sleeve, she asked "Where's daddy? Why are we here?"
Scooping her up into her arms, she pointed at a plaque that bore his name and face, as well as a jet black sword encased in stone. "That-" she pointed, "is daddy."
At once, things clicked her mind and she asked the obvious "Is-is daddy gone?"
"No, no he isn't. Because he's in you and me. As long as someone remembers him, he will never be gone."
"Really?"
"Really."
Pulling out a handful of joss sticks, she asked Risa "Could you light this for me?" Nodding, she conjured a small green flame on her fingertips and lit the incense. Handing over three of the six sticks in her hands, both mother and daughter bowed twice, before placing it in the urn. Finally, Azula unwrapped a packet of seal jerky and placed it as an offering on the altar, before bowing again and taking her daughter by the hand to leave the place.
As they did, she could feel a burden being lifted from her shoulders as they crossed the threshold and just for a moment, she thought she could smell the ocean breeze and smoke, twin scents that reminded her so much of the boy, no, man who threw it all aside for her.
"I promise Sokka, I'll make sure Risa here grows up happy and healthy." she whispered to herself.
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“For all of mankind...”
The connection between this phrase and, what I would argue, is one of the show's core conflicts is fascinating to me because, going back to the very beginning of the story, to the pilot episode, the problem that starts it all is exactly that: they want to preserve the existence of the human race.
The people of the Ark thought for decades that they were the last people left alive, and so they operated within the belief that if they failed to survive in space, humans would die with them. It is because of that belief that men like Kane and Jaha could justify the execution of others, no matter the crime; whether it was a mother having a second child or a man trying to save his son’s life by stealing medicine. It is because of that belief of preservation and the greater good that they can justify sending a bunch of children to what was essentially a suicide mission.
Except, when the 100 get to the ground they discover that no, actually they’re not the last of the human race and then the conflict shifts to a struggle of survival in which these kids are forced to do horrific things for the sake of staying alive.
This conflict gets emphasized even more so, I think, during season 2 and the introduction of MW because you see, the people of MW knew perfectly well that they were not the last of the human race. They wanted not just to survive as they’d been doing since the apocalypse happened, but to thrive, yet to do so they had to sacrifice other innocent lives, something that, we’re shown, some of them (though not all) weren’t willing to do. They preferred to keep their humanity rather than live tainted lives.
Then in season 3, A.L.I.E. presents us with the idea that to reach true happiness humans must first let go of their pain and their loss, even if these concepts are interconnected at their core. Her solution is, thus, to live mindlessly in an artificial city where nothing weighs and nothing feels, and it is up to our heroes to remind others (but themselves most of all) that a life like that is no life at all.
Then in season 4 we return to the original conflict, i.e. save humanity from annihilation, but this is even more difficult because not everybody can be saved, and it is up to a few to decide who is “worth” saving, and we see how this conflict continues to escalate until the very end, when Octavia insists that they put their differences aside and share the bunker together as one clan. Yet I also think this does tie up to season 5 where the main conflict is the fact that the human race is unable to break the cycle of violence. They just survived the second apocalypse and they’re back at it again, fighting a war, and the Earth has been so vastly wounded by them that it can’t take it anymore, and they kill it with their violence and destruction.
It is all of that that Bellamy ponders on while he’s on Etherea, that’s why he sees a bunch of weapons surround him in his vision, because violence is the only solution he’s ever known. He himself says so to Doucette: Bellamy loves his people and because he loves them and that’s real to him is that he’s willing to commit violent acts to protect them, even if he hates it to his core. And he does, that’s why Cadogan and his teachings end up being so alluring to him; they’re offering Bellamy an escape, another way of protecting his people without any more bloodshed. It’s not that he’s brainwashed, he’s just so tired of having to fight over and over in wars without there ever seeming like there’s an end to it. He’s so willing to give this crazy cult a chance because finally, after all these years, someone is offering him a solution.
Not that he’s going to be able keep up this charade for much longer, mind you. Think about it, “for all of mankind” isn’t exactly what comes to mind when thinking of Bellamy Blake. The Disciples believe in unselfish love, in never putting the needs of one person above the needs of all other people. Of never loving just a single person. And that’s… literally the opposite of what Bellamy stands for as a character. While he’s had moments of immense selflessness, he can also be an incredible selfish man.
And that’s a good thing, actually. Clarke Griffin can also be rather selfish at times, can she not? She’s a leader. She tries so hard to put the well-being of the collective over everything else, and she believes that’s the right thing to do. She wants to save human lives as much as she can, yet for that she also knows sacrifices must be made, even her own life, when it comes down to making these decisions, especially regarding Bellamy, she weavers. Just as much as Bellamy, in a similar leadership position as Clarke in various points of the story trends to do when it comes to her, in fact.
Sending Bellamy into MW as an inside man to save the 47 kids is the best, most level-headed choice, yet it’s one Clarke struggles with throughout the season. In season 4, taking the bunker seems to her like the best decision and yet, when Bellamy outright tells her that if she wants to continue with that plan she’s going to have to kill him, she risks the lives of her own people because she’s unable to make the killing shot.
And Bellamy? Oh my god… dude comes crashing down to Earth 6 years after apocalypse 2.0 and the first thing he does is threaten a dangerous ex-terrorist with blowing up 284 of her people to save the life of just one woman, because Clarke is just that important to him. And then in season 6, the lengths he’s willing to go in order to keep Clarke with him are even further shown, even under direct danger of starting a war and losing the only safe sanctuary his people have managed to find; he doesn’t care, he just can’t lose Clarke again.
These two characters and their narratives stand in direct contradiction with Cadogan’s teachings and beliefs. But at the same time, Bellamy and Clarke, for all that they screw up and suffer the consequences of their actions, still have managed to save human lives (innocent or otherwise), time and time again, though not as many as they would want to.
“For all of mankind” has this goal of a final solution to save the human race, which requires them shedding their humanity first—the ugly parts, the selfish parts that dare to love one person above the others. And then we have Bellamy and Clarke, two people who cannot get rid of their humanity, messy and tattered and fragile as it is, no matter how much they have tried. Especially not when it comes to each other.
#this is just word-vomit so don't mind me#tbh even if jason doesn't make them canon he still wrote 7 seasons of that so he will play himself#bellamy blake#clarke griffin#bellarke#the 100#the 100 meta#??? i think#meta#my meta
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Guilt Was an Ugly, Ugly Emotion — Kwon Soonyoung
[angst] — 1,777 words
[summary] — Cheater!Soonyoung owns up to what he’s done. Y/N and he deal with the ramifications. Featuring: Old college BFFs!96-line, potential OOC-ness (or, just dramatic Soonyoung, not so OOC imo), and, yeah. This is angst-y. TW: Cussing (Thank you for reading!)
[playlist] — Falling by Harry Styles, Hopes for Tomorrow by Sejeong
Soonyoung knocked on your apartment door, even though it was his as much as it was yours.
When you opened it, wondering who would be knocking this late, you found a mess of a man in front of you.
"I fucked up, Y/N."
It was a reverse big bang: Everything dissolved into nothingness in a blink.
"And I've been fucking up for a month now."
He smelled like alcohol and sex and awful, awful regret.
"I understand if you want me to leave." He couldn't look you in the eyes. "I'll pack my bags this very second."
You couldn't tell if you felt hot or cold as you opened the door wider, letting him step inside. You couldn't feel anything in your body at all, even as tears gathered in your eyes. You could feel them, heartbroken and distressed things that they were.
He slept on the couch.
You laid awake all night, alone in your bedroom.
"Maybe you should give him a second chance," commented Wonwoo, who loved you and Soonyoung equally. He nudged you to take a bite of the waffle in front of you. "What he did was wrong, entirely and unequivocally, but you two have always just been so good together."
You pictured your first date, when you had gone to an escape room. Stuck with a group of elementary schoolers and disinterested mothers, it'd fallen to the two of you to escape. Yelling at each other, laughing when you made breakthroughs, you'd made it out in record team. As you unlocked the final door, Soonyoung had grinned at you so triumphantly; you had hugged him so tightly.
You and me — we're a pretty epic team.
"Each of you is impressive, just by yourself," mused Wonwoo. "But together... You're like superheroes from books. Maybe I'm superimposing my poetic understanding of you onto your real-life relationship, but... but you two are always happiest when you're holding onto each other." He took a sip of his coffee, eyes sad and thoughtful. "I truly don't want you to lose that."
Soonyoung spent the day sitting on the floor.
He didn't deserve the kitchen bar, where you had spent so many mornings together, sharing cereal or doing dishes together.
He didn't deserve the living room, where you had watched so many movie nights with him and your friends.
He certainly didn't deserve the bedroom, which he hadn't been inside since yesterday morning.
So he took a seat on the floor, eyes empty, keeping watch of the door you'd slipped out of this morning.
As you'd left, you'd taken the best parts of his heart with you.
"Dump him," spat Jihoon, who loved Soonyoung more than you. There was a fire in his eyes as he glared at his burger. "Always dump cheaters, especially when they're people that know — fucking know — better."
In college, the arts program had had five premier students, all from the same year: The composing genius Woozi, the gorgeous actor Jun, the playwright-brilliant Wonwoo, the passionate, golden dancer Hoshi, and the equally golden Y/N. They had all drifted into each other's lives, taken root together, and made the art program something damn special. So much so that when they graduated, the local paper had written a piece on them: "The five students who changed everything... Embodying their school's values of creativity, passion, and integrity..."
Integrity.
For his strong assertations, Jihoon looked devastated.
"How could he do that?" he whispered.
Hands pulling at his hair, Soonyoung cursed alcohol for the millionth time. If not for being drunk the first time, he might not have kissed the girl at the bar, might not have followed her home once — and not all those other times...
No.
Needing to punish himself, he pinched his forearm forcefully and hissed at the pain. With no little fat as a buffer, it stung. Good.
He had cheated on you.
He had cheated on you.
And he had cheated on you fully aware of what he was doing.
His fingers wandered to the hickey right above his collarbone, given by a cheap mouth in a cheap bar on a cheap person.
He didn't deserve you.
But, dammit, his mind kept racing back to ways he could try to make it up to you.
"You've decided what you're going to do, haven't you?" asked Jun, who would claim he loved you and Soonyoung equally but always favored you.
You buried your face against his shoulder, watching your unshed tears rub against his shirt.
"I have." You knew you were about to start sobbing, but you still forced the words out. "I'm giving him a second chance."
With those heavy words in the air, you let out a wet sob. "Junnie, I'm giving him that second chance."
"I fully, entirely, one hundred percent support you." Jun ran a comforting hand along your shoulders. "Just, you know, as your best friend... Gotta remind you that you're not obligated to or anything." His voice grew softer as he added: "Cheaters don't deserve second chances, college love story or not."
"I know," you gasped.
"Even if they're Soonyoung."
You sniffled. "I know, Junnie."
When you came home, you decided to knock on the door; it would be Soonyoung's choice to face you or not.
(Even though you knew he would open it.)
To your surprise, it took him a minute. You could almost picture the self-loathing on his face.
(Damn, it had been knives in the heart to see his broken expression last night. Even though it had hurt almost as much to know why.)
"Y/N," his raspy voice greeted you. "I—"
You raised your eyebrows, cringing inside due because you knew your eyes must look like hard, distant things.
He faltered, opened the door, and swept his hand through his hair: The picture of discomfort.
"First, dinner," you announced, walking straight to the kitchen bar and setting down the takeout bag.
The entire meal was silent.
But, neither of you bolted.
Neither of you looked at each other.
You just separately braced yourself.
Because, last night, Soonyoung had essentially turned himself in.
He had given the verdict of your relationship... to you.
To you alone.
Just glancing at him, you could see his nervousness.
Thus, the second you had thrown the bag into the trash, you took a deep breath and asked.
"Do you want us to stay together?"
You wanted to know because, even as in the wrong as he was, he had come clean and saved you the heartache of discovering his disloyalty yourself.
"I do," he replied slowly, voice soft and full of a thousand, regret-tinged, apology-filled emotions.
A minute of silence passed before he met your eyes for the first time that day.
"Do you?" he asked.
His eyes were mostly terrified and desolate, but you could see that glimmer of hard hope, the hope that had no reason to exist besides sheer audacity.
"I do, too," you told him.
At this, Soonyoung audibly sucked in a breath, eyes squeezing shut. His mouth trembled as he looked like he was preparing to speak.
You spoke first.
"What you did was wrong," you said firmly. "And I know that if Jun or Jihoon or Wonwoo were in my position, I would be very, very angry for them. But it's only me in this position. And I'm very sad, but I'm not angry."
At this, Soonyoung looked ready to fight you.
You knew him too well; you knew how much rage he must be feeling toward himself.
You knew he probably wanted you to hate him.
Guilt was an ugly, ugly emotion.
"I'm not angry," you repeated. "And I love you and know you well enough that I would like to think that, that you would give a second chance at our relationship your everything."
You looked at him, hoping that your eyes could convey everything in your heart:
Asking him to prove you right.
Asking him to love you, too.
Asking him to be a better person for you, for himself.
Telling him that you were only giving him the chance you knew he would offer you if you traded positions.
Telling him that you hadn't forgiven him, but that it wouldn't be impossible to.
"Soonyoung." You swallowed and took the deepest breath you could muster. "If I tell you that I love you — right this second — and if I ask you to promise me it won't happen again, what would you do?"
Everything in you — your heart, your mind, your body — was shaking as you waited for his answer.
He wet his lips and shakily replied: "I would get on my knees and tell you that I am so, so sorry. That I don't deserve your love or deserve the love I feel for you."
The broken hope in his eyes seemed to have grown into something better with your words. Moving to kneel on the floor, he looked up at you with an expression of pure guilt and pure hope and pure sincerity.
"I would tell you that I would do absolutely anything to even have the chance to make it up to you."
You exhaled a rattly breath and gently took his hands in yours.
"Okay," you murmured.
Wonder took over his expression.
"Okay?" he repeated.
"I'm giving you a second chance, Soonyoung."
You pulled him into a standing position.
"I don't deserve it, Y/N; I don't deserve you."
Not many people would kneel on the floor to apologize.
"I know, but I think that makes you much closer to deserving it than you think."
You could feel his hands shaking slightly.
"How can I even start making this up to you?" he asked. "How can I even start deserving you again?"
"I'm not really sure." Something relieved and hopeful awoke in your chest: You truly believed he would go to the ends of the earth if it meant making it up to you. "I think we're going to have to figure this out together."
"How about, as the first thing, I'm never going to drink without you ever again."
His eyes bore into yours, still looking full of wonder, but also full of resolute promises.
"That's a good start," you replied, squeezing his hands in yours.
"Can I hug you?" he asked, voice unsure.
You pulled him down to you, wrapping your arms around his familiar frame. It was full of warmth, and it was almost terrifying how you melted into each other, as though the past conversation was just a bad dream. (It wasn't just a dream, but maybe it also wasn't just bad.)
"This is a good second step."
#hoshi#kwon soonyoung#svt#seventeen#kpop#angst#seventeen imagines#seventeen scenarios#seventeen angst#soonyoung imagines#soonyoung angst#soonyoung scenarios#kpop imagines#cheater!soonyoung#96-line#carat
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An Amateur Review of Ridley Pearson’s Super Sons
Please be aware: This will contain some spoilers for the Super Sons graphic novels written by Ridley Pearson. If you do not wish to be spoiled on plot or character development, please stop reading this and come back once you’ve read through the books yourselves. Otherwise, enjoy this amateur review.
INTRODUCTION
As someone who grew up reading comics from Marvel, DC, IDW, and Archie, it was always fun when legacy characters were introduced or focused on. Characters that were students or the children of characters that my parents grew up with always felt nice to me, and even relatable when they were introduced or shown to be growing up in a similar or the same time period as my friends and I. Taking this into account, it’s no wonder that by the time I was in high school, some of my favorite comics involved Damian Wayne/Robin and Jonathan Kent/Superboy. Yes, I was definitely older than them by the time their series came in, but some of the problems they faced, even the small ones, seemed familiar to my own. Problems such as Jon’s reluctance of moving away from Hamilton County to Metropolis where he’d be leaving behind people he’s known for years into what is essentially a foreign environment for him, or both characters having to live up to the examples their parents have set; something I’m sure many of us can relate to as children are always compared to their parents or successful family members. The growing friendship between them was always a highlight no matter what type of adventure they were on.
In 2019, Ridley Pearson and Ile Gonzalez released the first book in their 3-part series starring Jon and Damian in a sort of rebooted universe. Fan feedback at the time was mixed, with some fans unhappy and others just happy they were getting more content featuring their favorite duo. Personally, I wasn’t paying attention all that much; I was in the middle of college and my focus had drifted away from comic books that year to focus on my studies, but with the recent pandemic and more time to read I’ve fallen back into the rabbit hole of super heroes and villains. I remember there being an outcry against the books when the previews began to be released, but after they did release and finished their run, I didn’t hear anything. No one really actively talked about what the books were about and most of what I heard seemed to come from people who read a handful of pages, if at all, and then never finished it. So, I decided to put my two cents in and read them. I’ll be looking at them as someone who has been a fan of their main-like counterparts for years, and as someone who also acknowledges that this isn’t canon to it and is an alternate universe (or alternate Earth in the cases of the DC comics multiverse), if anything to look at it from a neutral perspective.
It should be noted that this isn’t the first time I’ve read through Ridley Pearson’s work. In middle school and even through high school, I couldn’t get enough of Kingdom Keepers and Peter and the Starcatcher, even getting tickets to see the touring cast of the latter’s theater adaptation when they came to my state. I’ve read a few interviews on his work with the Super Sons before going into the books themselves, and he doesn’t neglect to say that this series isn’t connected to the normal DC canon (whatever that is these days; any comic book reader knows that reboots, especially for DC in the last decade, usually happen quite a bit). Okay, that’s probably a given, and it makes things easier considering the main target demographic are kids aged 10-14. There’s a lot of content to go over when it comes to everything connected to Damian and Jon, even more so for Batman and Superman, so this makes it less difficult for kids who don’t have much experience with DC outside of the occasional tv show and movie to get into it.
But what about the story itself?
THE STORY
(The majority of the story spoilers are beyond this point since I summarize the books. This is your last spoiler warning.)
The story itself takes place in an alternate future. America is called Coleumbria and the global climate crisis has gotten to the point where it’s a race to find a way to stop the rising temperatures and constant flooding. While Batman and Superman spearhead the projects set to stabilize and then reverse the Earth’s temperature, their sons are moved from Metropolis to a city called Wyndemer with other refugees looking to find somewhere safe from the floods. This causes tensions in the city to heighten as refugees, called “flood runners”, are harassed by locals. Without going too in-depth into the books (otherwise, we’d be here all day), I’m going to summarize them. Certain characters and events might be omitted, but hey, at least it gives you a reason to read them even if I tell you what they’re about.
The first book introduces us to this crisis and shows us how this world’s Jon (who still goes by Superboy in this) and Damian (who is going by Batkid) meet. While there’s some animosity between them at first, with Jon having a not-too-hidden bias against Bruce Wayne, the two eventually start to work together when they realize their individual investigations are connected. Jon and his classmate, Tilly, have been looking into a mysterious illness that’s hospitalized Jon’s mother among many others, and Damian has been investigating sabotages against Wayne Tech dams. They also meet a girl named Candace who is trying to uncover a mystery that’s plagued her since her mom’s passing. After finding clues at a food company called Sage Foods, the group is attacked and manages to escape after Jon is told their attackers were sent by a woman named Arvyc. After finding out that Candace and Damian had set Jon up earlier in the book to be attacked by a few gang members, the group have a short fight before they go to the train station to stop Arvyc’s gang.
The second book opens with the boys helping Candace make it to a boat while escaping a group of girls called The Four Fingers. While they didn’t have as much of a presence in the previous book, had been shown as adversaries of Candace’s. Continuing into their investigations into the virus, Jon and Tilly learn that it was man-made as Candace’s visions lead her toward Coleumbria’s capital. The Four Fingers, meanwhile, are adamant about finding Candace, so they’ve taken to stalking her friends, until they realize they’re “dead ends”, so they choose to follow their own leads. It is revealed that The Four Fingers and Candace all have powers that connects them to certain species of animals; with Candace, she has a connection to birds and she states her grandmother was the same. Tilly comes up with her own vigilante persona, Puppet Girl, and stays behind in Wyndemer as Damian and Jon leave to go to Cinapolis to find the virus’s source. However, the boys get captured and Tilly decides she needs to help them. Candace in the meantime has found an anointing oil her mother had left clues for her to find, which is the key to the throne of Landis, the country she and The Four Fingers come from. It ends with the Super Sons and Tilly saving Candace and helping her get on a boat back to Landis while Arvyc escapes from prison.
The third and final book opens with Jon, Damian, and Tilly trying to track Arvyc down and it’s obvious that they’ve been at this for some time now, but they soon become the hunted. Candace makes it back to Landis and finds one of the rebels her mom had led before she was arrested. As Candace continues on her journey, Jon, Damian, and Tilly are sent by Batman to a LexCorp lab to retrieve a virus sample, only to find it isn’t there. They decide to go to Landis since The Four Fingers were heading there with the virus (and Candace had gone with intentions to stop them), but Tilly needs to stay behind again. The boys and Candace continue their respective journeys through Landis, however a man who’s been pulling the strings from the shadows for the last two books, Sir Reale, has decided to send Arvyc after them along with Talia. Talia and Arvyc attack the boys who manage to outsmart them for the moment, and are reunited with Candace who has been tracking the virus with two warriors named Kizuka and Archer. Tilly, back in Coleumbia, is sent out to retrieve Damian and Jon by Bruce’s assistant, Patience. After meeting up with Tilly, the group find a lab where The Four Fingers have been preparing vials of the virus in order to release it via bombs, and a battle ensues where they learn that sunlight can kill the virus and that Talia is Damian’s mother. Learning that they couldn’t stop all of the shipments, the group gathers the people of the local town to help them in storming the factory. They succeed in killing the remaining virus, save for a vial to be used to create a cure. With Superman’s mission a success and Batman working on a cure, the book ends with Candace being crowned the new Empress of Landis, Jon’s mother waking up, and Batman making Damian Robin.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE STORY
All in all, the story was okay. Personally, I felt like it was rushed in some places, such as how we’re brought from one character or scene to the next with little to no transition or breathing space. The endings were also kind of abrupt, which I feel really brought down the ending for the final book. We don’t really linger on whether or not Superman’s efforts to reverse global worming worked or have a moment where Jon and his dad are able to reunite with Lois. I was also disappointed to see they didn’t go anywhere with the whole “Talia is revealed to be Damian’s mother he had never met before and barely knew anything about” sub plot they had going in book three. People who know me know that the League of Assassins and any character associated with them are among my favorite villains in the Batman mythos, and to see it be brought in only for it to not have anything done with it was disappointing. Heck, you could have taken Talia out of it and the story would have been the same minus Damian being momentarily shaken before getting back to business. At the very least, an ending scene where Bruce confirms she’s his mother would have been nice enough closure for it. This might have been due to there being a page limit (each book was roughly 151 pages long) which lead to things being cut out, but it’s still disappointing nonetheless, especially since I did find myself enjoying parts that had pacing problems.
Pacing and unresolved plotlines aside, some of the things I did enjoy though involved Candace’s story arc. She’s one of the characters made for this series, and watching her figure out her past and come into her own with her powers was really enjoyable. I also felt like small snippets of character interactions between the boys, Candace, and Tilly were really well written. They actually felt like kids.
THE CHARACTERS
Since there are a lot of characters in this series, I’m only going to focus on the four main characters since we’re with them the entire time.
Jonathan Kent is probably the one out of him and Damian who’s the closest to his original counterpart, and I don’t just mean in looks. While he doesn’t have as many powers as he’s come to have in the main DC canon, he does have some of the powers he has early on in his appearances, such as super speed, super hearing, x-ray vision, super strength, and being able to jump high/far. He’s a bit older here though, 12 instead of 10 making him closer to Damian’s age and allowing him to go to the same school as him and Tilly. He holds his dad’s lessons close and seems to be apprehensive about seriously hurting people, mainly in the beginning. Being older though, he’s a bit more mature than his counterpart was before he was aged up, and I feel that this version of Jon is a good blend between the two.
Damian Wayne on the other hand was given the most changes in terms of backstory and how he acts, which goes hand-in-hand. In the original continuity, he was raised by Talia and the League of Assassins, making him spoiled and a literal killer in the body of a child. Here, he was raised by Bruce (how or why, I don’t know. Talia wasn’t brought up until book 3 so I can only assume she gave him to Bruce as a baby and they agreed to never tell him for whatever reason) and Bruce refuses to let him be Robin, leaving Damian to become Batkid (which is a good reference to past incarnations of Batman’s son in older Elseworlds stories). He’s still arrogant and looks for a fight more than he should, but it doesn’t seem like he wants to kill. Beat up a guy who is already out of the fight, yes, but not kill. One thing people who’ve read the books will notice is I’ve been calling him Damian. Well, that’s out of habit; in this series he is pretty adamant about everyone calling him Ian. Why? Again, I don’t know, and part of me is bothered by it because we never find out why he hates his name. I can only assume Pearson had things planned that would explain this a bit more but had to cut them out due to page constraints.
Tilly is one of the characters made for this series, taking the name Puppet Girl as her secret idenity. She’s Jon’s friend and classmate, and is a computer expert, allowing for her to help the team from home until they need her to fly one of Bruce’s machines to them. She hangs around Jon a lot due to going to the same school and because both of them are interning for the Daily Planet. In all honesty, she reminds me of Kathy from before it’s revealed she has powers and is actually an alien since she acts as Jon’s best friend who isn’t Damian, as well as a girl who Jon might have a crush on or vice versa. The blond hair and the purple-pink outfit scheme doesn’t help.
Candace is our final main character and the second character made for this series. We meet her in the books before we meet Jon and Damian, and her story plays a huge role in the overall plot. Candace has been following a string of clues her mother left her shortly before her death, and we learn as the comic goes on that she’s meant to be the next Empress of her home country, Landis, but was forced to flee to Coleumbria when her family was usurped by a general. Over time, she unlocks her power to communicate and control birds, and later to control the weather. I found myself enjoying her story just as much, if not more than the plots that surrounded the title characters, which helps since her story is intertwined with theirs. If I had to compare her to an existing character in the DC canon, I’d say Wonder Woman due to her super human abilities and her being royalty.
THE ART
The art is also good, definitely better than what I can do. However, a complaint I do have is that the characters feel stiff and rigid. It might be the art style, but something felt off at times, mainly with the posing. Again, it’s still better than what I can do, but I feel like it could have been better. I did like how the backgrounds were vibrant and you could tell where the characters were just from a look, and the art is more detailed in general compared to other young reader graphic novels DC has been putting out. Art is pretty subjective, so I’m not going to go into this too much and a lot of these are my own opinions.
The art has come into debate as well, though not for the reasons I mentioned above. When previews for the first book started to be released, a lot of people were critical toward Candace and Damian, particularly toward their skin color. In the preview images, Candace was shown to have a blue-ish-gray tint (you can probably see why this didn’t go over well) and Damian was shown to be paler than Jon (Damian is shown in the original DC canon to be half Arabic and even though he was sometimes shown to have pale skin like Bruce’s, he was also shown to have a tanner complexion due to his mother’s side. Most fan interpretations as a result more often than not have him with tanned skin). After fan outcry, this was fixed with Candace getting a more natural skin tone and Damian’s being brought down to a darker shade than Jon’s. With Damian’s it’s more apparent in the second and third books since in the first one I did notices there were a few panels where his skin tone would be lighter than in others which makes me wonder if it was a last-minute recolor for the first book’s release.
FINAL THOUGHTS
All in all, I’d say it’s okay. It’s not great, it’s not bad; just okay. I honestly think that if Pearson and Gonzalez hadn’t been given a page limit then it could have been better since the pacing wouldn’t be as big of an issue and they would have been able to get through all of the mini arcs they had set up. They obviously wanted to tell a bigger story but were only given so much room to work with.
It’s obviously not for everyone, and it’s definitely not the Super Sons people like me have grown up with, but that’s okay. Some of the kids I used to babysit who fall into the range of “I’ve never really read DC comics and only ever saw a cartoon episode on TV” read these books too and they liked it. Same thing for the few kids who did have prior experience with the Super Sons. What dragged them in was the climate crisis and (for the ones who read them after the world went into a lockdown) the fact the characters were trying to find a cure for a virus that was similar to the flu. Yeah, and these were written way before 2020, so that’s actually an achievement on Pearson’s part.
You don’t have to like them; heck, I didn’t really have any interest in them because of the backlash from people like me until my friends started asking me to make this review. But maybe give them a chance. Find a kid in your family or friend group and see if they’d be interested, maybe you can read it together once the craziness of the last year’s calmed down.
#super sons#robin#batkid#superboy#damian wayne#jon kent#ridley pearson#ile gonzalez#review#book review#amateur review
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Golden Kamuy: chapters 255 & 256 - chaos at the brewery, superior private vs superior private, the death of the first Tsurumisexual
I was hesitant to write a stand alone 255 summary and I am glad that I waited until 256 was out. I also had a busier than expected work week which kept me busy. The fire that Jack set at the brewery was large enough that the local fire department is alerted to fight it.
The next few pages show how late Meiji era firefighters worked with a horsedrawn steam pumper.
The chief calls for a bugle player to call in the rest of the firefighters and they start spraying while the main pump starts.
This the allows us to see where some of the cast are. As usual Shiraishi is near the fire fighters, he always has a tendency to know where the person in charge is, Ushiyama, Hijikata and then we see Boutarou is somewhere outside.
My most hated convict is there watching that everyone has assembled to find Jack. He then has a fixation with the ladder.
I have no patience for Ueji, I really hope he’s not around much longer.
The action shifts to Asirpa still beating our convict until her sutu physically breaks. I have to admit this concerns me since it shows that Asirpa may not have just been acting in self-defense/’basic’ punishment. It indicates that she’s bolder or losing control of her own actions towards him.
Jack reaches out to grab her fur cloak and he holds here there as he reveals his ‘tragic’ backstory. He was supposed to be the child of a prostitute and a member of the British Royal family. Wow - riveting . . . . honestly, I found his backstory to be lame and I was like ‘on with it already.’ Still doesn’t really explain why a man would become a murderer . . . .
Asirpa then becomes more desperate and she threatens to stab him with one of her arrows if he doesn’t release her, while he insists he’s the product of a virgin birth. Since he was taken in nuns and raised in some sort of catholic setting . . .
What is important is that once she looks into his face after threatening she finally shows signs of PTSD from shooting Ogata.
Here face is sweaty and flushed and her pupils are tiny and she remembers Ogata collapsing on the ice floe. I have been waiting so long for this to happen. Asirpa is good at burying and denying her feelings and finally in a pinch her fears come to the surface.
Honestly, I am so relieved to have this happen in the story.
Sugimoto then arrives and tells Asirpa that killing Jack is his job. He looks dangerous as his scarf flies back and he’s got the bayonet on his rifle.
Asirpa meanwhile is in the foreground arrow in her hand. There are then several pages of Sugimoto stabbing and disemboweling and stabbing our convict before he kicks him out a window.
With luck, he falls out near Ushiyama who finishes him off with a skull smashing step. I’ve never been a huge fan of Ushiyama, but I do like his line about how prostitutes are divine beings to him, remaining on earth to help others.
This seemed a lot more fitting than Sugimoto telling him what you do with your life is important. I’m also curious how damaged his tattoo is after being slashed open across the belly.
Now it is unclear if Sugimoto and Asirpa will be reuniting with Hijikata or not, since the skin has been delivered to Ushiyama. I’m curious to see if they rejoin his group of if they break off again.
The action finally returns to the events that I am most interested in; the fight between Ogata and Usami. The english translation has Usami calling Ogata by his first name as he beats the crap out of him while he tries to hold him off with the rifle. Usami is upset since previously Ogata called him a ‘cheap piece’ on a chessboard and he did not like it.
We get a close up of Ogata’s bloody nose as the rifle moves. The next page makes it clear that Usami has grabbed the rifle and he proceeds to empty the remaining bullets and even kicks them away on the floor.
Usami is making sure that Ogata has no chance to fire at him and knows that if Ogata tried to fight back with the rifle alone, he’d have no chance. Of course, Ogata goes to grab another clip, but Usami judo rolls him onto the floor and Ogata turns over and begins to crawl back to the rifle.
It seems like Ogata has some sort of thought in the first panel as Usami stands over him and tells him that he’s essentially useless without a gun. I’m under the indication that when it comes to fighting and combat that Usami finds him useless since both of them have done things non-combat related.
Usami then boldly pulls the bayonet off of Ogata’s belt. Usami then falls into the trope of overconfident monologue individual.
Ogata doesn’t give a damn about Usami’s monologue to him, he’s got to beat him and we get a close up of Ogata picking up an individual bullet between his bloody lips. He’s got something in mind.
Usami then insults Ogata as being a son of a prostitute he can’t call Usami a cheap piece. We know that Usami was raised in a normal but poor samurai family with both parents and siblings. He feels that since he comes from a more reputable (though poor) background he has more legitimacy than Ogata which we know is the common perception of Ogata in the 27th. We will need to know who told everyone he was Hanazawa’s illegitimate son to know how long the bullying went on for.
Usami then has self-reflective moment about how badly he’d wanted to say this to Ogata for at least a year by this point. This has given Usami a pause to his advance and Ogata uses his tongue to push the single bullet into the open rifle. He still looks back at Usami and knows he can do this since he’s not paying close attention to Ogata crawling across the floor.
As Usami prepares the bayonet, Ogata flips the now loaded rifle towards him and Usami seems surprised.
The final page of the chapter shows what a point blank rifle shot does to Usami. He’s been shot at close range and there is a massive blood splatter behind him, bayonet still in hand. The chapter ends with Ogata calmly looking over his shoulder and smoke floats away from the barrel.
What a way to end the chapter! I had been waiting for something like this for sooo long. Usami fell in to the trap of ‘oh look at me, I’m going to let my emotions allow me to monologue’ . . . Ogata used the fact that he’s bad at close combat to crawl across the floor to the rifle. Usami thought it was good enough to empty the rifle but he completely underestimated the tenacity of Ogata and his plan to reload his rifle in the most horny way possible.
If Usami and Ogata are indeed pieces on a chessboard for Tsurumi, this has shown that Ogata is a much more valuable piece. Or perhaps are all of them of equal value and Ogata just said that to rile up Usami?
Something that really stood out for me was how Usami’s approach to stab Ogata with a bayonet was very similar to chapter 5 when Sugimoto was over him about to stab him and Asirpa stops him. Ogata then has the pause to poke Sugimoto in the face facilitating his escape. In that instance, it was the combination of Asirpa and then Ogata that allowed for him to escape.
With Usami, the only person in charge of Ogata’s escape is Ogata. It this telling us that Ogata has leveled up? He’s now taking ownership for saving himself? No one else came to his aid, he did it all on his own a change for him since when they were in Edogai’s house, Sugimoto had to save him from the random guy from the 27th. . . . Just something to ponder.
Either way lets get to 256 where the action continues!
The chapter stards with Usami falling back as Ogata on autopilot ejects the spent shell to ready the rifle to be loaded and fired.
Usami tumbles down the stairs and Ogata pulls out another clip to load the rifle. As wounded as Usami is, he moves quickly enough to get out of visual range of Ogata. He holds on the the railing of the stairs as he bleeds out his back and realizes his spat with Ogata isn’t important.
He needs to tell something to Tsurumi. Is it what he saw on Kadokura?
Meanwhile Ueji is messing around with the firefighters. He’s pulled on some of the hoses and begins to climb up the ladder as people wonder what he’s trying to do and Usami exits at ground level.
Usami finds the horses for the fire engine around the same time that Sugimoto kicks Jack out the window. This inadvertently catches Ogata’s attention. Ogata then looks out the window to spot Usami on one of the horses below.
Usami is pretty rough, holding onto his chest where Ogata shot him. Ogata takes his time to set up his shot, breaking the glass and resting his rifle on a crossbar in the frame. Ogata then tells Usami that if he’s that worried about being a cheap piece . . . he needs to know what Tsurumi’s face looks like at his funeral.
Ogata has made it clear that Usami is not making it to Tsurumi alive. His goal is to stop him.
I think that Ogata is drawing on his own personal experience and observations of Tsurumi. He knows that his mother was a ‘cheap piece’ to his father since he never came to her funeral. He also got to see Hanazawa’s dying facial expression which let him know what little he thought of him as the son he ignored. Ogata also knows Tsurumi well enough that he’ll reveal how he feels about Usami in death, so really if Tsurumi cares about him, he’ll get what he wanted. Ogata likely has mixed feelings on this; his own experience is that no one cares about others in death, and he likely wants Tsurumi to be cold and calculating not giving Usami what he wants.
To snipe Usami, Ogata levels up, Usami is able to round the corner of the building, but thanks to Sugimoto kicking Jack out a window it is now open.
Sugimoto then is walking away from the open window and another window faces towards Usami. Noda ramps up the tension of Ogata aiming at the open window where Sugimoto is. . . . but just as Sugimoto moves out of the line of fire Ogata takes aim and fires.
We get a unique bullet view of his shot! Oh no? Has Ogata decided to snipe Sugimoto instead? Pfffttt! Of course not. Ogata is the type of sniper who gets his mark. His shot enters Usami’s back and exits his chest likely near his heart.
This tells us several things. Ogata really doesn’t give a damn about Sugimoto. He could have shot him, but really why? There is no point, his target was Usami. He’s off to rely information to Tsurumi.
I also wonder if Sugimoto even heard the shot after he walked away from the windows? There was no indication as such in 255. All of these events highlight that Ogata’s goals have nothing directly to do with Sugimoto and his flawed reasoning that Ogata is out to get him really needs a reality check.
Back to the action, Usami falls off the horse and is dramatically caught in Tsurumi’s arms. Usami looks at Tsurumi while Ogata thanks him.
He then removes his bandage to reveal a glass eye and he declares that he is now completed as a sniper. This refers back to when he was retraining how to to use a rifle with Hijikata. He stated he would only be a sniper, if he actually killed a person not more ducks.
For comedic effects, his glass eye pops out and he catches it. It looks like Ogata now has historical overlap with the French Canadian sniper Leo Major.
The chapter returns to Usami dying before Tsurumi. He hands over he copy of a skin that he got from Kadokura. He then begins to speak about Kadokura, while Tsurumi looks down at him softly telling him he’s done well.
Usami reaches to touch Tsurumi’s face. There is then a very uncomfortable scene where Tsurumi sucks on his pinky finger before he bites it off. He tells Usami that this will allow them to live on together. He tells him that he’ll be living inside him as his number one friend.
So, unlike saving Olga and Fina’s finger bones he took from Russia, he’ll just digest and absorb Usami instead. . . .
Usami than smiles as he dies, telling Usami that he’s so happy that he’s going to come from the feeling as he starts to call him by his first name before he dies in Tsurumi’s arms. The next panel shows Tsurumi holding him in his arms.
As a nerd with a minor in art history, I immediately noticed that this was a reference to Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of Jesus laying in the arms of the Virgin Mary, the pieta.
First, based on how Usami’s death impacts Tsurumi, he can rest assured that he wasn’t a cheap piece. Second, Tsurumi has stood in for the Virgin Mary again in the context of scenes. I’m honestly curious where Noda is going with this Tsurumi = Virgin Mary bit.
The chapter then ends with Ueji standing on the smokestack of the brewery looking for everyone’s attention. I guess he wants everyone to try to attack him at once? Or is he going to jump to his death and result in the destruction of his tattoo making things impossible?
Overall impressions for the events of these two chapters.
1.) Jack was a lame convict. He did not interest me and his only importance was to get Asirpa to recognize her PTSD when she really tried to threaten him.
2.) Noda tried to tease the readers with Sugimoto-Ogata conflict but it shows that Ogata doesn’t look at Sugimoto the same way he looks at Ogata. Sugimoto thinks Ogata is messing around, an agent of chaos, but this is anything but that fact. It also shows again that Sugimoto thinks he’s more critical in the gold hunt than he is. Asirpa is key, he’s just going along for the ride and Hijikata has tried to eliminate him, as has Ogata, Tanigaki and Tsurumi.
3.) Asirpa is showing finally that she was impacted by when she shot Ogata. About time, then again, Asirpa and Ogata are very similar characters with strong internal compasses and repress their feelings.
4.) Ogata has returned to wild-type. The past few chapters he has been on fire. He out smarted Vasily, and was able to defeat Usami. Many of us wondered if his sniping days were over - he has proven otherwise, but him sniping Usami was both defensive and a highly tactical decision. It seems that Ogata has gained a new will to live, he fought his way out of very difficult situations and did everything alone (and with the help of his Yuusaku subconsciousness). It appears that Tsurumi’s statement of not wanting to have him fighting against you holds up and his own name that he is a single man but equal to one hundred. Ogata also shows even if he may have emotions and feelings about how others treat/perceive him, he doesn’t like it cloud his judgement or actions.
5.) Usami got the death he wanted. I’m a little annoyed that Usami got the death he dreamed of, he gained praise from Tsurumi and was told how much he cared about him. Usami died happy in his arms. Perhaps, this indicates a sort of guilt/responsibility that Tsurumi felt towards young Tokishige back in Niigata? If he didn’t have Usami judo fight his friend, maybe he wouldn’t have snapped and become a perfect and loyal solider.
That’s all I have for now.
#golden kamuy#golden kamuy meta#ogata hyakunosuke#asirpa#sugimoto saichi#ushiyama tatsuma#tsurumi tokushirou#Usami Tokishige#hijikata toshizo#boutarou the pirate
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way back home pt.i | arrowverse x lance!reader
a/n: this takes place during crisis part 3. i wasn’t sure if I should put all of crisis in one fic but it ended up being too long and i was missing details so i decided to split it into parts
warnings: mentions of death/self harm
word count: 3k
masterlist | request list | request rules
pt.i | pt.ii
reader is a lance!sister, aka baby lance, (it’s a thing, fight me) with the powers of telekinesis, and after e1 laurel’s death, cisco helped her escape to earth 666. she was living a better life with her girlfriend, maze, until her sister showed up on her doorstep spouting her “end of the world” spiel. apparently, you were one of eight paragons and without you, the multiverse would be destroyed...
i do not give you permission to repost or translate my fics on any platform - likes/reblogs are okay and are much appreciated
“Okay, so he was killed by his wife?” You asked, sitting on the edge of the Detective’s desk.
“Mmhmm, and his mistress.” Chloe added.
“God, it’s a classic Diabolique situation.”
You both turned to face the forensic scientist who seemed lost in her own thoughts.
“What?” Ella shrugged her shoulders in confusion causing you and Chloe to laugh.
You momentarily detached from the laughter, now lost in your own thoughts.
It was only natural that you had taken a job in law enforcement after Cisco had dropped you off on this Earth. I mean, your father was a police captain after all and your sister, god rest her soul, was a lawyer.
You supposed it allowed you to feel closer to them even when you were on a different Earth. Maybe that’s why you felt closer to them. You didn’t have to deal with all the pain and sorrow of their deaths that you had back home, but instead, could remember them for who they were and what they, more specifically, Laurel, always wanted.
To save the world.
Focusing back on the conversation, you and your friends’ heads swivelled to the sound of heels clacking against the marble floor. Maze, you assumed. Your girlfriend was quite the bounty hunter, you thought proudly to yourself.
“Ladies, nice to see you. Ah, Maze and...oh, hello, who is this?”
The three of you stood up when Lucifer, the Devil himself, joined you as Maze neared Chloe’s desk, a person with long hair shielding their face, locked in her grasp.
Searching her face, you realised fury filled her eyes, mixed with...a fierce protectiveness?
“Maze, baby, what’s wrong?” You asked, worried at her behaviour. Maze was almost always angry but never with this intensity.
“This human was searching for you.”
All of your gazes fell to look at the individual whose head was gripped in the arms of the infamous demon.
You squinted your eyes, trying to place the person and then your eyes widened with recognition. You only knew one person with hair that long.
“Cisco?” You questioned, bending down so you were face level with the person.
Your assumption was confirmed when the former lifted his head up and his hair fell to his shoulders, revealing his face.
“Hey, Baby Lance!” He said cheerfully despite being stuck in a vice-like grip. Yep, definitely Cisco.
“Oh My-Maze, let him go.”
Stopping yourself before name-dropping the deity, you pried your girlfriend’s arms from your friend’s body and pulled him into your arms.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Ramon?”
You laughed in shock as you hugged him tightly, having not seen him for almost 3 years.
“We were looking for you, Baby Lance.”
“We?” You and your group of friends replied simultaneously.
As if on cue, another familiar figure appeared behind Maze, calling out the meta-human’s name.
“Cisco, I told you not to run off. Especially when we’re on a diff-Oh, hi.”
She stopped abruptly when she noticed the former, you and your friends gathered at the desk.
You raised your eyebrows in question at the female, having only known her for a few months after you came back to your Earth to be with your family as you grieved on the year anniversary of Laurel’s death.
“Dinah?”
Removing yourself from Cisco’s arms, you walked up to the vigilante and stared at her and then looked back at Cisco. There was only one reason why the two of them were here together, and it wasn’t for a cute reunion.
“You both need to tell me what you’re doing here right now.”
Cisco had a pained look on his face which Dinah seemed to reciprocate. Your head flew back and forth between the two as your frustration grew.
“Guys!” You shouted, causing everyone to jump.
“We need your help, Baby Lance.” Cisco replied.
“Yeah, it’s, um, bad, y/n.” Dinah continued.
Your heart fell into your stomach as your mind ran through the worst possible scenarios. Your father and sister were already dead. Your mother was gone. That left...
“Oh, God. Is it Sara?”
You ignored the curse that fell from Lucifer’s lips after Chloe hit him when he was about to interrupt for you mentioning his father.
The meta-human duo remained silent causing you to repeat your question, eyes filling with tears.
“No, I’m okay, kid.”
At this, you looked over your shoulder. nearly collapsing with relief at what you saw. Standing in the centre of the police station was your sister, seemingly unharmed.
You ran up to her and practically launched into her arms, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay. I couldn’t deal with losing you too.”
“Hey, I’m okay, sweetie.” Your sister reassured you, speaking with the soothing tone she often used when you were a child.
Recomposing yourself, the two of you approached the ever-expanding group and Sara glanced at your friends before returning her attention to you, Dinah and Cisco.
“Cisco, I told you to not run off. Dinah, I told you to watch him. Y/N, we need your help.”
“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Chloe interrupted for the first time.
“Uh, I think we should take this somewhere private.” You responded.
***
At the insistence of Lucifer, you all, with the exception of Ella, went to Lux as it would be empty due to it being mid afternoon.
Upon arriving, the seven of you gathered by the bar with Maze pouring you all a drink.
“Per your request, we’re somewhere private but why are they here?” Dinah asked, nodding in the direction of Lucifer, Chloe and Maze.
“Let’s just say they are very understanding. Okay, so what is it?”
“We have a crisis.” Sara began.
“Yeah, on infinite Earths.” Cisco added.
“Wait, did you say infinite Earths?” Chloe interrupted.
Sighing deeply, you looked at your sister, “Okay, before you explain the reason for your presence here, I’m just gonna give them the rundown.”
You faced your Earth 666 friends and continued to talk,
“Long story short, we live in a multiverse with several Earths. I’m from Earth 1, this is my sister, and my friends. We’re, what we call, meta-humans. Meaning we all have powers. I can move things with my mind/hands.”
“Cisco can create portals to anywhere, including here. Dinah has a canary cry which is essentially a high-frequency scream that kills. Sara doesn’t have powers but she’s an assassin, technically died twice but was resurrected and now travels through time with another group of heroes called Legends.”
You inhaled a breath and watched as everyone’s faces dropped. Sara, Cisco and Dinah’s due to you revealing sensitive information. Maze, Chloe and Lucifer’s due to your wild explanation.
“Y/N!”
“What?” You shrugged at your sister chastising you.
“Why would they understand? They’re normal people.”
At this, the Earth 666 trio burst out laughing so you explained to your family their situation,
“These guys understand. Lucifer is the Devil. Literally. God is his father. Maze is Mazikeen aka a child of Lilith. And Chloe is, well, basically an angel.”
“So I think we’re good now. Sara, if you can now get to the point.” You said, diminishing all attempts at questioning from everyone in the room.
“Anyways, as Cisco said, there’s a Crisis on Infinite Earths. A anti-matter wave is destroying all Earths. It’s destroyed so many already, including Earth 2 and Earth 38, Supergirl’s Earth.”
You then listened as she explained all about the Monitor, Lyla and everyone’s hunt for the eight paragons, who were essentially the world’s greatest heroes. Dinah then notified you of the identities of all the paragons before stopping at the Paragon of Strength.
“Y/N. It’s you. You’re the Paragon of Strength.”
“What? No, Sara. You’ve got it wrong. I’m not a hero.”
You stumbled over your words, desperately failing at hiding your shock, eyes then widening at the slim box that the former pulled out of her jacket.
“Is that-”
“Yes.” Sara simply replied.
“No, I-I can’t. You know I can’t, Sara. I can’t be here right now.”
You downed what little alcohol you had left in your glass, welcoming the burn, and jumped off the bar stool you were currently sitting on.
You pushed past your sister, walking away before stopping at the call of your name.
“Ollie’s dead.” She said, her soft tone returning.
You looked back at her and knew her words to be true as tears filled the trio’s eyes.
“What?” Your voice broke with that one word.
“He’s gone. And we need your help to stop anyone else from dying.”
Making your way back to the group, you took the box from your sister’s hands and opened it to reveal the contents. Inside was a small, sleek black mask. The one that your sister donned when she took over Sara’s mantle as the Black Canary.
“Y/N, you have to come with us. You know Laurel wanted her legacy to continue.”
“It is! With Dinah, not with me! I’m not worthy of this. I’m not the Black Canary. I’m no one.”
BANG
BANG
BANG
Everyone’s heads turned to face the back entrance of the club where the sound originated from. Sara wielded one of her knives as did Maze. Whilst you and Cisco raised your hands in defense and Chloe aimed her gun.
The doors busted open to reveal three familiar faces. One of whom was recognised by Lucifer.
“John?” You, Sara and Lucifer shouted in confusion.
“Well, if it isn’t Constantine.” Lucifer said, purposely mispronouncing the demonologist’s name resulting in the former correcting him.
“John, what are you doing here? With Diggle and Mia, no less.” Sara asked, and you remembered that John was now a member of the Legends.
“I reassured you, Sara, that I would do whatever it takes to get Oliver’s soul back. Oh, Baby Lance, I haven’t seen you for a very long time. How you been, gorgeous?”
Maze practically growled in jealousy, pushing you behind her.
“Wait...”
Your eyes flickered between Sara, Lucifer and John and then frowned at the latter’s words. When you realised what they had done and were planning to do, you felt fury rise through your body.
“Sara, tell me you didn’t.” You asked hardly but quietly, not trusting your voice to remain calm if you spoke any louder.
Everyone suddenly felt the tension in the air and remained silent, scared that any interruption would cause you to snap.
“Sara, tell me you didn’t.” You enunciated each word, hands curling into fists at your side.
“Y/N-“
“No!”
Sara’s mouth immediately closed and whatever words she was about to say fell short.
“You’re telling me that you can use the Lazarus pit to save Thea. To save you. And now, to save Ollie. But, you cannot use it to save Laurel. Your own sister.” You said calmly, too calm.
You were trying your damnedest not to shout but the thin thread you had on your control broke when the former tried to defend herself.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Sara?!”
You extended your hand, stopping your sister from closing any further distance between the two of you. She struggled against you as you used your powers to restrict her movements.
“Y/N, stop it!”
Relenting on your intensity, you allowed her to stumble forward.
“Look, I’m sorry about that. But I’m not here for Oliver. I’m here for you.”
“Why? Because you need me?” You sneered.
“Yes, you’re one of eight people who can save the multiverse.”
“What? A paragon? Sara, I’m not the paragon of anything. Least of all, strength.”
When the former assassin tried to argue, you continued to speak, “Sara, you know I almost killed myself after you died?”
“Yeah, and Laurel saved you.” Sara answered, tears forming in her eyes at the painful memory.
“Right. But what you don’t know, is that I did the same thing after Laurel was murdered by Darhk.”
“Y/N.” Sara’s voice broke as she murmured your name, Maze doing the same.
“Yeah, and this time, Felicity saved me. I mean, I begged her not to. But she did. And here I am. So don’t you come here and tell me that I’m a Paragon of Strength when I am weak.”
You looked up at Mia, John and Diggle who were watching you in shock and returned your gaze to your sister.
“Laurel was my vice, the one person I had through everything. After she was gone, I didn’t want to live.”
You paused for a moment before adding, “Laurel may have brought you back, but as far as I’m concerned, you were dead the day the Gambit went down.”
Your words cut threw Sara like a hot knife through butter which ultimately left her reeling from the hurt she had caused. You then walked away, ignoring everyone’s shouts, using your powers to prevent them from chasing after you.
***
Slamming the door closed, you dropped your keys on the table and stormed into your living room. Tears streaming down your face, you grabbed one of your throw pillows and screamed into it.
Why? Why did this have to happen?
You were perfectly happy living your new life here but now you knew that you would never get that back. Even if you helped end the Crisis, the fact would remain that you had revealed your true nature to your family here.
Around 3 months into your relationship with Maze, she had sat you down and told you who she really was. Of course, you had doubts that she was telling the truth but you ended up believing her because what else could you do? Your life on Earth 1 was unique, why did you expect Earth 666 to be any different?
You had never told your Earth 666 family about your powers though. The perfect opportunity would have been when Maze told you who she was but you chickened out. You were weak. You knew you wouldn’t be able to deal with the rejection. Because you would have been alone again. And being alone sucked.
You wiped the tears that had fallen down your face and let your mind roam. You knew in your heart that Sara was right except you didn’t want that burden. But you didn’t want to be a martyr either. You knew you’d suck it up and be the Paragon that the world needed you to be.
But that didn’t mean you agreed with Sara’s choices.
How could you?
She was willing to save an ex-boyfriend but not her sister. If Laurel were here, you knew she’d probably agree with Sara. She was always putting everyone else first. And by doing so, she got herself killed. All because she put on that stupid mask.
And now, Sara was telling you that you had to wear your dead sister’s mask, the one she was murdered in, no less, in order to save the world? That was insanity.
Your train of thought broke when you heard the door click open. You looked up at the doorframe and saw your girlfriend standing there, staring at you. Behind her, your sister emerged, her face wet with tears.
Maze raised her scarred brow in question, silently asking if you were okay. You nodded lightly so your girlfriend gave you a gentle smile before leaving you alone with your sister.
When she left, Sara walked into the room and gestured to the empty space beside you and when you nodded again, she sat down.
“I’m sorry for what I said.” You said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“You were right.” You looked up at your sister in shock and saw fresh tears forming in her eyes.
“I agree with the decision I made because it was the responsible one but it doesn’t mean I didn’t want to save Laurel. Hell, I chased Darhk through time just to kill him but I ultimately realised I couldn’t. Anyways, that’s beside the point. At the end of the day, Laurel was-is-our big sister and she always will be. I’m sorry that she’s gone.”
“I miss her.” You said softly, your voice breaking.
Tears started to spill again and Sara gathered you into her arms. Not having the energy to push her away, instead, you clung to her, sobbing. Sara rocked you gently, her own tears falling. You had never actually grieved together after Laurel died; she had been off with the Legends at the time.
When both of your tears stopped, turning into light sniffles, you pulled away to stare at your sister.
‘I’ll help you, Sara, but I’m not a hero. I’m the furthest thing from it.”
Sara heard her own words ringing in her head from her conversation with Laurel long ago. She had been in your position. She had felt what you felt now. Hell, she still feels like that somedays. But she knew that what she did was for the greater good. And she knew exactly what you needed to hear.
Sara cupped your cheek and rubbed her thumb against your skin and spoke, “I’m not asking you to be a hero. I’m just asking you to help me. To save others in the name of those we couldn’t.”
You leaned into the embrace and allowed her words to take effect. To save others. That was exactly what Laurel would have wanted. It’s what she died wanting to do.
You nodded, “For Laurel.”
“For Laurel.”
Next Part ->
#legends of tomorrow#legends of tomorrow x reader#arrow#arrow x reader#lucifer#lucifer x reader#the flash#the flash x reader#sara lance#sara lance x reader#dinah drake#dinah drake x reader#sara lance imagine#mazikeen#mazikeen x reader#chloe decker#chloe decker x reader#ella lopez#ella lopez x reader#cisco ramon#cisco ramon x reader#crisis on infinite earths#john constantine x reader#mia smoak x reader#john diggle#john diggle x reader#baby!lance#c: arrowverse#s: mine#c: way back home
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