#DO NOT interact with other maltese people other than ME

[ordenza]

would’ve been really nice to have mutuals i could speak maltese with but not in a i wish i had maltese mutuals kind of way. on the contrary

[useless-catalanfacts]

A new rule to increment discrimination

Context:

Public healthcare is one of the places where the most Catalanophobic interactions are reported. In 4 years, more than 100 Catalan speakers have reported that they have been denied healthcare or otherwise discriminated against for speaking Catalan, or were unable to access any healthcare in Catalan in a Catalan-speaking territory.

From disabled people who only speak Catalan being refused any medical attention unless they speak Spanish (which they don't know how to speak), to a man calling the ambulance but the healthcare worker who answers the phone spends the time scolding the caller for not speaking Spanish instead of calling for the urgently-needed ambulance, to many, many, many, many, many, many doctors telling patients "either you speak in Spanish or you leave", and many others given choices that link their language to shame: "would you rather speak Catalan or your son get cured?", "do you want to speak Catalan or do you want a vaccine appointment?", or being told "[derrogatory/infantilizing word for "woman"], you're making me waste time" for seeking medical attention as a Catalan-speaker.

Lack of access to healthcare is a systemic problem for Catalan people, who are often forced to use Spanish if we want medical treatment in our own country.

People should have the right to access public services (that they pay for with their own tax money) in the language of the country. Can you imagine an English speaker in England not being able to see any doctor or nurse who can attend them in English? Or in French in France, or German in Germany? It doesn't happen because speakers of the dominant language have the State on their side, but Catalan speakers have the Spanish (and French, in the case of Northern Catalonia) Government actively working against us.

And, more than anywhere else, in a moment of great vulnerability like the medical setting, it's very important that patients can speak their own language and not have to worry about translating concepts, they need to have the confidence to speak clearly on what happens to them and be focused on the issue, not on word choice or accent of this second language. Even less be worried about possibly facing discrimination for it.

The new rule:

The new Government of the Valencian Country (a coalition of the right-wing party PP and the fascist party Vox, both Spanish supremacist parties who make the hatred against Catalan/Valencian one of their main campaign points) has announced yet another way to increment that discrimination.

Until now, to decide who to hire for public jobs, there was a system of points, where each kind of certificate and qualification gave you some points. Speaking the local language (Valencian/Catalan) was already not a requisite —legally creating the situation where doctors and nurses can not know any of the language spoken in the place where they work. But, until now, speaking the local language at least gave some extra points.

Now, this new Spanish supremacist regional government has decided that knowing Valencian in the Valencian Country to work in a job with public interaction is worth less than speaking any language of an independent EU state. This means that you get more points for speaking, for example, Latvian, Swedish, Maltese, Slovak or Lithuanian, than for speaking the language of the place where you will be working and where you will be talking to people.

My full respect for speakers of all these languages, but (as an example) a hypothetical Estonian speaker who you might never even encounter in a Valencian town should not be worth more than the very real Valencian speakers that you will surely encounter working in the Valencian Country.

This rule is another step to legally protect systemic discrimination and to make it continue in the future.

Note: Valencian and Catalan are two names for the same language. They're being used interchangeably.

[practically-an-x-man]

help me I'm thinking about Nikoletta and Abner's dynamic with the Squad again

I keep thinking about how Nikoletta and Abne resort of become the outcasts among the outcasts when they're in Corto Maltese. Him because of the dots and the outbursts about his mom and all that, as the movie goes, but her because she's cold and reclusive and never comes within a few feet of anybody (plus, all of the lingering impressions of her from back in Belle Reve, the prisoners generally tolerate but do not like her). The only person she lets get close at all is Abner, and even that starts out slow and awkward.

So they're the outcasts of the group. And while Nikoletta (who's survived the past few decades only because she's learned how to read people and manipulate social situations) is aware of this from the very beginning, Abner (who doesn't have much socialization outside his siblings and a few bullies in Belle Reve) is very much not.

Now Nikoletta's on edge, both for her own safety and for Abner's - even at that point, she had a bit of a soft spot for him, and the whole reason she was in Corto Maltese to begin with was because she worried someone would try to off him at some point during the mission - and it only keeps growing as the mission goes on. And of course, she's also constantly on guard to avoid spreading her shadow-touch to the others. Abner's having a good time, making friends with Cleo and getting his hair ruffled by Flag in la Gatita Amable and all that, but Nik is more stressed than ever. And she's so emotionally repressed that she probably doesn't even realize why she's more on guard than usual, she just assumes it's from the upcoming danger of the mission.

And then there's the matter of the two of them. They start getting closer from the plane ride (technically even a little before, with their interactions in Belle Reve itself, but the plane is really the catalyst), and while there's nothing particularly romantic about it until la Gatita Amable, it's still enough to attract a bit of attention from the others.

It starts with DuBois. Just a few comments here or there, dry and ironic teasing that maybe comes out a bit too sharp but is really harmless in intent, get a room and leave space for Jesus and other sarcastic little digs like that. Abner doesn't quite catch onto what he's getting at, not yet, but Nik does.

Then they meet up with Rick, and he sees DuBois' teasing and starts to play along. He's... well, not quite heavy-handed, but his Southern sarcasm is a little different from DuBois' dry British wit, and Abner catches onto the joke. Again, though, it's all harmless, and not nearly as bad as the flak he normally gets - and he and Nikoletta both seem to realize that if they let this fracture now, when she still can barely convince herself to hold his hand, it might not ever come back.

And then we get Peacemaker. Now he's the Saint Bernard of the bunch - always a little late to the joke, but rambunctious to the point of being destructive to try and make up for it. He takes it from harmless teasing to something a little more antagonistic, and as we see in The Facts Are These, this results in a few close calls for Nik and Abner.

So that just places them both in this really strange spot, at least at the beginning - they don't quite fit it with the others but can connect one-on-one, though that connection itself opens them up to more scrutiny, and at this point Nikoletta is still so tightly-wound that she hardly even processes it as anything more than an assessment of social power dynamics. It's not until she saves him from Starro, or maybe even until she wakes up in the hospital after that, that she realizes she's made an emotional connection with him at all (and even then, she's not entirely sure whether it's platonic or romantic or some mix of the two).

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Suicide Squad Team A

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS! Seriously, as soon as you click that read more, you’re gonna be smacked with SPOILERS! Don’t say I didn’t give you ample warning this time!)

The world’s in danger yet again, and Amanda Waller is in need of some expendable forces to take on some dirty jobs in the name of preserving peace. Last time she did this, it seems like she hired the wrong people. Nice guy Will Smith Deadshot? Bland, boring Killer Croc? El Diablo, who became attached to a bunch of reprobates after spending a couple hours with them? The only one who was useful in that squad was Katana. She had their backs, could cut all of them in half with one sword stroke just like mowing the lawn, and her sword traps the souls of its victims. Unfortunately, she was decidedly not expendable, so what is a girlboss like Waller to do?

Easy: Assemble a brand new squad of criminals to do the dirty work. Harley and Boomerang are the only ones she brought back, because let’s be real, they’re the only ones we give a damn about. Filling out the rest of the squad are the stoic, craggy crackshot Savant; the handsome, German spear-thrower Javelin; the alien warrior Mongal; the frothing, psychotic animal Weasel; the confident and all-powerful TDK; and Blackguard, who is literally just a guy. Together, this team gets deployed to Corto Maltese to do what no one else can do, and with skills like theirs, they are absolutely unstoppable!

They all fucking die before the opening credits.

Motivation/Goals: Considering the goal of the squad is to shave time off their prison sentences by going on the mission, it’s ostensibly the reason every single one of these goons accepted the job. Savant and Weasel are pretty well established in this regard; we get to focus on Savant for much of the opening, so we can get a sense of him, and Weasel is stated to have murdered no less than 27 children. So, yeah, they need to do this mission.

The rest, though? Who knows! Why are Mongal, Javelin, and TDK in prison? How did they even get an alien like Mongal? What did they do to land in the position they’d need to go on a suicide mission? Why doesn’t this movie have flashy, intrusive cards explaining everything to us in a throwaway gag in a montage?!

Blackguard, at least, has some other motivation. He sold out the entire squad to the military of Corto Maltese, which is why they’re ambushed. Now, there’s actually some ambiguity here: Did he do this of his own volition, and was this a complete surprise, or is it, as it is heavily implied, all part of Waller’s plan and she let this happen as a diversion for the other team to get in unnoticed?

Honestly, though, it doesn’t matter what their goals are. They’re all dead within five minutes of the movie starting, with one exception.

Performance: So, the reason these guys are even worth talking about is because, despite their minuscule screentime, all of their actors manage to cram in enough humor and characterization that they’re all pretty fun and likable. Michael Rooker is as stony and stoic as ever as Savant (until he hilariously isn’t), Flula Borg’s Javelin is really sweet and charming in his interactions with Harley, and Pete Davidson’s Blackguard is just amazingly douchey and pathetic. Special mention goes to Nathan Fillion’s TDK, who has an utterly endearing and unwavering faith in his astoundingly crappy ability to… detach his arms. It’s honestly kind of beautiful. Then there’s Weasel as portrayed by Sean Gunn, who is just a hilarious crackhead of an animal man.

Final Fate: Literally every single one of them die horribly thanks to Blackguard’s betrayal. He’s the first to go, because as soon as he walks out saying “Hey guys, it’s me, the one who contacted you!” he literally has his face blasted clean off. The rest go soon after. Mongal, in one of the most astounding moments of idiocy I’ve ever seen, leaps on a helicopter despite Rick Flag telling her specifically not to. Her weight and strength send it careening out of control, which leads to it shredding Captain Boomerang to bits before exploding, burning her alive as she painfully screams and writhes in agony. TDK gets his arms shot into Swiss cheese, leading to him bleeding out since even detached they still are part of him. Javelin is also shot, but gets a dying moment with Harley where he passes her Checkov’s Javelin. Finally, after witnessing all of this carnage, Savant completely loses his shit and tries to swim away, leading to Waller blowing his head up.

You may be wondering what happened to Weasel. He appears to drown as soon as the Squad deploys, because despite being actually smart in this movie, Waller forgot to make sure everyone on the Squad could swim. Thankfully, this lovable child-murdering crackhead rodent was just sleeping, and wakes up in the first credit scene.

Best Scene: Obviously, it’s their one and only scene. It’s a magnificent slaughter that puts the X-Force scene from Deadpool 2 to shame.

Final Thoughts & Score: I’ve gotta hand it to James Gunn. Even though these losers are only onscreen for a few minutes, they all get to cram a lot of charm and personality into that time, to the point it’s actually kind of sad seeing them all die. It’s a beautiful mix of comedy and tragedy. Since their screentime is so limited, though, I’m mostly going to be grading them on style, performance, and so on rather than on villainy like normal. They are all bad guys, as they don’t really get a chance to redeem themselves like the other Squad, so I’m still counting them as villains, which means they could potentially score above an 8 (which is the highest score I’m willing to give heel-face turn villains, because they end up being better as characters in general than as villains).

I’m also not going to talk about Boomerang (I’ll talk about him when I review the original Squad) or Harley (because she not only lives, but deserves her own solo Psycho Analysis). Now here we go, from best to worst:

TDK

If you thought anyone but TDK would get top marks, you’re sadly mistaken. Seeing Nathan Fillion proudly wield the insanely lame power to detach his arms to lightly tap soldiers on the head and gently grab their guns is a sight I never knew I needed to see until this movie. The fact he just seems so darn proud about this power that he doesn’t even bother to use in any way that would be remotely useful is honestly really endearing. Frankly, the sheer fact they adapted Arms-Fall-Off Boy in any way is enough for me to give him a 10/10.

Weasel

Weasel is just disgustingly delightful. He’s just a horrible, nasty, ugly little bastard… But he’s kind of adorable? He clearly has no idea where he is at any given time and is just so goddamn freaky that I can’t help but love him. The fact that, despite being a character who in the comics is noteworthy only for dying on his first mission with the Squad, he manages to survive the entire movie is pretty impressive. Hopefully he comes back in the future, but either way he gets an 8/10 from me.

Javelin

Honestly, aside from Boomerang, his death stung the most. He’s just so cute and charming, and he doesn’t even get to fling his javelin at anyone! Thankfully, he passes it on to Harley, and boy does she ever get to use it! He’s so cute, I have to give him an 8/10. I just wish we got more of him.

Savant

Savant is just an absolutely hilarious bait-and-switch. We follow him through the prologue, with everything seeming to point to him as our main character and the Squad leader. He’s stoic, he’s cranky, and he has impeccable aim… and then we get to the beach and he just freaks the hell out and starts screaming and crying and running away like a little bitch. Seeing Michael Rooker act like he’s shitting his pants after playing a badass like Yondu is just the sort of hilarious subversiveness that James Gunn loves to do when you let him loose. The fact that he looks like, to paraphrase the TVTropes YMMV page for the movie, a “cyberpunk Tommy Wiseau” is the icing on this 7/10 cake.

Blackguard

I was prepared to hate this guy just based on how lame Pete Davidson’s costume was, and you know what? I do hate him. But I love to hate him. He’s just an utterly pathetic scoundrel and a coward, true to his name. The fact he is the first to die, as just about everyone predicted, and is killed absolutely gruesomely makes any annoyance he could provide moot, and his freeakout over being seated next to Weasel on the plane is actually kind of funny. I was originally going to give him a 6, but you know what? He can have a low 7/10. He’s like the only member of this particular Squad to actually do anything evil, so I gotta give him props for that.

Mongal

Let me make this perfectly clear: I do not blame James Gunn or actress Mayling Ng. I’m not actually mad at either of them for what they chose to do, because it is ultimately hilarious and sad. It suited the narrative of the film, and I’m not actually, genuinely mad.

With all that out of the way, Mongal is one hell of a stupid cunt. It is one thing to cause your own death with your stupidity, it is something else entirely to cause the death of a beloved character with your poorly planned attack. The fact she didn’t take into account how her weight and strength would effect an airborne helicopter makes one wonder if she is really supposed to be based on a character who can take on Superman and live to tell about it.

Let’s compare her to two similar characters to really show how bad she is. Like Blackguard, she is directly responsible for a death on the beach, Blackguard being responsible for everyone by selling them out and leading them into an ambush (and yes, I’m including him as well), and Mongal killing Boomerang with the chopper. The difference is, Blackguard’s betrayal was deliberate, he meant to sell the team out, he was actively doing something evil there, while Mongal killed Boomerang out of sheer idiocy.

Now, let’s compare her to Zeitgeist from the similar bloody massacre that occurred during X-Force’s deployment in Deadpool 2. Like Mongal, he accidentally kills a teammate. The difference is, in the case of Zeitgeist, he only accidentally melted Peter, it was a freak accident, and ultimately it does get undone by the end. Meanwhile, Mongal made a conscious, stupid decision and ended up killing her squadmate with her own idiocy. She sucks, hardcore. I don’t do this lightly, but I’m giving her a 1/10. Villains just don’t get much stupider than her.

I will giver her this, though: the makeup work on her is good. She’s lowkey kinda hot if I’m being honest. But being hot and having good makeup does not a good villain make.

[moviemunchies]

I remember that when watching the 2016 Suicide Squad that I thought that there was, buried somewhere in this mess, a good (but not great) movie that had gotten bogged down in its terrible editing. It’s a popular movie to dunk on but, you know, I ran into a few people who actually genuinely liked that movie, suggesting to me that, while I didn’t think it was very good, it’s not the universally-hated film that grumpy YouTube critics would have you think.

Still, the 2021 version is much better.

You know the premise of Suicide Squad, right? The government sometimes wants black ops missions done off-books, so Amanda Waller grabs some supervillains for Task Force X that no one will miss and makes them do the jobs in exchange for favors or less jail time. If they get killed, the government can disavow them and dodge responsibility. To make sure said criminals obey, they have a bomb planted in their necks that can be remotely triggered and blow their heads off.

Waller recruits a team to go to the small island nation of Corto Maltese in order to destroy an evil science experiment, as the island recently went through a military coup and there’s some concern they may try to use that mad science against the United States. But of course, things get messy during the mission, and as they find out more about Corto Maltese and each other, the group has to make some hard choices and work out what kind of people they really want to be.

A massive problem with a lot of Suicide Squad stories, I’ve noticed, is that it’s really easy to make it so that Amanda Waller comes across as an idiot. That’s how it seemed to me in the 2016 film and the animated Assault on Arkham film. Both of those have a story which relies on Waller making tactically ridiculous decisions, like having a loose leash on Enchantress, or inventing a fake mission to get someone to assassinate Riddler in his cell (JUST BRIBE AN ARKHAM GUARD YOU FOOL).

I didn’t have that problem here. There are a couple of things that Waller overlooks, like whether or not all the Squad members can swim, and she’s certainly the type to make fairly evil decisions, she’s not an idiot. All of her major choices make sense.

This movie also has a smaller main cast, and one that works better overall in their interactions. By the end, their bond feels believable–it’s not as if they’ve spent the entire movie arguing, and our main group is a handful of individuals.

Now you may ask yourself, “Wait, I’ve seen the first couple of trailers, and there are butt ton of squad members. What do you mean the main cast is smaller?” Well first of all, most of those characters don’t really get that much focus in the movie. Also! There is a lot of blood in this movie. This is a Suicide Squad story after all, and so people are going to get killed. Not everyone who isn’t a main character gets killed, but you’d best not get too attached to every squad member. If you’ve seen enough trailers, you can probably work out who the main characters are–which also don’t protect them! Main characters will die. Bodies will hit the floor.

You don’t need to know the previous movie at all to get into this one. Any of the previous movies, really– the events of Birds of Prey don’t come up in the story other than Harley’s breakup with Joker (though TV Tropes argues that Harley’s character development does). There are some characters who return in this film from the first one, and it seems that it takes place afterward, but there are no direct references to it–nor are there any contradictions. Apparently James Gunn was allowed to kill off any of the characters if he wanted to, and I was kind of surprised by a couple of the kills, as I assumed those were too iconic to the squad to be eliminated.

I don’t know if you even have to like superhero films to like this movie. This isn’t really a superhero movie. I mean, it’s a comic book movie, but none of the characters are superheroes, and very few of them have superpowers.

Fight scenes tend to be fantastic though. Not as amazing as what we see in Birds of Prey I think, but definitely very good. Harley in particular has a great fight scene. I’m happy to see this trend in movies nowadays with actually good fight scenes instead of relying heavily on shaky cam to avoid displaying the action.

And I think this film is also pretty critical of the United States government, and its colonialist tendencies. I think EVERY Suicide Squad story is at least a little bit critical of the US government–after all, the premise is that the government is coercing criminals to do shady stuff with the threat of force. This movie takes it a bit further, in a way that I think fits quite well with the established storyline.

I think this is a pretty great movie. It’s not for everyone–if you’re hoping for an ordinary comic book film, this isn’t that. It’s not some kind of satire or deconstruction of superhero films either, so if that’s what you’re going for, you’ll be disappointed. But this an excellent, entertaining action film with humor and violence and supervillains trying to do the best they can with what they’ve got.

[walkerwords]

“The Savior Sessions” Part 24 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT: AMC

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary: When a disaster hits Hilltop, Michonne rides out to help, leaving Carol, Daryl, and the reader back at Alexandria to handle things. When an act of compassion leads to an accidental death, how will the people of Alexandria view their prisoner? What happens when Negan’s fate is up for debate?

Word Count: 5354

Warning: Swearing

Song I Wrote To: “As The World Caves In” by Matt Maltese

Note: I think we all know were this one is going.

—————

For once, the silence of the night was comforting.

“What is this?” Negan whispered in the dark of his cell. His finger looped through the chain around your neck, feeling the shell casing you had attached to it.

You had needed him that night, slipping into his cell after everyone had gone to bed. Negan hadn’t even hesitated to pull you into his arms on his cot, wrapping his long arms around your waist and down your sides. He hadn’t waited any time to press his lips against yours as his hands explored your body that was pressed up against him.

Your hands had moved on their own accord, pulling him towards you to fill that need that was almost an addiction. Now, as you lay beneath the blanket with the cool night air filtering through the small window, Negan looked down at you with love in his eyes.

Your hand found his and played with the makeshift pendant as well. “Daryl found it,” you whispered back. “It’s one of mine from the war,” you explained.

“Where did he find it?” Negan asked, furrowing his brow as his fingers caressed the brass beveling.

“The Sanctuary,” you said, letting your eyes close as his hand moved from your necklace to your neck. “I guess I made my mark there more than I thought.”

“You definitely made an impression,” Negan said as he leaned down and pressed his lips against your pulse point, letting his teeth graze against the sensitive skin of your neck, but you had caught a double-meaning in his words.

“What do you mean?” you asked, pushing him back.

“What?” Negan asked, looking at you with heavy eyes.

“Why did you say that like you knew me before all of...this?” you asked. “Did I miss our introduction or something?” Negan was silent for a moment before he nodded.

“I... I knew who you were the whole time my people were fighting yours,” he admitted. “I noticed you that first night in the clearin’. You were so...resilient even though you were out of it for most of it. I could tell by the way you responded to everything that you weren’t someone to fuck with. Then, I began to notice you later when I would visit Alexandria and then Jadis mentioned something.”

“Jadis?” you asked, confused.

“She knew you, right?”

“Briefly,” you said. You had been with Rick when the group had met the eccentric and odd woman. You didn’t think you had left that much of an impression on her. “I didn’t know her that well.”

“Well, she knew you,” Negan confirmed. “When she grabbed me after Rick tried to take me out, she told me that you were going to be the one to kill me if she didn’t do it. Not Rick, you.”

“I don’t understand,” you said.

“Jadis saw something in you, I guess,” he said, his hand reaching down to rub at your hip.

“She saw a killer.”

“I don’t know, but it didn’t matter because I had already had you in my sights. When you first came to see me in this cell, I pretended like I didn’t know who you were, but the truth is, I’ve always known.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Call me old fashioned, but I wanted to get to know you the regular way. You seemed to want to talk to me like I was just another man and not the killer you met all those years ago,” he said. “I didn’t want you to think I was judging you for what you had done in the past.”

“You wanted to know me and not the sniper,” you realized.

“Is that so terrible?” he asked. Looking up at him, you began to think about everything that had happened since you had begun to speak to him. Even further back, you looked at the war and how he had been before his time spent in isolation. There was a part of you that didn’t understand what it all meant, but there was a small bit that did. Perhaps he didn’t change that much, but instead, the man who lay in bed with you had always been there underneath the mask he wore.

It only took someone to love him to peel that layer away.

“No,” you answered, “it’s not terrible at all.” Negan gave you a soft smile and then you were pulling him down to you, kissing him firmly as he maneuvered himself to wrap your leg around his waist and together you fell into pure bliss.

------

It was early the next day when you ran into Michonne who was saddling up with Judith at her side. 

“What’s this?” you asked, reaching down to rest your hands on Judith’s shoulder. The young girl looked up at you with a toothy grin that you returned. 

“A tree went down in Hilltop,” Michonne explained. “Ezekiel called me this morning. The wall is down and Walkers are moving in fast.”

“Is anyone hurt?” you asked, your concern growing. 

“A few, but nothing too major,” Michonne said. “The biggest problem is that Alpha’s herd is attacking now that they’re vulnerable and they need help. I’m taking some fighters with me to help, Judith too.”

“What do you need me to do?” you asked.

“Keep an eye on things here,” said Michonne. “Alpha’s Walkers are still showing up and tensions are very heavy right now with Lydia. I’m worried something may happen if people don’t keep calm.”

“I got it, don’t worry,” you said. Michonne then reached out and grabbed your shoulder. 

“I know you do,” she said. “I hope you know that I will always trust your judgment, no matter what.” You paused at that and realized that you had actually needed to hear it. Especially from Michonne. 

“Thanks, Michonne,” you said. “Tell Enid and the others I said hello, okay?”

“I will,” Michonne said and then you kneeled down to see Judith.

“Take care of your mom, okay? Don’t let her work herself too hard, okay little miss?” Judith smiled at you and offered you her pinky. You hooked it with your own and then pulled her in for a hug, squeezing her tight. 

“I’ll take care of her if you take care of him,” Judith whispered in your ear. You pulled back and gave her a wink. She took that as a yes and then you lifted her up into the makeshift carriage. 

“I told Daryl that we’ll be available through the radio at Barrington,” Michonne said. 

“I’ll keep an ear out,” you promised and then you waved as Michonne led the caravan out, heading off to help your friends in need.

With a sigh, you went in search of Daryl who you knew was either sulking in his room or playing with Dog. Spotting RJ running after the canine, you jogged over to join in on the fun and hopefully get some relief from all the thoughts in your head. 

————

Lydia was alone when Negan found her. 

On laundry duty for the day, he slipped through the many clotheslines and discovered the teenager who was digging in the dirt. “Hey, you,” he said, smiling down at her. 

Lydia looked up at him with a small smile of her own, one that was always either reserved for him, you, or Daryl. “Hi,” she said. 

“Why are you hiding out here?” Negan asked, sitting into his hip. 

“Who says I’m hiding?” she challenged. 

“Me,” he said, kneeling down to her. “What’s going on?”

“Gage and his friends are still being…”

“Assholes?” Negan offered and she nodded. “Shit, kiddo, you can’t let them get to you.”

“Easier said than done,” Lydia said with a sigh. 

“You need to tell (Y/N), they’ll shut that down,” he said, but Lydia was shaking her head. “This whole not wanting to cause trouble shit gotta stop, Lydia. (Y/N) doesn’t like disorder and they sure as shit don’t like it when someone they care about is being treated like this.” 

“I don’t want to start anything,” she said. 

“It’s already started. It started the day these people met the skins,” Negan said and then took a pause before continuing. “You might not know this, but there are plenty of people around here that have been on the ‘wrong side’,” he explained. 

“Like who?” 

“Well, for one, me, as you well know,” he said. “Then there was Tara, the woman who used to run Hilltop. She wasn’t always on the winning side and yet these people loved her so much. Then there are people like Laura who once worked for me or even Gabriel who I believe turned on Alexandria for a short bit before joining in on the campfire sing-a-long.” Lydia looked at him in confusion at that last one. “Point is, kid, is that these people are some of the most frustratingly forgiving fuckers I have ever met.”

“They haven’t forgiven you,” Lydia said. 

“Well, I’m special,” he said with a wink that caused Lydia to laugh. “Seriously, though, you should tell them.”

“Tell ‘em what?” Daryl’s voice came from behind Negan. You were just behind him, trying to keep up. Once Daryl saw Negan approaching Lydia, there wasn’t much you could do to stop him. 

“Daryl,” you warned, trying to get in between him and Negan. 

“Lydia’s let’s go,” Daryl snapped and Negan sighed, knowing where this was going. 

“I’m good,” Lydia argued. 

“Now,” Daryl snapped and with a sigh, she got to her feet and stormed away. You tried to stop her with a hand on her arm, but she shrugged you off. You then glared at Daryl who didn’t back down from you. 

“She is just trying to fit it,” Negan interjected and you began shaking your head behind Daryl’s back that clearly said don’t antagonize him. 

“Well, she ain’t gonna do that if she hangs out with you, is she?” Daryl said.

“Daryl, stop it,” you said, pushing him back. 

“Nah, (Y/N),” he said. “I don’t care what’s goin’ on here,” he said gesturing between the two of you, “but I don’t need people associatin’ her with him.”

“That’s not up to you,” you said sternly, keeping yourself between Negan and Daryl. “Lydia lives with me, she’s bonded with Negan. Whether you like it or not, that interaction is gonna happen.” Daryl went to say something else before he huffed and walked away, not giving Negan a second glance. 

“(Y/N)…” Negan began. 

“Don’t,” you said, keeping your back to him. 

“Daryl is too important to you. Don’t piss him off,” Negan said. You finally turned to face him and crossed your arms. 

“Daryl and I have been at worse crossroads. Besides, he’s more pissed at Carol right now than you or me. I’ll talk to him,” you promised. 

“Just…” Negan trailed off, reaching for you and you let him take your face in his hands. “Don’t push him away. There’s too much history.”

“I won’t,” you promised and he nodded before kissing you quickly. You ran your hand through his hair before following after Daryl and Lydia, eager to diffuse the tension. “Daryl, listen to me,” you said as you caught up to them. Lydia was fuming at him.

“We were just talking,” Lydia was saying as she stalked away from him.

“He ain't your friend,” Daryl argued. 

“He gets me, okay? Besides they’re always together!” Lydia said gesturing to you. You went to argue, but couldn’t find the words.

“Just stay away from him, alright?” Daryl said. When Lydia went to retort, she froze looking over both of your shoulders. “What?” he asked and then turned just as you did.

Rage immediately entered your chest. Painted on the door of Michonne’s house were the words, “Silence the Whisperers”. You had no doubt that a similar message would be waiting for you at home as well. 

----------

Lydia wasn’t speaking to you or Daryl as the day wore on. 

You kept an eye on her wherever she was, as did Laura and Gabriel when they had her in their sights. You were trying to give the girl space, but you were at a crossroads with her just as you were with Daryl. There was too much tension across the communities. You hadn’t heard from Oceanside in a while, but Hilltop was in trouble. Michonne knew how to handle it, but you had that itch to ride out as well. 

However, you knew that leaving now would only give Lydia’s bullies an opportunity to gang up on her further. This was starting to feel as if you were back in the early days of Alexandria when nobody trusted anyone. It was as if you were walking on eggshells, just waiting for the cracks to come. 

It was nighttime by the time you dragged yourself home. You had been trying to help Siddiq with Coco while Rosita slept. Dante took over the infirmary for the night so the new father had some time off and you were more than willing to help out with the little one. Besides, it did keep your mind busy.

Walking into your house, you pulled your sword off your hip. “Lydia?” you called, running a hand through your hair. When there was no answer, you paused in the living room. “Lydia!” you called again, but your house remained silent. “Shit,” you swore. 

Grabbing your gear, you headed back out into the night, in search of the teen. Nobody was out at this time of night, everyone preferring to stay in the warmth of their homes. Jogging towards Michonne’s house where you knew Daryl was living, the entire building was silent. That is, except for Carol who sat on the stoop, staring into the night. 

For the first time in a long time, you couldn’t get a read on the woman. You had been with her since the beginning, watching as she grew from fragile and timid to brave and daunting. Carol was everything that you had wanted to be, especially since she still held onto that caring nature that had made you love her immediately.

However, now you were seeing the other side of Carol that was never all that comforting. When she needed it, the lone wolf side of her came out and it always started with simmering anger. You couldn’t imagine what she was feeling after what Alpha had done to her child, but there was a predatory look in the woman’s eyes that sent chills down your spine. You began to wonder if Alpha had seen it yet and if she had, was she scared?

Carol didn’t even seem to notice you as you passed her and headed towards the cell. However, that door was open as well. Negan must have been just finishing up his work for the day, you figured. You didn’t know what time it was, but all this silence was making you worried. 

Just as you were about to head down another street, you noticed Daryl coming out of the house, a frown on his face. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he noticed your stressed expression.

“Is she with you?” you asked as he approached. 

“Hmm?” 

“Lydia? She wasn’t at home, is she with you?”

“I thought she was with you,” he said with narrowed eyes. You were about to speak when a shout of alarm caught your attention. You and Daryl looked at each other before you took off in the direction of the commotion.

Shouts of pain and the sound of crying came from the laundry area. When you arrived, you were struck by what you saw. Lydia was on the ground and her arms and legs were wrapped around Negan who kneeled over her protectively. 

“Negan killed her!” a voice rang out and you turned to where everyone was looking and that's when you saw the body. A woman, someone you recognized as one of Ozzy’s people. She was a part of the highwaymen and now her blood was staining the ground. 

“What happened?” you whispered as you faced Negan, but he wasn’t moving from Lydia’s side as his eyes bore into yours. 

“He didn’t do anything! No, it wasn't... He didn't do anything!” Lydia cried from the ground, choking on her sobs. 

“Get him out of here!” Daryl yelled and when you tried to stop him, he pushed you back, grabbing you by your arm. “I’m trying to diffuse the tension.” Guards rushed at Negan to pull him off of Lydia, but she was resisting, clinging to Negan’s boots. 

Eventually, Negan managed to untangle her from his legs and walked willingly from the scene. You were frozen as Daryl took Negan’s spot, trying to soothe her. “He didn’t do anything,” she cried. 

“I know, I know,” Daryl whispered to her as he stroked her hair. Lydia’s eyes found yours and you wanted to go to her, but there were too many thoughts going on your head. For months you had been saying that you would choose others over Negan, but now? Now you weren’t sure what the hell you were going to do. “(Y/N),” Daryl said, getting your attention, “get her to Siddiq.” 

Nodding, you knelt down and helped Lydia to her feet. She leaned heavily on you as you began to take her towards the infirmary. Behind you, you could hear Daryl’s deep voice barking out orders for the others to disperse, and then you watched as Gabriel began walking towards the meeting hall. It was time for the council to convene. 

-------

“Hold that right there,” Siddiq said as he pressed a towel to Lydia’s face. “Easy, now,” he soothed. 

You stood next to her, waiting for Daryl to arrive. Lydia looked so small as she curled in on herself on the exam table. With her hair stuck to her neck with sweat and dirt brushed on her clothes, she looked as she did when you had first met her. That image of a frightened girl was burned in your mind as Michonne leveled her sword at her head. Now, that look on Lydia’s face had returned. 

“Are you okay?” Siddiq asked you as he wrung out another towel. You nodded, not trusting your voice right now. Feeling a tear roll down your cheek, you flicked it away before Lydia could notice. The last thing she needed was you breaking down as well. 

Siddiq went to say something else when Daryl entered the room, his eyes finding Lydia immediately. 

“Hey,” he said softly, nodding to Siddiq who left the three of you alone. You and Daryl took a spot on either side of the teen, trying to get her to look at either of you. “I’m sorry this happened to you,” Daryl tried, but she was still quiet. “Lydia?”

“He was so sweaty,” Lydia whispered. “Never liked deodorant. Said it... it made his armpits itchy. So, I got used to it. Sometimes he smelled like garlic and onions.” Daryl looked at you in concern, but you just lightly shrugged. “I miss him,” she finished. 

“Who?” you asked. 

“My dad,” Lydia said as her voice cracked. “My dad would have protected me.” Your heart felt heavy at that statement and you couldn’t handle seeing her in pain.

“Tell me what happened,” Daryl said. Lydia finally looked up at him and with steel resolve, told the truth. 

“Negan saved my life. I would be dead without him,” she said and then reached out and grabbed your hand, her grip like a vice. Lydia looked at you with tears rimming her eyes. “I’m sorry I went out without telling you,” she said, but you were already shaking your head. 

“It’s not your fault, Lydia,” you told her, and then she was leaning into your arms, reaching for Daryl as she did so. You and Daryl held onto her as you both tried to wrap your head around what the hell you were going to do. 

-----

“Yer stayin’ outside,” Daryl said as you began walking towards the cell. 

“Daryl, come on,” you said in a hastened whisper, but he wasn’t up for negotiating. He stopped just before the cell and raised a finger to you. 

“Outside,” he whispered so the current inmate couldn’t hear him. “Ya can listen all ya want, but I gotta hear his side without you there. Alright?” You knew he was right.

“Fine,” you responded and then Daryl was jogging down the steps and into the jail. You sat just outside, close enough to hear both of them. You were just hoping that Daryl was going to be able to keep his head. 

“How’s the kid?” Negan asked as Daryl approached the bars. 

“She’s banged up, but she’s gonna be alright. You know, the people out there are talkin' about puttin' you down, sayin' Rick ain't around to save you no more, maybe they should have done it a long time ago,” Daryl said and you had to fight to stay in your spot. 

“If you came here looking for a confession... just keep walking,” Negan said and you could hear him sit up on the cot as the springs groaned. “It was an accident. And for the record, screw her. She was a goddamn asshole beating on a kid. World's better off. But you already know that, don't you?” he said and then sighed. 

“You came down here to look me in the eye because you don't know what to do with me,” Negan continued. “Shit, all that time you spent fantasizing about my death, all that time you actually tried to kill me, and now look at you. You're not so sure.” 

“Shut up,” you whispered under your breath. Antagonizing Daryl right now was not a smart play. Daryl, however, wasn’t in the mood to be screwed with. 

“You listen to me real close. You and I ain't never been in a room before, not toe to toe. And there ain't nobody to save you right now,” Daryl threatened and Negan was silent for a moment before answering. 

“Isn’t there?” Negan challenged. “Because from where I’m standing, Daryl. I don’t think your bestie would be too happy if I got the noose.”

“Don’t,” Daryl said. 

“Don’t what? Tell the truth? Cause if I’m being damn honest and we both sure as shit know that I always am, (Y/N) seems to be the only thing keeping you from usin’ that fancy bow of yours on me. Isn’t that right?”

“I ain’t here to talk about them,” Daryl said. 

“Good cause they got nothin’ to do with what happened tonight,” Negan said. “Hell, the only person that mattered was that scared girl.”

“Why help her? Why help Lydia? You ain’t no hero.”

"No, I'm not. I'm a sucker. See, I started believing in your way of life, your moral code. Hell, you even gave me a little taste of freedom, just so you could yank it away when I actually did the right thing. You gotta admit, that is pretty messed up. And we both know I appreciate some messed-up shit. So, now it’s up to you, what are you gonna do about it, Daryl?”

“You’re gonna get a chance to tell your side,” Daryl said as he walked from the room. 

“Who’s the sucker now,” Negan said as he lay back down on the cot. Daryl locked up behind him and then he was pulling you up by your arm and dragging you away from the cell. 

“Daryl,” you said, pulling away from him. He didn’t stop until he was far enough away from the cell. 

“What’s his angle?” Daryl asked. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” you asked, your brows raised. “He saves a goddamn kid and you think there’s an angle?”

“With him, there always is,” Daryl argued. 

“Maybe with the old Negan, but what does he have to gain by doing it now?”

“You!” Daryl shot back. 

“I’m already his, he has nothing to prove to me! Why don’t you get that?”

“I’m trying!” Daryl shouted back. You stopped and looked at him, really looked, and what you saw made you take a step back. 

“You were never okay with any of this,” you realized. “All that bullshit in the barn was just that.”

“I just need time,” Daryl said. “You can’t expect me to be all goddamn accepting of you and him.” 

“I never asked you to be accepting! As you said then, I’m a grown-ass adult, I don’t need my family’s permission. You told me to not keep any more fucking secrets from you and I haven’t. What else do you want me to do?” you were fuming as you yelled at him. Daryl just shook his head.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t know.” Scoffing, you turned to head towards the meeting hall. 

“Well, let me know when you figure it out.”

-------

Nobody told you to leave as you sat in on the council meeting. 

Regardless of your relationship with Negan, with Michonne away, you were now in charge of security and this did concern you. Gabriel was talking with Gage and Alfred as you leaned against the wall by the fire, trying to get a read on them.

“Lydia lured you there?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah,” Gage said, nodding his head vigorously. “You saw what she did with the squirrel. She's psycho.” Confused, you glanced at Aaron who leaned back to whisper to you. 

“Lydia brought a squirrel to lunch and ate it raw next to them,” Aaron whispered to you and you sighed deeply. 

“Of course she did,” you swore, returning to your position. 

“And Negan was with her,” Alfred added quickly. The problem was, you didn’t know if that part was a lie. You had no idea where Negan was before you found him protecting Lydia.

“If you thought Lydia was crazy, why'd you agree to meet her back there in the dark?” Gabriel inquired. Alfred stuttered, but Gage was ready with an answer. As always.

“Hey, we're the ones who were attacked here!” Gage shouted. 

“But she's the one laying in the infirmary,”

“And our friend is in a grave.” You had heard enough and it seemed that Gabriel had as well. He dismissed them with a wave of his hand and they left quickly. As Gage left, he locked eyes with you and you stared him down. He practically sprinted after Alfred at your look. 

Once it was just the leaders again, Aaron began. “I get why people might think Negan's been redeemed. I've... I've wondered it myself,” he said. “He saved my life when I was blinded. Whether that was for personal gain or not, he still did it.” Aaron then looked at you before continuing. “I’ve also seen... and heard things that have led me to believe he actually feels remorse for what he’s done.”

“We’re not here to look at his moral compass, Aaron,” Gabriel reminded him.

“Maybe we need to,” he argued. “However, with everything that he’s done, maybe something is broken in him.” You slumped into a seat across from the main table, rubbing at your temples.

“Yes, but killing him now over this undermines the civilization that we have built,” Siddiq added.

“This civilization was formed on blood, Siddiq,” Laura reminded him. 

“That doesn’t mean it has to stay that way,” the doctor countered. “I know how we all feel about him and I do mean all of us,” Siddiq said, looking at you, “but that doesn’t mean we become executioners.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” you added and Aaron knew you were talking about Gregory. 

“That was different,” Gabriel said, knowing where your head was at as well. 

“Not really,” you said. 

“Look, the council wasn't made for this, deciding on a man's life in the dead of night because people are carrying pitchforks and torches,” Gabriel said, rubbing at his brow. 

Suddenly, Daryl came into the room. He glanced at you quickly before turning his attention on the council. 

"If you can't make a decision, the people out there are gonna make one for you,” he said and everyone knew he was right.

“What'd Michonne say?” Gabriel asked.

“She wants me to be her vote. Lydia said Negan saved her, so he saved her. I'm a ‘no’,” Daryl said and you weren’t even surprised that she relegated her vote to Daryl. You weren’t getting a vote this time when it came to Negan’s fate. 

“So we're tied,” Aaron said. “Gabriel, where do you stand?” 

Everyone looked to the Father who just stood from his seat. “I'm gonna take the night to clear my head and consider my vote,” Gabriel said, grabbing his hat. “I suggest you all do the same.”

As you got up to leave, Daryl got in your path. 

“Move,” you said, not wanting to do this right now. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, making you pause. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” you agreed. “I am not going to apologize for loving him, Daryl.”

“I know,” he said with a sigh. “I guess I hadn’t realized you were actually that serious about him.”

“I am,” you said, crossing your arms, “and I don’t have to justify my feelings to you or anyone.” Daryl nodded, dropping his head. You weren’t in the mood to play best friend right now. He didn’t need to be comforted after he had yelled at you in the street. 

“Are we gonna be okay?” he asked, looking up at you through his hair. 

“I’ll get over it,” you said. 

“That’s not what I meant,” he said. 

“I know,” you said and then changed the subject. “What did Michonne actually say?” Daryl sighed as he leaned against the main table. 

“She thinks that Alpha won’t attack if we have Lydia with us,” he said. “She wants us to make sure that Lydia stays.”

“Great, more pressure to put on her,” you said. 

“I don’t think that’s what Michonne meant,” Daryl said. 

“Doesn’t matter. She’s been through enough already. We can’t put that on her now. Especially not after tonight.”

“I know,” he said. You were quiet for a moment before nodding and turning to leave. “(Y/N),” he said, stopping you, “you can’t go and see him.”

“Daryl...”

“This isn’t about what I think about him. When Gabe talks to him, he can’t have your opinions goin’ on inside his head. Just... just give ‘em the night.” You paused in the doorway and then turned back. 

“Fine, but I’m not going far.” 

-------

You had ended up sleeping at the Grimes house with Lydia by your side. She didn’t want to be too far from you or Daryl and so a compromise was made.

Waking up in the morning, the sun was streaming in through the windows of the house, illuminating the sleeping teen on the couch next to you. You hadn’t slept that well, worried about what Gabriel was going to decide. 

While he and Negan had formed some sort of bond, Gabriel was always thinking about the bigger picture. You were only hoping that he was including Negan in all of that. 

Just as you were about to wake Lydia, a loud banging echoed throughout the house. Lydia was startled awake as Daryl came walking into the room half-asleep. 

Getting up, you joined him at the front door. “What?” Daryl growled as he pulled open the door to see a very distraught Gabriel. 

“He’s gone,” Gabriel said trying to catch his breath. Gabriel then spotted you behind Daryl and he just shook his head. “Negan’s gone.”

“(Y/N),” Daryl said, looking back at you, but his words weren’t resonating. Nothing was. “(Y/N)!” Finally looking at him, you just began shaking your head. 

“No,” you gasped. “He’s not, he wouldn’t...”

“The keys were stolen,” Gabriel said. “Someone let him out and based on the look on your face, it wasn’t you.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” Daryl said as he moved forward to grab you by the shoulders. “Look at me,” he said. 

“I... I can’t,” you said and then he was pulling you into his arms, trying to keep you on your feet. “Not again.”

TAGS: @lucillethings @cameronsails @stark-dreams @amaroho @thanossexual @yes-sir-hotchner @boom-bunny @delusionalteenagewhispers @scootankle @ritajammer21 @writteriguess @tea-atfive @jennydehavilland @waspyyy @yespleasejayhalstead @hoemadegrace @writingdeadangel @huffledor-able541​ @pulplorrd​ @felicisimor​ 

[save-the-spiral]

PLS PLS LIST THE SWAPS!! TELL ME ABOUT THE SIBLINGS AND ALSO HIFUMI BECAUSE I LOVE HIM (IF YOU WANT!) I will also send more questions in the morning too, excited to see what you’ve been working on!!

OK OK OK !!!!! AHH! So, before assigning talents, I swapped the pools, so for the first game, I use the talents from the second game, and vis versa! For some i listed gender, sexuality, or neurodivergencies, though this isn’t all of them, and I haven’t developed them all to the same level!

This is SO long. I didn’t even bother mentioning things like my plans for the killing games. (I have DR1 planned out in full, but only parts of DR2 and the v3 anime)

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK MY HEART SKIPPED A BEAT IN HAPPINESS WHEN I SAW I HAD NEW ASK NOTIFS!!

LIST:

Trigger Happy Havoc (first game)

Kyoko Kirigiri- Ultimate Luckster- Mastermind (: Sometimes lesbians can be evil okay! was trained as a detective like everyone in her family and didn’t get the ultimate :) she’s definitely not mad about that :) her luck cycle depends on how far she plans things ahead. her good luck is when she’s spontaneous! She hates when ‘normal’ people are accepted by ultimates.

Makoto Naegi- Photographer (Mostly wildlife and nature photography, with Sayaka helping him for some animal photography (: trans and bi <3 One of sayaka’s birds nests in his hair like all the time)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru- Ultimate Swordsman (AUTISTIC ICON, has trained in kendo since he was a kid, then was essentially given away to the Fujisaki clan by his very stressed dad. Semiverbal, rarely speaks.)

Chihiro Fujisaki- Ultimate Yakuza (Taka is her bodyguard! His family is in debt to hers, the Fujisaki clan is the most powerful in Japan. trans icon, of course, dates Sayaka! Very direct, though she’s far more delicate and polite when talking to taka, her best friend)

Sakura Oogami- Ultimate Nurse (Works as an EMT- her clan still is in martial arts, so she’s still very buff, she assists in injuries at the family dojo. Autistic Icon)

Asahina Aoi- Ultimate Gamer (ULTIMATE ADHD. streams and has a ton of fun, will ramble while breaking records, demigirl who loves her girlfriend sakura :)

Mukuro Ikusaba- Ultimate Chef (Works best with ‘cheap’ food, and making them taste good. a byproduct of growing up on the streets with junko, and junko being bored of the same old food they dug out of the trash. now works closely with junko for her teams’ nutritional needs! autistic and sapphic.)

Junko Enoshima- Ultimate Team Manager (there are SO many sports she can never get bored, and the professional scene is always changing! prefers coaching womens’ teams, because being an ultimate brings them more publicity and usually higher pay :)

Mondo Oowada- Ultimate Prince (OH MY BOY. trans adhd icon. now the crown prince of Novoselic, with a reagent in his place until he comes of age. His service dog Chuck is a maltese and an absolute sweetheart. Chihiro takes him under her wing to teach leadership. also dates taka later OF COURSE, though they’re poly and I may add more ppl to their relationship later.)

Celestia Ludenburg- Ultimate Musician (specializes in violin, most strings, though she can play any instrument. grew up poor, dedicated herself to an instrument and persona to cope)

Byakuya Togami- Ultimate Musician (Yep. two musicians. two catty trans gay icons about to throw down. they HATE each other and grew up as rivals. specialize in classical, they literally tore a professional orchestra full of grown adults apart trying to make them side with who was the best musician. they’re so good that they’re matched, and Hope’s Peak accepts them as one student and combined ultimate. they room together. they fight. Literally if one of them gets expelled, the other does too, so they’re STUCK. eventually they become literally inseparable and insufferable together like the WORST siblings. I love them.)

Sayaka Maizono- Breeder (animal handler) (Specializes in birds!!!!!! has songbirds on her shoulders all the time. will give unsettling animal facts without realizing they’re unsettling. sends her songbirds to serenade chihiro when they start dating <3)

Yasuhiro Hagakure- Gymnast (you see this tall goof who acts like an older brother to everyone and wonder HOW he’s a gymnast. he’s completely different in competitions, though still lighthearted. becomes a big brother figure to mukuro and junko especially <3 also trans bc i say so.)

Leon Kuwata- Traditional Dancer (he just. kinda hates it. it takes SO much work and effort but he takes to it naturally. his cousin kanon is NOT like in canon, instead she’s helpful. he’d literally rather be doing anything else. doesn’t know how to do anything like... basic either. can’t cook. cant do his own laundry. everything was dedicated to traditional japanese dancing before he attended HPA.)

Toko Fukawa- Engineer (writes schematics and is very good at it. gets VERY upset when her plans go wrong. her notes are orderly and perfect. host for their system!)

Syo- Mechanic (a factive of genocider syo, NOT an actual killer. she’s a protector mainly, and also is more adept at hands on skills when it comes to fixing things, her hands are less shaky. Her notes are a disaster and she does it to spite Toko.)

Hifumi Yamada- (???) (reserve course) Protagonist! My BOY. HIFUMI IS GOOD OKAY. He’s autistic and loves anime and gaming! he’s not particularly ultimate-leveled at them, or anything else! Attending Hope’s Peak as a reserve course student! At one point he joins the student council as a reserve course representative even if he’s only a freshman :) He’s also a moderator in Hina’s livestream chat, under the username of JusticeHammer, fastest ban hammer this side of the internet. He's internet friends with hina and sakura, and doesn’t realize Oh We Go To the same SCHOOL until he bumps into them. and realizes hina doesnt know what he looks like. but sakura does. its hilarious. he’s aroace, and during the year they’re locked in HPA, is in a queer platonic partnership with Hina and Sakura, while they’re dating each other. it’s great.)

Goodbye Despair! (second game)

Peko Pekoyama- Lucky student (ohohoh. her luck relies on her conviction. if she has doubts her bad luck strikes HARD. trans!, was taken in by Fuyuhiko’s family when she was a baby, grew up as just another kid in the family. They all expected Fuyu to go off to HPA on his own and then BOOM acceptance letter)

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu- Programmer (He. gets so angry while coding. He has an array of rubber ducks to talk to and work through his coding issues with. trans of course. Very protective of Peko when people say she doesn’t have a ‘real’ ultimate. ADHD and Autistic)

Sonia Nevermind- Writer (Literary Girl) (Her family immigrated to Japan when she was young! She writes a lot of serial killer novels, murder mysteries and horror and all that! Trans and bi :)

Gundham Tanaka- Detective (YEAH my guy is a detective. still talks Like That. Trans and bi and he and Sonia were kinda-dating (t4t autistic power couple in the making) when things started happening. He spends some time with his cool older sister who he looks up to a LOT. He and Sonia talk through things together a lot, they both have those red string walls, one for murder cases, another for a fictional plot lmao.)

Mahiru Koizumi- Moral Compass (my GIRL. autistic. Her morals rely a lot on people taking responsibility and being reliable, and she ends up having to work through some biases she didn’t realize she had when she arrived at HPA. Is still protective of Hiyoko, though that protectiveness is spread a bit thinner to extend to the rest of the class.)

Hiyoko Saionji- Clairvoyant!!! (HI YES I COULD TALK ABOUT HER FOR DAYS. Has actual visions in dreams and when she suddenly faints, but doesn’t really realize they’re uhh Real Visions for a WHILE. uses her status as an ultimate clairvoyant to trick and bully kids when in school for a LONG time, though her homelife wasn’t great with her grandmother trying to find ways to make her visions more consistent. SHES ALSO 12 WHEN SHE JOINS THE 77TH CLASS. she’s just so advanced in academics and her ultimate is so interesting hope’s peak cant HELP but scout her early. she has SO many issues guys no one appreciates hiyoko enough, autistic gifted kid hiyoko my beloved.)

Akane Owari- Gambler (started gambling to help out her family and Got Good at it. is very very conscious of money and food like all the time. Runs the hope’s peak betting pools once she arrives. these ultimates bet on a lot of things. she ALWAYS wins. until she doesnt!!!)

Mikan Tsumiki- Martial Artist (ohhhh Mikan. Still anxious and clumsy (though not like THAT in canon) and literally no one looks at her and thinks Oh The ULTIMATE martial artist?? it isn’t until you see her in the ring that you understand. She started learning self defense as a kid because her (bad) parents essentially said she had to rely on and protect herself and no one else would help.)

Kazuichi Souda- Pop Idol (OH TRANS ICON? he’s nervous and paranoid about Everything still, though now it’s like. oh the entire world is always watching my every move this is Okay (: has the brightest neon album eras. he literally keeps up a like. weird chad persona when interacting with people because he’s masking how hard he’s constantly just internally screaming.)

Nagito Komaeda- Soldier (AHAHAH my mans got issues problems disorder he’s a messssss, this trans guy, this absolute gay. this boy leveled a city of thousands of people with his own hands and some bombs. Still has medical issues, but most of his like. treatments and medicine is hold hostage as long as he stays in line. believes the ends justify the means and anyone who dies to him is obviously weak, because look at him! he’s weak, but that doesn’t matter because he doesn’t have to be the strongest, he just has to be stronger than the weakest scum.)

Chiaki Nanami- Heir (OOF. Agender, uses any pronouns. Doesn’t really. enjoy being the heir. grew up with Byakuya in the same circles. she treats the economy and stock market and stuff like games. enjoys gaming but isn’t good at them. collects so many things. has halls full of collections. Her parents stopped controlling her once she was able to prove she had more money than them and could literally bankrupt them if she wanted.)

Hajime Hinata- Baseball Star (Chiaki’s best friend, his family was upper middle class until he hit it BIG as a baseball star. wants to do BIG things and wants to attend hope’s peak more than anything!! Doesn’t really think of baseball as his THING, just a means to an end! trans :)

Teruteru Hanamura- Biker Gang Leader (started with shaking down some jerks who didn’t pay their food and drink tabs at his mama’s restaurant. now he RUNS their tiny town. His siblings are essentially gang mascots, he works hard to keep them out of trouble (while bringing them to like. meetings where he ends up beating a dude almost to death. its fine). most of what he does it to get more money to keep the restaurant afloat and care for his mama with her health conditions.)

Nekomaru Nidai- Fashionista (the drama. the CHAOS. most people are like ohhh we can never understand this artistic genius when he’s literally just. vibing and has ADHD and a love for coffee. Works a lot on accessible clothing lines for disabled people! Also he and Kazuichi work together sometimes, Nekomaru is good at calming Kaz down and seeing like, the root of whatever problem and making it better. ALSO A TRANS ICON and just flaunts it.)

Imposter- In the hope’s peak days they are impersonating Ryota Mitarai, as a part of the 77th class. In the Killing Game they impersonate Mondo Oowada as the Ultimate Prince. They’re doin’ their best.

Ibuki Mioda- (???) (Izuru Kamakura) Protagonist! Gundham Tanaka’s older sister (though they’re in the same school year). Nonbinary and using just. an array of pronouns alongside she/her, and jokingly fights with gundham for neopronouns like MOM said it’s MY TURN on the rawrself pronouns. She attends the reserve course to stay at her brother’s side. She dresses loudly and acts even louder because !!! she wants to stand out!! in the middle of this drab reserve course hell!!  but when things go down, she wants to be someone, to be worthy of being her amazing brother’s big sister. so she accepts some offers.

NON-KILLING GAME:

Ryota Mitarai- Ultimate Analyst (stays in his room. He’s terrified of the outside world but fascinated by it. watches hope’s peak academy through security feeds, picking up on little details. he just wants to understand things but never looks at the big picture.)

Chisa Yukizome- Ultimate Boxer (Homeroom teacher!! She’s working really hard and believes in everyone! Some are intimidated by talent, but she’s never hurt anyone outside of the ring! Dating Kyosuke)

Juzo Sakakura- Ultimate Student Council President (Has anger issues, though his work at reigning them in assisted in becoming an Ultimate. Was responsible for security and the Hope’s Peak student council. Dating Kyosuke)

Kyosuke Munakata- Ultimate Housekeeper (Meticulous, works himself to the BONE even if he’s good enough to not have to do that. Is working on establishing another Hope’s Peak! Dating Chisa and Jozu!!!)

Seiko Kimura- Ultimate Blacksmith (GIVE MY GIRL KNIVES!! She’s an anxious gal, always wearing a facemask that filters the air in her forge because she has some respiratory problems. she prefers making more decorative pieces like an artist, but sometimes can create utilitarian pieces or tools to fit specific needs. Still a doormat)

Ruruka Ando- Ultimate Pharmacist (She constantly asks Seiko for new tools for her developments in medicine, saying its all for the advancement of humanity, so Seiko denying any request is SELFISH, though she never thinks to make anything for seiko’s health issues. Dating Izayoi. Specializes in medicine for mental health. Not Doing Great :)

Sonosuke Izayoi- Ultimate Confectioner (He loves sweets. LOVES them. Creates things that look plain, ordinary. but taste so GOOD you CRY and maybe ascend for a little bit. sometimes Ando makes cool new drugs to put in the sweets, who knows! It’s a mystery! He always has like. a huge refrigerated case of fresh cakes, and constantly has a lollipop in his own specialty recipe in his mouth.)

[tintinwrites]

Pedro Characters’ Reactions to You Wanting a Pet But I’m...Slightly an Asshole to the Characters?

Love Pedro and everyone’s headcanons and fics...and I’m pretty nice in this one anyway lol

Agent Whiskey

is it a farm animal or a large dog that can guard you?

if the answer is yes, then sure

if the answer is no, then his answer is also no

“Don’t you look at me like that, cherry blossom.”

you do look at him like that

he gives in the next day and allows you to choose anything you want

that’s how he ends up with a little terrier always on his heels (”Terrier is awful close to terror and now I know why.”)

when you’re relaxing he pats his thigh and let’s the dog curl up in his lap, ignoring your smirk as he pets it

Comandante Veracruz

he’ll allow it as long as you behave and the pet doesn’t start any trouble

that means a lot of blowjobs from you

doesn’t necessarily interact with the pet, but isn’t mean to it either

“Tell your animal to stop stealing my boot laces or I will...”

do nothing tbh

he keeps treats in his pockets secretly and he’ll allow your dog/cat one if ti comes pawing at him

pats their head

one time you found him playing with the boot laces and he claimed he was just trying to take them back

Dave York

he only says yes because you mentioned it in front of the girls and they started squealing

not a great person, but a GREAT dad

you are very limited in your choice of pets though

“I don’t want hair all over the house, I don’t want marks on the furniture, I don’t want-”

you end up with a Maltese

the girls like to put a bow in its hair which Dave pretends doesn’t make it cute

it’s not allowed in your bed at all

except eventually somehow it ends up on the foot of your bed and he’s like “Fine.”

Din Djarin

you prepare a whole little speech when you find the cute, lonely creature on the street of the planet where you’re refueling

you’re mouthing it to yourself as you walk back to the Razor Crest

imagine your surprise when you see Mando and the Child, the former’s arms full of more of the creatures

“The kid kept crying because they were selling them for food. I guess this is one thing he won’t eat.”

there’s not really room on the ship, but you’ll find them nice homes

nah lmao you keep them all

it makes everything a little crowded, but neither of you could just abandon them

they follow Mando around like ducklings following their mama

Ezra

he’s very pleased at the idea of a creature the two of you can coexist with

he might even be the one to bring it up

the two of you decide on whatever cats are now in the Prospect universe

“It reminds me much of myself, aloof until it discovers something it desires. Or wants pet.”

you often find it curled up in his lap or somewhere near him

it’s nice for it to be more than just the two of you now

quite possible you might end up with a lot more cats

you’ve both been lonely

Frankie ‘Catfish’ Morales

one of you is gonna come home with a stray

you are just the type of people who can’t leave a helpless little animal by itself

if it’s you, Frankie doesn’t even hesitate

“Yeah, babe, we can absolutely keep it.”

you’ll probably end up with two cats and a dog just from how soft you both are

the first kitten you find is probably named Oliver and probably has a bell on its collar

Frankie is openly affectionate with the animals and can almost always be found playing with them or petting them

yes they sleep in your bed bye

Javier Peña

the moment you come home with a stray kitten, he says no

maybe it’s because of another cat he once knew

maybe it’s because he’s just not a cat guy

“Just give it to the shelter, we’ll pick out a rabbit or something.”

he only let’s you keep it because he knows it’ll probably leave him alone

but it doesn’t lmao

it chooses him as its favorite as soon as it sees him

and yes okay maybe you come home to him with the cat curled up in his lap but it doesn’t mean he’s a cat person now

Marcus Pike

he’s the kind of guy who dreams of the perfect little family with a Golden Retriever and a tabby cat

so he’s gonna say yes to whatever pet you want

those are his preferred types, but he’ll let you choose anything from a fish to any breed of dog or cat

“We can go to the shelter tomorrow and see what’s there, okay?”

he knows which one to choose the moment he sees you and a dog fall in love with each other

goes to the pet store right after to buy the best food and lots of toys

he let’s it cuddle all over him and it’s the cutest thing ever

yes it sleeps between the two of you in bed unless you shoo it to the living room for some ~alone time~ bc you need that life, home, and family if you want it

Maxwell Lord

no

why even ask?

a man that expensive does NOT want an animal around

“They’re messy and they’re loud and I don’t know what they’re thinking which freaks me out.”

so yeah you end up with a very expensive Poodle

it freaks him out every time it barks

but hey you blew him for it so can he really complain?

yes, daily

Max Phillips

the first thing you ask is if he eats animals

you assume by the way he’s staring at you that he doesn’t

realization comes to his face when you finally ask if it was possible for you to have a pet

“Hey, sure, as long as it goes with my suits.”

you adopt a dog that Max names Buddy

it barks at him like it knows he’s a supernatural creature

you’ve found him on the back of the couch trying to keep away from the dog more than once

he tries to use the dog to make sales bc he knows people love pets

Oberyn Martell

he knows you want a pet before you even ask

like you’re thinking about bringing it up and he just shows up with some tiny animal

or a dozen tiny animals is also possible

“Does it please you?”

he’ll let you have anything you want honestly

loves to watch you play with your pets

the joy on your face and the way the sun touches you just right...

it makes him horny. what doesn’t make him horny-

Pero Tovar

he likes outside pets like horses and barn cats

he does allow a big guard dog like an Irish Wolfhound inside and feeds it during dinner when it’s sneaking under the table

when you want house cats or smaller dogs, though...

“No.”

but this grumpy man is soft for one person and one person only

he allows you a little spaniel bc you keep looking at him with puppy eyes

yes he looks grumpy as you walk around town with that thing in your arms, but he makes sure to buy it a treat when you stop at the butcher’s

and, yes, he does eventually allow a couple house cats and he buys cream especially for them

[that-one-girl-behind-you]

Illicio 6/?

Part 5

"Wh- no, not at all," Jon shakes his head. Great, just great. Just go ahead and screw it up with the only person who for whatever reason seems to like your presence anymore. "I was just wondering."

"Yeah I just thought with the Dark people coming closer-" Gerry's voice fades gradually, until he's looking at the coffeepot in a sort of contemplative silence. He turns his head to look at Jon again after a moment. "I just like being here."

Jon feels his mouth dry up, and the space where his missing ribs should go aches as if to remind him he's betraying Gerry's trust even as they speak. He'll- he'll probably stop liking it -liking Jon- when he finds out he's been lying to him.

"That's- that's good. I like having you here," Jon mutters.

VI

Basira's capability to work through bullshit is, it turns out, incredibly high.

It's basically a requirement for all sectioned officers, but Basira's been steadily pushing her threshold back since she started noticing her partner and friend with benefits could track down a suspect better than the K9 units. As it stands now, she looks at Sylphie Fairchild, and ignores the way her ears feel blocked, like every sound is dimmed and muffled before it reaches her. She knows they're standing in a shop on a busy street, the avatar's acoustic tricks are not going to fool her.

"A diving school?" Basira asks. The shop is all painted a single hue of deep blue, from the door and the floor to the counter, and if Basira loses her focus for a moment it becomes unclear if the walls are even there at all.

"Best one in Malta," Sylphie smiles. It's difficult to believe there's something inhuman about her, when she's not spewing bugs or sprouting limbs. "We specialize in nighttime excursions. Only you and the sea and the stars above yo-"

"Sounds charming," Basira interrupts. The woman leans across the counter slow and flowingly, like she's moving through water. The folds on her flannel continue moving long after she's stopped, as if pushed around by currents Basira can't see. "I thought drowning was a Buried thing."

It's why she'd come here in the first place. Surely a Vast avatar that deals in the Buried's domain will know something about the coffin, or how to crack it open.

"Hmmmmm, it depends on what you get from it." Sylphie, voice turns amused. "Should you be asking questions? I thought that's why you had an Archivist."

Basira sighs. That does explain why this feels so wrong. When Elias gave her the name, it had been easy to find Fairchild, her path illuminating in her mind like a neon trail. But that's it. She's meant to find information, not add it to the Archive, she guesses.

Whatever. This is not about Basira and what she may or may not be turning into. This is about Daisy, and that makes it worth it.

"He's busy. I want to-"

"Ah, pity. I wanted to meet him! Michael always gets all the fun- or he used to." Sylphie chuckles darkly, and it sends Basira's nerves on edge. A good reminder that this is not just a young woman playing dumb, but a predator. She wonders how many people have jumped into the sea in the middle of the night and then never found the boat again. "You Eye folks really like sticking your noses in everybody's businesses don't you?"

Basira's nape prickles. The counter is gone, and she's standing in the middle of a deep blue expanse, much colder than it ought to in the middle of the Maltese summer.

"I'm not scared," says Basira, and she means it. She rationalized her way out of the Unknowing, it takes a lot more than a Fairchild with bad taste in decoration to mess with her mind. "Do you know anything about the coffin?"

Sylphie rolls her eyes. "Tsk. You're no fun at all." She snaps her fingers, and the reassuring presence of walls and floor and ceiling start to fade in again. "It's a pocket dimension, I don't deal with those. Too constricting. Couldn't help you if I wanted to, sorry!"

"Do you know anyone that could?" Basira asks, and Sylphie gives another laugh, delighted this time.

"Sure, don't know if he would though. Go look for Matthew."

The words light up like a beacon in Basira's mind and all of a sudden she has a purpose again. This is what she's supposed to do, and the first steps of the way towards finding the next target are already forming in her head.

"Not even a thank you?" Sylphie's amused smile is audible in her voice as Basira walks towards the door. "Come back when you get whoever it is out of the coffin! We do couples outings!"

Basira slams the door so hard that the glass panes of the windows vibrate furiously, even after she walks away.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The depression on his ribcage is fairly noticeable, when the steam on the mirror clears. Jon is not too used to looking at his own body, especially in the past years, when every time he looks there's a new scar to hate.

He presses his hand to the skin, and the beat of his pulse is much easier to find without the protective barrier of the ribs, and much more comforting than it should. It has to mean something, that he still has a beating heart.

"You've been staying the night a lot more lately," Jon observes when he walks into the kitchen to find Gerry brewing a pot of coffee. Gerry looks at him for a second and then immediately back at the pot. Jon goes to push his wet hair away from his face, suddenly self conscious.

"Does it bother you?"

"Wh- no, not at all," Jon shakes his head. Great, just great. Just go ahead and screw it up with the only person who for whatever reason seems to like your presence anymore. "I was just wondering."

"Yeah I just thought with the Dark people coming closer-" Gerry's voice fades gradually, until he's looking at the coffeepot in a sort of contemplative silence. He turns his head to look at Jon again after a moment. "I just like being here."

Jon feels his mouth dry up, and the space where his missing ribs should go aches as if to remind him he's betraying Gerry's trust even as they speak. He'll- he'll probably stop liking it -liking Jon- when he finds out he's been lying to him.

"That's- that's good. I like having you here," Jon mutters. At least he isn't lying about that. Having Gerry around makes him feel a bit more human, and the man is awfully patient in the face of Jon's awkwardness and bad habits. "I- do you need me to read something tonight?"

Gerry rolls his eyes as he pours coffee in two mugs, and Jon feels his stomach do a flip. The gesture doesn't look annoyed at all. It's the kind of eye roll Georgie used to give him before, all fond exasperation he doesn't deserve.

"I don't come here just to get my fix, Jon," Gerry smirks, passing him a mug. "Let's just watch a movie, I could use the distraction. I'll even let you sit on the sofa, come on."

He walks out into the sitting room, and Jon watches him go. The warm drink in his hands brings to mind a comparison he doesn't want to make, because it didn't end well for Martin.

Jon follows, and finds that Gerry has indeed left him a spot on the sofa, just wide enough to sit with his legs under him, which Jon miraculously manages without spilling hot coffee on himself. "How considerate."

Gerry winks. "Your own fault. Don't go adopting stray undeads if you don't have enough sofa space."

Despite himself and his earlier thoughts, Jon smiles. He often finds himself relaxing around Gerry.

"Terribly sorry, the Eye didn't mention anything about your furniture hoarding habits when it dropped you off." Jon sips at his coffee as Gerry snorts.

"I do wonder sometimes, you know?" Gerry asks after a while. The remote sits untouched on the coffee table before them. "Why exactly did the Eye choose me. I mean, we know it was putting on a show for you, so why bring back the sad book ghost instead of your actual friends?"

"I don't think it wanted to lose another Archivist so soon, and you were the only option that wouldn't try to kill me as soon as you woke up," Jon shrugs. It's a tough truth, but a truth nonetheless.

"Hm. Well yes, but it still, " Gerry's started spreading over more and more of the sofa as he speaks, and Jon gets the feeling he's going to end on the coffee table again after all. "It would've made you happy to have them again, and I think that was the point in-"

"It chose just fine then." Jon looks stubbornly at the dark coffee in his mug. He's aware enough that he's just on the verge of making things awkward- Gerry's already gone suspiciously quiet by his end of the sofa, but he needs to say it. "I'm just- I'm sorry it wouldn't let you rest. Having you around is- but you earned it. You deserved a chance to be free of all this."

Gerry clears his throat. "That means a lot, Jon." His voice is a little strained, and Jon sighs. Another interaction turned uncomfortable, great. "So- how about a comedy? I'd suggest a thriller, but we'll both probably Know the twist before it happens so what's the case?"

Jon's head whips up at the change in tone. Gerry's stopped slipping down the couch, his socked foot just shy of touching Jon's knee, and he's reaching for the remote. Usually these conversations end with the other person storming away from him, not just- moving past to the next thing.

Maybe Jon is right, and the Watcher brought him Gerry because he's the only one that could possibly sit down and watch a movie with a monster.

The gap in his ribcage aches again, and Jon has to remind himself that Daisy's life is more important than his regret.

---------------------------------------------------------------

She hadn't expected to find a Vast avatar in the middle of New York's downtown, where every space is crowded to its maximum capacity. Perhaps this is a more metaphorical empty space? The unbreachable distance people build around themselves, that sort of thing.

"Matt," says the man at the top of the line, handing the barista a crisp hundred dollar note. "Keep the change."

Basira rolls her eyes before approaching him. The duality of these monsters is without a doubt their most vexing aspect, tipping a barista 95% on a mocha before shoving another innocent off a bridge or however this one does his business.

"Matthew Fairchild?" she asks once she's within a few steps' range. "I have some questions."

The man -teen, really, Basira doubts he's a day over twenty, if he even reaches the number- gives her a sideways look, before his eyebrows arch in recognition.

"Oh you're the Eye fella aren't you?" He smiles. Basira blinks. Suspects aren't usually this thrilled to see her. "Sylphie told me you'd be coming, that was quick! Let me just get my coffee and we can move somewhere more comfortable."

"Thats- no. I just want to know-"

"Matt?" Another barista calls from the end of the bar, and Basira has no doubt the extra ninety something dollars helped push Fairchild's order to the top of the queue. Matthew grins and dashes away to pick up the steaming cup, leaving Basira's ears whistling a little.

"There, thanks for waiting," the young man returns to Basira's side with a whipped cream monstrosity, and she can feel her lower lid begin to twitch. "So where's your Archivist? I heard he killed Mike-"

"He didn't," Basira interrupts him immediately. "That was a hunter. The Archivist was just lucky she stepped in at the right moment." It should feel wrong, using that term to describe Daisy, or praise her kills when she's so much more than what the Hunt made of her, but Basira won't let her achievements go uncredited.

"Hm. Yeah makes more sense I guess," Matthew shrugs. "Anyways, what do you want?"

"The other- she said you knew about pocket dimensions," Basira says carefully. This one seems a bit more cooperative than the last, but she knows better than to trust avatars.

Matthew laughs. "Well, I got mine. Is that what you mean?"

Basira looks around. The Starbucks is gone, and they're standing at the edge of a sickly yellow grass field ending on a cliff, a mirror copy of it a thousand miles below them. That one too ends in a cliff, and Basira can just about see the same field and the same cliff repeating over and over again as far as her eyes can perceive.

She rips her gaze away from the unending space and focuses on Matthew, who's watching her with an amused smile edged in milk foam and chocolate syrup.

"Yes, this is what I mean." Basira hopes her words and tone can convey just how not impressed she is, but the avatar seems far from offended. "How would one break out of it?"

"Now, it wouldn't be too smart of me to tell people that, don't you think?"

Down by the third cliff -or the fourth? Sixth?- Basira catches the movement of a lonely figure as they fall to their knees and begin tearing at their hair, calling out to the empty expanse of white sky above them.

"I don't care about them," Basira says. She should feel guilty, and in some way she does. But they aren't Daisy, and she can't save them. "I'm talking about the coffin."

"Ew, don't talk about that thing!" Matthew cringes, and the sounds of the busy coffeeshop around them start again like someone just pressed play on a recording.

"I need something that will work on the Buried," Basira says. Matthew rolls his eyes.

"Don't know, don't care. You really should've brought someone who could get answers, if you really wanted them," he takes another sip of his coffee, "I'm gonna go no-"

Basira's hand shoots forward to clamp down on his wrist. "I will find you again," she warns, "I am not the Archivist, but I am good at finding people. And I will keep finding you and yours again and again, until you. Tell. Me."

Matthew arches an eyebrow at Basira's white-knuckled grip on his forearm, and Basira feels wind whipping up around her again, smells the sickly grass and hears the faint, distant screams. She doesn't look away from him. If this is a pissing contest, she will win it.

It feels like an eternity goes by before Matthew sighs, and Basira's once more assaulted by the scent of overpriced coffee and the sounds of people purchasing it.

"Like a dog with a bone. Are you sure you're not with the Hunt?" he asks. Basira doesn't move an inch, and Matthew rolls his eyes. "Fine. The ones your sort gets statements from are the ones we let out, usually. They have anchors. Don't know if it'll work in the coffin. My thing is a gateway into the Falling Titan, the coffin is the Buried. Can I go now?"

Basira narrows her eyes. "If you lied, I will find you, and I will bring him with me. You won't like how he asks questions."

"Bring him, I have nothing to hide." The man snatches his wrist free, and as he walks towards the crystal doors they slide open with a burst of air and he's gone, Basira suspects back to his own little reality.

There's... A lot to think about.

She takes a seat on an armchair by a corner. An anchor. This should make things easier, but it really doesn't. Basira lets out a low, slightly hysterical cackle. Now she just needs to find an anchor to go save her anchor from the damned box.

---------------------------------------------------------------

He needs to stop coming here, Martin thinks.

The scent of brewing tea, the warmth from the mugs and the steam from the kettle -so different from the white fog that's started following him, even outside his flat- serve only to bring him back. To the time when the break room meant life and company; or even worse, to the time when the break room was already either empty or full of tired, wary looks, but it meant a preamble to a small lopsided smile and a single muted thanks after handing out a warm mug, and that brought Martin all the strength he needed.

The hope's still there, however faint, but Martin doesn't want it anymore. Doesn't want to want it, if it makes sense. Peter isn't lying when he insists life alone is much easier, but something in Martin keeps clinging stubbornly to the feeling of belonging. There's a click behind him, and Martin sighs and turns to give the tape recorder another reminder that he needs to be left alone.

Jon's startled eyes meet his from where he's frozen by the door, and Martin wants to scream.

"I- sorry," Jon apologizes immediately, "I thought Melanie-"

"She's out. She left with Gerard this morning." Martin saw them leave through the cameras, but he also felt them leave. He can often tell how many people are still in the Institute lately.

"Uh- yes I- they've been going out, I forgot," Jon mumbles and Martin feels that ugly, useless, misguided hope rear its head up again. "They've been hunting. A Leitner, I think Gerry said." Oh, there it goes. Dead again.

"Back on his old business, then."

"Yes, he's- I don't think he knows how to give up on helping people," Jon says. There's an undeniable warmth in Jon's dark eyes when he says that, and Martin has the thought that maybe he came here today because the Lonely wanted him here for this very encounter. "You'd know about that, I guess."

Wait, what?

Jon's eyes are still soft, fixed on some point behind Martin, and he realizes with a start that he still hasn't poured the extra mug of tea down the drain.

"I-" Martin starts, but he has no idea how to follow it. 'I love you, please forget about me' is maybe too on the nose.

"You need to go, that's-" Jon's resolve, whatever it was, seems to deflate. Martin winces. "I understand, I need to go out anyways, I- sorry. "

He turns to leave, and Martin is left alone with the bitter thought that the only thing worse than Jon not respecting his wishes is apparently Jon doing just that.

He needs to stop coming here.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"You look distracted," Melanie says when they stop for lunch at midday. She's got some fish and chips, and Gerry is -as usual- picking unenthusiastically at the smallest item in the menu. She often wonders if he doesn't really need to eat and does it only to appease her- in which case his solution does a lot more to feed her suspicions than to ease them. "What is it?"

"Hm? I mean, we're hunting a book that makes you grow organs until they start coming out of your body cavities, isn't that enough?" He flicks a chip around the plate, glaring down at it like it personally wrote the offending book.

"Yeah, and we know exactly where it is. We just need to wait until tomorrow when the shop's open. That's not what's worrying you." Melanie's not sure where the certainty comes from. She's either been spending too much time with Gerry, or the Eye's mark is starting to affect her more now that the bullet is gone and she spends most of her day out looking for leads on avatars and Leitners. "Gerry?" she asks again, because he clearly stopped listening to her about a word in.

"I don't know. I'm just on edge, for some reason." And his eyes drift away in the direction of the Institute again. Melanie groans, because she thought she was done listening to relationship trouble involving that freak forever, but her life is a joke and she's two Jon-related comments away from inviting the Slaughter back in. "What?"

"Did you two get in a fight? Is that it? You're trying to save who knows how many people from vomiting their organs until they're empty meatsacks, and you're worried about Jon?" she snarls, stabbing at the piece of fish on her plate so hard she hears the fork clink against the plate underneath. Therapy, Georgie, Gerry and bullet removal have done a little to fix her animosity towards Jon, but she seriously doubts she'll ever like him. She never did in the first place, so she figures it's ok.

"I- no? We're alright," Gerry frowns at her like she's the crazy one. "...but maybe? It does feel like there's something back at the Institute. But I don't know what. Maybe the Eye wants me there for some reason."

"Got it. Then we should keep you away, right?" Melanie looks at Gerry. Gerry looks back. The silence stretches. Melanie narrows her eyes. "Right?"

"Melanie..." Gerry's look turns pained, and Melanie groans again.

"I thought we weren't doing what the entities wanted!"

"We're not, it's just- last time it felt sort of like this, you know?" Gerry shrugs. He looks apologetic, biting at his stupid lip piercing with a thoughtful frown. "When the deliveryman went in. They might be in trouble."

Melanie rolls her eyes. Since Basira's away on whatever lead she's chasing there's only three people at the Institute that would theoretically be in danger, two of them are technically unkillable, and she really only cares about the one that could escape most easily.

"Helen will let him into her door if it's anything too bad," she tries. It's probably true, but Gerry's frown doesn't fade.

"I'm not too sure about that," Gerry says, and Melanie remembers in that moment that they lied to him to cover the ribs thing and he thinks Helen and Jon got into some sort of monster brawl. Funny how lies come back to bite you in the ass. "We can't do anything else about the book today. Let's go back early."

Melanie pinches the bridge of her nose. Gerry probably won't leave her alone and go back by himself. Outside the Institute the only safety they have is their numbers, and he wouldn't just let her get taken, she's sure. She's also very sure he'll be insufferable until they go back. She was enjoying the break, goddammit.

"I hate you." She lifts a hand to call the server over, and pulls her phone out to send a text.

"Your ex continues to ruin literally everything in my life" she texts Georgie while they wait for the food to be packed up. Gerry's not even trying to peek at her phone, so he must be genuinely worried. Georgie sends back some kissy emojis, and Melanie feels a little less murder-prone. "Some insight on this? You hid him in your house during a murder investigation. Is it mind control?"

"I'm very weak to cute short people who make bad decisions. Lucky you." Georgie responds. Melanie smiles. She'll take the compliment and the implication, even if it's lumping her in with Jon.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"I thought you were going to wait for Basira," Helen opens her door on the ceiling this time. It's fun to inconvenience the Archivist, she thinks, as he twists his neck to look up at her. The chains are undone, and the coffin hums a delighted purr, having been promised a willing meal.

"I can't anymore," Jon mutters. There's no animosity in his tone when he looks at Helen, which is both new and pleasing. "We don't know what Daisy's going through in there. Waiting however long until Basira comes back when I've been ready for days... it feels unnecessarily cruel."

"Hmmm... had some snacks for the way, didn't you?" Helen asks. The Archivist's eyes are not usually green, but they're glowing like neon since he walked back into the Institute.

"Don't- don't mention it, please." Jon closes his eyes, but the lovely green glow is visible even through his eyelids. "I'm- if I don't-" he starts again, before cutting himself short with a huff.

Helen arches an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I... I know you're not her. Helen, I mean," the Archivist starts again. "But- they're all human." He says it as though he expects her to understand, and Helen nods. They're all so easy to break, thin boned and fragile minded, so fascinating to watch in this world of nightmares they've stumbled into. Helen likes them an awful lot.

"And you trust me to keep them safe?" Helen asks. Truth is, the Archivist is not wrong. She's not Helen Richardson in the way a hand is not a body. She's not even really an avatar either, because the Distortion spawned from the Spiral itself, but sometimes she wonders if there is too much human in her now, polluting the purity of her concept. The Distortion likes humans, but not in the way that Helen does, and the clash is... disconcerting.

Jon gives a soft, humorless laugh. "I don't know that I trust me to keep them safe. But I'm all there is... and if I'm gone, then-"

"I'm not exactly a fighter, Jon."

"You found a way to help Melanie- a way to help me." Jon looks up at her, and Helen averts her gaze. His eyes are too much, this up close. A recently fed Archivist is not something to be taken lightly.

"I thought you said I wasn't Helen," she says. Jon bends down to lay his rib on the ground next to the coffin.

He shrugs. "I still feel like Jon, sometimes." He straightens up, and takes a deep breath, before stepping into the coffin. "Goodbye, Helen."

"Good luck, Jon." Helen waves him goodbye, the tips of her fingers grazing strands of his hair before he descends too far for her to reach.

The coffin closes.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Gerry likes to think he's both fairly smart and intuitive. The Beholding wouldn't have marked him otherwise, tattoos or not. The uncontrollable curiosity was always a part of him, and his mother loved it. As Gerry grew older he realized it was because she thought his Beholding mark would make it easier for her to get information for her ritual; very on brand for Mary Keay, to encourage her six years old into becoming bait for an entity of eldritch horror.

He's no Pupil, no Archivist and no Detective, but Gerry knows things others don't. And as they get closer to the Institute, what he knows is that something is deeply, impossibly wrong.

The Eye is calling him back at full force, the tether born where his heart used to be pulled taut like a harp string, and Gerry realizes with a start that this has something to do with Jon. But it makes no sense, Jon was just fine this morning, and judging on what he did to the Stranger's errand boy a few weeks ago, he's powerful enough to handle whatever comes his way. Jon will be fine, he has to be fi-

"Slow down!" Melanie snaps, and Gerry realizes she's almost running to keep up with his longer, hurried strides.

"Sorry. It just- it's bad," Gerry grunts out as they bend around the corner, and the Institute comes into view. His worry seems to have caught on with Melanie, and she keeps up with him without another complaint. "I don't know what it is, just-"

"I still feel like Jon, sometimes." Jon's voice is as clear as if he was talking by Gerry's ear, even though he's nowhere in sight. This is definitely the furthest he's been able to hear Jon, provided he's all the way down at the Archives, but Gerry doesn't give the realization much thought, focused as he is on the serious, resigned cadence of Jon's voice. He certainly doesn't sound like he's in danger, but Gerry still doesn't like- "Goodbye, Helen."

And it all clicks in Gerry's mind.

"Fuck-" Gerry takes off running towards the building, not knowing or caring if Melanie keeps up. Jon promised he wouldn't do this, Jon knows this is crazy, it-

He hears a sound like a slamming door, and Gerry falls like a puppet whose strings have been snipped in a single cut. It's only his remaining inertia that takes him a few last inches towards the Institute, before he's collapsing on the pavement. He feels his lip and forehead split against the entry steps with awful clarity, but he couldn't care less, because whatever pain his body's experiencing pales in comparison to the agony inside him right now.

It feels as though they have taken all the air from his lungs and replaced it with red hot nails, like someone is digging at his brain with an awl, like his very soul is being ripped out of his chest, and he knows this is a punishment. The Eye tried to warn him, and Gerry ignored it, and now Jon is gone.

"-rry? What's going on?!" Melanie's voice is frantic, like she's looking for something she can kill to fix this, and it's the last thing he hears.

--

When he comes back to, Melanie's half dragging, half pushing him -he thinks, detachedly, that it must've looked funny as she dragged his semi conscious bulk around the Institute, Gerry's not a small man and Melanie hides a surprising amount of power in her tiny frame- onto the break room sofa. Gerry tries to support some of his own weight, and she drops him with a start. Whatever injuries the pavement gave him ache at the sudden movement, but he's got bigger things to worry about.

"-ffin. Coffin," Gerry mumbles. Melanie gasps, and when he parts his eyelids he finds her looking at him in concern. It's not a look he's ever seen on Melanie, and he has enough presence of mind to feel flattered. "He's gone. He-"

"Gerry, it's alright," Melanie tries, as clumsy as Jon in her attempts at softness. "He- he said he'd be, he has his rib-"

"His what?"

Melanie's expression quickly turns to guilt, and she squeezes and pulls at her fingers in what must be nerves. "He wanted- I took him to the Bone Turner. He was trapped in Helen, and Jon got him to take out a rib. He said it would work as an anchor, and he'd be able to come back with Daisy."

"Oh god-" Gerry groans. Of course, of course Jon would- "That won't work. That's not- Melanie it has to be something he loves!"

He'd thought Jon understood that much at least, but apparently he misunderstood just how oblivious Jon is. Gerry knows with devastating certainty that a rib -or any other part of his body- just won't cut it, because he's never met anyone who hates himself so stubbornly and undeservingly as Jonathan Sims.

Melanie arches her eyebrows at his outburst. "Well, then you could-"

"Where's Martin?" Gerry cuts her short, pushing heavily off the sofa. His energy's coming back, and he thinks bitterly of how Jon practically insisted on reading to him for hours these past days. The Flesh mark, the sad looks… a lot of things make a lot more sense in retrospect. He hears Melanie call out after him, but he's already off the door.

This is a terribly Jon thing to do, he thinks as he stumbles down empty corridors, using a bit of juice to Know the way towards Elias' office. Gerry's fuming. For all her oversights as a person, Gertrude was at least aware of her importance. To the world, and the people around her, regardless of whether she considered the latter nothing but a handy tool. Jon thinks his only value lays on the people he saves, and Gerry's going to kill him if he gets back.

When he gets back, Gerry corrects himself fiercely as he bangs on the luxurious oak door. The only signs of life behind it are the thin wisps of fog curling out from below it, and the gold plate with Elias' name reflects his face mockingly.

"Open the door!" Gerry bangs harder. "I know you're there, I'm not leaving!"

Once again there's no answer, and Gerry starts backing up to the opposite wall. He's going to get Jon back even if he has to break the door down and hoist Martin over his shoulder to drag him to the Archives.

The door swings open. "What do you want?" Martin asks, still mostly translucent other than his white-knuckled hand around the doorknob. "You're bleeding. Or something."

"Jon went into the Buried." Gerry wipes his hand against the cut on his forehead. It comes back stained in a pitch black fluid with a tangy metallic smell he recognizes quickly enough, and he wipes it clean on his jeans. He'll worry about that later.

"He what?" Gray seeps out of Martin's eyes, leaving behind a nice forest green, and Gerry feels a crashing wave of relief wash over him. His suspicions were right; whatever the hell Martin thinks he's doing with Lukas, he loves Jon, and Gerry's not alone. "Why would he do that?"

"Apparently there's a Daisy in there? Come on, the coffin's at the Archives," Gerry shrugs, and he gestures back the way he came.

"... Daisy the cop? The one who tried to slit his throat?" Martin arches an eyebrow as they walk, and Gerry has to stop and take a grounding breath. Of fucking course.

"I'm guessing that's the one." Gerry pinches at the bridge of his nose. Maybe this is actually how Archivists hunt- maybe they don't need any statements, they just drive you crazy. When he opens his eyes Martin is looking at him with a decidedly amused glint in his eyes.

"It's not an easy job, eh?" Martin asks with a soft smile, and he starts walking again. "What do you want me to do?"

"You're his anchor. Call him. If he's not too far already, he should be able to hear you." It has to be enough, Gerry thinks. It has to, because otherwise he'll have to accept that Jon slipped through his fingers when he should've seen this coming from a mile away. That Jon is gone because he couldn't stop him.

"Oh." Martin stops on his tracks, the determination on his face giving way to something more guarded. "I'm- I don't think I can help, then-"

"Oh my God! Are you kidding me?" Gerry groans. These two are pathetic. Gerry's lost count of how many times he's had to bite back on how he doesn't think Martin deserves the sheer longing and pain that radiates from Jon's face every time he even mentions the man. "This is ridiculous, and I don't have time to discuss with you. For whatever reason, he-"

"You're still bleeding. Why is it black?" Martin interrupts him, and Gerry holds back the urge to scream. Is this why they like each other? Because they're both stubborn and mulish and refuse to accept they might have value for someone else?

"Fuck it. We don't have time for this." He's going in himself, he's tied to Jon, that has to count for something. He goes to sidestep Martin, when a hand clamps down on his wrist. Gerry looks back at him, and Martin's bright green eyes are filled to the brim with intense suspicion. "Martin, Jon doesn't have time for th-"

"How do you know he can still come back?" Martin asks, his voice heavy with mistrust and hope in equal measures.

Gerry wants to say something scathing, or at least something that will get Martin moving, because Jon needs them. And if the truth is what it takes, then so be it.

"I don't know. Nobody knows. But I'm still alive, and that means he still exists," Gerry says. The acrid smell of ink fills the space between them as it drips from the cuts on his face. Martin's eyes are sharp as he starts connecting the dots, and Gerry has no trouble whatsoever believing that this is the man that outsmarted the Eye's Pupil.

"So- so what does that mean? You know how to find him?" Martin asks, and Gerry shakes his head.

"I can't hear him anymore," Gerry sighs. A fat drop of ink runs down the side of his face. "He's no longer here."

"That's- don't say that." Martin says firmly, and there's something steely under his soft, gentle features. "He'll find a way back, Jon always does. We just have to trust him. Now is there anything we can do so you stop bleeding all over the place? Inking? Whatever it is, let's- let's stop it."

Gerry blinks as Martin pulls out a package of paper tissues from his pocket and offers it to him, a man he neither likes nor has ever been even remotely kind to him. Knowing Jon like he does now, this explains a lot.

"I doubt it's going to stop anytime soon," he says, grabbing the offered tissues. "Not without Jon here to talk to me. His voice is what keeps my body working."

Martin seems to mull this over for a bit, as Gerry soaks up tissue after tissue. Is he made up entirely of ink? Should they be like... keeping this in a bucket, if only to use it later? Gerry gives his hands a quick once over, and sighs in relief when he finds his tattoos are still there.

"...Oh" Martin lets out a little surprised exhale. Gerry whips his head up to look at him.

"What? What is it?" Gerry asks. A slow smile is spreading over Martin's lips, and Gerry can't help but to feel hopeful. Martin might be a naive idiot who thinks he can play the Lonely to his favor, but if anyone has the slightest chance at saving Jon-

"Come with me."

[sophchoph]

Info Time!

Hello everyone! Well this was bound to come eventually, but here goes! This post will be a bit on the longer side, I apologize for that in advance, but it’s a needed one in the end so here we go.

This is for my new RP sideblog @soph-choph-rp (real original name I know) which is where anything I do that’s related to rp related will be posted. Click that URL and head there if you’re interested!

Now then, under the cut, you’ll find Mun Info, Rules, and Muse info, so please give that a quick read to know how stuff works!

Mun info!

Hi y’all! First off, my name’s Soph, I’m 18, any pronouns ya want, and I’ve been writing/doing RP for around 4 years now. Not long compared to some, but hey I’m doin my best. Currently my main fandom of choice, thank you ADHD brain for hyperfixating so much, is on Dragonball and from there specifically saiyans. I’ve written for different fandoms in the past, but as of recently it’s pretty much been majority DB related things. Let’s seeee what else to say here... 

I’ve got a dog named Baby who’s real sweet, she’s a Maltese poodle mix who thinks she’s a damn Great Dane even though she looks like a marshmallow. I work with wildlife to rehab animals to be released to the wild, lots of raccoons and opossums for the most part, but occasionally get some neat oddball animals in such as foxes, beavers, otters, bobcat kittens, fawns, and we even had bear cubs get brought in at one point! Animals are something I like a great deal, always have. 

Back on the topic of writing though, I’m a bit scatterbrained sometimes, what can I tell ya I’m an ADHD mess, so if I’m a little late on replies (taking more than a day) please please please message me with a reminder, I promise it won’t bug me one bit! My inbox is always open, as are my DMs, so please feel free to message me or send in an ask or two whenever ya want! I’m happy to do all kinds of RPs with all sorts of characters, but I’ll definitely go out and say planet Vegeta AUs are absolutely a guilty pleasure of mine, probably cause I just love the saiyan beans as much as I do. Whether canon compliant or AU, I’d love to start writing/interacting with all you wonderful people in this community, so please don’t be shy!

Now for the not so fun, but also needed bit. Without further ado, please take note of the

Rules:

Now, I don’t have too many rules here, I’m open to majority of things, however there is a handful of hard no categories and actions that I feel the need to lay out.

1) I will not do solely NSFW rps. Now, this does not mean I will not ever have more NSFW leaning content, however I will not participate in a RP where the only purpose of it is to get a character laid rather than plot/character development. I’m here to write for plot, not porn, and I wanted to be sure that was quite clear from the get go. This is honestly just a personal preference, I have no qualms against anyone who writes smut/ERP actively, I just personally don’t enjoy writing it myself especially if there’s no real point to it. Even if the characters are in a relationship, there’s far more aspects to a healthy relationship than just the more lewd bits and that’s just what I enjoy getting into more and feel most comfortable with.

2) I will not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, or any other sort of hatred on this blog. In regards to a RP setting, this is a thin thin line that can be tread on, but my stance on such things is no slurs (obviously) and do not glorify it in any way. It can be part of a character’s past or a plot point (as in overcoming a past history of it to grow as a character or something to that extent), but it must be handled in a manner that is respectful to those who have had to personally endure such things.

3) If I come to find you are someone who actively sends hateful messages to those in the community or are just generally a toxic/hateful person towards others, I reserve the right to block you for such transgressions. This includes if I find out this has occurred even after already starting a thread/RP with you. Essentially, don’t be a dick and you’ll be all good.

That’s it when it comes to rules for now, like I said not many to worry about, however if more stuff comes up that I failed to put in here along the way I reserve the ability to make additions. Pretty much though, just be decent/respectful and we’ll be 100% okay for the most part. Now for the fun part!!

Muses!

As stated in my bio and above, my main muses are definitely the saiyan beans, namely Vegeta, Goku, Raditz, and Bardock; however, Turles, Tora, and Gine are also on the table there as well, I’ve just got a bit less experience when it comes to characterizing then. There’s also a chance I may use two of my OCs here, so may as well give them intros just in case.

Short of it is, there’s Daikon and Glacius. Daikon is a saiyan, a good bean honestly, real sweetheart when it comes down to it and someone gets to know him. Can be a bit cold at first, he’s somewhat shy that way, but get him to warm up to you by earning his trust some and his true colors come out. Glacius on the other hand... yeeeeah no, no he’s an ass. Glacius is a member of Frieza’s race, a nasty bastard really. Manipulative and cunning don’t even begin to cut it with him, not in the slightest, and he’s definitely not a merciful one. If you happen to be interested in those two, I’ll post a much more detailed google doc down below for you to click on and read. Will go more in depth on their characters in both personalities, fighting styles, and backstory along with give you an idea of what they look like. Drew the art you see on the sheets myself! Just click the names of each below to access the sheet and you’ll be all set.

Glacius

Daikon

[letterboxd]

Kid Detectives, Adult Problems.

As The Kid Detective becomes “a surprising darling” of a hit with our members, Jack Moulton talks to its Canadian writer-director Evan Morgan about broken projectors, the pressure of proving yourself, and what happens when precocious kids grow up.

“The premise felt immediately funny but it also felt immediately sad and painful.” —Evan Morgan

A growing number of indie films over the past decade recognize that ‘coming-of-age’ is not a teen-exclusive life event—indeed, that it often takes decades to work out who we are, versus who people perceive us to be. The Kid Detective takes that premise and steals off into the night with it, blending noir with indie slacker in an offbeat, genre-flipping tale of a washed-up, thirty-something private eye who was once a star solver of local mysteries.

Adam Brody (Ready or Not) stars as Abe Applebaum, the detective in question, who seizes a chance to step back into the small-town limelight when a young woman (Sophie Nélisse) asks him to help find her boyfriend’s murderer. Veep’s Sarah Sutherland also stars as Abe’s secretary, taking calls about lost cats and other inane mysteries.

Reviews on Letterboxd praise the “delicious premise” that explores “the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America”. They also appreciate Brody’s “phenomenally pathetic” performance, and the unexpected swerve in the final twenty, noting that “sometimes movies don’t recover from a shift in tone in the third act… but here it all [falls] into place”.

The Kid Detective is the directing debut of Toronto filmmaker (and Letterboxd member) Evan Morgan, who first received attention for The Dirties (2013), an alternately funny and upsetting micro-budget dark comedy in found-footage style, which he produced, co-wrote and co-edited. Morgan’s work is drenched in pop culture: Abe’s talent for deduction is demonstrated by how he digests movie narratives; The Dirties, too, has endless movie references. So we were chuffed to quiz Morgan about the films that have played an important role in his life.

What was premiering The Kid Detective at the 2020 Toronto Film Festival like for you, under the current conditions? Evan Morgan: We were in quite a rush to get the film finished for the online platform that they had made—I signed off on the final cut on Thursday and then I was reading a review of the movie by Saturday. I was still in that mode of trying to scrutinize everything and implement my final notes, and then all of a sudden the movie was done and I could never touch it again. It certainly was a surreal transition to make that quickly.

It was also extremely gratifying to see people respond to it for the first time. We knew that we weren’t making a movie that was for all tastes but when you’re reading the first response from the first person who’s ever reviewed it and they’re picking up on stuff you intended, you start to let your spine unclench a little bit. You can sort of finally say goodbye to the process of making something and enjoy the process of people interacting with it.

Have you been reading the Letterboxd reviews? Obsessively. I’ve been refreshing Letterboxd all the time. I’ve been joking with my editor and composer a lot about how people posting their reviews on Letterboxd, on their YouTube channel, or other little outlets would never expect the filmmakers to be instantly reading their reviews.

You’re also a member! How do you use Letterboxd? I’ve always been a big film nerd. Ever since I was a teenager I was making lists at the end of the year and obsessing over an order that would always change. A friend of mine, Matthew Miller, who produced The Dirties, recommended that I hop on Letterboxd and instantly I was going through the library rating and organizing everything, and it became a real slippery slope. I remember spending hours on it in the first week.

Now, after actually having made a movie that’s on a larger scale, I’ve found that my sensitivity has changed a lot in the last year. I’m less inclined to give a star rating. I’m happy just to catalog the film so I can reflect on it and just use the ‘like’ button. That’s been an interesting shift in my relationship with how I see movies after having finally completed this project.

I know this idea had been gestating a while for you, what was the seed of the story? I’d written a short film in film school, which I never shot, that was about a child detective who was still a child and was solving grisly murders. I was obsessed with the first season of The OC and I thought Adam Brody was so funny. I was impressed with how he broke out of the formula of that show. I knew he was someone I really wanted to work with and we happened to cross paths at Sundance because The Dirties was premiering at Slamdance. It was clear to us that we shared a similar sense of humor and taste.

I was looking back on my old ideas and I saw an opportunity to re-conceive this one for him because I immediately identified with the protagonist. I’ve always known I wanted to be a filmmaker and thus had that sense of expectation where people would joke: “he’ll grow up to be the next Spielberg!” It’s incredible encouragement when you’re young but it also creates this unfortunate sense of pressure where you’re beholden to a future that you actually haven’t achieved or lived.

When I graduated film school, I was suddenly left in the space of my own apartment where now it was up to me to actually make this happen, to write and direct a feature film. The process acquires this unfortunate pressure because it’s not just about watching ideas unfold in front of me, I also have something to prove. I was at a point in my life where I was doing a lot of writing and not having great success in terms of actually finishing a script so this premise resonated with me and I saw an opportunity for people to connect to this character in their own way.

I revisited The Dirties after watching The Kid Detective and I finally understood why there were those huge The OC posters in Matt and Owen’s edit suite. I assume that was your idea? Yeah, it was. We were all big fans of that show. The cultural references they made were things that were important to us at that particular moment and we loved Seth Cohen [Brody’s character]. When I ran into Adam at Sundance, I shared a link to The Dirties, forgetting that his face was in the background of about twenty minutes of our movie. We were back in our hotel that night and it suddenly just occurred to us—“wait a minute, shit. We should probably warn him that his face is a big character!”

How did you conduct your research into detective work? What excited me about this premise was the character and not so much the genre. I think the genre is alluring in a sense that it’s so hallowed. The set pieces are so familiar in terms of the PI office, the receptionist and the glass of scotch. That stuff was all super cool and enticing, but I was never a big mystery person. I was intimidated by the process of writing because it felt very much outside of my wheelhouse.

The first thing I did was buy a bunch of Raymond Chandler books from the Philip Marlowe series. I read those super quickly and thought they were super funny. I also read a bunch of Encyclopedia Brown books. So, the world of The Kid Detective exists between these two realms. I started watching bad TV procedurals where the detectives try and find the victim within the span of 42-minutes just to absorb as much as I possibly could.

Here you have a whimsical directorial approach while the film reflects upon a cynical, changing world. In comparison, The Dirties also deals with young adult trauma but couldn’t be further from this in style. Can you talk about your use of juxtaposition this time around? There was no more fun experience than shooting The Dirties. It really was a film made by four best friends having an endless sleepover in their parents’ basement. That’s where the energy, the life, and the humor of the film comes from. We were always relying on the darker component of the dramatic payoff to provide us with a structure so that we could goof around as much as we wanted knowing that it wasn’t all for nothing. Those dramatic stakes would provide it with a different kind of technical legitimacy. We didn’t have any money to make it but it didn’t have to look like a big Hollywood film because it was made by the characters.

It wasn’t a conscious decision to recreate the same dynamic with The Kid Detective in terms of dealing with dramatic issues in a very light way. The premise felt immediately funny but it also felt immediately sad and painful. I wanted to find a way to wrap them together without forfeiting the humor or the reality of the characters. It’s interesting how a lot of people are responding to the way the movie reveals itself to be dark because, for me, this was always inevitable. If you’re going to tell a story about a stunted adult, like a kid detective who never really grows up, the only way for the character to grow up is to confront something that is so sinister that it would break them from their selfishness.

Which detective movies most influenced The Kid Detective? The biggest films that were in my head when I was writing this movie—and also in terms of our aesthetic—were Chinatown and Blue Velvet. Chinatown was a movie that I had more of a relationship with as a teenager than I did the older Humphrey Bogart movies like The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. Blue Velvet also has a suburban setting that reveals this darker underbelly—two characters driving around in a convertible, interviewing people, and putting themselves in greater and greater risk. Those were the movies that we wanted you to be able to put the film on the shelf with.

Jim Carrey in ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’ (1994).

Which film made you want to become a filmmaker? This is an easy one for me. I was a very big fan of Jim Carrey when I was eleven and I remember seeing Ace Ventura: Pet Detective for the first time and having my mind blown. I didn’t even know what some of those jokes were referring to, but I was so delighted by his energy and the absurdity of that movie. It invited this ferocious interest in acting and consequentially, the world of film. I got really excited when I heard he was working on his first dramatic feature and that it was going to be directed by Peter Weir since I was already a fan of Dead Poets Society.

I remember going to see The Truman Show with my family on the first night that it played and the projector broke about an hour into the movie. I was broken—I knew that was I watching my favorite movie that I’d ever seen. I was absolutely blown away by the world and the story. After about 30 minutes, the theater staff came out and started offering vouchers to see it again but I wouldn’t let my parents leave—I said “no, we have to stay and finish it!”—and then I was rewarded with what remains my favorite movie ending ever.

That was the point when my interest shifted from wanting to be in front of the camera and the center of attention. I was kind of the class clown as a child. If you’d asked at the time, I’d say I wanted to be a comedian. This was the moment where I decided I wanted to tell stories and start writing scripts.

Which coming-of-age protagonist did you relate to the most as a teenager? Not super original, but I was obsessed with The Catcher in the Rye as a teenager. I don’t know if I necessarily saw my experience reflected in a movie—I’m sure it’s out there. Rushmore was another film that Adam and I used as a reference when we were pitching this movie, in how The Kid Detective exists between that and Chinatown. It’s also about a character dealing with his own expectations of himself and ultimately having to evolve out of his selfishness.

I think that there’s something about the coming-of-age genre that is very special to me and I continue to really appreciate and recognize it. I really enjoyed Adventureland, which came out about eleven years ago and it’s sort of underrated. I guess in its own way, Blue Velvet is a coming-of-age story too. Those are the ones that are the top of my list.

What are your favorite Canadian films that really could not be made anywhere else but Canada? It seems I should have an immediate answer to that question. It just proves how bad Canadians are at celebrating themselves. There was a movie called Monsieur Lazhar that stars Sophie Nélisse, who’s the leading actress in our film. It was her first film role at eleven and it’s an incredibly sensitive and quiet movie that was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars that year. That’s a really amazing example of Canadian filmmaking at its best.

If you’ve had time to watch any films this year, what is your favorite film of 2020 so far? This is another tough one for me because I was honestly so immersed in trying to complete The Kid Detective—we were editing intensely from the very beginning of the year and throughout the lockdown. I was so exhausted by that process that I lost track of what was happening in terms of new releases, so I watched quite a few old movies and there were a few movies I revisited.

The movie that probably had the biggest impact on me was Midsommar, from last year. I couldn’t believe the precision and how unshakable it was in terms of those images. It got me excited again in the way that sometimes you feel when you have to see a movie more than once in order to truly see it, because the first time you’re dispensing your expectations. Maybe you wanted to like it or maybe you didn’t want to like it, but the second time you don’t have the same anticipation, and as a result you notice things that you didn’t notice previously.

Related content

Melissa’s list of films about Detectives, Private Eyes, Mysteries, Film Noir, Neo Noir, Thrillers, Erotic Thrillers, Cat and Mouse, Chasing, Crush, Obsession, Stalking, Escaping

Phillip Marlowe, Private Eye: RetroHound’s ranked list of films featuring Raymond Chandler’s famous detective

MovieMaestro’s Teenage Wasteland list of coming-of-age movies

Follow Jack on Letterboxd

‘The Kid Detective’ is in select US theaters now.

[jamiesenshi]

Thank you for tagging me @pambreezy0926

Retweeted from

Tag 10 followers you want to get to know better (optional):

@wikihoeofgot7 @nish-with-no-niche @zukoismyloveslave @seuniejae @pja2jae @xavimoonlight @xingmi2thejoon @justalittlenutters @agust-june @biazinha667

It is ok if you don’t want to do it.

Feel free to take part in this if you want to even though you don’t see your url tagged.

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Star Sign: Capricorn (January 24)

Height: 5’2”

Sexuality: Straight

I generally like guys in a sexual way but with my heart and soul I appreciate all genders and sexualities.

Labels are something that I personally don’t want to say “oh I am in this group.”

There so much to this world other than being in one area of life.

I live life through what I feel comfortable with and at my own pace.

Saying a label that categories me into something such as sexuality makes me uncomfortable since, I don’t fully understand myself yet.

Hogwarts House:

Hufflepuff

(How I found this out is through BrainFall’s free online quiz because I only had read a bit of Harry Potter.)

Favorite Animals:

Maltese, pugs, corgi, and all types of wolves and cats.

Average Hours of Sleep: Depends...

During my semester of college - 6 to 8 hours

Holiday Break from college - 8 to 10 hours

Holiday Break and no one pulls me out of bed - 8 to 12 hours

Holiday Break but Work becomes more active than usual - 7 to 8 hours

Current Time:

3:28 pm

Finished house chores and I am partially awake now.

Also I had to think about these things as I am pretty honest and open about myself.

Dogs or Cats:

Well I connect with cats on a spiritual level but I love the energy and loyalty of dogs.....

Blankets you sleep with:

I sleep with a comforter but I have a fluffy thin blanket that I use when I am at my work desk in my apartment.

Dream Job:

I am fond of advertising, marketing, and managing.

As of yet I am trying to work my way through an Associates degree and narrow my options down along the way.

When Did I Make This Blog:

January 4, 2018 (7:33 pm)

According to my first post

Wow I started this blog in the middle of my senior year of high school....2 years ago...

Followers: 70

Why Did I Make This Blog:

I started this blog to just get in touch and interact with people who are interested in what I am into. Appreciate posts that were made by others.

Reason Behind My URL:

jamiesenshi - So my full name is Jamie Mali Senshi.

However on my other platforms you might see Jamie Warrior.

Warrior and Senshi are essentially mean the same thing. Senshi is the Japanese term for warrior.

However, I am not Japanese. My last name is my pseudonym, since I cannot disclose my real name online.

Senshi and Warrior represents who I am as a person and my values.

[caninelaws-blog]

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH CANINE CORRAL IN HUNTINGTON, NY

Hello! My name is Donna.  

In 2008 my son was 12 years old.  He had been asking (begging) me for a puppy for the longest time.  I felt it was time to make that dream come true for him.  I called my Aunt Kathleen to ask her where she had gotten her previous four puppies (cockapoo's) as I knew that her pups were healthy, happy and awesome dogs with great personalities. Over the years, she has always raved about the place (Canine Corral) that she had gotten her pups from. She shared with me that her and her husband had been dealing with Canine Corral in Huntington Station NY for the past 20 years & that it is a family owned and operated kennel. My aunt & uncle say they had one great experience after another.    So in December of 2008, a week before Christmas I decided to surprise my son with a puppy for Christmas.  I went to Canine Corral, looking for a small pup,  perhaps a Maltese, Cockapoo or Bichon Frise'.  I wasn't really sure what I wanted.  I knew I wanted a puppy, but not an extremely young one, as I had a limited time to house train it.  When I walked into Canine Corral, one of the employees said hello, told me to look around and to let her know if I had any questions.  I was amazed that the place was immaculate even though somewhat crowded.

(remember it was just the week before Christmas)

Within a few minutes a young woman came up to me and asked if I would like to see a specific type of puppy.. I explained what I was looking for, then she showed me a few pups.  One more beautiful than the other. As I played with each of the pups, one by one, in one of their playrooms,  I felt as though I wanted them all.  Unbeknownst to me, the best was yet to come.  The last pup I met was this 5 month old Bichon Frise' , he was shy but very happy & extremely affectionate.  Just what I was looking for, he was perfect!. I decided to go for it. Yes, I said, this is the one, he is perfect!  I'll take him!! I thought I'd be walking out the door in moments, however that was not the case.  She took the pup and they gave him his first grooming.  She had told me that the groomer had been there since

1963

.  I was amazed.  While my new pup was getting groomed, she spoke to me about what food he was on, how much I should feed him, what size crate he would need, etc. and then to my surprise they gave me a

FIVE YEAR Health Guarantee

. I said what? Thinking, to myself, I must have misunderstood what she was talking about.  She explained to me that if anything came up with my pup's health I could go to the veterinarian and have the issue taken care of.

Now that was impressive!

When my pup came back from his grooming I started to cry, he looked so beautiful, smelled delicious and so handsome with a blue ribbon on his collar. However, my interaction with Canine Corral was not over yet.  Canine Corral called me that evening to see how things were going with my new pup.  Then they called

again

the following day to see how me & my pup (now named Buddy) was doing.  They asked if I have any questions or concerns. They gave me great advice on how to get Buddy started with house breaking. I am not sure, but I think we must have been on the phone for 20 or 30 minutes. I thought to myself this is unbelievable that a family owned kennel would care so much about me and my new addition to the family.  I was so very impressed.  

I am, to this day, convinced that I made the right choice going to Canine Corral.

 Since the day I got Buddy, I have recommended

14+ family members & friends to Canine Corral

.  Everyone of which couldn't be

happier

with their experience!. To this day, Buddy still gets groomed at Canine Corral and I still go to Canine Corral not only to buy Buddy's food & treats but to also say hello to everyone & visit with the new puppies. It makes me so very happy.

Buddy will be 12 in July.

He is extremely healthy and is still a happy go lucky dog.  He is my son's best friend and we couldn't want for more!  When I look at Buddy's pictures,he is always smiling.  It makes my day...everyday!

Canine Corral is the only kennel that I would feel comfortable recommending.  They have been around for many, many years.  They are sincere in their livelihood and know exactly how to run a reputable kennel.

 I have spoken to many people on Long Island about Canine Corral, their reputation is undeniable.  They are the best in New York & I would highly recommend them.        Kindest regards; DonnaOyster Bay NY

Read more at https://www.caninecorralreviews.org/newsarticle/canine-corral-reviews-huntington-ny-donna-6.aspx

[richfieldbranch]

Mike’s Picks

Hello to all our Richfield Library Patrons. Enjoy our new Adult Services newsletter with some more suggestions to keep you busy while you're stuck at home. The books are all available at akronlibrary.org under the digital media section. All titles are in both the E-book and E-audio formats. The movies below have been released on one of the major streaming services. If you don't have access to Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, be sure to check out the free movies you can access through the library, with our Hoopla or Kanopy apps.

Adult Services Librarian Mike Daly, mdaly@akronlibrary.org

Books:

Non-Fiction

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

This book, by Shaker Heights native and the author of the Orchid Thief, tells the story of the huge fire at the Los Angeles Public Library. Because it took place during the same week as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, not many people outside California know the story. The author reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history. The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library--and, if so, who? Part mystery, part love letter to American libraries, Orlean tells a fascinating story.

Say nothing: a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

This book which appeared on all the major top ten lists for 2019 is a great true crime story that reads like a novel. In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress.

Fiction

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I found this book to be one the best surprises of the last year. Eleanor Oliphant struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country this fictionalized account was one of my favorite books I read last year. At once both heartbreaking and heart warming, it tells a story you will remember long after turning the last page.

Movies:

This weekend we had a Humphrey Bogart marathon. Watched To Have and Have Not, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The African Queen. Besides killing a Sunday afternoon it was so much fun hearing all the classic lines and enjoying the wonderful supporting performances.

And finally.................

Monday March 30th is

National Doctor's Day

“Each patient carries his own doctor inside him.” Norman Cousins

“Doctors always think anybody doing something they aren't is a quack; also they think all patients are idiots.” Flannery O'Connor

“Doctors?" said Ron, looking startled. "Those Muggle nutters that cut people up?” J. K. Rowling

Tuesday April 1st is

National Clam Day

“She ate so many clams that her stomach rose and fell with the tide.” Louis Kronenberger

“Do the Clam, do the Clam, grab your barefoot baby by the hand.” Elvis Presley

“Happy as a clam, is what my mother says for happy. I am happy as a clam: hard-shelled, firmly closed.” Margaret Atwood

Wednesday April 1st is

April Fool's Day

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Alexander Pope

“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” Winston Churchill

“When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.” William Shakespeare

Thursday April 2nd is

National Burrito Day

“A burrito is a delicious food item that breaks down all social barriers and leads to temporary

spiritual enlightenment.” Lisi Harrison

“A burrito is a sleeping bag for ground beef.” Mitch Hedberg

“Ever had a flying burrito hit you? Well, it's a deadly projectile, right up there with cannonballs and grenades.” Rick Riordan

Friday April 3rd is

American Circus Day

“Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end.” David Niven

“Life is a circus ring, with some moments more spectacular than others.” Janusz Korczak

“The circus is the only fun you can buy that is good for you.” Ernest Hemingway

Saturday April 4th is

International Carrot Day

“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.” Paul Cezanne

“You ask me what life is. That's like asking what a carrot is. A carrot is a carrot, and there's nothing more to know.” Anton Chekhov

“I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.” Mae West

More to come next week!

[bcnriya]

———  BASICS! ♡

NAME! ♡    birdie. PRONOUNS! ♡     she/her. ZODIAC SIGN! ♡     cancer / rooster. TAKEN OR SINGLE! ♡     engaged.

———  THREE  FACTS! ♡

1! ♡     i’m a civil servant. be nice to ur civil servants.

2! ♡     i have a 6 month old corgi and a 7 year old maltese/shih tzu. i will always show pics if u need a pick me up. they are good at snuggles and nose boops.

3! ♡     i i have four tattoos. i want to get another in the next couple months. don’t start, you can’t stop.

———  EXPERIENCE! ♡

PLATFORMS USED! ♡     proboards forums. invisionfree forums. neopets*. very very briefly gaiaonline. online mmorpg rp servers. here. discord. d&d. 

———  MUSE  PREFERENCE! ♡

GENDER! ♡     i tend to write male muses, but i have no actual preference idk

LEAST FAVOURITE FACE(S)! ♡    you do you tbh.

MULTI OR SINGLE! ♡     i have both! worick is my main muse. and then i have a multi too (and other single blogs).

FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT! ♡    i like all three in varying degrees. some days i feel more one than the other, including some days i just wanna write filth tbh. i tend to like threads that have a plot or a direction, including smut threads.

PLOT / MEMES! ♡     depends on my rp partner ?? idk. i prefer some plotting, but i also highly encourage people to send memes for first/general interaction.

tagged  by:   @atlaslain (ilu) tagging:    you.

* edited

[aion-rsa]

The Suicide Squad: Inside James Gunn’s DCEU Supervillain War Movie

https://ift.tt/3ywaJGW

In November 2019, I found myself in the middle of a war zone. Well, the closest approximation of a war zone I’ve ever found myself in during my time visiting the sets of blockbuster movies. If I had been brought to this particular set in Atlanta on a sunny autumn afternoon without knowing what movie it was that I was supposed to be getting a peek at, the scene presented to a group of journalists probably would have convinced me that this was some new war movie or straight up action blockbuster, and not one that features a collection of DC villains and antiheroes at its core.

The set in question is called “Jotunheim” and it’s apparently an objective Task Force X needs to conquer in The Suicide Squad. But for all intents and purposes, this could be the kind of Nazi fortress that the gritty characters of movies like The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare need to conquer, whether or not they get out alive. That’s no accident, according to director James Gunn.

“A lot of the film is within the genre of war caper films,” Gunn tells reporters later that day, specifically referencing The Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes, and others. “It’s not really something that’s existed for a long time, but in the late 60s that was one of the most vibrant genres of the world. [We wanted to] kind of … add on to it with The Suicide Squad.” 

There’s no sign of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, or any of the other oddball DC characters at the center of Gunn’s newest movie as we stroll the Jotunheim set. Whatever wild action took place here seems to have been resolved long before our arrival. But the evidence is everywhere and it must have been one hell of a fight.

From the decrepit guard tower and busted fence at the perimeter to the entrance of Jotunheim (which has a massive hole blasted in it) is probably a distance of 100 meters or so. And virtually every inch of that shows the scope of whatever took place here: burnt out bunkers, overturned and semi-destroyed jeeps, sandbagged guard stations, and so much debris, a mixture of real rocks and carved foamcore and plywood “masonry.” 

“It’s a giant construction project” producer Peter Safran jokes about the number and scale of practical sets that have been built for The Suicide Squad. “The idea is to do as much practically as we possibly could.”

That reliance on practical sets and effects wherever possible is a theme that keeps coming up throughout the day as we tour sets and look at production artwork, scale models, weapons, and more.

“We built literally three football fields of a set and that’s so unusual in this day and age,” production designer Beth Mickle says of Jotunheim. “You just never do that. We wanted to have real rubble behind them in the battle sequences, and we wanted to see the building that they’re attacking. For that scene to exist in a film today is just highly unusual. And we’ve done that set and then a dozen others of that scale, so it’s incredible.”

Both the war movie vibe and the love of practical effects are very much in evidence on another set, a convincing indoor recreation of a jungle with a guerilla camp nestled in the middle of it. There’s dirty laundry hanging, filthy pots strewn around, a crumpled pack of cigarettes, and a half empty bottle of watery beer…and what appear to be bloody chunks of skull and assorted viscera littering the grass. Like Jotunheim, something went down here, and whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty.

The Characters of The Suicide Squad: Meet Task Force X

It all stands in almost stark contrast to the wacky assortment of brightly-colored characters that make up the actual team. The concept art and costume tests for these characters were suitably colorful and wildly offbeat, and it’s almost hard to make this line up with the gritty, war movie vibes of the Jotunheim and jungle sets. But storyboards reveal a nighttime action sequence on a beach, with the Squad invading the fictional nation of Corto Maltese, and were it not for the colors and unique designs of the characters wreaking havoc, this too would be evocative of just about anything other than a superhero movie.

A production office is papered with life sized posters of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark (performed by Steve Agee and voiced by Sylvester Stallone…although we don’t know that at the time), Blackguard (Pete Davison), Savant (Michael Rooker), Mongal (Mayling Ng), Weasel (Sean Gunn), The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Javelin (Flula Borg), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), TDK (Nathan Fillion), and Bloodsport (Idris Elba).

Looming large is also Idris Elba’s ominous, armored character who we now all know as Bloodsport, but who the studio remained cagey about identifying during this set visit for some reason, leaving reporters to speculate on the identity of the badass in blue, black, and gold. Between the color scheme, the armor, and an impressively intimidating assortment of weapons left out on a table for reporters to ogle as it’s explained that each weapon transforms into or folds out of each other, speculation about Bloodsport ends up occupying a fair amount of the downtime between interviews.

So what exactly could possibly hold such a motley crew together?

“You have to remember that all either have been wrongfully accused or done horrible, morally wrong things,” John Cena says. ”You can see the good in people, you can also see the evil in people… All of these people have real bad personality problems. So I think when you get that type of group together, that’s what makes it fun. Everybody is kind of different. But I think criminals see criminals, they just size everybody up. I think every one of them is like, ‘how is this person going to stab me in the back?’ That’s the world they come from.”

Cena is playing the authoritarian Peacemaker, a character who sees himself very differently than many other members of the Squad do. But the actors behind two of the stranger characters in the film, offer some additional perspective on the team dynamic.

“There’s people in this story that really want friendships, and people that don’t want anybody near them, just like all of us,” says David Dastmalchian, who plays Polka-Dot Man. “I think all of us have felt at times like we are totally disposable to either our employers or society or you name it. So that’s been interesting, in the relationship [between the characters] with the dynamic that starts to build or break down.”

“These are all characters that for the most part, probably don’t even know the existence of the other ones,” Steve Agee says. “Some of them do, and it’s the story of The Suicide Squad. They are forced to be together, and do this task, this mission. So, part of the story is just watching these people adapt to being around each other.”

Flula Borg (who gave journalists a rambling, uproariously funny interview about his character which you’ll see more of on DoG soon enough) spoke about how his character relates to Viola Davis’ team leader, Amanda Waller.

“Judging from all the relationships that Javelin has I would say poor, non-existent, unhealthy, crosses lines, should consider not interacting with other humans,” Borg says. “Javelin doesn’t worry about how people treat him. He treats them … What’s the golden rule? He has the Javelin rule, which is like ‘suck it, I’m cool.’ I think that’s his rule.” 

Even here with the characters, the commitment to practical effects is strong, especially in areas where you’d fully expect them to rely on CGI. For example, Daniela Melchior, who plays Ratcatcher 2, has a little helper rat named Sebastian. While the hordes of rats the character is capable of commanding will necessitate CGI, at least some of the rats are real.

“We have three female rats [that play Sebastian],” Daniela Melchior says about the um…practical rats that the movie is using. “It’s a little bit distracting sometimes because I have to act lazy and tired like I don’t give a shit about whatever is happening… and I’m just like, ‘come here.’ But she doesn’t want to come, she wants to find new places and go, so we’re like, ‘okay, we’ll try one time with the rats, we’ll see what happens.’”

And when one of the rats playing Sebastian doesn’t want to do as they’re told, only then does the movie revert to CGI to get the desired “performance” from the furry co-star.

“I don’t know if I can say this,” Melchior says conspiratorially. “But actually, [some of the cast] are a little bit afraid of rats…I’m always trying to say ‘look, she’s so sweet, she wouldn’t hurt you.’”

From Suicide Squad 2 to The Suicide Squad

Like the characters themselves, The Suicide Squad has something of a rough past. The first movie failed to become the surefire franchise-starter the studio hoped for in 2016, and while a Suicide Squad 2 was put into development almost immediately, it wasn’t until Gunn became available that the project finally solidified.

“There was no plan before James,” Safran says. “There were other writers that had worked on various Suicide Squad scripts over the years, but… this was starting from ground zero, starting from scratch. All the characters that he selected were just characters that he was a fan of and wanted to play with. I think, in typical fashion for James, he picks more obscure characters…he liked the idea of being able to take these characters and imbue them with whatever characters he really wanted, or characteristics that he really wanted to play with.”

One of the “characteristics” Gunn wanted was to truly tap into the spirit of DC’s long-running and beloved Suicide Squad comics of the 1980s, which were co-created and stewarded by Jon Ostrander. 

Read more

Movies

The Suicide Squad: Margot Robbie On the Enduring Appeal of Harley Quinn

By Kayti Burt

Movies

The Suicide Squad: How Idris Elba Brings Bloodsport to Life

By Stephanie Williams

“I don’t think of it so much as an interpretation of what Ostrander wrote but I do think of it as a continuation of what he did,” Gunn says. “It’s very much in line with that. When he was first putting this team together, he was only able to get certain characters. For him, it was the fun of taking these characters that weren’t as well-known and developing them in a real way. And it’s one of the greatest superhero runs of any comic book series.”

(Gunn also notes that Ostrander has a cameo in the film.)

As for whether or not The Suicide Squad is a sequel to or a reboot of the previous film, all involved are both diplomatic and evasive. The official line is that any characters that were together in the previous film do already know each other, but as for the actual events of the 2016 movie, that’s where things get murky. 

“We just don’t address it any tangible form,” Safran says. “Yes, they’re the characters and actors that played them in the first movie, but we really wanted to make sure that this stands on its own two feet. It’s not a sequel, but there are some characters that were in the first movie, so it’s not really a full reboot either. So we just call it James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Inside Jotunheim

Later in the day, journalists are taken inside Jotunheim via soundstage, an indoor construction that appears almost as sprawling as the outdoor set. As we saw outside, the remnants of what was likely a furious battle are all around. A stuntman in full Peacemaker gear is hanging around as we see Robbie’s Harley, Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man, and Agee as King Shark (“the studio is trying to play down the whole Polka-Dot Man/King Shark universe they’re building,” Dastmalchian jokes) make their way through the rubble. Elba’s Bloodsport isn’t visible, but we’re assured he’s part of the scene.

While it’s Sylvester Stallone voicing King Shark in the film, it’s Agee on set here, wearing a grey mo-cap suit with the kind of padding you see on MLB umpires and somewhat shark-shaped wire headgear. He also appears to be holding a skull.    

Harley, however, is wearing the ornate red dress glimpsed in the trailer (although it’s somewhat the worse for wear at the moment). As she navigates the carnage in Jotunheim, Gunn calls out for Robbie to “hum a little tune.” She does just that, conjuring exactly the kind of aimless musical free-association you’d expect from a mind like Harley Quinn in the midst of battle.

“Harley’s been through some things as you can see by this point in the film,” Robbie says to reporters between takes. When it’s noted that Harley’s baseball bat, a fixture in the previous film, is nowhere to be found in this scene, she jokes “My baseball bat is back home in LA, next to my bed, in case anyone breaks in…I’ve got other weapons in this one.”

We don’t get to see these Squad members engaged in any combat during the shooting of this scene, and it’s not clear if this is the interior from the same “entrance” that had seemingly been blasted into the outdoor structure, or somewhere else inside the fortress. But the clues all point to one thing: like everything else in this movie, where The Suicide Squad goes, destruction and chaos follow.

The Suicide Squad opens in theaters and on HBO Max on Aug. 6. We’ll have more from our set visit in the coming days.

The post The Suicide Squad: Inside James Gunn’s DCEU Supervillain War Movie appeared first on Den of Geek.

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